The Sabbath Was Made For Man

There is an allegory concerning the creation of the world and the Sabbath in Jewish tradition:

"With every single day, another realm of things came into being except on the seventh day. The Sabbath was a lonely day.

"Says Rabbi Shimeon ben Yohai:

"After the work of creation was completed, the Seventh Day pleaded: Master of the universe, all that Thou hast created is in couples; to every day of the week Thou gavest a mate; only I was left alone. And God answered: The Community of Israel will be your mate.

At Mount Sinai, God commanded Israel to "'Remember the Sabbath day to sanctify it' (Exodus 20:8). The Hebrew word le-kadesh, to sanctify, means, in the language of the Talmud, to consecrate a woman, to betroth. Thus the meaning of that word on Sinai was to impress upon Israel the fact that their destiny is to be the groom of the sacred day, the commandment to espouse the seventh day.

"With all it grandeur, the Sabbath is not sufficient unto itself. Its spiritual reality calls for companionship of man. There is a great longing in the world. The six days stand in need of space; the seventh day stands in need of man. It is not good that the spirit should be alone, so Israel was destined to be a helpmeet for the Sabbath.

"The Sabbath is a bride, and its celebration is like a wedding.

"Just as a man rejoices all the days of the wedding feast, so does man rejoice on the Sabbath; just as the groom does no work on his wedding day, so does a man abstain from work on the Sabbath day; and therefore the Sages and ancient Saints called the Sabbath a bride."

From The Sabbath by Abraham Joshua Heschel, copyright 1951, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, New York, pp. 51-55, (Chapter V, "Thou Art One")

Each day, or time period, of creation, has its physical counterpart:
Day 1: Light
Day 2: Firmament
Day 3: Dry Land and Plants
Day 4: Sun, Moon and Stars
Day 5: Fish and Birds
Day 6: Animals and Mankind
Day 7: Rest

The Seventh Day is the only one that does not have a "mate" in physical space. Thus, God performed a marriage of man's spirit to the Spirit of God in the sanctified time span of the Sabbath.

When Jesus' disciples were hungry one Sabbath, they walked through a grainfield and picked some of the stalks to eat as they walked. The Pharisees accused the disciples of "harvesting" (which was work) on the Sabbath. Jesus disagreed with the Pharisees' interpretation of Sabbath-keeping. Jesus explained that "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath." (Mark 2:27 New American Standard Version) The New Living Translation makes it even plainer: "The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath."

As I study the Sabbath from this Jewish perspective, I get a taste of the joyous occasion the Sabbath was meant to be. A weekly celebration of God's love for man and man's love for God. That's why they didn't work. But, the bride and groom and wedding guests eat and drink and celebrate at a wedding. And Sabbath is meant to celebrate that kind of joyous, passionate love between God and His people.

The writer of Hebrews urges Christians who are alive after the death and resurrection of Christ to enter a "Sabbath rest" in Christ, which celebrates forgiven sin and the redemption of mankind. He warns against the hardening of heart that occurs through unbelief. Just as an entire generation of Hebrew slaves who left Egypt lost out on the joy of entering the rest of the Promised Land due to their hardened hearts, which refused to believe in God's goodness, so, we too, can lose out on the joy of rest in Christ, if we continue to worry and work for things God has already provided in Christ: peace, joy, belonging, identity, worth, love, companionship, security...

"So there is a Sabbath rest still waiting for the people of God. For all who have entered into God's rest have rested from their labors, just as God did after creating the world. So let us do our best to enter that rest. But if we disobey God, as the people of Israel did, we will fall." Hebrews 4:9-11 (New Living Translation)

--Posted by Mama O.