A Case for Sabbath in Shalom

The weekly Sabbath was instituted in response to the oppressive 7 day a week workload that the Egyptians placed on Israel while they were enslaved in Egypt. As an institution under the Law, this is true, however God established Sabbath, when he Sabbathed from the work of creating on the 7th day (Gen 2:2-3). The end of this heavenly 7th day Sabbath was never announced in scripture, so given the nature of time in eternity (i.e. a day is as a thousand years [a very long time]…) we can assume that the present epoch of existence falls within the 7th day of God’s Sabbath. Thus as God revealed himself and his ways to the early Israelites, he gave them the Sabbath as a perpetual observance, so that they might be refreshed (lit. breathe) from the work of sustaining themselves, work which humanity had chosen to do via their taking and eating of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen 3).

 

Prior to that choice, humanity thrived in God’s presence. God provided all they needed as intended, including the choice to eat from any tree, including the tree of life, or to break their covenant with God and eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. These two trees represent two diverging ways of life, God’s way, with God (life), or the way of self sustaining and perceived independence from God (knowledge). Thus humanity and all of creation was sustained by God during God’s Sabbath. God was no longer creating, but God was still working in the way of nurturing, providing for (and we may assume…enjoying, Gen 1:31, 3:8) all the relationships which he had created. Note that the act of creation is, in its purest essence, the process of defining relationships (i.e. Gen 1). After completing that defining process, God set to working on bringing about the multiplication and flourishing of those relationships. 

 

In spite of humanity’s perception of independence from God that came through the fall and all of the turmoil that has resulted (i.e. Gen 3-Rev 20), God has continued to nurture and sustain all things, all the relationships he had created. This doesn’t mean God has ever done evil in or through the evil humanity has perpetrated through its perceived independence from God and ignorance of the consequences of their choices. In love, God allows self determined humanity to err and do evil things. In expressing such grace, God does place constraints (laws) around such human activity and works in and through the consequences of those circumstances, seeking to awaken people to his presence and his sustaining and healing work. 

Being made aware of God’s presence and work in our circumstances allows God to impart faith, which is the equivalent of eating the fruit of the tree of life. Through faith, God increasingly reveals himself to each person who has been so awakened, increasing their knowledge of God and of his ways and increasing the strength of their faith, so that they might increasingly perceive God’s presence with them and God’s nurturing and sustaining work in their lives.

 

So when Jesus said in John 5:17: “My Father until now is working, I also am working.” He was referring to the ongoing work God is doing, and must do, to nurture, provide for and sustain the creation. Jesus did works of healing on the Sabbath. Healing is not a work of creation, but rather a work of nurturing the shalom (i.e. wholeness) of people who have been harmed through the consequences of the fall. Jesus, as his Father, is about the business of healing humanity from its delusion of independence from God. That is: God… as revealed in Jesus, Father and Holy Spirit, who came to empower the faith of those to whom God has imparted faith, are always working to restore the shalom (i.e. the wholeness) of humanity. 

 

So Sabbath is a time of rest, or given the words used in Genesis and Exodus to describe it, a time to breath or we might say ”a time to catch our breath from the work of creating that we do”. The work we must cease from is the work of creating. For humanity that is the work of sustaining ourselves by way of filling our needs and desires. Sabbath is not however a time to cease (or Sabbath) from the work of nurturing relational wholeness (i.e. shalom). Sabbath is therefore a time to stop doing the work of creating, so we can focus on nurturing and sustaining relationships; our relationship with God, our relationships with one another and our relationships with all the things God created. As Jesus said, he does what he sees his Father doing (John 5:19-20). Jesus in his humanity, is our example of one who lives by faith in the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. So as Jesus does, people who live by faith in the power and presence of the Holy Spirit should also do.

 

Now to take this one step further, let’s consider that the work of God, as revealed in Jesus, the Father and the Holy Spirit, is to bring to an end the reign of terror caused by the self determination of humanity.  This end, is the complete restoration of Gods heavenly Sabbath (…the “Kingdom of Heaven” restored), in essence, the return of all the created order to shalom (wholeness), in short, the return to Sabbath in Shalom, (i.e. rest in wholeness or the relational harmony and flourishing of all created things as God intended). This is the vision of the regeneration, the coming of the new heaven and new earth described in Revelation 21 and 22 (Isaiah 65:17…). To get to this end however, humanity and the earth as we know it must pass through dark and troubling times, as the delusion of humanity runs its course. Those who are awakened to faith will be formed through circumstances toward Christ-likeness (self emptying and self giving) while those who refuse to believe will continue to serve themselves at the expense of others and at the expense of God’s creation.

 

Through these troubled times, believers, people of faith, are called to serve God through participating in his work to restore Sabbath in Shalom. This is done by focusing our lives on nurturing and sustaining healthy life giving relationships with all people who God places in our path and with the created things God has placed under our influence. 

 

While God instituted Sabbath as a weekly cycle of remembrance of God’s holy endeavor to restore the Kingdom to the vision of his original intent, the believer is challenged to live each moment of their lives in an attitude of Sabbath in Shalom. Even while they work to sustain themselves serving their needs and desires, they work with hearts and minds focused on nurturing healthy loving relationships and building up the shalom of one another and of the creation. 

 

This work is a sign to those who do not yet believe and to those whose belief is misguided into the practice of false religion. It is a sign that warns them that their course of life falls short of God’s intended glory and will ultimately lead to eternal death or separation from God. The life of a believer is to be a breath of refreshment to those who live in the darkness of their self determination, so that they might if possible be awakened to faith in God and participate in Sabbath in Shalom.