Resting During Difficult Times -- What Can The Sabbath Teach Us?
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| A lovely place for Sabbath rest! |
Thus says Adonai, "Guard your souls! Carry no burden on the day of Shabbat or bring it in through the gates of Jerusalem. Nor should you carry a burden out of your houses on Yom Shabbat or do any work, but keep Yom Shabbat holy -- as I commanded your fathers." Jeremiah 17:21-22
The context here is that Judah is being disobedient. You may recall that Jeremiah was the prophet that YHVH used to warn Judah that she would shortly go into captivity. There are a plethora of reasons for Judah's punishment, but among the pie slices, we definitely see that this disregard for YHVH's Sabbath was one of them.
But why does this matter?
Why does YHVH put so much emphasis on Sabbath rest?
I believe it is because Sabbath rest is the physical practice that teaches YHVH's people to rest spiritually in Him.
Throughout scripture, we are given examples of physical actions that lead to spiritual understandings. Passover is a great example. Israel acted out their redemption through the yearly celebration of Passover centuries before Yeshua gave His life as the ultimate Passover Lamb. This is not an isolated illustration. The Bible is literally FILLED with patterns of physical practices that lead to spiritual understandings.
So thinking along these lines, and looking back to the scolding that YHVH gives to Judah in Jeremiah, we see that He focuses on the "burdens" that His people are carrying on the Sabbath day.
Why would it benefit YHVH's people to learn to release their burdens on the Sabbath day?
Could it be because learning to put down physical burdens might train a person to also put down their spiritual burdens?
I talk to a lot of believers who claim to do that very thing. They tell me that they give their spiritual burdens to The Father. I hope they do. Truly.
But when I look around me, I don't see many tangible signs of this.
I see believers living in fear...
Fear is a thief of joy and a snare to the believer.
Fear is a burden.
In the education world, we often talk about returning to the "basics" of reading, writing, and arithmetic.
Perhaps in the world of believers, we need to think about returning to the basics as well.
Perhaps if we learn to put down our physical burdens on the Sabbath, we can begin to do a better job of putting down our spiritual burdens as we walk through difficult times.
Difficult times are not going away, but we have a choice.
We can be cursed by trusting in man and depending on flesh, Jeremiah 17:5
OR
We can be blessed by trusting in Adonai. Jeremiah 17:7
Those who trust....
For he will be like a tree planted by the waters, spreading out its roots by a stream. It has no fear when heat comes, but its leaves will be green. It does not worry in a year of drought, nor depart from yielding fruit. Jeremiah 17:8
And I think that FRUIT is what it's all about. Will believers contribute to the doom, gloom, and fear culture, and continue to rely on an arm of flesh for salvation?
OR
Will believers trust during the drought, spread out their roots, and produce FRUIT?
We are to be known by our fruit. May we do a fruit check and seek ways to experience true spiritual rest in the Father through the completed work of Messiah Yeshua.
I believe Sabbath rest can teach us how 💕
As always, thank you for
Seeking With Me!
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Great truth AND encouragement for these days! Now I'm excited to get to Jer. 17. I didn't know or remember the portion about sabbath... probably read right passed it! But not any more.😊
ReplyDeleteThank you for your encouragement Nancy! It's such a pleasure to be reading through God's Word with you!!
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