Exodus 35:1-2, “And Moses gathered all the congregation of the children of Israel together, and said unto them, these [are] the words which the LORD hath commanded, that [ye] should do them. Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be to you an holy day, a Sabbath of rest to the LORD: whosoever doeth work therein shall be put to death.”
Today is Sunday morning; it is the Sabbath day for most of Christianity. The Jews, of course, celebrate the Sabbath from sun down Friday to sun down Saturday and our Christian Sabbath is celebrated from midnight to midnight on Sunday which is something started during the Roman era. I don’t get hot and bothered about the day we celebrate the Sabbath because Jesus said that the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath (Mark 2:27) so I don’t think He was into splitting hairs on the matter of which day we celebrate the Sabbath. He just said it was to be the seventh day and as far as I have been raised in this Western culture we practice Sunday as the last day of the week and to me Sunday is the seventh day.
It is taught by the Midrash that the implementation of God’s instructions for the Sabbath came along with the instructions for the building of the tabernacle and that the calling of the assembly to give the instructions on the Sabbath was done on the day of the Sabbath at the site of the tabernacle. Hence according to the Midrash, what this passage is teaching us is that Moses instituted the practice to assemble on the Sabbath to listen to the reading of the Torah. The events, customs and practices that Jews follow to celebrate the Sabbath are really quite beautiful and meaningful. There are basically three important elements that occur during the 25 hours of the Sabbath. As it is forbidden to light any fires or turn on any lights during the Sabbath the women of the household will light the Sabbath candles on Friday night at least eighteen minutes before sundown announcing the beginning of the Sabbath. They share a Sabbath meal attended by every member of the family sometimes with friends or guest. This is followed by attending a service. The purpose of all these rituals actually does serve a practical purpose. They serve to create a space to connect with God, family and friends.
The Sabbath was not meant to be celebrated alone. If someone was alone he or she would be encouraged and indeed invited to join another family for the Sabbath meal so they would not be alone. Even the Apostle Paul in the New Testament encouraged us to not forbid the assembling together. Hebrew 10:25, “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some [is]; but exhorting [one another]: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” I have to admit that I fall into that category of the manner of some as I found Sunday a perfect time to do my research and study for writing my books. Although noble in its attempts it is a practice for which I confess to have come under conviction and I now stand to be corrected. The Talmud teaches that we are not to study the Torah alone, but we are to assemble ourselves together or find a study partner and study the Word of God with others. Some Jews will even pay someone to study the Torah with them.
But as I study this passage of Scripture that takes us back to the time when Moses brought the Sabbath into Hebraic law I discovered something I had never seen before. The Hebrew masters, the sages and rabbis did not follow the Masoretic text in their placement of the vowel pointings of the words shashet yamim tha’aseh melaikah. The Masoretic text renders this as six days you shall do not work. Yet, the sages say this word for doing or performing tha’aseh is passive and not active and hence you should render it as six days work shall be done. In other words your work days are not to be considered as a source of your sustenance but are merely a vessel from which you receive the blessings of God. This really follows the root word for tha’aseh which is ‘ashah and is sometimes used to express the preparation for presenting an offering. Our work days are to be an offering to God as preparation for that special day of the week, the Sabbath. There Persians used this word to describe an unchaste woman. We are to keep ourselves pure throughout the week as we prepare for the Sabbath day. For many people going to church on Sunday is the only time they think of God and then the rest of the week belongs to them to do whatever they want. Be every day of the week belongs to God. Each day of the work week we are to prepare for the day of the Sabbath, the day we consummate our love for God.
So I guess in a way, Moses was the first pastor of a church so to speak. He pastored the First Church of the Wilderness. Every Sabbath the people would cease from their labors which were performed as an offering to God and then they would use that preparation to assemble together to hear the Word of the Lord, not so unlike what we do today.
So, if you excuse me, I need to get ready for church.
p.s. We just thought we’d mention that there was more content added to yesterday’s devotion, Enoch the Bride, in case you would like to read the updated version.
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