The Meaning of the Sabbath

If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. (Isaiah 58:13,14)

What we shall say concerning the observance of the Sabbath is true of all the commandments. In the new covenant the full intent of all the commandments and observances is created in us in an exceedingly greater comprehensiveness than could ever be true of a law written on tables of stone.

Ordinarily the emphasis of Sabbath observance is on not working. But the words of Isaiah reveal that not working is not the central intent of the Sabbath. The doctrine is not that of not working but of not doing our work.

"Turn away your foot from doing your pleasure."

"Call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable."

"Honor the Lord by not following your own ways nor finding your own pleasure nor speaking your own words."

"Then you will delight yourself in the Lord."

What we have here is a description of the rest of God, of the state of abiding in Christ where our old nature is crucified with Christ and Christ is living in us.

The Lord Jesus dwells eternally in the Sabbath of God. He does not pursue His own ways or find His own pleasure or speak His own words. Jesus dwells in God and God in Him. He is the Expression, the Word of God. The Lord Jesus, in addition to being the Son of God and Lord of all, is the first Man as God meant men to be. The Lord Jesus always dwells in the fullness of the rest of God.

Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. (John 14:10)

By concentrating on not working we miss the point of the Sabbath. The purpose of the Sabbath is to honor the Lord by following His ways, finding His pleasure, speaking His words.