Finding the Messiah in Leviticus, Monday 11-21
Leviticus 9:8-9:24
Sabbath
“The first of the feasts is the weekly Sabbath, a day for complete rest for all Israel. The word Sabbath (Hebrew shabbat) means cease (hence rest) and derives from the concept of a celebration of creation, remembering that God rested from his creative works on the seventh day (Gen 2:1-3, ). Shabbat thus became the official name for the 7th day of the week.”
The purpose of the Sabbath rest here was to reinforce the fact that God is taking care of them. God had provided for them and so they could take a break from their work. The Sabbath highlighted for them that same fact: God will provide and they could rest in God’s provision. We too can rest in God and not weigh ourselves down trying to provide for ourselves.
In January 1999, the North Atlantic commercial fishing industry saw a deadly string of accidents. In a 13-day span, the Cape Fear, the Adriatic, and the Beth Dee Bob were all lost at sea off the coast of New Jersey. In all, 10 men died, five never to be found. Investigations revealed the following facts about the three separate tragedies: None involved a hull breach. All three ships were piloted by veteran captains with 10 years or more in the wheelhouse. All three ships were near the end of their journey, less than 15 miles from home. So what happened? Two of the three ships were carrying too much weight, and one was carrying its weight improperly. The Cape Fear and the Adriatic each had 10-15 tons of excess weight and the heavy seas overwhelmed them.
When we go all out without resting, we become like these ships and we carry too much on our shoulders because we think we have to do more and more. Sabbath means that we can rest securely as we trust fully that God will provide for us no matter what we may have to endure; God has us securely.
When we fail to observe God’s rhythm of rest, we become either overloaded or improperly weighted. And we may fail to make our heavenly port. John Turner. “Lessons from Leviticus.” iBooks. https://itun.es/us/9oBi1.l
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