Ah yes, the Sabbath. If you have ever been in Israel for a Sabbath weekend you will know that it is really interesting to see how this 2500 year-old commandment of God is carried out in the 21st century. I find it both awesome and annoying, but always fascinating.
Annoying: All the elevators in hotels on the Sabbath stop at every floor in both directions and the buttons don’t work. This is because pressing a button would be considered “work” on the Sabbath. At first you find it quaint and interesting, but after awhile it just feels legalistic and stupid.
Awesome: When we were invited to share a Shabat meal with an Israeli family, we were all charmed to see that the patriarch of the family took the phones from the family members and locked them for the Sabbath. And the streets in front of their house was safe for the kids to play in because there were no cars. We were all jealous! What a great idea!
However, were any of these things related to the original purpose of God telling Moses to institute a Sabbath rest 2500 years ago? We dive deep into the eternal purpose of the Sabbath. We cover most of chapter four.
Shabbat Shalom!