God Made Rest

Read Exodus 35-39:1
 
Exodus 35:1-3 Then Moses called together the whole community of Israel and told them, “These are the instructions the Lord has commanded you to follow. 2 You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day must be a Sabbath day of complete rest, a holy day dedicated to the Lord. Anyone who works on that day must be put to death. 3 You must not even light a fire in any of your homes on the Sabbath.”
 
WHAT do you do on the Sabbath? Based on, “Anyone who works on that day must be put to death.”  I doubt many of us would withstand God’s wrath! Take this scripture to a store clerk or business owner who’s working Sunday. What do you think they’ll say? Likely, he or she will just shrug their shoulders and continue working. God surely wouldn’t kill someone for working on the Sabbath would he? Their very lives prove it. No, as he doesn’t kill us for other sins, God doesn’t kill us for working on the Sabbath. But the LORD was speaking to Israel as they prepared to build the Tabernacle. 
   As Israel built God’s Holy Dwelling, the place where he would come to dwell with them, the LORD would not tolerate a Sabbath violation. The LORD God equates the Sabbath – the rest – with himself. He is Holy . The Sabbath is holy. The Tabernacle is to be God’s holy dwelling – an illustration of heaven on earth. To violate the Sabbath, you violate God’s holiness. That is blasphemy, minimizing God and punishable by death: 
   In the Old Covenant, the Sabbath was the seventh day of the week to mark the end of God’s work to create the world. Today the Christian Sabbath is the first day of the week to mark the day God began his new creation in Jesus Christ. These are holy acts of God. We must pause to rest and obey. Sp we remember, “The LORD is Holy.”
   Can you work on the Sabbath? Surely you can do essential tasks of farming, housekeeping – although there were many cooking restrictions among the Jews – and well-being, such as medical care. God made the Sabbath for mankind to enjoy rest and remember God’s grace to bless us. Resting on the Sabbath says, “I trust God to provide all I need in six workdays. I believe God’s rest day is a blessing to enjoy. I worship God, so I will keep the Sabbath.”
   These are good and necessary things to do. God has made many things – even a day to rest.