Shabbat - Heart of Wisdom

he will do for his people.In Hebrews 4:2,6 the Sabbath rest is twice presentedas the “good news” or the gospel (sameverb–evangelizo) of God’s rest for his people. Yetfor some persons as noted, the Sabbath is notgood news but bad news. Why is the Sabbathviewed and experienced differently by differentpersons? Principally because of different understandingsand acceptance of the message of theSabbath. A person who does not understand andaccept the good news of the Sabbath will experience,not rest, peace, and jubilation, but rather restlessness,tension, and frustration.GOOD NEWS OF PERFECT CREATIONThe Imagery of the Rest ofGod. To dramatize the perfectionand completion of his creation,Scripture tells us that Godrested (Genesis 2:2-3). ObviouslyGod was not tired. God “doesnot faint or grow weary” (Isaiah40:28). In fact, the Hebrew verb(shabat) does not mean that Godtook a rest to recover from exhaustionbut rather that “hestopped or ceased creating.”Why? To testify by this dramaticaction–by desisting from creating–thathe regarded his creation“very good” and perfectly satisfying.There was no need for additionaltouches to improve hisworkmanship, because all cameup to his expectations.The first glad tidings the Sabbath proclaims is,then, a message of reassurance from God thatthis world and all its creatures came into existencenot in a deformed state by chance but in a perfectway by the personal act of God. This message isindeed good news. It gives us the reassurance thatour ancestral roots are good because they arerooted in God himself from creation to eternity.It reassures us that in spite of apparent futility andtragedy, our life has meaning, value, and hope becauseit proceeds from and moves toward a gloriousdestiny with God.From Sabbathto SundayDr. Bacchiocchi’s extensiveresearch at theVatican in Romeproduced this classicbook that documentshistorically the Christianchurch’s move from theSabbath obser-vance common to the Jewishmatrix from which it emerged to Sundayobservance. Any student of Christianity’sJewish roots will profit from this excellentvolume.–Dr. John D. Garr.$18, plus $3 s & hOrder FromThe first good news the Sabbath proclaims isRestoration Foundationthat God originally created this world and its creaturesin a perfect and complete manner. This mes-Atlanta, GA 30342P. O. Box 421218sage is first presented in a most emphatic way inthe creation story (Genesis 1:1-2:3) by means ofthree effective literary devices: (1) the use of thenumber seven, (2) the emphatic use of words,and (3) the imagery of the rest of God.The Number Seven. The number seven is usedboth to structure the creation story in seven parts–that is, according to the seven days of Creation–and to relate many details of the story. The creationstory is arranged in seven sections, each dividedby the recurring sentence “and there was eveningand there was morning, one day . . . a second day. . . a third day.” The climactic moment is the“seventh day” which is repeated three times (Genesis2:2-3) to emphasize its function as the goal,GOOD NEWS OF COMPLETE REDEMPTIONconclusion, perfection of the whole creation.Several details of the creation are also given in A second significant message of glad tidingssevens or multiples thereof. For example, in Hebrew,there are seven words in Genesis 1:1 and redeemed us through Jesus Christ. The human heartthe Sabbath proclaims is that God has completelyfourteen (7 x 2) in verse two. The name of God longs for a constant assurance of divine redemption.We want to be reassured that God has indeed(Elohim) occurs thirty-five times (7 x 5); earth (eretz)twenty-one times (7 x 3); light (oor) occurs seven saved us.times in the account of the fourth day (Genesis A vital function of the Sabbath in the history of1:14-18); the expression it was good also occurs seven salvation has been to provide this reassurance oftimes (the last time is “very good” Genesis 1:31). divine redemption. In the Old Testament, the Sabbathserved to nourish the hope andThe structure, as well as many of the details ofthe creation story, is based upon the number seven faith of God’s people in the messianicbecause the number seven signifies totality, completion,and perfection. Thus, its repeated use in the New Testament it enables believers toredemption that was to come. In theThe Sabbath iscreation story heightens the role of the seventh experience the reality of the salvation Good News ofday as the memorial of God’s complete and perfectcreation.The Blessing of the Sabbath. In of God’s creativewhich has come.joyful celebrationThe Emphatic Use of Words. In the account the Old Testament, the Sabbath functionedas a symbol of redemption be-and redemptiveof the establishment of the Sabbath given in Genesis2:1-3, four words have the highest frequency– cause it contained God’s originallove.namely, God, seventh-day, work, done. Each of promise of the blessing and sanctificationof mankind. The Scripture says:these words occurs three times because each is centralto the message of the passage–namely, that God “God blessed the seventh day and hallowedit” (Genesis 2:3). God’s blessing is not juston the seventh day proclaimed his work done, done,done.a good wish, like our human blessings, but a con-SHABBAT ISSUE 25