How to keep the Sabbath

[whbae]

In those days when I grew up there were plenty of "don'ts" and not much "dos" on Sabbath. We were not to do many things on Sabbath, but did not know what we should do. With this background, I do not sail on Sabbath. I consider the sailing is my personal pleasure which I was told it is one of "don'ts" on Sabbath.

Then, I get some counter attack from a lot of people. They say what is the difference between going for a ride in your car on the land from sailing on water? For that matter there are a lot of SDAs taking a hike which is some sort of strenuous task for the Sabbath. I know no one can tell me what I should do, but I would like to get as many opinion as I can get from you.

Won

[John317]

I'll come back to this discussion later but for now I would say that Jesus is a perfect example of what we should do on the Sabbath. Also, I think Ellen White's writings are a good source to find out how God wants us to keep the Sabbath.

In its most fundamental sense, I believe the Sabbath is time for spending with God, getting closer to Him, and sharing that love of God with other people. It may mean visiting people in retirement homes, talking to them of Christ, and showing them that God loves them. Some SDAs get together and go to hospitals and retirement homes for the purpose of singing hymns and visiting with the people on Friday nights or Sabbath afternoons.

Taking young people (or anyone else) up in the mountains for a hike and having worship, singing and prayer up there in the afternoon is a great idea, too.

[12tribes]

Isaiah 58:13-14

(13) 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:

(14) 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.

[Neil D]

....and how is that done, 12t?

[phkrause]

....and how is that done, 12t?

This is a great question hb. I believe its different for each of us, because we are all at different places in our walk with our Lord and Savior. As we grow with him we will have different ideas of what this means. So I try not to tell others that what there doing on the Sabbath is wrong.

[Tom Wetmore]

Won,

Now that someone has posted the proof text you referred to, allow me to give you my understanding of it as briefly as I can.

The "doing your own pleasure" phrase has been misunderstood for far too long and has lead to more Sabbath guilt over doing anything pleasurable on the day. From as far back as I can remember I was always puzzled by the apparent inconsistency between that phrase and the phrase admonishing us to "call the Sabbath a delight" in the very same verse.

I finally understood it when I read that verse in the context that leads up to it in Isaiah 58. Go back and read the chapter from the beginning and pay close attention to how that very same phrase of doing our own pleasure is used earlier in the chapter. See what God speaking through Isaiah gives as specific examples of doing your own pleasure. And also see what God delights in at the beginning of the chapter. Now read the Sabbath text with that in mind.

Its not about avoiding something enjoyable on the Sabbath. Its about doing what God finds delightful. See what he means?

I was also quite pleasantly surprised to find that EGW said this the 58th chapter is the message for the end of time that needs to be preached again and again. She was not talking about the Sabbath part of it.

[12tribes]

....and how is that done, 12t?

Before the sabbath can be a delight they must first love God otherwise it would be a burden. To me the sabbath is the best day of the week it is a day that I can spend the whole day with God and His people without any worldly distractions. I love going to sabbath school to discuss the Bible, I wish more people on this forum would be involved in the SS lesson on this site there are some good topics.

[doug yowell]

Won,

I was also quite pleasantly surprised to find that EGW said this the 58th chapter is the message for the end of time that needs to be preached again and again. She was not talking about the Sabbath part of it.

That would be interesting, Seventh-day Adventists preaching an end time message which didn't include the Sabbath? Would you mind passing on that reference to us,Tom?

[12tribes]

Originally Posted By: Tom Wetmore

Won,

I was also quite pleasantly surprised to find that EGW said this the 58th chapter is the message for the end of time that needs to be preached again and again. She was not talking about the Sabbath part of it.

That would be interesting, Seventh-day Adventists preaching an end time message which didn't include the Sabbath? Would you mind passing on that reference to us,Tom?

[BobRyan]

I was also quite pleasantly surprised to find that EGW said this the 58th chapter is the message for the end of time that needs to be preached again and again. She was not talking about the Sabbath part of it.

[doug yowell]

The Chapter That Defines Our Work&#151;The whole of the fifty-eighth chapter of Isaiah is to be regarded as a message for this time, to be given over and over again.&#151;< Special Testimonies, Series B 02:5. {WM 29.1}

What saith the Lord in the fifty-eighth chapter of Isaiah? The whole chapter is of the highest importance.&#151;Testimonies for the Church 8:159. {WM 29.2}

I'm guessing that that wasn't the quote that Tom was referring to.

[doug yowell]

[Overaged]

....and how is that done, 12t?

This is an explosive post

[Overaged]

Doug; what is this post of your's supposed to be about, eh?

[Tom Wetmore]

Originally Posted By: 12tribes

The Chapter That Defines Our Work&#151;The whole of the fifty-eighth chapter of Isaiah is to be regarded as a message for this time, to be given over and over again.&#151;< Special Testimonies, Series B 02:5. {WM 29.1}

What saith the Lord in the fifty-eighth chapter of Isaiah? The whole chapter is of the highest importance.&#151;Testimonies for the Church 8:159. {WM 29.2}

I'm guessing that that wasn't the quote that Tom was referring to.

I'm guessing it was precisely what I was referring to...

I didn't post any reference in hopes people would do a bit of investigating for themselves what she had to say about the whole chapter of Isaiah 58.

[Tom Wetmore]

Originally Posted By: Tom Wetmore

I was also quite pleasantly surprised to find that EGW said this the 58th chapter is the message for the end of time that needs to be preached again and again. She was not talking about the Sabbath part of it.

Since you provide no reference at all for that -- maybe you were thinking of this one --

Originally Posted By: Splendor to Shadow

A breach has been made in God’s law—the wall that He placed around His chosen ones for their protection, and obedience to whose precepts of justice, truth, and purity is to be their perpetual safeguard. The prophet points out the specific work of this remnant people who built the wall: “If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on My holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the Lord honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly; then you shall take delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride upon the heights of the earth.” Isaiah 58:13, 14, RSV. {SS 351.3}

Quote:

You love your ease too well. You are not painstaking enough. Constant effort is required, constant watchfulness and earnest, fervent prayer. Keep the mind in a praying mood, uplifted to God; be not slothful in business, but fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. {2T 701.2}

You have failed in your family to appreciate the sacredness of the Sabbath and to teach it to your children and enjoin upon them the importance of keeping it according to the commandment. Your sensibilities are not clear and ready to discern the high standard that we must reach in order to be commandment keepers. But God will assist you in your efforts when you take hold of the work earnestly. You should possess perfect control over yourself; then you can have better success in controlling your children when they are unruly. There is a great work before you to repair past neglects; but you are not required to perform it in your own strength. Ministering angels will aid you in the work. Do not give up the work nor lay aside the burden, but take hold of it with a will and repair your long neglect. You must have higher views of God’s claims upon you in regard to His holy day. Everything that can possibly be done on the six days which God has given to you, should be done. You should not rob God of one hour of holy time. Great blessings are promised to those who place a high estimate upon the Sabbath and realize the obligations resting upon them in regard to its observance: “If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath [from trampling upon it, setting it at nought], from doing thy pleasure on My holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable; and shalt honor 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.” {2T 701.3}

Maybe if you would quoted something showing that Ellen White's reference to Is 58 is not specifically to the section she quotes above - we could better understand your point.

in Christ,

Bob

Maybe if you would have read the specific references provided by 12tribes and done a search of all the rest of the places EGW speaks of the 58th chapter of Isaiah, you would not have felt a need to quibble with me about it. Before you try to argue with me about it read all of the passages where she speaks of any part of Isaiah 58. Happy reading. She speaks of that chapter quite often.

[BobRyan]

[q read all of the passages where she speaks of any part of Isaiah 58. Happy reading. She speaks of that chapter quite often.

err.. ummm... that was "my point".

in Christ,

Bob

[Tom Wetmore]

Not the specific point she makes...

Read the context of the quotes 12tribes posted. That was the exact statement where she says it is the message for our time. And she was not speaking of the last two verses. Take a look at the Scripture Index for EGW writings. You will find that the overwhelming majority of her many references to Isaiah 58, are also not about the last two verses. Of course she speaks of the Sabbath. But that was not the main point of the 58th chapter of Isaiah.

Maybe the Sabbath is more than just about a day of the week. Maybe true worship is more than singing, praying and going to church.

Maybe we need to stop doing things our way and do what God delights in on Sabbath. Like he describes in the first part of the chapter. Like Jesus did while he was here on earth - Read about his seven Sabbath miracles.

[John317]

You have a good point about Isaiah 58 being more than about the right day on which to worship, but wouldn't you agree that keeping the Sabbath on the seventh day of the week is part of Isaiah 58?

For instance, if I do common labor on the Sabbath and go to church on Sunday instead, would I be correctly understanding and practicing what God says in Isaiah 56 and 58?

[Neil D]

What do you mean by "common labor"?

Does sailing fall under the definition of common labor?

If you study the wind, know how to use it to get from point a to point b, and you find joy in it on the Sabbath day, what's to say that it is wrong to do?

Is sailing out to find a place to read and worship God on the Sabbath any different than just sailing and enjoying the ride?

[Overaged]

What do you mean by "common labor"?

Does sailing fall under the definition of common labor?

If you study the wind, know how to use it to get from point a to point b, and you find joy in it on the Sabbath day, what's to say that it is wrong to do?

Is sailing out to find a place to read and worship God on the Sabbath any different than just sailing and enjoying the ride?

I am not trying to be personal or anything; but it seems to me that if one asks such a question about the Sabbath; then they likely have a legalistic view of same. Just sayin.

[Overaged]

Originally Posted By: Tom Wetmore

[q read all of the passages where she speaks of any part of Isaiah 58. Happy reading. She speaks of that chapter quite often.

err.. ummm... that was "my point".

in Christ,

Bob

As Tom says in his signature: "absurdity reigns."

[Overaged]

Maybe the Sabbath is more than just about a day of the week. Maybe true worship is more than singing, praying and going to church.

Maybe we need to stop doing things our way and do what God delights in on Sabbath. Like he describes in the first part of the chapter. Like Jesus did while he was here on earth - Read about his seven Sabbath miracles.

[Tom Wetmore]

...but wouldn't you agree that keeping the Sabbath on the seventh day of the week is part of Isaiah 58?

For instance, if I do common labor on the Sabbath and go to church on Sunday instead...

But that was not in dispute or the point of concern in Isaiah 58. Nor was EGW looking at the whole chapter as about any dispute over which day is the Sabbath. That was furtherest from a Jewish mind, and I think it fair to say wasn't a point on EGW's either where she speaks of Isaiah 58. So I don't think it would be beneficial to go down that path that would totally miss the point.

I am not sure what you mean by "common labor", either. But I think that may lead us in a different direction than was intended in Isaiah 58. So I would rather not go down that road just now either.

I think the part that we as Adventists have so often misunderstood about verses 13 and 14 is the part about doing or seeking our own pleasure, which is really where I understood Won was going in his OP. By thinking it was talking about recreation or doing what we enjoy we totally misunderstand it and go off on meaningless tangents about hiking, boating, swimming, etc., that miss the point.

I came to understand this better when I confronted the apparent contradiction in verse 13 between not doing our own pleasure and calling the Sabbath a delight. Its hard to avoid one and do the other, it would seem. And the phrase seems rather vague. That vagueness has meant it has been applied to countless possible activities. Some translations seem to narrow it a bit as "doing as you please". But still that doesn't resolve the contradiction. So I took a contextual approach to the verse looking to see if that phrase is used elsewhere in the immediate context. And sure enough, there it is in verse 3. The difference is that God expounds specifically what he means by "doing as you please" in the context of worshipping Him (fasting as a specific part of worship). Read verse 4 and onward. Not only is God specific about what he means by doing as we please, but he is very specific about the opposite, doing what brings him delight - how He really wants us to worship him.

Now when you read the Sabbath verses, it makes sense. It is as if he says, "And Sabbath is a day to really shine on this account, delighting in doing my good pleasure to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke... to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter--when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood. If you have done that then Sabbath will be a delightful blessing for everyone." That is also the approach Jesus took to the Sabbath. He declared, "It is lawful (the right thing) to do good on the Sabbath." And he showed us what he meant.

The "doing as we please" was directed at the bad behavior of exploitation and fighting amongst ourselves and disregard for others. That makes our traditional angst over whether or not to swim, go boating, etc. rather trivial and meaningless.

[Overaged]

The "doing as we please" was directed at the bad behavior of exploitation and fighting amongst ourselves and disregard for others. That makes our traditional angst over whether or not to swim, go boating, etc. rather trivial and meaningless.

Very good Tom! I enjoyed this post. So true