'How To' Instructions in Righteousness - printer friendly version

Lesson 2:  Keep the Sabbath Holy
Key verse:  Ex 20:8
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.

Volumes have been written on the subject of the Sabbath.  Many sermons have been given.  The Sabbath has many aspects and elements to it.  I will discuss just one here, keeping the Sabbath Holy.

What does it mean to keep the Sabbath Holy?  What does "Holy" mean?  If we can ascertain this, we can apply it to any number of supposed actions and activities and see if they are appropriate to the Sabbath.  This will be your personal tool for righteousness and you will have to apply it to your own Sabbath keeping.  This is because many aspects of Sabbath-keeping are personal faith issues.  See my Minister's Notebook pieces:

1) Faith Cannot be Legislated
2) Personal Elements of Belief - Questions and Answers

The Word, "Holy".
First from a standard dictionary:

1] Belonging to, derived from, or associated with a divine power; sacred.
2] Regarded with or worthy of worship or veneration; revered.
3] Living according to a strict or highly moral religious or spiritual system; saintly.
4] Specified or set apart for a religious purpose.
5] Solemnly undertaken; sacrosanct.
6] Regarded as deserving special respect or reverence.

Now from some Bible Dictionaries:

HOLY
Moral and ethical wholeness or perfection; freedom from moral evil. Holiness is one of the essential elements of God's nature required of His people. Holiness may also be rendered "sanctification" or "godliness." The word holy denotes that which is "sanctified" or "set apart" for divine service.
(from Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary)

HOLINESS
"Separation," or "setting apart," holy, from Saxon, "halig," "whole," "sound"). Holiness is a general term used to indicate sanctity or separation from all that is sinful, impure, or morally imperfect; i.e., it is moral wholeness.
(From The New Unger's Bible Dictionary)

HOLINESS
Holiness of Place, Time and Object: From the holiness of God is derived that ceremonial holiness of things which is characteristic of the Old Testament religion. Whatever is connected with the worship of the holy Yahweh [God] is itself holy. Nothing is holy in itself, but anything becomes holy by its consecration to Him. A place where He manifests His presence is holy ground (Ex 3:5). The tabernacle or temple in which His glory is revealed is a holy building (Ex 28:29; 2 Chron 35:5); and all its sacrifices (Ex 29:33), ceremonial materials (30:25; 5:17) and utensils (1 Kings 8:4) are also holy. The Sabbath is holy because it is the Sabbath of the Lord (Ex 20:8-11). "Holiness, in short, expresses a relation, which consists negatively in separation from common use, and positively in dedication to the service of Yahweh [God]."
(from International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia)

I immediately see five components from all these definitions:

1) Holiness is associated DIRECTLY with God, Almighty.

a) associated with a divine power
b) is one of the essential elements of God's nature
c) conclusion of all definitions:  God is Holy

2) Anything connected to God is also holy:

a) specified or set apart for a religious purpose.
b) whatever is connected with the worship of the holy God is itself holy
c) nothing is holy in itself, but anything becomes holy by its consecration to Him.

3) The firstfruits spiritual obligation to holiness:

a) regarded with or worthy of worship
b) living according to a strict or highly moral religious or spiritual system
c) specified or set apart for a religious purpose
d) solemnly undertaken
e) Holiness is one of the essential elements of God's nature required of His people

4) Separation of anything holy from anything impure or sinful:

a) freedom from moral evil
b) Holiness is a general term used to indicate sanctity or separation from all that is sinful, impure, or morally imperfect
c) Holiness, in short, expresses a relation, which consists negatively in separation from common use, and positively in dedication to the service of God.

5) The Sabbath IS Holy [God is commanding that we keep it that way]:

a) The Sabbath is holy because it is the Sabbath of the Lord (Ex 20:8-11).

Key Verses
Ex 31:14-15
Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people.  Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD: whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.

Note:  God makes it clear the Sabbath is holy to us.  We cannot defileth it.  One defiles it when they engage in something impure, something from common use or which does not express relationship to the Father.

Isa 58:13
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:

Note: Engaging in our own pleasure, speaking our own words and doing our own [common] ways is opposite to holiness and being in relationship to the Father.

1 Peter 1:16
Be ye holy; for I am holy.

Lev 19:2
Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy: for I the LORD your God am holy.

Note:  We are to be holy because God is holy.

It is clear at this point that the Sabbath is:

1) holy time.
2) set aside for worship, rest and spiritual refreshing.
3) not a time for doing our own pleasure or the normal common things we do the other six days of the week.
4) we must connect ourselves to those things that God has made holy by His connection to them:  prayer, Bible Study, services, fellowship, meditation and service to the brethren.

Application
Let us apply what we have learned so far by asking ourselves a set of questions regarding a number of activities that have been witnessed over the years.  You must supply the answers based on the unction of the Holy Spirit in you and what you understand from the Word of God and this study in holiness.

Which of the follow activities do you feel appropriate to the Sabbath and connected to holiness.

1) Attending a high school basketball game?
2) Helping a friend or relative move?
3) Go to a movie theater to see a movie?
4) Watching television and especially action-adventure shows depicting good overcoming evil where evil and violence take place?
5) Harvesting the garden?
6) Mowing the lawn?
7) Working on the car, tractor or some other machine?
8) Doing the laundry?
9) Going to a company party or barbeque?
10) Going hunting or fishing?
11) Engaging in a hobby?
12) Going to a bar to watch competitive sports on TV?
13) Washing the car or RV?
14) Going to a college or technical school class?

Are any of these connected directly to God?  Do any come under the heading of worship or even rest?  Are any of these common or doing one's own pleasure?

Instructions – Keep the Sabbath Holy

1) Study and become a spiritual expert in the subject of holiness.
2) Ask God to guide you in the understanding and invoking of this Godly principle.
3) Meditate on the holiness of God.
4) Focus the application of holiness to the Sabbath.
5) Determine if any of your current Sabbath activities are inappropriate in your estimation using spiritual logic and what you know from the Word of God.
6) Seek those things on the Sabbath which you know show connection to God and are therefore, holy.
7) Keep the Sabbath Holy.