Monday, April 08, 2013

Does He Care if We Care?

In Revelation 14:7, God sends three angels to tell "every tribe, nation, language, and people" to worship He who "made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them." Significantly, THAT phrase is a quote from the 4th commandment (Exodus 20:8-11) which begins with "Remember the Sabbath day...six days you shall labor but the seventh day is the Sabbath" but ends with what's quoted in Revelation 14:7 "...the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them." Apparently, the Lord has a day and still cares if we care (if He didn't, why would He send heavenly angels to say so in a loud voice to everyone on earth?) But why does He care? Because He SO loves us (like crazy)! And always has!

That's why hundreds of years earlier God said Sabbath was not just for Jews in Isaiah 56:2 "Blessed are those who honor my Sabbath days of rest and keep themselves from doing wrong. I will also bless the foreigners (Gentiles - like us) who commit themselves to the LORD, who serve him and love his name, who worship him and do not desecrate the Sabbath day of rest, and who hold fast to my covenant."

But what about the rejected and marginalized and those far from God? Isaiah 56:4-5 says, "I will bless those eunuchs who keep my Sabbath days holy and who choose to do what pleases me and commit their lives to me. I will give them—within the walls of my house—a memorial and a name far greater than sons and daughters could give. For the name I give them is an everlasting one. It will never disappear!" No wonder Isaiah 56:7 says that one day, God's house would be a house of prayer for "all nations."

What's kinda cool is we're living during the time when some of this is taking place. Various tribes and nations and languages and people of faith or no faith are beginning to see the significance of the Sabbath. Recently, I saw a video of how a Presbyterian minister shares how she observes Sabbath in her home on Saturdays. Kept right, it's a delight (Isaiah 58:13-14)! To God and to us. Shouldn't we care if He cares?

1 comment:

Henry Miller said...

Extremely powerful. Thank you for sharing it.