Lord of the Sabbath: Series Wrap Up

Today’s post is the wrap up for our series, Lord of the Sabbath. All this month as we’ve attempted to learn more about the Sabbath and what it teaches us about God.

Sabbath rest.

Those words sound so sweet, don’t they? And I pray that as we say goodbye to October, those words sound even sweeter than they did before you joined us in this monthlong series of looking intently at what Sabbath says about God!

Through God’s giving of the Sabbath, we see His nature. As I stated in the introduction to this series,

And while “the salvation we have in Christ has made the old law of the Sabbath no longer needed or binding” the Sabbath continually points to Him.

Throughout the Bible, not only in the New Testament, Sabbath rest points hearts to God! Sabbath reveals His character and attributes in myriad ways.

Yes! God shows us that:

He’s a God of provision.
He loves us enough to give us good gifts.
Our health is important to Him.
He desires our obedience.
He’s a promise-keeping God.
And also through the Sabbath, He shares glimpses of things to come.

There is so much to learn about God!

What does the Sabbath teach us about God's nature? Lord of the Sabbath - wrap up of a monthlong series at DoNotDepart.com

Our Posts:

What the Sabbath Says: The God Who Provides

I looked at the story of the Exodus to show how the Sabbath points to God’s provision. When they grumbled for food, He gave it. God provided enough manna and quail to feed His people and last them through a day of rest on the Sabbath. “What was God doing here? God wasn’t just caving to the desires of His people; He was teaching them a valuable lesson about Himself. He provides! And as His people, we (like they, then) should trust that He is faithful to do that.”

Less Google, More God – Take and Informational Sabbath

God is omnipotent! But it’s our human nature to crave information. In her post, Lisa reminded us that how important it is to understand that knowledge alone can’t save us! “Knowledge by itself does not save us. It leads us to the One who can: Christ the living Truth (John 8:32 ).Thankfully we don’t have to figure everything out. God already has. He knows it all. And we know Him.” Lisa challenged us to take a “Sabbath” from Google. “During your Sabbath break, trust God to let you know what you need to know, when you need to know it.”

The Lord of the Sabbath is Trustworthy

Jaime taught us about the importance of physical rest and how it points to trust in God. “Rest, it seems, is the action of trust. Taking time to rest acknowledges our dependence on God. …He can be trusted because He is

Unchangeable (Malachi 3:6 ; Numbers 23:19 ; Psalm 102:26-27 )
Just (Deuteronomy 32:4 ; Psalm 18:30 )
Good (Psalm 145:9 , Psalm 34:8 )
He keeps his promises (Numbers 23:19 , 2 Corinthians 1:20 )

As we practice the Sabbath rest we learn firsthand that God is worth putting our trust in and on that foundation of experience we can ‘be still and know’ who God is.”

Set Apart by the Lord of the Sabbath

Cheli shared with us ways that we are set apart by God. “Very few of the special days dotting the calendar are true ‘holy days.'” …but “God designed the Sabbath as a holy day to remind us of our identity in Him. No matter your practice of Sabbath, God has given it to us as a reminder of who we are in Him. He has provided the Sabbath to set us apart as created, saved and sanctified.”

Why Can We Rest? Jesus is the Answer!

In our series, we did a lot of looking at what Sabbath rest says about God’s character. Let’s not forget, though, that the whole reason we can rest in the first place is because of Jesus, our beloved Savior. Through His sacrifice, we are made acceptable to God. (Hebrews 10:12) Unlike the Old Testament Jews who had laws to follow and sacrifices to offer in order to please God, we can rest in the fact that Jesus has done everything necessary in order to make us righteous in the Father’s eyes! (2 Corinthians 5:21, Philippians 3:9)

Glimpses of the Future

Because of the perfect and complete rest we find through belief in Jesus, we will gain life in eternity. Our Sabbath is an eternal promise, and someday we will rest completely in the presence of our mighty, loving God! What a wonderful thing that will be!

Wrap Up

Though sometimes we can’t do anything to change the busy season we’re in, we can always find rest and peace when we trust the Lord of the Sabbath. He has so much to teach us about who He is! And when we are still, we can know Him better.