THE SABBATH HAS BENEFITS! Did you know that you receive multiple benefits when you rest on the Sabbath? What is the Sabbath? The Sabbath is observed on the seventh day of the week. It has significance in many religions, particularly Judaism and Christianity. Moreover, research has demonstrated that resting on the Sabbath offers positive benefits.
In the context of the three angels’ messages in Revelation 14, we look deeper at the Sabbath and its relevance for us today.
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Seeking God’s Help
Holy Father, showing your concern for our well-being. You provided us with many guidelines to help us transverse this world and move into eternity. Give us the heart and will to follow your instructions. In Jesus’ Name Amen
Research on the effects of resting on the Sabbath has focused on its impact on health, well-being, productivity, and work-life balance. The following are some findings from various studies. Resting on the Sabbath improves:
- Health and well-being: Taking a day of rest has been linked to reduced stress levels, decreased burnout, improved sleep quality, and increased overall well-being.
- Work performance and productivity: taking a day of rest allows individuals to recharge and recover. Therefore, employees experience higher levels of focus, creativity, and problem-solving abilities.
- Work-life balance: Observing the Sabbath allows individuals to disconnect from work-related responsibilities and spend time on personal and social activities, leading to greater satisfaction in both professional and personal areas.
- Relationship satisfaction: Resting on the Sabbath can positively impact relationships. It allows individuals to spend quality time with family and friends, enhancing meaningful conversations. It encourages family and friends to participate in shared activities that strengthen bonds and improve relationship satisfaction.
Moreover, research has also shown that taking Sabbath rest has many positive psychological benefits, including reduced anxiety, improved mood, enhanced self-reflection, and giving a sense of purpose and meaning in life.
Even with all the benefits that research shows for Sabbath rest. The Bible provides a deeper meaning for Sabbath worship. God gave us the Sabbath because we need to have an avenue to help us remember that He made us and that He is our creator. The Sabbath takes us back to creation and points us to the one who created us. Hence, God gave us the Sabbath because He knew our world would desperately need the reassurance that we have a creator.
Thus, in the mid-1800s, when people everywhere accepted the teachings of evolution, God sent a message of incredible hope. This message is found in Revelation 14:6, 7.
6 Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth—to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people—
7 saying with a loud voice, “Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.” (Revelation 14:6-7)
You see, Satan is Jesus’ bitter enemy. His aim is to make every attempt to distort the idea that Jesus is our creator. (Split)
It is all about worship. Satan does not want Jesus to receive the worship due to Him as our Creator and Redeemer. Instead, he wants us to Worship him.
Therefore, The Sabbath is at the center of the great controversy over Christ’s worthiness to receive our worship as Creator.
Hence, God’s last-day message is one that calls all humanity back to worshiping Christ as the Creator of the Heavens and earth.
The following scriptures in the context of Revelation 14:6, 7 show the link between the Genesis story of Creation, the Sabbath commandment, and our Redemption.
Genesis 2:1-3
1 Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished.
2 And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.
3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made. (Genesis 2:1-3)
Exodus 20:8-11
8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work,
10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. (Split)
11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. (Exodus 20:8-11)
Deuteronomy 5:12-15
12 ‘Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you.
13 Six days you shall labor and do all your work,
14 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you.
15 And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day. (Deuteronomy 5:12-15)
Do you see that it is all about worshipping our Creator?
Thus, the Sabbath represents our rest in Jesus.
In Ezekiel 20:12 and 20, we discover that the Sabbath is a special sign of our loyalty to Him as our Creator.
Ezekiel 20:12
12 Moreover I also gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign between them and Me, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them.
Ezekiel 20:20
20 hallow My Sabbaths, and they will be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am the Lord your God.’ (Ezekiel 20:12, 20)
So, the idea of Sabbath Worship has been craftily distorted, and of course, we know the true culprit. Many people claim that Sabbath observance is legalist.
On the contrary, the Sabbath shows that we trust in God to save us and not our good behavior. It shows that God does for us the thing we can’t do for ourselves. It reminds us that God is our creator and that, as our creator, He saves us from our sins. The Sabbath points to God, who has done for us what we could never do for ourselves.
The point is the Bible calls us to rest in God’s love and care each Sabbath. Hence, Sabbath is a symbol of rest, not works; of grace, not legalism; of assurance, not condemnation; of faith depending upon Him, not upon ourselves.
The Sabbath is a time in which we are to, rejoice in God’s goodness and mercy, and praise Him for saving us through the blood of Jesus.
Furthermore, the Sabbath also is the eternal link between Eden in the past and the promise of the new heavens and the new earth in the future as revealed in Isaiah 65:17; Revelation 21:1
Isaiah 65:17
17 “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former shall not be remembered or come to mind. (Isaiah 65:17)
Revelation 21:1
1 Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also, there was no more sea. (Revelation 21:1)
In other words, The Sabbath points us back to our roots. It’s a link to our family of origin.
The Sabbath is not new, nor is it under what some claim as the old dispensation. It has been observed continuously since the beginning of time. It is a reminder that we are all children of God, calling us to an intimate, close relationship with Him.
The book, The Desire of Ages expresses it this way:
Since [Christ] made all things, He made the Sabbath. By Him it was set apart as a memorial of the work of creation. It points to Him as both the Creator and the Sanctifier. It declares that He who created all things in heaven and in earth, and by whom all things hold together, is the head of the church, and that by His power we are reconciled to God. . . . [T]he Sabbath is a sign of Christ’s power to make us holy. (Split)
Need to improve your health and well-being, need to destress, want to reconnect to God? Try His Sabbath.
For everything that God offers, Satan offers a counter. What is his counter to creation?
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Find out, Part 4: A Not-So-Subtle Deception
Hebron Seventh-day Adventist Church
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Houston, TX 77088
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