I said to my husband last Sunday: ‘I think that when God told us in the commandments to keep the sabbath day holy that he meant to rest. Not to do anything just rest.’
During the week I listened to a tape by Roger Price (see my article Trapped Grief ) He mentioned a passage from the bible: Dueteronomy Chapter 5. It is the Ten Commandments.
The reason Roger mentions it in his tape is because he is drawing an inference made by a rich man who wanted to know about Jesus. (Mark {this takes you to the Online Bible and you can look the reference up for yourself} Chapter 10 verse 17) Jesus immediately recognised a very rich man, so much so that he wasn’t keeping one of the commandments where God tells us to honour our father and mother.
The pharisees had turned this commandment around and confused it. In the days of Moses it meant that the children had to look after their parents and give them a sum of money for their keep. (as well as respect them emotionally) This rich man so loved his money that he went along with the pharisees (who also loved the wealth and power of money) who said in a very complicated fashion that they didn’t have to give any of their money to their parents but give it to the pharisees instead.
So back Roger takes me to Dueteronomy. It interests me hugely. I realised that I hadn’t read the commandments from the bible before. I only knew them from the Vatican Catholic catechism. (The catholic rule book, which is basically a confused version of bible stuff)
This is what it says in my bible, The King James Revised Version. Dueteronomy Chapter 5 verse 12:
“Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you.
Six days you shall labour and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall not do any work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your manservant, nor your maidservant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates, that your manservant and your maidservant may rest as well as you.
And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and that the Lord your God brought you out by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.”
The words in italics are not literal translation but added by the translators of the bible to infer understanding of the text.
So where did the idea of churches come from? The word church is mentioned in the New Testament and it comes from the greek word which means a group of people. It doesn’t mean a building where people gather to recite words from the bible in different fashions. The greek word which was translated to ‘church’ means a group of people.
So with this commandment God is asking us to rest on the Sabbath. And to remember that once there was no rest when they were slaves. So rest in the peace and the knowledge that God saves and God provides.
Over the years and the different political ruling systems, this idea of resting in the secure knowledge that God provides has been confused and corrupted and the people have been bullied by the powers that be to attend a building or God will be angry with you. To part with your money and give to the people who run the building or God will be angry with you.
It is all a corruption of what God really did say in His commandments that has got so twisted and diluted down the years that every single ‘church’ body or religion firmly believes that one should attend a building, recite the bible in some fashion and give money.
And some do it to such a degree that they go twice on a Sunday to this building. That they do not rest, they exhaust themselves and any time they could give to their children, to their spouses, to their loved ones, to their families is taken up with attending a building.
This is not what God meant. Read Dueteronomy Chap 5 for yourselves. It is all there in His bible, God’s word, His son Jesus Christ.
On our day of rest it is assumed that because we are Christians that we will ‘meet’ with like minded people and ‘pray’ together. The ‘like’ minded people could be your family or even simply one friend. ‘Pray’ together can mean ‘chatting’ to God. How long you spend meeting with the ‘like’ minded person and in ‘prayer’ is up to you remembering that you are meant to be resting and not causing frustration to other members of your family and friends.
A belief in God is not complicated and full of stifling, suffocating, inhibiting rules. A belief in God sets you free completely to live the life you are designed to live. It is so simple and freeing. Thank you God!
Read also: Bible Titus Chap 3 verse 5 and Ephesians Chapter 2 verse 8.
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