The Sabbath Day: A Sign Between God and His People

As human beings, we love to mark ourselves with an outward demonstration of a group we belong to. This can be something like a Christian wearing a necklace with a cross charm, or a Latter-day Saint wearing a CTR ring. It can be through clothes we wear, the manner in which we groom ourselves, and so forth. We like to know we belong somewhere, and we like to be able to recognize other people in our group by these markings.

Most of the time there is no harm in these outward markings, but these are not what really matter. When Samuel, the ancient Israelite prophet, was commanded to anoint a King of Israel from Jesse’s family, the Lord told him, “The Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7).

In the scriptures, the Lord occasionally gives His own markings that He looks for to know His people. I will discuss one of these today. In Exodus 31:13, the Lord says to Moses, “Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my Sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you.”

Thus one of the “markings” that the Lord looks for on the heart is the commitment to keeping the Sabbath day holy. Most people recognize this as one of the Ten Commandments, but I think very few realize just how important this is to the Lord. Our obedience to this commandment is a direct testament to the Lord that we are His people. This knowledge merits taking a closer look at what the scriptures teach about this commandment.

When the Lord originally gave the Ten Commandments to Moses, He decreed that men should work for six days, and then rest on the Sabbath and do no work thereon (Exodus 20:8-10). The concept of rest on the Sabbath is frequently taught throughout the scriptures. If there is any way to avoid working, we are to do so. Not only do we not work, but we also avoid having to make others work as well.

One of my favorite passages that illustrates the importance of this principle is found in Nehemiah. Nehemiah was a Jewish leader charged with rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, and was also influential in reforming the people and rededicating them to the Lord. In Nehemiah 13:15-22 he tells us that he saw some people working on the Sabbath by making wine, harvesting, and selling. Nehemiah decried this activity, calling it evil, and commanded that all such activity should cease, or else he would “lay hands on them.”

This is a pretty strong statement. Many believe shopping on the Sabbath is wrong, but evil? And it was such a serious offense that Nehemiah was threatening to beat up the offenders? What prompted Nehemiah to say these things? Nehemiah gives us the answer in verse 18 from the passage cited above. “Did not your fathers thus, and did not our God bring all this evil upon us, and upon this city? Yet ye bring more wrath upon Israel by profaning the Sabbath.”

What did he mean by that? To understand, we need to expand our reading and understanding of the Old Testament. Many writers in the Old Testament indicate that the people had abandoned the commandment to keep the Sabbath, and that by doing so, they were putting themselves in spiritual and physical danger. Here are a few examples:

“Thou hast despised mine holy things, and hast profaned my Sabbaths” (Ezekiel 22:8). The fact that the people polluted the Sabbath is actually mentioned many times in the book of Ezekiel. Because the people abandoned the Lord by profaning the Sabbath and following after idols, the Lord told Ezekiel that Israel would also be abandoned.

“But if ye will not hearken unto me to hallow the Sabbath day, and not to bear a burden, even entering in at the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day; then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched” (Jeremiah 17:27). Because Jerusalem and its palaces and temples were destroyed by Babylon, we can see that the people were not keeping the Sabbath.

In 2 Chronicles, the historian tells of the destruction of Jerusalem and then concludes by saying all this was done, “To fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her Sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept Sabbath, to fulfill threescore and ten years” (2 Chronicles 36:21).

This, then, was the cause of Nehemiah’s concern. One of the reasons that Israel had been scattered and Jerusalem destroyed is because the people were not honoring the Sabbath. Nehemiah was determined to not let history repeat itself. Now, of course, there were many other terrible immoral sins that Israel was committing that certainly led to their destruction, but perhaps if they had been honoring the Sabbath in the true sense that the Lord intended, these other sins would not have been committed.

Unfortunately, by the time of the Savior’s mortal ministry, the Pharisees had swung the pendulum so far the other way that the Sabbath had lost its original meaning. The leaders were outraged that Jesus would have the audacity to heal on the Sabbath (and yet apparently had no problems with meeting on the Sabbath to plan how to kill Jesus—figure that one out).

So on the one hand we have the Israelites completely ignoring the Sabbath day. On the other we have the Pharisees distorting it to the point where it is meaningless. If we know that keeping the Sabbath day is so important to the Lord that He considers it a sign of His people, then it becomes clear that we need to understand what true Sabbath day observance entails so that the Lord can recognize us as His own.

This subject will be explored in Part Two.

The Sabbath Day: A Day to Become God's People

In my last post I briefly discussed what could be called the pendulum of mortal minds, always swinging from one extreme to the other. In particular, I mentioned the extremes of Sabbath Day observance, with utterly disregarding the day on one extreme, and being so strict in observance that the day loses its meaning in the other extreme.

When the Lord gave Moses the commandment to honor the Sabbath Day, He did not elaborate too much on what He intended the people to do. He told them not to do any work (Exodus 20:10), and to enforce this point He did not provide any manna on the Sabbath Day (Exodus 16:22-26), but beyond that, He did not give much clarification, other than commanding them to “keep it holy.”

Why didn’t the Lord give more clarification on what it meant to keep the Sabbath Day holy? It is because the people were already familiar with this commandment before they ever approached Sinai. Indeed, this commandment is as old as Eden. The scripture cited above from Exodus 16 is evidence of this fact. Moses tells the people to gather double the amount on the sixth day, because there would be no Manna on the Sabbath. But the Ten Commandments aren’t given until chapter 20! This was a commandment that the Lord’s people were already familiar with.

Unfortunately, the people of Israel soon forgot this commandment reinforced by the Lord, as was mentioned in my previous post. Their unfortunate sin and error becomes our blessing, however, because we get nuggets of truth from the scriptures as the Lord and His servants teach the people what it means to “remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy.”

Let us first examine the teachings of Isaiah. In chapter 58:13-14, we read, “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: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord…”

From this passage we understand that to keep the Sabbath Day holy, we must refrain from pursuing our own wills and pleasures and seeking instead to do the Lord’s will, to honor Him, to say and do the things He would have us do. We don’t need a huge lists of “do’s and don’ts” for the Sabbath. We just need to ask ourselves the honest question, “Am I doing this for me, or for the Lord?” Using this measurement, it should be simple to determine what activities are appropriate for the Sabbath.

But what if a personal need does arise on the Sabbath? What then?

The Savior Himself addressed this. When approached by a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath, the Pharisees, always ready to pounce on an opportunity to attack Jesus, asked Him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”

“What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the Sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out? How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the Sabbath days” (Matthew 12:10-12).

Elsewhere the Savior taught, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Wherefore the Sabbath was given unto man for a day of rest; and also that man should glorify God, and not that man should not eat” (Mark 2:27, JST Mark 2:26).

I remember my first year living in Utah after moving from California. There was a big snowfall on Saturday night and we got a phone call Sunday morning to tell us that Church was canceled. Church? Cancelled? Can they do that? It was a new concept to me! But rather than getting a “day off” from Church, the men in the ward were asked to help dig out their neighbors who were snowed in. Does that sound like a day of rest? Nope! Curling up in a blanket with a book and hot cocoa sounds more like a day of rest to me! But would that be my will, or God’s will? If Jesus were in my ward, He would be out there shoveling snow on that day. His day. A day to do good.

Finally, let’s turn to a modern scripture that reinforces the eternal nature of the commandment to keep in the Sabbath Day holy. In 1831, the prophet Joseph Smith received further instruction on this commandment. Importantly, this instruction was part of a revelation regarding Zion. From this we can infer that keeping the Sabbath Day holy is an essential part of living worthy of Zion. How fitting that the Lord’s people in the Lord’s city are to be found honoring the Lord’s day.

In D&C 59:9-13 we read, “And that thou mayest more fully keep thyself unspotted from the world, thou shalt go to the house of prayer and offer up thy sacraments upon my holy day; For verily this is a day appointed unto you to rest from your labors, and to pay thy devotions unto the Most High; Nevertheless thy vows shall be offered up in righteousness on all days and at all times; But remember that on this, the Lord’s day, thou shalt offer thine oblations and thy sacraments unto the Most High, confessing thy sins unto thy brethren, and before the Lord. And on this day thou shalt do no other thing, only let thy food be prepared with singleness of heart.”

I had to look up some of these words because of the way they are used. Growing up in the LDS Church, I always thought the word “sacrament” meant bread and water/wine that has been blessed. But that definition doesn’t quite fit its use in this verse. When I looked up the word, I learned that “sacrament” means “solemn oath,” which definitely fits what the Sacrament should be. The word “oblation” refers to a gift given to God. In the footnotes of D&C 59:12, it specifically states it refers to offerings of time, talents, or means in service of God and fellowmen.

To keep the Sabbath Day holy, we are to refrain from doing our own will and seeking our own pleasure. Instead, we seek to do the Lord’s will, to do His work, to do good on His day. Sometimes “sheep-in-the-pit” situations happen on the Sabbath, and when they do we should take care of them. But we should also prepare to prevent such situations from happening as much as we can. We are to rest from our regular labors to reinvigorate our minds and bodies. Most of all, we are to reestablish a connection with the Lord, to renew our covenants with Him, and to recommit to serve Him.

I mentioned in my last post that a sign the Lord has given to mark His people is their observance of the Sabbath Day. Why? Because those who are truly honoring the Sabbath and keeping it holy are those who want to be closer to the Lord. In short, the Lord’s people are those who want to be His people. And those people demonstrate it by honoring and using His holy day as He intended. They delight in the Lord and He delights in them.

If we did these things, we would feel a greater connection with our Savior. Having such a sweet communion would certainly make the Sabbath a delight to us! Knowing that there is a day set apart where I can focus more on my relationship with Jesus Christ, where I can draw nearer to Him without being hindered by worldly distractions is certainly an idea I find delightful.

The Two Great Commandments

"Master,” asked a lawyer, “which is the great commandment in the law?”

Jesus said unto him, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with allthy mind. This is the first and great commandment.”

With this response, Jesus answered the lawyer’s question. However, instead of ending the conversation here, He used this opportunity for a great teaching moment. He added, “And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”

I have been pondering on this lately. We know the Savior is the Master Teacher. I have studied His words all my life and I still learn new things. I have learned to look deeper at what the Savior teaches. As I have been pondering this passage, I discovered a possible purpose for the Savior to give not only the answer to the original question, but to also supply a follow-up teaching.

For some reason, we seem to have established a false dichotomy in our society, where the belief has been created that you cannot live both laws. This is FALSE. Love for God does not equate hatred for fellowmen. John, one of the Savior’s closest apostles taught, “If a man say, I love God, and he hateth his brother, he is a liar.”

Last week the world learned about a horrific shooting that targeted gays, murdering and injuring over 100 of them. In response to this awful tragedy, some have stated the shooter was sent by God and it fulfilled God’s will. I am sickened by this response. The God I know would NEVER desire this.

Come with me to the Old Testament, to the book of Ezekiel. In chapter 18 we read, “Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord God: and not that he should return from his ways and live? For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God.” (Ezekiel 18:23, 32, emphasis added).

Let’s go back to my original point. The first great commandment is to love God. Jesus taught his disciples, “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15). Therefore, we show our love for God by keeping his commandments. We do not approve of sin, nor do we support it.

But how do we reject sin and still keep the second commandment, to love our neighbor as ourselves? I think the Savior answered this question Himself when He was asked the question, “Who is my neighbor?” He proceeded to tell the story of the Good Samaritan.

To quickly recap the story, a Jew goes down to Jericho and is attacked by thieves who leave him for dead. After being passed by a priest and a Levite (interestingly enough, two people who were supposed to be in God’s service), a Samaritan stops to help him and administers to his every need. After giving this parable, the Savior did not bother answering who the neighbor is. He responded, as He so often did, with a question of His own: “Which of these was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?” Rather than trying to determine who our neighbor is, it is more important to just BE a neighbor.

Let’s look at that story a little closer. Who were the Samaritans? They were a people who mixed with the gentiles. They were cut off from the Jews and seen as unfaithful, impure, and inferior.
Isn’t it interesting that Jesus chose the Samaritan to be the good guy in the story? Why didn’t he talk about a Samaritan who got beat up by robbers and there was an awesome Jew who came to the rescue? Could it be because Jesus wanted us to understand that we should not look down on others?

What if the parable were given for the first time today? What if instead of a Samaritan, the helper was a gay person. If two church-goers passed by the injured and then a gay person came to the rescue instead, what would the lesson be? Does that idea shock you? When the Savior used a Samaritan in his parable, it likely had the same shock effect. Is it possible there is something we can learn from these brothers and sisters? I have met many people in my life who have same-sex attraction and they are often among the most empathetic and caring people I have met. I enjoy their friendships and I care about them. They are human beings. My brothers and sisters. God’s children. And I love them without approving of homosexuality.

Last week, in the tragedy where over a hundred gay brothers and sisters were attacked, they became the victims in the parable. Now we have the opportunity to choose who we will be in the story. Will we choose to be the priest or Levite, leaving them to suffer, mocking them even, as we go about what we think to be the Lord’s business? Or will we choose to love our neighbor, recognizing that our brothers and sisters have been hurt and come to their aid? Will we comfort them? Cry with them? Love them? Will we choose to love God by following the example of His Son and loving our neighbor? Will we keep both of the great commandments?

I hope every Christian will answer YES! Only if we do this thing can we look forward to being at the right hand of God at the great and last day. “Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me… Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” (Matthew 25:31-40)

Did Jesus exclude anybody from his list? The answer is no. There are no clauses saying, “Except sinners, or people who believe this, or do that, etc.” It is plain and simple: anytime you serve ANYBODY, Jesus feels you are serving Him. So let us serve our brothers and sisters, no matter who they are, and no matter whether or not we agree with their choices or share the same beliefs. Each kind deed to any human being is a gift to God. May we bring Him many such gifts, because we love Him.

After all, that is the first and great commandment.