On the seventh day of Creation, God rested. We don’t often pause and ponder what that seventh day may have looked like. All we are told is that God finished the work he had been doing, so he rested on the seventh day from his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy.
Much later, after the Israelites left Egypt – and after the pursuing Egyptian army was swallowed up by the sea – the Israelites were provided with food and water – from dew and rocks. But the Israelites were a grumbling group. During that time, God directed Moses to set aside a day of rest – a holy Sabbath to the Lord. Included with the instruction, everyone was to stay where they were on the seventh day; no one was to go out. The idea was that the Sabbath day was created for rest.
People were not intended to do any work on the Sabbath day. This rhythm God created was important. Indeed, the Lord’s penalty for working on the Sabbath was death! In addition, a Sabbath provision was also given for the land. It designated a resting period for the land during the seventh year after six years of sowing and harvesting. This rhythm was not followed; the land – and the people – ended up desolated and the Bible records that the land enjoyed its Sabbath rests during these periods of desolation.
It is interesting to me that the biblical instruction for Sabbath is the exact message we are being given in response to the coronavirus: Everyone is to stay where they are; no on is to go out. It is also interesting to me that the main practices we are now constantly being advised to adhere to are washing our hands and getting rest. The most common word we now hear is “unprecedented.” But, interestingly enough, the “unprecedented” principles being incorporated today – on a grand and daily scale – were appropriated long ago for the protection and safety of humanity and the world!
Perhaps something of the magnitude of a “pandemic” is getting attention that, interestingly enough, is forcing a period of Sabbath! The idea of pausing from our work and other activities is unheard of – “unprecedented”! Fear is incubating about our economic future. Though we have been provided with so much more than dew and rocks, we are prone to grumble.
Perhaps we are being blessed with a Sabbath we have been unwilling to implement in our lives. Perhaps it is time to pause and ponder what that seventh day may have looked like.
Perhaps this is a holy time.