Keeping the Sabbath

And it happened that He was passing through the grain fields on the Sabbath, and His disciples began to make their way along while picking the heads of grain. The Pharisees were saying to Him, "Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?" And He said to them, "Have you never read what David did when he was in need and he and his companions became hungry; how he entered the house of God in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the consecrated bread, which is not lawful for anyone to eat except the priests, and he also gave it to those who were with him?" Jesus said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath."  Mark 2:23-28 NASB. Also in Matthew 12:1-8.

The story of David eating the showbread, the consecrated bread, is in 1 Samuel 21:1-6. This special bread was given to David to preserve his life, and that of the men with him, although with a closer look at the story it seems that David may have been alone as he lied to Abiathar about being there on the king’s business. The story of Abiathar goes on in the next chapter of Samuel with King Saul commanding the death of that priest and eighty-four other priests because they gave bread to David. Such brutality over bread. You might argue that it was special bread consecrated to God—but was that worth eighty-five people losing their lives? I would like to think that God is more merciful—but Saul was vengeful.

The showbread was to be eaten before the face of God—in His presence, to enjoy His hospitality. It is a way of saying, Lord I want to be transformed by seeing your face. The bread was replaced daily with fresh bread and that bread given to David was “day old” bread. We are depending on God for survival and fellowship with God is necessary. Don’t be satisfied with an old moldy relationship with the Lord. Make it a fresh daily. One commentary I read said that human traditions are never more important than God’s word itself. I agree. God didn’t forbid people other than priests eating the showbread. It was just a sacred tradition, and Leviticus 24:9 tells us that the showbread was to be eaten in a holy place by the priest.

Are we so caught up in daily life that we forget about keeping the Sabbath that was made for us, as Jesus reminds us with those red letter words? God created man on the sixth day and then He rested on the seventh day of creation. See Genesis 1:26-Genesis 2: 3. The celebration of the Sabbath is an awkward thing for some Christians. Do we celebrate the Sabbath on the day of Jesus resurrection, Sunday, or on Saturday in keeping with the Ten Commandments given to Moses? Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. "Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” Exodus 20:8-11 NASB. No work on Saturday or Sunday seems impossible for most of us. How do we wisely honor God with this Sabbath question?   

Prayer ~ Dear Lord—Show us how and when to celebrate the Sabbath for we want to worship and honor You. Is every day the Sabbath day?

From September 30, 2012 Banquet With The King blog.

© 2016 by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.

All scripture quoted from the New Living Translation (NLT) unless otherwise noted.

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