Sabbath- Deprived or Blessed?

Did the Israelites fleeing Egypt feel deprived or blessed? I'm sure they had a lot of mixed emotions. The elation of their new freedom from harsh taskmasters. Free from the evil rulers that had them murdering their own male children. I'd say they celebrated having those shackles removed from their lives, wouldn't you?

Exo 1:13  And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigour: 

Exo 1:14  And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in morter, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigour. 

Exo 1:15  And the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives, of which the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah: 

Exo 1:16  And he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools; if it be a son, then ye shall kill him: but if it be a daughter, then she shall live. 

The midwives feared God more than Pharaoh though and didn't kill the newborns so Pharaoh did this--

Exo 1:22  And Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter ye shall save alive. 

The cruelty that was shown to the Israelites was very real and their lives were far from easy. Did they feel blessed to be freed from the slavery they'd endured for so long? Yes. They rejoiced.

Take the time and read the song Moses and the Israelites sang--

Exo 15:1  Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the LORD, and spake, saying, I will sing unto the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea. 

Exo 15:2  The LORD is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father's God, and I will exalt him. 

Exo 15:3  The LORD is a man of war: the LORD is his name. 

Exo 15:4  Pharaoh's chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea: his chosen captains also are drowned in the Red sea. 

Exo 15:5  The depths have covered them: they sank into the bottom as a stone. 

Exo 15:6  Thy right hand, O LORD, is become glorious in power: thy right hand, O LORD, hath dashed in pieces the enemy. 

Exo 15:7  And in the greatness of thine excellency thou hast overthrown them that rose up against thee: thou sentest forth thy wrath, which consumed them as stubble. 

Exo 15:8  And with the blast of thy nostrils the waters were gathered together, the floods stood upright as an heap, and the depths were congealed in the heart of the sea. 

Exo 15:9  The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them. 

Exo 15:10  Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered them: they sank as lead in the mighty waters. 

Exo 15:11  Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? 

Exo 15:12  Thou stretchedst out thy right hand, the earth swallowed them. 

Exo 15:13  Thou in thy mercy hast led forth the people which thou hast redeemed: thou hast guided them in thy strength unto thy holy habitation. 

Exo 15:14  The people shall hear, and be afraid: sorrow shall take hold on the inhabitants of Palestina. 

Exo 15:15  Then the dukes of Edom shall be amazed; the mighty men of Moab, trembling shall take hold upon them; all the inhabitants of Canaan shall melt away. 

Exo 15:16  Fear and dread shall fall upon them; by the greatness of thine arm they shall be as still as a stone; till thy people pass over, O LORD, till the people pass over, which thou hast purchased. 

Exo 15:17  Thou shalt bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance, in the place, O LORD, which thou hast made for thee to dwell in, in the Sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hands have established. 

Exo 15:18  The LORD shall reign for ever and ever. 

Exo 15:19  For the horse of Pharaoh went in with his chariots and with his horsemen into the sea, and the LORD brought again the waters of the sea upon them; but the children of Israel went on dry land in the midst of the sea. 

Exo 15:20  And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances. 

Exo 15:21  And Miriam answered them, Sing ye to the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea. 

I'd say they were celebrating their freedom, yes? They felt blessed.

Do you remember your first taste of salvation? That sweet overwhelming knowledge of your Savior, saving you? Do you remember the weight of your sinful life, the guilt of being unworthy, and how the good news of the gospel was brought to you and you realized that Jesus' sacrifice was for you? You learned that Jesus died and when He died He did it so you could live with Him in eternity. Jesus' love for you was revealed in all its amazing glory and the weight of sin was lifted from your shoulders. The blessed relief you felt, can you recall it even now? I'm talking about the first time you felt salvation's amazing love, do you remember? You felt blessed.

The children of Israel felt blessed at first and then over time they didn't quite feel so blessed. They started complaining and even went so far as to wish they were back in bondage.

Exo 16:2  And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness: 

Exo 16:3  And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger. 

Exo 17:3  And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst? 

Num 11:4  And the mixt multitude that was among them fell a lusting: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat? 

Num 11:5  We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick: 

Num 11:6  But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes. 

Why did they want to return to bondage? Because the lusts of the flesh overwhelmed them. Selfish, self-serving lusts longed to be filled and overcame their desire for freedom and the ability to serve God.

The war of our flesh is real, very, very real. We need to deprive ourselves of the lusts, we do. As we began our new life in Christ it was all consuming and wondrous but as time went on for a lot of us the newness faded. When the newness faded and we realized that Christ would have us deny ourselves and take up our crosses things began to change a bit. The daily walk with Christ wasn't going to be one of self-indulgence. The focus of our lives would no longer be ourselves and fulfilling our own desires. The war was on, and such a mighty war it would be. The war would last until death's sleep, or the return of our Savior and the lifelong battle would be filled with many skirmishes. Some we'd lose and some we would win through Christ.

We have to take a moment and ask ourselves a question that popped in my head today-

Does keeping the Sabbath day holy make you feel deprived or blessed?

This is a thought provoking question as it is meant to be.

If you recognize that by keeping the Sabbath holy you are refraining from all unnecessary labor, that you are not seeking your own pleasures but rather seeking the spiritual refreshing that comes from God, then you are keeping the Sabbath properly.  Yet many have taken the Sabbath day and have made it a self-centered day of indulging themselves in all manner of selfish pursuits with seldom more than a few hours of worship and Bible study. People will argue that the Sabbath was made for man so man should be able to do as they please. I can't dispute that the Sabbath was made for man, Jesus Himself said so. Jesus said those words as He KEPT the Sabbath properly, freeing it from some of the traditions man had placed upon it making it so that man seemed to have been made for the Sabbath.  The Sabbath kept by Jesus meant His going to the synagogues and temple to read from the scriptures and have a discourse with others on their meanings- Bible Study. The Sabbath kept by Jesus meant His gathering with others to fellowship - eat, drink, and share the plan of salvation, to share the wisdom and knowledge given to Him by God the Father. The Sabbath kept by Jesus meant seeing the needs of humanity and helping fulfil those needs- healing others. The Sabbath kept by Jesus meant walking leisurely about as He conversed with others, allowing for the offhanded snack to be consumed so hunger didn't prevent attention from His words.

Jesus was accused of breaking some Sabbath rules- he healed, he told a person to pick up their bed (the place where the lame man had lain before being healed), he allowed his disciples to pick a few bits of food in a field just enough to keep their hunger at bay, not a harvest by any means.   The oppressive strictures that the Israel leaders had put upon the Sabbath were not from God, and Jesus was revealing just how the Sabbath should be kept. His Apostles and disciples long after His death and resurrection, and return to heaven, all kept the Sabbath. The Sabbath was changed by man, not God.

Jesus kept all the royal law perfectly. Do you object to Jesus' saying that adultery was more than the act of sex and included the lust of the mind wanting and imagining that sex without the physical act taking place? So far the Israelites only believed that the act of sex with someone other than your marriage partner was adultery- not so.  Do you object to Jesus' saying that murder was more than the physical act as well? That simply getting unjustly angry and desiring the death of another without killing them was also murder. Yes? You object to this revelation of the commandment? It doesn't suit your taste to have a deeper truth revealed?

Whether it is the Sabbath commandment or any of the other of the ten royal laws, Jesus kept them all perfectly and continuously, never abolishing a single one. Jesus even said this--

Mat 5:17  Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. 

Mat 5:18  For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. 

Mat 5:19  Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 

Jesus came to fulfill and when He returns and all evil is done away with and sin is no longer possible, all will be fulfilled completely and utterly.

Sin is the transgression of the royal law.

And as long as sin exists the law exists.

Once sin is eradicated and Satan is put to his ultimate end, no more royal law will be needed because all will keep that law naturally without any desire to transgress it at all whatsoever.

Now, back to the question--

Does keeping the Sabbath day holy make you feel deprived or blessed?

Do you feel deprived because you can't do the same things you can do on the other six days of the week? The thing is, you can do them, nothing can stop you but yourself. However, you should keep the entire Sabbath day holy, because God made the seventh day of the week holy, He blessed the entire day not just a portion of the day. How to keep it holy? Jesus was our example. Bible study, fellowship, worship, praise, helping others. We are to take our minds OFF ourselves on this day! This is where our problems truly begin. We focus on ourselves! We focus on HOW we are feeling- bored, antsy, frustrated, when we aren't supposed to focus on how we are feeling! Our focus needs to be on our SAVIOR.  We are so incredibly BLESSED to have this day of holiness every single week!

Will we be as the Israelites freed from Egypt? All of whom died wandering in the wilderness unfit to enter the promised land, all but Joshua and Caleb. For forty years the men and women died off in the wilderness until only their children and Joshua and Caleb were left to enter the promised land. They felt deprived, their selfishness was their focus, not God. They wanted to be enslaved as long as their self-serving desires were met.  Do you want to be enslaved as long as your self-serving desires are met? Satan will gladly enslave all those who want to serve themselves and not serve God.

Are you deprived on the Sabbath day, or are you extremely blessed by God?

You are given time to devote to Him.

What do you think you'll do in heaven? Fulfil your selfish lusts? No, not ever. We will serve our God! We will be loved and love in turn in the way we are meant to be.

1Co_2:9  But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

We can't even imagine the wonders in store for us who love God!

2Co_4:18  While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

The things that are NOT seen these should be our Sabbath focus, the eternal things, spiritual things. Even as we interact with others- in worship, in service to them, we are given the powerful presence of living in holy time during all of our interactions on the Sabbath day.

1Jn_2:15  Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

Where is our love- in the world and with things of the world?

Our love needs to be with our Heavenly Father, with our Savior, our treasures in heaven. Our love shouldn't be here with ourselves.

Jas 1:12  Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. 

We live in this world, but we shouldn't be of this world.

Let the Sabbath be a blessing! God, please, let the Sabbath be a blessing to us now and always!

All through the love of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, now and forever!!!!!!!