Lesson 3, July 13-19
Sabbath Afternoon
Read for This Week’s Study: Exodus 16:16-18, Exodus 20:8-11, Deuteronomy 5:12-15, Matthew 12:9-13, Leviticus 25:1-7.
Memory Text: “And He said to them, ‘The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath’” (Mark 2:27).
God created the Sabbath as the final act of the Creation week. It has been said that on the seventh day, God not only rested, but He created rest as an integral part of the way that the world was to be. The Sabbath was a demonstration of how we were created to interact with God and with each other.
So, it is hardly surprising to find the Sabbath, as one of the commandments in God’s plan for His people, appearing early on in the establishment of the new Israelite nation. It was to have a pivotal role in the life of the Hebrews.
Often when we talk about the Sabbath, the conversation quickly moves to how to keep it. What are the things that we should not do, and the like? However important these questions are, we need to understand the integral role that the Sabbath was designed to play in the world and in the lives of God’s people as a symbol of God’s grace and provision.
As Jesus said, the seventh-day Sabbath was created for all humanity. When we truly “remember the Sabbath day”, it will change us every day of the week, and—as Jesus demonstrated—it can be a means of blessing others, as well.
