Are you a foreigner? Or a stranger? Actually, according to the Bible we are both!
The phrase “foreigners and strangers” occurs frequently throughout scripture. David used it twice: in a psalm to describe the people of Israel and in a prayer to describe himself (1 Chronicles 29:15; Psalm 39:12); and in the New Testament this phrase is used to refer to believers and to Christians (Hebrews 11:13; 1 Peter 2:11). Biblically speaking, we are all foreigners and strangers! This phrase has the same meaning as the words from the old hymn: “This world is not my home, I’m just a passin’ through.” Our life on earth is not our own, we are foreigners and strangers residing on God’s land.
The implications of that phrase are profound! Our lives, our property, our possessions, our children, even our time are on loan from God. Because God is the landlord and we are the tenants, he gave instructions on the proper use of our land. God’s primary concern was that his people use their property and their time to care for others and not just for themselves. For example, under the Old Testament law farmers were not to harvest to the edges of their fields; they were to leave a portion of their crop for the poor and foreigners to glean for food (Leviticus 23:22). A good example of this charitable practice is the story of Ruth gleaning in the fields of Boaz.
But God’s ownership also includes our time. Just as we are to tithe our income, we are to “tithe” our time. We do this by setting aside one day out of seven as a sabbath. We do this both to honor God and to rest from our daily routines and labors. Like the land, the days of our lives are on loan from God.
Keeping the sabbath day holy is number four of the Ten Commandments. This law says that people should work six days and then rest on the seventh—the seventh being Saturday, the day that Jews keep their sabbath. Keeping the sabbath holy was a mark of what it meant to be a Jew. The sabbath was a reminder that God’s work in creation was completed in six days and he rested on the seventh. From this pattern we get our modern idea of weeks and weekends—though the biblical weekend was just one day of rest, not two. Most Christian churches choose to keep the day of worship on Sunday because that was the day of the week when Jesus rose from the dead.
The Jews took the sabbath rest literally: they would not allow most kinds of work on that day. This day of rest included a man and his wife, children, servants, houseguests, and animals. In the early years there was no expectation of sabbath attendance at worship services because most Jews lived too far from the tabernacle or temple to travel there every week. But at a later time they built local synagogues, where Jews, both men and women, could meet to pray, to read scripture, and to hear sermons.
Most Jews strictly kept the sabbath commandment but there were controversies in how to apply it. One controversy was what kinds of work were forbidden. Did making a journey violate the no-work rule? If your ox fell into a pit on the sabbath, could you rescue it? And, most controversial for Jesus, was it acceptable to heal a sick person on the sabbath? These sorts of questions led to divisions among the Jews: those who took the legalistic view that none of these activities were permitted, and those who took a more practical view that deeds of necessity or mercy were permitted on the sabbath. Jesus took the second view and declared himself to be the Lord of the Sabbath. As its Lord, he interpreted the sabbath as being intended for human benefit: it was made for man, not the other way around (Mark 2:27-28). The meaning of the sabbath rest looked both backwards—to creation, and forwards—to the kingdom of God. In both Old and New Testaments, true rest is found in a life of faith and obedience to God, “Truly my soul finds rest in God, my salvation comes from him” (Psalm 62:1). This was the rest which Jesus offered to those who were weary and burdened. He said, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:28-29). Thus, the sabbath day of rest was a picture of salvation which is by grace not by works.
How should Christians keep the sabbath today? We should not be legalistic but neither should we disregard the purposes of the sabbath day. We should each consider how we set aside time to honor God. And we should each consider our need for a day of rest as established in the Ten Commandments. After all, we are also foreigners and strangers, living on borrowed land and on borrowed time!
But one day a week was never the whole meaning of the sabbath. The Old Testament law included two expanded versions of the sabbath commandment. We will discuss those two extended sabbaths in next week’s column.
Greg Giles is a published author, who, along with his wife Jean, has embraced the call to serve and teach around the globe. Their life together has included missionary work in Liberia, Bangladesh, teaching in China, and raising a family in Bemidji, Minnesota. Between global travels and local commitments, including serving as superintendent of Corn Bible Academy and their current part-time roles at Corn Heritage Village, the Gileses have found “home” in many places; yet, they now happily reside in retirement in Cordell. Please visit his website at reflections-on-wisdom.com.