This is what the LORD says: Listen to my warning! Stop carrying on your trade at Jerusalem’s gates on the Sabbath day. Do not do your work on the Sabbath, but make it a holy day. I gave this command to your ancestors, but they did not listen or obey. They stubbornly refused to pay attention or accept my discipline. [Jeremiah 17.21-23]
The Sabbath existed to remind men that God Himself established the example of setting aside a day to rest from His own efforts (work).
“Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the LORD your God. On that day no one in your household may do any work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your livestock, and any foreigners living among you. For in six days the LORD made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy. [Exodus 20.8-11]
Why is the Sabbath brought up right here in the midst of all Jeremiah's warnings about Israel's idolatry? The answer is found clearly in the New Testament:
In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross. So don’t let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths. For these rules are only shadows of the reality yet to come. And Christ himself is that reality. [Colossians 2.15-17]
The reason the Sabbath is brought up in the midst of Jeremiah's warnings about idolatry is one and the same as the reason the Fourth Commandment is in succession to the first three Commandments essentially 'keeping God wholly and only and holy" as God. The Sabbath reminds man to check up on himself regularly regarding idolatry. It reminds man that, in defiance of reason, a day must be set aside and kept holy. That "day" is Jesus - Jesus is the reality of the Sabbath.
God knew from the very time He gave the Fourth Commandment that man would struggle in and with his own efforts and would need to re-center on purpose, on schedule, in order to effectively and completely keep the first three Commandments. This explains why Jesus, God with us, went into a rage when He encountered people "enterprising" in the Temple:
Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out all the people buying and selling animals for sacrifice. He knocked over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves. He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be called a house of prayer,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves!” [Matthew 21.12-13]
Jesus recognized that idolatry (man's efforts) was just as interwoven into man's worship of God (as represented by the Temple) as it was in Jeremiah's time. Man's worship of God was diluted with idols of his own making and enterprise. When Jesus, the reality of the Sabbath, came into the Temple and saw man's idolatrous blend of God-and-man as if it was okay, it put God-in-the-flesh-Jesus into the same rage God expressed through Jeremiah:
“‘But if you do not listen to me and refuse to keep the Sabbath holy, and if on the Sabbath day you bring loads of merchandise through the gates of Jerusalem just as on other days, then I will set fire to these gates. The fire will spread to the palaces, and no one will be able to put out the roaring flames.’” [Jeremiah 17.27]
If we are in Christ, and He is indeed the Sabbath, then we are burdened with His light burden of prayer of faith (Mark 11.24) to God alone and not to be weary and carrying the heavy self-preserving burdens of our own design and making - our idols.
Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”[Matthew 11.28-30]
If we fail to recognize that Jesus is the Sabbath, and if we fail to fully enter that Sabbath of rest from our own efforts daily, taking up our cross and following Him, we are left to our gross idolatry and are found in blatant and utter violation of the first four Commandments thus not loving God at all.
Jesus replied, “‘You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.” [Matthew 22.37-40]
As was mentioned in the article As Much A Problem Today As Ever, the Commandments are arranged in order of man's digression if he fails to follow them. The First Commandment is "worship God alone." If that is violated, then the Second Commandment takes effect: make no idols. If that is violated, then the Third Commandment, "do not misuse God's name" is necessary (idols do this when blended with God). And, then when the first three Commandments have been violated, the Fourth Commandment: remember the Sabbath, points us back to God, and, in particular, to Jesus.
Is it too late for the Church today to recognize that debt, insurance, medicine and technology have all effectively worked their way into the Church (and worship of God) as substituting enterprises that very much meet the descriptions of idols and very much provoke the ire of God, making "God's people" indistinguishable from the rest of the world?
It is pure foolishness, in response to the gravity of what is pointed out here, to fall back on the saying, "God knows my heart..." It is no mistake that, in the context of Jeremiah's writings today about the blatant idolatry of Israel, that we find the warning about our hearts!
“The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? But I, the LORD, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve.” [Jeremiah 17.9-10]
With all the "conveniences" today's idols offer, is it any wonder that mankind is more weary and carrying more heavy burdens than ever before? That is why Jesus 'pulled no punches' about following Him:
If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. [Matthew 16.24, Mark 8.34, Luke 9.23]
Yes, Jesus' words are rather burdensome... but they are nothing compared to the absolute, ultimate, and devastating burden of idolatry. The Sabbath that is Jesus is our daily opportunity to believe only in Him and therefore to please God. When we honor the Sabbath of Jesus Christ (Fourth Commandment), we progress to honor the name of God (Third Commandment), to rid ourselves of idols (Second Commandment), and to honor God alone (First Commandment)!
Father, I can only conclude that our wicked hearts have deceived us thoroughly to put us in the position of gross idolatry we are in today. Jesus' demand to follow Him pales in comparison to the utter destruction attached to our pursuit of idols. May we begin the quest of honoring You alone by understanding and honoring the Sabbath of Jesus Christ. Give us eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts to understand what Your Word has been saying all along... So be it.
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