Preparing for the Sabbath day

No, this is not a blog post about what we should do on Saturday night to prepare for Sunday, even though I get flashbacks to an old primary song typing that. But I love the Sabbath and having a day of rest. Even though it was not Sunday originally and we don't have the same strict rules as ancient Israel, it is very meaningful to me to single out a day that is different from the rest of the busy week. A day devoted to rest and worship. Sabbath is a Hebrew word that literally means rest. It is symonymous to nuach (where the name Noah comes from), that also means rest and that Lord Wilmore has written a long series about recently.

In Hebrews 3 and 4, Paul is connecting the two concepts of entering into his rest and the Sabbath day.

4 For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works.

5 And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest.

6 Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief:

7 Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

8 For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day.

9 There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.

10 For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.

11 Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. (Hebrews 4)

God rested on the seventh day from all his works and so do we when we keep the Sabbath day holy. But it is also possible to enter into his rest. This is a day yet to come. "Today" is a day to "hear his voice". The children of Israel who David and Paul talk about (Paul is quoting Psalm 95 in Hebrews 4), did not hear his voice and therefore did not enter into his rest. Hearing his voice today is what prepares us for the ultimate Sabbath day of rest to come. That sounds simple enough, perhaps, but in Hebrew, "shama" שָׁמַע, means both to hear and to obey.

Another Hebrew word of relevance here is "yom" יוֹם, meaning "day" but is more generic than English and can refer to a more indefinite time period and sometimes is translated into "lifetime". After the six days of creation came the seventh day where God rested. Then came the day of our life, where we labour and prepare to also enter into that rest. Amulek puts it this way

For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors...But that ye have patience, and bear with those afflictions, with a firm hope that ye shall one day rest from all your afflictions. (Alma 34:32, 41)

Those who don't hear/obey today or hearden their hearts will not rest but will burn instead. 

23 Behold, now it is called today until the coming of the Son of Man, and verily it is a day of sacrifice, and a day for the tithing of my people; for he that is tithed shall not be burned at his coming.

24 For after today cometh the burning—this is speaking after the manner of the Lord—for verily I say, tomorrow all the proud and they that do wickedly shall be as stubble; and I will burn them up, for I am the Lord of Hosts; and I will not spare any that remain in Babylon.

25 Wherefore, if ye believe me, ye will labor while it is called today. (D&C 64)

Mormon also brings up this point to his son, Moroni

we have a labor to perform whilst in this tabernacle of clay, that we may conquer the enemy of all righteousness, and rest our souls in the kingdom of God. (Moroni 9:6)

There is a similar pattern for the earth. In Moses 7:48, the earth is longing for rest. Enoch is upset and asks God when the earth will get to rest. Eventually the answer comes

And there shall be mine abode, and it shall be Zion, which shall come forth out of all the creations which I have made; and for the space of a thousand years the earth shall rest. (Moses 7:64)

2 Peter 3:8 states

one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

Personally, I think this is purely symbolic, since I don't believe God experiences time at all like we do. In any case, the symbolism fits well considering how D&C 77 talks about the 7000 years of the earth's "temporal existence" (which I interpret to be the time since the fall of Adam). Consequently, the day of rest for the earth is also the seventh day from the point of view of He who created it. The millenium is the Sabbath where the earth gets to rest.

It is interesting to me how the earth itself follows the same pattern that we who are God's final creations are asked to follow. The earth was baptized during the flood, it will be "burned at his coming" (baptism by fire) and have a seventh day of rest, the Sabbath. When we are righteous and follow the same pattern, there is beautiful harmony between man and the whole creation.

This is wonderfully illustrated in D&C 59

12 But remember that on this, the Lord’s day, thou shalt offer thine oblations and thy sacraments unto the Most High, confessing thy sins unto thy brethren, and before the Lord.
13 And on this day thou shalt do none other thing, only let thy food be prepared with singleness of heart that thy fasting may be perfect, or, in other words, that thy joy may be full.
14 Verily, this is fasting and prayer, or in other words, rejoicing and prayer.
15 And inasmuch as ye do these things with thanksgiving, with cheerful hearts and countenances, not with much laughter, for this is sin, but with a glad heart and a cheerful countenance—
16 Verily I say, that inasmuch as ye do this, the fulness of the earth is yours, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, and that which climbeth upon the trees and walketh upon the earth;
17 Yea, and the herb, and the good things which come of the earth, whether for food or for raiment, or for houses, or for barns, or for orchards, or for gardens, or for vineyards;
18 Yea, all things which come of the earth, in the season thereof, are made for the benefit and the use of man, both to please the eye and to gladden the heart;
19 Yea, for food and for raiment, for taste and for smell, to strengthen the body and to enliven the soul.
20 And it pleaseth God that he hath given all these things unto man; for unto this end were they made to be used, with judgment, not to excess, neither by extortion.

Basically, those who keep the Sabbath shall inherit the earth. The description seems like a promise that those who keep the Sabbath day holy are also those who are prepared to enjoy the Sabbath day of the earth, the millenium when the whole earth will be at rest.