SABBATH: IN THIS SMALL AND SIMPLE THING SALVATION LIES:

COME FOLLOW ME: Terrence C Smith's commentary: Noah fashioned the ark exactly as he was instructed to do. The Lord was very specific in His instructions to Noah. It was to be made of certain specified materials. It was to be of a certain height, length, and breadth—300 cubits in length, 50 cubits in width and 30 cubits in height (which is about 137 × 22.9 × 13.7 m. or 450 × 75 × 45 ft. – about 11⁄2 football fields long, 4 stories high). After God had told Noah what to do (v. 14-16), then God told Noah what He would be doing at the same time (v. 17-18), then He went back to what Noah was to do (v. 19- 21). God did what He said He would do, but...What if Noah had decided to make alterations, cut a few corners? Cutting all that wood was doubtless very tiring; and there were, after all, only eight of them...He had to carefully follow the revelation that the Lord had given to him. It required an exactness, a completeness in following the commandments of the Lord, even when the reason for every bit of counsel might not have been apparent to him. This is a part of the faithfulness and courage required to have a saving faith.

The Seventh Day (Exodus 16:22–30; Hebrews 4:1–11)

1Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. 2And by the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing; so on that day He rested from all His work.Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because on that day He rested from all the work of creation that He had accomplished.

Root Concept: Ceasing and Rest

שָׁבַת is the verb that gives rise to the noun "Sabbath"; at its heart lies the simple yet profound idea of stopping ordinary activity so that God-ordained purposes may prevail. The word appears in settings that range from the grandeur of creation (Genesis 2:2-3) to the mundane rhythm of farming (Leviticus 25:2-4) and even to the cessation of manna (Joshua 5:12). Whether God, land, beasts, nations, or speech are in view, the verb always carries the nuance of deliberate disengagement from what is common in order to honor what is holy or to herald a divinely appointed change.

"Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day."

— Deuteronomy 5:15

"It is lawful to do good on the Sabbath" (Matthew 12:12)?

The Pharisees said to Jesus, "Look, why are your disciples doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?" Then he said to them, "The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath; so the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath."

— Mark 2:24, 27-28

In the meantime, we are not meant to construct a world where suffering ceases so much as we are meant to transform suffering forever into love.This Is Grace By Tyler Johnson

Sadness and mourning. "The Sabbath does not 'do away' with sadness and sorrow," writes Pinchas H. Peli in The Jewish Sabbath; "it merely requires that all sadness be 'tabled' for one day so that we may not forget that there is also joy and happiness in the world and acquire a more balanced and hopeful picture of life." Even mourning is suspended in order to rejoin the community for Sabbath. "The Sabbath, by its very being, comforts and heals."

From Practicing our Faith by Dorothy Bass