Shabbat’s Shadow
“Do you want to hear something funny?” my eleven-year-old asked.
“Sure, bud.” I replied.
“I just realized that a shadow is just a projection of something else! I mean, I knew that but never really thought about it. A shadow is 2-D and the object is 3-D. That’s crazy!”
Oh, the ramblings of a young man’s mind.
Scripture is full of these 2-D shadows which when studied closely can reveal the incredible substance of 3-D truth and events to come.
I grew affectionately accustomed to the rhythms of the Orthodox Jewish community after living among them for five years. One of my favorite times of the week was Friday night into Saturday. The Jewish community would intensely prepare for their Shabbat (derived from the Hebrew word “rest,” observed from sundown Friday to sundown on Saturday).
The supermarkets were always packed on Thursday and by Friday afternoon the stores were closed. School buses rushed the kids home from school at noon. I would walk through the neighborhood and smell all the delicious meals being prepared. Families actively prepared for their rest with crockpots full of cholent,[1] a traditional Jewish stew.
Even children help with preparations, tearing toilet paper squares to ensure no one would “work” on the Shabbat. The Orthodox community took seriously and joyfully the command to keep the Sabbath day holy. As the mothers light the Shabbos[2] candles, the common is separated from the holy.
Exodus 20 is the first biblical passage to outline the command regarding the Sabbath. Six days we are to work; following the pattern the Lord established in creation, the seventh day is a day of rest dedicated for His purposes.
Strangely, when the Ten Commandments are discussed, many would say these are good rules to live by. But the one commandment about the Sabbath, what does that even mean?! Is it a day to go to the synagogue or the church? A day off? And yet there it stands with all the other commands.
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” [3]
The physical benefits of practicing the Shabbat are undeniable. Science shows our physical bodies, minds, and emotions all benefit from taking one day a week to rest and beginning each work week from a place of renewed strength. The practice of making space for rest is a true discipline for some of us who struggle to stop. The spiritual benefits are immense, keeping us from spiritual burnout.
But is that all it was created for?
Or is the Sabbath a shadow of something greater?
Jesus declares himself to be “Lord of the Sabbath” in the Gospels,[4] introducing the fact that He is greater than the Mosaic Covenant and the laws. He is in fact the One greater than Moses who had come, the Author of the laws, God in the flesh.[5]
This declaration infuriated the Pharisees. Their complex system regarding the Shabbat had 39 categories of forbidden activities. Jesus’ healing and bringing wholeness to a suffering soul violated the rabbinical view of acceptable practices – yet, wasn’t that the very purpose for the Shabbat to exist? To bring healing and wholeness, i.e., shalom. Somehow with all their diligence to preserve the commandment the religious leaders lost the heart of it.
How often have I done the same? With my desire to control my surroundings and the details of my life, I can lose sight of what is truly important.
Colossians 2:16-17 reminds believers who have found their rest in the work of Messiah not to judge one another regarding how we live out our faith and traditions.
“Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.”
One commentator encourages:
“Christ is reality. The Old Testament and all of its regulations were simply a shadow cast backward from Christ. Christ is also casting a shadow forward over our lives now. Only he is real. We live in what C. S. Lewis called the ‘Shadowlands.’ In this life of shadows faith calls us to believe that ‘Real life hasn’t begun yet. This is only shadows.’ We eagerly await real life when we will see reality, when we will see Christ. At that time we will be like him, for we will see him as he is (1 John 3:2.) At that time, we will be real; we’ll no longer live in the shadows, but in the radiance of his reality." [6]
When we look at the Bible through this lens, things come into three-dimensional focus. How often I am confused by the shadows I see and realize it is not the shadow that needs my full attention but what is casting the shadow.
The Sabbath was given to man as a gift and a blessing but it is just the mere shadow of One who is greater. Finding our true rest in the finished work of Messiah; His atoning death and resurrection from the grave, has sealed our eternal rest.
My life is now a response to that fact and I enter into the work He has called me to from a place of shalom.
Written by Kori, LIFE Staff
Are you taking time to rest and be refreshed by the Lord?
In what areas do you need to focus on the One who casts the shadow, rather than the shadow?
What would it look like to take a day this week to rest in the Lord?
Endnotes:
[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cholent.
[2] Ashkenazi pronunciation of Shabbat.
[3] Exodus 20:8-11 ESV.
[4] Matt 12:8, Mark 2:28, Luke 6:5.
[5] Hebrews 3:1-4.