Shabbat

The notion of the Shabbat finds its presence textually early on in Genesis. This was most likely written after the practice had already originated within Hebraic lifestyles. Indeed the Shabbat easily could of been codified within the law prior to the time of composition of the Genesis text. I interpret it to have been revealed by God to Moses; others will disagree and see it as a more natural anthropological development, without this being a practice radically out-of-sync with the past reality and contradicting it (and arguably today's as well). The weekly cycle was most likely borrowed from the surrounding peoples of ANE. The "rest" though was a counter-cultural adaptation.

So in this light, I'm interpreting the Israeli practice as offering a subtle critique of the surrounding pagan religious practices, in line with a radically other religious intuitive worldview, as opposed to an evolutionary religious development or offshoot. The lead in detailing the significance of the differences between the Israelites and other ANE cultures was spearheaded by Jewish scholarship such as Yehezkel Kaufmann and Nahum Sarna whose research have usurped the antiquated ones handed down from the Enlightenment within academia despite their strength within popular theology (of the non-theistic variety). Contemporary scholarship will often interpret today the Genesis as a polemical text, although not reducing this aspect to one of primacy. (see Greg Laughery's take).

Please note, when I'm using the term counter-cultural, I'm not referencing something which is reactionary by any stretch of the imagination. Rather it is more akin to Ricœur's "appropriate and critique" approach. Although not on this topic, when I'm using the term, I'm more likely to have progressives and postmoderns on board than I am with the vast majority of the American Church. This is due in part to a mutual recognition that the world is not as should be, as well as the realization that we are both responsible for our various crises and we must begin to do something about this. Where a Christian understanding parts company, is that it focuses centrally that our relation with YHWH is central to this. Where there is agreement with the pomos, is that human efforts to remedy the situation should be met with suspicion and cynicism. We still recognize though that it is through human efforts. This does not result in despair, but an extreme questioning of the values which proliferate our cultural hegemony ("the way things are"), which Christians are largely lagging in this activity.

Please forgive me for the lengths I'm going to provide a backdrop for what I'm about to say in regards to the Shabbat. I'm very thankful for Peter's post "Sabbath and Empire", which is a commentary on the practice of Shabbat in light of both a protest for social justice and act of defiance against abuses by our social authorities and economic order. In other words, Leithart is suggesting that the Shabbat was about practitioners following YHWH's will over the decrees of the all governments which has significance due to it being a day in which we refuse to organize our life around securing our prosperity and the entailing effect of hurting our fellow humans. In regards to what I first am suggesting, that God is sovereign over and beyond all earthly institutions and practices. As to the second part, that in the course of our attempts to acquire wealth, we are both focusing our lives often times around the desire for greed and participating in a system which is not loving to our fellow humans. In this regard, even our purchasing practices have unseen consequences which have since been well documented and affect people on the other side of the globe.

Marx has a brilliant explanation of this dynamic in his explanation of commodity fetishism. Again, while progressives and pomos may not be hip with this peculiar Jewish and Christian expression, there are many underlying points of agreement as they focus upon the question of what it means to be fully human. I'm not wanting though to belabor the social justice point. I will later address the Church's "Constantianism", or our complicity with the world.

Now I'm wanting to situate it in the larger redemptive work of YHWH. When I suggest emphatically that we must do something about it, I mean precisely that we must follow Jesus. We have not been left to figure out how to fix the world, indeed a constant Biblical theme is that we can't. Theologians call acting otherwise the sin of presumption. God fixes and redeems the world, and as his people we are to follow Him on this count. I believe an implication of this is collaborating with others on specific point, often outside of the church, and this entails political collaboration as well.

I think the salvific term for redemption here is sanctification; the sanctification of the earth, our relations with others and self with a focus upon YHWH is a Christian understanding of the significance of our practices. So what we're considering is as NT Wright put it in Surprised by Hope, "How will we humans contribute to that renewal of creation and to the fresh projects that the creator God will launch in his new world. (185)" This is what humans are called to participate in, and as there is a focus upon God as the primary savior, we further ask "the question of how God is going to redeem and renew his creation through human beings and how is he going to rescue those humans themselves as part of the process but not as the point of it all. (185)" We are not called to sit on our asses, but are an important medium through which God's light shines in the world. Moreover, we are not the end-all-be-all of the process, but a means. We are called to be "fellow laborers" with God who will see the fruition of the work of ourselves and others in this world. "The 'reward' is organically connected to the activity, not some kind of arbirary pat on the back, otherwise unrelated to the work that was done" (162). NT Wright does not understand this as "in heaven", but on earth, of which our work, the Shabbat included here, has both a foretasting effect and an eternal ones following the Resurrection and glorification.

So how does Shabbat figure into YHWH's redemptive work? Again, Shabbat means rest, and we are informed that it was primarily instituted for the sake of humans. This again is part of the tradition stemming from the Genesis polemic against the pagan view that humans were created in order to carry out the work and duties of the gods. Elohim does not need humans for such purposes, but did partially create humans for their own unique work purposes. So, we do not do Elohim's work. Rather humans were created to enjoy the world (and paradise), not endless and futile toil. The rest is a cessation from work, from vain toil as the pagans who were looking out at reality suggested. And people more eloquent than I can hopefully articulate this better. It similarly provides an alternative to the nihilism of naturalism.

While in this rest though, we are in a sense working still. What we are working for is Shalom. I'll post more of this notion in detail in the commentary on the first chapter of Not the Way It's Supposed to Be. For now let it suffice to say that we are working towards something that is more in accordance with what it means to be fully human with the Shabbat practice. This includes looking forward to glimpses of beauty, the satisfaction of acting justly, the joys of neighborliness and having a good time, and the satiation of a healthy spiritual life that only God can provide.

There seems as with most of the laws, to be an instructive and reminding element within them. This instructive alludes to not only how God's people are to conduct themselves within the present, but point to a future fulfillment, which I understand to be already with Jesus having ushered in His kingdom and not yet. In the Mosaic understanding though, beyond detailed restrictions and regulations concerning commerce, there is even an extension to both animals and the earth in its practice. As viceregents for God, the humans were to properly rule all of creation, with the Israelites purportedly being exemplars in this respect. The entire created order is to rest from the continued havoc that we wreak upon the face of the earth. More can and will be stated in regards to the Shabbat's revelatory instructive insights into God's work, particularly in regards to the eschatological duality of already and not yet.

More importantly than the negative sanctifying aspects, are the positive aspects. In that we return to a focus upon YHWH. We stop with our projects, and allow YHWH's word and gifts to transform us. We have a time where we corporately go about carrying out our spiritual obligations. This is an important implication, that we are to collectively as God's people, not individually practice Shabbat. It is a communal practice, which again stands at odds with our cultural assumptions. We individually are to participate in the people of God in following His will. Extenuating circumstances may demand a private practice. This seems an exception, not normative. While exceptions inform our understanding, it's absurd to allow them to determine the understanding. And please note, many churches offer things like the Eucharist throughout the week. If one's circumstances don't allow this, then perhaps it is time to move to a church which will allow for a more fuller participation in the Kingdom of God.

I don't want to suggest that there is something magical or mystical in reorienting our focus upon YHWH. We are commanded to do this throughout the week, not exclusively on Sundays, and I don't really know what is transpiring in this practice. I do know that whatever we focus our mental energies on often times becomes the focus of our lives. E.g. people who focus exclusively on money often view others humans as either in abstract terms that correspond to that viewpoint. People who focus on sex often view those of the other gender (assuming they're straight) as potential partners. Often it is gravitated towards what other new people (strangers) will offer them in their encounter. This is in contrast both to the humanistic project which attempts to see others as human beings (and therefore critique our normal ways as dehumanizing) and the Christian project which attempts to see others as the image of God (no matter how one is currently understanding that notion.). Both are intricately linked to the question of what it means to be fully human. If we take a break on Sundays, and reorient our view toward God, the project is not to become more moralistic (or moral). The reorienting of our focus on God allows at least a check on our typical viewpoint, and better yet a shifting of perspective towards a more Christian viewpoint of others (as replete with failures as this may be.)..

Please don't idealize the Shabbat. Some do have the joy of it being a blessing and break. For many going to church is a headache/chore. My advice, suck it up and take it for what it is. I'll post later in relation to Sabbatarianism, but one thing that is pathetic is that this notion of rest has been coupled with convenience, or that what is convienent is a guide for reasonably fullfilling this requirement. It is not. People will rationalize excuses based on exceptions. They're not. The Shabbat is supposed to challenge us, not merely provide us with all that false religion has promised. Moreover, even with as little exposure as I've had to the American Church, even I've been hit by heavy rhetoric on the issue. Passionate rhetoric designed to ignite the youth with winning the world for Christ and dreaming big (brain-washing) or burden down adults with guilt. We should have joyful rhetoric, but also sober-minded.