Just prior to Israel going into captivity, God directed the prophet Isaiah to indict them because of their wanton disregard of His law. His message made it clear that Israel was in grave danger. Notice the force of His words.

Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. (Isa. 58:1)

    When Isaiah wrote these words, Israel saw themselves as God’s chosen people. In fact, they were even quite religious. This is not unlike God’s Church today. However, what they did not seem to realize was that they were sinning by not obeying God’s law regarding His Sabbath. This fact is made evident twelve verses later.

If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honorable; and shalt honor him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words (Isa. 58:13).

    This verse contains several elements that God’s people today should carefully consider when deciding how they will honor the Sabbath. It addresses things to avoid as well as things to embrace when keeping this day holy.
    First, consider the words “turn away your foot from the Sabbath.” Today this phrase would be better translated, “Take your dirty feet off My holy day!” From God’s point of view, His people were trampling all over the day He sanctified – the day He set apart –  the day He made sacred. This was done because Israel sought their own pleasure on this day. They wanted to pursue what appealed to them. By this statement, God makes it abundantly clear that we are not to seek personal enjoyment on His Sabbath. It is true that the Sabbath was made for man (Mk. 2:27), but it is God’s day (Ex. 31:13-17). Therefore, His people are to honor His instructions regarding how it is to be kept.
    Secondly, when God addressed the issue of “pleasure” on His Sabbath, His instructions were very clear. His people were to turn away from doing their pleasure on this day. But what does this mean?
    The word “pleasure” used by Isaiah in this verse comes from the Hebrew chephets. This term means something that possesses personal value – that which gives pleasure or enjoyment. Therefore, God was instructing His people to avoid physical activities which cater primarily to personal pleasure. Tragically, this is exactly what dining out on the Sabbath is. It is something that is geared toward personal pleasure. It is what millions of Americans and Europeans do for entertainment and recreation every single day and especially on the Sabbath.

Some Interesting Facts

    According to the American National Restaurant Association (ANRA), the food services business is among the largest of the entertainment industries. It is currently the largest private-sector employer in the entire country. This business now provides 11.7 million jobs, even out-distancing the bloated U.S. government.
    Additionally, according to the ANRA, the restaurant industry in the United States has become so vast that four out of ten people eat at some form of food preparation establishment every day. Furthermore, during 2002, eating venues provided over 54 billion meals at a whopping cost of $407.8 billion to consumers. All this took place in 870,000 restaurants where the average American spent $846.00 to eat out during the year.
    Ironically, ANRA statistics also indicate that the most popular day of the week for dining out is Saturday. With this in mind, God’s people must ask themselves: Is the Sabbath their favorite day to dine out? If the answer to this question is “yes,” then consider for a moment why. Is it to fulfill God’s word, or is it to fulfill our own pleasure?

The Sabbath is Honorable

    A third element of God’s instructions regarding His Sabbath is that His people are to call the Sabbath “honorable” (Isa. 58:13). This word means that which is “heavy,” even “glorious.” The point is that the Sabbath is to carry an enormous weight of respect and dignity in the believer’s eyes. It was created holy by God Himself and His people must show it great deference.
    This is the very reason that God gave specific instructions regarding how His Sabbath is to be kept.  God does not want us to dishonor this wonderful day by our mundane practices. Going to restaurants on the Sabbath deprecates God’s day. Whether we want to admit it or not, dining out on the Sabbath shows disrespect toward the great dignity this day was designed to carry. The fact that this practice is convenient does not change anything.

The Sabbath Is to Be a Delight

    Perhaps the most important instruction recorded by Isaiah concerning the Sabbath is that God wants His people to call this day a “delight.”  Regrettably, some have put a unique twist on these words. Many have interpreted them to mean that we are to do things to make the Sabbath a delight. In other words, find something that gives pleasure and do it on the Sabbath. After constructing such a premise, many in God’s Church contend that going out to eat causes them to do less work, and thus makes the Sabbath more enjoyable. Therefore, going to a restaurant on God’s Sabbath is a delight and is in keeping with the words recorded by Isaiah.
    Such an interpretation is a HORRIBLE DISTORTION of the scriptures! God did not create the Sabbath to insure that man would have one day of personal enjoyment every week. He created this day so that our natural pursuit of personal desires would not so consume our lives that they would estrange us from the very God who made us. In other words, the Sabbath is not a day to seek personal pleasures, but rather to reject them. It is a day dedicated to embracing that which is holy.
    But what does it mean to call the Sabbath a delight? What is the delight? To better understand what God was conveying with this instruction, consider what He specifically said:

If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honorable; and shalt honor him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words... (Isa. 58:13)

    Here God is not telling His people to make the Sabbath a delight. He is instructing them to call it a delight. God’s people should delight in the great Kingdom the Sabbath pictures. That Kingdom will be a time of unimaginable abundance. The Sabbath is evidence that God will deliver that Kingdom and establish it when Jesus Christ returns in power and glory. In that hope is the delight He spoke of.
    Those who believe they need to go to a restaurant on the Sabbath to “delight” in this day fail to grasp the great joy of this sacred time. Consequently, they feel a need to do something “worldly” on this day to make it more joyous. What a terrible mistake.
    God created the delight that fills each Sabbath. His instruction to His children is to recognize that joy and celebrate it in their worship of Him. The Sabbath is a day to look forward to with great anticipation. It is not a day of inconvenience. It is a day of joy and hope when God’s children assemble together and appear before their King.

An Exquisite Exception
    The Sabbath truly is a great “delight.” It is a perpetual reminder of God’s power over the physical as well as the spiritual universe. Through Isaiah, God is appealing to His people to see the Sabbath for what it really is. If the world today with all its suffering could get just one brief glimpse of what this day pictures, it most definitely would call the Sabbath a DELIGHT. But there is more.
    The word “delight” used by Isaiah when describing God’s Sabbath is very interesting. It literally means “luxury” or “delicate.” The point God is making is that His Sabbath is a luxurious delicacy. We are to call it so because it is a day that is set aside to be different. It is an exquisite exception from the other days of the week.
    All week long, God’s people are in a kind of bondage. We are forced to labor in order to provide for our physical needs. Every day we are subjected to a continual barrage of chores and deadlines. We are rushed and harried as we struggle to meet an endless array of obligations. Then comes the Sabbath.

A Day of Liberation
    The Sabbath pictures liberation and freedom from bondage. It pictures the great hope of God’s Kingdom. It is a unique day in which we can finally stop doing the labor, chores, and mundane activities of life. On the Sabbath we can come out of this world for one day, and picture a time when this world will be delivered into the hands of the King of kings.
    The Sabbath is a delight, not because we are out having fun, amusing ourselves and being entertained. It is a delight because we have a special time set aside to seek our Maker. In a very real sense, the Sabbath is a time when the bride shares moments with the Bridegroom.
    God’s people should actually consider His holy Sabbath as an appointment – a date with her fiancé. She should look forward with a deep longing to the Sabbath because it offers the luxury of twenty-four hours of rest from a world that is defiant to God. Furthermore, it replaces that time with a period of celebrating the transcendent hope of eternal life, living and working together with our Father and elder brother, Jesus Christ.
    The Sabbath is a great DELIGHT and God’s people should DELIGHT in it. God created the Sabbath as a time of immense hope. His people must see that hope and rejoice in it, not try to improve on it.

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