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July 15, 2022
Work as Worship
God did not just command His people to rest on the seventh day but to work on the other six. The Hebrew word for work (avodah) can also be translated as service or worship. So in the Hebraic worldview all of life is sacred, and our work is an expression of our service and worship of God. Unfortunately, much of the western world has a Greek mindset in which we compartmentalize and separate life into either sacred or the secular. But we should have no such division—all of life is sacred and we should do everything as unto the Lord.
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Work as Worship (Out of Zion Episode #127)
Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Transcript
1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,060
Well, hey there. We've been talking a lot lately about the importance of finding a
2
00:00:05,060 --> 00:00:10,980
cycle of rest, sort of like what God did after He created the earth and the world
3
00:00:10,980 --> 00:00:17,960
in six days and He rested on the seventh. But today I want to focus on the other
4
00:00:17,960 --> 00:00:23,720
six days in which we're supposed to work. So welcome to this week's Shabbat Shalom
5
00:00:23,720 --> 00:00:28,560
devotional and I try to share just a little inspiration and bring a little
6
00:00:28,560 --> 00:00:33,680
piece to the close of your very busy week. So I want us to look today at
7
00:00:33,680 --> 00:00:41,960
Exodus 20 verse 9 and the first part of verse 10. Six days you shall labor and do
8
00:00:41,960 --> 00:00:48,520
all your work but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you
9
00:00:48,520 --> 00:00:57,360
shall not do any work. Now the verse does not say just to rest on the seventh
10
00:00:57,360 --> 00:01:04,120
day. The verse says that you're to work for six days. You could say God commanded
11
00:01:04,120 --> 00:01:10,440
us to work for six days and to rest on the seventh. But what exactly is work?
12
00:01:10,440 --> 00:01:16,520
Well let's go back to the creation story that we found in Genesis 2 where God
13
00:01:16,520 --> 00:01:23,640
created man and woman and here in Genesis 2 verse 15 it says the Lord God
14
00:01:23,640 --> 00:01:30,080
took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and to take care of it.
15
00:01:30,080 --> 00:01:36,000
You know according to most English translations they translate the two
16
00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:43,520
words here to work and take care of it or to cultivate and to keep it. Well in
17
00:01:43,520 --> 00:01:53,480
Hebrew it is le avda ou le shamra and so there are the word avodah which means
18
00:01:53,480 --> 00:02:01,040
to work or to they translated it some places to cultivate it to work le avda.
19
00:02:01,040 --> 00:02:07,600
Well that is translated in other verses as work and it means manual labor. It
20
00:02:07,600 --> 00:02:14,400
means working the field, working the soil. But there's another translation and that
21
00:02:14,400 --> 00:02:23,040
is that le avda ou le shamra means to worship and obey. Now you might be saying
22
00:02:23,040 --> 00:02:29,440
what? How can the same word for work be the word for worship in other verses?
23
00:02:29,440 --> 00:02:37,800
That's very interesting. So let me read to you like Exodus 8 verse 1 says this
24
00:02:37,800 --> 00:02:45,680
is what the Lord says let my people go so that they may worship me. It's also
25
00:02:45,680 --> 00:02:52,560
translated in some versions as to serve me. So here in Joshua 24 15 it
26
00:02:52,560 --> 00:03:01,080
says but as for me and my household we will serve the Lord. So avodah means
27
00:03:01,080 --> 00:03:08,080
work, it means worship and it means to serve and so Joshua here is saying I
28
00:03:08,080 --> 00:03:14,960
will avodah I will work and serve and worship the Lord. Now this is a very
29
00:03:14,960 --> 00:03:19,480
powerful image to think that the word for working in the fields is the same
30
00:03:19,480 --> 00:03:29,560
word as for worshiping God and it's the integrated hebraic view of life that
31
00:03:29,560 --> 00:03:37,120
all of life is meant to worship God. You know in our Greek mindset which a lot of
32
00:03:37,120 --> 00:03:44,680
us have in the Western world our Greek mindset divides secular from the sacred.
33
00:03:44,680 --> 00:03:50,800
So for us the sacred is on Sunday when you go to worship but the secular is on
34
00:03:50,800 --> 00:03:56,320
Monday when you go to work but here we see in the hebraic mindset which is the
35
00:03:56,320 --> 00:04:05,880
biblical mindset mind you all of life is sacred. Our work is to be done unto him
36
00:04:05,880 --> 00:04:12,440
it's a form of worship where we honor the Lord our God. We serve our families
37
00:04:12,440 --> 00:04:19,120
and we serve our neighbors and we serve our God. Now this should change your whole
38
00:04:19,120 --> 00:04:25,280
outlook to Monday morning. Let's take a break this weekend and think about how
39
00:04:25,280 --> 00:04:32,800
we can use our work to worship God and make it sacred and with that I wish you
40
00:04:32,800 --> 00:04:43,240
a Shabbat Shalom.
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,060
Well, hey there. We've been talking a lot lately about the importance of finding a
2
00:00:05,060 --> 00:00:10,980
cycle of rest, sort of like what God did after He created the earth and the world
3
00:00:10,980 --> 00:00:17,960
in six days and He rested on the seventh. But today I want to focus on the other
4
00:00:17,960 --> 00:00:23,720
six days in which we're supposed to work. So welcome to this week's Shabbat Shalom
5
00:00:23,720 --> 00:00:28,560
devotional and I try to share just a little inspiration and bring a little
6
00:00:28,560 --> 00:00:33,680
piece to the close of your very busy week. So I want us to look today at
7
00:00:33,680 --> 00:00:41,960
Exodus 20 verse 9 and the first part of verse 10. Six days you shall labor and do
8
00:00:41,960 --> 00:00:48,520
all your work but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you
9
00:00:48,520 --> 00:00:57,360
shall not do any work. Now the verse does not say just to rest on the seventh
10
00:00:57,360 --> 00:01:04,120
day. The verse says that you're to work for six days. You could say God commanded
11
00:01:04,120 --> 00:01:10,440
us to work for six days and to rest on the seventh. But what exactly is work?
12
00:01:10,440 --> 00:01:16,520
Well let's go back to the creation story that we found in Genesis 2 where God
13
00:01:16,520 --> 00:01:23,640
created man and woman and here in Genesis 2 verse 15 it says the Lord God
14
00:01:23,640 --> 00:01:30,080
took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and to take care of it.
15
00:01:30,080 --> 00:01:36,000
You know according to most English translations they translate the two
16
00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:43,520
words here to work and take care of it or to cultivate and to keep it. Well in
17
00:01:43,520 --> 00:01:53,480
Hebrew it is le avda ou le shamra and so there are the word avodah which means
18
00:01:53,480 --> 00:02:01,040
to work or to they translated it some places to cultivate it to work le avda.
19
00:02:01,040 --> 00:02:07,600
Well that is translated in other verses as work and it means manual labor. It
20
00:02:07,600 --> 00:02:14,400
means working the field, working the soil. But there's another translation and that
21
00:02:14,400 --> 00:02:23,040
is that le avda ou le shamra means to worship and obey. Now you might be saying
22
00:02:23,040 --> 00:02:29,440
what? How can the same word for work be the word for worship in other verses?
23
00:02:29,440 --> 00:02:37,800
That's very interesting. So let me read to you like Exodus 8 verse 1 says this
24
00:02:37,800 --> 00:02:45,680
is what the Lord says let my people go so that they may worship me. It's also
25
00:02:45,680 --> 00:02:52,560
translated in some versions as to serve me. So here in Joshua 24 15 it
26
00:02:52,560 --> 00:03:01,080
says but as for me and my household we will serve the Lord. So avodah means
27
00:03:01,080 --> 00:03:08,080
work, it means worship and it means to serve and so Joshua here is saying I
28
00:03:08,080 --> 00:03:14,960
will avodah I will work and serve and worship the Lord. Now this is a very
29
00:03:14,960 --> 00:03:19,480
powerful image to think that the word for working in the fields is the same
30
00:03:19,480 --> 00:03:29,560
word as for worshiping God and it's the integrated hebraic view of life that
31
00:03:29,560 --> 00:03:37,120
all of life is meant to worship God. You know in our Greek mindset which a lot of
32
00:03:37,120 --> 00:03:44,680
us have in the Western world our Greek mindset divides secular from the sacred.
33
00:03:44,680 --> 00:03:50,800
So for us the sacred is on Sunday when you go to worship but the secular is on
34
00:03:50,800 --> 00:03:56,320
Monday when you go to work but here we see in the hebraic mindset which is the
35
00:03:56,320 --> 00:04:05,880
biblical mindset mind you all of life is sacred. Our work is to be done unto him
36
00:04:05,880 --> 00:04:12,440
it's a form of worship where we honor the Lord our God. We serve our families
37
00:04:12,440 --> 00:04:19,120
and we serve our neighbors and we serve our God. Now this should change your whole
38
00:04:19,120 --> 00:04:25,280
outlook to Monday morning. Let's take a break this weekend and think about how
39
00:04:25,280 --> 00:04:32,800
we can use our work to worship God and make it sacred and with that I wish you
40
00:04:32,800 --> 00:04:43,240
a Shabbat Shalom.
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