Sabbath Meditation #34 – The Mystery of Lawlessness

“For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way” (2 Thess. 2:7).

“Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest: that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed” (Exo 23:12).

“Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight” (Psalm 119:35).

“If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight…” (Isa. 58:13).

There are many mysteries discussed in the New Testament. One of them is the mystery of lawlessness. The underlying Greek word translated as lawlessness or iniquity in I Thess. 2:7 is anomias, which means “without God’s law” or “transgression of God’s law”.

Why is lawlessness considered a mystery? The commandments of God, especially the Sabbath, were given by God for our benefit. The commandments are supposed to bring us joy/happiness as we obey them. In particular, the Sabbath is a delight because it gives us freedom from work and other labor. In Exodus 23:12, God promised that we would be refreshed when we rest on the seventh day. In our busy go-go world, who does not need that? There is a special spiritual connection to God available to us on this day (CLICK HERE to read more).

The verses mentioned at the beginning of this article help explain why lawlessness is a mystery. Why would we not want to do them and honor God? Why would we want to miss out on all these blessings? “Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he” (Prov. 29:18). In the last meditation, we reviewed thirteen precious promises available to us through the Sabbath (CLICK HERE to read the last month’s meditation).

Jesus said: “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10b). With Jesus as our Savior and the indwelling of His Holy Spirit, observance of the Sabbath has an even greater fulfillment than it did in the Old Covenant. We must set aside ourselves to receive it. The Sabbath is a day of life, and it provides spiritual satisfaction for us.

“Then said Jesus unto them, ‘I will ask you one thing; is it lawful on the Sabbath days to do good, or do to evil? To save life, or to destroy it?’” (Luke 6:9)

For those of us who have “tasted and seen that the Lord is good” (Psalm 34:8) on Sabbath, the attitude of lawlessness will always be a mystery. It certainly is to the God who gave it.

Selah.

Kelly McDonald, Jr.

BSA President – www.biblesabbath.org