The Sabbath: A Palace in Time

Many books and articles about the Sabbath are devoted to questions such as, "Which Day is the Sabbath?" and, "How was the Biblical Sabbath Changed to Sunday?" These are important topics, and The Bible Sabbath Association distributes and publishes material on these subjects.

For Sabbath-keepers, however, there are relatively few books on the spiritual meaning of the Sabbath. Perhaps the premier work on the philosophy of the Sabbath is the classic book, The Sabbath: its Meaning for Modern Man, published in 1951 by the famous Jewish scholar, Abraham Joshua Heschel. This is not a book to speed read. Each sentence is weighty, and usually worthy of prayerful meditation. Although written from a Jewish perspective, Sabbath-keeping Christians can well relate to Heschel’s brilliant exploration of the spiritual meaning of the Sabbath.

Most religions have "holy places," or "sacred temples." The religion of the Bible, however, sanctifies holy time. In the Bible, no thing, no place on earth, is holy by itself. The Creator places His divine presence, not in a physical place, but in a place in time, where He meets His people. His Holy Sabbath is a "palace in time."

The Sabbath: its Meaning for Modern Man, a 118-page book by Abraham Joshua Heschel, is available for $11 postpaid from The Bible Sabbath Association, 3316 Alberta Drive, Gillette, WY 82718.

The BSA has reprinted another classic book, Spiritual Sabbathism, by A.H. Lewis (1910 edition), 84 pages, $7.50, plus $2.50 shipping.