Jon Collins
👤 SpeakerAppearances Over Time
Podcast Appearances
a temporary pause in, what do you say, social hierarchies of power and labor.
Everybody just stops and rests.
And then verse 15 of Deuteronomy 5 comes and provides a reason for all this that is also different from the Exodus version.
Verse 15 reads, "...and you will remember that you all were slaves in the land of Egypt."
And Yahweh your Elohim brought you out with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm.
Therefore, Yahweh your Elohim commanded you to keep the Shabbat.
So you used to be slaves in Egypt.
And you were laboring without any rest, all day, every day, no rest.
How'd you like that?
That was dehumanizing.
So we're recalling Pharaoh's brutal enslavement of the Israelites.
And then also, you know, there was that moment after Aaron and Moses confronted Pharaoh, and then Pharaoh's like, more bricks, less straw.
Like, keep meeting your quota.
He just turns it up.
And no rest, no Shabbat.