No Sweating Allowed

No Sweating Allowed

Ge 3:19  In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
Eze 44:15  "But the Levitical priests, the sons of Zadok, who kept charge of My sanctuary...
Eze 44:16  "They shall enter My sanctuary; they shall come near to My table to minister to Me...
Eze 44:18  "Linen turbans shall be on their heads, and linen undergarments shall be on their loins; they shall not gird themselves with anything which makes them sweat.

Man was originally placed in the garden to cultivate and keep it. (Genesis 2:15) There was work

involved but apparently it didn't produce the frustration, labor and sweat that would come as a result of the fall. Interesting side fact the name Noah means rest and Jewish authorities credit him with the invention of the plow which made farming a whole lot easier.
Ge 5:29  Now he called his name Noah, saying, "This one shall give us rest from our work and from the toil of our hands arising from the ground which the LORD has cursed."

Now we jump ahead to the commandments given priests in the book of Ezekiel, specifically they could not wear anything that causes sweat. We know from 1 Corinthians 10:11 that many things that happened in the OT were to be examples to teach us.  So what could possible be the reason God instructs His priests not to wear anything that causes sweat?

John 15 comes to mind, I am the vine you are the branches. The vine supplies what is necessary for the branches to produce fruit. It is also true that the branches in and of themselves are incapable of producing fruit so effort to produce fruit by themselves is foolish and will consume great deals of energy with no net effect. It is only as we rest in Christ, whose yoke is easy and His burden is light, that we avoiding sweating to do God's work.

So the admonition for God's priests to not wear anything that causes them to sweat is a reminder rest and rely on the Lord. Does that mean we shouldn't work? Absolutely not, but our work should always be tempered by trusting and relying on God to do the lion's share.

Remember this teaching of Jesus: Mt 6:27 -33 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'hat shall we eat?'or 'hat shall we drink?'or 'what shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (NIV)

In other words, don't sweat it. Worry is a garment you can put on,

refuse to wear, or wake up and take it off, if you have been sweating about things God says not to worry about. More specifically when it comes to Christian service, don't sweat it, Hebrews 4 teaches that there is a rest available for the people of God, but some seem to come short of it. (Hebrews 4:1ff)  He is the vine that supplies, that is not your job. Blessings!