Tom,
In our discussion with the teens one of our less experienced you leaders used this text and said "you shouldn't be doing your own pleasure" on the Sabbath. One of the teens shot back with the obvious, "so if there is something pleasurable to you then you should not do it on the Sabbath" . She had trouble making her real point after that.

Whats that saying ....a text without its context becomes a pre-text for.... We have often used this text as a pre-text for making arguments that are not supported inscripture and get us into unecessary fights.

Lazarus you are A-OK. You have made me laugh so much in this thread. I know you might not mean it to be humorous, but it's been great! Thanks for sharing with us. Have enjoyed your perspective!

Hey ... as long as we are passing out Kudos ... I like having you here also Lazarus. Not only do I enjoy your comments ... I also enjoy having someone to rib and to see if I can rile up.

All is good. It makes for a color blind forum.

At the risk of starting something...
but a color blind forum would be a bad thing. The color blind miss out on the full beauty of nature.

And I did realise how many of you liberal Sabbath-breakers are on this board!!!

Y'all take the Seventh-day out of Seventh-day Adventist!!! for real!

I'm troubled that there were instances where laughed at things that were not supposed to be funny. My Pastoral credibilty is at stake.

Context can, indeed, be very helpful. To understand the context, it is helpful to have a grasp of the situation Isaiah was addressing. It appears from the passage that people in his day made quite a production of Sabbath-keeping (or, 'sabbathing,' to use your term. Interesting. Grammatically, your word would pass muster.) They fasted, and mourned, and bowed down as bulrushes, as God describes it in the passage.

How does God respond to all that? He says, No! That is not the fast I have chosen. The fast I have chosen is to not seek one's own pleasure, but to give oneself in ministry on My Sabbath.

The sword cuts both ways, in this case, Tom. Yes, what you are saying about true Sabbathing is correct, I believe. However, the other side is also correct. We should be doing this INSTEAD of seeking our own pleasure. And, yes, 'our own pleasure' does, indeed, include 'play' activities.

'Simplistic lexical route' would apply to some of the lexicons one may purchase at the Christian bookstores, which are on the level of Strong's. The lexicons I am referring to go way deeper than that, and examine the etymology as well as the semantic range, with specific applications. Koehler-Baumgartner is the best one around. It goes for around $700.00, last time I checked. In 'the case at bar,' I have gone beyond that, even, and have done my own analysis of the semantic range of the word in the OT, and how it is used in a variety of applications.

Dave

Since no one knows exactly who you are, and since we like you here, you are safe. I think my kids would really like you as a pastor. Too bad you don't pastor around here. (Then again, since we really don't know who you are, maybe you do pastor around her even though your info says Maryland. lol)

I am not laughing at you by the way, just smiling at the way you have handeled things. I think you are A-OK. There are some things that I strongly agree with you.

Yes Lazarus ... You are very colorful.