Today we are going to conclude our study on the Sabbath. I believe it is pretty clear what the Bible says about the Sabbath. It was established with the law to the nation of Israel. The Ten Commandments were given to the Israel nation. No other nation did God enter into covenant with. In the Old Testament Israel was subject to the law of God as we read in Exodus. As we move on to modern time, which I am including Jesus’s days we know that Jesus came to fulfill the law. So, the Question is, should we now be obeying the ten Commandments? The simple and complex answer is YES!
Let’s look at these verses again from last week.
Matthew 22: (36) Master, which is the great commandment in the law? (37) Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. (38) This is the first and great commandment. (39) And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. (40) On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
When we look at what Jesus just answered, those two commandments will cover all the laws. When you Love God, you will always put Him first, and you will not practice in idolatry and you will not take the Lord’s name in vain. When you love your neighbor, you will not lie, commit adultery, Steal, you will honor your mother and father, you will not covet, you will not bare false witness. But Check this out, where does the Sabbath come with Loving God and your Neighbor? Jesus said the Sabbath was made for man (Mark 2:27). The Sabbath was for us, if we do not uphold the Sabbath we sin against ourselves. When we start sinning against ourselves, we do take ourselves out of God’s grace. We need to take time and REST!
Matthew 11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Hebrews 4:10 For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.
Hebrews 4:11 Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.
This is Jesus speaking to His disciples. He even commanded them to take time and rest.
Mark: 6:31 And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat.
Today we can conclude we do net time set aside for ourselves to reflect on God’s greatness. We need to rest and wait upon the Lord. Whether or not you want to set a whole day aside whether it be Saturday, Sunday, Monday, etc., or just part of a day, that would be between you and God to work out. We should be able to give ourselves completely to God 100% for a time. He has done it for us.
When we take the time to rest, we will reap the benefits of God’s Grace.
Psalm 116:7 Return unto thy rest, O my soul; For the LORD hath dealt bountifully with thee.
Hebrews 4:9 There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.
Matthew 11:30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
We live in a fast-paced society today. I believe us taking a Sabbath is just a crucial as it was for the Israelites. We seemed to be slaves to technology, work, etc.. If we looked at how much time we spend with everything in our lives and then look at the time we spend with God, it is embarrassing. I am just as guilty. All the more reason for us to set aside time for God. I heard a quote from a pastor once, I wished I would have remembered his name, but it went like this. If you are not willing to spend a little time with God now, what makes you think you will want to spend an eternity with Him in the future.
COMMENTS
[ posted by Cindy, 02/04/2024 12:17 PM ]
Yes, the commandments were given to the Israelites for their rules to live after being freed from a long life of slavery. Their God was different than the pagan gods of the Egyptians and other regions during that time. The Israelites God was ' unseen' and only known thru the teachings passed down thru their families' generations. Their hope was awaiting their coming Savior their holy book and religious leaders talked about.
[ posted by Cindy, 02/06/2024 10:19 AM ]
Okay, my part 3 response I accidently posted on this page. I think it can also apply to this week. Everything God does has importance. When God created everything in 6 days, He rested afterwards on day 7. There were no names for days, got did not give names of the days, He just did them on His time frame. Now is that our 24 hour day? I doubt it. No one can know exactly what God considered '"a day." Surely all He did in "one day" was not a 24 hour period of divine creativity??? I could be wrong, but it seems inconceivable, and it is God....so, yes perhaps it's possible. Most Christians use Sunday for the Sabbath, the Israelites use Saturday. It is the custom passed down thru history for these religions. We studied a couple weeks ago how days of weeks were started and named. Do you think God holds it against us that the days of our week were mainly named from pagan gods? Do you think God would punish what specific day someone would choose to use as their Sabbath? Back in Jesus' time, it was work, family and religion. No tvs, no 24 hr stores, no social media, no phones, no trains and planes to wisk them away in mere hours to vacation spots, no cities full of skyscrapers and 7an and 5pm o'clock bumper bumper to bumper traffic. The people back then were much more dedicated to their religious practices than today's society. It was a top priority in their daily and family life. That's why it is so important for us today to make time to set aside all the noise and distractions of our modern world to spend time with God. People prayed all the time back then. Some today only want to pray when there's a problem. Not a priority until they " need" God. When God sent Jesus to earth as a man, He came to be the mediator for us to God. Man no longer had to confess his sins to men, and offer a sacrifice to be forgiven. Jesus became the sacrifice and the forgiver/redeemer of our sins thru Him. We were no longer judged by men to hold our sins against us for salvation. 1 John 2:6 says " He who says he abides in Him ought himself also walk just as He walked." If Jesus, who was the law, still obeyed the Sabbath, why wouldn't we? The Apostle Paul continued to go to the synagogue on the Sabbath and read scriptures to the people. He stressed the importance of keeping the laws of Moses as Christians, not just for salvation, but our salvation thru Jesus. When he wrote his parts of the gospel about 30 years after Jesus died, he still mentioned how the " women rested on the Sabbath" after they prepared oils and spices for Jesus' body. ( Luke 23: 56 ) If it was not important, he could have just not mentioned it at all. He does not say they rested on the former or old Sabbath, but on the Sabbath. In Matt 24:20 Jesus says " pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath". If He did not believe the continuing of a Sabbath after his death why would He say that? Hebrews 4 is about entering in God's rest. Mike quoted verses 10 and 11. Hebrews 9 says " There remained therefore a rest to the people of God." And verse 12 " ...the word of God is quick and powerful...and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." I take that to mean God is there to help us with our troubled selves. To make good decisions when let Him guide us. But we have to go to Him in a time of rest to focus on hearing Him. In closing, I believe the observances we keep reflect the God we serve, does it not? Many religions also do all kinds of different observances to their god. That is how they honor and worship. Our God told us to take a day of rest after working for 6 days. Rest inHim. Come to Him. Worship Him. Praise Him. Thank Him. I think we need to appreciate the day of rest and how important it is. Remember God said, "It is good" when he finished this creation for you and me. He was talking about us. Even tho we turned into sinners, He has never cast us aside. He never gave up on us. He still sent Jesus to save us and bring us back to God and His holiness. Isn't that alone worth taking a day of rest? A Sabbath for a rest in God??