Sabbath: Experiencing and Living the Character of God
FOURTH QUARTER 2020
SABBATH SCHOOL INSIGHT #12
DECEMBER 19, 2020
“SABBATH: EXPERIENCING AND LIVING THE CHARACTER OF GOD”
Memory Text: “And He said to them, ‘The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore, the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath’.” (Mark 2:27, 28, NKJV).
It is a privilege for me to share this week’s commentary on the Sabbath. I first learned of it in July 1984. I was not even a Christian then, but happened to read a pamphlet by Herbert Armstrong which was 94 pages long. I requested it by mail simply out of curiosity, and that decision changed my life for 11 months later I would be a baptized Christian/Adventist and be in the seminary. (I wish I had time to tell you the whole story for it still makes me tear up.) There definitely is a blessing for loving obedience towards the Sabbath, as well as all God’s commandments, of course, founded on the Gospel, empowered through His Everlasting Covenant promise to write them in our hearts and minds.
I suspect there might be those looking at this issue with doubt. I am going to share how to prove the Sabbath with 3 verses, none of which speak directly of the Sabbath. I am also going to show that the Sabbath is the KEY to overcoming in the Christian walk. You will find that under Tuesdays discussion of Isaiah 58.
John 14:15. If you love me, keep my commandments. The word “commandments” is ‘entole’, which really refers not specifically to the Ten Commandments, but to Jesus’ teachings. = Keep His teachings, out of love.
Matthew 28:20. Teaching them to observe all things I have commanded you. = Keep His commands.
I Timothy 6:3. If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness; 4 He is proud, knowing nothing. = The Words of Jesus
So, we are to keep 1) His teachings, 2) His commands, 3) His Words, and take them to THE WORLD, which would include the Gentile World in the NT period. Acts 13:46, at the end of the 490-year probationary period for the Jews, Paul said He would go to the gentiles.
What did Jesus teach, command, speak?
Did Jesus ever teach ANYTHING about Sunday worship? NEVER Did Jesus teach on several occasions regarding the Sabbath? “It is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” “The Sabbath was made for mankind, and not man for the Sabbath.” I am therefore to go to the WORLD and share those truths. I cannot see it any other way. I rest my case.
Jesus did not designate His teachings to be negated, at some point, because they were “old covenant.” He certainly corrected false concepts of the Sabbath, and Jewish traditions which were not in harmony with Scripture, but He clearly said that HIS teachings are to go to the world. He never said any of His teachings were merely for the Jews, to be altered after the cross.
Isaiah 42:21 The LORD is well pleased for His righteousness' sake; He will magnify the law, and make it honourable. Jesus came to teach the truth, not to agree with Old Covenant concepts that would be done away with, except as they foreshadowed Jesus, and He certainly did not come to agree with extrabiblical traditions and legalism.
Another thought is the creation week, which we will discuss. The Sabbath, of course, was established on the Seventh Day of the week. People say the Sabbath was only for the Jews. I highly suspect that air, water, food, marriage, the animals, plants, sun, etc. were not only for the Jews, but for all mankind. That is why Jesus said that the Sabbath was made for man. The word “man” is ‘anthropos’, from which we obtain anthropology. - the study of human societies and cultures and their development. i.e., Mankind, not merely the Jews. It was made for human beings, as was all of Creation. All creation was made for our good, the things referenced in creation are given us by our Creator, based on how we are created. We need the things He created to give us. They are written on every cell of our body. This of course means we were created to rest, spiritually and physically.
There are actually several hundred scientific books and articles that refer specifically to seven-day cycles in nature. Although a whole host of life forms have well-defined weekly cycles, most of the research has been medical. Scientists have documented bona fide weekly fluctuations in human blood pressure, heart rate, blood chemistry, body temperature, kidney function, tooth development, urine chemistry and volume, stress hormones, various neurotransmitters, and the immune system.
The word “keep” in John 14:15 does not mean to obey. It means to watch, guard, take care of, serve. It of course includes obedience, but it is saying, more, that we respect, lovingly share, protect, respect the teachings of Jesus. When God told Adam and Eve to “keep” the Garden, He was not referring to “obeying” the Garden.
Sunday - December 13
God gave us two harmonious Creation accounts in the first two chapters of Genesis. Genesis 1 recounts the Creation week and the growing wonder of the earth as it is given form and then life, culminating in the creation of man and woman on the sixth day. Genesis 2 looks at the same account but from a different perspective, with a special focus on the sixth day. Adam is at the center of the picture now, and everything is described as being there for him and the woman: the Garden, the rivers, and the animals.
Creation is too deep for one single account. First, we learn of the powerful, artistic Creator Who has an eye for perfect beauty. Then we meet the God of relationships Who wants humanity to love and care for each other and the rest of creation.
Read Genesis 1 and 2 and then reflect on how the first Sabbath (Genesis 2:1–3) links back to the first Creation story and forward to the second Creation account. Do your conclusions help you understand what God’s blessing of the Sabbath and making it holy might mean?
Imagine yourself as Adam or Eve on that first Sabbath. It’s your first day alive, your first day with your spouse, and your first day with God. You start learning about relationships: responsibility, caring, love. You experience it with your Creator; you start to practice it with the rest of the created.
People ask where did God command Adam and Eve to keep the Sabbath. The first Sabbath is about God, to observe God, to see the meaning of the Sabbath, which then was to be observed, for our good, throughout all time.
Monday - December 14
Time for Rediscovery
When Moses is asked to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, it is clear that the masses have lost their perspective as children of God. They need to rediscover Who the God is Who asks for their worship and gives them so many promises of an amazing future. The Sabbath is a pivotal learning experience in their journey of rediscovery. It also becomes a clear signal to other nations of the special relationship between God and this nation. The experience of the manna epitomizes God’s way of educating the Israelites.
Deuteronomy 8:2, And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep His commandments, or no. 3 And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that He might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.
If we are to live by “every word” that proceeds out of the mouth of God, as He spoke, and then as well wrote the Commandments, that would include the Sabbath.
Matthew 4:4 But He answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
In Exodus 16:14–29, what lessons are there for the Israelites to learn?
God provides the miracle of the manna for the Israelites, giving them just enough food for each day. If He gave them more than that amount, they then might forget Who their Provider was. So, every day He performed a miracle for them, and they saw God’s care. On the Sabbath, however, the situation was different, just as the day was to be special. Now two miracles were performed: double food on Friday, and the food did not spoil overnight. That left the Sabbath for the Israelites to marvel at the God Who was their Deliverer and to rediscover what it meant to be the people of God.
The Israelites were to eat this manna 40 years (Exodus 16:35). God also instructs Moses to keep an omer of manna to remind the Israelites of how He fed them in the wilderness (Exodus 16:32, 33). It also would have been a reminder of the particular experience of the Sabbath day. There also are other occasions when God makes clear to the Israelites that the Sabbath is special.
The Sabbath was a way God helped the Israelites rediscover their identity and their God. They were asked to obey and keep the Sabbath holy, but this was in the context of developing a deeper understanding of the character of their Creator and about building a lasting relationship of promise.
Tuesday - December 15
The ups and downs of Israel’s experience with God were closely linked to the way they related to the Sabbath. God saw their unwillingness to respect the Sabbath as a sign of His irrelevance in their lives (Jeremiah 17:19–27). A renewed commitment to the Sabbath also was part of restoration—a signal that priorities were right. Isaiah 58 pictures an interesting contrast.
Read Isaiah 58:1–14. What is God saying to His people here that is relevant to us today?
The Israelites are posing as followers of God—in their worship, in their fasting—but the way they live their lives after they have finished worshiping shows that they are only going through the motions of correct behavior; there is no sincere heart commitment to the law of God.
This is not all. Read Isaiah 58:13, 14. Why does God focus on the Sabbath at the end of this chapter? The prophet uses phrases here similar to those in the rest of the chapter: keep “from doing as you please”; don’t go “your own way”; avoid “doing as you please or speaking idle words” (NIV), the prophet warns. In other words, the Sabbath isn’t the time to go through the routine of worship only to be thinking your own thoughts and living a life irrelevant to the one of worship. The Sabbath is to be a “delight” and to be “honorable.” In the context of the rest of the chapter, Sabbath is about delighting in learning the character and purposes of God and then living that character and those purposes in our relations to others. Knowing how to go through the form of Sabbath observance and worship is not enough. Learning must impact life. Sabbath is time for learning and living priorities.
In Isaiah 58:13, God presents to us His wish that we stop violating the Sabbath, and keep it, as a “delight”, by “dying to self”, “not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words.”
This of course takes the grace of God, and our own focused attention, obedience, self-discipline, through faith and keeping our eyes on Christ. Hebrews 12:1-2.
If so, we are promised in Isaiah 58:14, Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father.
1) Our relationship with Christ will be enhanced.
2) We will receive incredible blessings
3) We will experience the “heritage of Jacob.”
There is much implied in the “heritage” or ‘inheritance’ from Jacob. What was the ultimate inheritance?
Jacob wrestled with the angel, he “prevailed” and was given a “new name” or character “Israel.” In Revelation 12:11, and in the Seven Letters to the Churches, the word “overcome” or a variant is used. The Greek word is ‘nikao’ or to “prevail.”
If we truly, from the heart, keep the Sabbath, we will learn such faith, love, relationship, character and self-discipline, that we will keep all the Commandments, and experience victory over sin, again, not through our own efforts, but by resting in Christ, keeping our eyes on Him, obeying from a renewed heart, for “by beholding, we become CHANGED.” The Sabbath was given to especially experience the Law of Beholding the “Matchless Charms” of Jesus. And E.G. White confirms this.
“From the pillar of cloud Christ declared concerning the Sabbath: “Verily My Sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you.” Exodus 31:13. The Sabbath given to the world as the sign of God as the Creator is also the sign of Him as the Sanctifier. The power that created all things is the power that re-creates the soul in His own likeness. To those who keep holy the Sabbath day it is the sign of sanctification. True sanctification is harmony with God, oneness with Him in character. It is received through obedience to those principles that are the transcript of His character. And the Sabbath is the sign of obedience. He who from the heart obeys the fourth commandment will obey the whole law. He is sanctified through obedience. “{CCh 261.4}
Wednesday - December 16
Time for Finding Balance
Jesus respected and upheld the law of God (Matthew 5:17, 18). Yet, Jesus also challenged the religious leadership over their interpretation of the law. None of His challenges was more threatening to the establishment than the choices He made on Sabbath keeping. The synagogues did not fail to make the Sabbath an opportunity for education—the Torah was read and interpreted without fail. The scribes and Pharisees knew the letter of the law. However, Jesus went much further in His Sabbath-day education of His followers.
The controversies surrounding Jesus’ healing on the Sabbath led into important spiritual debates about the nature of sin, the reason for the Sabbath, the relationship between Jesus and the Father, and the nature of Jesus’ authority.
Jesus’ attitude toward the Sabbath is summarized well in our memory verse for this week: “And He said to them, ‘The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath’.” (Mark 2:27, 28, NKJV). He wanted to emphasize that the Sabbath should not be a burden. It was “made” (created) as a unique opportunity for people to learn of the character of God, Who made the Sabbath, and to learn experientially by valuing His creation. By raising questions through His actions, Jesus pushes His disciples, the Jewish leaders, and the crowds to think more deeply about Scripture and about what their faith and their God meant anyway. It is so easy for any of us to get so caught up in rules and regulations that might not be bad in and of themselves but that become an end in and of themselves rather than means to an end—and that end should be a knowledge of the character of the God we serve. And this, then, leads to our faithful obedience to Him based on our trust in the merits of Christ’s righteousness for us.
Thursday - December 17
A Time for Community
Jesus modeled for His disciples the practice of weekly attendance at the synagogue. After His resurrection, they continued this pattern, as did other followers of Jesus. The synagogue became one of the main venues for the apostles to raise questions relating to the Resurrection, and the Sabbath provided a key opportunity for the community to gather together and learn. After all, Jesus was the Hebrew Messiah, the Messiah predicted in the Old Testament, which was read in the synagogue each Sabbath. What better place, then, did the believers have for promoting Jesus than in the synagogue, especially when they were witnessing to Jews and to others “who fear God” (Acts 13:16, 26, NKJV)?
I have reflected on the text that we are not to “forsake the assembling together, and all the more as the day approaches.” How would you relate this text to the pandemic?
The apostles’ testimony was both personal and scriptural. Paul elaborated on the history of Israel, starting with “our fathers” (Acts 13:17) in Egypt, and followed their history from the settlement to the judges, to the kings, and to David, from whom he had a perfect transition to Jesus.
Paul and others also showed how their personal experience and understanding made sense within the context of the Scriptures. They presented information, and they debated and discussed. The combination of personal testimony and Scripture delivered through preaching, teaching, and discussion was very powerful. As the Bible passages show, some of the religious leaders were envious of the authority of the apostles and the resulting power they had over the people, both Jews and Gentiles.
Friday - December 18
Further Thought: Read Ellen G. White, “The Sabbath,” pp. 281–289, in The Desire of Ages.
“No other institution which was committed to the Jews tended so fully to distinguish them from surrounding nations as did the Sabbath. God designed that its observance should designate them as His worshipers. It was to be a token of their separation from idolatry, and their connection with the true God. But in order to keep the Sabbath holy, men must themselves be holy. Through faith they must become partakers of the righteousness of Christ. When the command was given to Israel, ‘Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy,’ the Lord said also to them, ‘Ye shall be holy men unto Me.’ Exodus 20:8; 22:31. Only thus could the Sabbath distinguish Israel as the worshipers of God.”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 283.
“Then the Sabbath is a sign of Christ’s power to make us holy. . . . As a sign of His sanctifying power, the Sabbath is given to all who through Christ become a part of the Israel of God.”—The Desire of Ages, pp. 288, 289.
Is Jesus our “Sabbath rest”, thus eliminating the need for a literal observance of the Sabbath? No. Jesus is our GOSPEL REST. Hebrews 4 is saying that the Jews never really experienced the Sabbath rest, for they never first had the Gospel rest. Hebrews 4:2 For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.
They never experienced “righteousness by faith.” Romans 9:30-10:4. They went about attempting to work out their own righteousness = Laodicea, or self-righteousness.
Chapters 3 and 4 of Hebrews, where the Apostle Paul makes the point that the children of Israel, and later, the Jews never entered Christ’s rest due to their unbelief (Hebrews 3: 18-19). Hebrews 4 is clear. Only those who believe enter His rest, and only those who enter His rest truly keep the Sabbath. Remember, “Abraham believed and it was counted to him as righteousness” (Romans 4:3). Those who believe are righteous. “…in order to keep the Sabbath holy, men must themselves be holy. Through faith they must become partakers of the righteousness of Christ. . . Only thus could the Sabbath distinguish Israel as the worshipers of God” (Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 283).
~ Thomas Cusack