Participants: Pastor Stephen Bohr
Series Code: CGC
Program Code: CGC000011
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01:12 Shall we bow our heads for prayer?
01:13 Our Father in heaven, we thank You for this wonderful day 01:18 that You have given us. 01:19 We thank You for the privilege of being here, once again, 01:23 to open Your Holy Word, and learn from You. 01:26 We ask that as we open the book of Genesis, and other books 01:32 of the Bible that relate to this wonderful book, 01:34 we ask that Your Holy Spirit will be with us. 01:38 Enlighten our minds, and give us tenderness of heart 01:41 to receive what You have for us. 01:43 We thank You for hearing our prayer for we ask it 01:46 in Jesus' name, Amen. 01:49 I'd like to begin our study today at the place where 01:55 we began our study last time. 01:58 And, of course, that has to do with the first two chapters 02:04 of the book of Genesis. 02:05 What I'm going to do is review certain very important elements 02:11 that will be fundamental for what we're going to discuss 02:14 in this evening's lecture. 02:17 First of all, I would like to underline the fact that I've 02:23 mentioned many times before, and that is that Jesus Christ 02:29 was the Creator of Genesis 1. 02:34 Jesus Christ was the Creator of Genesis 1. 02:38 That's critically important for what we're going to discuss 02:42 in our lecture today. 02:44 The second point that I want us to notice in our study is found 02:48 in Genesis 1:31-2:1, Genesis 1: 31-2:1. 02:59 Notice what it says: 03:15 And now notice verse 1: 03:27 Question: When did Jesus finish His work of creation? 03:33 On which day? Very clearly, He finished on the sixth day. 03:39 Correct? Now, let's notice verse 2. 03:45 It says in Genesis 2:2: And on the seventh day God ended 03:53 his work which he had done, and he rested on the seventh day 03:59 from all his work which he had done. 04:03 Three points that I want us to notice: 04:05 1. Jesus was the Creator. 04:07 2. Jesus finished His work of creation on the sixth day. 04:13 3. Jesus rested on the seventh day. 04:19 We're going to come back to this later on in our study. 04:23 It's critically important. 04:25 Now I want you to notice also as we review what we studied 04:29 in our last lecture, that man did not do any work 04:35 in order to exist. 04:37 I believe that that point is clear. 04:39 Jesus Christ performed all the work. 04:43 And when man was created he was created to rejoice and to rest 04:52 in the work which Jesus had made. 04:54 In other words, every thing that Adam and Eve enjoyed, 04:58 they enjoyed because Jesus had worked to create it. 05:02 All they could do was rest in the work that Jesus had done, 05:07 because Jesus was the Creator. 05:10 Another point, which we studied in our last lecture, 05:14 is that the day begins in the evening. 05:18 You know, it was the Romans who established the custom 05:21 of starting the day at midnight. 05:24 And, you know, basically we followed that custom 05:28 of starting the day at midnight. 05:30 But biblically the day starts at the evening, 05:33 with the setting of the sun. 05:35 In other words, when the sun set on the sixth day, that is when 05:41 the seventh day Sabbath began, and it lasts from sundown 05:46 the sixth day on Friday, through sundown on what we know as 05:52 Saturday, or sundown on the Sabbath. 05:53 In other words, keeping the Sabbath means observing 05:56 twenty-four hours. 05:58 It's not going to church only on Saturday. 06:02 It means resting from our endeavors, resting in what Jesus 06:07 has done, enjoying His creative works that we did 06:11 not work to perform. 06:13 And that is to last twenty-four whole hours. 06:17 Don't you think it's wonderful that Jesus has given us 06:20 twenty-four hours to rest from everything that we do, 06:24 and to enjoy fellowship with Him, and to enjoy contemplating 06:29 the works that He has performed? 06:31 I think it's wonderful that He has done this for us. 06:34 Now I want you to remember these details, because we're going to 06:38 come back to them a little bit later on. 06:40 Reviewing: 1. Jesus was the Creator. 06:42 2. Jesus finished His work of creation the sixth day. 06:46 3. Jesus rested from His work of creation on the seventh day. 06:52 4. Man did not perform any work. 06:55 Jesus did all of the work, and man simply was to enjoy 06:59 the fruit of the labor of Jesus. 07:02 5. The day begins at the setting of the sun. 07:06 Now I would like us to go to Exodus 16. 07:11 We find some very interesting details about the Sabbath 07:15 in this experience of ancient Israel. 07:18 Exodus 16, and we're going to read several verses from this 07:24 chapter, because they're important for what we'll discuss 07:27 later on in our lecture. 07:28 We're going to begin at verse 22, Exodus 16:22. It says: 07:43 Did you catch that? 07:44 Which day? sixth day. 07:46 Is there a sixth day mentioned in Genesis 1? 07:49 Yes, there is. Okay? 08:03 By the way, they're picking up the manna, or the bread which 08:06 God rained down from heaven for forty years. 08:09 Now notice verse 23: 08:17 He's speaking of the sixth day isn't He? 08:26 Now if He's saying this the sixth day, 08:28 what would tomorrow be? 08:29 It would be the seventh day, that's right. 08:32 Tomorrow is a Sabbath rest, a holy Sabbath unto Moses. 08:42 I did that on purpose. 08:43 I might need glasses, but not that bad. 08:47 It says, once again, This is what the Lord has said: 08:53 Tomorrow is a Sabbath rest,... 09:09 By the way, the manna fell six days a week, 09:13 and they were supposed to pick up the manna six days a week. 09:16 But on Friday, the sixth day, twice the amount of manna fell, 09:21 because they were not supposed to go out to look for manna 09:24 on the Sabbath, because God did not rain manna from heaven 09:27 on the Sabbath. Now notice once again verse 24. 09:34 And this is very important now. 09:44 You see, if they picked it up any other day for the next day, 09:48 the manna had two characteristics: 09:50 1. It bread worms. 2. It stank. 09:57 Are you catching my point? 09:59 Remember this, because we're going to come back to it again. 10:02 This is really a Messianic prophecy. 10:05 Now notice verse 25: Then Moses said, Eat that today for today 10:14 is a Sabbath to the Lord. 10:17 There it is again. 10:18 Every time that the Sabbath is mentioned in scripture, 10:20 it is a Sabbath of the Lord, a Sabbath to the Lord. 10:24 It is not a Sabbath of the Jews. 10:26 It is not a Sabbath of Moses. And so it says: 10:47 Which day is the Sabbath? 10:48 Does it say every seventh day? 10:52 Is every seventh day the Sabbath? No. 10:55 The seventh day is the Sabbath, after six days 11:01 of picking up manna. 11:03 Are you following what this is saying? 11:04 By the way, does this square with creation? 11:07 It most certainly does. 11:08 Now notice verse 27: Now it happened that some of the people 11:12 went out on the seventh day to gather, but they found none. 11:17 And the Lord said to Moses, How long do you refuse 11:22 to keep my commandments and my laws? 11:26 Now this is before Exodus 20, when the ten commandments 11:29 were given. This is four chapters earlier. 11:32 And yet God is telling them, How long do you not keep 11:35 my commandments and my laws? 11:36 Obviously, the Sabbath was a commandment of God before 11:39 God gave it on Mount Sinai. 11:41 Now notice verse 29: See, for the Lord has given you 11:48 the Sabbath. Therefore he gives you on the sixth day bread for 11:54 two days. Let every man remain in his place. 11:58 Let no man go out of his place on the seventh day. 12:02 And some people take that to mean, well everybody has to 12:05 stay home on the Sabbath. 12:06 That's not what it's saying. 12:07 It's saying, you're not supposed to go out of your place 12:09 to pick up manna on the Sabbath. 12:11 It doesn't mean that you can't go out of your house to go to 12:15 the temple to worship on Sabbath. 12:16 It's to pick up manna that they were not supposed to go out. 12:20 And then notice verse 30: So the people rested 12:25 on the seventh day. 12:26 Do you notice the number of times here that you have 12:28 a reference to the seventh day as being the Sabbath? 12:32 Do you notice that six days are mentioned? 12:35 Do you notice that the sixth day is mentioned? 12:38 Do you notice that it says that the Sabbath is a Sabbath of the 12:41 Lord? Is this the same scenario that we have in Genesis? 12:44 Yes or No? Absolutely! 12:46 The very same expressions. 12:47 Is the Sabbath of Exodus 16 the same Sabbath of Genesis 1 12:53 and 2? No doubt whatsoever. 12:55 It's the same Sabbath. 12:57 Now I want you to remember the details that we find in this 13:02 story about the manna, particularly the fact that 13:05 double manna fell on the sixth day. 13:07 On the seventh day the manna was just as fresh as it was 13:11 on the sixth day. 13:13 It did not breed worms or stink. 13:16 Remember that, because that is a Messianic prophecy. 13:19 We will come back to it later on. 13:21 Now lets go to Exodus 20:8, Exodus 20:8. 13:28 Here we find recorded the ten commandments of the law of God. 13:33 Some people would like to make these the nine commandments. 13:36 Some people would rather have no commandments. 13:39 But God gave ten commandments. 13:41 And you'll notice the fourth commandment of His law 13:45 is found in verse 8. 13:51 By the way, you can't remember something that hasn't happened 13:54 in the past. For example, a few months from now I'll be saying, 13:59 Do you remember when we did the Genesis series? 14:01 How can I say, Do you remember when we did the Genesis series? 14:07 It's because it's something that happened in the past. 14:09 In other words, the fourth commandment is sending us to the 14:12 past. Where in the past? 14:14 It is sending us back to Genesis, back to creation. 14:43 And then God gives the reason why He told them 14:46 to keep the Sabbath. 14:47 Notice that it's not because they're Jews, 14:51 or for any contemporary reason of that period. 14:55 He actually sends them back to creation for the reason 14:59 to observe the Sabbath. 15:01 Notice verse 11: 15:02 That means because. 15:21 Did God do the same three things with the Sabbath in Genesis? 15:26 Did He bless the Sabbath? Yes, He did. 15:28 Did He sanctify the Sabbath? Yes, He did. 15:32 Did He rest on the Sabbath? 15:33 He most certainly did. 15:35 Does the fourth commandment send Israel back to creation 15:40 for them to understand the reason why they are supposed 15:42 to keep the Sabbath holy? Yes. 15:44 Now let me ask you, How many Jews were there at creation? 15:49 None. The word Jew comes from Judah, who was the son of Jacob. 15:54 Even if you go back to the time of Abraham; 15:57 that's long after creation. 16:00 The Bible tells us that the reason why we are supposed to 16:05 observe the Sabbath, is because God made the Sabbath 16:08 at creation. He's saying to Adam and Eve in the beginning, 16:11 I want you to keep the Sabbath. 16:13 And now He tells Israel, I want you to keep the Sabbath 16:16 for the very same reason. 16:19 Now let's go to Exodus 31, Exodus 31, and let's examine 16:26 several concepts from this chapter, which very clearly 16:31 deals with the Sabbath. 16:32 Exodus 31:15, Exodus 31:15. 16:38 It says there in Exodus. 16:41 Did I say Genesis? 16:43 Exodus, Exodus 31. 16:46 I was here in Genesis. 16:47 Exodus 31:15, we find these words: 17:03 ...to Moses... No, it doesn't say that, it says: 17:09 Well, let me ask you, Which is the Lord's day? 17:11 If you take what the Bible says, what is the Lord's day? 17:16 The Lord's day is the Sabbath. So it says: 17:21 And now comes a very dire expression. It says, listen up, 17:27 whoever does any work... 17:35 And do you know what Christians say? Many Christians? 17:39 They say, listen, if you say that we're supposed to keep 17:42 the Sabbath, then you have to execute the death penalty 17:45 against those who don't keep it. 17:49 That's a fallacious argument, and let me tell you why. 17:53 Do you know that also it says in the Mosaic legislation that 17:58 whoever committed adultery was supposed to be put to death? 18:03 So I suppose that because we don't put people to death for 18:06 committing adultery today, it's okay to commit adultery. 18:11 Is it? Is it okay to commit adultery, because we don't 18:15 put people to death? Of course not. 18:17 You see, in this period they were under the theocracy. 18:21 God was the direct ruler of Israel. 18:23 And God as the direct ruler of Israel, 18:27 could tell this to Israel. 18:30 But let me tell you, the principle still applies. 18:32 We don't go around killing people for breaking the Sabbath, 18:35 but eventually, if we knowingly break the Sabbath, 18:38 if we knowingly trample the Sabbath, will God hold us 18:42 accountable, and responsible, just as much as if we knowingly 18:45 commit adultery, or knowingly kill, or knowingly steal, 18:51 or break any of the other commandments? 18:53 Are you understanding what I'm saying? 18:54 Now let's go back to Exodus 31 and read verse 17, Exodus 31:17. 19:03 Here we find an additional detail, 19:05 which is very interesting. 19:07 We find the following words there: Exodus 31:17. 19:13 It is a sign, that is the Sabbath. 19:27 And then it gives a reason again. 19:39 What is the reason why God says that Israel is to observe the 19:43 Sabbath, and it is an everlasting sign? 19:45 Because He made it when? at creation. 19:47 Once again, it sends us to creation. 19:49 And I know someone is saying, Yes, Pastor Bohr, 19:52 but here it says that it's a sign between God and Israel 19:54 forever. Let me ask you, Are we Israel? 20:02 Are we? Well, let's go to the New Testament, because I see 20:06 some of you are kind of incredulous. 20:09 That means that we have some unbelievers in the camp. 20:13 Now, let's notice what we find in the book of Galatians 3, 20:18 and we'll begin at verse 26, Galatians 3:26. 20:25 Here the apostle Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, says this: 20:29 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 20:35 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ 20:40 have put on Christ. 20:42 So whoever's been baptized into Christ has put on Christ. 20:47 In other words, that person is a Christian. 20:50 Verse 28: There is neither Jew nor Greek, 20:54 there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male 20:57 nor female: for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 21:02 And now notice verse 29: 21:12 What does it mean to be Abraham's seed? 21:14 It means to belong to whom? to Christ. 21:19 So if the Sabbath was an everlasting sign between God 21:22 and Israel, and when we join Jesus Christ, we are children 21:27 of Abraham, or the seed of Abraham, that is Israel, 21:30 is the Sabbath an everlasting sign between God and us as well? 21:35 Absolutely! In fact, do you know that the Jews who are keeping 21:38 the Sabbath today, according to the Bible, aren't even Jews? 21:43 You're saying, Now how is this? 21:47 Go with me to the book of Romans very quickly; Romans 2:28, 29, 21:54 Romans 2:28, 29. Notice what the apostle Paul has to say here. 22:00 By the way, the apostle Paul was a Jew, wasn't he? 22:03 And he says here in Romans 2:28, For he is not a Jew, who is one 22:11 outwardly; nor is circumcision that which is outward 22:20 in the flesh... He says a Jew is not a Jew because he appears 22:25 one outwardly, or because he's circumcised, in other words. 22:29 ...But he is a Jew, who is one inwardly; and circumcision 22:36 is that of the heart, in the spirit,... 22:40 That is those who have received the spirit. 22:42 ...in the spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not 22:46 from men, but from God. 22:49 What does it mean to be a Jew? 22:52 Does it really mean anything to be a literal Jew, 22:55 and reject Jesus Christ? 22:57 The apostle Paul says that that is not a Jew. 22:59 A Jew is one who is one inwardly, who has been 23:03 converted to Jesus, who has received the Holy Spirit. 23:06 And because the Sabbath is a sign between Israel and God 23:10 forever, if we are Israel, the Sabbath is a sign between 23:15 God and us as well. 23:16 Are you catching my point or not? 23:18 Now lets go to Exodus 31:18, Exodus 31:18. 23:28 This is the conclusion of this whole passage on the observance 23:33 of the Sabbath, and it's very, very, significant that this 23:36 verse is placed in this position. 23:38 It says in verse 18: And when he had made an end of speaking with 23:44 them... That is God speaking with Moses on Mount Sinai. 23:47 ...He gave Moses two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, 23:55 written with the finger of Moses. 23:59 It says... written with the finger of God. 24:05 Now listen up, there's only one thing in all of the Bible that 24:08 God wrote with His own finger, and that is 24:11 the ten commandments. 24:14 All of the rest of the Bible God gave to a prophet, 24:17 and the prophet wrote. 24:18 Now I know somebody says, What about in Daniel where the finger 24:23 writes on the wall? 24:24 It doesn't say there that it was God who wrote that on the wall. 24:26 It was one of the watchers, who are angels. 24:31 The only thing in the Bible which God explicitly wrote 24:34 with His own finger was the ten commandments. 24:37 Do you think the ten commandments are in a special 24:39 category then? Do you think that they occupy a special place? 24:44 That God did not even entrust the writing of the 24:47 ten commandments to a prophet, or to a writer, or to Moses? 24:50 He said, I'm going to write these Myself. 24:54 They must be extremely important. 24:56 It's interesting that He says this immediately after saying 25:00 that the Sabbath is an everlasting sign between 25:03 Him and His people. 25:06 Now there's a fact that is very seldom recognized among 25:12 Christians, and that is that God gave the Sabbath to Israel 25:16 for another reason. 25:17 Go with me to Deuteronomy 5 and let's read verses 12-15. 25:24 Deuteronomy 5:12-15. 25:30 You're going to notice that there's a second motivation 25:33 here for observing the Sabbath: not only creation, 25:36 but also another motivation for observing the Sabbath. 25:41 So once again, the reference is Deuteronomy 5:12-15. 25:49 It says here: 26:22 And now notice verse 15. 26:43 What is the motivation for observing the Sabbath in this 26:46 passage? It is not creation, it is what? 26:49 It is redemption. God redeemed Israel from bondage in Egypt 26:56 when they could not deliver themselves. 26:58 They were slaves to Pharaoh, who in the Bible is called the 27:02 great dragon. There was no way that they could be delivered. 27:05 And because they cried out to God, God intervened, 27:09 and He delivered them from bondage in Egypt. 27:12 He gave them freedom. 27:13 And God says, in order to commemorate your deliverance 27:17 from bondage, and your freedom, now I want you to 27:20 keep holy the Sabbath. 27:22 And so God gave Israel two reasons 27:25 for observing the Sabbath: first because of creation, 27:28 and secondly, because of redemption. 27:32 In other words, the Sabbath also has a redemption purpose. 27:37 Now before we pursue this thought, I need to go through 27:40 the rest of the Old Testament very quickly. 27:42 I'm not going to look up these verses. 27:44 You'll have them in the handout this evening. 27:47 They're all there explained. 27:48 You can read them for yourself. 27:50 You can fill in the blanks. 27:52 You know, it's a wonderful thing to do this, because you check 27:56 it out for yourself. 27:57 You don't believe me; I don't want you to believe me 28:00 unless you can find it in God's holy word. 28:02 Now allow me to mention several other references to the Sabbath 28:05 in the Old Testament before we go to speak about 28:08 the New Testament, and the Sabbath. 28:10 Isaiah 56, which was mentioned this evening in the question 28:14 and answer period, tells us very clearly that the Sabbath, 28:19 even in the Old Testament, was meant to be kept by the nations 28:24 other than Israel. 28:25 The word nations there is the Hebrew word goyim, 28:30 which means the Gentiles; not only the nations in general, 28:34 but the Gentiles. An God says that when the Gentiles, 28:38 and when the eunuchs observe the Sabbath, and they come to 28:44 God's house of prayer, God's house of prayer will be called 28:48 a house of prayer for whom? for all peoples. 28:54 In other words, the purpose for the observance of the Sabbath 28:57 was not only for the Jews, even in the Old Testament. 29:01 God says that it was His purpose for the eunuchs, 29:04 and also for the nations, for the goyim, so to speak, 29:09 to keep the Holy Sabbath. 29:11 Even in the Old Testament it was the plan of God 29:14 that the Gentiles participate in the observance of the Sabbath. 29:17 Now go with me to Isaiah 58: 13, 14. 29:21 This is one that we are going to read, and then I'll mention 29:24 the rest of the Old Testament texts. 29:26 Isaiah 58:13, 14. And the reason why I'm going to read this is 29:32 because it gives us several important principles 29:34 of Sabbath observance. Isaiah 58:13, 14. 29:45 What does that mean, turn away your foot? 29:49 It means that you're not going to what? 29:50 You're not going to trample on the Sabbath. 29:53 You're going to remove your foot from the Sabbath. 30:06 Whose holy day? God's holy day. 30:12 ...burden, a yoke of bondage, hello! 30:22 That's not what it says. 30:23 And call the Sabbath a delight. 30:32 What is the Sabbath? honorable, a delight, according to this. 30:40 Notice, not doing your own ways. 30:43 We do our own ways the first six days. 30:52 In other words, we shift from the secular to the what? 30:56 to the sacred on the holy Sabbath. 31:10 By the way, that's the land of Canaan in the Old Testament. 31:13 But Abraham did not look only to the little land of Canaan, 31:16 he was a type of those who looked for a city whose builder 31:20 and maker is God, according to Hebrews 11. 31:23 And so God says, I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob 31:28 your father, and then He promises, the mouth of the Lord 31:32 has spoken. There are other references in the Old Testament 31:36 to the Sabbath. Jeremiah 17: 24, 27, I'll just mention these 31:41 in passing. God says that the reason why Israel went into 31:45 bondage in Babylon is because they didn't keep the Sabbath. 31:47 In fact, He says that if they had kept the Sabbath, 31:51 Jerusalem would not have been destroyed by Babylon. 31:53 Jerusalem would have remained forever as the capitol 31:57 of God's kingdom, if they had kept and observed the Sabbath. 32:00 Ezekiel 20:20 says that the Sabbath is a sign between 32:06 God and His people, so that His people might know 32:09 that He is Jehovah God. 32:11 Nehemiah 13:15-19; you have a very interesting story. 32:18 This is after the Babylonian captivity, after they were taken 32:21 captive for breaking the Sabbath. 32:24 It appears that they were falling into their bad habits 32:27 again, because Nehemiah says, that they were doing business 32:32 in Jerusalem on the Sabbath, and there were merchants coming 32:36 from Tyre, the southern region of Lebanon, by the way. 32:40 I had the privilege of being there once; 32:42 pretty scary experience, but I won't dwell on that right now. 32:46 But it's interesting that the men from Tyre were selling their 32:51 wares, and they were selling fish. 32:53 And so Nehemiah protested to them, and he says, listen, 32:58 this is the very reason why God sent you to bondage 33:01 in the first place. 33:02 He says, don't do this, because this is the reason why the wrath 33:07 of God was poured out upon you. 33:09 And then the passage says that God, through Nehemiah, 33:14 had the gates of Jerusalem closed, it says, when it began 33:20 to be dark. Does that tell us something about when the Sabbath 33:24 begins? Absolutely! 33:26 He had the gates closed when it began to be dark, 33:30 so that no business transactions would be done on the Sabbath, 33:38 because business transactions are our own pleasure. 33:42 It is a secular activity. 33:44 And so all throughout the Old Testament we have clear 33:48 references to the observance of the Sabbath; 33:50 God's plan for Jews, God's plan for Gentiles. 33:54 But now we must move quickly to the New Testament. 33:57 I'll just mention some of these verses in passing, 33:59 because there are two or three points that I want to emphasize 34:03 before we draw this to a close. 34:05 First of all, I'd like to mention, once again, 34:08 that Genesis 1:1 is repeated in John 1:1, 3. 34:13 The same three elements: in the beginning, 34:17 God created everything; made the heavens and the earth, 34:23 created the heavens and the earth. 34:24 All things were made by the Word who is God, who existed 34:28 in the beginning. 34:29 In other words, the Creator was Jesus Christ. 34:32 Let me ask you then, would you expect Jesus to keep the Sabbath 34:34 when He came to this earth? 34:37 Would you expect Jesus to keep the Sabbath, the day that He 34:40 made as the day of rest? 34:41 Of course. And that's the reason why in Luke 4:16 it says that 34:47 Jesus came to Nazareth... 34:53 What is a custom? It is a habit. 35:02 Which day did Jesus customarily go to church, 35:06 which was the synagogue in that day? 35:07 He customarily went to church on Sabbath, 35:10 because that's the day that He established as the day that 35:14 we're supposed to go and worship before the Lord. 35:17 Now notice also Mark 2:27, 28. 35:22 The context of this is that Jesus and His disciples have 35:26 been crossing a field, and His disciples were hungry, 35:29 and they picked some grain from the field to eat. 35:32 And, of course, the Pharisees were there ready to condemn, 35:36 and they said, Why do Your disciples not obey the law? 35:40 Why are they harvesting on the Sabbath? 35:43 Well, you know what the Bible meant is that you're not 35:45 supposed to take out your combine. 35:47 There weren't combines back then, I know that. 35:49 You're not supposed to take out your combine and do the 35:51 harvesting of your crops on Sabbath. 35:53 It doesn't mean that if you're walking through a field, 35:55 and you're hungry, you can't take a few grains to satisfy 35:58 your hunger. It was the Pharisees who established 36:01 these rules. It wasn't God who established these rules. 36:04 And so they said, Your disciples are not doing what is lawful. 36:08 And this leads Jesus to say, Listen, 36:17 And then He says: 36:23 Do you know what Jesus is really saying? 36:24 He's saying, don't you tell Me how to keep the Sabbath. 36:27 I'm Lord of the Sabbath. 36:28 I made it, and so if anyone is going to define how it's kept, 36:32 it's Me. He's not saying that because He's Lord 36:37 He can do away with it. 36:39 He's saying that I'm Lord. 36:40 I define how the Sabbath is kept. 36:43 It was made for man. 36:44 You're making man to be bound to the Sabbath, 36:48 when the Sabbath was made as a blessing for man, 36:50 so that he could get away from his own endeavors, 36:53 and rest in Me, and enjoy My fellowship, and rejoice in his 36:57 relationship with Me. 36:58 You have made the Sabbath an enslaving commandment and rule 37:02 instead of what I intended originally for the Sabbath. 37:06 Are you understanding what I am saying? 37:07 Now go with me to Mark 3, and you'll see the extremes 37:11 to which the Pharisees went. 37:12 By the way, the Sabbath that Jesus condemned was not the 37:15 Biblical Sabbath, it was the Sabbath of the Pharisees. 37:18 This is the reason why many Christians reject the Sabbath, 37:21 it is because they think that the Sabbath of the Pharisees 37:23 is the Sabbath of the Lord. 37:25 You know, I don't want anything to do with the Sabbath 37:28 of the Pharisees. 37:29 Forget it! They were legalists. 37:32 The Sabbath was a day of misery for them, a day of restrictions. 37:36 But that's not the Bible Sabbath. 37:38 That is the Sabbath of the Pharisees. 37:40 Are you understanding what I'm saying? 37:42 And even today, Christian pastors will say, 37:45 Oh, don't listen to those people who talk about the Sabbath, 37:48 because they want you to be bound to the law again. 37:51 They want to put you under bondage. 37:55 Well, who gave the law? God. 37:57 So if God gave a law of bondage, what kind of God is God? 38:00 The law is not a law of bondage, it's called the law, 38:04 the perfect law of what? the perfect law of liberty. 38:09 Now lets notice Mark 3:1-6 just to give you an example. 38:16 I wish we had time. 38:17 I have a whole presentation just on Mark 3:1-6, 38:20 but we'll go through this very quickly. It says: 38:33 It's wrong to heal on the Sabbath, 38:34 but it's okay to accuse. 38:55 Because He knew that they were planning on killing Him. 38:57 See, it's wrong to heal on the Sabbath, 39:00 but it's okay to plan to kill someone. 39:01 Do you see the extremes to which they have taken this? It says: 39:09 They knew that when they opened their mouths 39:12 they were in trouble. 39:30 Did Jesus recreate his hand? 39:32 Did He recreate his hand? Yes. 39:35 So the Sabbath becomes a sign of the recreation of a hand. 39:39 And then it says: 39:43 On Sabbath, mind you. 39:45 The Bible doesn't say that. 39:47 Those are my words. 39:55 Jesus is healing on the Sabbath, and the Pharisees are planning 39:59 how they can destroy Jesus on the Sabbath. 40:02 Are you understanding that the Sabbath of the Pharisees 40:06 is not the Sabbath of the Lord? 40:07 The Sabbath of the Lord is a wonderful blessing. 40:10 It is honorable. It is a delight. 40:12 It is wonderful to observe. 40:14 To take twenty-four hours for our fellowship with Jesus; 40:18 quality time in the rat race of life. 40:21 Now, John 1 says that Jesus was the Creator. 40:28 But John 1 also says that Jesus became flesh, 40:34 and dwelt among us. 40:40 He came to this world to redeem us. 40:43 He came to this world to save us, to deliver us from bondage 40:48 to sin. And only He could do it because only He who created 40:54 all, could take the place of all, and redeem all. 40:58 And so Jesus the Creator comes to this earth 41:02 and He becomes the Redeemer. 41:03 Let me ask you, who worked for our salvation? 41:06 Did we? No. 41:08 Who lived a perfect life for us? He did. 41:12 Who died for us? 41:14 Who performed all of the work that was necessary to save us? 41:19 It was Jesus. We can do nothing to save ourselves. 41:26 We cannot work in order to be saved. Absolutely not. 41:30 Just like at creation Adam did not work to exist, 41:35 or to merit everything. 41:37 In salvation we don't work to merit salvation, 41:41 to merit the blessings of salvation in Christ. 41:45 Now let me ask you, which day of the week did Jesus die? 41:49 Now we look at the redemption dimension of the Sabbath. 41:54 Let's go to Mark 15, Mark 15:42, 43, Mark 15: 42, 43. 42:01 I know that you know what day Jesus died, 42:05 but let's read it anyway, Mark 15:42, 43. 42:12 Do you remember they wanted to take down the body of Jesus 42:17 from the cross, because it was about to start the Sabbath? 42:19 When did the Sabbath begin? It says here: 42:23 That's sunset. 42:31 What is the Preparation Day? 42:33 The day before the Sabbath. 42:35 What is the day before the Sabbath? 42:36 Friday, thank you. 42:38 That's why we call it Good Friday. 42:40 But we never hear people say Good Sabbath. 42:45 It's always Good Friday! 42:47 Resurrection Sunday! 42:49 And the Sabbath gets lost in the shuffle. 42:51 Because there's one who doesn't want us to know 42:54 about the Sabbath. 42:55 So what day did Jesus die? 42:59 He died the sixth day of the week. 43:04 Now what did Jesus say on the cross when He died? 43:08 Go with me to John 19, John 19, and let's read verse 30. 43:16 Do you remember when Jesus finished His works of creation? 43:18 Which day? Which day did Jesus finish His works of creation? 43:22 On the sixth day. 43:23 What does Genesis say about what happened on the sixth day? 43:28 Jesus finished. Do you remember the word finished in Genesis? 43:32 Now, what did Jesus say after He had completed 43:36 the work of redemption? 43:37 Notice John 19:30. It says here: 43:58 Did Jesus, the Redeemer, rest from His works of redemption 44:02 on the Sabbath, after working for mans redemption, 44:08 and dying for his redemption on the sixth day? Hello! 44:12 Is the Sabbath then also a sign of redemption? Yes it is. 44:18 In fact, I'll just mention this verse. 44:20 If you go to Luke 23:54-56, it says that the women 44:26 who followed Jesus, in the last moments of His life, 44:30 it says in verse 56, that they what? they rested 44:36 the Sabbath day, according to the commandment. 44:40 And what was Jesus doing in the tomb? 44:43 He was also resting. 44:46 You say, well, where does the Bible say that death is rest? 44:49 Let me just mention the verse. 44:51 Revelation 14:13: Blessed are those who die henceforth, 44:58 or from this moment on, in the Lord. 45:01 They shall what? 45:03 They shall rest, or that they may rest from their labors, 45:08 and their works follow them. 45:11 So what happens, according to this, when a person dies? 45:16 Are his works finished? Yes, they are. 45:19 And what does he do? He rests. 45:22 So what did Jesus do on the seventh day of the week? 45:27 By the way, the whole day, because He died shortly before 45:33 sundown, and He resurrected early on the 45:38 first day of the week. 45:39 And so Jesus rested the whole Sabbath day in the seplecure 45:44 after saying, It is finished; after working for the salvation 45:48 of man. And then, of course, Jesus resurrected the first day 45:53 of the week. Go with me to 2 Corinthians 5, 2 Corinthians 5. 45:59 Do you know that redemption is recreation? 46:02 In redemption Jesus recreates. 46:06 Notice 2 Corinthians 5:17, 2 Corinthians 5:17. 46:14 Here the apostle Paul says this: 46:22 That means if someone's been redeemed by Jesus,... 46:38 Is redemption a recreation? Yes, it is. 46:43 What was the sign of redemption, or recreation 46:46 in the Old Testament? 46:48 It was the Sabbath. 46:49 What is the sign of redemption, or recreation 46:52 in the New Testament? 46:54 It is, once again, the holy Sabbath. 46:58 In other words, the New Testament gives us an additional 47:02 reason to keep the Sabbath, not only because Jesus, 47:05 at the beginning, created us, but when we fell into sin, 47:08 into disorder, into chaos, Jesus worked on the cross, 47:14 He said on the sixth day, It is finished, rested in the tomb 47:18 the seventh day, and came forth to ascend to the presence of 47:22 His Father to represent us before God. 47:25 The Sabbath, then, is not only a sign of creation, 47:29 it is also a sign of redemption. 47:32 Two reasons for keeping the Sabbath. 47:34 Do you remember the manna episode? 47:37 Let's go to that for a moment. 47:40 Do you remember that the manna that fell on the sixth day, 47:43 there was twice as much manna? 47:44 What happened to the manna when it was kept over for the 47:48 Sabbath? It did not what? It did not breed worms or stink. 47:53 Let me ask you, what usually would you use those terms for? 47:56 breed worms and stink? 47:57 You would use that for a what? 48:01 What happens to a human body when it's buried after awhile? 48:05 What happens? Does it start stinking? 48:08 Yes, it does. Does it breed worms? 48:11 Yes, maggots. Of course. 48:15 Now I want you to notice John 6:51. 48:18 It really gets interesting here. 48:20 John 6:51, Jesus is speaking, and He says this: 48:36 So what did that manna represent? Jesus. 48:58 What does the manna represent? 49:00 It represents the flesh of Jesus, sacrificed for the life 49:05 of the world. Yes or no? Absolutely! 49:09 Now go with me to Acts 2 and discover something 49:12 very interesting. 49:13 Did the body of Jesus see any corruption 49:18 as He rested in the tomb? 49:20 What would have happened to a normal body? 49:23 A normal body would have begun the process of decomposition. 49:28 But notice what David, inspired by the Holy Spirit, 49:33 says about the body of Jesus. 49:36 Acts 2:25-27, Acts 2:25-27. Here it says: 49:47 By the way, this is a prophecy from Psalm 16. 49:52 Concerning Jesus. 50:08 Excuse me, my what? 50:19 The word soul there means life. 50:21 We can't get into that right now. 50:34 Did the flesh of Jesus see corruption? Why not? 50:38 Because Jesus was the living manna. 50:43 By the way, this proves that Jesus was going to die on Friday 50:48 and He was going to rest in the tomb on Sabbath. 50:51 Some people say that Jesus was crucified on Wednesday, 50:54 and resurrected on Saturday. 50:56 It can't be, because in this story from the Old Testament, 51:00 we find very clearly that the manna that was picked up on 51:04 Friday was just as fresh on the seventh day. 51:07 Jesus, who died on Friday, His body was just as fresh 51:11 on the Sabbath in the tomb. 51:12 It did not see corruption. 51:14 Are you understanding what I'm saying? 51:16 This is really a Messianic prophecy about Jesus 51:19 that is found in the Old Testament. 51:21 Now we must move on over quickly. 51:24 Allow me just to mention several things, and I'll just mention 51:27 these in passing. 51:28 Matthew 24:20 tells us that the Sabbath was going to be observed 51:33 forty years after the resurrection of Christ. 51:35 Pray that your flight be not in the winter, or on the Sabbath, 51:39 Jesus said to His disciples. 51:41 In the book of Acts the Sabbath is observed very frequently. 51:45 I'll just mention these in passing, because I want to get 51:47 to the end time. You have in Acts 13:42, 44 the apostle Paul 51:55 keeping the Sabbath with Jews and Gentiles 51:58 in the city of Antioch, like I mentioned. 52:01 In Acts 16:13 you find the apostle Paul observing 52:05 the Sabbath by a riverside. 52:08 In other words, it's not even in the synagogue. 52:10 In Acts 17:2 we find the apostle Paul observing the Sabbath 52:15 in the city of Thessalonica. 52:18 In Acts 18:4 you find the apostle Paul observing the 52:22 Sabbath in the city of Corinth. 52:24 By the way, these are all Roman Gentile cities, 52:27 and yet the apostle Paul, and Peter are observing 52:31 the Holy Sabbath. 52:32 By the way, have you ever heard of the Jerusalem Council? 52:35 It was held in the year 49. 52:39 They were arguing about whether circumcision applied or not. 52:42 Listen, if the Sabbath had been done away with at this point, 52:47 you would have had a major debate, 52:49 but the Sabbath is not an issue. 52:52 The change of Sabbath to Sunday is not an issue 52:55 at the Jerusalem Council, which shows that clearly nobody came 52:59 up with the idea of changing the Sabbath to Sunday, 53:02 because they did not understand that Jesus was teaching that. 53:05 Now allow me to go very quickly to the Sabbath 53:08 at the end of time. 53:10 And I'm going to go through this quickly. 53:11 You have all of the verses. 53:12 I just want you to catch the picture. 53:14 Revelation 16:1-21 portrays seven devastating plagues 53:20 that are going to fall upon this earth; terrible plagues that are 53:24 going to reverse creation. 53:26 They're going to return the earth to the way 53:27 it was before creation. 53:29 In fact, Jeremiah 4:23 says that Jeremiah saw the earth 53:34 as it will be during the thousand years 53:37 when creation is reversed. 53:39 He says, I beheld the earth, and it was without form 53:44 and void, and I looked at the heavens and they had no light. 53:47 Is that the same condition that the earth was in 53:50 before Jesus created it? 53:52 Same three characteristics: without form, 53:55 void, and no light. 53:57 In other words, the earth is going to return to the condition 54:01 it was in before creation, during the millennium, 54:04 during the thousand years. 54:05 We have a whole study later on on the millennium, by the way. 54:08 And then after the millennium we're told in Revelation 21:1 54:15 that God, or Jesus, is going to make a new what? 54:19 He's going to make a new heaven and a new earth. 54:23 And 2 Peter 3:13 says, a new heaven and a new earth 54:27 where righteousness dwells. 54:29 Now my question is this, what day are we going to observe 54:35 when everything is re-established? 54:38 Go with me to Isaiah 66, Isaiah 66, and let's take a look 54:45 at what God's eternal plan is going to be. 54:48 Isaiah 66, and I want to read verses 22 and 23. It says: 54:58 Is this the same new heavens and new earth of Revelation? 55:01 Obviously, it's the same expression. 55:18 By the way, the new moon really is the month, because the months 55:21 were marked off by the new moon. 55:23 That's why the Spanish version says de mes a mes, 55:26 from month to month. 55:28 Why are we going to go to the holy city from month to month? 55:31 Because there's a certain tree, according to Revelation 22:2 55:35 that produces a different fruit each month. 55:39 Revelation explains what we're going to do. 55:41 We're going to eat from the tree of life. 55:43 And so it says, And it shall come to pass, that from one 55:46 new moon to another, or one month to another, 55:48 and from one Sunday to another, 55:52 Thank you. 55:56 The Jews shall come to worship before me, says the Lord. 56:01 Are you flesh? Are you part of the all here? 56:11 Are you catching what this is saying? 56:13 God's people are going to go to the city from month to month, 56:17 to eat from the tree of life, Revelations 22:2. 56:21 And they're going to go from Sabbath to Sabbath to do what? 56:25 to worship before the Lord. 56:28 And then Sabbath observance will have a triple reason: 56:32 Reason 1. Jesus made us. 56:35 Reason 2. Jesus redeemed us. 56:39 Reason 3. Jesus restored us to the way the world was 56:45 at the beginning. 56:46 And there's going to be one big difference. 56:48 At the beginning when God created, when Jesus created 56:52 everything on this earth, nobody saw anything. 56:56 But when Jesus makes a new heavens and a new earth, 57:00 all of the redeemed will be alive. 57:03 Can you imagine what it's going to be like to hear Jesus say, 57:07 Let there be light, because the planet is in darkness. 57:11 Let there be the firmament, let there be plants, 57:17 let there be birds, let there be fish. 57:21 Then we will walk by sight not by faith. |
Revised 2014-12-17