Participants: Stephen Bohr
Series Code: SUM
Program Code: SUM000014
|
01:12 Shall we bow our heads for prayer?
01:14 Our Father in heaven, we thank You for the awesome opportunity 01:20 of coming into Your presence to open the Holy Word, 01:23 which You have given to us as a way to determine 01:27 what is Your will in these last days. 01:31 I ask, Father, that You will open our minds and our hearts 01:34 to receive the seed of truth. 01:36 And Father, I just plead that those who will watch this 01:42 presentation, those who are watching it this very moment, 01:46 might receive a blessing, and might choose to follow 01:50 the Lord all the way. 01:52 I thank You, Father for hearing my prayer for I ask it 01:56 in Jesus' name, Amen. 01:58 The title of our study is Hidden Sabbath Truths. 02:06 I'd like to give you a little bit of background. 02:10 I grew up in a Seventh-day Adventist household. 02:14 My father was a minister for over forty-one years. 02:19 I studied in Seventh-day Adventist institutions through 02:25 all of my levels of education: primary, secondary, college, 02:30 and post-graduate. 02:32 I also had the privilege of teaching theology in one of our 02:38 institutions for a period of six years, and I've been a pastor 02:42 for the Seventh-day Adventist Church for over thirty years. 02:46 And in the course of this period of time, until very recently, 02:51 as I read the story of creation, in Genesis, I had a serious 03:00 question, actually two serious questions, that 03:05 had perplexed me for years. 03:07 The first of those questions is this: if the Sabbath is so 03:14 important, as the Seventh-day Adventist Church underlines, 03:20 why then didn't God give Adam and Eve a direct command 03:27 to keep the holy Sabbath in the Garden of Eden? 03:31 You see, Genesis says that God rested on the seventh day. 03:36 Nowhere are we told that Adam and Eve rested 03:39 on the seventh day. 03:40 And so I've hoped throughout the course of the years that 03:48 I could find an explanation as to why God had not given 03:52 Adam and Eve a direct command to keep the Sabbath, 03:55 if that was God's plan for them. 03:59 The second question which I had was concerning the expression, 04:04 the evening and the morning. 04:05 You see, Genesis 1 explains that after each day of creation 04:11 there was an evening and a morning, 04:16 but when we read about the seventh day, 04:19 there is no reference to an evening and a morning. 04:23 First day, evening morning, second day, third day, 04:27 fourth day, fifth day, sixth day, we're told there was 04:30 an evening and a morning, but when we come to the seventh 04:32 day, there's no reference to an evening and a morning. 04:35 And so my two questions were, why, if the Sabbath is so 04:39 important, didn't God command Adam and Eve to keep 04:42 the Sabbath? And secondly, why in Genesis don't we have 04:46 a reference to an evening and the morning for the seventh day? 04:51 And then a few months ago, as I was studying the story of 04:56 Genesis again, suddenly, I believe that God's Spirit 05:01 through a study of the word, revealed to me two things 05:05 which I had never thought of before. 05:07 And this is what I would like to share with you 05:10 in our study today. 05:13 The first thing that I want us to notice is that God is the 05:18 subject of the story of creation, 05:21 of the six days of creation. 05:23 More than thirty times in the first chapter alone we find 05:28 expressions such as, God created, God said, God saw, 05:34 God called, God made, God blessed; 05:39 over thirty times in just the first chapter. 05:42 We're told that God did everything during 05:46 those first six days. 05:48 Man did absolutely nothing. 05:51 And then when the creation account reaches its end, 05:56 in Genesis 1:31, we find this fact underlined that God was the 06:00 subject of creation. 06:01 God is the center of creation; the six days of creation. 06:07 Notice what we find in Genesis 1:31. It says there: 06:19 Notice, everything that He had made. 06:30 Do you see in this verse, at the conclusion of the story 06:34 of creation, that God was the one who made everything? 06:39 God saw everything that He had made, and it was good. 06:44 In other words, at the center of the first six days of creation 06:47 week is God Himself; God does everything. 06:52 And it's not less true, also, about the seventh day. 06:57 God is at the very center of the seventh day as well. 07:01 In fact, let's notice Genesis 2: 2, 3 concerning the seventh day, 07:08 and see if God is at the very center of the 07:11 seventh day as well. 07:13 It says there in Genesis 2:2. 07:45 Somehow I think that the author wants us to know 07:48 that God did this, that God worked the six days, 07:53 and it was God who rested on the seventh day. 07:58 Now the word rested here is used twice in Genesis 2:2, 3. 08:06 And the Hebrew word for rested both times is Shabbat. 08:12 Now it's important to realize that the word Shabbat means 08:18 to cease. It means to stop. 08:23 In other words, the word Shabbat does not refer to the manner 08:28 in which God rested on the seventh day, but it's telling us 08:32 that after the sixth day God Shabbat, God ceased. 08:37 We could give an analogy. 08:40 You know, in a court of law when the prosecution finishes 08:46 presenting its case they say, the prosecution rests. 08:53 Now that's not talking about the quality of rest. 08:56 It's simply saying that the lawyers are finished presenting 09:03 the case. They have ceased to present the case. 09:06 And so the word Shabbat used twice in Genesis 2:2, 3 09:12 simply means that God ceased, that God stopped creating 09:18 on the sixth day, but it does not describe the manner 09:22 of His rest on the seventh day; that is to say how He rested 09:27 the seventh day. The emphasis is He ceased working 09:31 after the sixth day. 09:32 In fact, from Vines Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words, 09:37 we find this interesting statement: 09:39 The writer of Genesis 2:3 is not stressing rest from work, 09:47 but rather God's ceasing from His creative work 09:52 since it was complete. 09:56 So the emphasis is that God ceased. 10:00 God stopped creating. 10:01 He suspended His work of creating. 10:05 It's not talking about His quality of rest 10:08 on the seventh day. 10:09 Now immediately we have to ask the question, Okay, God ceased 10:14 after six days of work, but how did God rest on the seventh day? 10:20 Obviously the seventh day was a day of rest, even though the 10:24 word Shabbat means that He ceased creating after six days. 10:28 We would like to know how God rested on the seventh day 10:31 before the weekly cycle began again. 10:34 Allow me to read you a statement that we find in the book, 10:37 Patriarchs and Prophets, page 47. 10:40 This book, Patriarchs and Prophets, is a magnificent 10:44 history of the Old Testament. 10:46 In fact, it begins with the fall of Lucifer in heaven, 10:50 and it goes all the way to the period of the monarchy. 10:53 This is what it says on page 47: 11:05 Are you catching this? 11:32 In other words, God wasn't tired, He was well pleased 11:36 in the work which He had created. 11:39 In other words, He looked upon His works with satisfaction 11:43 on the seventh day. 11:44 For God it was a day of contemplation. 11:48 By the way, are you aware of the fact that it was not only a day 11:53 of contemplation for God, but also for all 11:56 of the heavenly hosts? 11:58 Notice what we find in the book of Job 38:7. 12:04 And I'm going to begin earlier, actually around verse 3, 12:08 where we are told something very interesting about this 12:12 moment of creation. 12:14 It says there, God is speaking to Job: Where were you when I 12:20 laid the foundations of the earth? 12:22 Tell me if you have understanding. 12:26 Who determined its measurements? 12:29 Surely you know. Or who stretched out the line upon it? 12:34 To what were its foundations fastened? 12:38 Or who laid its cornerstone? 12:41 And now notice this: after speaking about God doing the 12:44 work of creation. We're told: 12:55 What happened when God created this world? 12:59 We're told that the stars of heaven, as they're referred to 13:06 here, the morning stars did what? 13:09 They sang together, and the sons of God shouted for joy. 13:14 In other words, all of the heavenly hosts also celebrated 13:19 the work of creation on the seventh day. 13:22 They contemplated, they meditated upon the magnificent 13:26 work that God had done. 13:29 Now it becomes obvious that God did not rest on the Sabbath 13:34 because He was tired. 13:35 We noticed that in that statement from 13:37 Patriarchs and Prophets. 13:38 It's also biblical. 13:40 Notice Isaiah 40:28, Isaiah 40: 28. 13:46 It's speaking here about creation, and it says: 14:10 God doesn't faint. 14:12 God doesn't get weary. 14:14 And so it becomes obvious that that rest on the seventh day 14:18 was not a rest because God was tired, or because God was weary. 14:24 It must have been some other kind of rest. 14:27 And as we've noticed, it was a rest of meditation, 14:30 and contemplation of the magnificent work 14:34 which He had performed. 14:35 By the way, we have a clear nuance of this in scripture. 14:40 We read a quotation from Patriarchs and Prophets, 14:42 but in scripture we have clearly revealed the manner of 14:47 God's rest on the seventh day. 14:49 Notice Exodus 31:17, Exodus 31: 17. 14:58 It's speaking about the Sabbath as it related to Israel, 15:03 but the Sabbath was not exclusively for Israel. 15:05 It says there, God speaking about the Sabbath: 15:24 By the way, that's the word Shabbat, the same word 15:26 that's used twice in Genesis 2. It says: 15:32 And now notice how the verse ends. It says: 15:40 It's the Hebrew word nephesh. 15:43 And basically nephesh means to sigh, or to take a breath. 15:50 You can imagine an artist who has just made a 15:56 magnificent work of art, and when he gives the final strokes 16:01 of paint to the canvas he steps back and he goes, 16:06 Ah, it's beautiful! 16:12 That's what God did. 16:14 Nephesh, He was refreshed. 16:17 He ceased and then it says, that He was refreshed. 16:21 In other words, He gave a sigh. 16:24 He took a breath, a deep breath, because of everything 16:28 that He had made, which was absolutely gorgeous, 16:30 and beautiful. And maybe even God thought, 16:33 I even outdid Myself. 16:35 And then we catch another nuance of the manner of God's 16:40 rest on the seventh day by going to Exodus 20:11. 16:44 Go with me to Exodus 20:11 and lets notice the last portion 16:51 of the fourth commandment of God's holy law. 16:54 It says there in Exodus 20:11: 17:15 Now if you go to the original language in which 17:19 the Old Testament was written, you find something very 17:21 interesting about this verse that is found in the fourth 17:25 commandment of God's law. 17:26 You notice that the word rested is used here. 17:29 It says that He rested on the seventh day, therefore the Lord 17:33 blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. 17:35 Do you know that the word rested here in Exodus 20:11 is a 17:40 different word than Shabbat in Genesis 2:2, 3? 17:44 It's not the same word. 17:47 The word rested in Exodus 20:11 is the Hebrew word nuach. 17:53 And basically nuach does mean the experience of rest. 18:00 It's referring to what happens after God Shabbat, 18:05 after God ceases, He enjoys the experience of rest. 18:10 Now what does that mean, He enjoys this experience of rest? 18:14 Well, this same word is used many times in the Old Testament, 18:18 but there's one particular one that I want to make mention of 18:21 and that's in Esther 9:17, 18, and I'm not going to read 18:26 the verses, I'm just going to tell you the story. 18:28 You know that they were delivered from their enemies. 18:30 Haman wanted to destroy all of the Jews, and Esther came and 18:36 interceded and God's people were delivered 18:39 from their enemies. 18:40 And it says there in Esther 9: 17, 18, that God's people had 18:47 rest, nuach, the same word as in Exodus 20:11. 18:54 But not only does it say that they had rest, but the same 18:59 verse said that they celebrated the day with feasting 19:03 and with gladness. 19:06 In other words, their nuach was an experience of feasting 19:12 and of gladness. They were resting from the destruction 19:16 that their enemies intended to execute upon them. 19:21 And so the word nauch means that God took a deep breath 19:26 after creation in the contemplation of His work. 19:29 The word nuach means that He experienced rest and gladness. 19:34 And we've already noticed in Job 38:7 that all of heaven rejoiced 19:41 when God created this planet. 19:42 The stars of heaven, and the sons of God rejoiced 19:46 in the work that God had created. 19:48 In other words, it was a joyous rest in meditation 19:53 and contemplation of the great work which God had done. 19:57 In other words, God took the seventh day simply to step back 20:01 and look at the work that He had done, to meditate in it, 20:06 and to enjoy it with gladness and with feasting, 20:11 if you please. Now we come to a very important question, 20:17 and that is when was the Sabbath sanctified and blessed? 20:26 You know, I used to think that God blessed and sanctified 20:31 the Sabbath as the seventh day was beginning. 20:35 In other words, the Sabbath was about to start, 20:38 and God pronounces, He says, Now the day that is coming 20:42 I am blessing and I am sanctifying. 20:45 But as I've studied, I've discovered that God did not 20:51 bless and sanctify the seventh day until after 20:56 the seventh day had ended. 20:59 And this, we're going to find, is an extremely important detail 21:04 in the study of the Sabbath, and it explains the reason why 21:08 God did not command Adam and Eve to keep that Sabbath. 21:11 You'll notice that what we've studied so far is that God 21:14 Himself kept the Sabbath. 21:16 The heavenly beings kept the Sabbath. 21:19 They rejoiced with feasting, with gladness, taking a deep 21:23 breath, if you please. 21:24 They experienced rest: Exodus 20:11, 21:28 enjoying what God had made. 21:31 But it was an experience of God. 21:33 It was an experience of the heavenly hosts. 21:37 Now the question is, what about man? 21:41 Genesis doesn't say that man rested, and we're going to find 21:45 that the reason why God did not tell man to rest has to do with 21:49 when God blessed and sanctified the holy Sabbath. 21:52 The fact is that God did not make the Sabbath holy 21:56 until the Sabbath day ended. 21:58 God did not bless the seventh day Sabbath until 22:02 the day came to its end. 22:04 Allow me to read you, first of all, some statements from the 22:08 writings of Ellen White, and then I'm going to prove 22:11 that what she says is in perfect harmony with scripture. 22:13 And, by the way, I've read dozens of books on the Sabbath 22:17 and no one that I have read has ever caught what I'm 22:21 going to share with you save Ellen G. White. 22:24 Not even the greatest scholars in the Seventh-day Adventist 22:28 Church that have written books on the holy Sabbath 22:30 have I been able to find that they caught this point 22:33 that I'm going to share with you now. 22:34 But Ellen White caught it and she has it 22:37 all over her writings. 22:39 The first reference is in Patriarchs and Prophets, 22:42 page 47. Listen to this: 23:00 Did you catch that? 23:01 When did God set the Sabbath apart as a day of rest for man? 23:05 After God rested on the seventh day. 23:10 Once again, after resting upon the seventh day, 23:13 God sanctified it. 23:14 That means He made it holy, or set it apart 23:17 as a day of rest for man. 23:20 In The Desire of Ages, page 281, we find this 23:25 very interesting statement: 23:47 Why did God bless and sanctify the seventh day Sabbath? 23:51 She says, because he had rested on the Sabbath. 23:56 In other words, He rests the whole day, and then He blesses 24:01 and sanctifies the Sabbath. 24:03 A couple of other statements. 24:05 This is found in the devotional book, My Life Today, page 259. 24:11 The Lord's day, she's speaking about Revelation 1:10, 24:15 where it says that John was in the Spirit on the Lord's day. 24:17 The Lord's day mentioned by John was the Sabbath, the day on 24:24 which Jehovah rested after the great work of creation, 24:29 and which He blessed and sanctified because 24:35 He had rested upon it. 24:38 Notice, He blessed and sanctified it because on it 24:42 He had what? He had rested. 24:44 And one more quotation, Volume 4 of the Testimonies, page 247. 24:50 She says, God blessed and sanctified the seventh day 24:53 because He rested upon it from all His wondrous 24:58 work of creation. 25:00 So the day wasn't even made holy until the day was over. 25:05 The day was not blessed until the day was finished, 25:09 and you say why? Very simple, you see it's the presence of God 25:14 that makes something holy. 25:15 And each minute of the Sabbath that passed, God was making that 25:20 minute, He was making that hour holy by His presence 25:24 in those minutes, and in those hours. 25:26 And it wasn't until the last second, the last minute 25:30 had passed that that minute and that second was holy, 25:33 because it's the presence of God in those minutes, and seconds, 25:37 and hours, which makes those minutes, and seconds, 25:39 and hours holy. And it could only happen after God had been 25:44 present in those time periods at the end of the Sabbath. 25:49 Now you say, Pastor Bohr, does the Bible corroborate 25:54 what Ellen White says? 25:55 How is it that she caught this? 25:57 The greatest books on the Sabbath have missed it. 26:00 Well, I believe that she had more than human wisdom, 26:03 and she was in harmony with scripture. 26:06 Notice Genesis first, chapter 2, and verse 3, Genesis 2:3. 26:12 It was there all the time. 26:13 I don't know how I've missed it in all of my experience in the 26:17 Seventh-day Adventist Church, growing up in a pastor's 26:20 household, being a pastor myself, teaching theology, 26:23 going to our schools. 26:24 I don't know how I missed this. 26:27 It's so clear and so simple. Genesis 2:3 says: 26:44 Is that clear? It said that God what? 26:48 He blessed the seventh day and sanctified it because in it 26:54 He rested from all of His work. 26:56 Notice also, once again, Exodus 20:11, which is the last verse 27:02 of the fourth commandment of God's holy law. 27:05 And we're read this before It says: 27:18 Now notice this: 27:22 That is because He rested on the seventh day. 27:30 Is it Biblical that God on the Sabbath day and He made it holy? 27:36 It's very Biblical. 27:38 We find it in Exodus 20:11, and we find it in Genesis 2:3. 27:44 It says, very clearly, therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day 27:49 and hallowed it, because He had rested upon 27:53 the seventh day Sabbath. 27:55 Now we're going to find in a few moments that this has tremendous 27:58 implications as to why God did not command Adam and Eve 28:03 to keep the Sabbath in the Garden of Eden. 28:05 Now, let me ask you, is it clear in your minds that this 28:09 first week is God's week? 28:11 Is it God's week? It's God who worked six days. 28:16 Is that right? It was God who rested on the seventh day. 28:22 In other words, this is God's week. 28:24 This is not man's week at all. 28:26 At least not at this point, not this first week. 28:29 In a few moments we're going to notice that God gave 28:32 the week then to man, but this first week is God's week. 28:35 He worked six and He rests on the seventh day Sabbath. 28:40 Now we know the reason why the seventh day had 28:45 no evening and morning. 28:48 You say, Why not? Let me ask you, has God created any more 28:57 in this world since creation week? No. 29:04 Notice Hebrews 4:3, and I'm reading from the 29:08 New International Version. 29:09 Hebrews 4:3, and I'm reading the last part of the verse. It says: 29:15 And yet His work has been finished 29:21 since the creation of the world. 29:24 And this is over 4,000 years after creation. 29:30 What does the apostle Paul say? 29:32 He said His work is what? finished since the creation 29:36 of the world. In other words, since creation week, 29:39 what has God been doing with regards to this world? 29:42 He has been what? resting from His works of creation. 29:47 Has He not? Allow me to read you a couple of statements from 29:52 Ellen White, where she corroborates 29:53 this Biblical point. 29:55 Patriarchs and Prophets, page 115, she says: 30:06 Are you understanding that point? 30:16 And then she quotes the Bible. She says: 30:23 But then she adds this: 30:33 In other words, He ceased creating during creation week, 30:38 but He still upholds, and sustains that which He created 30:43 during creation week. 30:45 Another interesting quotation is found in 30:49 General Conference Bulletin, February 18, 1897, 30:53 where she says this: 31:11 So, in other words, God is still resting from His works of 31:14 creation in this world, because God has created no more. 31:19 And so for God, so to speak, the seventh day did not 31:24 come to an end because God is still what? 31:27 He's still resting from His works of creation. 31:31 Now let me ask you, when is God going to break that rest? 31:36 In our second study we're going to notice that God is going to 31:41 break that rest when He once again creates this world 31:46 in six days, and rests the seventh day. 31:49 So you don't want to miss the next presentation 31:52 that we're going to give the second part of this, 31:55 Hidden Sabbath Truths. 31:56 Are you understanding what I'm saying? 31:57 In other words, this is God's week, from God's perspective. 32:01 Now don't misunderstand me, we know that for man, 32:06 the Sabbath has a beginning and end. 32:08 It has an evening and a morning for man. 32:11 But this first week is whose week? 32:14 This first week is God's experience. 32:16 He works six, He rests the seventh, He's still resting, 32:20 because He has created no more. 32:23 When He breaks His rest, when He creates this world again, 32:27 then He will work, we're going to notice, six days and then He 32:32 will what? He will rest on the seventh, 32:34 as He did at the very beginning. 32:36 Now some people they say, Ah, Pastor Bohr, but what do you 32:39 do with John 5:17, 18, where Jesus says, My Father has been 32:45 working until now, and I have been working? 32:48 That question always comes up. 32:51 Let me tell you that the works that are being spoken of there 32:54 are the works of upholding, and sustaining the universe. 32:57 He's not talking about works of creation, He's talking about 33:01 works of redemption. 33:02 Very clearly, in the context, He has just restored the legs 33:07 of a man who was paralyzed to what they should have 33:10 been at the beginning. 33:11 In other words, He's restoring his ability to walk. 33:16 He is not doing a work of a new creation, 33:19 He's actually upholding, and restoring that which was already 33:23 created, according to the context. 33:25 In other words, the works that He's talking about here, 33:28 that He and His Father are performing, are not new works 33:31 of creation, because those were finished from the 33:34 foundation of the world. 33:35 They are works of what? 33:37 They are works of redemption. 33:40 Now I don't want you to misunderstand. 33:43 For God there was no evening and morning to the seventh day, 33:48 because God is still resting from His work of creating. 33:50 That doesn't mean that for us there is not an evening 33:54 and a morning, because God told us to work six days, 33:58 and rest on the seventh, on a weekly cycle basis. 34:01 We know that the seventh day the sun rises, and the sun sets. 34:05 Correct? We know that God said that from even to even 34:08 you shall keep the Sabbath. 34:10 So we know that for us, once God gives the week to man, 34:13 then the seventh day has an evening and the morning. 34:16 But because this first week is describing God's working, 34:20 and God's rest, no evening and morning is mentioned 34:24 with regards to God. 34:25 Are you following what I am saying? 34:28 This is very, very important. 34:29 Now, whom did God create the week for? 34:37 You notice that this is God's week. 34:40 The first week is God's week, but God doesn't need a week. 34:44 God, obviously, is molding the week, and He's going to give 34:49 the week to whom? to man. 34:52 That's why Mark 2:27 says, And he said to them, the Sabbath was 35:00 made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. 35:04 In other words, even though this week is, this first week is 35:07 God's week, because God worked six, God rests on the seventh, 35:13 He's still resting because He has created no more since 35:17 creation week. God marked off this week in order to then give 35:25 it to man. Allow me to read you an interesting statement in 35:29 Patriarchs and Prophets, page 111. 35:44 Now notice this: 35:51 So what did God do the first week? 35:54 You can see Him using a tape measure: six, seven. 36:01 So He measures off the first week... 36:35 Did you notice, once again, the idea that God rested 36:39 and He then blessed this day, and set it apart 36:42 as a day for man? 36:43 Another scholar, Henry Morris, staunch creationist, 36:50 in his book, Biblical Creationism, page 62, says 36:56 something similar to what Ellen White had to say. He says this: 37:16 What did God establish during creation week? a what? 37:18 a permanent pattern. 37:20 He worked six, He rested on the seventh, continues resting 37:25 because He's created no more, and then He takes the measured 37:28 off week and He gives this measured off week to man, 37:33 and He says, now you work six, and rest on the seventh, 37:36 and your rest is not going to be continual without interruption. 37:40 Once you rest on the seventh, then you're going to go back 37:43 and you're going to work six, and then rest on the seventh 37:46 in a continuous cycle. 37:47 And so God then takes the week and He gives the week to Adam. 37:54 In fact, it's interesting, in The Desire of Ages, page 281, 37:58 we find this remarkable statement: Because He had rested 38:01 upon the Sabbath, God blessed the seventh day 38:06 and sanctified it. 38:07 Now notice this very carefully; this is profound. 38:10 Written by a woman who had 21/2 years of primary education. 38:15 Because He had rested upon the Sabbath, God blessed the seventh 38:18 day and sanctified it; set it apart to a holy use. 38:22 And now notice this. 38:23 After He set it apart at the end of the Sabbath, it says: 38:32 When did God give the day of rest to Adam? 38:35 After the day ended, which means that God did not give Adam 38:42 the Sabbath when the Sabbath day began. 38:44 Now let me tell you very clearly the reason why God did not 38:49 command Adam and Eve to keep the Sabbath. 38:51 First of all, it's because in order to keep the Sabbath, 38:57 in harmony with the fourth commandment, Adam and Eve needed 39:01 to work six first. 39:03 Are you with me? 39:08 The commandment says six days you shall labor and do all 39:11 your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord 39:14 your God. How could they have rested on that first Sabbath and 39:18 keep the commandment, if they had not previously worked six? 39:21 In other words, what I'm saying is that God did not command 39:27 Adam and Eve to keep that first Sabbath. 39:29 Adam and Eve were commanded by God to keep the second Sabbath 39:33 of human history, after God had set it apart. 39:37 Because the commandment says that they had to work six, 39:40 and then they had to what? they had to rest on the seventh. 39:44 Furthermore, how could Adam and Eve have been commanded by God 39:50 to keep the Sabbath holy if the Sabbath 39:52 wasn't holy until it ended? 39:54 You're not with me. 39:57 Are you with me? When was the Sabbath made holy? 40:01 At the end of the day, which means that God could not have 40:05 said to Adam and Eve, Keep the Sabbath holy, because it wasn't 40:08 yet holy. It was the presence of God in the day 40:12 which made the Sabbath holy. 40:14 Furthermore, we're going to notice that God gave Adam and 40:18 Eve an example of Sabbath observance. 40:21 But let me tell you something, you cannot ask somebody to 40:24 follow your example until you have first given an example. 40:29 In other words, this first week is God's week. 40:32 God worked six days, He rests on the seventh, then He blesses 40:37 and sanctifies the seventh day. 40:39 For, He does it for man, not for Himself, because He still 40:43 continues resting after this. 40:44 He has created no more, but He's doing this for man. 40:47 So at the conclusion of the seventh day God says, 40:50 now I have made the week. 40:52 Here's the week, Adam and Eve. 40:53 Now tomorrow you start working six, and the next seventh day, 40:58 you keep the Sabbath, as you saw Me keep the Sabbath. 41:02 Now we know the reason why God did not command Adam and Eve 41:07 to keep the Sabbath. 41:08 He couldn't, because the Sabbath was not yet holy. 41:12 How could God tell Adam and Eve, Keep the Sabbath holy, 41:14 if it wasn't holy until the day ended? 41:18 Are you understanding what I'm saying? 41:20 Now, which day of the week were Adam and Eve created? 41:26 Let's read it in Genesis 1:26- 28, and then we'll also read 41:32 verse 31. It says there: 42:11 And now we'll jump down to verse 31. It says: 42:25 Ah, thank you. The which day? 42:30 The sixth day. So which day were Adam and Eve created? 42:33 They were created on the sixth day. 42:35 So let me ask you something, were they present when God 42:39 rested on the seventh day? 42:42 Did they see God create anything? 42:46 No, but were they able to observe God's rest? 42:51 Did they see how God rested? 42:54 They most certainly did, because they were created the sixth day. 42:57 They saw how God rested. 43:00 In fact, let's go back to the fourth commandment 43:03 and you'll see that very clearly. 43:05 Exodus 20:8, because some people are going to say, Well, Pastor 43:10 Bohr, you're saying that Adam and Even, what did they do 43:12 then on the Sabbath? 43:13 So we're going to notice what they did on the Sabbath; 43:15 on that first Sabbath. Exodus 20:8. 43:36 God is saying to man, in this case it's to Israel, 43:41 because He's giving the law directly to Israel, 43:45 doesn't mean that the law is only for them. 43:47 The ten commandments, Christians would agree, 43:49 apply to all Christians, but most Christians would say, 43:52 except for the fourth. 43:54 Now that doesn't make much sense. 43:57 The Bible says that if you break one, you're actually 43:59 breaking them all. 44:00 They stand together, or they fall together. 44:03 So God says, work six and rest the seventh. 44:10 Why does He say work six and rest the seventh? 44:12 What is the foundation for working six 44:14 and resting on the seventh? 44:15 God is going to say, because I gave you the example. 44:17 Notice verse 11. It says in verse 11: 44:21 For, that is because, you work six and rest 44:24 the seventh because... 44:40 Do you see what's happening here? 44:43 God is saying, you work six, and you nuach on the seventh. 44:49 That is experience rest on the seventh, because, the reason is 44:54 because I, at the very beginning worked six and what? 44:59 and rested on the seventh. 45:00 In other words, you are to follow My example. 45:05 But how could man follow God's example unless God 45:09 first gave the example? 45:11 Allow me to illustrate what I mean. 45:15 Have you ever seen these Lego's that people, you know, 45:19 kids don't use those anymore. 45:20 They only want video games now. 45:22 But, you know, there used to be a time when you had these Lego's 45:25 where you fit one piece into another and you'd build things? 45:27 Some of them could be very complicated. 45:31 You know, I never had Lego's. 45:33 I never, we never really bought our kids Lego's very much, 45:37 maybe once or twice. 45:38 But I've seen a father who will sit down on the living room 45:45 carpet, and his little son is there, and the father says, 45:50 son, come here. I'm going to show you how to do this. 45:53 And so the father starts putting piece upon pieces. 45:58 Are you watching? Are you watching? 46:00 And then he builds it, and then the father takes all of the 46:03 pieces off and he says, now you do it. 46:06 That's exactly what we have at creation. 46:09 God observes the Sabbath, and then He says to Adam and Eve, 46:14 Did you see how I did it? 46:15 Now you do it the same way. 46:18 You keep it as you saw Me keep it. 46:21 Once again, in this magnificent book, Patriarchs and Prophets, 46:25 page 47, we find this comment: 46:31 We read this part already. 46:39 And now notice this: 46:50 Did God rest upon this sacred day? Yes. 46:54 What did God do when He rested upon this sacred day? 46:57 It was a day of what? joy, gladness, contemplation of His 47:00 magnificent work, His masterpiece. 47:02 He was just enjoying what He had made, 47:04 along with the heavenly host, according to what we read. 47:07 The author continues saying: following the example 47:11 of the Creator... 47:18 Notice, look upon the heavens and the earth. 47:22 That means to meditate. 47:39 Does that sound like the Sabbath was a curse? 47:41 You know, Christians today say, Oh, 47:43 the Sabbath was for the Jews. 47:45 That was this burden that nobody can bear. 47:48 You know, they're really casting a shadow upon God, 47:52 because God made the Sabbath. 47:55 God exemplified Sabbath observance. 47:58 And then God said, I worked six. 48:00 You saw Me rest on the seventh. 48:02 You saw how I did it. 48:04 In fact, probably, God gave Adam and Eve the scenic tour, 48:07 if you please. And then God said, Now the day has ended. 48:12 I'm setting it apart. 48:14 I've given you an example. 48:15 Here's the week for you: now you work six, and next Sabbath 48:20 you keep the Sabbath like you saw Me keep it. Amazing! 48:25 In another statement, which we also find in Patriarchs and 48:29 Prophets, page 48. We find this: 48:42 The Sabbath was what? essential for man where? in Paradise. 48:50 Let me ask you, if the Sabbath was necessary in Paradise, would 48:53 it be much more necessary today to remember God? Of course! 49:11 And now notice the purpose. 49:26 Once again, I like that! 49:28 He needed to lay aside his own interests 49:31 and pursuits for one day... 49:58 Are you starting to comprehend the purpose of the Sabbath? 50:02 why God established the Sabbath at the very beginning? 50:05 It was so that man would remember Him. 50:08 That's why the fourth commandment begins by saying, 50:11 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 50:14 And at the end of this commandment it says the reason 50:18 why I want you to remember the Sabbath day is because it 50:21 reminds you of the great Creator of the heavens and the earth. 50:25 His greatness, His power, and His love towards you, 50:28 in giving you everything, without even asking for it. 50:32 You'll hear many Christian churches speak irrespectively 50:39 about the Sabbath of the Jews. 50:43 But do you know something interesting in scripture? 50:45 Whenever the Sabbath appears in scripture, it is called 50:51 the Sabbath of the Lord your God. 50:55 In other words, it's a day which belongs to whom? 51:00 It belongs to God. 51:02 It's the Sabbath of the Lord your God. 51:04 Not once is the Sabbath referred to as the Sabbath of the Jews. 51:09 It is always the Sabbath of the Lord your God. 51:13 In fact, in Isaiah 58 God calls the Sabbath My holy day. 51:20 In fact He says, You take away your foot from stepping on 51:24 My holy day. How dare someone say that the Sabbath 51:30 was for the Jews. 51:31 You know, in order for the Sabbath to be the 51:33 Sabbath of the Jews, the Jews should have been the ones who 51:38 rested first on it, if it was their Sabbath. 51:42 But the reason why the Sabbath is called 51:45 the Sabbath of the Lord your God, is because God rested 51:49 on the seventh day Sabbath, therefore He's saying, 51:52 this day belongs to Me, because I rested on the Sabbath. 51:55 And so He says, now I want you to respect My holy day. 52:01 I want you to respect my Sabbath, because I rested on it. 52:05 It's mine. I made it holy. 52:06 I rested every single minute of the Sabbath day, 52:09 therefore it's My day, and if you want to enter My rest 52:13 you have to enter My rest on My holy day. 52:17 You know, many Christians today say, you Seventh-day Adventists 52:23 keep the seventh day as your Sabbath. 52:27 I keep the first day, Sunday, as the Sabbath. 52:32 Do you know, it's absolutely impossible to keep Sunday 52:36 as the Sabbath? Do you know the reason why? 52:39 Genesis makes it clear. 52:41 You cannot keep Sunday as the Sabbath, because Sunday is 52:45 not the day that God rested. 52:46 It's that simple. If you're going to enter God's rest 52:52 you have to enter His rest on the day in which He rested. 52:56 He never rested on Sunday, therefore you can't enter 53:00 His rest on Sunday, because God did not rest on Sunday, 53:04 He rested the seventh day. 53:06 And if we're going to enter His rest, we have to enter His rest 53:09 on the day which He rested. 53:11 Are you understanding what I'm saying? 53:14 So as I examined these things, I said, Now I have the answers 53:20 to the questions that have kind of tormented me 53:22 for such a long period of time. 53:24 Why didn't God command Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden 53:30 to keep the Sabbath, and why doesn't the seventh day 53:34 have an evening and a morning? 53:36 And when I realized that the first week was God's week, 53:41 that God worked six, that God rested on the seventh, 53:45 and therefore the seventh day is God's. 53:48 It belongs to God. 53:49 It's His rest day. 53:51 Now I knew why there wasn't any evening and morning, 53:55 because really, when God finished His work the sixth day, 53:58 and rested on the seventh day, He has continued resting 54:02 from His works of creation. 54:03 In other words, for God there has been no evening and morning. 54:06 For us there is an evening and morning, but not for God, 54:09 because God is still resting from His works of creation. 54:13 He has created no more with regards to this world. 54:16 And I discovered also the reason why God did not command 54:20 Adam and Eve to keep the Sabbath in the Garden of Eden, 54:23 because God could not command Adam and Eve to keep the Sabbath 54:26 holy before He made it holy. 54:28 God could not tell Adam and Eve, keep the Sabbath and follow 54:34 My example, unless God had first given the example. 54:37 God could not tell Adam and Eve, six days shall you labor and do 54:41 all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord 54:45 your God, if Adam and Eve had not worked six. 54:48 You see, the commandment not only requires keeping 54:52 the seventh, or resting on the seventh, the commandment also 54:55 requires working six first, and Adam and Eve 54:58 had not worked six days. 55:00 Are you understanding what I'm saying? 55:02 And so as we look at the Sabbath at creation, we see that it's 55:09 part of God's original plan for the human race. 55:12 It's not something that God gives as a afterthought 55:17 to the Jews in the wilderness. 55:19 It's part of God's original plan before sin. 55:24 He gave the week and the Sabbath to Adam and Eve before sin. 55:29 Some people say, Well, the Sabbath actually pointed 55:32 to the redemption of Jesus when He would die on the cross. 55:35 The fact is folks that that is a secondary meaning of the Sabbath 55:39 as we're going to notice in our second lecture, 55:41 but it is not the primary meaning of the Sabbath. 55:43 The primary meaning of the Sabbath is that God gave this 55:47 as a day of rest, to look backwards not forwards. 55:51 The purpose was to look back at the magnificent Creator; 55:56 the work that He had done. 55:57 His generosity, and His goodness in giving Adam and Eve, 56:01 and all of their descendents this beautiful gift: life, 56:06 and a beautiful world to live in. 56:08 In other words, the Sabbath is part of God's original plan 56:14 for the human race. 56:16 It is not an afterthought. 56:19 And as we're going to see, in the second part of this 56:23 mini series, Hidden Sabbath Truths, we're going to notice 56:29 that the Sabbath is going to be observed in the earth made new. 56:34 So the Sabbath points us backwards, and the Sabbath 56:39 also points us forward to when God is going to break His rest, 56:45 and once again He is going to create a new heavens, 56:51 and a new earth, as we'll see. 56:53 And He's going to create it in six days, and then He is 56:57 going to rest on the seventh day, giving us an example, 57:01 and then He's going to say, now you work six days, 57:05 and rest on the seventh day. 57:07 And you come and worship before Me; all flesh come and worship 57:14 before Me on the seventh day in commemoration 57:18 of the new creation. 57:20 How marvelous is this gift of the Sabbath, 57:23 which God has given us. |
Revised 2014-12-17