You are welcome to another edition of Insights from Gods Word, a Bible study programme that is commited to sharing Gods Word by allowing the Bible to speak for itself. My dear friends, i greet you in the name of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Beloved, please note that the quotation given in support of how God used the manna experience to test ancient Israel regarding the sabbath can be found in Exodus 16:4-31 instead of Genesis 16:4-30 as quoted in our previous study. Today, i want us to consider the Seventh-day sabbath from the light of the New Testament of the Bible. Specifically, we are going to consider the topic; Christ and the sabbath. By the time Christ was baptized and annointed by the Holy Spirit (in AD 27) to begin His ministry, the religious leaders in ancient Israel had instituted a manner of sabbath observance that had become a burdensome yoke to the people. A day that has been specially set aside by God, to be a delight and a blessing to His people (Isaiah 58:13-14), was now looked upon with disdain by many of Gods people. Christ intentionally decided not to obtain any leadership training from the orthodox Jewish schools as He noted how widely the leaders have shifted from the clear truths of Gods Word. As He begins His work, He selects as His disciples, mostly common and unlearned people so He can open to their understanding the riches of His coming kingdom. From the Scriptures, there seemed to be only one particular point of agreement between Christ and the religious leaders regarding the sabbath. And that was the clear Bible fact that the sabbath was to be remembered and kept Holy by Gods people. In this point of agreement, Christ gave His followers an example. We read from Luke 4:16, the following: And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read. Beloved, the Bible is clear. Christ had a custom or manner of attending church, so to speak, every sabbath. He did not think it a burden to honour God as far as this commandment is concerned. It was Him who had created all things and had taken a rest on the seventh day. (John 1:3, Hebrews 1:10) As Creator of everything including the Seventh- day sabbath, He boldly proclaimed to His challengers that the Son of man is also Lord of the sabbath. (Mark 2:28) Christ experienced frequent agonies as He saw how the devil had led the Jewish leaders to obtain and exercise a wrong view of observing the sabbath; a day that He had instituted to bring rich blessings to the children of men. When it came to the manner of observing the sabbath, Christ had a radically different view from that held by the religious leaders at the time. As we feast on Gods word, we note clearly that, regarding the commandment to keep the sabbath holy, Christ did not have any disputes with the religious leaders, but in the manner of its observance, the Bible recounts several of His disputes with them. With this knowledge of the issue at stake, we find it easier to understand some of the supposedly harsh statements of Christ regarding the sabbath. The issue of contention between Christ and the religious leaders was not about whether the sabbath was to kept or not. The issue of contention was about the way in which it was to be kept. And so we find Christ conducting several healing sessions in the gospels on the sabbath day against the clear traditions of the Jewish leaders. (Luke 13:10-17, Mark 3:1-5) Again, we find Christ defending His disciples when accused by these leaders for plucking ears of corn to eat on the sabbath. (Mark 2:23-28) Through these protests, He was trying hard to drive home the point that the sabbath was designed to be a blessing not a burden. In all these protests, He was trying hard to restore the sabbath as a day of worship, a day to contemplate on the love and omnipotence of God, a day to engage in acts of self denial, charity and mercy. Oh, how He wished that these self righteous pharasees will see that the sabbath was made for man and not man for the sabbath. (Mark 2:27) In His numerous teachings, there was no point Christ taught His audience that they should look with disdain on the Seventh-day sabbath. There was no point He taught them that the Seventh-day sabbath will be no more after His death and resurrection. In fact, we are told in Scripture that on that fateful friday He died, His disciples kept the upcoming sabbath day according to the commandment. (Luke 23:50-56) If there was some group of people who were qualified enough to cease keeping the Seventh-day sabbath because Christ said so, it should have been the disciples of Christ. But as we will discover later in our subsequent studies, the disciples including Paul, kept on keeping the Seventh-day sabbath, hundreds of years after their Lord had ascended to heaven. In fact, in Matthew 24:20, we see a contrary picture to the prevailing view held by majority in Christendom today. We realize in clear words, how Christ looked forward to the keepong of ihe Seventh-day sabbath by His disciples, even after His ascenssion to heaven. In Matthew 24:20, we read Christs words: But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day. In Matthew 24, Christ was foretelling the events that will take place in two time periods; 1) the events that will precede His second coming and 2) the events that will precede the destruction of Jerusalem. Regarding the events that will precede the destruction of Jerusalem, (which took place in AD 70 by Titus and his army) Christ ,encouraged His disciples to pray that their flight be not in the winter or on the sabbath. Clearly, if this event should occur on the sabbath day or in winter, it will be difficult for His disciples to make their escape without some challenges. In this text, we realize that our Saviour foresaw His disciples keeping holy the sabbath commandment. As i bring todays study to a close, i want us to consider a powerful insight from W. D. Killen, an Irish Presbyterian, who proved to be one of the great minds in the gospel ministry. Killen wrote The Great Teacher never intimated that the Sabbath was a ceremonial ordinance to cease with the Mosaic ritual... Instead of anticipating its extinction along with the ceremonial law, He speaks of its existence after the downfall of Jerusalem. [See Matthew 24:20] - W. D. Killen, The Ancient Church ( 1883 ed) , p. 188. In our subsequent studies, we are going to examine the Seventh-day sabbath from the light of the New Testament. Questions and Issues that will be addressed include: 1. Did the apostles and early Christians keep the Seventh-day sabbath after Christs ascenssion to heaven? If so why do we see a drastic change from honouring the Bible Sabbath to Sunday worhip today? 2. Biblical explanations to quotations such as Colossians 2:16 and Romans 14:5-6. Keep up with the studies, share and invite others to do the same. Exhortation: I will want to follow every example of Christ, including the keeping of the Seventh-day sabbath. If that is your prayer, why dont you send an AMEN through our whatsapp number below so we can keep you in our prayers. Have a blessed day and keep shining for King Jesus. Maranatha!!! You can insert your Bible questions, or prayer requests through our whatsapp number (+233243105287) or the comments section on facebook, so we can work on them at Insights from Gods Word. From: Samuel Nyarko Speaker/Director, White Throne Media
Posted on: Tue, 19 Aug 2014 07:50:39 +0000
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