Lesson 3
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*July 14 - 20 |
The Sabbath—The Sign of Our Relationship With God |
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SACRED HOURS. The Sabbath might be a mere one day per week, hut God has packed a lot of truth into those sacred hours. The day exudes truth-truth about who we are, who God is, and, most important, what He has done for us in the person of His Son. Jesus Christ.
Thus, there's nothing worse we could do to the Sabbath than turn it into a weekly edifice of dry, legalistic drudgery. How clever of the devil to take one of the most clear and explicit signs of the gospel and make it into an expression of humankind's futile attempts to save themselves. We'd almost be better off not keeping the day than keeping it as a self-righteous paean to human works. Despite the bad publicity often linked to the seventh-day Sabbath, this sacred day is, more than anything, about God's works, not our own. Sabbath is the one day we're told, specifically, not to work. The symbolism is profound.
This week we'll see just what's really in the seventh day that's not in any other.
TUE WEEK AT A GLANCE: Why did God choose the seventh day over any other for the Sabbath? Does it really matter which day we keep? What spiritual lessons are contained in the Sabbath? What does the day signify in disregard to what God has done for us. and even in us?
MEMORY TEXT: "'And also I gave them My Sabbaths to be a sign between Me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them'" (Ezekiel 20:12, NASB).
(Please study this week's lesson to prepare for Sabbath, July 21).
Perhaps you've heard a pastor or a member from another denomination claim: "Sure, I believe in obeying the fourth commandment. But I take Tuesdays as my Sabbath day, because that's the most convenient time for me."
Though one can be thankful these people even acknowledge a Sabbath day, there's a fundamental flaw in that thinking. God didn't specify the third day of the week or the first day or any other day to be kept holy. He said, specifically, the seventh day. God chose it, and no other, as the day of rest.
What reason could people have for thinking that, despite the clear command
of God, the day itself doesn't matter, as long as a person keeps one day
as the Sabbath?
For years Bible students have noticed the apparent arbitrariness of the seventh day. In other words, there seems to be no logical reason for the seventh day to be chosen as the Sabbath, as opposed to any other. Unlike the daily, monthly, or yearly cycle, the seventh day is entirely independent of celestial motions. Nothing in nature gives the seventh day any practical significance over the first or third or any other day. Yet that's the day God specifically chose.
| "As the Christian takes heed of the Sabbath day and keeps it holy, he does so purely in answer to God's command, and simply because God is his Creator. Thus, the Sabbath command comes nearer to being a true measure of spirituality than any other of the commandments, and, as in the days of Israel of old, it is often more a test of loyalty to God than is any of the others. "—Raoul Dederen, quoted in The Sabbath in Scripture and History, edited by Kenneth Strand (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald), p. 302. |
Unlike the commands against stealing, killing, and adultery, which have
very practical moral results (and which even atheists often follow), the
only reason to keep the Sabbath is that God has told us to. Why do
you think, then, that the apparent arbitrary nature of the Sabbath, far from
giving a person leeway to choose whatever day he or she wants, instead compels
us to obey it as commanded?
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Compare the Sabbath commandment as expressed in
Exodus
20:8-11 and in
Deuteronomy
5:12-15. What major difference do you see?
How fascinating that in these two incidents the Sabbath commandment is linked to different events. In the Exodus account the seventh-day Sabbath is tied specifically to God's act of creating the world; in Deuteronomy the Sabbath is linked not to Creation but to the Israelites' deliverance from slavery in Egypt. A close comparison of the texts shows that in both cases their servants are to rest on the Sabbath. In Deuteronomy, the words about the servants remind the Hebrews of their bondage in Egypt. Thus, just as they were given "rest" from their work, they needed to give their servants rest, as well.
There's even a deeper issue than allowing their servants to rest on Sabbath. The Hebrews' deliverance from Egypt has been seen as an example of a greater deliverance. Read 1 Corinthians 10:1-6. What do these verses teach regarding lessons that God wants us to learn, using the Exodus from Egypt, about being delivered from the wages of sin? What do the following texts say that we have been delivered from?
Rom. 8:21 _______________________________________________________________________
2 Cor. 1:10 ______________________________________________________________________
Col. 1:13 ________________________________________________________________________
1
Thess. 1:10
_______________________________________________________________
In Deuteronomy the linking of the Sabbath commandment with deliverance from slavery simply adds another dimension to Sabbath keeping, apart from creation alone. Because creation is linked to redemption, Deuteronomy shows how the Sabbath reminds us that the same God who created us has redeemed us as well.
If the Sabbath is to remind us of our deliverance, how can you use the
day to reinforce in your own mind what things Christ has delivered you from
personally? Why is it important to remember these things?
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"There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is
entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did
from his. Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall
after the same example of unbelief"
(Heb.
4:9-11).
I t took a Creator to bring about creation, and it took the same Creator to bring about redemption (Col. 1:14-16; Heb. 1:2, 3). As the Lord celebrated His finished work of Creation by setting apart the Sabbath and making it holy, so He celebrates His work of redemption for us by making the same Sabbath a sign of that redemption.
This is the link between the weekly Sabbath and righteousness by faith. Just as Creation was a work that was done for us, salvation is the same. It is what God does for us; it can never be what we do for ourselves. The Sabbath helps show the source of our righteousness to be God, nothing else, and certainly not our works. The Sabbath also reminds us that just as we have not created ourselves, we cannot redeem ourselves.
What does Hebrews 4 mean when it talks about us ceasing from our works?
Does a person who accepts Christ stop doing good works? (See
Eph.
2:10;
Matt.
5:16;
1
Tim. 6:18;
2
Tim. 3:17;
Titus
2:7;
Heb.
10:24.) Or does it mean ceasing from seeking salvation from our works?
What does a person saved by faith rest from, if not good works?
| "To all who receive the Sabbath as a sign of Christ's creative and redeeming power, it will be a delight. Seeing Christ in it, they delight themselves in Him. The Sabbath points them to the works of creation as an evidence of His mighty power in redemption. While it calls to mind the lost peace of Eden, it tells of peace restored through the Saviour. "—The Desire of Ages, p. 289. |
| How does our rest on Sabbath reflect the peace we have through salvation
in Jesus Christ? See
Romans
5:1. Could that peace really exist if it were dependent upon ourselves?
What practical ways can you express the hope and joy that we have because
of what Christ has done for us?
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Read
Exodus
20:8, along with
Leviticus
20:7 and
1
Peter 1:15, 16. What do these verses have in common?
God tells us to keep the Sabbath holy (Exod. 20:8). But in order to do that, we ourselves must be holy. How can people, themselves unholy, keep a day holy? They can't.
Thus, it's clear: God calls us to holiness. Both the Old and the New Testament testify to this sacred call. Peter even refers to the New Testament church as a holy nation: "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people" (1 Pet. 2:9).
That holiness, however, is something that only God can do in us. We need to learn how to cooperate with the Lord in order that He can make us into the kind of people who can indeed keep His Sabbath holy. And the Sabbath is a sign of that holiness.
"Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, 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"
(Exod.
31:13; see also
Ezek.
20:12). What do these verses reveal about the link between the Sabbath
and sanctification?
The word in both these texts for "sanctify" comes from the same Hebrew word as "holy." They could have just as easily been translated "that you may know that I am the Lord who makes you holy." The Sabbath, therefore, isn't just a sign of justification, of the work that God has done for us; it also symbolizes what He wants to do in us, also known as sanctification. Because the whole plan of redemption involves restoration, the Sabbath, a symbol of the Creation and re-creation, symbolizes God's creative power working in us, restoring us to what God wants us to be. Look at 2 Corinthians 5:17 and Galatians 6:15. That work, of course, will be completed only at the Second Coming, but the process, that of our sanctification, is going on even now.
| Though we certainly can no more sanctify ourselves on our own than
we can justify ourselves, we can cooperate with the Lord, who alone can make
us holy. In what ways does keeping the Sabbath help us cooperate in
that process? Look at your own Sabbath-keeping experience, and ask
yourself if, in fact, you are really keeping the day "holy" as commanded.
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Seventh-day Adventists believe that the book of Revelation teaches that the Sabbath commandment will play a special role in last day events. It will be. in a sense, a "test" of our loyalty to God. Yet that won't be the first time the Sabbath has been a test.
Look again at
Exodus
16, the story of the manna and the Sabbath. What verse in particular
shows that loyalty to God was tested by a willingness to obey the Sabbath
commandment?
Read carefully the first angel's message (Rev. 14:6, 7). The call to worship "him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters" introduces a clear link to the Sabbath commandment, even if the language isn't exactly as in Exodus 20 (Revelation never directly quotes the Old Testament). What makes this link even more crucial is that the dividing issue in the last days will center on worship: People will worship either the One" 'who made the heavens, [and] the earth'" (Rev. 14:7, NIV) or they will worship the "image of the . . . beast" (Rev. 13:15, KJV). And because we want to worship only our Creator, and because the Sabbath was instituted to remind us of that Creator, it's not unreasonable that the Sabbath will play a big role in the climax of earth's history.
| "The Sabbath will be the great test of loyalty, for it is the point of truth especially controverted. When the final test shall be brought to bear upon men, then the line of distinction will be drawn between those who serve God and those who serve Him not. While the observance of the false Sabbath in compliance with the law of the state, contrary to the fourth commandment, will be an avowal of allegiance to a power that is in opposition to God, the keeping of tile true Sabbath, in obedience to God's law, is an evidence of loyalty to the Creator. "—The Great Controversy, p. 605. |
| Read carefully through the three angels' messages in
Revelation
14:1-12. What verse in particular also adds biblical proof to our
position regarding the Sabbath?
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FURTHER STUDY: Read Psalm 92, which is a song for the Sabbath day. Why is this an appropriate song for the Sabbath? Where in the psalm do you find a link between Creation and God's redemption?
Also read "The
Creation," Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. 44-51;
"A Work of Reform,"
The Great Controversy, pp. 451-460.
"By communing with God, we actually partake of His holiness. Thus because its hours are filled with intimate fellowship between man and God, the Sabbath becomes the sign, the epitome, of the entire life of sanctification.
"God has placed a glorious opportunity and privilege before us. In a special way on Sabbath we may put aside our daily work and participate in deep personal communion with the Holy One of Israel, and in that intimate relationship become changed more and more into His likeness."—Richard Davidson, A Love Song for the Sabbath (Hagerstown, Md: Review and Herald Pub. Assoc., 1988), p. 89.
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SUMMARY: We keep the seventh-day
Sabbath, as opposed to any other day, because God commanded it. The Sabbath
is a symbol of deliverance, of justification, of sanctification, and of our
loyalty to Him. With so much packed into the Sabbath, no wonder we deem it
so crucial. After all, if God thinks it's so important, we should, as
well.
Charlotte Ishkanian
Jin's friend Zhu had introduced Jin to the Adventists, who worshiped in a house. He was challenged by the careful Bible study he found there and began attending regularly. However, the closer Jin drew to the Adventists, the farther Zhu drifted from them. Finally Zhu cast his lot with the Sunday-keeping church, in hopes that the pastor would train him for a leadership position. "I'll bring you some books that will prove the Adventists wrong," he told Jin. Jin wondered whether his friend was right and he was wrong. After all, Christianity was so new to him, and the books were written by learned scholars.
That night he dreamed that he found some books in an eagle's nest. He opened one and found it full of lies about God. He picked up another and found it contained lies as well. When Jin awoke he wondered what his dream meant. He decided to put his faith in God rather than in dreams.
When Zhu arrived with the books, Jin could hardly contain his surprise. The books Zhu carried were the same ones Jin had seen in his dream. He did not want to take the books, but his friend insisted. "I've gone to a lot of trouble to get these," Zhu said. "Are you afraid you will lose confidence in your beliefs?"
Jin
told Zhu that God had already shown him the books and told him he should
not read them. Under pressure, Jin finally took the books, but instead of
reading them, he took them to a member of the house church and asked her
how to answer the accusations in the books. When she answered the accusations
with Bible texts, Jin was satisfied.
Jin returned the books to his friend and urged him to obey God's laws rather than man's rationales. But his friend refused. Jin studied the Bible with the members of the house church and was baptized. He rejoices that God loves him enough to warn him of false teachings.
Jin Jiang (left) is a member of the Adventist church in China. Charlotte Ishkanian is editor of Mission.
Produced by the Office of Mission |
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