The Berean Daily Verse (The Sabbath)

The Berean Daily Verse ^ | 8/25/2006 | John W. Ritenbaugh

[kerryusama04]

Genesis 2:2-3

	(2) And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. (3) And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made. Go to this verse on Bible Tools

This generation has a particularly difficult time adjusting from a workday mode to a Sabbath-keeping mode for a number of reasons. One is that life is so fast paced, with so many ways and activities to give our time, our energies, our minds, and our attention to.

This can be seen in the parable of the sower and Seed in Matthew 13, where the seed falls on stony places. With people whose minds are focused on too many things, the Word of God does not take very deep root. And so, as Jesus says, when persecution or trouble arises as a result of this way of life, then they very quickly turn aside. They have nothing really rooted very deeply in them. They have been giving their time, energy, and all of their talents to something else entirely.

Another thing that we can extract from this same parable is that we have never, in any generation of man, been so close to the creations of man and so distant from the creations of God. We are surrounded by concrete, steel, glass, plastic, rubber, and all of the things that man makes. And we are very rapidly losing touch with the things that God has made.

Our mind tends to focus automatically on what we are surrounded by. Today, we are not walking behind a mule, plowing the ground, and listening to the birds as we plow; or putting seeds in the ground, watching them come up, and eating the products of what God has made possible by His laws and by the fact that He continues to provide for His Creation. He sends the rain, and He brings forth the fruit. If we do not have contact with God's Creation, we very quickly begin to have our minds surrounded by other things, and we are then cast adrift because of paying attention to those things.

In addition to that, we have been spiritually trained by this Protestant society not to regard a day as belonging to God, but rather to use time for our own pleasure as though it all belonged to us. And if we have been taught at all, we have been taught the wrong day.

It seems that we do not have enough time for God, even though we literally have just as much time as Peter, James, John, Philip, and all of the ancients besides them. How much time does a working mother have today for a good spiritual life after giving her time and energies to her employer and then returning home and doing her responsibilities there? How much time does a father holding two jobs, or working as much overtime as he can, or working plus going to school at night in order to get ahead (in order to afford all of the finer things of life) have for God? How much energy does this mother and father have at the end of the week?

All of us are pressured and victimized by this insane system that Satan has put together. But few of us have much excuse for not using Sabbath time in the way that God intended that it be used.

 

John W. Ritenbaugh

From  The Fourth Commandment (Part 4)

Listen	Download

[kerryusama04]

Another thing that we can extract from this same parable is that we have never, in any generation of man, been so close to the creations of man and so distant from the creations of God. We are surrounded by concrete, steel, glass, plastic, rubber, and all of the things that man makes. And we are very rapidly losing touch with the things that God has made.

[kerryusama04]

I know, we just went over this for the bazillion-th time, but it is nice to read anyhow.

[DouglasKC]

In addition to that, we have been spiritually trained by this Protestant society not to regard a day as belonging to God, but rather to use time for our own pleasure as though it all belonged to us. And if we have been taught at all, we have been taught the wrong day.

Thanks for posting this. This is a good point that needs to be reiterated. God created a specific day, his sabbath, for the benefit of mankind. It's one of the commandments that remind us weekly who the one, true God is:

From "The Message":

Exo 20:11 For in six days GOD made Heaven, Earth, and sea, and everything in them; he rested on the seventh day. Therefore GOD blessed the Sabbath day; he set it apart as a holy day.

It's still holy and still his, yet it's amazing how most can't quite obey God and have been sucked into the lie that it's part of the "old covenant", or it's a "ceremonial law", or that somehow it died on the cross.

[tessalu]

Then when the children of Israel left Egypt, after having been slaves there, God taught them again about the Sabbath Day, so we are without excuse for not knowing.

[John 6.66=Mark of the Beast?]

Christ is our Sabbath rest.

Col 2:16-17
16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: 17 Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ. (KJV)

Heb 4:7-11
7 Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
8 For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day.
9 There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.
10 For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.
11 Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. (KJV)

[DouglasKC]

Then when the children of Israel left Egypt, after having been slaves there, God taught them again about the Sabbath Day, so we are without excuse for not knowing.

He certainly did...and God of the old testament was the pre-incarnate Jesus Christ.

1Co 10:1 Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea;
1Co 10:2 And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea;
1Co 10:3 And did all eat the same spiritual meat;
1Co 10:4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.

Joh 8:56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.
Joh 8:57 Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?
Joh 8:58 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.

[DouglasKC]

Col 2:16-17 16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: 17 Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ. (KJV)

Let's look at that verse in context. Paul was addressing a problem in the church at Colosse. The problem was that certain men were teacing things contrary to proper teaching:

Col 2:4 I say this so that no one will delude you with persuasive argument.

Paul lists some of the hallmarks of these things that were being taught:

Col 2:8 See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.

The hallmarks were:

1. Philosophy
2. Deception
3. Traditions of men
4. Elementary principles OF THE WORLD.

Paul also lists some specific practices of the deceptive practices being taught to Colosse:

Col 2:18 Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind,

Specific practices include:

1. Angel worship
2. Self-abasement
3. Folowing the visions seen by a man.

What was being taught was also unscriptural and were, as Paul said, commandments of men:

Col 2:20 If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as,
Col 2:21 "Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!"
Col 2:22 (which all refer to things destined to perish with use)in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men?

So to the verse:

Col 2:16 Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day--

The sabbath day:

1. IS NOT a commandment of men. It is a commandment of God.
2. IS NOT a philosophy of man, but a commandment of God.
3. IS NOT a deception by man, but a commandment of God.
4. IS NOT an element of the world, but a commandment of God.

What you are doing is reading into that verse what is not there. In fact, your interpretation is the exact opposite of the true meaning. The true meaning is that the church was being criticized by a false religion for HOW they were eating, drinking and HOW, or because they were keeping the sabbath and holy days! They were wrongly being taught commandments of men.

[John 6.66=Mark of the Beast?]

Every day is the Sabbath in Christ. We are to rest from our labors of performance to become righteous. Christ is our righteousness. Do you keep the Saturday as the Sabbath? If not when did God not man change it?

[kerryusama04]

Christ is our Sabbath rest.

What scripture says this?

Col 2:16-17 is a strange verse to use in abolising the Sabbath. Recall that Paul was called to the Gentiles. Colossea was a Gentile place. Why would Paul tell Gentiles who never kept a Sabbath in their lives nor even knew of it to NOT keep the Sabbath? Also recall that the Apostles proclaimed dietary restrictions for the Getile converts. Also, recall that most of Paul's letters were to re-inforce things he taught the addressees in person. With all this in mind, doesn't it make more sense that Paul was telling the Colossians not to buckle under peer pressure from their unbelieving neighbors and fall back into Sabbath breaking and eating unbled meat. Also note the Paul tells them not to let MEN judge them in keeping the Sabbaths. It does not say "Remember, don't keep the Sabbath".

Now, one begs the question, why did God take 6 days to create the universe and rest on the 7th? Couldn't God just snap His finger and make everything in an instant? Of course He could. God was laying out an example for us.
Mar 2:27 And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath:

Another interesting note is that Jesus does not say the Sabbath was made for Hebrews, Jews, or anyone specific. He said it was made for man. I happen to be a man, so I keep the Sabbath.

[John 6.66=Mark of the Beast?]

Every thing points to Christ. The rest of the old testament sabbath was a type and shadow of the true rest in Christ.

So then, there remains a sabbath rest for the people of God for whoever enters God's rest also ceases from his labors as God did from his. (Hebrews 4:9-10

Do you keep the Saturday sabbath? If not when did God change it?

[kerryusama04]

Do you keep the Saturday sabbath? If not when did God change it?

Yes, I keep the 7th day just as Jesus did. The rest you speak of will not happen until the millenia and beyond. I keep the weekly Sabbath commanded by God. The Sabbath was never changed nor abolished.

[John 6.66=Mark of the Beast?]

very good

[kerryusama04]

Do you keep the 7th day as well? My Sabbatarianism is not exactly a secret here on FR?

[John 6.66=Mark of the Beast?]

Every day is my sabbath day rest in Christ

[kerryusama04]

Good luck with that.

[John 6.66=Mark of the Beast?]

It has nothing to do with luck.

It's the biblical fulfillment of the Old Covenant shadow that pointed to the New Covenant reality of Christ.
Another biblical shadow is the promise land fulfilled in Christ.

The entire Old Covenant pointed to the Christ of the New Covenant

[kerryusama04]

Mat 26:28 For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

Heb 9:15 And for this cause He is the Mediator of the new covenant, so that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first covenant, those who are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.

Heb 12:24 and to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel. {reference to animal sacrifice}

1Jo 3:4 Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness, for sin is lawlessness. Rev 12:17 And the dragon was enraged over the woman, and went to make war with the rest of her seed, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Yes, the Old Covenant pointed to Christ. In the Old Covenant, sins had to be transferred from a man to a spotless goat, whose blood was shed. When Jesus died, the curtain, upon which the blood of the innocent goats was sprinkled, was rent in two. This indicated that the sins of the OT folks had been nullified and paid in full. Christ's sacrifice also does the same for us. However, that does not license sin, thus the 10 Commandments remain.

Rev 12:17 And the dragon was enraged over the woman, and went to make war with the rest of her seed, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

[John 6.66=Mark of the Beast?]

The law was givin to show man that he could not keep it. No person can keep the law that is why Christ came to fullfill the law.
Matt 22:36-40 36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. (KJV)

[kerryusama04]

The law was givin to show man that he could not keep it. No person can keep the law that is why Christ came to fullfill the law.

What scripture says Christ fulfilled the law?

Mat 22:36-40 references the 10 Commandments. 37=1-4, 39=6-10

You are correct, man cannot keep the Law, which is why Jesus paid the price. Should we then sin so that Grace may abound? God forbid.

[John 6.66=Mark of the Beast?]

Matt 5:17
17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
(KJV)

[kerryusama04]

Does fulfill equal end? Looking at the context, it sure doesn't look like it.

[DouglasKC]

Matt 5:17 17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.

Jesus paid the penalty of the law, death, for us. Your reading of this verse would render it:

"Think not that I am come to destroy the low, or the prophets, I am not come to destroy, but to do away with it."

Same difference. The law still exists and it is still a sin to break the law:

1Jo 3:4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.

Luckily IF we break the law, Christ has paid the penalty. However, that doesn't mean we purposely set out to break God's laws.

Jesus DOES fulfill the law provided we let his spirit live through and in us. Since he is God, Jesus does not, and cannot, break the laws he instituted. If one lets Jesus live through him, then they WILL conform their lives to the spirit of Christ living in them. It then no longer is "them" doing, but Christ living in them:

Gal 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

Some confusion also occurs because there were other unscriptural, manmade laws that the Jews were in bondage under through Jewish religion and tradition. The Jews had elevated these to the level of scripture and divine revelation.