Intro
1. Jesus was a Jew, 12 disciples
were Jews, first Christians were Jews
a. several people called Jesus “rabbi” (teacher), which suggests
highly trained
b. also means he had to be an observing Jew — prayer shawl,
kosher, and all.
2. NT stresses salvation is result
of grace and faith, not works as in OT
3. NT does away with the ceremonial
law because it foreshadowed salvation by faith
4. after first century, Christians
took very strong stand against Judaism and many have been
largely antisemitic since
5. result: Christians tend to
view OT strictly as history, consider Jews fallen from God’s
grace since they missed the Messiah; this
is a mistaken view
6. recent years, with advent of
Messianic Judaism, some Christians celebrate Jewish roots,
but not widespread practice
7. most Christians still view
Judaism as completely separate from Christianity, view all
Jewish teachings as irrelevant
8. I suggest not all Jewish/OT
teachings are irrelevant; were good/practical reasons God
gave Jews certain laws, those reasons are
relevant to us today
9. like for us to consider one:
Sabbath
Precedents
1. Gen 2:1-3, end of creation
account. “Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in
all their vast array. By the seventh day God
had finished the work he had been doing;
so on the seventh day he rested from all his
work. And God blessed the seventh day and
made it holy, because on it he rested from
all the work of creating that he had done.”
a. God set precedent for Sabbath by resting seventh day, after
six days of creating.
b. word “Sabbath” not used, but principle set.
c. in effect, Sabbath came into being when man came into being;
divine origin of
Sabbath coincides
with beginning of human history, in effect making it the first
instituted law.
d. Questions:
i. Was God tired after creating universe and need to recover
from his
exertion? No.
ii. If not, then why did he rest? As example, precedent for man.
2. Ex 16, Israelites crossed Red
Sea, Pharaoh’s army destroyed, bitter water at Marah
turned sweet/drinkable; now they have run
out of food.
a. vs 4-5. “Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘I will rain down
bread from heaven for
you. The people
are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this
way I will test
them and see whether they will follow my instructions. On the
sixth day they
are to prepare what they bring in, and that is to be twice as much
as they gather
on the other days.’”
b. vs 21-23. “Each morning everyone gathered as much as he
needed, and when
the sun grew
hot, it melted away. On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much
— two omers
for each person — and the leaders of the community came and
reported this
to Moses. He said to them, ‘This is what the Lord commanded:
“Tomorrow is
to be a day of rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord. So bake what you
want to bake
and boil what you want to boil. Save whatever is left and keep it
until morning.”’”
c. this is first specific reference to “Sabbath” in scripture
d. God taught people to observe day of rest by sending no manna
on that day
e. some Israelites looked for manna on seventh day and God
responded (v 28),
“How long will
you refuse to keep my commands and my instructions?”
i. Lord’s question suggests this was not first time he had
told Israelites
about Sabbath
ii. he may have instructed them earlier to observe a day of rest,
not
recorded in scripture
f. first declaration of Sabbath in scripture states it’s to
be a day of rest, holy to the
Lord
g. notice: Sabbath revealed and commanded before law given
on Mt. Sinai
h. whether patriarchs before Moses observed seventh day rest
is not clear; not as
important as
God revealing to Moses that he had instituted Sabbath at close of
creation.
Mosaic Law
1. Ex 20:8-11, fourth of ten commandments
God gave Israel through Moses. “Remember
the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days
you shall labor and do all your work, but
the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your
God. On it you shall not do any work,
neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor
your manservant or maidservant, nor your
animals, nor the alien within your gates.
For in six days the Lord made the heavens and
the earth, the sea, and all that is in them,
but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore
the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made
it holy.”
a. no work to be performed by man or beast
b. uses creation account of seventh day rest as precedent
c. “Remember the Sabbath” suggests previously known but forgotten
or ignored
2. Ex 31, Moses still on Mt. Sinai
after receiving ten commandments
a. Lord is gave Levitical details (legislation to govern the
nation) regarding
Hebrew servants,
personal injuries, protection of property, justice and mercy,
annual festivals
b. Lord confirmed his covenant with Israel
c. Lord gave instructions regarding the tabernacle and furnishings,
priestly
garments
d. the last thing God is recorded as saying to Moses before
he went down the
mountain was
about the Sabbath (Ex 31:12-17):
Say to the Israelites, “You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a
sign between
me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I
am the Lord,
who makes you holy.
Observe the Sabbath, because it is holy to you. Anyone who desecrates it
must be put
to death; whoever does any work on that day must be cut off from
his people.
For six days work is to be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of
rest, holy to
the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day must be put
to death. The
Israelites are to observe the Sabbath, celebrating it for the
generations
to come as a lasting covenant. It will be a sign between me and the
Israelites forever,
for in six days the Lord mad the heavens and the earth, and
on the seventh
day he abstained from work and rested.”
e. a final reminder about the Sabbath, pronounced stiff penalty
for violating
Sabbath: death;
observance clearly very important
f. Num 15:32-36, God directed Israelites to stone a man they
caught gathering
wood on Sabbath
g. was a person put to death for breaking any commandment?
No. Then what does
death penalty
for violating Sabbath say about its importance?
3. Ex 34:21
a. after Moses broke original stone tablets with ten commandments,
Lord
instructed him
to make new tablets and bring them to mountain so Lord could
write commandments
again
b. Lord elaborated on some commandments
c. v 21, “Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day
you shall rest; even
during the plowing
season and harvest you must rest.”
4. Ex 35:3, Moses instructing Israelites
about Sabbath and explains: “Do not light a fire in
any of your dwellings on the Sabbath day.”
a. Question: Why would they need to light fire in their dwelling?
To cook food, to
see so they
could work, occasionally to stay warm at night
b. Question: How easy was it to start a fire? Not easy, didn’t
have matches; so
starting fire
required significant effort — collecting/moving firewood, creating
flame, nurturing
flame into a fire; i.e., work.
5. Purpose becoming clear
a. Sabbath to be day of complete rest, even for animals, even
during critical
seasons; humanitarian
reasons for Sabbath
b. Sabbath to be a blessing to man, not a burden
Acceptable Activities on Sabbath
1. Priest duties
a. Lev 12:3, infant boys circumcised on eighth day; no exception
for Sabbath
b. Lev 24:8, oil and bread set before the Lord on Sabbath
c. 1 Chr 23:31, presented burnt offerings to Lord on Sabbath
d. 2 Chr 23:4, on duty on the Sabbath
Isaiah the prophet
1. History
a. Moses led Israel out of Egypt approximately 1446 BC
b. After Israel had been in the land, they eventually disregarded
much of the Law
c. God raised up several prophets to correct the people, 800-400
BC
d. Isaiah the prophet lived about 700 BC, 700 years after the
Law
2. Isa 1:13, speaking in behalf
of God: “Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your
incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths
and convocations — I cannot bear
your evil assemblies.”
a. were the people doing what God instructed? yes
b. then why was God rebuking them? “meaningless”; action without
attitude
3. Isa 58:13-14: “If you keep your
feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you
please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath
a delight and the Lord’s holy day
honorable, and if you honor it by not going
your own way and not doing as you please
or speaking idle words, then you will find
your joy in the Lord, and I will cause you to
ride on the heights of the land and to feast
on the inheritance of your father Jacob.”
a. keep your feet from breaking Sabbath — long journey, or
going wherever you
want
b. refrain from doing as you please
c. states these twice; emphasis
d. refrain from speaking idle words
e. call Sabbath a delight, honorable, Lord’s holy day
f. “holy”: set apart for God
4. Around 600 BC, God allowed the
Babylonians to overrun the nation and take the
people into captivity.
a. After 70 years, the Babylonian king allowed some of the
Jews to return to
Israel. Nehemiah
was among them.
Nehemiah
1. Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem
a. organized the people to rebuild the wall, 444 BC; their
only form of protection
b. rebuked local officials who were oppressing the poor, made
them restore the
properties they
had taken
c. oversaw reinstitution of observance of Law, including priesthood,
sacrifices,
festivals
2. Neh 13:15-22:
In those
days I saw men in Judah treading winepresses on the Sabbath and
bringing in grain and loading it on donkeys,
together with wine, grapes, figs and all
other kinds of loads. And they were bringing
all this into Jerusalem on the Sabbath.
Therefore I warned them against selling food
on that day. Men from Tyre who lived in
Jerusalem were bringing in fish and all kinds
of merchandise and selling them in
Jerusalem on the Sabbath to the people of
Judah. I rebuked the nobles of Judah and said
to them, “What is this wicked thing you are
doing — desecrating the Sabbath day?
Didn’t your forefathers do the same things,
so that our God brought all this calamity
upon us and upon this city? [He saw the cause
and effect; dishonor the Sabbath and
experience calamity.] Now you are stirring
up more wrath against Israel by desecrating
the Sabbath.”
When evening
shadows fell on the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, I
ordered the doors to be shut and not opened
until the Sabbath was over. I stationed
some of my own men at the gates so that no
load could be brought in on the Sabbath
day. Once or twice the merchants and sellers
of all kinds of goods spent the night
outside Jerusalem. But I warned them and said,
“Why do you spend the night by the
wall? If you do this again, I will lay hands
on you.” From that time on they no longer
came on the Sabbath. Then I commanded the
Levites to purify themselves and go and
guard the gates in order to keep the Sabbath
day holy.
Conclusion
1. Sabbath observance very important
to Jews
2. God set example for seventh-day
rest, used as precedent for commandments regarding
Sabbath