The Rationale for the Lord´s Sabbaths

 

Friday, November 6, 2020

The rationale for the Lord´s Sabbaths (part four)

 

6. The Sabbath/s is a sign between the Lord and His people

The Sabbath/s is a sign which confirms that Jesus Christ is the Lord and we are His people, for the Lord spoke to Moses saying; “Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you.”

“Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed" (Exodus 31:13, 16-17).

Also, to the prophet Ezekiel the Lord said, “Moreover I also gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign between them and Me, that they might know that I am the LORD who sanctifies them.” Also, “ I am the LORD your God: Walk in My statutes, keep My judgments, and do them; hallow My Sabbaths, and they will be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am the LORD your God” (Ezekiel 20: 12, 19-20).

Let no believer in Jesus Christ make the grave error in believing that this sign does not pertain to them because the Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises does not pertain to those who are the children of the flesh, because these are not the children of God; but it certainly pertains to the children of the promise who are those who believe in Jesus Christ the one Seed. For we have been duly admonished saying; “And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:29).

2.7.  The Sabbaths are times for family reunion

Households or families are not only exempted from working on the Sabbaths but they are also required to appear before the Lord as a family, for it is written: “But you shall seek the place where the LORD your God chooses, out of all your tribes, to put His name for His dwelling place; and there you shall go. There you shall take your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the heave offerings of your hand, your vowed offerings, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks. And there you shall eat before the LORD your God, and you shall rejoice in all to which you have put your hand, you and your households, in which the LORD your God has blessed you” (Deuteronomy 12:5-7).

For example, the principal objective for tithing is for households to appear before the Lord on His feast days and rejoice before Him as we have been admonished saying; “And you shall spend that money for whatever your heart desires: for oxen or sheep, for wine or similar drink, for whatever your heart desires; you shall eat there before the LORD your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your household” (Deuteronomy 14:26).

Appearing before God was designed and ordained for the entire household including servants, strangers and the Levites that are within your gates, and so the admonish is, “Gather the people together, men and women and little ones, and the stranger who is within your gates, that they may hear and that they may learn to fear the LORD your God and carefully observe all the words of this law, and that their children, who have not known it, may hear and learn to fear the LORD your God as long as you live in the land which you cross the Jordan to possess" (Deuteronomy  31:12-13),

Having established the seven significant purposes for the Sabbath one should ask him/herself the question, why then is the body of Christ, the church so divided? The answer to this dilemma is quite simple, it is, those of us who profess to be believers unfortunately, do not have the same teacher, the same guide, do not sing the same tune, do not march to the same beat and do not dance to the same music.

 Most of us are in the state described by the apostle Paul saying; “For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God” (Romans 10:2.3).

The Sabbaths therefore, are times and procedures ordained by the Lord so that humanity can have fellowship with Him and with one another. As free moral agents we have the prerogative to obey or not to obey, but to blatantly neglect or disregard these days and substituting them with other days is a violation of God´s principles and a clear sign of vain worship which is a form of idolatry.

With brotherly love

Lucius Joseph