Commentary on "Rest and Restoration"

PHIL HARRIS

 

Day 6: Thursday, May 13, 2010

 

Overview

Now, we come to the central Adventist issue concerning the weekly Sabbath.

The theme is set, in part, by this quote from the lesson:

‘The Sabbath is a perpetual sign of our recognition of His love. The good news of the Sabbath is that, through keeping it, we do not just talk about “resting in Christ,” but we—in a very real and tangible way—express that rest, showing that we trust in Christ’s works for us, and not our own, as the way of salvation.’

 

Observations

Here is a favorite passage used to defend the practice of “Sabbath keeping”:

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation. (Gen. 2:1-3 ESV)

We need to compare this passage to the response Jesus gave to those who were upset with him for breaking the Sabbath:

But Jesus answered them, "My Father is working until now, and I am working." (John 5:17 ESV)

Keep in mind that Jesus is our Creator. He rested from his work of creation because it was complete, not because he needed rest to recover from being tired. A perfect holy God does not tire. Also, take note that his “rest” didn’t end at the end of day seven. This is a point we will come back to.

In the Genesis passage, God also declares the seventh day of the creation week to be holy. How is anything made holy? What does God intend us to understand by this day being a holy day?

And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, "Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations! Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed." (Rev. 15:3-4 ESV)

When Moses came upon the ‘burning bush’ he was on holy ground because God was there. When he went upon the mountain to talk with God, the mountain was holy because God was there. The Holy of Holies in the tabernacle was holy for only one reason, God was there. For the Sabbath to be holy and to keep it holy, God must be there. Until we learn that the weekly Sabbath was a shadow that pointed to Jesus, we are without an explanation of how this day could be holy.

In the words of King David in the following passage, we should consider the implications of the phrase "They shall not enter my rest". Under the penalty and pain of death, the Hebrew people kept the Sabbath day at least during the time of Moses. Yet, this Sabbath rest from physical work was not what God had in mind. Their lack of rest was directly related to the consequences of sin and their unwillingness to trust God with ‘the faith of Abraham’.

For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness, when your fathers put me to the test and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work. For forty years I loathed that generation and said, "They are a people who go astray in their heart, and they have not known my ways." Therefore I swore in my wrath, "They shall not enter my rest." (Ps. 95:7-11 ESV)

In the book of Hebrews we learn that Jesus is our Sabbath rest because he addressed the root cause of our need for rest, the sin in our lives. The seventh day of creation pointed to Jesus and is why God could declare it to be holy. Jesus is our holy rest, Heb. 3:7-4:11. Also, notice that our rest in Jesus Christ is eternal, the same as his rest from creation in Gen. 2:1-3.

The seventh day Sabbath was a shadow that pointed to Jesus Christ, our reality:

And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him. Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. (Col. 2:13-17 ESV)

 

Summary

1. God’s rest on the seventh day of creation is a prophetic shadow that points to our need for the Rest that would eternally give us perfect and complete restoration from the consequences of sin. God declares it to be holy because Jesus Christ is holy and is our Sabbath Rest. The Hebrew people could not enter this rest because they did not have ‘the faith of Abraham’.
2. The weekly Sabbath was a sign and shadow of the Old Covenant which was fulfilled by Jesus Christ who changed the priesthood after the order of Melchizedek. The sign (Seal) of the New Covenant is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit given to all true Believers by Jesus Christ, John 14:15-31. The Seal of the Holy Spirit, given to us by Jesus Christ, makes no reference to the Sabbath Day but does point to Jesus our true Sabbath Rest.
3. Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." (Matt. 11:28-30 ESV)

 

GO TO DAY 7

 

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