Commentary on "Rest and Restoration"

PHIL HARRIS

 

Day 7: Friday, May 14, 2010

 

Overview

While few, if any, would question the need for proper rest, there is one overriding issue that must be addressed before we end this week’s commentary.

The subject of the weekly Sabbath rest, for an Adventist, centers on the assumption that the Ten Commandments given to the Israelites by Moses, are still binding with Sabbath Keeping being a moral requirement of paramount importance.

We have already seen where Jesus is our true Sabbath Rest which is unrelated to keeping a certain day holy. Therefore we will depart from directly reviewing the lesson and do our own ‘further study’.

 

Observations

The Adventist position is that Sabbath Keeping has always been expected of mankind in spite of the fact it is not introduced until the Hebrew people departed slavery in Egypt. Notice the verses that precede the giving of the Ten Commandments that constituted the covenant with Israel. It was something new, given only to them, and not known by their forefathers (Deut. 5:1-3; Ex. 31:12-17):

And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, "Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the rules that I speak in your hearing today, and you shall learn them and be careful to do them. The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. Not with our fathers did the LORD make this covenant, but with us, who are all of us here alive today. (Deut. 5:1-3 ESV)

Jesus Christ, our Great High Priest, was not after the order of the Levitical priesthood, Heb. 7:11-22. The Sabbath, which was the sign or seal of the Levitical based covenant, was a shadow that pointed to Jesus Christ. The usefulness of this shadow ended with the ministry and atonement of Jesus Christ on the cross.

Therefore, the weekly Sabbath is not and never was a perpetual sign between God and his people.

 

Summary of the week

1. When God declared of the Hebrew people "They shall not enter my rest", he was speaking of something far more significant than their obvious need for physical rest. The rest they needed and didn’t have was centered on their lack of faith in the provision that can only come from God.
2. In the giving of the fourth commandment, to “keep the Sabbath day holy”, God was referring back to the time of creation when there was no need for such a command. Sin and the consequences of sin had not yet entered into Adam’s race. Adam and Eve, at that time, lived in perfect rest which didn’t end until Adam sinned.
3. The weekly Sabbath is a shadow that represented the true rest of mankind that is offered by Jesus Christ because of his complete atonement for our sins. Jesus is our Sabbath rest. When we accept the message of the gospel, and in faith, believe in his complete atonement for our sins, not just past sins…all our sins, we are indwelt with his promised Comforter, the Holy Spirit. It is far more than a sign of our rest. It is literally Jesus Christ himself, our perpetual rest.
4. To paraphrase a common biblical expression: If you wish to have good physical rest, first seek ye the kingdom of God and all the rest you could ever ask for is yours and much more besides.
5. Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (Matt. 6:31-33 ESV)

 

 

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Official Adventist Resources

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