Sabbath Rest Sermon

Sermon  •  Submitted
0 ratings
· 45 views
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
View more →

I am very fortunate. I have a collection of Bibles that I use for different purposes.  I have my take to church Bible with the Greek Hebrew Dictionary. I have my preaching NIV Bible. I have a couple study Bibles and a couple devotional Bibles. One Bible I use daily is the One Year Bible. Each day has a passage from the Old Testament, New Testament, and Psalms or Proverbs.

Rabbit Trail: This is a good thing. It comes in a variety of translations. People say to me often, that they just don’t have the time to read their Bible every day. This is my answer. Everyone can use this. You just turn to the date and read that selection. You don’t have to wait until January 1st to start, you can start anytime. Now if this looks like a lot to read everyday, Turn this into a 3 Year Bible. Read the Old Testament one year, the Old Testament the next, and Psalms & Proverbs the third. And if you miss a day, or go on vacation and forget to pack this, don’t worry about catching up. People who worry about catching up, tend to get overwhelmed and stop reading all together. My advice is to keep your reading current with the calendar. If you get absorbed in what your reading and want to read ahead go ahead, but keep to the calendar schedule.

This week my reading took me to Hebrews. Now I have read this book many times. But this week, it just didn’t make much sense to me.

ADVERTISEMENT

Every time we pick up the Word, we can be assured that God has something, some nugget, some seed for us to take away. Sometimes it’s for us, sometimes its for us to share with someone else, BUT every time we who have the Holy Spirit pick up this Bible, we profit. So when Hebrews didn’t make sense, I knew that I was missing something.

What do we know about Hebrews? Before I began to dig further into this study, I thought Paul wrote it. He may have, but that’s only speculation, because the author never names himself. Scholars argue that it could have been written by Luke, Barnabas, Silas, Phillip, and even Pricilla who traveled with Paul. The only clue have is verse 13:23 which mentions his “brother Timothy”. So what we do know is that it wasn’t Timothy.

When was it written? Because it mentions animal sacrifice and does not mention the destruction of the Temple it has to be before 70 AD.

Why is that important? It helps us hone in on the social atmosphere. Jewish Christians are undergoing fierce persecution. They are socially and physically under attack by both Jews and Romans. Jesus had ascended to heaven @ 30 years prior and not returned to set up his Kingdom. The people needed to be assured that He was Messiah.

So who was Hebrew’s written to? Jewish Christians, persecuted Jewish Christians.

Transition is difficult. Change is difficult. Get married, move to a new place, change careers, start a family, loose a loved one – these type of events change our perspective.

Change is frightening. Think about the Israelites. They had left Egypt, the only home they had ever known, the left their jobs, and entered the desert. They had to live in tents, and even their diets changed. We know they complained.

Numbers 14:2-3

“If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this desert! 3 Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?”

That’s how most of us feel when the going gets rough. We wonder if we would have been better off if we hadn’t made the change.

The Jewish Believers whom the writer of Hebrews was addressing were wondering if they had made a mistake in becoming Christians. If they had not converted they wouldn’t be persecuted right now. It was hard being a Jew with all the rules and regulations, rituals and sacrifice, but this Christianity was really hard.

The author’s purpose was to show Jewish Christians how the Old Testament pointed towards Jesus, and how Jesus fulfilled Old Testament prophesy. It brought them encouragement to stay faithful.

The passage that gave me trouble this week is

Hebrews 4:4-11 "For He has thus said somewhere concerning the seventh day, "And God rested on the seventh day from all His works" ; and again in this passage, "They shall not enter My rest." [Psalm 95] Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly had good news preached to them failed to enter because of disobedience, He again fixes a certain day, "Today," saying through David after so long a time just as has been said before, "Today if you hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts." [Psalm 95] For if Joshua had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day after that. [in Psalm 95] There remains therefore a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall through following the same example of disobedience."

Ps 95:7-11 "For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand. Today, if you would hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, As in the day of Massah in the wilderness; "When your fathers tested Me, They tried Me, though they had seen My work. "For forty years I loathed that generation, And said they are a people who err in their heart, And they do not know My ways. "Therefore I swore in My anger, Truly they shall not enter into My rest."

So it got me thinking what is the Sabbath rest?

Exodus 20: 8-11

8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 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. 11 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.

What was that? the fourth commandment

The Hebrew word for Sabbath is Shabbat, a Hebrew word meaning “to rest from labor”. Man was created to labor six days and then rest on the seventh.

 The scriptures contain over 150 references to the Sabbath.

·       In Moses day if one did not observe the Sabbath the penalty was death (Ex 31:15).

·       Scripture even records one man stoned to death for gathering sticks on a sabbath day (Num 15:32-36).

·       Isaiah & Jeremiah site great blessings promised to people who keep the Sabbath (Isa 58:13, 14; Jer 17: 19-27).

How do the Jews observe Shabbat?

Historically:

·       One could only walk a distance of less than ½ a mile without violating the law

·        

Today:

·       There are areas of Jerusalem where your car will be stoned if you drive through them on Shabbat

·       Many elevators in buildings in Israel stop automatically on every floor on the Shabbat, because it would be work to raise your hand and press the button.

·       Many people in other countries will not do their gardening, go for a walk, or let their children play football on Sunday, because they do not want to defile the Sabbath.

Rabbit Trail: When is the Sabbath observed?

In the Old Testament the Sabbath occurs on the seventh day of the week, which everyone agrees is Saturday.

Early in church history Sunday became the Sabbath.

·       members of the early church always gathered together on the first day of the week in observance of the Resurrection.

Does it matter when the Sabbath is observed? Nope, just as long as we do.

The Sabbath was a covenant and sign between God and the Jewish people. The keeping of the Sabbath was a sign that God truly ruled Israel. To break His Sabbath law was to rebel against Him

Can you rest when you are not tired? When aging grandparents arrive at your house after a long journey you fairly soon ask them if they want to put their feet up. When a healthy young teenager arrives at the door in the morning, you'd hardly offer him the bedroom! Rest is for those who have worked hard and are tired. How well those beautiful words of Jesus apply, 'Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest' (Mat 11:28).

Once again chapter 4 of Hebrews helps us understand. Verse 7 reads, God set a certain day, calling it today: 'Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts'. In the end it is only when you hear the voice of God for yourself that you can receive any blessing from him. But when you hear his voice you must respond. Verse 11 says: 'Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest'. The pathway to rest is labour, not sleep.

Related Media
See more
Related Sermons
See more