Keep these things Holy

We are continuing our Big 10 series where we are looking at the 10 commandments that God gave the people of Israel while they were wandering through the wilderness on their way from slavery in Egypt to the land that God had promised their ancestor, Abraham.

Ultimately we are asking the question, are these commandments, or we could call the instructions, are they relevant for today? Do they translate to 2022 and beyond? Should we be “getting with the times” or do these things still hold value and weight?

Well, as I said last week, there’s no suspense here. I believe 100% these instructions are still absolutely relevant for today.

But, / / what is their purpose?

Jesus said very clearly in John 10:10, / / The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them [you and I - the sheep who follow the good shepherd] a rich and satisfying life.

The ESV says it this way, / / I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

So, if that is the purpose of Jesus Christ, and we can also look at John 3:16, arguably the most well known bible verse there is, / / For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

Two things at odds here. We have the word / / perish, or that word means to be destroyed, to render useless. Sounds a bit like steal, kill & destroy… So, that’s on one side, but the other side is clearly, God does not WANT that for us. John 3:16 / / everyone who believes in him will NOT perish... 2 Peter 3:9 says, / / The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.

Remember what repent means, have a change of mind, or turn in direction… I believed one way, now, because of the saving grace of Jesus Christ I believe something different.

So, this other side, or what God wants, what he desires, what HIS purpose for our lives is.... is life. Both scriptures, John 3:16, John 10:10, and so many more, say that, Jesus came that we might have life.

But this isn’t just the purpose of Jesus, it’s not just Jesus that is good, it’s GOD who is good. Jesus is God the Son, equal to God the Father and God the Holy Spirit.

Jesus is having a conversation with his disciples in John 14, and this is where he says to them, “I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the father except through me.” And Philip, one of his twelve closest disciples says in John 14:8, / / “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.” Jesus replied, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don’t know who I am? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father! So why are you asking me to show him to you? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?”

What Jesus is saying here is that He is the perfect representation of God the Father. What He says is what God the Father would say, What He does is what God the Father would do. Why? Because they are both God. We believe in what we call the Trinity, it is God in three distinct persons, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. Completely one, yet completely unique.

Hebrews 1:3 actually says, / / The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command...

So, If you’ve seen Jesus, you’ve seen the Father.

And Jesus said his purpose is to give life, and he only does what the Father would do.

That must mean, 100%, that God as a whole, Father, Son & Holy Spirit, are about life. God is the giver of life. And as 2 Peter 3:9 says, God does not desire for anyone to be destroyed, or perish. And in John 10:10 Jesus warns of those who would try to steal, kill and destroy - whether that is the enemy, satan, humanity, ideology, people - doesn’t matter.

This is all showing us the purpose of God’s instructions for our lives, and why they still matter today after thousands of years, even though they are before Jesus living and dying on this earth… Because God’s purpose has ALWAYS, without fail, been to bring life. / / God has always been, is now, and will forever be the giver of life.

So, these instructions, these commandments, remember last week we read through the purpose of these instructions, Moses outlines God’s heart in Deuteronomy 28 when he says, / / “If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully keep all his commands that I am giving you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the world. You will experience all these blessings if you obey the Lord your God:”

And he goes on to explain all those amazing things.

Even how these things are written, it isn’t written as, “If you listen to God, He will bless your fields...” it simply says, / / You will experience all these blessings if you obey the Lord your God: Your towns and fields will be blessed.

See, God isn’t saying, “I’ll give you a lolly-pop if you do what I say...” He’s saying, “I’m giving you a path to follow, and that path leads to life.”

The other side, what happens if we don’t follow the instructions? Well things end up going pretty poorly. Remember, if I’m making mac’n’cheese for Kaylee, and I’ve told her not to touch the pot, to go clear the table and be ready for dinner, but she instead touches the pot, hurts herself, runs off in pain and hides from me. I have not punished her for not listening, she has simply endured consequences for actions I actually tried to warn her against. Now, just like the grace and goodness of God, I am there, ready and willing and able to help, heal and restore, and give blessing when she comes.

And let’s just add what Jesus says when one of his sheep run away, we sang it last week, There’s no mountain you won’t climb, you leave the 99 to go chase down the one! This is the redeeming love of God, he doesn’t stand far off waiting for us to come back, but as soon as we turn around we realize he’s right there.

I’m not going to spoon feed the mac’n’cheese into Kaylee’s sad or angry face, and I can’t help with the wound if she’s hiding and holding the wound and won’t let me see. But as soon as she turns around, she sees I’m right there waiting… This is the redemptive, restorative love of God. Always chasing us down. Always running after us. Waiting for the opportunity to express himself in love toward us.

So, last week we looked at the first two commandments:

/ / 1. Do not have any other gods before Me

2. Do not make idols

And really you could say “or have idols”. God is very specific, in other places he warns Israel to not marry into certain cultures because they will lead them to worship their gods and their idols. You don’t have to make an idol yourself to have a problem.

And really, the word make isn’t just to build or create in a physical sense, but in any sense of the word, have we made idols in our hearts? Have we made idols of man, of ideologies etc...

I said this last week:

/ / What we let into our lives and into our homes will have influence.

Both of those instructions are to save us from being led astray. Not because God is an insecure God and wants to punish us if we don’t listen to him, but because God knows that there is no other god or spirit or ideology that will lead you to life and eternal life… Only he can, and he knows this because he is the Creator.

This is the difference. There are NOT many gods and many afterlifes that you can pick and choose which you want based on your preference. That’s not how it works. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 8:4-5, / / …there is only one God. There may be so-called gods in both heaven and on earth - meaning the spiritual realm - and some people actually worship many gods and many lords. But for us, there is one God, the Father, by whom all things were created, and for whom we live. And there is one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things were created, and through whom we live.

/ / Any other god, ideology, philosophy or theology that is not centered on the One true God and found in the saving grace of Jesus Christ will ultimately lead you away from Him.

Because they are not compatible. You can’t say, There is only one way, unless you don’t like it, and so you can choose something else. It might sound exclusive, but in fact it is the most inclusive thing, everyone is invited, there just only happens to be one door in!

So, let’s keep going, this week we are going to look at the next two commandments from Exodus 20, we are reading vs 7 and 8 today:

/ / “You must not misuse the name of the Lord your God. The Lord will not let you go unpunished if you misuse his name.

“Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God. On that day no one in your household may do any work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your livestock, and any foreigners living among you. For in six days the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.”

/ / 3. Do not take the the name of the Lord your God in vain

Ok, there’s three important things in this instruction we need to define. what is the Name of the Lord. What does it mean to “take” that name, and what does it mean to use it in vain?

First, the word name used in the bible here doesn’t just mean name, like God, Yahweh, Jesus Christ, Jehovah etc… but it also means / / reputation, fame, glory. It’s speaking of the character of God. Who God is. Let’s call it the reality of who He is.

I personally think this is the most misinterpreted commandment in the bible. Growing up I don’t remember it being communicated to me in any other way than simply, “Don’t use Jesus or God as a curse word”… So, I didn’t say Jesus, or Jesus Christ, and I didn’t take God and damnation and put them together to make a swear word. Because if I did, I got in trouble.

Now, I’m not saying that isn’t true. It is. Using the name of God as a curse word is the opposite of honoring Him. It’s degrading. It’s vulgar.

Think of how Jesus taught us to pray in Matthew 6:9, / / Our father in heaven, may your name be kept holy.

Proverbs 18:10 says, / / The name of the Lord is a strong fortress; the godly run to him and are safe.

Philippians 2:10-11 says, / / …at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord...

Romans 10:9 says, / / …if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Psalm 148:13 says, / / …praise the name of the Lord. For his name is very great; his glory towers over the earth and heaven!

So, first things first. Although this goes way beyond just simply how we use the name of God in a sentence, let this be in your mind at all times, / / the name of the Lord is holy… Don’t take it lightly. Honor it. / / …every time it comes out of our mouth it should be in reverence of who He is and what He’s done for us.

Now, like I said, that’s just the surface. But let’s really get into this for a minute here.

We first read from the NLT, which says it this way, / / You must not misuse the name of the Lord your God. The ESV says it this way, You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. (Exodus 20:7)

Ok, so the name of God is his character, the reality of who He is.

But then there’s two more words here that are important. What does it mean to take God’s name, and what does it mean to use it in vain? And we are asking those questions based on our understanding that the name of God is speaking of who He is, his character, his goodness, the reality of who He is, what He says about himself and what he’s promised to do...

John Piper asks the questions, then:

/ / What does it mean to take some revelation of the reality of God into our minds and to have thoughts about him in vain? To take some revelation of the way God is into our hearts and have feelings about him in vain? To take some expression of God’s reality into our mouths and speak words about him in vain? To take some revelation of God into our resolves to do actions in this name in vain?

What does that mean - to treat God, his name, in our thoughts or our feelings or our words or our actions in vain?

/ / Vain means emptiness, vanity, falsehood. You could say it’s “using the name of God in a pointless, empty and wasted manner.”

Even what we’ve looked at so far - using the name of God as a curse word is pretty empty, isn’t it? It’s taking a thing of high value and degrading it to the point of ruin. Piper also says, / / “The elimination of that kind of use of the name of God is kindergarten in the school of Christ. If you still have kindergarten behaviors, here’s the remedy: fill your words with the weight of God’s truth, and fill your hearts with affections for his name!”

Using God’s name in an empty or worthless way would also include cursing or blaspheming the name of the Lord. His name is holy, don’t curse Him. I think in some ways this helps us remember who He actually is. If I’m about to say, “God, why did you allow that to happen. You aren’t fair...” I have to stop and think, is that a God thing, or a personal issue? Is this something in my life and what I am experiencing making me see a God, who I know is always good, as different than He actually is. And I can stop myself, “Wait, God isn’t like this…God is good… or maybe there’s a reason I’m going through this, maybe there’s a reason this is happening. If I’m afraid of being punished it’s not God because punishment has to do with fear and God’s love is perfect and perfect love actually casts out fear...” It puts back into perspective who God is - building my faith and changing my focus.

In here would be things like false prophecy. People saying things like, “God said...” and then saying what they want to say. We have to be so careful with that. Kelley and I, mostly say, “I feel like God is saying...” Listen, this is my interpretation, my understanding, and I am delivering that to the best of my ability out of my own humanity, understanding I am most definitely not perfect. I think we always have to remember, / / we are all simply part of an imperfect humanity trying to relay the heart of a perfect God. God actually had to correct prophets in the bible, there’s stories where one prophet would go to other and say, “The Lord has heard the lies you have told in his name...” Jeremiah 23 tells a story of this happening.

I think the real idea here is what Jesus taught us to pray, keep His name holy.

What about vanity?

/ / Vanity is defined as excessive pride in or admiration of one’s own appearance or achievements.

I want to suggest to you this morning that this simply means, we can not, ever, under any circumstances use the name of our Lord as some sort of identifier that we are more, or better, or ahead of anyone else. If ANYTHING, the fact that you and I have been found by Jesus, or maybe we found Jesus, however you want to say that, is thanks to His mercy and His mercy alone, and MAYBE our own recognition that we are completely hopeless without Him.

Jeremiah 9:23-24 says, / / This is what the Lord says: “Don’t let the wise boast in their wisdom, or the powerful boast in their power, or the rich boast in their riches. But those who wish to boast should boast in this alone: that they truly know me and understand that I am the Lord who demonstrates unfailing love and who brings justice and righteousness to the earth, and that I delight in these things...”

To boast in the Lord is never to say, “God did such great things in me. I’m special now...”. To boast in the Lord is to say, “I have come to a place where I recognize my need for a gracious savior. And God HAS done great things in me… and it will always be Him...”

Think of it this way, the redemption of God in our lives should always be a signpost to God himself, rather than pointing to us.

Don’t take christianity as something that sets you ahead of someone who hasn’t found Jesus yet. You are not morally superior or brighter or more special. God desires that NONE should perish. Don’t ever look down on a sinner, because we are all simply sinners saved by grace! Stay there. Stay humble. Stay reliant on Him.

Remember a few weeks ago I said our greatest freedom in America is that we get to pursue this life that God has for us, and our greatest temptation, or the great deception we face is that because of our freedom, we think we can do it on our own.

And the third thing vain is defined as is falsehood.

I think this is really where humanity has tripped up and the enemy has actually used the dumbed down version, don’t use Jesus as a curse word, to hide the fact that this is really where the danger is.

I was having a conversation with a friend the other day. She’s involved in stuff like we did on Thursday, giving food out to people, social needs being met. And she said that when she goes to DC or meets with politicians, she’s been really hurt by the fact that many who confess to following Jesus as their Lord, especially on the campaign trail, first of all don’t exemplify in their personal lives the following of Jesus, but second, when she talks to them about her work, which is straight out of the bible, Jesus describes feeding hungry people in this world as directly ministering to him… and when she talks to them about it, they dismiss it. It was like using the name of Jesus was a political move to get into office.

That is taking the Lord’s name in vain. Using the name of God for our own benefit - whether that is a political agenda, social standing, an open door. I saw this funny meme yesterday, it said, “Christian plumber compensates for being a terrible plumber by putting fish on business card”… It’s doing these types of things and not actually living a life of following after God, of doing what He’s asked us to do.

That is living in falsehood. You say you follow Jesus, but your life does not show it.

James 1:22 says, / / …don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you loo like. But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.

One of the reasons the global church has issues is because of having a history of not keeping this commandment. Again, God is giving us these instructions to keep us on the path of life! And the path of life is following HIM, not our own ideas, or concepts, or passions.

Every time someone uses God, of the bible to manipulate or convince someone of their way, I think that’s using the Lord’s name in vain, it’s a falsehood. You’re not being true to the name of God.

Not fun to talk about, but:

I talked a little bit last week about tithing, I believe in it, I do it, I encourage others to as well, because I have seen the benefit of it in my life, and I see the blessing it commands in scripture. But whether you do or do not - that is a personal decision everyone has to make. As soon as someone takes that out of context and puts it on people as a burden, we have stepped outside of God’s intent. I’ve heard it preached that if you don’t tithe your finances will be cursed by God…I don’t believe that, and I believe it’s using the Lord’s name in vain. It’s a falsehood of God’s intentions and character.

And unfortunately there have been plenty of people who have, in the name of Christianity, and in the name of God, deliberately used the bible, and the name of God for their own personal and financial gain. Even in the name of doing something for God.

Every time a news story breaks of a preacher, a church or a ministry being exposed in sin that was known and nothing was being done about it, we’re seeing this commandment be broken. Because by using God’s name to draw people in there was something in the background being done that was not of God. Those stories break my heart. Of abuse, infidelity, hurt and pain caused to countless victims, and then often times we’ve seen it covered up for a time, wether that be a short time or a long period of time.

We’re seeing it in our very own city at the moment. I don’t say this to put anyone down, because the best part of the story of Jesus Christ is that his love is always restorative. But right now in Miami a prominent church has had to fire a pastor for alcohol abuse, sexual misconduct, immoral actions and financial wrongdoing.

Again, this isn’t about naming names, or calling anyone out etc… but it got so bad that the greater organization this particular church was a part of actually sued board members of the church because they knew these things were going on, and were covering it up.

Don’t use the Lord’s name in vain.

Those are some big things, but it goes from the big, visible, sometimes horrifying misuse of God’s name, right down to the simple ways many people do it on a daily basis.

When we say, “God bless their heart..” and we’re talking about them behind their back...

When we say, “We need to be praying for Mary, she’s really going through it…did you hear.....” And begin to gossip in the name of lifting someone’s life before God...

When we condemn someone’s actions in a holier than though manner, turn around and do it ourselves.

When we claim salvation and Christianity, and live like we want, not following his ways, not following who He is and what He says… When we claim that our lives are all about Jesus, and our lives exhibit more of our humanity and the world’s systems than holiness and redemption.

1 John 2:3-6 says, / / And we can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments. If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him. Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.

The question is this, / / does our life exemplify what we say we believe? Do we claim the name of God, who He is, but live by our own name.

John Piper says this of the third commandment, we could read it this way:

/ / Don’t treat me [God] - my name - as empty, futile, pointless, trivial, inconsequential, insignificant. Don’t let your words be empty of my truth. Don’t let your hearts be empty of your affections. Revere me. Love me. Trust me. Treasure me. Satisfy your heart with me.

I like how the Life Application Study Bible comments on this verse. It says, / / God’s name is special because it carries his personal identity. Using it frivolously or in a curse is so common today that we may fail to realize how serious it is. The way we use God’s name conveys how we really feel about him. We should respect his name and use it appropriately, speaking it in praise or worship rather than in curse or jest. We should not take lightly the abuse or dishonor of God’s name.

And I would add to that, in word and deed. Because how many know our actions speak way louder than our words!

I want to give a word of caution, that is also a word of encouragement.

Yes, it can be difficult sometimes when we see people, especially people in prominent positions use the Lord’s name and cause problems, or hurt. My friend who speaks with politicians that run on platforms of godliness that don’t seem to exhibit much. Ministry leaders who have fallen into sin, failed at conveying the true heart of God and covered it up for their own gain. These things can cause people to question their own faith.

I don’t like the word, but it’s caused many to look at what they believe and do what they call, deconstruct their faith, some of which have chosen to walk away completely. Some give up on God. Some just give up on what we call the organized church, because that has been a source of hurt, or pain, or confusion, or maybe misrepresentation of what they personally see in scripture. It’s true, you don’t need to be in a church to be saved or a follower of Jesus, but my suggestion to all of us is that if we truly follow Jesus he will not only lead us to those who need him, he will lead us to those who believe in Him as well. We are the body of Christ, together, and with missing parts we aren’t as full as we ought to be.

1 John 4:12 says, / / …if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us.

Hard to love each other if we’re not with each other… And I don’t know about you, but I want the full expression of God’s love in this place and in our lives and community!

This is why I often say, and that I believe a mandate of this church community is to build and work consistently at healthy relationships. That doesn’t mean everyone always gets along, it doesn’t mean we don’t suffer hurt, it means we are willing and committed, for the sake of the name of God, to heal together, grow together and work out our salvation in community. I don’t want broken relationships. The kingdom of God is kind of like Cutler Bay, it’s a small town, you’re bound to run into someone you’ve been in relationship with and if that relationship ends awkwardly that makes life that much more awkward. No, let’s do things differently, let’s forgive, let’s heal, let’s work at being the best versions of ourselves. Sure, that doesn’t mean people won’t walk away from us, but Paul says in Romans 12:18 in the ESV translation says, / / If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.

What I’m saying is, / / don’t let how someone else misused the name of God turn you against Him or His body, the church. If anything, it should spur us on, encourage us, and put a desire in us to pursue a life that rightly honors the name, the character, and the reality of all God is!

/ / 4. Keep the Sabbath holy

This one goes on for 3 verses, but we boil it down to Keep the Sabbath Holy… Exodus 20:8-11 says, / / Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God. On that day no one in your household may do any work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your livestock, and any foreigners living among you. For in six days the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.

Ok, so first, let’s define what the Sabbath actually is. / / What is the Sabbath?

The Sabbath, or in Hebrew Shabbat, is probably the most distinctive practice that separates judaism from any other religion. Traditionally it is observed from sundown on Friday through to the completion of nightfall on Saturday. And it is a day not just of physical rest from labor, but of spiritual observance with the purpose of bringing to remembrance and to really bring to light the greatness of God and what He did for His people. We have been going through Exodus 20 to read the 10 commandments, but Moses also wrote about them in Deuteronomy 5, and in vs 15, speaking of this instruction, to keep the Sabbath day Holy, he says, / / Remember that you were once slaves in Egypt, but the Lord your God brought you out with his strong hand and powerful arm. That is why the Lord your God has commanded you to rest on the Sabbath day.

There’s no mention of Egypt in Exodus 20. But in Deuteronomy there is a call to remembrance, to take time to honor God for what he’s done. Every week.

Traditionally the observance of Shabbat was centered around these three things:

/ / 1. A break from work

/ / 2. A time to rest, connect with family and your community, and eat together, often accompanied by songs of faith, recital and study.

/ / 3. Honor God through going to the synagogue, reading or hear scripture.

Yes, they went to church!

Now, the worst thing we can do is become legalistic about things. We started with that last week, Jesus came so we would not suffer under an enforced, domineering law, but rather be free to follow Him to life. And he didn’t remove the law, he actually said in Matthew 5:17-18, / / “Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not even the smallest detail of God’s law will disappear until its purpose is achieved.”

But he didn’t mean it as a burden. In fact, he consistently pushed back against the burden that the religious leaders put on people because of the law. He said in Luke 11:46, / / “What sorrow also awaits you experts in religious law! For you crush people with unbearable religious demands, and you never lift a finger to ease the burden.”

There’s always this tension, or balance we have to live in. The law, or instructions God gives are absolutely vital and important, BUT, they are never meant to become a burden to difficult to bear.

So, you look at these three things that the Sabbath was and still is centered around and to me anyway, they are a progression. First, don’t work, why? Because work can get in the way of these other things. And if people are concerned with work they have less focus on the other two. How many times as a pastor have I heard, “I can’t make it to church, I have to work...”

But the blessing is this:

First, / / take a break - this will rejuvenate your body.

Second, / / connect with family & community - this will rejuvenate your soul.

Third, / / honor God with your family & community - this will rejuvenate your spirit.

Of course, this is confirming again, the commandments given to the people of Israel are not to show a God who wants to boss us around and tell us what to do, but in fact is trying to lead us into life.

This is why we try to plan things as a community because this is about true community, not just ‘Sunday morning church’. I actually like you people, and I hope you like us and like each other! That’s the goal, to build and grow in community because / / within community we experience the glory of God and give God glory!

So, sometimes I’ll read from different scholars who have written what we call commentaries on scripture. The traditional Jewish religion has the same thing, commentaries on what we call the Old Testament, Jesus simply called it Scripture.

And the law is called the Torah - it encompasses the first 5 books of the bible, attributed to Moses. I was reading an article on the Sabbath from the Jewish perspective and it said that one of their commentaries, which they call a midrash, says when Moses went up to Mount Sinai to receive the Torah from God, the angels objected. / / “Ruler of the universe,” they complained, “You purpose to give that precious treasure to a creature of flesh and blood!” Urged by God to respond to them, Moses asked, “What is written in this Torah You are giving me?” God began with the first commandment...

Is that true. Not the point, look at the honor and reverence of the Torah that is placed here. The law. What God wants to give Moses and the people of Israel to follow so they can experience life.

The writer of this commentary looked at the law as a gift, and a gift so great that the very angels of heaven, beings closest to God and living in His constant presence and glory objected to mankind even receiving it because they felt it was too great a gift!

Reading an article on this particular commentary, it explained that because angels live in heaven, the spiritual realm, and that they are naturally closer to God and His glory, they felt, from their point of view that humanity is too distant from God to receive such a gift. They thought that humanity receiving this gift would be an affront to this very law God wanted to give, and as such should be kept in the spiritual realm only. They recognized that the might of God’s name exists in the physical world; but, they argued that his glory should stay in the spiritual realm.

What they didn’t realize is that / / the gift of these instructions to mankind was the opportunity to CHOOSE to follow God out of our own free will. And in our humanity, making that choice actually gives God GREATER glory!

Through our obedience and following of God we experience His glory, but we also give Him glory through our lives!

It’s such a high honor.

In this discourse between the angels and Moses, Moses reads the third commandment to them and says, “What else is written there?” And he reads it, ‘Remember the Sabbath day to sanctify it.’ He then turns to the angels and asks, “Do you engage in labor from which you need to rest?” Proving this intended to be a benefit to mankind specifically.

I think that the greatest thing said by anyone about the Sabbath is from Jesus himself, and remember, Jesus IS God, which means, this decision, to include the Sabbath day as an instruction that leads to life, was from him. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit.

As you read through the first four books of the New Testament, you see Jesus got in trouble with religious leaders throughout the gospel accounts on multiple locations because they tried to say he was breaking the law by doing certain things on the Sabbath.

They said multiple times that by healing people on the Sabbath, he was breaking the law. But, Jesus defined two things, first, that he hadn’t come to do away with the law, we read that in Matthew 5, but also that there were those that had taken it too far, misunderstood its purpose, used it as a burden to place on the people to control them… And what does that sound like? Ultimately, taking the Lord’s name, character, in vain, right?

So, in Mark 2:23-28 Jesus sets things straight. / / One Sabbath day as Jesus was walking through some grainfields, his disciples began breaking off heads of grain to eat. But the Pharisees said to Jesus, “Look, why are they breaking the law by harvesting grain on the Sabbath?”

Jesus said to them, “Haven’t you ever read in the Scriptures what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He went into the house of God (during the days when Abiathar was high priest) and broke the law by eating the sacred loaves of bread that only the priests are allowed to eat. He also gave some to his companions.”

Then Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord, even over the Sabbath!”

Jesus is bringing back to center the reason God brought this instruction in the first place.

The Pharisees had added all kinds of restrictions on the Sabbath, completely forgetting the actual purpose of it. God being merciful to his people providing a day or rest - a day to set aside the normal duties of the workweek and spend time resting and worshiping as family and community.

Listen to how Genesis 2:1-3 describes the Sabbath. / / So the creation of the heavens and the earth and everything in them was completed. On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation.

Says the same thing in Exodus 20:11, / / For in six days the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath and set it apart as holy.

/ / God BLESSED the Sabbath because it’s the day that HE chose to rest, and he blesses us by inviting us INTO HIS blessing.

So how do we receive that blessing? Exodus 20:8, 10, the instruction itself shows us how. / / Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy…the Sabbath is a day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God...

The ESV says, / / Remember the Sabbath day...

Remember! Don’t forget. It’s so easy to get busy. It’s so easy to prioritize other things.

/ / If you want the blessing of the Sabbath, it must become holy, sacred, set apart for you. It has to have value. Rest for your body, soul AND spirit. Dedicated to God.

/ / The Sabbath is not a demand to keep you in line, it is an invitation to give you rest!