A guest blog article by Alf Hutchison.
“So I swore in My wrath, 'They shall not enter My rest.'” (PS 95:11)
The writer of Hebrews takes this Word of God from Psalms to its ultimate conclusion, “For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said: "So I swore in My wrath, 'They shall not enter My rest,' " although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.” (HEB 4:3)
The Lord, in Psalm 95, is addressing those Hebrews who had hard hearts and it was for them, He made the Laws, and they are still under that Law (Torah) today, even the law of the Sabbath, the Rest. "So I swore in My wrath, 'They shall not enter My rest,' for all those Christians who are returning to the ‘Jewish roots’, please read Gods words again "So I swore in My wrath, 'They shall not enter My rest,'
The writer of Hebrews tells us more:
And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief. (HEB 3:18-19)
The writer of Hebrews continues driving the point home.
“For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said, “So I swore in My wrath,'They shall not enter My rest,' " although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.
For He has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this way: "And God rested on the seventh day from all His works"; and again in this place: "They shall not enter My rest." Since therefore it remains that some must enter it, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience.” (HEB 4:3-6)
The writer of Hebrews then goes on to explain about the day concerned, regarding “His Sabbath rest”
“Again He designates a certain day, saying in David,( i.e. The Psalms) "Today," after such a long time, as it has been said:
"Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts."
There remains therefore a Sabbath rest for the people of God.
For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day.
For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.(HEB 4:7-10)
Finally remember well the words of Paul to those in Colossae:
So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or Sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.(COL 2:16-17)
The New Covenant came in to effect upon Calvary’s cross, "But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” (JER 31:33) And until that New Covenant is accepted by the Jews they will remain bound by the Law, and to the religious keeping of the Sabbath. Born again Christians already have the new Covenant in the Blood of Jesus Christ and have the Holy Spirit of God; and the Law in their hearts and their Sabbath rest is no longer a single day. It is every day.
"For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath."(MATT 12:8) Jesus Christ is our Sabbath rest, and His designated day is TODAY...and every day...not just Sunday or Saturday.
If we are to believe that “He is in us and we in Him”, then is it only on Sunday or Saturday that this occurs, or is it every day of our believing lives until He returns? If you are a born again Christian and you keep Sabbath, as the Jews do, you are in error.
"Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (MT 11:28)
Yours In His Name,
Alf Hutchison
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4 comments:
If you keep a Sabbath as 'the Jews do'...as it was evolved from the Lord's original intention...then you are probably in error. Agreed. But if you keep 'one day in seven' as a day of rest, recuperation, fellowship, meditation on the Lord and His word and work, then I think you are well blessed, and ignore His commandment at your peril.
The spiritual sabbath is a wonderful experience of a walk with God on a daily basis. It's lovely!
"If Israel were to keep just one Sabbath, the Messiah would return."
Shemot Rabba 25:121; Yerushalmi, Ta’anit 1:10
Dr. Adam Clarke, the Methodist commentator, in his notes on Colossians 2:14-17, says: ” The apostle speaks here in reference to some particulars of the handwriting of ordinances, which had been taken away, viz., the distinction of meats and drinks, what was clean and what was unclean, according to the law; and the necessity of observing certain holydays or festivals, such as the new moons an particular sabbaths….. There is no intimation here that the Sabbath was done away, or that its moral use was superseded, by the introduction of Christianity.”
http://whatissabbath.net/does-paul-say-the-sabbath-was-nailed-to-the-cross/
The Sabbath was a sign of the Old Covenant. Since the Old Covenant has been fulfilled and is now "obsolete" (see Hebrews 8:13), the Sabbath is also obsolete.
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