Shalom Aleichem...
Reflections is a weekly Christian Teaching Ministry. Each week we will talk about the Bible and lessons we can put to use in our daily life. We will try to, on a weekly basis, provide to you stories, thoughts, and just easy ways to live your life on a straight path.
THIS WEEK'S TEACHING....May 31, 2021
HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY....PLEASE PRAY FOR THE BRAVE WOMEN AND MEN OF OUR MILITARY AND THEIR FAMILIES....ESPECIALLY THOSE FAMILIES WHO HAVE LOST A LOVED ONE IN SERVICE TO OUR COUNTRY.
The Sabbath day of the Old Testament is fulfilled in the work of the Lord Jesus in the New Testament. It is no wonder that Christians in the Early Church called the first day of the week, "The Lord's Day". The Lord's Day coincides with God's Creation.“The Eternal Sabbath” Exodus 20:8-11
We have been looking at the Ten Commandments as part of the unfolding drama of salvation in the Old Testament. A short review from Exodus 20:1: “And God spoke all these words, saying: 2 "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 3 You shall have no other gods before Me.” God declares Himself to be the only true God and it is He, the Redeemer/Savior God who is deserving of the worship of our lives.
The Second Commandment in verse 4 "You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; 5 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.” God is to be worshiped through “imageless” worship. He is Spirit and is to be worshiped in Spirit and Truth. He is jealous of His people and His own glory and will not tolerate “spiritual adultery.”
The Third Commandment in verse 7: "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.” The name of the Lord, or Yahweh, or Jehovah is not all that God has in mind here. In the Old Testament He was called “ADONAI” translated “Lord”, “YAH” and “YAHWEH” translated “LORD”, “I AM WHO I AM,” “I AM”, “EL” and “ELOHIM” translated God, and then many other variations describing the multitude of characteristics which our Almighty Lord God alone possesses. The manner in which we worship and live our lives before the Only True God of the entire universe is with awe, reverence, gratitude and humility.
Today we look at the Fourth Commandment in verse 8: "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.”
The Sabbath day
There are only four translatable Hebrew words in the fourth commandment and the command centers around God’s celebration of the seventh day of the history of the World. God created the world and everything in it in six days and He rested the seventh day; the seventh day is to be a Sabbath day. Creator-God rested after 6 days of creating. Sabbath means to cease from labor, to stop working and rest. God established a weekly pattern for mankind: work six days, rest one.
In the second giving of the Ten Commandments in Deuteronomy 5, God includes reason this within the fourth commandment: In verse15: “Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the LORD your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.” The Redeemer-God delivered Israel from the bondage of Egypt.
Later the Lord Jesus would be the Deliverer, Rescuer, Redeemer whom God had promised and pictured throughout Old Testament history. Jesus accomplished His life’s work on behalf of sinners, living a blameless life and then He died the death He did not deserve on the cross. Jesus was buried and He rested in the Grave, but praise be to God, when Jesus’ work was done and He had rested, He was resurrected from the bondage of death and the grave. Jesus rested and was resurrected after His work; He accomplished our saving work. The Early Church immediately recognized the significance of Jesus’ life-changing resurrection and systematically celebrated the first day of the week as a day of worship and rejoicing and called it, “The Lord’s Day”.
This was fitting because even before Jesus’ Resurrection, He declared: “For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.” (Matt. 12:8, Mark 2:28, Luke 6:5) Jesus (the Son of Man) created all things. He is the giver of all life, and after He lived a perfect life, obeying all things, He certainly is Lord of the Sabbath. He became the fulfillment of the Sabbath.
“To Keep it Holy”
"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” (“To keep it Holy” is actually one word in the Hebrew.”) The Sabbath Day is to be kept “HOLY”, and the New Testament believers, realizing that Jesus had fulfilled the Old Testament Sabbath, kept the first day of the week Holy and referred to it as, “The Lord’s Day”. One day a week is to be set apart from all others.
What does the word “Holy” mean? Holy is the sphere of the sacred. That which is Holy is perfectly pure and clean, undefiled. “Holy” is totally separate from that which is common or profane.
Look at Genesis 2:1-3: “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. (The word, “rested” is the verb form of “Sabbath”); 3 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it (He made it HOLY): because (GET THIS NOW!) that in it He had rested from all his work which God created and made.”
God had exercised His infinite creative genius and power for six days. In those days He accomplished the entire solar system as we know it, sun, moon, stars, oceans, lakes, mountains every living thing on the earth, in the sea, man and woman. And on the seventh day, God stepped back and rested, not because He was tired, but to celebrate His glorious, magnificent power and work, revealed in the Creation. BECAUSE He had done all these things and EVERYTHING WAS GOOD, God declared the seventh day to be Holy, a day of rest, because God had made all things well.
GOD made the day “HOLY” because HE CREATED THE EARTH. God didn’t celebrate “earth day” but a Holy day because as Creator God, HE is Holy. I would imagine that He celebrated this first Sabbath with Adam and Eve and no doubt told them that it was the first of many, many Sabbaths to come.
The Day is to be “remembered”.
Remembering in the Hebrew includes more than bringing a thought to your mind. It is not a mere reminiscence; “Remembering” with this Hebrew word (zakar) included action. To “remember the Sabbath” or to remember the Lord’s Day includes actions and behaviors which demonstrate our love and obedience to God. To “hear” God’s Word in the Old Testament inferred “obeying” God’s Word. The New Testament reminds us of the same thing: James 1:22 says: “Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” To “remember” a treaty or covenant in the Old Testament meant to honor the same or suffer the consequences.
When Jesus was accused of breaking the Sabbath, He responded with the words of Matthew 12:12: “Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath." He also asked the question in Mark 3:4: "Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?" It isn’t just refraining from your everyday work that is important. It isn’t God’s desire that we do nothing on the Lord’s Day. As God’s Redeemed people we might consider this question: What COULD I do for God’s Kingdom or to serve others on the Lord’s Day that I cannot do the rest of the week? That consideration opens many possibilities!
When Christians gather to worship on the first day of the week, their celebration and worship is to the God who has kept His covenant. He has remembered His covenant to SAVE even though we broke our promises over and over again. For the Christian, the first day of the week should be reserved as THE LORD’S DAY so that we might declare God’s Absolute Sovereignty in the world and in His Salvation through the work of Jesus Christ.
Take a look at Hebrews 4:1-11: “Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. 2 For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. (Salvation was available to those in the Old Testament who trusted the God who promised to save. Many were not saved, however, because they were trusting in their ability to keep the law themselves, and not by trusting the Savior who was to come. Salvation is still available today by faith in the work of Jesus.)
3 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. (It is by faith that we receive salvation. Our salvation is not earned by us but decided on before the foundation of the world. The work which Jesus promised to do and has done gives those who believe in Him for forgiveness and salvation an eternal rest, a rest-salvation. We REST IN THE WORK OF Jesus FOR US.)
4 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"; 5 and again in this place: "They shall not enter My rest." 6 Since therefore it remains that some must enter it, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience, 7 again He designates a certain day, saying in David, "Today," after such a long time, as it has been said: "Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts." 8 For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day. (“Israel’s going into Canaan under Joshua was a partial and temporary entering of God’s rest. That, however, was not the end of entering, as shown in the continuing invitation of Ps. 95:7-8.”
9 “There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. 10 For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. 11 Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience.”
What a privilege to worship together as God’s chosen people on the first day of the week since the Lord Jesus is our Sabbath. When God rested on the seventh day, He was declaring that His work was done in creation, but His work would also be completed on the Cross. Because of Jesus’ perfect life and work on the cross, we rest from our vain striving to fulfill what we never could do, and we rest spiritually and eternally by faith in the finished work of Jesus. We begin our week with rest, celebrating our eternal rest in Jesus. We work to show our gratitude to the God who showed his gracious favor to us in our Lord Jesus Christ. May our lives bring honor to Him as we eternally rest in His work.
QUESTIONS CHRISTIANS WANT ANSWERED....
Does everything happen for a reason?
The short answer is “yes”; because God is sovereign, there are no random, out-of-control happenings. God’s purposes may be hidden from us, but we can be assured that every event has a reason behind it.
There was a reason for the blindness of the man in John 9, although the disciples misidentified the reason (John 9:1–3). There was a reason for Joseph’s mistreatment, although his brothers’ purpose in what they did to him was very different from God’s purpose in allowing it (Genesis 50:20). There was a reason for Jesus’ death—the authorities in Jerusalem had their reasons, based on evil intent, and God had His, based on righteousness. God’s sovereignty extends even to the lowliest of creatures: “Not one [sparrow] falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will” (Matthew 10:29, NET).
Several factors help us know that everything happens for a reason: the law of cause and effect, the doctrine of original sin, and the providence of God. All these demonstrate that everything does happen for a reason, not just by happenstance or by random chance.
First, there is the natural law of cause and effect, also known as the law of sowing and reaping. Paul says, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life” (Galatians 6:7–8). This means that in every action we take or word we utter, whether good or evil, there are certain inevitable results that follow (Colossians 3:23–25). Someone may ask, “Why am I in jail? Is there a reason for this?” and the answer may be, “Because you robbed your neighbor’s house and got caught.” That’s cause and effect.
All that we do is either an investment in the flesh or an investment in the Spirit. We shall reap whatever we have sown, and we shall reap in proportion to how we have sown. “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously” (2 Corinthians 9:6). The believer who walks in the Spirit and “sows” in the Spirit is going to reap a spiritual harvest. If his sowing has been generous, the harvest will be bountiful, if not in this life, certainly in the life to come. Conversely, those who “sow” to the flesh are going to reap a life without the full blessings of God, both in this life and the life to come (Jeremiah 18:10; 2 Peter 2:10–12).
The reason some things happen can often be traced back to original sin in the Garden of Eden. The Bible is clear that the world is under a curse (Genesis 3:17), which has resulted in infirmities, diseases, natural disasters, and death. All these things, although under God’s ultimate control, are sometimes used by Satan to inflict misery upon people (see Job 1–2; Luke 9:37–42; 13:16). Someone may ask, “Why did I contract this illness? Is there a reason for it?” and the answer may be one or more of the following: 1) “Because you live in a fallen world, and we are all subject to illness”; 2) “Because God is testing you and strengthening your faith”; or 3) “Because, in love, God is disciplining you according to Hebrews 12:7–13 and 1 Corinthians 11:29–30.”
Then we have what is called the providence of God. The doctrine of providence holds that God quietly and invisibly works through the natural world to manage events. God, in His providence, works out His purposes through natural processes in the physical and social universe. Every effect can be traced back to a natural cause, and there is no hint of the miraculous. The best that man can do to explain the reason why things happen in the course of natural events is to point to “coincidence.”
Believers proclaim that God arranges the coincidences. The unbeliever derides such ideas because he believes natural causes can fully explain each event without reference to God. Yet followers of Christ are wholly assured of this profound truth: “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).
The book of Esther shows divine providence at work. The banishment of Vashti, the selection of Esther, the plot of the assassins, the pride of Haman, the courage of Mordecai, the insomnia of the king, the bloodlust of Zeresh, and the reading of the scroll—everything in the book happens, like cogs in a well-oiled machine, to bring about the deliverance of God’s people., Although God is never mentioned in Esther, His providence, working through “coincidence,” is plain to see.
God is always at work in the lives of His people, and in His goodness will bring them to a good end (see Philippians 1:6). The events that define our lives are not simply products of natural causes or random chance. They are ordained by God and are intended for our good. We often fail to sense God’s hidden guidance or protection as events in our lives unfold. But, when we look back at past events, we are able to see His hand more clearly, even in times of tragedy.
BOOKS OF THE BIBLE...A TEACHING
Teaching 9 in the series of the Bible......What Will I Find in the Pentateuch?
The books of the Bible can be placed in different categories of literature called genres. The main genres of the Old Testament are history, poetry, and prophecy. We’ll take a look at these over the next four chapters.
The first five books of the Old Testament fit within the genre of history, and because they are so important, we will devote an entire chapter to them. As mentioned in earlier chapters, these books are known by various names: the Pentateuch, which is Greek for “five books”; the Torah, which is Hebrew for “instruction” or “law”; the books of Moses, since he is the author; and the Law, because they contain God’s law for his people, Israel. This latter term is how Jesus and the New Testament authors referred to these books (e.g., Matthew 5:17; Acts 13:15).
Moses wrote these books after the exodus from Egypt and the establishment of God’s chosen people as a nation. They are the foundational documents of this new nation and contain what God’s people needed to know to live before their King, God himself, and to live together as a society that reflects the nature of their King.
The book of Genesis is sometimes called “The Book of Beginnings” because it is the first book of the Bible and records important beginnings in God’s plan. First, it tells us of the beginning of the universe, which God as Creator brought into existence from nothing (1:1). Second, it tells us about the beginning of humanity, when God created man and woman in his image (1:27). Third, it tells us about the beginning of the divine institution of marriage (2:22–24). Fourth, it tells us about the origin of sin (3:1–7), the consequences of sin (3:16–19), God’s judgment of sin (3:22–24), and also, the remedy for sin: namely, sacrifice (possibly implied in 3:21, but certainly made clear later on). Fifth, Genesis tells us of the beginning of the family, when Adam and Eve began to have children (4:1–2). Sixth, it tells us of the beginning of occupations (4:20–24, where you will find references to agriculture, industry, and the arts). Seventh, it tells us of the beginning of ethnic groups or nations (chapters 10 and 11). Finally, Genesis tells us of the beginning of the “chosen” nation (chapter 12).
This last beginning is significant because, in the first eleven chapters of Genesis, God had been dealing with humanity as a whole, whereas from chapter 12 on, he narrows his focus to one man, Abraham (originally known as Abram). From there, God begins to carry out his plan through this man and his descendants, who were known at this point as “the Hebrews” (e.g., Genesis 14:13). The rest of the book of Genesis records the lives of the early generations of God’s chosen people, known as “the patriarchs”—Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Jacob’s twelve sons. Genesis 12–50 is the story of the patriarchs’ faith (often imperfect and weak) in the promises that God had given them and how God began to fulfill those promises.
The book of Exodus continues the story in Egypt. God had told Jacob to move his family to Egypt (Genesis 46:3) where he had providentially established Jacob’s son, Joseph, as second in command over Egypt in order to provide a place for the family of Jacob to grow. God blessed them so greatly that their population exploded, which threatened the native Egyptians. This resulted in the Egyptians oppressing and enslaving the Hebrews, which God, long before, told Abraham would happen (Genesis 15:13–14). The Hebrews called out to God for deliverance, God heard their prayers, and he chose one of their own, Moses, to be their deliverer. The exodus is the great event through which God, through Moses, delivered his people from their enslavement, led them out of Egypt into the wilderness, and established them as the nation of Israel with himself as their King.
It was at this point that God gave his people the constitution of their new nation—the law. This included the Ten Commandments, but also some six hundred plus additional, more specific laws. The whole body of the law is found in the latter part of Exodus (chapters 20ff.), essentially all of Leviticus, parts of Numbers, and most of Deuteronomy. It is this material that gave the title (the Law) to all five books of Moses.
These hundreds of laws can be summarized in three categories: The moral category includes general principles, such as the Ten Commandments, that helped God’s people live before him in a way that pleased him. The rest of these laws work these principles out in greater detail. The civil category includes those laws that helped God’s people live together as a society. Within this category are criminal law, family law, business law, social welfare law, among others. The ceremonial category includes laws regarding how to worship God through religious ceremonies or rituals. For example, there were laws applying to the place of worship (the tabernacle), the priests, sacrifices, holy days, and feasts.
After about thirteen months in the wilderness, the new nation was ready to go back to Canaan—the land that God had promised would be theirs forever. The book of Numbers records this journey, which includes twelve spies being sent to report on the land, the nation’s unwillingness to trust God to help them conquer the land, and God’s judgment of forty years’ wandering in the wilderness. The purpose of this long wait was to eliminate the unbelieving generation of Israel. They did not trust God, and therefore forfeited the privilege of experiencing God’s promises. Instead, they died in the wilderness. At the end of this period, God led his people around the east side of the Dead Sea and put them just across the Jordan River from Canaan.
This is the setting of the last book of the Pentateuch. The name of the book summarizes the contents. Deuteronomy means “second law,” because Moses, shortly before his death, repeated the law of God to the second generation of Israel. It was now their responsibility to keep the law when God brought them into the land of Canaan. How that happened is recorded in the first of the historical books—Joshua.
The Sadducees, a Jewish sect in Jesus’ day, accepted only these five books of the Old Testament as the authoritative Word of God; they rejected the rest of the Old Testament.
HAVE A SAFE AND BLESSED WEEK:)
Ho'omaikaʻi ka Pua iā kākou
Teaching 9 in the series of the Bible......What Will I Find in the Pentateuch?
The books of the Bible can be placed in different categories of literature called genres. The main genres of the Old Testament are history, poetry, and prophecy. We’ll take a look at these over the next four chapters.
The first five books of the Old Testament fit within the genre of history, and because they are so important, we will devote an entire chapter to them. As mentioned in earlier chapters, these books are known by various names: the Pentateuch, which is Greek for “five books”; the Torah, which is Hebrew for “instruction” or “law”; the books of Moses, since he is the author; and the Law, because they contain God’s law for his people, Israel. This latter term is how Jesus and the New Testament authors referred to these books (e.g., Matthew 5:17; Acts 13:15).
Moses wrote these books after the exodus from Egypt and the establishment of God’s chosen people as a nation. They are the foundational documents of this new nation and contain what God’s people needed to know to live before their King, God himself, and to live together as a society that reflects the nature of their King.
The book of Genesis is sometimes called “The Book of Beginnings” because it is the first book of the Bible and records important beginnings in God’s plan. First, it tells us of the beginning of the universe, which God as Creator brought into existence from nothing (1:1). Second, it tells us about the beginning of humanity, when God created man and woman in his image (1:27). Third, it tells us about the beginning of the divine institution of marriage (2:22–24). Fourth, it tells us about the origin of sin (3:1–7), the consequences of sin (3:16–19), God’s judgment of sin (3:22–24), and also, the remedy for sin: namely, sacrifice (possibly implied in 3:21, but certainly made clear later on). Fifth, Genesis tells us of the beginning of the family, when Adam and Eve began to have children (4:1–2). Sixth, it tells us of the beginning of occupations (4:20–24, where you will find references to agriculture, industry, and the arts). Seventh, it tells us of the beginning of ethnic groups or nations (chapters 10 and 11). Finally, Genesis tells us of the beginning of the “chosen” nation (chapter 12).
This last beginning is significant because, in the first eleven chapters of Genesis, God had been dealing with humanity as a whole, whereas from chapter 12 on, he narrows his focus to one man, Abraham (originally known as Abram). From there, God begins to carry out his plan through this man and his descendants, who were known at this point as “the Hebrews” (e.g., Genesis 14:13). The rest of the book of Genesis records the lives of the early generations of God’s chosen people, known as “the patriarchs”—Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Jacob’s twelve sons. Genesis 12–50 is the story of the patriarchs’ faith (often imperfect and weak) in the promises that God had given them and how God began to fulfill those promises.
The book of Exodus continues the story in Egypt. God had told Jacob to move his family to Egypt (Genesis 46:3) where he had providentially established Jacob’s son, Joseph, as second in command over Egypt in order to provide a place for the family of Jacob to grow. God blessed them so greatly that their population exploded, which threatened the native Egyptians. This resulted in the Egyptians oppressing and enslaving the Hebrews, which God, long before, told Abraham would happen (Genesis 15:13–14). The Hebrews called out to God for deliverance, God heard their prayers, and he chose one of their own, Moses, to be their deliverer. The exodus is the great event through which God, through Moses, delivered his people from their enslavement, led them out of Egypt into the wilderness, and established them as the nation of Israel with himself as their King.
It was at this point that God gave his people the constitution of their new nation—the law. This included the Ten Commandments, but also some six hundred plus additional, more specific laws. The whole body of the law is found in the latter part of Exodus (chapters 20ff.), essentially all of Leviticus, parts of Numbers, and most of Deuteronomy. It is this material that gave the title (the Law) to all five books of Moses.
These hundreds of laws can be summarized in three categories: The moral category includes general principles, such as the Ten Commandments, that helped God’s people live before him in a way that pleased him. The rest of these laws work these principles out in greater detail. The civil category includes those laws that helped God’s people live together as a society. Within this category are criminal law, family law, business law, social welfare law, among others. The ceremonial category includes laws regarding how to worship God through religious ceremonies or rituals. For example, there were laws applying to the place of worship (the tabernacle), the priests, sacrifices, holy days, and feasts.
After about thirteen months in the wilderness, the new nation was ready to go back to Canaan—the land that God had promised would be theirs forever. The book of Numbers records this journey, which includes twelve spies being sent to report on the land, the nation’s unwillingness to trust God to help them conquer the land, and God’s judgment of forty years’ wandering in the wilderness. The purpose of this long wait was to eliminate the unbelieving generation of Israel. They did not trust God, and therefore forfeited the privilege of experiencing God’s promises. Instead, they died in the wilderness. At the end of this period, God led his people around the east side of the Dead Sea and put them just across the Jordan River from Canaan.
This is the setting of the last book of the Pentateuch. The name of the book summarizes the contents. Deuteronomy means “second law,” because Moses, shortly before his death, repeated the law of God to the second generation of Israel. It was now their responsibility to keep the law when God brought them into the land of Canaan. How that happened is recorded in the first of the historical books—Joshua.
The Sadducees, a Jewish sect in Jesus’ day, accepted only these five books of the Old Testament as the authoritative Word of God; they rejected the rest of the Old Testament.
HAVE A SAFE AND BLESSED WEEK:)
Ho'omaikaʻi ka Pua iā kākou