REST IN A 24/7 WORLD
Kevin D. Paulson
The French Revolution succeeded in destroying many things. But one thing it tried to destroy but could not was the seven-day week.
Historian Simon Schama describes how this was done:
"Fabre (a poet-friend of one leading revolutionary) and the commission were not content just to provide a new nomenclature. Each of the twelve months . . . was divided into three ten-day units, the decadis, and each of those days was also renamed. . . .
"Though it seems unlikely that the peasants appreciated the replacement of Sunday and 'Saint Monday' by the single decadi, coming as it did once every ten days, rather than every seven, the revolutionary calendar was one of the more enduring elements of republican culture, surviving by twelve years the fall of the Jacobins."
Simon Schama, Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1989), pp. 771,774.
One is amazed it lasted that long!
We're going to see from Scripture tonight how God programmed the seven-day weekly cycle into our very being from the creation of this world.
Most of us in today's world don't know how to rest. We come back from a vacation not refreshed, but exhausted. Time truly apart from the cares of this life, even the pursuit of pleasure, is all too rare.
I. The Two Creation Institutions
According to the Bible, the seventh-day Sabbath is one of the two oldest institutions in the history of the world.
One of these is marriage.
Gen. 2:22-24:
"And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made He a woman, and brought her unto the man.
"And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
"Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh."
The other is the Sabbath.
Gen. 2:1-3:
"Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
"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.
"And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it He had rested from all His work which God created and made."
When God spoke His commandments from Mount Sinai, the creation origin of the Sabbath was the basis of its authority:
Ex. 20:8-11:
"Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.
“Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God:
“In it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor the stranger that is within thy gates:
“For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it."
II. The Ten Commandments
Remember, when we studied the Ten Commandments, we learned that these commands were written by the finger of God Himself.
Ex. 34:28:
"And He (the Lord) wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments."
Deut. 4:13:
"And He declared unto you His covenant, which He commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and He wrote them upon two tables of stone."
Ex. 31:18:
"And He gave unto Moses, when He had made an end of communing with him upon Mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God."
III. The Two Laws
Remember also how we learned that the Bible makes a clear distinction between the moral law of Ten Commandments and the ceremonial laws which pointed to Christ and ended at His death.
Moses’ Law
Called the "law of Moses" (Luke 2:22)
Called "law . . . contained in ordinances" (Eph. 2:15)
Written by Moses in a book (II Chron. 35:12)
Placed in the side of the ark of the covenant "as a witness against you" (Deut. 31:26; see Col. 2:14)
Ended at the cross (Eph. 2:15)
Added because of sin (Gal. 3:19)
Contrary to us, against us (Col. 2:14)
Judges no one (Col. 2:14-16)
Carnal (Heb. 7:16)
Made nothing perfect (Heb. 7:19; 9:9; 10:1)
God’s Law
Called "the law of the Lord" (Isa. 5:24)
Called "the royal law" (James 2:8)
Written by God on stone (Ex. 31:18; 32:16)
Placed inside the ark of the covenant (Ex. 40:20)
Will stand forever (Matt. 5:18; Luke 16:17)
Points out sin (Rom. 3:20; 7:7; I John 3:4)
Not grievous (I John 5:3)
Judges all people (James 2:10-12)
Spiritual (Rom. 7:14)
Perfect (Psalm 19:7)
We learned also that God's law of Ten Commandments cannot be changed.
Matt. 5:18:
"For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled."
Psalm 89:34:
"My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of My lips."
According to Scripture, the Ten Commandments came directly from God's lips (Ex. 20:1-17).
Most importantly of all, the Ten Commandments are the standard by which all will be judged.
Eccl. 12:13-14:
"Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.
"For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil."
James 2:10-12:
"For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.
"For He that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law.
"So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty."
- A Closer Look at One Passage
Now there are those who will point us to a passage in Paul’s writings which they believe proves we no longer have to observe the seventh-day Sabbath:
Col. 2:14-17:
“Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross.
“And having spoiled principalities and powers, He made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.
“Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days,
“Which are a shadow of things to come, but the body is of Christ.”
Now let’s look at this passage carefully.
What is “the handwriting of ordinances that was against us”?
Deut. 31:26:
“Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee.”
Now we’ve already established which law was placed in the side of the ark of the covenant, and which law was placed within the ark.
This verse is talking about the law of ceremonies, sacrifices, and ordinances which pointed forward to Jesus. It is not talking about the Ten Commandments or the seventh-day Sabbath.
Notice what this passage in Colossians says about these laws that no longer apply to the Christian:
Col. 2:17:
“Which are a shadow of things to come, but the body is of Christ.”
Let’s look at another statement by Paul which uses similar language:
Heb. 10:1:
“For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually, make the comers thereunto perfect.”
Obviously this language is referring to the sacrifices and other rituals in the Old Testament which pointed forward to the coming Messiah.
And the Old Testament lists a number of feast days in the Hebrew calendar which were called sabbaths:
Lev. 23:24,32,29:
“Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation (the Feast of Trumpets). . . .
“It (the Day of Atonement) shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls; in the ninth day of the month at even. . . .
“Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto the Lord seven days (the Feast of Tabernacles): on the first day shall be a sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a sabbath.”
But in this chapter, these feast days are clearly distinguished from “the Sabbaths of the Lord”:
Lev. 23:37-38:
“These are the feasts of the Lord, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord, a burnt offering, and a meat offering, a sacrifice, and drink offerings, every thing upon this day.
“Beside the Sabbaths of the Lord, and beside your gifts, and beside all your vows, and beside all your freewill offerings, which ye give unto the Lord.”
Early in this chapter the seventh-day, weekly Sabbath is again called “the Sabbath of the Lord,” just like in the commandment itself:
Lev. 23:3:
“Six days shall work be done; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein; it is the Sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings.”
Now why can’t the seventh-day Sabbath be considered one of those sabbaths Paul is talking about in Colossians?
It’s very simple.
The seventh-day Sabbath is not “a shadow of things to come” (Col. 2:17). It is a memorial of something that has already happened—the creation of this world (Gen. 2:2-3; Ex. 20:11).
The seventh-day Sabbath points backward to creation. The Old Testament feast-day sabbaths point forward to Jesus.
The Levitical sabbaths were added because of sin. The seventh-day Sabbath reminds us of a world where there was no sin.
And we’re going to see how, in the earth made new, we’re going to still be observing the weekly, creation Sabbath.
- The Importance of the Sabbath
Jesus Himself clarifies the origin of the Sabbath at creation:
Mark 2:27:
"And He said unto them, The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath."
Isa. 56:2,6,7:
"Blessed is the man that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it. . . . Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the Lord, . . . every one that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of My covenant; Even them will I bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer . .. . for Mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people."
Notice the Sabbath wasn't only for the Jews, but for mankind. For all people.
Eze. 20:12,19-20:
"Moreover also I gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign between Me and them, that they may know that I am the Lord that sanctify them. . . .
"I am the Lord your God: walk in My statutes, and keep My judgments, and do them. And hallow My Sabbaths: and they shall be a sign between Me and you, that ye may know that I am the Lord your God."
How does God feel about religious leaders who ignore the Sabbath?
Eze. 22:26,31:
"Her priests have violated My law, and profaned Mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane . . . and have hid their eyes from My Sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. . . . Therefore have I poured out Mine indignation upon them."
VI. The Sabbath Throughout Eternity
Isa. 66:22-23:
"For as the new heavens, and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before Me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain.
"And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before Me, saith the Lord."