The Sabbath in the Law of Moses #2

Introduction: Review of the Sabbath's Origins and Purpose

0:05 The following message was preached Sunday, July 12, 1998, to Emanuel Reformed Baptist Church of Sea-Tac, Washington. The speaker is Pastor Robert Martin. This message is the fifth in a series of twenty-four titled, The Christian Sabbath. Please turn with me in your Bibles to Exodus chapter 31.

0:33 This morning we returned to our series on the subject of the Christian Sabbath. However, in preceding studies in this series, we have seen beginning taking our lead from our Lord Jesus Christ, who said the Sabbath was made for man. We began in considering this subject by looking at Genesis 2, and the account the Scripture gives of the establishment of the Sabbath at creation.

1:04 In a subsequent message, we move to ask the question, is there evidence that the Sabbath was known and observed between the two? Between the creation and the giving of the fourth commandment engraved upon tablets of stone at Sinai. That is, is there evidence between creation and the establishment of the Mosaic Covenant? We saw that looking in Genesis 4, 3, and in Exodus chapter 16, that indeed the Sabbath was known.

1:33 Now, this morning we came to take up the subject of the Sabbath as found in the institutions of the Mosaic. The Mosaic Covenant, or as it is described for us in the Law of Moses.

1:49 And I indicated to you that there are a number of texts that would fall under this segment of our study. We began this morning. We will finish this segment of our study tonight. And then, God willing, next Lord's Day, we'll take up the subject of the Sabbath in the Prophets.

2:07 But as we are approaching the book of the Law today, we're doing so with the following questions in mind. First of all, what is the law? What do we see in these texts of a transcendent nature? That is, what is there that looks back from Sinai to the creation ordinance?

2:27 And then, what looks forward from Sinai? What transcends the covenant made with Israel at Sinai and gives us direction in our thinking as we seek to properly apply the Sabbath principle under the new covenant? And then the corresponding question, of course, is what is there in the Mosaic legislation that is the law? Concerning the Sabbath day that is temporary and no longer in effect.

2:54 We began, of course, with Exodus 20, verses 8 through 11. With the fourth commandment, one in ten commandments given as the moral law of God, basic, foundational to the Mosaic covenant. And in examining that particular passage, we saw, first of all, that the Lord did not exhort the Israelites to do the same. He did not exhort the Israelites to do the same.

3:19 He did not exhort the Israelites to do the same. He did not exhort the Israelites to do the same. The Israelites did not command them to observe a new institution, nor did He command them to remember what He had commanded them on the occasion of the giving of the manna. But He takes them all the way back to creation, back to the creation ordinance, and cites that as the foundation of the commandment He was then engraving upon the tablets of stone.

3:46 And in commanding the Israelites to remember the Sabbath day, we saw that the Lord had said to them that under the terms of the Mosaic covenant, at its heart, the Sabbath day was to remain what it had been established to be at creation. They were to remember to observe this special institution that God had established at creation. They were to keep the day in a way that corresponded to the nature of the day that God had created. And we saw that as to the nature of the day, there are two very important things that were said.

4:23 First of all, they were to keep it as a holy day. At creation, God had blessed it. He had hallowed it, that is, sanctified it, had made it holy, set it apart for a different use, made it His own. And under the fourth commandment of the Mosaic law, it was to remain a holy day, remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

4:51 Under the terms of the law of Moses. The essence of the day had not changed. And then we noted, secondly, that in the fourth commandment, emphasis is brought to bear again on the subject of the nature of the day, that it was a day of rest. A day of rest from ordinary labors which were legitimate on the other six days.

5:13 And we saw that that carries over as well from the creation ordinance, constitutes no difference from what God had required by His example at creation. But now, there was one...

5:26 There was one thing found in the fourth commandment that was not explicit in the creation ordinance. And that is that in the fourth commandment, there is clear direction given to those in positions of authority and responsibility concerning the behavior of those under them. Instruction is given to parents with reference to their children, to masters with reference to their servants, to rulers with reference to the stranger within them. And even to farmers with reference to draft animals whose bodily strength served them.

6:04 All were to be given Sabbath. They were to assure those under their authority were to keep the Sabbath as well as themselves. But as we indicated, this is not a difference of substance. It's merely a difference addressing the scope of the law's application.

The Sabbath as a Sign of the Mosaic Covenant (Exodus 31:12-17)

6:22 Now, tonight we come to the second major text. Found...

6:28 Found in the law of Moses, and that is in Exodus 31, verses 12 through 17.

6:34 And here we read these words. Now, we're in a section of Exodus, once we get past Exodus 20, where the law is being expanded in terms of ceremonial statements, in terms of civil statements, and even further expansion of the moral law of God. But we come to Exodus 31, verses 12 through 17, and we read these words. And the Lord spake to Moses, saying, Speak also to the children of Israel, saying, Verily you shall keep my Sabbaths, for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you.

7:17 You shall keep the Sabbath therefore, for it is holy unto you. Everyone that profanes it shall surely be put to death, for whoever does any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is the Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the Lord. Whosoever does any work on the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.

7:51 Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between me and the children, of Israel forever. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed. Brother Chris, I wonder if you might do me the favor of cutting this fan off.

8:19 I'm finding it to be something of a distraction. Thank you, brother.

8:25 Now, in this text, we see something, we see a certain degree of expansion over what we've seen in earlier texts. There's something more here that is laid out in the creation ordinance, and there's something more that is specifically given in Exodus 20 in the fourth commandment itself, as given at Sinai. But in this text, I want you to note four things. First of all, the Sabbath is still spoken of as a holy day of rest from one's ordinary labors.

9:03 It is still spoken of as a day belonging to the Lord, it is still spoken of as a day rooted in the creation ordinance. Verily the Lord says, you shall keep my Sabbaths. It's still the Lord's day. It's still a day which belongs to God.

9:26 You shall keep the Sabbath, therefore it is holy to you. It is still a holy day. Six days shall work be done. On the seventh is a Sabbath of solemn rest.

9:38 It is still a day of rest. It is still a day of rest from one's labors, holy to the Lord. In six days the Lord made heaven and earth. On the seventh He rested and was refreshed.

9:48 It is still patterned after the example of God's own Sabbath keeping. All of these things are part of the moral law established at creation. They are part of that moral law confirmed by the fourth commandment at Sinai. In these things, nothing has changed.

10:08 But now notice, secondly, there are some differences. There are some things new here that we've not seen before. Note, for example, that the Lord declares that the Sabbath day is to serve as a token or as a sign of the covenant that He made at Sinai. It is a sign of the Mosaic, the Sinaitic, or the Old Covenant.

10:34 Again, look at the language of the text. Verse 13, You shall keep my Sabbaths, for it is the Sabbath day. It is a sign between me and you throughout your generations that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you.

10:52 The Lord declares that the Sabbath day is to serve as a sign of the covenant. It is to serve as a token of the covenant made at Sinai. And in that role, and this is the role of a covenant sign, the day was to be a reminder. In this case, the day was to be a reminder to the Israelites of their covenant relationship with the Lord as defined now under the terms dictated by Him at Sinai.

11:26 It was to be a reminder to them that they were a people sanctified and set apart by the Lord to be His own. Verily, you shall keep my Sabbaths. It is a sign between me and you throughout your generations that you may know that I am the Lord, the Lord who sanctifies you. You are to sanctify my day.

11:51 That is a sign of the covenant that I have established with you. It is to be a token. It is to be a reminder to you that I have sanctified you. By your sanctifying the Sabbath every seven days, you are to be reminded that indeed I have looked with special favor upon you and set you apart to be my own.

12:18 Now, some have argued that if the Sabbath was a sign of the covenant made at Sinai, then it must have been a new institution established there for the very first time. But that doesn't follow. God, we know, made circumcision the sign of His covenant with Abraham. And yet, circumcision was not something new.

12:41 It was not something that had not been practiced in other nations. Indeed, it had been practiced in other nations, for generations prior to the time that God instituted it as the sign of the Abrahamic covenant. It was customary, for example, in Egypt from the earliest times. It was practiced among the Canaanites.

13:01 Only the Philistines among the Canaanites did not circumcise their children.

13:07 And therefore, circumcision, the sign, the token of the Abrahamic covenant, was not new. But it nevertheless, by God's appointment, became a very special token, a very special, a sign that had special meaning for the Israelite, a meaning that it had for no one else. Likewise, baptism was a right in existence for generations before Christ made it the sign of union with Himself under the terms of the new covenant. And therefore, to say that, well, if the Sabbath is the sign of the Mosaic covenant, it must be something new.

13:45 But that doesn't follow at all. That's not true of the other covenant signs that are found in the Scriptures. But now, now furthermore, the words throughout their generations for a perpetual covenant, the language found in verse 17 that the Sabbath is a sign between me and you and the children of Israel forever, those words require some consideration, some explanation from where we stand in redemptive history with the Mosaic covenant now by Christ having been set aside. How are we to understand this language?

14:20 How are we to understand the language throughout their generations? How are we to understand the language for a perpetual covenant? A sign between me and the children of Israel forever.

14:31 Well, those words, perpetual covenant and forever, if you will track them out in the old covenant, you will find that quite often they are used not in things in the ultimate sense of being perpetual or in the ultimate sense of being forever, but have relation only to as long as the covenant of which they are a part stands. For example, if you'll look back in chapter 29 and verse 9, Exodus 29 and verse 9, speaking of the priesthood of the sons of Aaron, you shall gird them with girdles, Aaron and his sons, and bind head tires on them, and they shall have the priesthood by a perpetual statute,

15:15 and you shall consecrate Aaron and his sons.

15:20 The Aaronic priesthood is not now of any divine sanction. It ceased with the covenant of which it was a part. But yet the language is given to indicate that as long as this arrangement that God had established exists, that Aaron and his sons would have the right to the priesthood. Well, likewise, as long as the Mosaic covenant existed, the Sabbath was its covenantal sign.

15:49 It was its token. But when that covenant ceased, though the Sabbath itself did not cease for the day was not grounded in Sinai, it was grounded in creation. Nevertheless, when that covenant ceased, its function as a sign of the covenant at Sinai ceased. That aspect of the Sabbath under the old covenant was temporary and no longer in effect. So we no longer look to the

16:18 Sabbath day, though the Sabbath continues to exist as our covenant sign.

The Civil Penalty for Sabbath Breaking (Exodus 31:14, Numbers 15:30-36)

16:25 But now furthermore, note also that at this time, the Lord attached a civil penalty to the sin of profaning the Sabbath day. Verse 14. Everyone that profanes it shall surely be put to death. For whoever does any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Now this penalty

16:49 of course clearly signified the seriousness of breaking the fourth commandment.

16:56 If profaning the Sabbath was to be punished with death, then surely Sabbath breaking was a serious sin. And we actually have record in the Scriptures of the death penalty being enacted for just this crime. You'll turn with me to Numbers 15. Numbers chapter 15 verses 30 through 36.

17:23 Here the Lord says, But the soul that does anything with a high hand, or anything defiantly,

17:31 whether he be homeborn or a sojourner, the same blasphemes the Lord. And that soul shall be cut off from among his people, because he hath despised the word of the Lord, and hath broken his commandment, that soul shall utterly be cut off. His iniquity shall be upon him. Then there follows in verse 32 an example of a defiant, high-handed violation of one of the commandments of God. And while

18:05 the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks upon the Sabbath day. And they that found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation, and they put him in ward, because it had not been declared what should be done to him. And the Lord said to Moses, The man shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall stone him with stones without the camp. And all

18:32 the congregation brought him without the camp, stoned him to death with stones, as the Lord commanded Moses.

18:41 Now we don't know more than what is recorded in these few verses, about why this man went forth, what he intended to do with the sticks that he gathered. We have no idea. Apparently he intended to kindle a fire of some sort. But his action was regarded as a defiance of the living God.

19:03 It was regarded as blasphemy. It was regarded as a sin with a high hand. And it was visited with the penalty of death.

19:14 Now Sabbath breaking, of course, was not the only sin. To which the death penalty was attached under the law of Moses. The capital sanction against murder, for example, established under the terms of the Noahic Covenant, is carried over into the Mosaic Covenant. The death penalty was also established for the defiant violation of other commandments.

19:36 For example, violations of the first or second commandments in the issue of idolatry were to be visited with death. Blasphemy, a violation of the third commandment, was to be sanctioned, with death. Striking one's parents, or obstinate rebelliousness in children. Violations of the fifth commandment were punishable by death.

20:01 Adultery, a violation of the seventh commandment, was punishable by death. Indeed, if I understand the passage we've just read correctly, the law provided for the application of the death penalty for the high-handed defiant violation of any of the commandments. As Numbers 15, verses 30-31 says, But the soul that does anything defiantly with a high hand, whether he be home-born or a sojourner, the same blasphemes the Lord, and that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Because he hath despised the word of the Lord, and hath broken his commandment, that soul shall be utterly cut off, his iniquity shall be upon him.

20:44 Sabbath breaking was a very serious sin. So much so that the law required that the Sabbath breaker be executed. Now, what shall we make of this provision of the civil law of the death penalty for the breaking of the ten commandments, especially for the breaking of the fourth commandment? Well, this we can say for sure.

21:07 That these laws certainly were expressions of God's will for the nation of Israel living under the Mosaic covenant. That is beyond dispute. They are part and parcel of the civil law, the legislation that was given alongside of the moral law of God. Moreover, we can say that they were appropriate expressions of God's righteous judgment against that kind of evil doing.

21:33 Otherwise, God would never have mandated these penalties at any time. And yet, while they were expressions of God's will for Israel, living under the Mosaic covenant, I believe as our confession tells us, they pertain only to that particular epoch of redemptive history. Now, not the capital sanction against murder. That is not rooted in the legislation at Sinai. That is rooted

22:00 in the Noahic covenant, which is still in force. But those sanctions having to do with the death penalty for blasphemy, or murder, or for usurping the priest's office, and other things that were so sanctioned under the Mosaic covenant. Those sanctions, part of the civil law, have expired with the Mosaic covenant. On the question of the death penalty for Sabbath breaking, that's clearly the case.

22:30 You'll remember before Sinai, you'll remember that on the occasion of the giving of the manna, the people were commanded not to go out on the seventh day, not to go out on the Sabbath day and gather the manna. And yet, we read that there were those who went out and gathered manna on the Sabbath day. Though they were rebuked and censured, they were not executed. There had been no civil penalty as yet, that instituted against the sin of Sabbath breaking. They

23:02 had broken the Sabbath. They had violated the creation ordinance. They had violated the expressed instructions of the Lord Himself on that occasion concerning the Sabbath day, yet they were not executed. But yet, after Sinai, when a man goes out to gather sticks on the Sabbath, the law requires him to be put to death.

23:22 It seems to me that nothing could be plainer, but that the death penalty for Sabbath breaking stands and falls with the Mosaic Covenant. It is not a penalty that automatically attaches in every epoch of redemptive history to that sin.

23:40 And thus, I believe it is improper to insist, as some do, that in the present period of redemptive history, that is, under the New Covenant, I believe it is improper to insist that the state institute capital punishment for all the crimes that were so punishable under the Mosaic Covenant. Whether our nation continues a secular state, or whether as many desire it becomes a religious state regulated by the Bible. Yet the truth is that the United States is not Israel, and the New Covenant is not the Old Covenant. The Old Covenant was established exclusively with the nation of Israel.

24:22 It has been superseded by the New Covenant established by Jesus Christ. The civil stipulations of the Old Covenant are no longer binding because the Old Covenant is no longer in force. As our Confession of Faith states, those judicial laws, quote, expired with the state of that people not obliging any now by virtue of that institution their general equity only being of moral use. In other words, although the Fourth Commandment is of continuing force, so that Sabbath breaking is still a serious sin, the death penalty for Sabbath breaking was of

25:06 temporary force and ended with the cessation of the civil code of Israel.

God's Refreshment and Our Delight in the Sabbath (Exodus 31:17)

25:13 But then finally, from Exodus 31 19, note that there's a phrase used with reference to the Lord's own Sabbath rest that is helpful to our understanding the purpose of the day. We read in the 17th verse, for in six days the Lord made heaven and the earth and on the seventh day he rested. Now, that much we know from Genesis 2. But note the next phrase, and was refreshed.

25:47 I've often been intrigued by those words. And God was refreshed. How did God refresh himself on that first Sabbath? The word literally means to take one's breath or to catch one's breath.

26:04 And it's used, for example, 2 Samuel 16, 14 of the weary, refreshing themselves by a season of rest. And yet, God was not physically weary by his work of creation. God was not mentally exhausted by his work of creation. He was not spiritually and emotionally drained by his labors.

26:30 What does it mean that God was refreshed? His refreshment on the Sabbath must have consisted in something else. I believe the hint is found in Genesis 1, in verse 31, where we read that at the end of the sixth day, when his works were finished, that God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. The Lord looked upon his works, and what he saw was that all had been done well. Now,

27:04 certainly, in saying that he was refreshed by his Sabbath keeping, God is using imagery by saying that he caught his breath. God is using imagery that is drawn from human experience to communicate to us in terms that we can understand. To communicate to us something of the great use of the Sabbath day. And what he seems to be saying is that even as he refreshed himself by meditating on his finished work of creation, by delighting himself in all his good work, so we are to refresh ourselves by meditating on the Sabbath day, on the works of God.

27:50 Now, certainly this aspect of the Sabbath, rooted in God's example, is of continuing use, is of continuing application to the people of God under the new covenant. That didn't cease with the old covenant. The Sabbath is still a day upon which God's people are to not only rest from their labors, but to be refreshed. Indeed, we might even say that our privilege in this is greater than at any prior epoch, in history. For we have

28:22 the privilege, not only of meditating on God's work in creation, not only in meditating upon His great work in delivering His people out of Egypt, not only to meditate upon God's works of providence, but we have the unspeakable privilege of meditating on the finished work of Christ and upon the great works of God under the new covenant. The Sabbath is still a day to rest and be refreshed. But now let's quickly move on to the other text under the Mosaic Covenant. The third text falling under the subject of the Sabbath in the book of the law is found in Exodus 34 and verse 21.

Sabbath Rest in Plowing and Harvest Time (Exodus 34:21)

29:07 Exodus 34 and verse 21. Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest. In plowing time and in harvest you shall rest. Six days you shall work. One of the brethren

29:27 pointed out this morning after the service that there is just as strong a case made for labor in the fourth commandment as there is for the Sabbath. But that's a whole other series of studies. But note the phrase, in plowing time and in harvest you shall rest.

29:49 Now here we see a further refinement over what we've seen in Exodus 20. Over what we've seen in Exodus 31. What is only implied in those passages here specified. And in saying that the Israelites were to keep Sabbath even during seasons of planting and harvesting. That is during

30:15 the busiest seasons in a farming society. In saying that, what the Lord is saying is that as a general principle His people are not to regard the urgency of business as affording a sufficient excuse to neglect the keeping of the Sabbath. Whether it be at the time of the planting of one's crops or at the time of the harvesting of one's crops. The busyness of that season did not give one sufficient cause to neglect the keeping of the Sabbath.

30:56 No seasons are busier for farmers than the times of planting and harvesting. The windows of opportunity are narrow. If there's inclement weather, the window of opportunity is even narrower.

31:13 Continuous rains for example can ruin a crop either in its planting or in its harvesting. And in that kind of case there is a strong temptation to take advantage of every day on which the work can be gone forward without being impeded by quote providence. And yet the Lord here tells the Israelites that they must not fall before that temptation.

31:44 In plowing time or in seed time and in harvest, in planting time and in harvest thou shalt rest. They are indeed to understand that providence is so ordering matters. And they are to obey God in spite of their inclinations to the contrary and they are to leave the results of their obedience to God. To the providence in which they believe.

32:11 Six days you shall labor on the seventh day you shall rest. In planting time and in harvest. That was the general rule. It was not to be abused on slight pretense. The mere

32:30 presuming of necessity was not sufficient to warrant violating the command to rest from one's labor. The mere presuming that well it's a clear day. I must work today. It's rained all the week before. Here we have a clear day

32:46 though it be the Sabbath day. I must work today. That is the presuming of necessity. You're not face to face with what is clearly absolute necessity.

32:59 At this point I would direct your attention to the teaching of Jesus. Because Jesus does teach us that though that is the general rule that there are circumstances where absolute necessity does come to bear. As Jesus teaches us the spirit of the law did not forbid men so as to did not bind men so as to forbid working that might be not just presumed necessary but which was in fact without dispute absolutely necessary on the day. For example, an animal fallen into a pit was to be rescued.

33:36 That was not a presumed necessity. It was an absolute necessity. Livestock was to be fed. That was not a presumed necessity.

33:47 The livestock needed to be fed.

33:50 And in like manner Owen argues for example on a Sabbath day one might rescue one's harvest before an approaching fire. A circumstance that presents not just a presumed but clearly an absolute necessity. To have a brush fire, to have a grass fire sweeping across the farmlands coming towards one's field. The fact that it was the Sabbath day one might say well the law says in planting and harvest on all occasions I am not to labor on the Sabbath in my field. Well that

34:20 is not a case of presumed necessity. That is a case of absolute necessity. And our Lord criticized the Pharisees for having a view of the Sabbath that would not allow absolute necessity. Well be that as it may what was the general rule?

Prohibition of Kindling Fire and Women's Rest (Exodus 35:1-3)

34:35 The general rule was that one was not to look to one's business on the Sabbath day. Even in the busiest seasons one was to do what God had commanded. Now the fourth text falling under the subject of the Sabbath in the book of the law is found just across the page Exodus 35 verses 1-3. And Moses assembled the children of Israel said to them these are the words that the Lord hath commanded that you should do them.

35:06 Six days shall work be done but on the seventh day there shall be to you a holy day a Sabbath of solemn rest to the Lord whosoever does any work therein shall be put to death. Now to that point there's nothing new and nothing we've not already seen in other texts. But now notice verse 3. You shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations upon the Sabbath day.

35:35 You shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations on the Sabbath day.

35:42 Well here we see a further refinement from what we've seen before. A specific prohibition is now added. You shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations upon the Sabbath day.

35:58 Now considerable debate has swirled around what these words mean. As far as you can track back discussions of the Sabbath amongst the rabbis they debated what this had reference to. You find the same debate taken up in Christian commentators. Some for example say that the reference in the larger context of chapter 35 is to work associated with the construction of the temple and its furnishings. That they were to quote

36:25 kindle no fires on the Sabbath for the working of precious metals used in the tabernacle's construction. You'll find that view in Matthew Henry's commentary for example. But others say that the general prohibition against working against labor was sufficient to cover that case as well. And that therefore this provision about kindling no fire in one's habitation must have another meaning.

36:51 And John Owen I think gives the best suggestion. He says that the reference is to building fires for the purpose of cooking. Building fires for the purpose of cooking. And he suggests that here we have a parallel to the provision we noted in Exodus 16 requiring that foods eaten on the seventh day be prepared on the sixth and kept over to the next day for that use. You'll recall

37:22 the giving of the manna. They were not only to collect the manna for the Sabbath on the sixth day but they were to prepare it on the sixth day. They were to bake what they were going to bake and boil what they were to boil but they were not to engage in that activity on the Sabbath day. It would not spoil. It would keep over

37:39 to the next day. And Owen says that here in the law that principle is also embodied in these words kindle no fire throughout your habitations upon the Sabbath day.

37:53 Now what is the meaning of this? What is the real impact of this particular regulation? What's the heart or the spirit of it? Well I believe that the provision here is designed to assure that a Sabbath rest comes to the ladies of the house.

38:12 Now that may seem like a very simple interpretation but I think it's the correct one. I think we see in this provision a provision designed to secure that women who had to give a considerable portion of their work day on the other six days to this task of cooking. And remember the society in which they're living. There are no microwaves.

38:37 There are no toaster ovens. There are no special gizmos. There are no Cuisinards. There are no KitchenAid mixers. There are no bread

38:49 mixers. None of the things that we take for granted if our microwave breaks down we go into a panic. But they had none of those things. Cooking the meals was a major part of the day's work.

39:02 The food had to be dressed. It didn't come nicely wrapped in cellophane from the butcher. The fruits and vegetables didn't come already cleaned and prepared and in cans merely to be zipped open and poured into a pan and shot into the microwave. No, everything had to be done by hand.

39:20 It was a very arduous task to prepare a meal especially for what were ordinarily large families. A large part of a woman's day in that society was simply given over to cooking the meals of the day. Well, in that climate, here we have a provision which seems to be designed to relieve the women of this burden on the Sabbath day so that they also might rest from their labors and be refreshed by the sacred use of the day. If a servant was to be permitted to rest from his labors, how much more was means to be used to see that one's wife

40:04 could do the same? The law made provision for servants. The law also seems to make a provision for wives and the women of the household. But more about that when we come to the section at the end of our study on practical application. Now the fifth

Ceremonial and Religious Observances of the Sabbath (Numbers 28, Leviticus 24, 23)

40:24 text falling under the subject of the Sabbath in the book of the law is actually a collection of three texts that describe certain activities related to the religious observance of the Sabbath under the Old Covenant. Again, to just speak to what we're trying to do today, we're trying to bring to bear all that the Old Covenant has to say about the Sabbath. To try in brief compass to get our arms around the whole thing and to get something of the larger picture. Well, there are three texts that seem to have special reference to the religious observance of the Sabbath under the Old Covenant.

41:00 The first is found in Numbers 28 verses 9 and 10, and I'm simply going to read these, at least the first two without comment. Numbers 28 verses 9 and 10. The regulation found here has to do with the provision of sacrifices at the tabernacle on the Sabbath day. On the Sabbath day to he lambs a year old without blemish to tenth parts of an ephah of fine flour for a meal offering mingled with oil and the drink offering thereof. This is the burnt offering

41:36 of every Sabbath besides the continual burnt offering and the drink offering thereof. On the Sabbath there were more offerings to be brought. Not only the ordinary daily burnt offerings but there was to be a double offering of that offered on the Sabbath day. That was special. On that

41:54 special day, special offering. Leviticus 24 verses 5-8.

42:02 Leviticus 24 verses 5-8.

42:08 You shall take fine flour, bake twelve cakes thereof, two tenths part of an ephah shall be in one cake. You shall set them in two rows, six on a row upon the pure table before the Lord. You shall put pure frankincense upon each row that it may be to the bread for a memorial even offering made by fire to the Lord every Sabbath day. He shall set it in order before the Lord continually. It is on behalf

42:32 of the children of Israel an everlasting covenant. On the Sabbath day, that was the day for the changing of the so-called show bread in the inner sanctuary. But now the third passage. Leviticus 23 in verse 3.

42:49 Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is the Sabbath of solemn rest. Now note the phrase a holy convocation or a sacred assembly. You shall do no manner of work. It is a Sabbath to the Lord in all your dwellings. Now the first

43:07 two texts we read, Numbers 28 Leviticus 24. Those texts clearly address ceremonial aspects of the Sabbath under the old covenant that have expired with that covenant. They do not make the fourth commandment a ceremonial law. It was a moral law. But there were

43:26 ceremonial aspects to the observance of the fourth commandment under the Mosaic law and under the Mosaic covenant. It was on that day that the show bread was to be changed. On that day the offerings, the burnt offerings, were to be doubled. But now that that covenant has ceased, now that those sacrifices have ceased, now that that sanctuary, is gone, that part of the Mosaic Sabbath, of course, has ceased.

43:53 Even if we wanted to imitate the example of the Israelites under the Mosaic covenant, we couldn't do so. For we have no sanctuary upon the earth and we have no place to offer such sacrifices. But now the last text I believe is of greater interest. Leviticus 23.3

44:13 states that the Sabbath was to be used as a day of holy convocation. A day of sacred assembly. As well, I believe, as a day for the private and family worship of God. It is called a Sabbath to the Lord in all your dwellings.

44:33 Now I believe in this that the law of Moses points to a primary use of the day. A use which was implied by the language of the other text, or the earlier text, where the Sabbath is spoken of as a holy day separated to the Lord. But it does not describe that which is temporary, but rather describes that which is of the essence of the day and intended in every age. Commenting on the emphasis of this text that the Sabbath is a time of holy convocation or sacred assembly, Bush observes, quote, from which that is from this designation as a holy convocation.

45:15 It appears that meetings of public worship are an essential part of the due observance of the day, and that they cannot be neglected or omitted without going contrary to one main design of the institution of the Sabbath. And it is believed that in these convocations, not at the temple now. Every male was to appear at the temple three times a year at the set feasts. But these are holy convocations that took place every seventh day on the Sabbath.

45:53 Where did they take place? Well, it is believed that they took place in the homes of God's people in such venues as were available to them, and that it was out of this practice that eventually arose the synagogue, and of course that model which had so much significance in terms of the ordering of worship in the New Covenant Church. But the Sabbath day was a day of holy convocation, a day of sacred assembly. Well, what have we seen under the Old Covenant?

Summary of Mosaic Sabbath Principles and Enduring Application

46:24 Under the Old Covenant legislation, well, we have seen that certain aspects of the Sabbath are linked to the creation ordinance of Genesis 2,

46:37 showing us once again that the Sabbath institution itself is not dependent on the law of Moses for its continuing existence. If the Sabbath first appeared at Sinai, if the first word we heard of it was at Sinai with the writing of the fourth commandment, then we might legitimately have to say well, it started here, perhaps it ends with the setting aside of the law of Moses or the Mosaic Covenant. But even the law of Moses takes us back to creation. Even the law of Moses takes us back to that institution of the Sabbath at the very foundation of the heavens and the earth.

47:20 And therefore, I think we see that indeed the institution does not depend upon the law of Moses. But when we think of its foundation, our thinking must always begin where our Lord Jesus' thinking began. The Sabbath was made for man. Who made it? God.

47:38 When did He make it? Creation. But moreover, we've seen that certain civil or ceremonial aspects of the Mosaic Sabbath ceased with the covenant that required them. The death penalty for Sabbath breaking. I would find it

47:55 very difficult to make a case that the United States of America, that our leaders are obligated to institute the death penalty. for Sabbath keeping. That was part of the law of Moses. Obviously, the sacrifices associated with the Sabbath under the Mosaic law, the doubling of the burnt offering, the changing of the showbread, these were things that were temporary.

48:18 They were ceremonial. And they have expired with the covenant of which they were a part. But now, on the other hand, though there are certain things that we can say that clearly has expired, there are certain refinements of expression in the Mosaic legislation that point to principles of enduring application. And we're going to take those up when we come to that section of application. Such things

48:43 as, what does it mean in plowing time and harvest? What's the legitimate application? What principle would carry over into our Sabbath keeping? Kindle no fire in your habitation.

48:57 How would that carry over? There's a principle there that carries over. It's a day of holy convocation. How does that carry over?

49:06 Into our days. And other principles of like kind that we've seen in the text we've looked at today.

The Moral Imperative: Be Holy as God is Holy (Leviticus 19:1-3)

49:13 But in closing tonight, I want us to look at one last text from the Law of Moses that underscores our main point in this section, which is that the Fourth Commandment is essentially moral, not ceremonial, and therefore binding upon us under the New Covenant. And this text, as much as any other, in my own conscience binds me to keep a Sabbath day holy to the Lord. Turn with me to Leviticus 19, verses 1-3.

49:52 I ask every one of you to very, very prayerfully and seriously consider the implications of this text. Leviticus 19, verses 1-3. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel and say to them, You shall be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy. You shall fear every man his mother and his father, and you shall keep my Sabbaths.

50:28 I am the Lord your God. Turn not to idols, nor make to yourselves molten gods. I am Jehovah your God. Now, what is declared in this statement?

50:48 The central teaching of this passage is that the chief duty of God's people under the old covenant,

50:56 their chief duty as His redeemed image-bearers is to imitate and visibly represent the character of their Lord.

51:10 You shall be holy, for I, Jehovah your God, am holy. But by what means were they to obey that commandment? By what means were they to show themselves holy? By what means were they to imitate the character of their Lord and Redeemer? Well, the means

51:35 by which this was to be done was by keeping God's law, especially by keeping the Ten Commandments. And here, though the Lord does not cite all Ten Commandments, He does say enough to show us, to illustrate to us, what being holy as He is holy requires. He cites the First Commandment, the Second Commandment, the Fourth Commandment, and the Fifth Commandment. Look at the text again. You shall be

52:10 holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy. You shall fear every man, his mother and his father. There's the Fifth Commandment. You shall keep my Sabbaths. There's the Fourth

52:23 Commandment. Turn not to idols. There's the First Commandment. Nor make to yourself molten gods. There's the

52:31 Second Commandment. I am the Lord your God, He says, who commands you. Now, for our purpose, I want you to note that for the Old Covenant Israelite, for the Israelite living under the Mosaic Covenant, keeping the Lord's Sabbaths, keeping the Lord's Sabbaths was as necessary to discharging the duty to imitate God's holiness. It was as necessary as was obedience to the other nine commandments of the moral law. No difference

53:12 between the Fourth Commandment and the Fifth Commandment. They were to fear their mothers and fathers. They were to keep God's Sabbaths. No difference between the Fourth Commandment and the First and Second Commandments. They were not to worship

53:27 idols. They were not to make any graven images. Being holy as God is holy meant not only keeping the First and the Second and the Fifth Commandment. It meant keeping the Fourth Commandment as well.

53:40 It was as necessary to showing themselves the holy people of God and imitating His character as the other nine.

New Covenant Application: Peter's Citation of Leviticus 19 (1 Peter 1:13-16)

53:50 But, Pastor, what's this got to do with us?

53:53 We're not Israelites living under the Covenant established at Sinai.

54:00 My answer to you is that this text has everything to do with us because of the way that it is cited in the New Testament. And here I ask that you turn with me, please, to 1 Peter chapter 1.

54:16 Brethren, I ask that you think with me. I know that it has been a long evening. I've asked you to exercise your minds greatly to keep track of the trains of thought I've sought to put before you, but if you don't see anything else tonight, I want you to see this. I want you to lay hold on this.

54:35 We have seen in Leviticus 19 what the chief duty of God's people was, to imitate the holy character of God. We've seen how God instructs them to do that. To keep His commandments, including the fourth commandment. But when we come to 1 Peter 1, we find this text, Leviticus 19 and verse 2, cited by Peter, and applied to the people of God under the New Covenant.

55:02 To Christians. Verse 13, 1 Peter 1. Wherefore, girding up the loins of your mind, be sober and set your hope perfectly on the grace that is to be brought to you, at the revelation of Jesus Christ, as children of obedience, not fashioning yourselves according to your former lusts in the time of your ignorance, but like as he who called you is holy, be ye yourselves also holy in all manner of living.

55:39 Peter draws a circle around every aspect of life. Every area of life. He draws a circle around every day of life. And says in that circle, you are to be holy. Be ye

55:54 holy in all manner of living, because it is written, and here he quotes Leviticus 19 and verse 2, you shall be holy, for I am holy.

56:09 It seems that our duty as Christians living under the New Covenant, is to imitate and visibly represent the character of our Creator and Lord. Peter cites this text, you shall be holy, for I am holy, as a text having direct bearing upon us as the people of God under the New Covenant.

56:37 I don't know any other construction that can be placed on the text. He uses Leviticus 19 2 as directly applicable to us. It is a word describing our duty. It is a word describing our universal duty.

56:54 We are to be holy as he is holy. We are indeed to be holy as he who calls us. Be yourselves holy in all manner of living. What does that mean? Shall we fulfill

57:11 this duty on lesser terms than exist in the context from which the text originally appears? Shall we fulfill the duty to be holy as he is holy on lesser terms than those which pertain in Leviticus 19 in the context from which the text is taken? If in Leviticus 19 being holy as God is holy meant keeping the Sabbath holy, shall we presume that it means less in 1 Peter 1?

57:52 Can we dare to do so? Would we dare exclude our duty to the first commandment and go off and worship some other god and think well we are now as idolaters being holy as God is holy and discharging our duty to him? Would we dare violate the second commandment and make to ourselves molten gods, graven images, and believe that our liberty under Christ gives us freedom to do that and yet still claim to be holy as he is holy? Would we dare think that we could dishonor mother and father and be holy as God is holy?

58:38 And how think we can turn away from the fourth commandment as though it meant nothing and say we are holy as he is holy? How can we exclude our duty to the fourth commandment? Brethren, the answer is we cannot.

59:00 It seems to me that nothing can be clearer. Nothing can be clearer. Compare you go home tonight, you prayerfully sit down with your Bible and you open up and put a marker at Leviticus 19 and then you open into the New Testament to 1 Peter chapter 1 and you go back and forth, back and forth, back and forth and compare those passages and ask yourself the question,

59:30 can I profane the Sabbath? Can I neglect the Christian Sabbath and say that I am holy as God is holy? That I have done my duty to imitate the character of my Creator and Redeemer and Lord. And I ask that you sit with your Bibles until these two texts make a deep impression upon your soul.

60:00 The fourth commandment is as much a moral commandment. It is as much binding under the new covenant as the other nine. And if we would be holy as God is holy, we yet have need to keep the Sabbaths of the Lord.

60:19 Brethren, if there was no other evidence to be brought to bear, if there was no creation ordinance that would regulate our consciences, that would take us beyond the Mosaic covenant, surely the connection that the Lord Himself makes by inspiration of the Spirit between Leviticus 19 and 1 Peter 1, surely that connection alone would be sufficient to show us that if we would be holy as He is holy, if we would do our duty as Christians living under the new covenant, surely we must keep the Sabbaths of the Lord. Now we're done tonight, but we're not done with the subject of the Sabbath under the

Conclusion and Look Ahead to the Prophets (Isaiah 58:13-14)

61:03 Old Testament. We've looked at the book of the law, but God willing next Lord's Day morning we're going to come back to the Old Testament. As I said to you this morning, the materials in the Old Testament almost evenly divide in number between the book of the law and the prophets. And next Lord's Day morning we're going to come back and consider the subject of the Sabbath in the prophets with the same question before us. In the prophets we

61:33 see them looking back to what has been said before. And we see them looking forward to us and to the new covenant. And I would ask especially that you very prayerfully read, pour over, meditate upon the prophecy of Isaiah chapter 58 verses 13 and 14. And I'll close by the reading of that passage. Isaiah 58

61:58 verses 13 and 14. If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, and the holy of the Lord honorable, and shall honor it, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words, then you shall delight yourself in the Lord, and I will make you to ride upon the high places of the earth. I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken

62:41 it. Meditate on those words. Meditate on what it means in a generation that regards the Sabbath as a burden. Meditate upon what it means to call the Sabbath a delight. Meditate

62:56 upon what it means when the Lord speaks of the day as an honorable day, to be honored. Meditate on what the Lord speaks when He talks about not doing our own ways, not finding our own pleasures, not speaking our own words. May God be pleased, brethren, to seal the lessons of this day to our souls. Let us pray.

63:24 Our Father, we thank You for Your Word. It is indeed a light to our pathway. We thank You, O Lord, that You have been pleased to give us such revelation of Your mind, that we might know Your will and know it clearly. Lord, we pray that You would help us. If in

63:43 anything we are prejudiced against Your Word and prejudiced against Your commandments, Lord, that You would break us. Lord, that You would show us and humble us and bring us believing and obedient to Your feet. Lord, we ask that You would help us to be holy as You are holy, to keep all Your commandments, to honor You in all the ways that You have appointed for us. Lord, help us to keep Your Sabbaths holy, that we might honor You and render to You that duty which we owe.

64:15 We thank You for our Lord Jesus Christ. We thank You for the Lord of the Sabbath, and we offer our prayers. We offer the worship of this day in His name. Amen.