The Sabbath in the Prophets #1

Introduction to the Christian Sabbath Series and Review

0:06 The following message was preached Sunday, July 19, 1998, to Emanuel Reform Baptist Church of Sea-Tac, Washington. The speaker is Pastor Robert Martin. This message is the sixth in a series of twenty-four titled, The Christian Sabbath.

0:28 Please turn with me and your Bibles to the seventeenth chapter of the prophecy of Jeremiah.

0:42 Some weeks ago we began a brief series with the title, The Christian Sabbath. And for the sake of those visiting with us today, perhaps it would be helpful to speak a word concerning the origin of this series, and then to give a few minutes of review as to where we have been thus far.

1:06 First of all, not a few of our members and regular attenders expressed interest in having this subject addressed. And then furthermore, the doctrine of the Sabbath is clearly addressed in the subordinate standards of our church. Our Confession of Faith, for example, has two very carefully worded paragraphs in chapter 22.

1:31 Our church constitution, in addressing the responsibilities of members, speaks of a proper reverence for and observance of the Lord's day.

1:43 And therefore, these factors have conspired into bringing this brief series to pass. Our concern is to answer the question, Is there a Christ? Is there a Christian Sabbath that we ought to observe as a matter of conscience before God?

2:02 In other words, does God require us to keep Sabbath one day in seven under the new covenant established by our Lord Jesus Christ?

2:15 Now, our method is a very simple one. We look first at the Sabbath at creation, then have turned to the Sabbath under the old covenant or Mosaic covenant, then we will turn to the Sabbath under the old covenant or Mosaic covenant, then we will turn to the Sabbath under the new covenant, and finally, as the capstone on the series, take up practical suggestions on the proper observance of the Christian Sabbath.

2:43 And thus far, beginning with our Lord's words that the Sabbath was made for man, we have gone back to Genesis chapter 2 and have examined the Bible's record of the establishment of the Sabbath day as a special day that is blessed and hallowed by the Lord at the very beginning of the Sabbath day. that is blessed and hallowed by the Lord at the very beginning of the Sabbath day. that is blessed and hallowed by the Lord at the very beginning of the Sabbath day. beginning of the world's existence,

3:05 having created the heavens and the earth and all that in them is, as His last creative act, the Lord created the Sabbath as an institution for man. Now, after examining the establishment of the Sabbath at creation, we then ask the question, is there evidence that the Sabbath was known before Sinai?

3:33 That is, before the old covenant was established, before the Lord engraved the fourth commandment on the tablets of stone as part of the law of that covenant.

3:45 And examining Genesis 4 and verse 3 and Exodus 16 verses 4 through 30 we saw that indeed there is ample evidence to say that the Sabbath is an institution that existed prior to Sinai. Not only do we have the record of its establishment at creation, a record which ought to cause us to presume the perpetuity of the Sabbath that it does indeed transcend the law of Moses. But we have examples in Genesis 4 and Exodus 16 of the Sabbath being in existence before Sinai. So that again the assertion that the Sabbath is an institution introduced first in the Mosaic covenant. That assertion cannot be sustained by the evidence.

4:39 Now last, Lord, Lord, today we considered the subject of the Sabbath in the law of Moses in making our way progressively through the history of God's revelation on this subject we came to Sinai. And there we asked two questions. First, what do we see in the old covenant Sabbath laws of a transcendent nature? That is, looking back from Sinai what links do we see with the Sabbath as established at creation and looking forward from Sinai?

5:14 What transcends the covenant that God made with Israel there and gives direction to our thinking about the nature of the Christian Sabbath?

5:24 And then the companion question is what is there in the law of Moses concerning the Sabbath day that is temporary and now no longer in effect? So a two-pronged question. What did we see of a transcendent nature that is rooted in something beyond the law of Moses? And extends beyond the law of Moses even to our day?

5:48 And then what was there that was really just part of what God gave at Sinai and was temporary and now no longer in effect? Well, first of all under the Sabbath in the book of the law we examined the fourth commandment itself. Exodus 20, Deuteronomy 5. And we saw that that commandment is not, as some say, a temporary ceremonial law established, abolished at Sinai and then abolished with Christ fulfilling and abrogating the ceremonial law.

6:22 We saw rather on the contrary. The fourth commandment is a moral law. The same as that written on the tablets of Adam's heart at his creation. The same as that institution that God established at creation by His own positive example in blessing and sanctifying the Sabbath day.

6:43 And only then, written by the finger of God upon tablets of stone at Sinai. We saw that in the fourth commandment the Lord does not call the Israelites to observe a commandment that He was just then instituting. But instead He takes them back to creation. He takes them back to Genesis 2.

7:07 And in commanding the Israelites to remember the Sabbath day, what the Lord in essence is saying to them is that under the terms of the Mosaic covenant, at its heart, the Sabbath is to remain what it was established to be at creation. A holy day, a sanctified day, a blessed day, a day belonging to the Lord, the Lord's day. As to the nature of the day, they were commanded, remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. At creation, the Lord made the Sabbath a special day that was different from the other six days of the week.

7:48 He blessed, the Sabbath day. He hallowed it. He sanctified it. He made the day holy.

7:56 That means that the Lord separated it from ordinary use. He claimed it as His own in a way that He did not claim the other six days. He claimed it as His day, as the Lord's day, and He set it apart as His own for special use by His people. And under the terms of the law of Moses, that has not changed.

8:18 The Israelites were to remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy, to keep it different, to keep it sanctified.

8:27 We saw further that in the fourth commandment, keeping the Sabbath holy required that the Israelites rest from the ordinary labors of the other six days. That also carried over from the creation ordinance and constitutes no difference, no difference whatsoever from what God's example at creation required. God created the Sabbath as a day of rest. That remains unchanged unchangeable.

8:52 Under the Mosaic Covenant.

8:55 Indeed, we saw that the only thing in the fourth commandment given at Sinai, not already found in the creation ordinance, is a notice to those in positions of authority and responsibility, a notice to them concerning the application of the fourth commandment to those under them.

9:16 But that isn't a difference of substance, only a difference addressing the scope of the law's application.

9:24 Well, we examined other texts in the book of the law where there was a degree of expansion or a degree of specification beyond what we saw in the creation ordinance, beyond what we saw in the fourth commandment itself. And in some cases we saw temporary provisions which have passed away with the ceremonial and civil law of the Mosaic Covenant. In other cases we saw principles which seem to transcend the old covenant and are of enduring application.

9:55 But then we closed last time, by examining Leviticus 19 verses 1 through 3 and comparing what is said in that text with Peter's use of that text in 1 Peter 1. And there we saw, comparing Scripture to Scripture, that the fourth commandment, if you will look with an open heart and an open mind at those two texts taken together, we saw that indeed the fourth commandment is clearly moral and not ceremonial. And still binding under the new covenant. We saw that the duty of God's people under both covenants, both old and new covenants as His redeemed image bearers is to imitate and visibly represent our Lord's character. You shall be holy for I the Lord your God am holy. And we saw that the means by which that was to be done was by keeping God's law, especially by keeping the ten commandments. And for our purpose we saw that these texts very clearly teach that keeping the Lord's Sabbaths is as necessary to discharging our duty to imitate God's holiness as is obedience to the other nine commandments of the moral law.

The Sabbath in Jeremiah's Prophecy: A Warning to Judah

11:22 Now today we take up the subject of the Sabbath in the writings of the Old Testament prophets.

11:29 And here again we find ourselves looking both backward and in the same direction. And forward. On the one hand, the Old Testament prophets looked back and they spoke of Israel's disobeying the fourth commandment and of the judgments that followed.

11:49 But yet on the other hand, the prophets looked forward to the Sabbath in the Messianic age, to the time of the new covenant.

11:59 And all that they said on the subject of course, whether looking backward or looking forward, was in the interest of addressing their own generation concerning keeping God's Sabbaths. They looked backward. They spoke of the history of the people on this issue, what they had done and had not done. They spoke of the judgments that were coming.

12:22 They looked forward to the age of Messiah. They spoke of what would be reality in that age. But everything they said was to address their own generation. They were preachers of the Word.

12:36 What they said was to address the current generation as to their duty to keep God's Sabbaths holy.

12:47 Now we begin with Jeremiah chapter 17 verses 19-27.

12:54 This passage records a message that the Lord commands the prophet Jeremiah to deliver in the gates of Jerusalem.

13:04 He is to go to the most public venues of the city.

13:09 It is there that the city, yea, the nation, the nation's business is conducted.

13:16 There not only the common people, but the rulers of Judah pass by. There they congregate. There they may be addressed openly and publicly.

13:28 And the prophet's message as he is commanded to go and stand in the gate and preach. The prophet's message is a warning to his own generation not to imitate the Sabbath breaking of their fathers.

13:44 He tells them, if you, if you will obey the fourth commandment, then great blessings will yet come upon you. But if you will not obey, if you continue profaning the Sabbath as your fathers have done, then God will surely come in judgment against you.

14:06 Now that's the general gist of the passage. Now let's read verses 19-27.

14:14 Thus saith the Lord to me, Go and stand in the gate of the children of the people, whereby the kingdom of Judah come in, and by which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem, and say to them, Hear the word of the Lord, ye kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem that enter in by these gates.

14:38 Thus says the Lord, Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the Sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem. Neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath, neither do any work, but hallow the Sabbath day as I commanded your fathers. But they, speaking of their fathers, they hearkened not, neither inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff that they might not hear and might not receive instruction.

15:12 And it shall come to pass, if you diligently hearken to me, says the Lord, to bring in no burden to the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but to hallow the Sabbath day to do no work therein. Then there shall enter in by the gates of this city kings and princes sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their princes, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And this city shall remain forever.

15:47 And they shall come from the cities of Judah, from the places round about Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin, from the lowland, from the hill country, from the south, bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices and meal offerings and frankincense and bringing sacrifices of thanksgiving to the house of the Lord. But if you will not hearken to me to hallow the Sabbath day and not to bear a burden and enter in the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem and it shall not be. Be quenched.

16:28 That was the message that Jeremiah was commanded and indeed did deliver in the gates of Jerusalem to the rulers, to the kings, to the common people of Judah. And what Jeremiah did was to point to the long history, the long history of profaning the Sabbath that had marked the nation.

16:50 Their fathers had been plainly instructed in their duty to hallow the Sabbath in the way that the Lord had required. And yet, though they had been repeatedly instructed, though they had the law of their God, they had refused to hear God's word and had instead turned the day into a day of commerce.

17:13 On the Sabbath day they were bearing burdens, burdens of commerce in and out of the gates of the city.

17:21 And the images of verse 23 are particularly striking. Instead of leaning forward, instead of inclining the image, instead of leaning the ear so as to clearly hear the word of the Lord,

17:37 instead of submitting their wills to the will of God, instead of doing that, Jeremiah says of them, they stiffened their neck. They would not bow. They would not incline the ear. They drew back.

17:52 They turned the ear away. They turned a deaf ear to God's law.

17:57 They stiffened their neck. They would not bow down in submission that they might hear and receive instruction and obey their God.

18:07 Now, as a preacher, Jeremiah is not just giving his audience a history lesson. He's warning them, do not imitate the disobedience of your fathers in this thing. If you do, if you imitate the Sabbath breaking of your fathers, you will forfeit the blessings that God has promised and instead you will fall under God's unquenchable judgment.

18:35 Now, consider the long-suffering and the mercy of God on the Sabbath day. It is no more than ten years when the first captivities will begin. The whole history of the nation is behind them. All the abominations that have taken place in Judah.

18:57 All the abominations of Manasseh, for example.

19:02 God has pronounced judgment upon the land. Generation after generation have heard the threatenings of God and yet here Jeremiah stands in the gates even on the very eve of the judgment that is coming even as the great crest of God's judgment is about to break upon the nation and he says to them, if you will keep God's Sabbath, there shall go in and out of the gates of this city kings of the line of David and this city will remain forever.

19:33 But if you will not, God will break out in an unquenchable fire of judgment and consume your royal palaces, consume this city. But if you will not, the longsuffering of God even on the eve of the judgment there is still a window still a window that they might repent and might be spared the threatened judgments.

The Gravity of Sabbath Breaking in Jeremiah's Message

19:58 Now notice that the Lord on this occasion commanded Jeremiah to focus specifically on the issue of the people's obedience to the fourth commandment.

20:10 No other issue is mentioned.

20:13 There is specific focus on the people's obedience to the fourth commandment. But there were other issues that Jeremiah could have addressed. There were other sins that could have been denounced. And in fact, on other occasions, Jeremiah did denounce other sins.

20:31 But here was an issue. Their obedience to the fourth commandment. An issue of such gravity, of such weight, that how they conducted themselves indeed showed the general disposition of their hearts before God.

20:50 Their relationship to the fourth commandment was an indicator of their relationship to God. It was an indicator of their relationship to His covenant.

21:04 Sabbath breaking reflected the defection of the people's hearts from the Lord.

21:10 It was sufficient as an issue to draw a dividing line. This was not a casual matter.

21:20 It was not an area of lesser importance than the other commandments of the Lord. In profaning the Sabbath, they showed that their hearts were not right before God. On this one issue, had there been no other issues, this would have been sufficient.

21:40 The special importance of the Sabbath on this occasion derives, I believe, from two things. First of all, the Sabbath, if you'll recall from last Lord's Day when we looked at Exodus 31,

21:53 you'll remember that the Sabbath was a sign, a token of the covenant at Sinai. It was meant, it had been designated by the Lord as a token, a reminder, a reminder to them that He had sanctified them. In their sanctifying the Lord's Sabbath, there was to be a weekly reminder that I, the Lord, have sanctified you, that I have separated you from among the nations to be My people.

22:24 And there profaning the Sabbath, given its place, its role that God had assigned as the sign of their covenant, there profaning the Sabbath witnessed to the fact that they did not care for this unique privilege that God had bestowed upon them. That His separating them from the nations to be His people, that it mattered not to them.

22:49 The Sabbath was nothing to them because their covenant with God was nothing to them.

22:55 And their Sabbath breaking was a testimony.

22:59 It was a witness. And it witnessed that missing from their hearts was that mark of true religion that is not that is found in God's people in every age. Missing in their behavior was the sign, the evidence that there was in their hearts an overwhelming sense that they were the objects of remarkable, distinguishing, electing, merciful, sovereign grace.

23:31 God had looked amongst all the nations of the earth and He had set them apart as His people.

23:40 And He had given them the Sabbath as the sign that I am the Lord your God who has sanctified you, separated you, set you apart, made you special.

23:54 They had no appreciation of what the Sabbath meant. No appreciation for what their Sabbath breaking showed.

24:05 What it showed was that there was no sense, no marvel, no wonder in their hearts that God should treat them that way. That He should take them amongst all the peoples of the earth, set them apart and make them His own.

24:21 By their Sabbath breaking they testified we care nothing for these things. It means nothing to us.

24:30 I say the Sabbath breaking of the Israelites as Jeremiah stands in the gate and denounces this sin alone.

24:39 One of the reasons it was so crucial, so important was because of what it symbolized of what they felt about God and what they felt about their covenant privilege.

24:53 But secondly, their Sabbath breaking was important because it was an open public witness that they completely disregarded the authority of God's law.

25:04 Consider the aggravated nature of the sin that Jeremiah here denounces.

25:10 Not only have the men of Judah turned the Sabbath day into a day of commerce, a day to conduct their business, but they have done so in a way as to flaunt their disobedience in the very face of God.

25:28 This is the holy city Jerusalem. The house of the Lord is there.

25:36 On the Sabbath day the city's gates have but one proper use and that was for worshippers to come in to worship at the house of the Lord.

25:48 And the scene that Jeremiah describes is one in which the gates of the city are filled with the burdens of commerce on the Sabbath day.

26:00 They flaunted their disobedience right in the face of God. This didn't happen in the boondocks. It wasn't out in the far reaches of the land. They're coming through the holy gates of Jerusalem.

26:16 Gates that ought to be filled only with worshippers of God making their way to the house of the Lord. And they're bearing their burdens of commerce not by ones and twos but by multitudes.

26:29 They flaunted their disobedience in the very face of God. Now is this a minor matter?

26:35 Is this a relatively unimportant deflection from God's will? No. It represents a repudiation of God's authority. It represents an open public law trampling upon the law of God.

26:53 They couldn't have been more plain in their disregard and disdain for the authority of God and His law.

27:01 The psalmist could say in Psalm 119 verses 127 and 28 he could say I love your commandments above gold yea above fine gold therefore I esteem all your precepts concerning all things to be right and I hate every false way a love for the whole law including the fourth commandment is what showed that a man's heart was right before God but their disregard for the Sabbath was also a revealer of their hearts as much as though each man spoke with his lips declaring oh how I hate thy law and regarded as an insufferable burden their actions revealed where their hearts were really at.

27:57 Daniel Wilson commenting on this text says quote here the entire prosperity of the nation and all the favor of God is suspended on this one branch of moral obedience the prosperity of the nation all the favor of God is suspended on this one thing on their relation to the fourth commandment and it was proper for God to be proper for God to be to do so they had flaunted the sign of the covenant showing it meant nothing to them they had flaunted their sin in the very face of God their regard or disregard as the case was for God's Sabbath revealed all that God needed to know whether their hearts were right with Him or not now brethren have I mishandled the text was that the issue when Jeremiah stood in the gates of Jerusalem and told them stop imitating the Sabbath breaking of your fathers the second text that we will consider from the prophets relating to the subject of the Sabbath is found in Ezekiel chapter 20 and here I ask that you turn to that portion with me Ezekiel chapter 20

The Sabbath in Ezekiel's Prophecy: Historical Indictment and Judgment

29:27 Jeremiah as we've seen in Jeremiah 17 had warned the people had warned the rulers of Judah not to continue profaning the Sabbath very clear warning he has gone to the most public venues of the city stood there to all that pass by to every gate in the city and he has warned them don't continue down this path he plainly tells them where this is headed now when Jeremiah did this it was during the reign of Jehoiakim when we come to Ezekiel 20 ten years approximately have passed Jehoiakim is dead his son Jehoiachin has reigned only three months before Nebuchadnezzar has carried him captive to Babylon Ezekiel was also carried away to Babylon at that time along with most of the elders of the people other judgments are to follow but the long threatened captivity has begun and the message that Ezekiel delivers on this occasion is in the seventh year of that captivity he Jehoiachin the elders of the people others who were prominent

30:56 in the land have been seven years in Babylon and the importance of this text is that Ezekiel's words show that no substantial change came about in the practices of the people by virtue of Jeremiah's warnings ten years before no substantial change took place they continued to turn a deaf ear they continued to stiffen their necks he stood in the gates he spoke what the Lord commanded him to speak they turned a deaf ear to him and now the fire has begun to burn now the captivity has begun and it's in these in this context that we find the words of our text beginning in verse one of Ezekiel 20 it came to pass in the seventh year that's the seventh year of Jehoiachin's captivity in the fifth month the tenth day of the month that certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the Lord and sat before me here's Ezekiel in Babylon here are these elders of Judah who have also been carried away at the same time they've seven years been there now they come to Ezekiel they want to inquire of the Lord and they've taken their place before him as the prophets

32:23 and the word of the Lord came to me saying son of man speak to the elders of Israel and say to them thus says the Lord Jehovah Israel to inquire of me that you are come as I live says the Lord I will not be inquired of by you the Lord takes an oath I'll not hear your prayers will you judge them son of man will you judge them cause them to know the abominations of their fathers the Lord commands Ezekiel to sit in judgment upon them to declare to them the sins that have brought them to this day then he began to rehearse the history of the people thus says verse 5 say to them thus says the Lord Jehovah in the day that I chose Israel and swore to the seed of the house of Jacob and made myself known to them in the land of Egypt when I swore to them saying I am the Lord your God in that day I swore to them to bring them forth out of the land of Egypt into a land that I searched out for them flowing with milk and honey which is the glory of all lands and I said to them cast away every man the abominations of his eyes and defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt I am Jehovah your God but they rebelled against me

33:51 and would not hearken to me they did not every man cast away the abominations of their eyes neither did they forsake the idols of Egypt then I said I would pour out my wrath upon them to accomplish my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt but I wrought for my name's sake that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations among which they were in whose sight I made myself known to them in bringing them forth out of the land of Egypt take them all the way back to Egypt it says there I commanded them to obey me and they wouldn't listen and I almost destroyed them there but for my own name's sake I did not do so and as the passage goes on after having denounced their idolatry in Egypt it says verse 10 so I caused them to go forth out of the land of Egypt in an act of marvelous mercy to a rebellious people brought them into the wilderness I gave them my statutes showed them my ordinances which if a man do he shall live in them moreover also I gave them my sabbath to be a sign between me and them that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctifies them

35:18 but the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness they walked not in my statutes and rejected my ordinances which if a man keep he shall live in them and my sabbath they greatly profaned I said I would pour out my wrath upon them in the wilderness to consume them but I wrought for my name's sake that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations in whose sight I brought them out moreover also I swear to them in the wilderness that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them flowing with milk and honey which is the glory of all lands because they rejected my ordinances walked not in my statutes and profaned my sabbaths for their heart went after their idols nevertheless mine eyes spared them and I destroyed them not neither did I make a full end of them in the wilderness now the exodus now the giving of the law gave them the sabbath as a sign of his sanctifying them and they still do not hear him before they ever get out of the wilderness the Lord speaks to them says they greatly profaned my sabbaths there in the wilderness and I would have destroyed them utterly had I not had regard to the honor of my own name and then Ezekiel proceeds in his laying out

36:47 the history of the nation he brings us to the next generation verse 18 I said to their children in the wilderness walk not in the statutes of your fathers neither observe their ordinances nor defile yourselves with their idols I am the Lord your God walk in my statutes keep my ordinances do them and hallow my sabbaths and they should be a sign between me and you that you may know that I am the Lord your God but the children rebelled against me they walked not in my statutes neither kept my ordinances to do them which if a man do he shall live in them they profaned my sabbaths then I said I would pour out my wrath upon them to accomplish my anger against them in the wilderness nevertheless I withdrew my hand and wrought for my namesake that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations in whose sight I brought them forth moreover I swear to them in the wilderness that I would scatter them among the nations disperse them among the countries because they had not executed my ordinances but had rejected my statutes and had profaned my sabbaths and their eyes were after their father's idols now get the picture in Egypt they wouldn't let go of their idols and God almost destroyed them before he ever delivered them from Egypt but he spared them for his namesake and they were

38:14 in the wilderness they continued their idolatry he has now given them the law he has now given them the sabbath as a covenant sign but they have greatly profaned his sabbath even before they get to the land you can only imagine what Moses' job must have been like to be the leader of a people greatly profaning the sabbaths of the Lord God almost destroys them down to the ground in the wilderness but spares them does not make a full end for his namesake comes to the next generation how do they respond he again tells them don't imitate your fathers do my will hallow my sabbaths if you don't I'm going to scatter you amongst the countries and the nations of the earth do they hear him no he says they profaned my sabbaths and now continuing on we'll drop down to verse 30 therefore say to the house of Israel thus says the Lord Jehovah do you pollute yourselves after the manner of your fathers now he's talking to these elders who have come to him they're in the captivity do you pollute yourselves after the manner of your fathers and play the harlot after their abominations

39:42 and when you offer your gifts when you make your sons to pass through the fire do you pollute yourselves with all your idols to this day and shall I be inquired of by you oh house of Israel as I live says the Lord I will not be inquired of by you the elders of Judah who had heard Jeremiah's preaching in the gates those men are now captives in Babylon the unquenchable fire which was to devour the palaces of Jerusalem that fire has begun and now these men who would not hear Jeremiah's denouncing of their sabbath break would not hear him now have come to Ezekiel in the captivity to inquire of the Lord and doubtless their mission is to ask the Lord to relent to restore them to their homes to restore them to their nation but the Lord's response is not such as they imagined not only will he not relent but he says to them is it to inquire of me that you have come do you want me to hear you when you wouldn't hear me as I live

41:12 says the Lord he swears an oath I will not be inquired of by you I will not hear you he wouldn't hear their pleading instead he commands Ezekiel to charge them with the rebellious spirit of their fathers and to that very day though the judgment had already begun they had not changed their ways even in the captivity they had not changed their ways bringing forth from the Lord the amazed question the amazed affirmation shall I be inquired of by you O house of Israel I will not be inquired of by you now again did you notice the prominent place that disobedience to the fourth commandment had in Ezekiel's explanation of the calamity that has now befallen the nation he mentions other things but time and again at every place from Sinai on he mentions the fourth commandment along with idolatry profaning the Sabbath is cited as the chief evidence that the people have rejected the Lord's ordinances and refused to walk in his statutes Jeremiah's prophecy is being fulfilled for the reasons that he said it would be they have stubbornly continued to refuse

42:41 to hear the word of the Lord they have stubbornly refused to hallow his Sabbath they've gone on in their Sabbath breaking and their ongoing Sabbath breaking along with the Sabbath breaking along with their continuing idolatry shows that their disregard for the covenant their lawlessness of heart remains completely unchanged now what do you think the response of these elders of Judah was to Ezekiel's message on this occasion heard Jeremiah everything Jeremiah said has come to pass they're in the captivity and now they've had Ezekiel take them right back down the same road give them exactly the same message wouldn't you think they would finally get the point they didn't this passage goes on the prophecies given to Ezekiel on this occasion the prophecies that he uttered continued on to the end of chapter 23 but I want you to look just a few verses further on at the end of chapter 20 the word of the Lord came to me saying verse 45 the word of the Lord came to me saying son of man set your face against the south or toward the south drop your word toward the south and prophesy against the forest of the field in the south

44:10 and say to the forest of the south the image of the forest of the south is the southern kingdom of Judah and he's to prophesy concerning them say to the forest of the south hear the word of the Lord thus says the Lord Jehovah behold I will kindle a fire in you it shall devour every green tree in you and every dry tree the flaming flame shall not be quenched and all the faces from the south to the north shall be burnt by it and all flesh shall see that I the Lord have kindled it it shall not be quenched then said I here is Ezekiel's words then said I all Lord Jehovah they say of me is he not a speaker of parables the forest of the south represents the southern kingdom of Judah the kingdom from which these rulers have been carried away the kingdom concerning which they've now come to inquire of the Lord and here the Lord speaks in precisely the same terms as in Jeremiah's prophecy he speaks of that unquenchable fire devouring the nation these men have heard Jeremiah's warning that this would come they've heard Jeremiah's explanation in his denouncing their Sabbath breaking now the judgment

45:38 has begun the fire is now burning and Ezekiel's explained it all again to them and yet there's no understanding in them they don't have a clue what he's talking about they're blind to these things even the plainest words of the prophets are now riddled to them obscure words he says Lord Jehovah they say of me is he not a speaker of parables they still don't get it they still don't understand and in them is fulfilled the words of the apostle Paul the natural man receiveth not the things of the spirit of God they are foolishness to him he cannot know them because they are spiritually discerned all of the prophets words had gone off them like water off a dust bag they still don't understand now the third text that we will consider this morning is just a few pages over Ezekiel 22 verses 23 through 31 Ezekiel 22 verses 23 through 31 again this is still part of the same

The Sabbath in Ezekiel's Prophecy: Corrupt Leadership and Unquenchable Fire

47:08 body of prophecy given on this occasion the same the word of the Lord came to me saying son of man say to her thou art a land that is not cleansed nor reigned upon in the day of indignation there is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof like a roaring lion ravening the prey they have devoured souls they take treasure and precious things they have made her widows many in the midst thereof her priests have done violence to my law and have profaned my holy things they have made no distinction between the holy and the common neither have they caused men to discern between the unclean and the clean and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths and I am profaned among them her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey to shed blood and to destroy souls that they may get dishonest gain and her prophets have daubed for them with tempered mortar seeing false visions and divining lies to them saying thus says the lord Jehovah when Jehovah has not spoken the people of the land have used oppression and exercised robbery yea they have vexed the poor and the needy and have oppressed the sojourner wrongfully and I sought for a man among them

48:36 that should build up the wall and stand in the gap before me for the land that I should not destroy but I found none therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath their own way have I brought upon their heads saith the lord Jehovah Jeremiah and Ezekiel were both prophets and priests they were both priests who were given the prophets office as well but they weren't the only prophets and priests in the land there were also false prophets a multitude of false prophets there were apostate priests and the situation is one in which the figure is that of a wall crumbling the nation is crumbling under the weight of the people's sins Ezekiel is carried away to Babylon among the prophets and the priests of the land with the exception of Jeremiah among all the prophets and the priests of the land there is not one left who calls the people to repentance there is not one left who tries to build up the wall and stand in the gap before the lord that he should not destroy the land all the prophets the priests the rulers they are all seeking their own things they are all trying to enrich themselves for the uncertain

50:06 days ahead they are oppressing the poor for their part the false prophets told the people what they wanted to hear and enrich themselves in the process though at the cost of the devouring of men's souls Ezekiel says Ezekiel says that the prophets have daubed for them with untempered mortar it is the image of coming with it to this crumbling wall and instead of standing in the gap and building the wall and using solid materials calling the people to repentance and obedience instead of doing that they are patching the wall with mortar that won't stay and saying thus says the lord peace peace when there is no peace in like manner the priests prostituted their sacred office those striking words in verse 26 they have profaned my holy things they have done violence to my law they have made no distinction between the holy and the common they have not caused men to discern between the clean and the unclean they have hid their eyes from my sabbath I am profaned among them those whose occupations were in the temple the house of the lord they weren't distinguishing between the holy and the common

51:32 the princes of the land like ravening wolves destroying souls that they might get dishonest gain there is none not prophet not priest not prince standing in the gap opposing the violence being done to the law of god that was especially so of the fourth commandment they have hid their eyes from my sabbaths not one and what this text shows of course is that those who should have restrained the people's sabbath breaking did not do so those who should have restrained the people didn't do so the prophets were supposed to denounce violations of god's law the priests were supposed to make a clear distinction between the common and the holy the princes were supposed to enforce the will of god in the land the prophets the priests the princes they should have been in the gap but they weren't and that being so to a large degree the judgment that came on the nation was because of their dereliction of duty

Application: The Fourth Commandment as a Revealer of the Heart

53:01 I am not I looked for a man among them that should build the wall stand in the gap before me for the land that I should not destroy it but I found none three very crucial passages from the prophets in the time that remains this morning and also tonight we're going to consider five applications from what we've seen I believe given the way that this material dovetails together in the history of the nation and the way our bibles bring it to the together I think it would not be in our best interest to wait to the end of this series to bring these applications perhaps some of these notes will be struck again when we come to the end but five things that I want us to address and just the first one this morning and the first application is this in some cases one's attitude toward the fourth commandment is still a revealer of one's relationship to the Lord and his will in some cases

54:26 one's attitude towards the fourth commandment remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy in some cases one's attitude towards that commandment is still a revealer of one's relation to the Lord and his will in the case of the old covenant Israelites as we've seen their Sabbath breaking reflected the defection of their hearts from the Lord that was the message that was what was revealed their Sabbath breaking wasn't a casual matter it wasn't an area of lesser importance than how they related to the other nine commandments of the Lord in their profaning the Sabbath they plainly showed that their heart was not right with God now my question is this what is the case of those who claim to be God's people according to the terms of the new covenant and I believe that in some cases with us as with them our attitude toward the fourth commandment is still a revealer of our relationship to God

55:54 and to his will and my concern this morning brethren is not with those Christians who are basically ignorant of the Bible's teaching about the Sabbath I'm not concerned about them this morning there are myriads of genuine Christians who as yet haven't seen the implications of the text that we're examining in this series a multitude of people who as yet don't understand the first thing about what the Bible says about the Sabbath whose teachers whose traditions have told them that the Sabbath has nothing to do with them and who with a clear conscience I believe genuinely with a clear conscience do many things on the Lord's day contrary to the proper use of the Sabbath indeed that description would fit many of us in former years we believe that we were converted in those days yet we now regard much of our behavior then as profaning the Sabbath that certainly was my case I have no question in my own conscience as to whether I was converted in 1973 but it was some years after that before these truths came to bear everything in my tradition everything that the teachers that I was sitting under was saying says this has nothing to do

57:24 with you I did many things on the Lord's day that I now look upon with shame and I think there are multitudes that fit in that category my concern is not with those folks it is with those who understand the issues it is with those who claim to subscribe to Sabbatarian confessions of faith like our own I'm not concerned about the broad evangelical world right now my concern this morning is with those folks who say they understand the issues who claim who profess to subscribe to Sabbatarian confessions like the Westminster's like our own we say that we understand we say that our confession faithfully represents the Bible on this issue we say that we are committed to keeping the Sabbath holy yet could it be could it be that in fact we have made our necks stiff and covered our ears and will not hear and be instructed on this issue I simply ask the question could it be it is true that the Sabbath is no

58:53 longer a covenant sign as it was of the covenant at Sinai that covenant the role of the Sabbath in that covenant has ceased yet has it completely lost its symbolism as a reminder to God's people that he has sanctified us that he has separated us to be his own I cannot believe that it does I cannot believe that that symbolism is now completely gone from the Sabbath day and does not our profaning God's Sabbath still witness that we regard the privilege of being God's own lightly if the Sabbath is nothing to us regardless of our testimony to say we understand the issues regardless of our saying that we subscribe to reformed and Sabbatarian confession of faith could it be that our practice is saying something else altogether that either we have forgotten or we have or we disregard what a marvelous thing God has done in making us his own

60:19 could it be that by our behavior we have lost sight of the most remarkable thing that has ever happened to us is profaning the Lord's day a minor matter for us is it really a minor deflection from God's word does it not still to us as it did to them represent a rejecting of God's authority is it not in the end of the day if we do indeed understand the issues is it not in the end of the day a trampling of God's law to disregard the day and not keep it holy as God has appointed do we not still say by our profaning of the Lord's day oh how I hate thy law and regard it a burden brethren ought not our Sabbath practice to witness instead that we love his commandments above gold and esteem all his precepts concerning all things to be right and hate every false way ought not that to be what our Sabbath practice witnesses to

61:43 a love for the whole law including the fourth commandment still shows a heart right with God as much so for us as for an old covenant Israel in some cases our regard or disregard for God's acts may yet reveal all that God needs to know whether our hearts truly are right before him it may still reveal all that God needs to know but when we return tonight we'll come to other issues shall we keep the Sabbath holy brethren shall we give regard to the example and the law of our God or shall we trample on his law and spurn his grace and in essence say to him what you have done in separating me by your mercy by your distinguishing sovereign grace it's nothing to me

63:11 you have sanctified me but I will not sanctify your day brethren let us take care what message we send to our God our Father we turn again to you this morning asking that you would look with favor upon us and by your spirit come and seal these lessons to our heart Lord teach us to know and to do your holy way to do your will in all things Lord we pray that you would give us grace and help us oh Lord if in anything we dishonor you on your day Father we thank you for your sovereign grace we thank you for your electing mercy we thank you oh Lord for calling us out from the nations and taking us as your own we pray oh Lord that you will help us that in honoring your day that we might honor you for all that you have done for us for it's in Jesus name we pray Amen