Enter His Rest*

 

From the beginning, upon finishing His creative work, God revealed the importance of His Sabbath, His day of rest:

"Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made."   Gen. 2:1-3

The day of rest was so special to God that He blessed and sanctified it. Moses received the commandment of God in this same vein: the Sabbath (intermission. root meaning: cease, celebrate, rest; to exterminate, destroy, remove, rid, put and end to (war and contention) was blessed and holy, and His people were to keep or observe it as holy, doing no labor on the day (Ex. 20:8-11). The Sabbath observance is also a memorial regarding the end of the slavery of God's people in Egypt, and again, God's people are commanded to keep and sanctify the Sabbath rest in honor of that miraculous deliverance (Deut. 5:12-15).

The prophets revealed that the obedience of God's people to observe, keep, and sanctify the Sabbath according to the commandment of God, resulted in great blessing in their city of Jerusalem in the continuance of princes upon the Messianic throne of David, and the great defense and safety that would be provided for ever (Jer. 17:19-25). Failure to obey the Sabbath commandment, on the other hand, will bring great destruction:

"...if you will not hearken unto me to hallow the sabbath day....then will I kindle a fire....and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched."   Jer. 17:27

Ezekiel wrote the word of the LORD regarding the Sabbath also:

"And I gave them my statutes, and shewed them my judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them. Moreover also I gave them my Sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD that sanctify them."  Ezek. 20:11-12

The blessing of observing the Sabbath in holiness includes life for man, as well as acknowledging that it is the LORD who sanctifies man. Sanctifying what God sanctifies, in turn, sanctifies us. The Sabbath dedicated to the honoring and worship of God, rather than to cares, worries, and our own thoughts and plans, brings us life and holiness, and impacts our land. God's people need to return to His Sabbath in these difficult times most of all.

Ezekiel also revealed that the failure to keep the Sabbath is based upon idolatry (v. 16, 18, 24). As God's people chose to pollute His Sabbaths, they were dispersed, and they received judgments and statutes instead that prevented them from living.

As God prophesied through Ezekiel that He would revive His people's priesthood and temple worship, He also promised that the hallowing of the Sabbath would be re-established (Ezek. 44:23-24). This makes us, the people of God, the living temples of God, even more responsible for the knowledge of hallowing the Sabbath, as we see more and more the effects that polluting the Sabbath have had in our land.

The prophet Isaiah showed us the enormous blessing and sanctification found in the honoring of God's Sabbath:

"If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it."   Isa. 58:13-14

The Sabbath is not just an Old Testament law, but it is part of the New Testament Church, as well. The writer of Hebrews warns against coming short of entering into his rest. It is part of the gospel, and, like the rest of the gospel, it must be mixed with our faith. Those who did not enter into the place of the Lord's rest, failed to enter because of unbelief. We should not follow their example (Heb. 4:1-6, 11). The hallowing of the Sabbath is not about a denomination, nor about legalism, though men may try to burden the Sabbath with those religious doctrines. The Sabbath is about blessing, sanctification, and the honoring of the completed work of the LORD from before the foundation of the world. The double-portion blessing is part of the Sabbath of God, as God provides twice the amount the day before the Sabbath, so his people can come into his rest on the Sabbath. Keeping the word of God in all of these things causes us to be called "The Repairers of the breach" and "The Restorers of paths to dwell in" (Isa. 58:12).

Hebrews goes on to say:

"There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest..."   Heb. 4:9-11

 

*The above is based upon the 3/29/20 message to the Church from Dr. Kenneth Stevenson. 
To Contact/Submit prayer requests/Support the ministry/Order the book, "NAZAH-White Linen and the Blood of Sprinkling", and to help us get out the message, to contribute to the Book of Remembrance for Sean Stevenson:

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Prayer of Salvation for all who desire to receive Jesus as their Savior: Lord Jesus, I desire to know You, and to know Your salvation. I believe that You died for me, and that You were resurrected for me. Forgive me of my sins. Come into my heart, change me, fill me with Your righteousness. Inscribe my name in the Lamb's book of life. Baptize me in Your Holy Spirit, so that I can learn the truth of Your Word and ways, and be strengthened in my walk all the days of my life. You are the hope of my life, and You are my eternal life. I place my trust in You, Lord, for myself, and my whole household. Use me to do the will of the heavenly Father, Who sent You, in Whose name You came. In Your name, and in thanks and praise I pray, Amen.

 

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Sean Stevenson