https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/The-Sabbath-as-a-Type.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n\tby Jeffrey W. Hamilton<\/p>\n\t
Text: Hebrews 4:1-11<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I. Paul, in arguing that the Old Law was not in effect, concluded – Colossians 2:16-17<\/p>\n A. There were reasons why the Israelites were to worship as they did. Their worship\nforeshadowed both things in the Christian age and in the age to come – heaven\n B. This is the reason God wanted Israel to follow His instructions carefully –\nHebrews 8:4-6\n
C. We will focus on just one item in this lesson – the Sabbath Day<\/p>\n
II. The Sabbath observance was a part of the Ten Commandments – Exodus 20:8-11<\/p>\n A. The Sabbath was to be a day set apart as something special for God – Exodus\n31:13-17\n 1. It was a sign between Israel and God that it was God who set them apart as\na special people\n
B. It was not to be defiled<\/p>\n 1. Like the other Ten Commandments, it carried a death penalty if not\nobserved.\n 2. It was to be perpetually kept as a part of the covenant, though the covenant\nitself was not permanent – Hosea 2:11\n
3. While in effect, it was not skipped – Isaiah 66:23<\/p>\n
C. How would this command be violated?<\/p>\n 1. By profaning the day; that is, by treating just like any other day of the\nweek. That is why they were forbidden to work.\n
2. Isaiah 56:2 – By sinning on the day dedicated to God<\/p>\n 3. Isaiah 58:13-14 – By honoring the day and not doing your own things on\nthis day, it showed respect to God by forgoing your own desires on His\nday.\n
4. This is why God was angry with Israel – Malachi 1:10-13<\/p>\n
a. The worship of God was no longer special to God’s people<\/p>\n
D. As Christians, our worship is not on the seventh day of the week, but on the first<\/p>\n 1. In Acts 20:7, it mentions that the first day of the week was when\nChristians came together to partake of the Lord’s Supper (to break bread)\n
a. We know it wasn’t a common meal because this was done weekly<\/p>\n
b. And it is not to be skipped – Hebrews 10:23-25<\/p>\n 2. This gathering is to be special, so it must not be marred by division – I\nCorinthians 11:17-18\n
a. We don’t defile our time together before God with sin<\/p>\n 3. This gathering is to emphasize the fellowship of believers – I Corinthians\n10:16-17; 11:20-21,33\n 4. This observance of the Lord’s Supper is not to be treated as a common\nmeal – I Corinthians 11:22\n
a. Notice the use of “despised,” just like Malachi 1:12<\/p>\n
b. This is not a meal like at home – I Corinthians 11:34<\/p>\n
III. The Sabbath was a day for reading the Scriptures – Acts 15:21<\/p>\n
A. It brought the focus of worship on God and His wondrous teachings<\/p>\n
B. Christian worship carries out that same practice – I Timothy 4:11-13<\/p>\n
IV. The Sabbath was a day of remembrance<\/p>\n A. It was to remind the Israelites that they were once slaves in Egypt – Deuteronomy\n5:15\n 1. When we partake of the Lord’s Supper in our weekly observance we focus\non the fact that through Christ’s death, he rescued us and freed us from the\nslavery of sin – Romans 6:3-7,17-18; I Corinthians 11:23-25\n
B. The Sabbath was also to remind the Israelites of the creation – Exodus 20:11<\/p>\n 1. When we become Christians, we are made new through baptism – II\nCorinthians 5:17-19\n 2. Consider that creation was something God did in one time period and then\nstopped (or rested)\n
a. This is why God insisted that the Israelites not work – Exodus 20:9-10<\/p>\n
b. This was a novel idea for a people who spent 400 years in slavery.<\/p>\n
(1) Slaves don’t get to pick when they get a break<\/p>\n
(2) They don’t get vacation days or holidays<\/p>\n (3) A day of worship that required no work was especially\nmeaningful to a society of former slaves\n
c. The word “Sabbath” in Hebrew means “rest”<\/p>\n 3. Consider too that Christ in freeing us from sins offered himself just once –\nHebrews 7:26-27\n 4. In the Lord’s Supper, we proclaim Jesus’ sacrifice to the world – I\nCorinthians 11:26\n a. Our worship sets us apart from the world as we give praise to God\nfor what He has graciously done for us\n
V. The Sabbath was a symbol of rest – Hebrews 4:1-11<\/p>\n
A. Hebrews 3:7-4:11 is a commentary on a passage from Psalms 95:7-11<\/p>\n
B. What rest was the Psalmist talking about?<\/p>\n
1. It could not have been Israel’s weekly Sabbaths<\/p>\n a. During the journey to the promised land, Israel was keeping the\nSabbaths\n b. People were punished when the Sabbath was broken during the\nwilderness wanderings – Numbers 15:32-36\n c. Yet in this passage God said they could not enter His rest and sent\nthem wandering in the wilderness\n
d. Obviously, it was not the weekly Sabbaths that God has in mind<\/p>\n
2. There is only one rest under discussion<\/p>\n a. Greek is a very precise language. We can learn a lot by paying\nclose attention to its many forms it uses for words.\n b. All through this section “rest” and “Sabbath” are in the singular\nform.\n c. There is one particular rest or Sabbath that the writer of Hebrews\nhas in mind\n d. A weekly observance would be multiple rests and when addressed\nwould be in the plural\n
3. Was it the Promise Land?<\/p>\n a. The passage in Psalms is referring back to the time God denied the\nIsraelites entrance into Canaan – Numbers 14:20-23\n b. They died in their unbelief and so could not rest from their\nwandering\n c. The Hebrew writer is using this event as an allegory to teach an\nidea to Christians\n (1) We, like the Israelites, must be careful lest we are unable to\nenter our promised rest – our land of promise – because of\nunbelief\n (2) Since Israel couldn’t enter the Promised Land, there must\nbe something yet remaining\n
d. Joshua led Israel into the promise land<\/p>\n
(1) God gave Israel rest – Joshua 23:1<\/p>\n
(2) But Psalms 95 was written by David – Hebrews 4:7<\/p>\n
(a) Long after Israel entered Canaan<\/p>\n
(b) Yet David said, “Today”<\/p>\n
e. Therefore, Psalms 95 is not about entering Canaan<\/p>\n (1) It used the rebellion and the wilderness wandering as an\nexample\n
(2) But it has another rest in mind for the application<\/p>\n
4. Are we in that rest already?<\/p>\n
a. In cannot be something in this world<\/p>\n (1) God rested from his creation on the seventh day – Genesis\n2:1-3\n (2) He did not take up the work of creating again on the eight\nday or any day following. The creation was finished on the\nsixth day\n (3) Therefore, in a true sense, we are living in God’s rest right\nnow\n b. But since God speaks of not entering His rest at a later time, then\nthis world is not what God had in mind.\n C. There is a single Sabbath rest that remains is in each Christian’s future, which he\nmust work diligently in order to enter into it\n
D. It is a rest promised<\/p>\n
1. It is a promise that gives each Christian hope – I Timothy 4:8<\/p>\n
2. A promise of eternal life to come<\/p>\n
3. A promise of an eternal inheritance – Hebrews 9:15<\/p>\n
4. A promise of new heavens and a new earth – II Peter 3:13<\/p>\n E. In other words, the rest we are longing for is our home in heaven – Revelation\n14:13\nVI. I doubt that the Israelites understood the intricate details of what their weekly worship\nservices represented\n
A. That is why God emphasized that they were to follow the pattern<\/p>\n
B. There are reasons why our worship is conducted in the way it is down. <\/p>\n
1. It is the reality of the shadows seen in the Old Testament<\/p>\n
2. But our worship also is rich in meaning about our future – Philippians 3:17<\/p>\n
C. Are you following the pattern established by God?<\/p>\n
1. Are you prepared to enter His rest?<\/p>\n 2. Or will you be like the Israelites who rebelled attempting to establish their\nown worship?\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Hebrews 4:1-11 I. Paul, in arguing that the Old Law was not in effect, concluded – Colossians 2:16-17 A. There were reasons why the Israelites were to worship as they did. Their worship foreshadowed both things in the Christian age and in the age to come – heaven B. This is the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[119,32],"tags":[211,503,348],"class_list":["post-36958","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-audio","category-sermon","tag-figurative-language","tag-foreshadow","tag-sabbath"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":64073,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-sabbath-was-saturday-not-sunday\/","url_meta":{"origin":36958,"position":0},"title":"The Sabbath Was Saturday, Not Sunday","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 16, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton The 7th day of the week is the old Sabbath commanded of the Israelites (Exodus 20:8-11). Are we to keep it? No! We are not under the law of Moses (Romans 7:6). The inspired apostle Paul said that the ordinances of the law were \"abolished\" in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":86813,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/observing-the-sabbath-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":36958,"position":1},"title":"Observing the Sabbath (Sermon)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 27, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: II Corinthians 3:1-11 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A well-known, active group is the Seventh-Day Adventist \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0They hold an odd mixture of beliefs: \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0They won\u2019t accept medical treatment, relying solely on prayer instead; \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a02.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0They believe in modern-day prophecy, making many wild claims that never seem to come true; \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a03.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0And\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16466,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-sabbath-is-mentioned-more-than-the-first-day-of-the-week-so-isnt-that-the-day-we-should-worship\/","url_meta":{"origin":36958,"position":2},"title":"The Sabbath is mentioned more than the first day of the week, so isn’t that the day we should worship?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 19, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I would like to say that you err on Sunday as God's true Sabbath. The Sabbath is mentioned 60 times in the New Testament as to 7 to 8 times for the first day of the week, which none of the first day of the week is about worship.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":36079,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-if-god-told-you-to-worship-on-the-sabbath\/","url_meta":{"origin":36958,"position":3},"title":"What if God told you to worship on the Sabbath?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 9, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I have a hypothetical question for you. \u00a0If God himself were to tell you (audibly speaking here) that your view of the Sabbath is incorrect, that it is in fact still valid (the biblical Sabbath of Friday sunset to Saturday sunset), would you take lightly to His decree,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":67248,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-sabbath\/","url_meta":{"origin":36958,"position":4},"title":"The Sabbath","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 29, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton The Sabbath day was for Israel to have a day of rest. Paul, by the Spirit, said that sabbaths, among many other things, were a \"shadow\" of the good things to come (Colossians 2:13-16). Since the shadows lead up to the substance that cast the shadow\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7033,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-did-you-use-non-biblical-sources-in-your-answer-on-the-sabbath\/","url_meta":{"origin":36958,"position":5},"title":"Why did you use non-biblical sources in your answer on the Sabbath?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 9, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I'm surprised that all your quotations about the observance of the sabbath are not biblical, so what is it you are trying to teach us? Can you kindly use the scriptures and not those the Holy Spirit denied being included in the Bible because of their contradictions? 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