Study Guide: 

                               
REASONS FOR SABBATH OBSERVANCE

Sources: 
1. Vandeman, George E. The Cry of a Lonely Planet. Mountain View, Calif., Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1983.
2. Boonstra, Shawn. The Sign. Nampa, Idaho, Pacific Press Pub. Association, 2008.
3. New King James Version. Nashville, Tn, Thomas Nelson, Inc., 1982.

In the two (2) versions of the Ten Commandments that are documented in the Bible (Exo 20, Deu 5), What reasons are given for observing the Sabbath? See Exo 20:11, Deu 5:15.

Exo 20:11 – The Sabbath is a memorial to God’s creative power. It was established at Creation and set apart as holy time. It was “hallowed”. Before our first parents rebelled against God, the Sabbath was both a day of rest and a memorial of God’s creative power.

Deu 5:15 – The nation of Israel was utterly helpless in the land of Egypt, completely incapable of freeing themselves from slavery. Their only hope was an act of God.

What do you think of the suggestion (oftentimes an accusation) that observing the seventh-day Sabbath we are trying to earn our salvation? SeeEph 2:8-10.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Did you catch it? This passage calls the plan of salvation a creative act of God! “We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works.” The Bible also says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Cor 5:17).

It’s quite simple, really. The Sabbath was originally established at Creation as a day of rest and a memorial to God’s creative power. After human beings sinned, it took on the added significance of being a celebration of God’s power to save us and liberate us from the slavery of sin and re-create us in the image of Christ. The Sabbath has nothing to do with earning salvation. On the contrary, it marks the fact that we are resting in the knowledge that God has saved us and will bring us home.

Israel's journey across the desert symbolizes our journey into heaven's Promised Land.

What is the key–yet devastating–word in Num 13:28-29?

The spies came back with a report (Numbers 13:25-27) that the Promised Land is every bit as good as God had said it was. Then in verse 28, the pivot with the devastating word “nevertheless”.

With a single word, ten of the spies punctured the hopes of Israel by causing them to doubt God’s promise. “It looks good, but there’s no hope that we can take it. The people who live there are simply too much for us.”

By all outward appearances, the unfaithful spies were right. Israel was a group of uneducated slaves who were untrained in the art of war. By anybody’s estimation, they didn’t stand a chance.

When it comes to the problem of sin, Do we stand a chance? Faced with our sins, do we have to weep bitterly with the apostle Paul?–see Rom 7:24.

The devil is too big for us. Our sins look monstrous in the light of God’s presence. There is no solution—except the promise of God (verse 25).

Caleb, one of the twelve spies, understood this. “ ‘Let us go up at once and take possession,’ ” he said, “ ‘for we are well able to overcome it’ ” (Numbers 13:30). What was Caleb’s secret? He knew that victory was not contingent on Israel’s ability, but upon God’s power.

Unfortunately, only two people believed in God’s promise that day—Joshua and Caleb. 

The rest of Israel died in the wilderness. The book of Hebrews explains why. See Hebrews 3:16-19. What is the key word–the critical issue?

Unbelief. It was all dependent on the promise of God and their willingness to believe it. If they had stepped across the border they would have discovered that God was indeed fully willing and able to deal with any obstacle to salvation.

Here’s the interesting part: in the same passage in Hebrews that deals with Israel’s lack of faith and their inability to rest in God’s promise, the author brings up the issue of our salvation—and he ties it to keeping the Sabbath!

Read carefully perhaps one of the most misunderstood passages in the Bible: Heb 4:8-10.

Note: Jesus (KJV) vs Joshua (NKJV). The English name Jesus is a transliteration of the Greek, which in turn is a transliteration of the Hebrew equivalent of Joshua.

Joshua did, indeed, give Israel literal “rest” in Canaan, that is, he led them in a successful conquest and settlement of considerable portions of the land. But he did not lead them into the spiritual “rest” God designed for them because they were not willing (see on ch. 3:11.)

SDABC Vol. VII comments on Heb 4:8:

Luke 21:8

Christian, Be Not Deceived!

Far from being an attempt at trying to earn salvation through works, the Sabbath celebrates the fact that we are trusting in God alone for our salvation. Not only do we get to rest from six days of actual physical labor, we have a weekly reminder that we can rest in God’s ability to save us from sin and ultimately deliver us to the Promised Land. It’s the same meaning God added to the Sabbath after the Exodus—it is a celebration of both creation and re-creation. It’s a clear sign that God understands the humiliation of our slavery to sin and that He’s doing something about it.

“Who will deliver me from this body of death?” Paul asked. In the next verse, he gives the answer: Rom 7:25.

“I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

The Sabbath, rightly understood, is not legalism at all. It’s a matter of sheer faith. More than that, it’s a legitimate way for suffering human beings to air their grievances against suffering; a way for us to shake a fist in the face of evil.

How do we shake our fist in the face of evil? To better understand the answer, reflect on what Lucifer wants and craves most: Isa 14:13-14, Matt 4:8-9.

Lucifer has one ultimate goal. He wants one thing: the throne of the universe. He craves worship.

The final clash between true and false worship will come in our day—and sooner than we think! (Rev 22:7)

In the days of Elijah (~870 BC) there was the most dramatic confrontation of all time between false worship and the worship of the true God—the most dramatic up to that time, that is. What question did Elijah pose? See 1 Ki 18:21.

The New English Bible says, “How long will you sit on the fence?” It was a call for a decision.

But now for something interesting. What prediction is given right at the close of the Old Testament? See Mal 4:5-6.

Elijah? Coming back in our time? What do we have here? Reincarnation? Does this mean that we can expect to see the prophet Elijah himself?

Actually Malachi’s prophecy was to have a double application. It was to be fulfilled twice. Elijah would return down here in our time, before the second coming of our Lord. But he was also to come into the picture before the first coming of Jesus to this earth.

The disciples of Jesus understood Malachi’s prophecy to mean that Elijah would appear before the Messiah came. And when they became convinced that Jesus was the Messiah, they wondered why they had seen nothing of Elijah. So they asked Jesus about it one day, and He told them that Elijah had already come and they hadn’t recognized him. Then He made it clear that He was referring to John the Baptist. See Matthew 17:10–13. But when they asked John if he was Elijah, he said he was not. See John 1:21.

Confused? It all clears up when we read the announcement of the angel to Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist—before John was born. See Luke 1:17.

There you have it. Some of the exact words of the ancient prophecy are repeated. And John the Baptist, the angel said, was to fulfill it.

No reincarnation. Elijah himself was not to reappear. John was to give a message, he was to do a work, in the spirit and power of Elijah. It was the message, not the man, that would reappear.

And was John’s message similar to that of Elijah? Yes. He spoke in the same spirit and with the same power. He was fearless in denouncing hypocrisy. His message, like that of Elijah, was a call to repent, to reform. It was a call back to the commandments of God. It was a call to decide. A call to choose.

But now, according to the prophecy, the message of Elijah is to be repeated again just before the second coming of Christ. And just as a message given in the spirit and power of Elijah was to prepare the way for Christ’s first coming, just so a message similar to that of Elijah will prepare the way for the second coming of our Lord. Just like the messages of Elijah and of John, it will be a call to repent, to reform. It will call men back to the commandments of God. It will be a call to decide. A call to choose.

The choice, the two sides are portrayed in the final events described by the book of Revelation. On the one side, there is Lucifer, who craves worship. In Revelation 13, he provides compelling alternatives to the worship of the one true Creator God, even forcing people to worship his false system when gentle persuasion fails. On the other side, there is the final warning message in Revelation 14 that goes to all the world, pleading with humanity to return to the Creator—to worship Him who made the earth and sea and sky.

What is the Elijah message today, and who is Elijah? See Rev 14:6-12.

God’s last call to men—the worldwide warning—is found in the fourteenth chapter of Revelation.

In Revelation 12:17, What is Satan angry about?

The prophet Daniel predicted an attempt would be made to change God’s law (Dan 7:25). Will Satan focus his attack on the commandments that men find reasonable and about which there is no controversy? Or will he zero in on the one which doesn’t answer to human reason, the one which rests on God’s authority alone? And wouldn’t you expect the fallen angel to target especially the one that continually reminds men of their Creator? Of course!

Do you begin to see what the mark of God might be—and what the mark of the beast might be? If God uses the Sabbath commandment as a test of loyalty and if a faithful observance of that command marks a man as one who can be trusted to go God’s way forever—then what might be the mark of the rebel camp?

You see, the controversy isn’t over a day at all. It’s over authority.

Armageddon and its Mt. Carmel connection. See Rev 16:14-16.

In Hebrew, the name Armageddon is literally “mountain of Megiddo”. But nowhere is there a mountain called Megiddo. Megiddo is actually a valley or the Plain of Esdraelon (see maps below).

Now sometimes, as we are all aware, a word has more than one meaning. This is the case with the Greek word topos, which has been translated “place”—“a place called … Armageddon.” This Greek word is used not only to mean a geographical location, but also to mean status, condition, or situation.

A situation called Armageddon. That makes it easier to understand, doesn’t it? 

But now, if that is the case, Why “mountain of Megiddo”? Why even the hint of a geographical location if it is a situation that is referred to?

Suppose, if you will, that you wished to visit the ruins of ancient Megiddo. You might take a bus eastward from the port city of Haifa and follow the Carmel ridge, the western end of which drops suddenly into the Mediterranean at Haifa. Tell el-Mutesellim (see red pin icon in the map below in the End Note), the site of ancient Megiddo, stands at the foot of this ridge on its northeastern edge. And if you survey the ruins close to the mountain, it is easy to see why many have identified the “mountain of Megiddo” with the Carmel ridge. For there, looming large before you as you stand on the Megiddo mound, would be Mount Carmel. And you know what happened atop Carmel!

Is the battle of Armageddon a spiritual battle only? See Rev 17:14, 19:14, 13:13, 14, Isa 28:21, Jer 25:33. 

Now if Babylon here is figurative, if the river Euphrates (which ran through the ancient city of Babylon) is figurative, if the beast and the dragon and the false prophet are figurative, would it be any surprise that God should give this final battle a figurative name? And since Babylon represents false worship all around the world and the Euphrates represents people all around the world—for we are plainly told that all the nations of the world are involved—must not the battle of Armageddon be worldwide?

As when the 10 plagues hit Egypt, in the final showdown, will God make a difference between those who serve Him and those who do not? See Psalms 91:7.

Just as the Hebrews then were untouched by the plagues, just so God’s people have this promise of protection during the 7 last plagues (Rev 16:1-12, 17-21) and battle of Armageddon (Rev 16:13-16).

End Note:

Maps of Mt. Carmel and Megiddo from Google Earth. 


https://earth.google.com/web/search/megiddo/@32.71272059,35.25360843,321.2583894a,67228.92245245d,35y,360h,0t,0r/data=CigiJgokCXvhZNQxeUBAEU1m_DJGNUBAGUqUP2Qb_kFAIfdJ_lOoWUFAOgMKATAType your paragraph here.