Throughout the Old Testament God shares His plan of salvation for the world through the people of Israel. He often uses imagery and symbolism to give insight into deeper truths. In the Old Testament God used Israel, individuals, and the tabernacle or temple, to tell the world that He is a holy, merciful, and loving God. It is by His commands to the Israelites that He demonstrates that He is The Lord God and holy, and that people are incapable of being holy like Him on their own because of their continual inability to live in obedience to Him.
Also, He used the lives and situations of others to demonstrate deep truths about the Messiah to come. This is The One whom God used to make atonement for the sins of the world. He demonstrates through His leading of the people of Israel that He is their Savior and not only of them but also the world for those who trust Him. God’s desire is to save and redeem the world to Himself. In the book of Exodus, we must keep as a back drop that the theme of the book is that God delivers the people from bondage and make His dwelling with the people. Today we will look at one of the deep truths about the sabbath, the day of rest, spoken about in Exodus 16:11-31; 20:8-11; 31:13-17 and how it relates to Jesus as being our rest.
Here are some of the characteristics of the sabbath given to Israel by God. The sabbath is: holy to The Lord, a day of complete rest, a sign between God and Israel, observed and celebrated, and a continual covenant. The Israelites were to: work for 6 days and rest from work on the 7th day, as well as, keep the day holy from work or die, gather a double portion on the 6th day, and eat from the 6th day’s double portion. God, Himself, worked for six days created all things, rested from His labors on the seventh day, and was refreshed. He also blessed the day and made it holy. Let us look at the aspect of sabbath rest and see how important of a day it is to God.
There were seven days in a week design by God in the beginning (Genesis 1-2:3). God created the universe and all that is in it in six days. Then He rested for doing any work on the seventh day. He blessed, sanctified, and rested on that day. This is the first example given by God about what would come to be called the sabbath.
In our verses from Exodus the sabbath was said by God to be kept separate from all other days of the week. No work was to be done on that day. It was a day of complete rest. If anyone worked on that day, they were to be put to death. God was serious about no one working on this day. It was a special day to Him and He wanted others to see it as a special day as well. The Lord wanted it to be celebrated as a day of joy of God’s continual covenant with Israel. He was always going to be their God. By observing this day, it would identify the people of Israel with The Creator. God worked for six days and rested and the people are to do the same.
How does all of this compare to Jesus’ final days? We will look into this more in part two.
Throughout the Old Testament God shares His plan of salvation for the world through the people of Israel. He often uses imagery and symbolism to give insight into deeper truths. In the Old Testament God used Israel, individuals, and the tabernacle or temple, to tell the world that He is a holy, merciful, and loving God. It is by His commands to the Israelites that He demonstrates that He is The Lord God and holy, and that people are incapable of being holy like Him on their own because of their continual inability to live in obedience to Him.
Also, He used the lives and situations of others to demonstrate deep truths about the Messiah to come. This is The One whom God used to make atonement for the sins of the world. He demonstrates through His leading of the people of Israel that He is their Savior and not only of them but also the world for those who trust Him. God’s desire is to save and redeem the world to Himself. In the book of Exodus, we must keep as a back drop that the theme of the book is that God delivers the people from bondage and make His dwelling with the people. Today we will look at one of the deep truths about the sabbath, the day of rest, spoken about in Exodus 16:11-31; 20:8-11; 31:13-17 and how it relates to Jesus as being our rest.
Here are some of the characteristics of the sabbath given to Israel by God. The sabbath is: holy to The Lord, a day of complete rest, a sign between God and Israel, observed and celebrated, and a continual covenant. The Israelites were to: work for 6 days and rest from work on the 7th day, as well as, keep the day holy from work or die, gather a double portion on the 6th day, and eat from the 6th day’s double portion. God, Himself, worked for six days created all things, rested from His labors on the seventh day, and was refreshed. He also blessed the day and made it holy. Let us look at the aspect of sabbath rest and see how important of a day it is to God.
There were seven days in a week design by God in the beginning (Genesis 1-2:3). God created the universe and all that is in it in six days. Then He rested for doing any work on the seventh day. He blessed, sanctified, and rested on that day. This is the first example given by God about what would come to be called the sabbath.
In our verses from Exodus the sabbath was said by God to be kept separate from all other days of the week. No work was to be done on that day. It was a day of complete rest. If anyone worked on that day, they were to be put to death. God was serious about no one working on this day. It was a special day to Him and He wanted others to see it as a special day as well. The Lord wanted it to be celebrated as a day of joy of God’s continual covenant with Israel. He was always going to be their God. By observing this day, it would identify the people of Israel with The Creator. God worked for six days and rested and the people are to do the same.
How does all of this compare to Jesus’ final days? We will look into this more in part two.
in His love, Daniel
Posted on April 9th, 2006 by Daniel
Filed under: Truth To Live By