When Moses received the Ten Commandment from the Lord, the Fourth Commandment read as follows in the King James Version:
8Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 10But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: 11For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it." (Exodus 20" 8-11)
Yet verse 8 contains an intriguing and powerful clue as to the proper and ultimate meaning of the Sabbath:
זכור את יום השבת לקדשו׃
The vital detail which resists translation is the accusative particle את
which many scholars have argued -- including Singaporean pastor Joseph Prince -- as the Signature of God, or the marker designating the Second Person of the Trinity Jesus Christ, who identifies Himself in the Revelation of John as "The Alpha and the Omega", the Greek letters being rendered "Aleph and Tav" or את
Amazing! In the Fourth Commandment, it was as if God the Father intended for all generations and all readers to connect intrinsically and inseparably Sabbath rest with His Son Jesus Christ!
The Original text reads as follows:
זכור את יום השבת לקדשו׃
which Young's Literal Translation renders as follows:
"Remember the Sabbath-day to sanctify it"
In the above Hebrew passage, the placement of את suggests strongly that in remembering the Sabbath day, the ultimate goal is to recall Jesus Christ, who He is, what He has done, and what He is doing evermore for all believers.
What value is there for a believer to reflect on our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? Paul explains what he wanted Timothy to reflect on:
"Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things.
"Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel:
"Wherein I suffer trouble, as an evil doer, even unto bonds; but the word of God is not bound.
"Therefore I endure all things for the elect's sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory." (2 Timothy 2: 7-10)
In Ephesians, he explains what is changed in us:
"And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
"And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness." (Ephesians 4: 23-24)
The renewing of our mind (also mentioned in Romans 12:2) causes us to receive a growing revelation and adherence to the new man placed in us by the Power of the Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 4:16)
How are we renewed in our minds? By remembering and meditating on the Word of God, which is Christ (cf John 1:1):
"But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." (2 Corinthians 3:!8)
This passage can be very confusing. Young's Literal Translation sheds light on the power of Christ's glory transforming us:
"and we all, with unvailed face, the glory of the Lord beholding in a mirror, to the same image are being transformed, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord."
It is the Lord Himself working in us, whom we behold as if He were right before us, and we become transformed into His likeness!
Sabbath rest is for more than not working, but rather for us to become more like Jesus!
Heya i'm for the primary time here. I came across this board and I to find It truly
ReplyDeletehelpful & it helped me out a lot. I am hoping to pesent one
thing back and aid others such as you helped me.