LESSON 5 *January 22–28

Jesus, the Giver of Rest

Sabbath Afternoon

Read for This Week’s Study: Gen. 15:13–21; Heb. 3:12– 19; Heb. 4:6–11; Heb. 4:1, 3, 5, 10; Deut. 5:12–15; Heb. 4:8–11.

Memory Text: “There remains therefore a rest for the people of God” (Hebrews 4:9, NKJV).

Hebrews 1 and 2 focused on the enthronement of Jesus as the Ruler and Liberator of God’s people. Hebrews 3 and 4 introduce Jesus as the One who will provide rest for us. This progression makes sense once we remember that the Davidic covenant promised that God would give the promised king and his people “rest” from their enemies (2 Sam. 7:10, 11). This rest is available to us now that Jesus is seated at the right hand of God.

Hebrews describes the rest both as a rest that belongs to God and as a Sabbath rest (Heb. 4:1–11). God made this rest, which was His, available to Adam and Eve. The first Sabbath was the experience of perfection with the One who made that perfection possible. God also promises a Sabbath rest because true Sabbath observance embodies the promise that God will bring that perfection back.

When we keep the Sabbath, we remember that God made perfect provision for us when He created the world and when He redeemed it at the cross. True Sabbath observance, however, besides first and foremost pointing us back to Creation, offers us a foretaste, in this imperfect world, of the future that God has promised.

* Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, January 29.


Sabbath Afternoon, January 22

Lesson 5 - Jesus, the Giver of Rest

God gave to men the memorial of His creative power, that they might discern Him in the works of His hand. The Sabbath bids us behold in His created works the glory of the Creator. And it was because He desired us to do this that Jesus bound up His precious lessons with the beauty of natural things. On the holy rest day, above all other days, we should study the messages that God has written for us in nature. We should study the Saviour’s parables where He spoke them, in the fields and groves, under the open sky, among the grass and flowers. As we come close to the heart of nature, Christ makes His presence real to us, and speaks to our hearts of His peace and love.—Christ’s Object Lessons, pp. 25, 26.
 

The Sabbath was hallowed at the creation. As ordained for man, it had its origin when “the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy.” Job 38:7. Peace brooded over the world; for earth was in harmony with heaven. “God saw everything that He had made, and, behold, it was very good;” and He rested in the joy of His completed work. Genesis 1:31.

Because He had rested upon the Sabbath, “God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it,”—set it apart to a holy use. He gave it to Adam as a day of rest. It was a memorial of the work of creation, and thus a sign of God’s power and His love. The Scripture says, “He hath made His wonderful works to be remembered.” “The things that are made,” declare “the invisible things of Him since the creation of the world,” “even His everlasting power and divinity.” Genesis 2:3; Psalm 111:4; Romans 1:20, R. V. …

To all who receive the Sabbath as a sign of Christ’s creative and redeeming power, it will be a delight. Seeing Christ in it, they delight themselves in Him. The Sabbath points them to the works of creation as an evidence of His mighty power in redemption.—The Desire of Ages, pp. 281, 289.
 

In the kingdom of God, [we shall] be constantly discerning new depths in the plan of salvation. All the redeemed saints will see and appreciate as never before the love of the Father and the Son, and songs of praise will burst forth from immortal tongues. He loved us, He gave His life for us. With glorified bodies, with enlarged capacities, with hearts made pure, with lips undefiled, we shall sing the riches of redeeming love. There will be no suffering ones in heaven, no skeptics whom we must labor to convince of the reality of eternal things, no prejudices to uproot, but all will be susceptible to that love which passeth knowledge. Rest, thank God, there is a rest for the people of God, where Jesus will lead the redeemed into green pastures, by the streams of living waters which make glad the city of our God. Then the prayer of Jesus to His Father will be answered: “I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am.”—That I May Know Him, p. 371.

SUNDAY January 23

The Land as a Place of Rest

Read Genesis 15:13–21. What did God promise Abraham?

* Your notes will not be saved!

When God delivered Israel from slavery in Egypt, His purpose was to bring Israel to the land of Canaan, where they would be able to serve and obey Him freely (Exod. 8:1; Ps. 105:43–45), including enjoying the Sabbath rest that Pharoah had prohibited (Exod. 5:5). The land of Canaan was the inheritance that God had promised to their father Abraham because he had obeyed God’s voice and left his country to go to the Promised Land (Gen. 11:31–12:4).

God’s purpose in giving the land to Israel was not simply for the people to possess it. God was bringing them to Himself (Exod. 19:4). God wanted them to live in a land where they would be able to enjoy an intimate relationship with Him, without any hindrance, and would be a witness to the world of who the true God was and what He offered His people. Like the Sabbath of Creation, the land of Canaan was a framework that made possible an intimate relationship with their Redeemer and the enjoyment of His goodness.

In Deuteronomy 12:1–14, the Lord told the people that they would enter the rest, not simply when they entered the land—but when they had purged the land from idolatry. After that, God would show them, the chosen, a place where He would dwell among them.

Read Exodus 20:8–11 and Deuteronomy 5:12–15. What two things does the Sabbath rest commemorate, and how are they related?

God connected the Sabbath of Creation with the deliverance from Egypt. He instructed Israel to observe the Sabbath as a memorial of Creation and as a memorial of their redemption from Egypt. Creation and Redemption are both enshrined in the Sabbath commandment. Just as we did not create ourselves, we cannot redeem ourselves. It’s a work that only God can do, and by resting we acknowledge our dependence upon Him, not only for existence but also for salvation. Sabbath keeping is a powerful expression of salvation by faith alone.

How should keeping the Sabbath help us understand our complete dependence upon God, not only for existence but also for salvation?


Sunday, January 23

The Land as a Place of Rest

The message of God came to Abraham, “Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will show thee.” In order that God might qualify him for his great work as the keeper of the sacred oracles, Abraham must be separated from the associations of his early life. The influence of kindred and friends would interfere with the training which the Lord purposed to give His servant. Now that Abraham was, in a special sense, connected with heaven, he must dwell among strangers. His character must be peculiar, differing from all the world. He could not even explain his course of action so as to be understood by his friends. Spiritual things are spiritually discerned, and his motives and actions were not comprehended by his idolatrous kindred.

“By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.” Hebrews 11:8. Abraham’s unquestioning obedience is one of the most striking evidences of faith to be found in all the Bible. To him, faith was “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Verse 1. Relying upon the divine promise, without the least outward assurance of its fulfillment, he abandoned home and kindred and native land, and went forth, he knew not whither, to follow where God should lead.—Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 126.
 

No other institution which was committed to the Jews tended so fully to distinguish them from surrounding nations as did the Sabbath. God designed that its observance should designate them as His worshipers. It was to be a token of their separation from idolatry, and their connection with the true God. But in order to keep the Sabbath holy, men must themselves be holy. Through faith they must become partakers of the righteousness of Christ. When the command was given to Israel, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy,” the Lord said also to them, “Ye shall be holy men unto Me.” Exodus 20:8; 22:31. Only thus could the Sabbath distinguish Israel as the worshipers of God.

As the Jews departed from God, and failed to make the righteousness of Christ their own by faith, the Sabbath lost its significance to them. Satan was seeking to exalt himself and to draw men away from Christ, and he worked to pervert the Sabbath, because it is the sign of the power of Christ.—The Desire of Ages, pp. 283, 284.
 

Make God your entire dependence. When you do otherwise, then it is time for a halt to be called. Stop right where you are, and change the order of things. … In sincerity, in soul-hunger, cry after God. Wrestle with the heavenly agencies until you have the victory. Put your whole being into the Lord’s hands soul, body, and spirit, and resolve to be His loving, consecrated agency, moved by His will, controlled by His mind, infused by His Spirit … then you will see heavenly things clearly.—Sons and Daughters of God, p. 105.

MONDAY January 24

Because of Unbelief

Read Hebrews 3:12–19. Why was Israel unable to enter into the promised rest?

The sad story is that those who were delivered from Egypt were unable to enter into the rest that God had promised them. When the Israelites arrived at Kadesh barnea, at the border of the Promised Land, they lacked the faith that they needed. Numbers 13 and Numbers 14 explain that the Israelite spies “brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land” (Num. 13:32, ESV). They affirmed that the land was good, but they warned that the inhabitants were strong and the cities were fortified and that they would not be able to conquer it.

Joshua and Caleb agreed that the land was good and did not dispute the fact that the people there were strong and the cities were fortified. But they said that God was with them and that He would bring them into the land (Num. 14:7–9). Yet, the people who saw God destroy Egypt through plagues (Exodus 7–12), annihilate Pharaoh’s army in the Red Sea (Exodus 14), and provide bread from heaven (Exodus 16) and water from the rock (Exodus 17), as well as manifest His continuing presence and guidance through the cloud (Exod. 40:36–38), failed to trust in Him now. It is a tragic irony that the generation who saw such mighty displays of God’s power became a symbol of faithlessness (Neh. 9:15–17, Ps. 106:24–26, 1 Cor. 10:5–10).

God promises His children gifts that are beyond human reach. That is why they are based on grace and are accessible only through faith. Hebrews 4:2 explains that the promise Israel received “was of no value to them, because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed” (Heb. 4:2, NIV).

Israel traveled to the borders of the Promised Land as a people. When the people were faced with contradictory reports, they identified with those who lacked faith. Faith, or lack of it, is contagious. That is why Hebrews admonishes its readers to “exhort one another” (Heb. 3:13), “to stir up one another to love and good works” (Heb. 10:24, ESV), and to “see to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God” (Heb. 12:15, ESV).

In what ways can you help build the faith of fellow believers? How can you make sure that you never say or do anything that could weaken another’s faith?


Monday, January 24

Because of Unbelief

Cannot we who are living in the time of the end realize the importance of the apostle’s words: “Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God”? [Hebrews 3:12]

Upon us is shining the accumulated light of past ages. The record of Israel’s forgetfulness has been preserved for our enlightenment. In this age God has set His hand to gather unto Himself a people from every nation, kindred, and tongue. In the advent movement He has wrought for His heritage, even as He wrought for the Israelites in leading them from Egypt. In the great disappointment of 1844 the faith of His people was tested as was that of the Hebrews at the Red Sea. Had the Adventists in the early days still trusted to the guiding Hand that had been with them in their past experience, they would have seen of the salvation of God. If all who had labored unitedly in the work of 1844 had received the third angel’s message and proclaimed it in the power of the Holy Spirit, the Lord would have wrought mightily with their efforts. A flood of light would have been shed upon the world. Years ago the inhabitants of the earth would have been warned, the closing work would have been completed, and Christ would have come for the redemption of His people.—Testimonies for the Church, vol. 8, pp. 115, 116.
 

The land to which we are traveling is in every sense far more attractive than was the land of Canaan to the children of Israel. … What stayed their progress just in sight of the goodly land? … It was their own willful unbelief that turned them back. They were unwilling to risk anything upon the promises of God. … The history of the children of Israel is written as a warning to us “upon whom the ends of the world are come.” We are standing, as it were, upon the very borders of the heavenly Canaan. We may, if we will, look over on the other side and behold the attractions of the goodly land. If we have faith in the promises of God we shall show in conversation and in deportment that we are not living for this world, but are making it our first business to prepare for that holy land.—That I May Know Him, p. 169.
 

Make it a rule never to utter one word of doubt or discouragement. You can do much to brighten the life of others and strengthen their efforts, by words of hope and holy cheer.

There is many a brave soul sorely pressed by temptation, almost ready to faint in the conflict with self and with the powers of evil. Do not discourage such a one in his hard struggle. Cheer him with brave, hopeful words that shall urge him on his way. Thus the light of Christ may shine from you. “None of us liveth to himself.” Romans 14:7. By our unconscious influence others may be encouraged and strengthened.—Steps to Christ, pp. 119, 120.

TUESDAY January 25

Today, If You Hear His Voice

Read Hebrews 4:4-8. What is the meaning of entering rest “today” in connection with keeping the Sabbath?

The unbelief of the desert generation prevented them from entering into the rest God promised. But God kept urging His people to enter this rest and not to harden their hearts. Paul repeats several times that God’s promise “remains” (Heb. 4:1, 6, 9, NKJV). He uses the Greek verbs kataleipō and apoleipō, emphasizing that “the promise of entering his [God’s] rest still stands” (Heb. 4:1, ESV). The fact that the invitation to enter this rest was repeated in the time of David (Heb. 4:6, 7, referring to Psalm 95) implied both that the promise had not been claimed and that it was still available. In fact, Paul suggests that the experience of true Sabbath rest has been available since the time of Creation (Heb. 4:3, 4).

God invites us “today” to enter into His rest. “Today” is a crucial concept throughout Scripture. When Moses renewed Israel’s covenant with God at the border of the Promised Land, he emphasized the importance of “today” (Deut. 5:3, compare Deut. 4:8, Deut. 6:6, etc.). It was a moment of reflection to recognize God’s faithfulness (Deut. 11:2–7) and a time of decision to obey the Lord (Deut. 5:1–3). Similarly, Joshua called on the people of his time to “choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve” (Josh. 24:15, NKJV).

In the same way, “today” is a time of decision for us, a time of opportunity as well as danger, as it has always been for God’s people (See 2 Cor. 6:2). “Today” appears five times in Hebrews 3 and Hebrews 4. It emphasizes the importance of listening to God’s voice (Heb. 3:7, 15; 4:7) because failing to listen and believe God’s Word leads to disobedience and the hardening of our hearts. It could even delay our entrance into the heavenly Canaan, just as it kept the wilderness generation from entering the earthly Canaan.

But Jesus has defeated our enemies (Heb. 2:14–16) and inaugurated a new covenant (Hebrews 8–10). Thus, we can “come boldly to the throne of grace” (Heb. 4:14–16). The appeal “today” invites us to recognize that God has been faithful to us and has provided us with every reason to accept His invitation right away without delay.

What spiritual decisions must you make “today,” that is, not put off for another time? What have been your past experiences when you have delayed doing what you knew God would have you do right away?


Tuesday, January 25

Today, If You Hear His Voice

When the Lord delivered His people Israel from Egypt and committed to them His law, He taught them that by the observance of the Sabbath they were to be distinguished from idolaters. It was this that made the distinction between those who acknowledge the sovereignty of God and those who refuse to accept Him as their Creator and King. “It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever,” the Lord said. “Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant.” Exodus 31:17, 16.

As the Sabbath was the sign that distinguished Israel when they came out of Egypt to enter the earthly Canaan, so it is the sign that now distinguishes God’s people as they come out from the world to enter the heavenly rest. The Sabbath is a sign of the relationship existing between God and His people, a sign that they honor His law. It distinguishes between His loyal subjects and transgressors.—Testimonies for the Church, vol. 6, pp. 349, 350.
 

The truth of God received into the heart is able to make you wise unto salvation. In believing and obeying it you will receive grace sufficient for the duties and trials of today. Grace for tomorrow you do not need. You should feel that you have only to do with today. Overcome for today; deny self for today; watch and pray for today; obtain victories in God for today. Our circumstances and surroundings, the changes daily transpiring around us, and the written word of God which discerns and proves all things—these are sufficient to teach us our duty and just what we ought to do, day by day.—Testimonies for the Church, vol. 3, p. 333.
 

Oh, if every one would only know by personal experience how much of heaven’s promised rest can be secured to the soul, even now, by sincere prayer. If one has not learned this lesson, every other lesson of life [had] better not be learned till he shall learn in the school of Christ how to master this lesson. …

Oh what a theme to contemplate that man, depraved and lost in his natural condition, may be renewed and saved by the gracious help that Christ gives him in the gospel. The love of Jesus in the soul will drive out the enemy who is seeking to take possession of man. Every trial patiently borne, every blessing thankfully received, every temptation faithfully resisted, will make you a strong man in Jesus Christ. All this grace may be gained in the prayer of faith.

Lay hold upon strength from above. Even Jesus, when preparing for some great trial, would resort to the solitude of the mountains and spend the night in prayer to His Father.—This Day With God, p. 104.

WEDNESDAY January 26

Entering Into His Rest

Read Hebrews 3:11 and Hebrews 4:1, 3, 5, 10. How does God characterize the rest He invites us to enter?

Both the Sabbath commandment in Exodus 20:8-11 and Moses’ restatement of it in Deuteronomy 5:12-15 invite us to remember what God has done for us. As we have seen, what God wrote on tablets of stone point us to the finishing of His work of creation (Exod. 31:18; 34:28). In Deuteronomy Israel is commanded to keep the Sabbath in view of God’s finished work of deliverance from Egyptian bondage. The Exodus from Egypt pointed forward to the ultimate work of deliverance from sin that Christ would accomplish on the cross when He said, “It is finished!” (John 19:30). So the Sabbath is doubly blessed and, in fact, is especially meaningful for Christians.

Read Hebrews 4:9–11, 16. What are we called to do?

The Sabbath rest celebrates the fact that God ended, or finished, His work of Creation (Gen. 2:1–3, Exod. 20:8–11) or Redemption (Deut. 5:12–15). Similarly, Jesus’ enthronement in the heavenly temple celebrates that He finished offering a perfect sacrifice for our salvation (Heb. 10:12–14).

Notice that God rests only when He has secured our well-being. At Creation, God rested when He had finished the Creation of the world. Later on, God rested in the temple only after the conquest of the land He had promised Abraham was completed through the victories of David, and Israel “lived in safety” (1 Kings 4:21–25, ESV; compare with Exod. 15:18–21, Deut. 11:24, 2 Sam. 8:1–14). God had a house built for Himself only after Israel and the king had houses for themselves.

How can we enter into His rest even now? That is, how can we, by faith, rest in the assurance of the salvation that we have in Christ, and not in ourselves?


Wednesday, January 26

Entering Into His Rest

A life in Christ is a life of restfulness. There may be no ecstasy of feeling, but there should be an abiding, peaceful trust. Your hope is not in yourself; it is in Christ. Your weakness is united to His strength, your ignorance to His wisdom, your frailty to His enduring might. …

We should not make self the center and indulge anxiety and fear as to whether we shall be saved. All this turns the soul away from the Source of our strength. Commit the keeping of your soul to God, and trust in Him. Talk and think of Jesus. Let self be lost in Him. Put away all doubt; dismiss your fears. Say with the apostle Paul, “I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). Rest in God. He is able to keep that which you have committed to Him. If you will leave yourself in His hands, He will bring you off more than conqueror through Him that has loved you.—A New Life, p. 40.
 

Thank God for the bright pictures which He has presented to us. Let us group together the blessed assurances of His love, that we may look upon them continually: The Son of God leaving His Father’s throne, clothing His divinity with humanity, that He might rescue man from the power of Satan; His triumph in our behalf, opening heaven to men, revealing to human vision the presence chamber where the Deity unveils His glory; the fallen race uplifted from the pit of ruin into which sin had plunged it, and brought again into connection with the infinite God, and having endured the divine test through faith in our Redeemer, clothed in the righteousness of Christ, and exalted to His throne—these are the pictures which God would have us contemplate.—Steps to Christ, p. 118.
 

Long have we waited for our Saviour’s return. But none the less sure is the promise. Soon we shall be in our promised home. There Jesus will lead us beside the living stream flowing from the throne of God and will explain to us the dark providences through which on this earth He brought us in order to perfect our characters. There we shall behold with undimmed vision the beauties of Eden restored. Casting at the feet of the Redeemer the crowns that He has placed on our heads and touching our golden harps, we shall fill all heaven with praise to Him that sitteth on the throne.—The Adventist Home, p. 544.

THURSDAY January 27

A Foretaste of New Creation

Compare Exodus 20:8–11, Deuteronomy 5:12–15, and Hebrews 4:8–11. What differences do you find regarding the meaning of the Sabbath rest?

As we already have seen, these texts in Exodus and Deuteronomy invite us to look to the past. They exhort us to rest on Sabbath in order to celebrate God’s accomplishments at Creation and at Redemption. Hebrews 4:9–11, however, invites us to look to the future. It tells us that God has prepared a Sabbath rest that is in the future. It suggests a new dimension for Sabbath keeping. Sabbath rest not only memorializes God’s victories in the past but also celebrates God’s promises for the future.

The future dimension of Sabbath observance has always been there, but it has often been neglected. After the Fall, it came to imply the promise that God would one day restore creation to its original glory through the Messiah. God commanded us to celebrate His acts of redemption through Sabbath observance because Sabbath pointed forward to the culmination of Redemption in a new creation. Sabbath observance is an anticipation of heaven in this imperfect world.

This has always been clear in Jewish tradition. Life of Adam and Eve (in James H. Charlesworth, ed., The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, vol. 2, [New Haven, CT; London: Yale University Press, 1985], p. 18), a work composed between 100 b.c. and a.d. 200, said: “The seventh day is a sign of the resurrection, the rest of the coming age.” Another ancient Jewish source said: The coming age is “the day which is wholly Sabbath rest for eternity.”—Jacob Neusner, The Mishnah, A New Translation (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1988), p. 873. The Othiot of Rabbi Akiba, a later source, said: “ ‘Israel said before the Holy One, Blessed Be He, “Master of the World, if we observe the commandments, what reward will we have?” He said to them: “The world-to-come.” They said to Him: “Show us its likeness.” He showed them the Sabbath.’ ”—Theodore Friedman, “The Sabbath Anticipation of Redemption,” Judaism: A Quarterly Journal, vol. 16, pp. 443, 444.

Sabbath is for celebration, for joy and thanksgiving. When we keep the Sabbath, we indicate that we believe God’s promises, that we accept His gift of grace. Sabbath is faith alive and vibrant. As far as actions go, Sabbath observance is probably the fullest expression of our conviction that we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus.

How can we learn to keep the Sabbath in a way that, indeed, shows our understanding of what salvation by faith, apart from the deeds of the law, is about? How is resting on the Sabbath an expression of salvation by grace?


Thursday, January 27

A Foretaste of New Creation

In the beginning the Father and the Son had rested upon the Sabbath after Their work of creation. When “the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them” (Genesis 2:1), the Creator and all heavenly beings rejoiced in contemplation of the glorious scene. “The morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy.” Job 38:7. Now Jesus rested [in the tomb] from the work of redemption; and though there was grief among those who loved Him on earth, yet there was joy in heaven. Glorious to the eyes of heavenly beings was the promise of the future. A restored creation, a redeemed race, that having conquered sin could never fall,—this, the result to flow from Christ’s completed work, God and angels saw. With this scene the day upon which Jesus rested is forever linked. For “His work is perfect;” and “whatsoever God doeth, it shall be forever.” Deuteronomy 32:4; Ecclesiastes 3:14. When there shall be a “restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began” (Acts 3:21), the creation Sabbath, the day on which Jesus lay at rest in Joseph’s tomb, will still be a day of rest and rejoicing. Heaven and earth will unite in praise, as “from one Sabbath to another” (Isaiah 66:23) the nations of the saved shall bow in joyful worship to God and the Lamb.—The Desire of Ages, p. 769.
 

I was shown that the law of God would stand fast forever, and exist in the new earth to all eternity. At the creation, when the foundations of the earth were laid, the sons of God looked with admiration upon the work of the Creator, and all the heavenly host shouted for joy. It was then that the foundation of the Sabbath was laid. At the close of the six days of creation, God rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made; and He blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because that in it He had rested from all His work. The Sabbath was instituted in Eden before the fall, and was observed by Adam and Eve, and all the heavenly host. God rested on the seventh day, and blessed and hallowed it. I saw that the Sabbath never will be done away; but that the redeemed saints, and all the angelic host, will observe it in honor of the great Creator to all eternity.—Early Writings, p. 217.
 

When the principle of love is implanted in the heart, when man is renewed after the image of Him that created him, the new-covenant promise is fulfilled, “I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them.” Hebrews 10:16. And if the law is written in the heart, will it not shape the life? Obedience—the service and allegiance of love—is the true sign of discipleship. … Instead of releasing man from obedience, it is faith, and faith only, that makes us partakers of the grace of Christ, which enables us to render obedience.—Steps to Christ, p. 60.

FRIDAY January 28

Further Thought: It is very significant that Paul in Hebrews used the Sabbath rest, and not Sunday, as a symbol of the salvation through grace that God offers us. The use of Sabbath rest in this way implies that Sabbath was cherished and observed by believers. From the second century a.d. forward, however, we find evidences of a decisive change in the church. Sabbath observance ceased to be considered a symbol of salvation and was, instead, considered a symbol of allegiance to Judaism and the old covenant, one that had to be avoided. To keep the Sabbath became the equivalent of to “Judaize.” For example, Ignatius of Antioch (around a.d. 110) remarked: “Those who lived according to the old order have found the new hope. They no longer observe the Sabbath but the day of the Lord— the day our life was resurrected with Christ.”—Jacques B. Doukhan, Israel and the Church: Two Voices for the Same God (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 2002), p. 42. Similarly, Marcion ordered his followers to fast on Sabbath as a sign of rejection of the Jews and their God, and Victorinus did not want it to appear that he “observed the Sabbath of the Jews” (See Israel and the Church, pp. 41–45). It was the loss of the understanding of Sabbath observance as a symbol of salvation by grace that led to its demise in the Christian church.

“The Sabbath is a sign of Christ’s power to make us holy. And it is given to all whom Christ makes holy. As a sign of His sanctifying power, the Sabbath is given to all who through Christ become a part of the Israel of God. . . .

“The Sabbath points them to the works of creation as an evidence of His mighty power in redemption. While it calls to mind the lost peace of Eden, it tells of peace restored through the Saviour. And every object in nature repeats His invitation, ‘Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.’ Matthew 11:28.”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, pp. 288, 289.

Discussion Questions:

  1. 1. What is the relationship between Sabbath observance and justification by faith?

  2. 2. What is the difference between true observance of the Sabbath and a legalistic observance of the Sabbath? How can we not only know the difference but also experience that difference in our own Sabbath observance?


Friday, January 28

For Further Reading

My Life Today, “The Shield of Faith,” p. 313;

Patriarchs and Prophets, “The Journey Around Edom,” p. 431.