Chapter 38
THE CONTROVERSY OVER SABBATH LABOR
(Matthew 12:1-14)
Before we begin our study let us pray,
Dear Holy Father,
We come before You in the Name of Your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Father please open our eyes, our ears and our hearts so we can truly see, hear and understand what You are teaching us through Your Son, Jesus Christ. Help us, oh God, to live our lives in a manner that is pleasing to You.
Amen
INTRODUCTION
In this study we will,
With this brief introduction in mind, we begin our study by going to the Old Testament to find the roots and meaning of the Sabbath.
OLD TESTAMENT BACKGROUND
In reading the book of Genesis we discover that the Sabbath came into being at the completion of God's creation of the universe. To see this let us read from,
Genesis 1:31-2:3
"[31] God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning--the sixth day."
"[2:1] Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. [2] By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. [3] And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done."
Let us notice the following verses,
1:31-2:1 … It took six days for God to create the heavens and the earth.
2 … On the seventh day God rested from all the work He did.
3 … Because it was on the seventh day that God rested, God sanctified, that is set apart, the seventh day from all the other days.
Not only did God rest on the seventh day of the week, but as we read the Old Testament we discover that,
GOD ALSO REQUIRED MAN TO REST ON THE SABBATH
To see this, let us read the instructions God gave Israel with respect to the gathering of the Manna, which was the bread He was going send from heaven for them to eat during their exodus from Egypt. It was at the beginning of their long and arduous journey in the wilderness when God taught His people how they were to labor for this bread. With this in mind, let us read what God told Israel through His servant Moses as it is recorded in,
Exodus 16:4-5
"[4] Then the LORD said to Moses, "I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions. [5] On the sixth day they are to prepare what they bring in, and that is to be twice as much as they gather on the other days.""
Let us notice the following verses,
4 … God told Moses that throughout Israel's journey in the wilderness He would rain down bread from heaven for the people to eat.
5 … On the sixth day the people were to gather twice as much as they did on the previous five days.
With the above in mind let us read what happened during the first week when the people of Israel gathered in the Manna. It is recorded for us in,
Exodus 16:22-30
"[22] On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much--two omers for each person--and the leaders of the community came and reported this to Moses. [23] He said to them, "This is what the LORD commanded: 'Tomorrow is to be a day of rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD. So bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Save whatever is left and keep it until morning.'" [24] So they saved it until morning, as Moses commanded, and it did not stink or get maggots in it. [25] "Eat it today," Moses said, "because today is a Sabbath to the LORD. You will not find any of it on the ground today. [26] Six days you are to gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will not be any." [27] Nevertheless, some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather it, but they found none. [28] Then the LORD said to Moses, "How long will you refuse to keep my commands and my instructions? [29] Bear in mind that the LORD has given you the Sabbath; that is why on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Everyone is to stay where he is on the seventh day; no one is to go out." [30] So the people rested on the seventh day."
Let us notice the following verses,
22 … Just as God instructed, on the sixth day the Israelites gathered twice the amount of bread than what they did in each of the previous five days.
23 … The people were to prepare the bread, Manna, on the sixth day for not only their meals on the sixth day but also for the meals to be eaten on the seventh day. By preparing their meals for the seventh day on the sixth day allowed them to rest on the seventh day.
25-26 … Notice that on the seventh day God rested from sending bread to the Israelites.
27-28 … Some of the Israelites disobeyed God's command and on the seventh day went out of the camp to gather the Manna. However, no Manna was to be found. Naturally, God was extremely upset with those who disobeyed Him.
30 … On every seventh day throughout their forty year journey in the wilderness the people of Israel rested from their work of gathering bread for their nourishment.
It is interesting and important to note that God's command for man to keep the Sabbath occurred before He gave Moses the Law, which are the Ten Commandments.
However, we find that when God did give Moses the Law the Sabbath was part of them. Hence, in the Old Testament we find that,
THE SABBATH IS ONE OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
To verify this let us read the following excerpt from the commandments God gave to Moses,
Exodus 20:8-11
""[8] Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. [9] Six days you shall labor and do all your work, [10] but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. [11] For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy."
For a better understanding of this commandment let us now read a more amplified version of it as recorded in,
Exodus 31:12-17
"[12] Then the LORD said to Moses, [13] "Say to the Israelites, 'You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the LORD, who makes you holy. [14] "'Observe the Sabbath, because it is holy to you. Anyone who desecrates it must be put to death; whoever does any work on that day must be cut off from his people. [15] For six days, work is to be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day must be put to death. [16] The Israelites are to observe the Sabbath, celebrating it for the generations to come as a lasting covenant. [17] It will be a sign between me and the Israelites forever, for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he abstained from work and rested.'""
Let us notice the following verses,
13 … It is extremely important to note that the keeping of the Sabbath was not intended to make a person holy or sanctified. It was instituted to be a sign so that we may know Him and understand that it is He, God Almighty, Who sanctifies us.
14-15 … In the Old Testament the command to keep the Sabbath carried with it a very stiff penalty.
17 … Again we are reminded that the Sabbath was to be a sign between God and the children of Israel. It was to signify that in six days He, the Lord Almighty, created the heavens and the earth and on the seventh day He rested.
As we continue our survey of the Old Testament we also discover that the Sabbath was not only a day of rest but also,
THE SABBATH WAS AN APPOINTED FEAST, CONVOCATION OR ASSEMBLY
To see this let us read from,
Leviticus 23:1-3
"[1] The LORD said to Moses, [2] "Speak to the Israelites and say to them: 'These are my appointed feasts, the appointed feasts of the LORD, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies. [3] "'There are six days when you may work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of rest, a day of sacred assembly. You are not to do any work; wherever you live, it is a Sabbath to the LORD."
In other words, the Sabbath was also a day when the people were to assemble together to worship and praise our Lord. A key element in Israel's worship and praise to God was the offering of the prescribed sacrifices. This is recorded for us in,
Numbers 28:9-10
""'[9] On the Sabbath day, make an offering of two lambs a year old without defect, together with its drink offering and a grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil. [10] This is the burnt offering for every Sabbath, in addition to the regular burnt offering and its drink offering."
Unfortunately, as time went on the people's love for God became cold. As a result,
THE SABBATH BECAME RITUALISTIC
This condition of the Israelites became so severe and chronic that God decided to deal with the situation. To get a flavor of how God felt and feels about those who observe and attend a holy day or assembly out of a sense of duty rather than desire or love for Him, let us read what He said to the people of Israel as recorded in,
Isaiah 1:10-15
"[10] Hear the word of the LORD, you rulers of Sodom; listen to the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah! [11] "The multitude of your sacrifices-- what are they to me?" says the LORD. "I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats. [12] When you come to appear before me, who has asked this of you, this trampling of my courts? [13] Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations-- I cannot bear your evil assemblies. [14] Your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts my soul hates. They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. [15] When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood;"
Let us notice the following verses,
10 … In this verse we read the chilling account of how God addressed the Israelites as people of Sodom and Gomorrah. Let us remember that it was because of their horrible and vile sins that God wiped out Sodom and Gomorrah from the face of the earth. What an indictment against the people of Israel during the days of Isaiah!
11 … God told the people of Israel that He had enough of their sacrifices. Let us remember that it was God who commanded the Israelites to offer these sacrifices to Him.
12-14 … God further told the Israelites that He was weary with all their sacrifices and gatherings at the appointed feasts. To receive a clearer picture as to exactly why God was so upset with the Israelites let us reread the last portion of verse 13. However, for a more explanatory reading of this passage we will go to: "The New Kings Version (NKJV)" of the Bible. In the NKJV the last portion of verse 13 reads as follows:
"I (God) can not endure iniquity and the sacred meeting"
In other words, God told the Israelites then and now us that He can not endure us gathering together to worship, praise and honor Him when we are steeped in sin and are not willing to forsake these transgressions against Him.
15 … In this verse we also read another chilling message from our Lord. Specifically, in this verse we read that if we remain steeped in sin, disobedience and iniquity He will not even listen to our prayers.
So what is the remedy? What did God ask the people of Israel to do? The answer to these questions are beautifully provided to us in,
Isaiah 1:16-20
"[16] wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong, [17] learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow. [18] "Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. [19] If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land; [20] but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword." For the mouth of the LORD has spoken."
As one reads the Old Testament one discovers that throughout Israel's history there were times when the Israelites took God's command to heart and forsook their sins and lived in a manner that pleased Him. Unfortunately, more often than not the Israelites would return to their sinful ways. It was during one of these periods that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ came to visit us upon this earth. Consequently, our Lord and Savior also dealt with this same issue of the ritualistic adherence to the observance of the laws of the Sabbath. This not brings us to,
JESUS' REBUKE TO THE TEACHING OF THE PHARISEES, WHICH WAS LEGALISM
To read an example of what Jesus taught with regard to empty and ritualistic worship and obedience to God's commands, let us read from the scriptures of the theme for this chapter. The incident we are about to read occurred when Jesus' disciples, to satisfy their hunger, picked and ate heads of grain during the feast of the Sabbath. To do this we begin by reading from,
Matthew 12:1-2
"[1] At that time Jesus went through the grain fields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. [2] When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, "Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.""
Let us notice the following verses,
1 … On a Sabbath Jesus and His disciples were walking through a grain field. Being hungry, Jesus' disciples picked some heads of grain and ate them.
2 … The Pharisees, being strict interpreters and adherents to the letter of the Law of Moses, rebuked Jesus' disciples for laboring on the Sabbath.
After hearing the rebuke of the Pharisees, Jesus began to teach them that they were in error with respect to their strict interpretation and adherence to the letter of the laws for keeping the Sabbath. He did this by providing them and now us two Old Testament examples of when laboring on the Sabbath was not only acceptable to God but also encouraged.
The first example Jesus gave was,
THE EXAMPLE OF DAVID DURING ONE OF THE TIMES WHEN HE FLED FROM THE WRATH OF KING SAUL
This example is recorded for us in,
Matthew 12:3-4
"[3] He answered, "Haven't you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? [4] He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread--which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests."
To help understand this example a bit more let us read from the Old Testament where this incident is described in more depth. It is recorded in,
1 Samuel 21:1-6
"[1] David went to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. Ahimelech trembled when he met him, and asked, "Why are you alone? Why is no one with you?" [2] David answered Ahimelech the priest, "The king charged me with a certain matter and said to me, 'No one is to know anything about your mission and your instructions.' As for my men, I have told them to meet me at a certain place. [3] Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever you can find." [4] But the priest answered David, "I don't have any ordinary bread on hand; however, there is some consecrated bread here--provided the men have kept themselves from women." [5] David replied, "Indeed women have been kept from us, as usual whenever I set out. The men's things are holy even on missions that are not holy. How much more so today!" [6] So the priest gave him the consecrated bread, since there was no bread there except the bread of the Presence that had been removed from before the LORD and replaced by hot bread on the day it was taken away."
Let us notice the following verses,
1-3 … During one of the times when David and his men were fleeing from the wrath of King Saul they became hungry. As a result David went to the priest, Ahimelech, to get some loaves of bread for his men.
4 … The only available bread was the consecrated bread, also called the showbread. This bread resided inside the Temple in front of the Holiest of Holies. Thus, as Jesus said, the consecrated bread was considered holy and not to be eaten by anyone other than a priest. However, out of compassion and concern for David's hungry men, Ahimelech was willing to make an exception if the men had kept themselves from women. In other words, before he gave David's men the consecrated bread to eat, the priest Ahimelech wanted to be sure that the men had set themselves apart for their mission with David. Remember, David was one of the Lord's anointed people.
5 … David explained to Ahimelech that his men had abstained from women and while on their mission their things are considered to be holy or set apart.
6 … Even though David's men were not priests and because they set themselves apart for the Lord's mission with David, out of mercy for their hunger and well being, Ahimelech gave them the Lord's showbread to eat. In other words, Ahimelech knew that extending mercy to David's men was more important to God than the strict adherence to the Laws of the Temple.
The second example Jesus gave was that,
DURING THE SABBATH THE PRIESTS LABORED
To read what Jesus said on this subject let us go to,
Matthew 12:5
"[5] Or haven't you read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple desecrate the day and yet are innocent?"
To gain some insight into what Jesus was referring to in the above verse, let us go to the Old Testament and read about the type of labor the priests had to perform on the Sabbath.
First of all,
The showbread had to be baked and placed inside the Temple in front of the Holiest of Holies
To see this let us read the following instruction God gave to the priests,
Leviticus 24:5-9
""[5] Take fine flour and bake twelve loaves of bread, using two-tenths of an ephah for each loaf. [6] Set them in two rows, six in each row, on the table of pure gold before the LORD. [7] Along each row put some pure incense as a memorial portion to represent the bread and to be an offering made to the LORD by fire. [8] This bread is to be set out before the LORD regularly, Sabbath after Sabbath, on behalf of the Israelites, as a lasting covenant. [9] It belongs to Aaron and his sons, who are to eat it in a holy place, because it is a most holy part of their regular share of the offerings made to the LORD by fire.""
Let us notice the following verses,
8 … All this activity or labor was to be accomplished on the Sabbath.
9 … Because the consecrated bread or showbread was holy it was to be given to the priests, Aaron and his sons, to eat.
Secondly,
Sacrifices were to be made
To see this let us reread the following excerpt from the book of Numbers,
Numbers 28:9-10
""'[9] On the Sabbath day, make an offering of two lambs a year old without defect, together with its drink offering and a grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil. [10] This is the burnt offering for every Sabbath, in addition to the regular burnt offering and its drink offering."
THE MESSAGE
What is the point? What is Jesus teaching us with respect to the strict legalistic observance of the Sabbath? I believe there are at least two points our Lord is teaching us.
First of all,
THE SABBATH WAS MADE FOR MAN NOT MAN FOR THE SABBATH
To see this let us read what else Jesus said to the Pharisees after they rebuked his disciples. However, this time let us read from,
Mark 2:27-28
"[27] Then he said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. [28] So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.""
Our God did not institute the Sabbath so that we would be enslaved to it or its observances. He also did not institute the Sabbath for us to erroneously think that by observing it we would make ourselves holy and righteous in His eyes. No!
As we read earlier, the Sabbath was given as a sign between us and God. He did this as a reminder to us that in six days He created the heavens and the earth and on the seventh day He rested (Exodus 31:17). The Sabbath was also given to man so we may come to know Him better and understand that it is He, God Almighty, who sanctifies us and makes us holy (Exodus 31:13).
The second point to be made is that,
GOD DESIRES MERCY NOT SACRIFICE
To verify this principle or point let us return to the Scriptures for the theme of this study. Specifically, let us read the following excerpt of what Jesus said at the conclusion of His rebuke to the Pharisees. The point of interest is recorded in,
Matthew 12:7
"[7] If you had known what these words mean, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the innocent."
Let us notice the following verse,
7 … Remember it is more important to God for us to show mercy towards others even though, at times, it may interfere with our religious observations. Jesus also pointed out that those who condemn those who as, Ahimelech, extend mercy to others during a religious feast or holiday have condemned an innocent person.
To vividly illustrate this truth and reveal the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, on the Sabbath, Jesus healed a man with a withered hand. To read about this miracle and the principle Jesus is teaching us let us conclude this study by reading from,
Matthew 12:9-13
"[9] Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, [10] and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, they asked him, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?" [11] He said to them, "If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? [12] How much more valuable is a man than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath." [13] Then he said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other."
Shall We Pray?