Holy Spirit and Time

Holy Space and Time

A well-known example of using the Lord’s Day for witness comes from the life of Eric Liddell, the famous Scottish Olympian who later became a missionary to China. Liddell’s story is told in the film Chariots of Fire. His best race was the 200 meters, and he was expected to win the gold. However, one of the qualifying heats was scheduled for Sunday. As a devout Presbyterian, Liddell was adamant in his refusal to run, much to the consternation of Britain’s racing officials. In the end, Liddell ended up competing in an entirely different event, the 400-meter race. “When I was about to run in the finals,” he later wrote, “the trainer handed me a little note. I opened it and read the words, ‘Them that honour me will I honour.’ ” By keeping the Lord’s Day holy, Liddell honored God and gave a living testimony of his faith in Jesus Christ. As it turned out, God honored Liddell by giving him the strength to win the gold medal at 400 meters. But Liddell’s obedience to the fourth commandment made him a champion for Christ even before he approached the starting blocks.

The fact that you all are here this morning is a good thing because today’s passage is about honoring the Lord by observing His sabbath and keeping it holy. Now that the instructions for building the tabernacle were complete, the Lord ties the tabernacle to His command for a sabbath rest. Why is the Sabbath mentioned at this particular time? It’s because the tabernacle was a place of worship and observing the Sabbath and keeping it holy involved their worship of the Lord. If the Sabbath was not observed as the Lord commanded, proper worship would not take place and so the tabernacle would not be used properly. The whole reason for the tabernacle in the first place would not be realized. Also, it comes now in our narrative because the tabernacle was God’s home on earth which was fashioned after God’s home in heaven. Just like Eden was the place where Adam met with God, the tabernacle would be the place where the Israelite people would meet with the Lord. By tying the idea of sabbath rest to the tabernacle, God’s dwelling among His people anticipates the restoration of the new Eden, the new heaven and new earth at the end of the age, where God would again walk and talk with those who believe in Him.

Whereas the tabernacle was to be a “holy space” where God would meet with his people, the Sabbath day was to be a “holy time” where they were to rest in the Lord and come to a deeper knowledge and understanding of who He was. This was the way the Lord mandated that His people would come to know Him better, which was why we will see that the penalty for any disobedience of the Sabbath law was so harsh. These penalties are not as physically harsh for us today but spiritually speaking, the penalty for disobedience to God’s sabbath laws still have harsh repercussions. That brings us to our big idea that God desires His people to observe His Sabbath rest.

Let’s pray: Our Father who is in heaven, pour out your Holy Spirit on your people gathered in your presence together this morning. Fill us, so that our hearts and minds may be opened to what you have to say to us, and so that our lives may be transformed and conformed to your will. May Your Spirit guide our thoughts, words and actions, so that they will reflect Your love and truth. We want your message to take root in our hearts and bear fruit in our lives. In Jesus’ name, Amen

To better understand God’s instructions on the sabbath here in Exodus 31, we need to look at the history of the sabbath in God’s Word. First, we need to go all the way back to creation. Genesis 2:1-3 says, “Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.”

After God had finished creating the world in six days, He rested on the seventh. Now God didn’t need to rest but he wanted to establish a rhythm of life for His people so they would be able to enjoy and work in God’s completed creation and walk and talk with Him. But once sin entered the world, mankind was not able to enjoy that type of fellowship with the Lord anymore and their work became wearisome and difficult. More than ever before human beings would need that rhythm of rest every seven days. Ever since, God’s redemptive plan has been to bring mankind back into the enjoyment of His presence and provision.

To that end, God took Abraham’s descendants as His chosen people and in Exodus 16:23 gifted a “sabbath rest” to them. “He said to them, “This is what the Lord commanded: ‘Tomorrow is to be a day of sabbath 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.’” In the wilderness, when the people complained of being hungry, the Lord sent manna to them to eat. They were to collect enough manna each day for that one day and then on the sixth day, they were to gather enough for the seventh day as well. Then on the seventh day they were to have a day of sabbath rest which was holy to the Lord.

The sabbath day of rest was to remind them that the Lord had saved them from slavery and from Pharaoh as a harsh taskmaster. Every sabbath day they would be reminded of not only God’s creative work in making the world but His redemptive work of saving them from the physical hardship they endured in Egypt. It would also renew their strength from their work in the present day. The seventh day was also to be a day of spiritual rest as it was to be a “holy sabbath” set apart to the Lord. As they rested physically, they were to rest in Him spiritually and strengthen their relationship with him.

Then in Exodus 20:8, as part of the Ten Commandments, we see these words, “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 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 male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 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.” The seventh day was not just a day to do whatever they wanted to do. It was to be dedicated to the Lord for his worship and service. The seventh day was to be sanctified and set apart for sacred use. He didn’t want the Israelites to work seven days a week thinking that it was their efforts that were supplying their needs. God wanted them to rely on Him to provide what they needed when they needed it.

Next, in Exodus 23, we see God reiterating the sabbath for a third time with His people. This time he repeated that his sabbath rest was for their work animals, any slaves born in their households and the foreigners living among them. He also instituted the sabbath year in which they were not to plow their land so the poor in their community would have enough to eat. The Sabbath rest is tied to God’s compassion for all people and animals here. And that brings us to our present scripture this morning.

Our first point is, Sabbath, found in Exodus 31:12-17. This is what God’s Word says, “Then the Lord said to Moses, “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. “‘Observe the Sabbath, because it is holy to you. Anyone who desecrates it is to be put to death; those who do any work on that day must be cut off from their people. For six days work is to be done, but the seventh day is a day of sabbath rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day is to be put to death. The Israelites are to observe the Sabbath, celebrating it for the generations to come as a lasting covenant. 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 rested and was refreshed.’”

Just like in chapter 30 and so far in chapter 31, the first thing we notice is the phrase, “Then the Lord said to Moses.” As we have seen numerous times this means that Moses is to listen up because what follows is divinely commanded, making it of the utmost importance. Moses is to tell the Israelites that the Lord commands them to observe “his” Sabbaths. They were to keep the Sabbath days because they were literally his. He instituted it, He modeled it at creation, and he commanded it as their covenant King. The sabbath was a “covenant sign” between him and the Israelites meaning it was to be a reminder of what the Lord had done for them in the past and what He had promised to do for them in the future. And it was for the generations to come, meaning it was a perpetual sign, that as it was observed week in and week out, it would be faithfully passed down to each generation.

This was not the first covenant sign that God had instituted. The rainbow was part of His covenant with Noah; and circumcision was part of the Abrahamic covenant. Also, at the Passover, the blood on the doorposts was a sign for the angel of death to pass over the house of those faithful to the Lord. These physical signs themselves were not significant, but they became significant because God’s promises had been attached to them. These were all signs of the redemption that God wanted for his people in order to bring them back into his presence like in the Garden of Eden. We see signs of redemption in the new covenant today: baptism, the Lord’s Supper and the Lord’s Day.

By placing the Sabbath law immediately after His instructions for building the tabernacle, he showed that the Sabbath was to take precedence over the tabernacle. The Israelites could not use their “work” as an excuse to not observe the Sabbath. The Sabbath was to be one day in seven where the people would cease their work and reflect on God and His character. It was a holy time to refocus their lives every week on their purpose for living which was to “know that Yahweh was Lord” and by coming to “know” this they would become more like Him. It was also a holy time to refocus on the purpose of the covenant which was to make them holy. The covenant relationship was a sanctifying relationship, and the Sabbath was part of that process.

Yahweh was their Lord and He was the one who would make them holy. They could never become holy on their own. Only through the help of the Lord and through their obedience to His laws, statutes and commands could they become holy as He was holy. They would also come to a better understanding of who He is and what He had done for them, and it would set them apart as His holy people among the other nations in the land. The command is then repeated showing them how important it was they observe the Sabbath. It was important not only because the Lord would make them holy but the sabbath would be “holiness” to them meaning that through their obedience they would become more like Him in words and actions. Proof of their growth in knowing the Lord and becoming holy would be observing the Sabbath and keeping it holy.

We also see the importance of the Israelites observing the Sabbath by the penalty attached to it. Because the seventh day was a holy Sabbath to the Lord to desecrate it meant death for the law breaker. To desecrate the Sabbath meant to treat God’s holy day as an ordinary day. Because it was the Lord who had instituted it as a special sign, to disregard it and treat it like any other day was rebellion against Him. This was more than just mere disobedience. It was a person saying that they didn’t accept the Lord’s authority, and they didn’t respect and revere Him as their covenant king. It also said that they didn’t want to “know” the Lord, didn’t want to be set apart as holy to the Lord and wanted no part of the covenant with the Lord. And because God had created them and saved them, He had the prerogative to have them put to death for their disobedience to His commands.

The Lord then reiterated the fourth commandment clearly making it a requirement as if there was any question of it. They were to work for six days and then the seventh day was to be a “Sabbath of rest.” A “sabbath of rest” is literally “a Sabbath of Sabbatism” meaning that the entire day was to be devoted to rest and no work was to be done. By tying the Sabbath to His work of creation, to keep the Sabbath meant the people were proclaiming that they didn’t create the world, God did. And that they were not self-sufficient, that they were relying on Him to provide for them and that they were putting their lives completely in His hands. The sabbath law also pointed to their obligation to work. The Sabbath law not only mandated one day off a week for physical and spiritual rest, but it also mandated that His people were to work the other six days a week.

The Lord then repeated the penalty for breaking the Sabbath law. Anyone who did any work on the Sabbath day must be put to death. If we read verse 14 and thought there was one punishment for the desecration of the Sabbath and another for doing work on the Sabbath, verse 15 seems to put that to rest. Violators of the Sabbath law were intentionally severing their ties with God and the terms of His covenant. The law breaker was in effect saying that they wanted all seven days for themselves and begrudged God His holy day. Rejection of the fourth commandment was a rejection of God. We see this sentence being carried out in Numbers 15:32-36. “While the Israelites were in the wilderness, a man was found gathering wood on the Sabbath day. Those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses and Aaron and the whole assembly, and they kept him in custody, because it was not clear what should be done to him. Then the Lord said to Moses, “The man must die. The whole assembly must stone him outside the camp.” So, the assembly took him outside the camp and stoned him to death, as the Lord commanded Moses.”

Enns comments, “This penalty seems harsh, but not when we realize what the Sabbath was intended to do. By not keeping the Sabbath, the Israelite was showing that he or she was not interested in knowing [God].” We need to remember that any disobedience that undermined the integrity of the Israelite community was dealt with harshly by the Lord. By not remembering the Sabbath and by not keeping it holy the community was undermined just as much as disobeying the fifth commandment of honoring your father and mother. Ryken says, “The way to destroy a nation is to destroy the family, and the way children can destroy the family is by disobeying their parents.” And I believe by not observing the Sabbath and keeping it holy is a way to destroy people’s relationship with the Lord. If the church is a holy space and the Sabbath is a holy time where we as a congregation come together to worship the Lord, come to know Him more and become more like Him, then if we stop observing the Sabbath and are teaching our children by our example to not observe the Sabbath, then we can destroy our church and our nation in the same way as not honoring our fathers and mothers. In this way, spiritually speaking, the penalty for disobedience to God’s sabbath laws can have harsh repercussions. I think we are seeing the consequences of this in our society today.

So what does this mean for us today? Observing our Sabbath day, Sunday, the Lord’s Day, should still be important to us. Gathering together as Christians this one day a week is the way that God has ordained us to get to know Him. Gathering this morning at Idaville Church is a way to holiness. The way God wants to make us holy is in community not necessarily individually in isolation. Sure, we can come to know God and strive for holiness individually but that is not the primary way God wants to develop holiness in us. We were made to worship the Lord and as we worship the Lord, he equips us to walk worthily with Him and as we walk with Him we desire to work for Him. Worshipping, walking and working for the Lord should be done in community together and not alone.

By choosing to observe the Sabbath with other believers we testify to the world around us that we are the Lord’s people and are connected to His church. And vice versa, by not choosing to observe the Sabbath tells the world that we are not committed to being the Lord’s people and are not connected to His church. God uses the Sabbath to sanctify us and as we keep the Sabbath holy it has a way of keeping us from sin and close to God. When we sanctify God’s holy day, God uses it to sanctify us. I like this quote by Ryken, “We stop working and instead rest in God’s peace. We stop producing and rest in God’s provision. We stop accomplishing and rest in our identity in Christ. We stop acquiring and rest in God’s care. We stop worrying and rest in God’s sovereignty.” The Lord’s Day should be a vacation for our souls.

A few questions for us today: Do you want to know God? Do you want to grow in your relationship with Him? Do you want to become holy as He is holy? Do you want to truly worship the Lord, walk worthily with Him and desire to work for Him? Then according to His holy scriptures and commands, we must observe the Sabbath and keep it holy which for us today means being in church on the Lord’s Day worshipping the Lord together, walking together with the Lord and working together for the Lord. That brings to our first next step which is to Observe the Sabbath and keep it holy so that I can know the Lord more and He can develop holiness in me.

Remembering the Sabbath is clearly important to God as he mentions it no less than five times in the book of Exodus. Reiterating it again would have heightened the Sabbath command in the eyes and hearts of the people. The Sabbath was central to his plan of redemption for his people. They were to observe the Sabbath and “celebrate it for the generations to come. “Celebrating” the Sabbath meant that the Sabbath was not to be a burden on the people. It was to be one day out of seven for the physical and spiritual rest of God’s people and a weekly occasion for, as Mackay says, “joyful and grateful remembrance of all that the Lord had done for them.”

The Lord then reiterates that the Sabbath would be a sign forever that the Lord created the heavens and the earth in six days and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed. The God who had redeemed the Israelites from Pharaoh and was fashioning them into a royal priesthood and His holy people was the same God who created them and was determined to bring them back into harmony with himself. “Rested” is translated “Abstained from work” meaning that God didn’t stop the work of creation because he was tired, but because he had finished his work of creation. “Refreshed” means that the Lord stopped creating to “catch his breath.” This is a picture of God being satisfied with His completed work of creation and calling it “very good.” The repetitions found at the end of our first point stressed the foreverness of observing the Sabbath and impressed upon the people that failure to obey this covenant sign was a serious breach of the covenant relationship between the Lord and His people.

That brings us to our second point, Stone Tablets, found in Exodus 31:18. This is what God’s Word says, “When the Lord finished speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai, he gave him the two tablets of the covenant law, the tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God.”

After forty days and forty nights, the Lord has finished speaking to Moses. He has spoken to Moses about the blueprints for the tabernacle and the entire Book of the Covenant Law. And now we come to the moment we have anticipated since Exodus 24:12, which says, “The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and stay here, and I will give you the tablets of stone with the law and commandments I have written for their instruction.” God gives Moses the two tablets of the covenant law which was the Ten Words or Commandments that God spoke to the people back in chapter 20.

These two tablets probably contained the same Ten Words on each tablet. In ancient times two copies were written, one for the covenant king and one for his subjects. Each copy would be kept in their respective god’s temple. They would be read periodically so each party would know and remember what the terms of the covenant were that they had agreed to. In this case, both tablets would be put in the Ark of the Covenant since God’s temple on earth and that of the Israelites were the same place. These tablets were made of stone meaning that the covenant written on them was fixed, unchanging and permanently binding. The two stone tablets were probably modestly sized because they would have to fit in the ark which was approximately 4 ft. x 2 ft. x 2 ft. and also included a jar of manna and Aaron’s budded rod. Also, Moses would have to be able to carry them down the mountain.

The two tablets were inscribed by the finger of God. They were supernaturally written by the Lord meaning their source was God, their authority came from God, and they had his stamp of approval. The finger of God would have conveyed His power as it was the finger of God that brought the plague of gnats upon Pharoah.

As we have learned this morning, God’s Sabbath rest is connected to creation, connected to His provision, connected to His covenant law, connected to His compassion and connected to the tabernacle. God’s Word connects His “Sabbath rest” to events in redemptive history. There is one more event in redemptive history that the Sabbath rest points to. The weekly Sabbath is a reminder of our divine eternal rest which is the joy of heaven together with God. It is the promise of a Sabbath rest when we have finished the work that God has commissioned us to do on this earth. After a life devoted to pursuing, growing and multiplying disciples, we are promised an eternal rest with the Lord.

God “resting” on the seventh day anticipated the eternal rest which is the consequence of the finished work of Christ on the cross. The reality of an eternal rest in heaven requires salvation in Christ and obedience to Him and His commands. By faith the believer is one who has ceased from trying to work for or earn their salvation and enters into a saving relationship with God that will usher them into that eternal rest. Coates says, “The Sabbath speaks of things being brought to completion, so that there is no more work to be done; all is finished, and there is holy rest for God and His people” That brings us to our second next step on the back of your communication card which is to Live like Jesus has already completed His work of salvation and am ready to enter into the Lord’s eternal rest.

This eternal rest is anticipated in Revelation 21:3 “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.” As I close out the study of our scripture, I want to recite a Jewish prayer: “Come, let us welcome the Sabbath in joy and peace! Like a bride, radiant and joyous, comes the Sabbath. It brings blessings to our hearts; workday thoughts and cares are put aside. The brightness of the Sabbath light shines forth to tell that the divine spirit of love abides within our home. In that light all our blessings are enriched, all our griefs and trials are softened.” Who would not welcome such a day?

I finally want to end with some humorous Mother’s Day illustrations: The children of Family Circus were once discussing babies. One of the young experts announced: "Storks don't bring babies. They come UPS." Some of the other children had different ideas, but the best was saved for last. "Babies," said one, "are connected to their mothers by a biblical cord." This was spotted on a church sign "If evolution is true, how come mothers still have only two hands?" A mother was putting her son to bed on the eve of his fifth birthday. She was trying to communicate that birthday idea to him. "Kevin," she said, "this is the last night of your fourth year. Do you understand that?" Kevin was ready to communicate with his hands. For a full year, he had shown people four fingers for his four years, and now he was ready to add a thumb. Seeing his four fingers, his mother nodded and said: "When you go to sleep tonight, you'll still be 4-years-old. But do you know how old you'll be in the morning, when you wake up?" Kevin nodded enthusiastically, added his thumb to his four little fingers and said, "Tomorrow, I'll be a handful!"

Not sure if this is a Mother’s Day illustration but I thought it was funny. A little boy was attending his first wedding. After the service, his mother asked him, "Son, do you know how many women a man is allowed to marry?" "Sixteen," the boy responded. His mother was shocked. "What do you mean, 16?!" "It's easy," the little boy said. "All you have to do is add it up, like the pastor said: 4 better, 4 worse, 4 richer, 4 poorer."

As the ushers prepare to collect the tithes and offerings and as the praise team comes to lead us in a final song, let’s pray: Heavenly Father, in Jesus’ name, we thank you for bringing us to this holy space so that we can spend this holy time worshipping You this morning. May we continue to walk with You this week and help us to faithfully work for You as we live in this world. Help us by your Holy Spirit to observe the Sabbath and keep it holy so that we can know You more and so that You can develop holiness in us. Also, help us to live like Your Son, Jesus, has already completed His work of salvation on the cross and let us be ready to enter into Your eternal rest. May Your peace fill our hearts as we depart, and may we carry Your love and light into the world. Amen.

Opening: Philip Graham Ryken and R. Kent Hughes, Exodus: Saved for God’s Glory (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2005), 968.

Conclusion: Andy Cook is the former pastor of Shirley Hills Baptist Church in Warner Robins, Georgia.  ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​​​