KEEPING PROMISES

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

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 must be put to death; whoever does any work on that day must be cut off from his people. 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. 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 abstained from work and rested.”

When the Lord finished speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai, He gave him the two tablets of the Testimony, the tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God.

Exodus 31:12-18

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Moses had spent an amazing 40 days and nights with God on Mount Sinai, a holy extended stay with the Creator of all things. It was during this time that God provided Israel’s leader with a multitude of instructions and directives, most of which had to do with the construction of the tabernacle and the installation of priests to conduct all prescribed rituals within God’s portable holy place of worship.

Once God had given Moses the blueprints needed for construction of the tabernacle and the formulation of the special incense and anointing oil to be used there, a lot of work needed to be done as Moses readied himself to head down the mountain and return to the Israelites, sharing all that God had told him. But as we see in today’s passage, the Lord had some final words for Moses, words reminding him of the requirement to rest. Look again at those words here:

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 must be put to death; whoever does any work on that day must be cut off from his people. 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. 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 abstained from work and rested.”

When the Lord finished speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai, He gave him the two tablets of the Testimony, the tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God. Exodus 31:12-18

Note here that although God was tasking His people with a lot of work, He still expected them to fulfill His command to observe the Sabbath, abstaining from work and pausing to rest on every “seventh day”, just as He had done at the dawn of creation. Violating this requirement would bring severe consequences for the offender for the scriptures tell us they would be “cut off” from the people and even “put to death” if there was desecration involved. Obviously, this was a serious matter for the Lord.

We should also see where this command wasn’t just for the short term for we see God telling Moses that the Israelites were to observe the Sabbath and keep it holy while making it a "lasting covenant" that would be celebrated “for the generations to come." Indeed, God’s people are still expected to observe a Sabbath day of rest even today.

So how would the Israelites receive all this once Moses brought them God’s Word?

Well, we might believe that there would be little or no problem. After all, these were the same people who said this in sealing their covenant with God:

"We will do everything the Lord has said; we will obey." Exodus 24:7

Unfortunately, we’re going to see through this story now the people of Israel too often had a short term memory, seemingly forgetting everything they had promised to do before the Lord while giving into their own evil desires.

You know, we’re not much better today than the ancient people of Israel. I think this is just one of many reasons that Old Testament study is so important. For we see so much of our own successes and failures and spiritual struggles through the way they lived in the presence of the Lord God Almighty.

In regard to the Sabbath command, do we really rest every seventh day?

It’s a convicting question, right? Especially since the scriptures tell us this:

“For the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God’s laws.” James 2:10

In other words, breaking the command to observe the Sabbath makes one as guilty as a murderer. Don’t shoot the messenger. God challenges us through His Word if we read it. It’s up to us to respond to His challenges.

Friends, we serve a God who does everything He promises to do. He never fails us but we all too often fail Him.

In other words, when a covenant promise is established between God and believers, any violation of the covenant is always on the side of the believer.

It’s high time that we all commit ourselves to better hold up our side and keep our side of the promise with the Lord, repenting of our sins and then moving forward with a renewed dedication toward obedience. To that end, we Christians have the greatest role model to follow in Jesus. For it’s only by following His lead, striving to be Christ-like in all we do, that we can ensure that we remain as faithful to our God as He is faithful to us.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.