The Sabbath
The first of God's holy days listed in Leviticus 23 is the Sabbath.
Exodus 31:15 - What a Day!
Joshua 5:15 - Holy Ground
Ezekiel 20:12 - A Sign
Mark 2:27 - The Sabbath
**Mark 2:27 - A Very Special Day
Revelation 4:11 - Worthy Are You, O Lord
**What a Day!
Memory Verse: Do your work in six days. But the seventh day is the Sabbath. . . Exodus 31:15 (NIrV)
Materials Needed: Clothes/hats/items with logos/team message/some identifier; YEA lesson (YE2E.3 - borntowin.net/yea/primaries/)
Why would anyone wear a hat like this? (Cardinals cap) Perhaps you’re going to a baseball game and you want everyone to know who you’re rooting for. So why would you wear this hat? (AT&T cap) Ron wore one every day that he worked to let customers know that he really was an employee. He had a good reason for being there. What about this hat? (Stihl or John Deere) Perhaps you really like their products and you don’t mind advertising for them. Any time you wear something that has a logo or message - some identifier - on it, you are conveying information to other people about what you like, or what you do, or to what organization you belong.
God has an identifier too. It’s called the Sabbath.
In Ezekiel 20:12 God says, Moreover, I gave them my Sabbaths, as a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD who sanctifies them. This is almost a direct quote from Exodus 31:13, so this was a sign God set up from the time He rescued His people from Egypt.
Do you understand this? As much as a piece of clothing might identify you with a certain brand or a company or a belief, observing the Sabbath is also an identifier. But here’s the cool thing: Yes, keeping the Sabbath is a witness to the people around you that you worship God. But God said, twice, that it is a sign between you and God! Its primary goal as an identifier is to remind you (not the people around you) that it is God who sets you apart, who makes you holy, who sanctifies you.
Is being sanctified a big deal? Oh yeah! It is in being sanctified that we have assurance of having eternal life, of being the Bride of Christ, of belonging to God forever.
So how important is it that you keep the Sabbath?! It’s very, very important. It is a weekly reminder, to you and to God, of how very special you are to Him - the Great God of the Universe. That’s not something to take lightly.
Holy Ground
And the commander of the LORD’s army said to Joshua, “Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so. Joshua 5:15
Who is this commander of the LORD’s army? Likely, this is the One who would become Jesus Christ. Notice that when Joshua fell down and worshiped, Joshua was not rebuked. (There are numerous instances where an angel rebuked the person who fell down and worshipped them.) In addition, notice that the ground was holy. Only God can make the ground holy.
This incident should make you think of another, similar incident where the person was told to take off his sandals because the ground was holy (Exodus 3:1-6). Moses, when he investigated the burning bush, was told by God to take off his sandals because the ground was holy. God introduced Himself to Moses as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. You know this story. God sent Moses to tell Pharaoh to “Let my people go”. When Pharaoh wouldn’t, God didn’t just stage a military coup; God destroyed Egypt militarily, politically, economically, and religiously. Then God brought the Israelites out, performed miracles of water and manna, fought for them and delivered their enemies into their hands, and led them with fire by night and a cloud by day. The apostle Paul states in 1 Corinthians 10:4 that the Israelites drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ.
There’s a lot of evidence to indicate that the God who led the Israelites out of Egypt and the Commander of the LORD’s army were both the One who would become Jesus Christ.
Perhaps this is startling to you. Perhaps you think that Jesus had long hair and looked almost effeminate. You would be wrong. There’s nothing weak or wimpy about Jesus Christ. That’s one of the pictures we can take away from Joshua’s encounter with the Commander of the LORD’s army: our God is the victorious warrior. Read Revelation 19:11-16. The rider on the white horse, who is called Faithful and True and has the name “The Word of God,” will strike the nations with a sharp sword proceeding from His mouth. The God we serve is mighty and powerful, and none can stand before Him.
This is the God who said to Joshua, “Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.”
So in your life, with what do you come into contact that God says is holy? One thing you routinely encounter that God has declared holy is the Sabbath. How do you approach it? Do you metaphorically take off your sandals because the place where you are standing is holy? Do you treat the Sabbath as holy? Do you show it the honor it deserves because God has declared it holy? Think about it. What made that ground holy? God said it was. What makes the Sabbath holy? God says it is. Could some person come along later and say that the ground was not holy? Do people come along later and say that the Sabbath is no longer holy? No person has a higher authority than God to change His decrees.
Take some time to consider what God has declared holy and how you treat that item, that day, or that person. It’s important to your relationship with the God who created all things - the One who is Himself holy.
A Sign
Moreover, I gave them my Sabbaths, as a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them. Ezekiel 20:12
We have so many signs in our world! They serve to help us get to where we're going. If we didn't have signs, we could easily get lost. But sometimes signs are specifically for us. For instance, the manager of a baseball team gives a special sign to his team so they will know what he wants them to do. If the other team knew what the sign meant, they'd have some advance warning about what was coming. The baseball signs are specifically for that team.
That's the interesting thing about Ezekiel 20:12. It says the Sabbaths are a sign between God and His people - specifically for His people so they will know that God sanctifies them. The sign is for God's people as a comfort, as an encouragement, as a sign that God is working in their lives. It is confirmation that God, who began a good work in us, is going to carry it on to the day of completion when Jesus returns.
So what is the sign? It's the observance of the Sabbath - both the weekly Sabbath and the Sabbatical year. When God's people observe the Sabbaths, it is a sign between God and them that they truly are His people, that God has them in the palm of His hand, and that God is always with them. What an encouragement! It's a specific encouragement to God's people - not to the world. The world may notice that God's people observe the Sabbath, but they don't recognize it as a sign.
The sign to the world that we are the people of God is from John 13:35: By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one for another. But you can't have the love of God to show to people unless you belong to God. And you know you belong to God if you have the sign He gave to you: His Sabbaths.
Happy Sabbath!
The Sabbath
"And he said to them, 'The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath." Mark 2:27
I remember reading Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Farmer Boy when I was little. One of the chapters dealt with sabbath observance. The children were required to sit on a bench, study the Bible, sit still all day. They couldn’t play; they couldn’t talk. They were just supposed to sit quietly, reverently until the sun set. But they’d been given a new sled just before sabbath began the night before. So the boys excised themselves to go to the outhouse, pulled the sled to the top of the hill, and accidentally slid down the hill backwards past the window of the house. They quickly put the sled away and slid back into their place on the bench. When the Sabbath was over, their father took the boys to the shed and whipped them. They had broken the Sabbath commandment and had to be punished.
This, to me, is exactly what Christ was speaking of: they’d made the children conduct themselves as if they were made for the Sabbath. The day was no longer, if it indeed ever had been, a day to eagerly anticipate and enjoy. It was a day to dread.
God doesn’t want us to view the precious and holy Sabbath as a day to be dreaded, to be gotten through, to be endured. It is a day of rest, a memorial of Creation, and a day which reminds us of who gives us eternal rest. It points to our Redeemer. So while there is definitely a prohibition against working on the Sabbath and doing your own pleasure with no thought for God, the Sabbath day itself is to be pleasurable for each of God’s people!
I wouldn’t cook an elaborate meal on the Sabbath, but I might make something special. I wouldn’t give the kids a haircut on the Sabbath, but I will take extra time braiding my daughter’s hair before church. I wouldn’t pick a gallon of strawberries before breakfast, but I might pick a handful to eat with breakfast.
The Sabbath is to be a delight to each of us. If we, God’s people, don’t view the Sabbath as something special, something to be anticipated, something to look forward to all week long, how in the world are we going to convince the people around us that we have something they need? Why would they want to be part of a joyless religion, a duty-filled drudgery? A burden-filled Sabbath is an offense to our God on so many levels and is a travesty for His people.
Do you enjoy the Sabbath? Do you look forward to it each week? Do you call it a delight? Is the Sabbath for you, or do you think you were made for the Sabbath?
**A Very Special Day
The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath (ASV). Mark 2:27
Materials needed: lesson #8 from Primaries book (https://www.borntowin.net/yea/primaries/primaries-life-of-christ/); Sabbath statement cards, Yes/No signs
The students should have read their lesson about the Sabbath prior to coming to class. So we’re going to have a small competition/quiz. I will make the statement. Each student needs to decide whether they agree or disagree. When I say “go,” they’ll put up their “yes” sign or their “no” sign. Each right answer gets them a token. The person with the most tokens at the end gets to choose a reward first.
Here are the statements:
God made the world in seven days.
God made the world in six days and rested on the seventh day.
The Sabbath was started by the Jews.
The Sabbath was started by God at Creation.
Jesus healed many people on the Sabbath.
Jesus went to church on the Sabbath.
Jesus went to synagogue on the Sabbath; he was Jewish. There were no churches at that time.
The Sabbath was created for God.
The Sabbath was created for man.
It’s okay to work on the Sabbath as long as you go to church.
It’s good to help people on the Sabbath.
You should prepare for the Sabbath on Friday so you don’t have to work on Sabbath.
There are 6 days to work. The Sabbath is a day of rest.
We should enjoy the Sabbath.
The Sabbath is a gift from God to us.
You should come to church on Sabbath, if you can.
Keeping the Sabbath holy is one of the Ten Commandments.
Keeping the Sabbath holy is the fourth commandment.
The Sabbath begins when the sun comes up.
The Sabbath begins when the sun goes down Friday night.
Keeping the Sabbath is one way we show God we love Him.
God doesn’t really care which day we rest on - as long as we rest one day a week.
The Sabbath should be a solemn day that is no fun.
The Sabbath is the best day of the week.
Note: if you want the cards already formatted to print on cardstock, let me know. I can send you a pdf.
Worthy are You, O Lord
Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created. Revelation 4:11
The Greek word for “created” is ktizo (#2936). It means to create, or produce from nothing. It’s hard to get your mind around that. There’s a song in The Sound of Music where Maria sings, “Nothing comes from nothing . . .” That’s the whole problem with evolution. It can’t account for how matter came into existence. But the Greek word for “created” specifically emphasizes that which was created came from nothing.
Interestingly, this Greek word is used in Mark 13:19 talking about the Great Tribulation. That time will be worse than any time since the creation which God created. Mark makes a point of using that word which indicates that God produced the world from nothing.
Again, it’s used in Colossians 1:16 when Paul states, “for by him all things were created” - talking about Jesus Christ. Paul specifically uses a word that emphasizes Jesus’ ability to create something from nothing - namely us and everything around us.
Why did God create this world? Have you ever wondered about that? The ESV (and many others that I checked) say that God created everything by his will. The KJV translates it a little differently. It says that God created the world and everything in it for His pleasure. Think about it. God created the world on purpose. He had a plan. He did it because He wanted to, and the KJV implies that God knew that ultimately it would bring Him great joy.
When I make a plate of chocolate chip cookies, I plan it out because it brings me pleasure. When I weed the garden, even if it’s hard, I do it because I know that ultimately it will bring me pleasure. I do what I do because there’s some pleasure, joy, reward, ultimate good that will result. That’s the idea in this verse. God created the world because it was His will; it was for His pleasure. Remember when God finished His creation, He said it was very good. When all is said and done (see Revelation 21 and 22), it will be very good again.
Eventually, we’re going to be in the very throne room of God, singing praises to His name - much like this vision that is recorded by John. Then all of creation will praise Him, using all of their power, given to them by God, to glorify and honor Him.
Why? Do you see the reason in this verse that God is worthy to receive glory and honor and power? Because He’s the Creator!
In Revelation 5:12, it’s a little different. It says, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power, and wealth, and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.” What’s the reason given here for the adoration? Jesus, as the Lamb, is the Redeemer.
Can you think of anything in the Bible that is directly tied to God as Creator and God as Redeemer? Exodus 20:8-11 gives the command for keeping the Sabbath holy. It says that God created everything in six days and the seventh day He set aside as holy. Here the reason for the observance of Sabbath is because God as Creator said to.
In Deuteronomy 5:12-15, there’s no mention of the Creation in the Sabbath commandment; it is all about redemption from slavery in Egypt. The Sabbath is to be observed because God as the Redeemer said to.
He is still the Creator. He is still the Redeemer. So today, each week, every sabbath, we honor God by keeping the Sabbath holy. Not only is it a command of God, it’s good for us physically. Not only is it good for us physically, it’s good for us spiritually. It’s a good reminder that He is worthy of glory and honor and power in every part of our lives. The Sabbath is God’s gracious weekly reminder to each of us that He is our Creator and He is our Redeemer. We didn’t make ourselves. And we can’t earn eternal life in His kingdom. In other words, we didn’t bring ourselves into this world, and we can’t take ourselves into God’s kingdom.
Each Sabbath I hope you stop and think: I’m celebrating the Sabbath today because God is worthy as my Creator and Redeemer to receive glory and honor and power. Selah!
The first of God's holy days listed in Leviticus 23 is the Sabbath.
Exodus 31:15 - What a Day!
Joshua 5:15 - Holy Ground
Ezekiel 20:12 - A Sign
Mark 2:27 - The Sabbath
**Mark 2:27 - A Very Special Day
Revelation 4:11 - Worthy Are You, O Lord
**What a Day!
Memory Verse: Do your work in six days. But the seventh day is the Sabbath. . . Exodus 31:15 (NIrV)
Materials Needed: Clothes/hats/items with logos/team message/some identifier; YEA lesson (YE2E.3 - borntowin.net/yea/primaries/)
Why would anyone wear a hat like this? (Cardinals cap) Perhaps you’re going to a baseball game and you want everyone to know who you’re rooting for. So why would you wear this hat? (AT&T cap) Ron wore one every day that he worked to let customers know that he really was an employee. He had a good reason for being there. What about this hat? (Stihl or John Deere) Perhaps you really like their products and you don’t mind advertising for them. Any time you wear something that has a logo or message - some identifier - on it, you are conveying information to other people about what you like, or what you do, or to what organization you belong.
God has an identifier too. It’s called the Sabbath.
In Ezekiel 20:12 God says, Moreover, I gave them my Sabbaths, as a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD who sanctifies them. This is almost a direct quote from Exodus 31:13, so this was a sign God set up from the time He rescued His people from Egypt.
Do you understand this? As much as a piece of clothing might identify you with a certain brand or a company or a belief, observing the Sabbath is also an identifier. But here’s the cool thing: Yes, keeping the Sabbath is a witness to the people around you that you worship God. But God said, twice, that it is a sign between you and God! Its primary goal as an identifier is to remind you (not the people around you) that it is God who sets you apart, who makes you holy, who sanctifies you.
Is being sanctified a big deal? Oh yeah! It is in being sanctified that we have assurance of having eternal life, of being the Bride of Christ, of belonging to God forever.
So how important is it that you keep the Sabbath?! It’s very, very important. It is a weekly reminder, to you and to God, of how very special you are to Him - the Great God of the Universe. That’s not something to take lightly.
Holy Ground
And the commander of the LORD’s army said to Joshua, “Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so. Joshua 5:15
Who is this commander of the LORD’s army? Likely, this is the One who would become Jesus Christ. Notice that when Joshua fell down and worshiped, Joshua was not rebuked. (There are numerous instances where an angel rebuked the person who fell down and worshipped them.) In addition, notice that the ground was holy. Only God can make the ground holy.
This incident should make you think of another, similar incident where the person was told to take off his sandals because the ground was holy (Exodus 3:1-6). Moses, when he investigated the burning bush, was told by God to take off his sandals because the ground was holy. God introduced Himself to Moses as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. You know this story. God sent Moses to tell Pharaoh to “Let my people go”. When Pharaoh wouldn’t, God didn’t just stage a military coup; God destroyed Egypt militarily, politically, economically, and religiously. Then God brought the Israelites out, performed miracles of water and manna, fought for them and delivered their enemies into their hands, and led them with fire by night and a cloud by day. The apostle Paul states in 1 Corinthians 10:4 that the Israelites drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ.
There’s a lot of evidence to indicate that the God who led the Israelites out of Egypt and the Commander of the LORD’s army were both the One who would become Jesus Christ.
Perhaps this is startling to you. Perhaps you think that Jesus had long hair and looked almost effeminate. You would be wrong. There’s nothing weak or wimpy about Jesus Christ. That’s one of the pictures we can take away from Joshua’s encounter with the Commander of the LORD’s army: our God is the victorious warrior. Read Revelation 19:11-16. The rider on the white horse, who is called Faithful and True and has the name “The Word of God,” will strike the nations with a sharp sword proceeding from His mouth. The God we serve is mighty and powerful, and none can stand before Him.
This is the God who said to Joshua, “Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.”
So in your life, with what do you come into contact that God says is holy? One thing you routinely encounter that God has declared holy is the Sabbath. How do you approach it? Do you metaphorically take off your sandals because the place where you are standing is holy? Do you treat the Sabbath as holy? Do you show it the honor it deserves because God has declared it holy? Think about it. What made that ground holy? God said it was. What makes the Sabbath holy? God says it is. Could some person come along later and say that the ground was not holy? Do people come along later and say that the Sabbath is no longer holy? No person has a higher authority than God to change His decrees.
Take some time to consider what God has declared holy and how you treat that item, that day, or that person. It’s important to your relationship with the God who created all things - the One who is Himself holy.
A Sign
Moreover, I gave them my Sabbaths, as a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them. Ezekiel 20:12
We have so many signs in our world! They serve to help us get to where we're going. If we didn't have signs, we could easily get lost. But sometimes signs are specifically for us. For instance, the manager of a baseball team gives a special sign to his team so they will know what he wants them to do. If the other team knew what the sign meant, they'd have some advance warning about what was coming. The baseball signs are specifically for that team.
That's the interesting thing about Ezekiel 20:12. It says the Sabbaths are a sign between God and His people - specifically for His people so they will know that God sanctifies them. The sign is for God's people as a comfort, as an encouragement, as a sign that God is working in their lives. It is confirmation that God, who began a good work in us, is going to carry it on to the day of completion when Jesus returns.
So what is the sign? It's the observance of the Sabbath - both the weekly Sabbath and the Sabbatical year. When God's people observe the Sabbaths, it is a sign between God and them that they truly are His people, that God has them in the palm of His hand, and that God is always with them. What an encouragement! It's a specific encouragement to God's people - not to the world. The world may notice that God's people observe the Sabbath, but they don't recognize it as a sign.
The sign to the world that we are the people of God is from John 13:35: By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one for another. But you can't have the love of God to show to people unless you belong to God. And you know you belong to God if you have the sign He gave to you: His Sabbaths.
Happy Sabbath!
The Sabbath
"And he said to them, 'The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath." Mark 2:27
I remember reading Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Farmer Boy when I was little. One of the chapters dealt with sabbath observance. The children were required to sit on a bench, study the Bible, sit still all day. They couldn’t play; they couldn’t talk. They were just supposed to sit quietly, reverently until the sun set. But they’d been given a new sled just before sabbath began the night before. So the boys excised themselves to go to the outhouse, pulled the sled to the top of the hill, and accidentally slid down the hill backwards past the window of the house. They quickly put the sled away and slid back into their place on the bench. When the Sabbath was over, their father took the boys to the shed and whipped them. They had broken the Sabbath commandment and had to be punished.
This, to me, is exactly what Christ was speaking of: they’d made the children conduct themselves as if they were made for the Sabbath. The day was no longer, if it indeed ever had been, a day to eagerly anticipate and enjoy. It was a day to dread.
God doesn’t want us to view the precious and holy Sabbath as a day to be dreaded, to be gotten through, to be endured. It is a day of rest, a memorial of Creation, and a day which reminds us of who gives us eternal rest. It points to our Redeemer. So while there is definitely a prohibition against working on the Sabbath and doing your own pleasure with no thought for God, the Sabbath day itself is to be pleasurable for each of God’s people!
I wouldn’t cook an elaborate meal on the Sabbath, but I might make something special. I wouldn’t give the kids a haircut on the Sabbath, but I will take extra time braiding my daughter’s hair before church. I wouldn’t pick a gallon of strawberries before breakfast, but I might pick a handful to eat with breakfast.
The Sabbath is to be a delight to each of us. If we, God’s people, don’t view the Sabbath as something special, something to be anticipated, something to look forward to all week long, how in the world are we going to convince the people around us that we have something they need? Why would they want to be part of a joyless religion, a duty-filled drudgery? A burden-filled Sabbath is an offense to our God on so many levels and is a travesty for His people.
Do you enjoy the Sabbath? Do you look forward to it each week? Do you call it a delight? Is the Sabbath for you, or do you think you were made for the Sabbath?
**A Very Special Day
The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath (ASV). Mark 2:27
Materials needed: lesson #8 from Primaries book (https://www.borntowin.net/yea/primaries/primaries-life-of-christ/); Sabbath statement cards, Yes/No signs
The students should have read their lesson about the Sabbath prior to coming to class. So we’re going to have a small competition/quiz. I will make the statement. Each student needs to decide whether they agree or disagree. When I say “go,” they’ll put up their “yes” sign or their “no” sign. Each right answer gets them a token. The person with the most tokens at the end gets to choose a reward first.
Here are the statements:
God made the world in seven days.
God made the world in six days and rested on the seventh day.
The Sabbath was started by the Jews.
The Sabbath was started by God at Creation.
Jesus healed many people on the Sabbath.
Jesus went to church on the Sabbath.
Jesus went to synagogue on the Sabbath; he was Jewish. There were no churches at that time.
The Sabbath was created for God.
The Sabbath was created for man.
It’s okay to work on the Sabbath as long as you go to church.
It’s good to help people on the Sabbath.
You should prepare for the Sabbath on Friday so you don’t have to work on Sabbath.
There are 6 days to work. The Sabbath is a day of rest.
We should enjoy the Sabbath.
The Sabbath is a gift from God to us.
You should come to church on Sabbath, if you can.
Keeping the Sabbath holy is one of the Ten Commandments.
Keeping the Sabbath holy is the fourth commandment.
The Sabbath begins when the sun comes up.
The Sabbath begins when the sun goes down Friday night.
Keeping the Sabbath is one way we show God we love Him.
God doesn’t really care which day we rest on - as long as we rest one day a week.
The Sabbath should be a solemn day that is no fun.
The Sabbath is the best day of the week.
Note: if you want the cards already formatted to print on cardstock, let me know. I can send you a pdf.
Worthy are You, O Lord
Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created. Revelation 4:11
The Greek word for “created” is ktizo (#2936). It means to create, or produce from nothing. It’s hard to get your mind around that. There’s a song in The Sound of Music where Maria sings, “Nothing comes from nothing . . .” That’s the whole problem with evolution. It can’t account for how matter came into existence. But the Greek word for “created” specifically emphasizes that which was created came from nothing.
Interestingly, this Greek word is used in Mark 13:19 talking about the Great Tribulation. That time will be worse than any time since the creation which God created. Mark makes a point of using that word which indicates that God produced the world from nothing.
Again, it’s used in Colossians 1:16 when Paul states, “for by him all things were created” - talking about Jesus Christ. Paul specifically uses a word that emphasizes Jesus’ ability to create something from nothing - namely us and everything around us.
Why did God create this world? Have you ever wondered about that? The ESV (and many others that I checked) say that God created everything by his will. The KJV translates it a little differently. It says that God created the world and everything in it for His pleasure. Think about it. God created the world on purpose. He had a plan. He did it because He wanted to, and the KJV implies that God knew that ultimately it would bring Him great joy.
When I make a plate of chocolate chip cookies, I plan it out because it brings me pleasure. When I weed the garden, even if it’s hard, I do it because I know that ultimately it will bring me pleasure. I do what I do because there’s some pleasure, joy, reward, ultimate good that will result. That’s the idea in this verse. God created the world because it was His will; it was for His pleasure. Remember when God finished His creation, He said it was very good. When all is said and done (see Revelation 21 and 22), it will be very good again.
Eventually, we’re going to be in the very throne room of God, singing praises to His name - much like this vision that is recorded by John. Then all of creation will praise Him, using all of their power, given to them by God, to glorify and honor Him.
Why? Do you see the reason in this verse that God is worthy to receive glory and honor and power? Because He’s the Creator!
In Revelation 5:12, it’s a little different. It says, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power, and wealth, and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.” What’s the reason given here for the adoration? Jesus, as the Lamb, is the Redeemer.
Can you think of anything in the Bible that is directly tied to God as Creator and God as Redeemer? Exodus 20:8-11 gives the command for keeping the Sabbath holy. It says that God created everything in six days and the seventh day He set aside as holy. Here the reason for the observance of Sabbath is because God as Creator said to.
In Deuteronomy 5:12-15, there’s no mention of the Creation in the Sabbath commandment; it is all about redemption from slavery in Egypt. The Sabbath is to be observed because God as the Redeemer said to.
He is still the Creator. He is still the Redeemer. So today, each week, every sabbath, we honor God by keeping the Sabbath holy. Not only is it a command of God, it’s good for us physically. Not only is it good for us physically, it’s good for us spiritually. It’s a good reminder that He is worthy of glory and honor and power in every part of our lives. The Sabbath is God’s gracious weekly reminder to each of us that He is our Creator and He is our Redeemer. We didn’t make ourselves. And we can’t earn eternal life in His kingdom. In other words, we didn’t bring ourselves into this world, and we can’t take ourselves into God’s kingdom.
Each Sabbath I hope you stop and think: I’m celebrating the Sabbath today because God is worthy as my Creator and Redeemer to receive glory and honor and power. Selah!