Grace Bible Church
Pastor-Teacher
Robert R. McLaughlin
Sunday, March 18, 2018
Point 7 (out of 15 major points) in the doctrine of the Sabbath which is what is known as The Sabbatical Year of Israel, Exo 23:10‑11; Lev 25:3‑4, Lev 26:33‑37.
Notice for six years they were to sow the land and then gather its production or that which the land produced and then bless themselves as well as their family and friends.
Then look att DEU 14:26 "And you may spend the money for whatever your heart desires, for oxen, or sheep, or wine, or strong drink, or whatever your heart desires;
and there you shall eat in the presence of the Lord your God and rejoice, you and your household.
We noted last week that the Hebrew word fallow is used to cultivate land that is allowed to lie idle during the growing season so that it may grow and yield even more production after it grows.
As stated in MAT 5:45 for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
Every seven years, the Jews were supposed to stop work.
Prin-If they had been functioning properly under supergrace, then this was really a year's vacation in which they didn't have to work.
Having followed so well the laws of divine establishment, and having functioned under the P.M.A. of B.D., they now took a break on the seventh year to exercise their capacity for life.
So they did not work for a full year without any detriment to them.
Now it is very interesting that the failure of the Jews to observe the sabbatical year was the basis for determining how long they would stay out under the fifth cycle of discipline.
From the Exodus until the first administration of the fifth cycle of discipline to the southern kingdom, they had accumulated 490 years in which they had not observed even one sabbatical year as a nation.
Now God, in His great sense of humor, told the southern kingdom in 586 B.C. that since they had missed seventy sabbatical years, therefore he would give them those seventy years in slavery.
Therefore, the first administration of the fifth cycle of discipline lasted for seventy years, Lev 26:33‑36; 2Ch 36:20-21; Dan 9:2; Jer 25:11‑12.
2Ch 36:20 and those who had escaped from the sword he carried away to Babylon; and they were servants to him and to his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia,
2Ch 36:21 to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its sabbaths. All the days of its desolation it kept sabbath until seventy years were complete.
Or look at Jer 25:11 'and this whole land shall be a desolation and a horror, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.
Jer 25:12 'Then it will be when seventy years are completed I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation,' declares the Lord, 'for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans; and I will make it an everlasting desolation.
OR WHAT ABOUT Jer 29:10 "For thus says the Lord, 'when seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place.
So the Jews had to be reminded about the Sabbath.-------- JUST LIKE WE DO.
For 6 years they planted as much as they wanted to and operated under the principle of free enterprise.
God said that if they would stop on the 7th year and make a memorial to grace that grace would provide what they need.
They completely rationalized the 7th year Sabbath away.
And so when the first 7 year Sabbath came they didn't observe it, 14 years later they again did not observe it.
“21 years later they again did not observe it, they just “let someone else do.”
For the next 28 years later they once again did not observe for Sabbath. They went on and on and on until finally in a period of 490 years in Jewish history they had missed 70 sabbath years (70 x 7 = 490).
So God said “Alright, you don't want to rest when I tell you to...so I will give you rest. This is the principle of Isa 29:24; and those who err in mind will know the truth, and those who criticize will accept instruction.
And so they went out for 70 years of captivity in Chaldea and Persia.
It was to be followed but as usual the Jews rejected that which commemorated the grace of God.
Under the agriculture economy of Israel each 7th year they were to stop all work and live off the profits of the 6 years production.
Point 8 is a very interesting point which goes with Point 7: The year of Jubilee, Lev 25:8ff.
After forty-nine years (in which there were seven sabbatical years), the fiftieth year was called the year of jubilee; it was a sabbath year also.
Now during the year of Jubilee, all the real estate in the land went back to its original owners, all the businesses went back to their original owners; everything reverted back to how it was in year one.
All slaves were to be freed, and whatever was their portion of land allotted to them by tribe and by the system was given back to them.
This just proves the point of history, that no matter what you have in equal distribution, certain ones will gain most of the pie, and certain ones will again fall into slavery.
It's all just a matter of time. Or the principle; equality guarantees inequality.
The purpose was again to remind everyone of grace. For after you've been a successful businessman for 49 years, it's very difficult to orient to grace.
And so He gave them another one...another chance. He gave them what was called the year of Jubilee (yobel). Jubilee, the blast.
So we could call this the year of the blast. On the 50th year all the real estate in the land went back or was to be returned to its original owners.
All slaves were to be freed. And, every 50 years they were to start over, Lev 25 talks about the year of Jubilee.
Rejection of the Sabbath concept was total in Israel. It was totally rejected because they had no doctrine.
It was a "rest ritual" but it was not meaningful unless you had doctrine in the soul to appreciate it.
They blew their Sabbath years, they blew their year of Jubilee when it came out.
And as a result their total rejection of the Sabbath led to grace disorientation.
And here is the principle; they rejected the Sabbath because they rejected doctrine and they rejected grace.
As a result their total rejection of the Sabbath led to a total rejection of grace which caused the Jewish nation to be removed as a nation, not once but twice.
Point 9. Profaning the Sabbath was associated with idolatry and the apostasy of the Jews, Eze 23:36‑39.
Point 10. Sabbath violation occurred after the restoration, Neh 13:15‑21.
Point 11. The Sabbath is set aside in the church age, Col 2:16‑17; Now, the memorial to grace in the church age is not Saturday but Sunday, the first day of the week, 1Co 16:2; Act 20:7.
1Co 16:2 on the first day of every week let each one of you put aside and save, as he may prosper, that no collections be made when I come.
There is a new day for the Church-age believer to set aside. For the Jew Saturday was a time for animal sacrifices.
The Jewish age terminated very shortly after that the Church-age began.
Fifty days after the resurrection the Church-age actually began. Now in the Church-age every believer is a priest and there is no longer a special day.
Because every believer is a priest, and the objective or every believer is to become spiritually self sustained.
Now, there were a couple of feasts that the Jews had that really bothered them.
On the first Sunday and IT WAS ALWAYS always on A Sunday, they had what is known as the feast of the first-fruits and that use to really bother them.
Pro 3:9 Honor the Lord from your wealth, and from the first of all your produce;
Pro 3:10 So your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine.
Point 12. Now the feast of the first fruits was always on Sunday.
There is one thing that the Jews couldn't stand and that was to have a Sunday Sabbath also known as a double-Sabbath.
50 days from that Sunday there was another day which also bothered them because 50 days from that Sunday.
TLJC was resurrected on a Sunday, and Sunday, 50 days after His resurrection the Church-age began.
So, there had to be a day when assembly worship was authorized. And, all are to come together, and for the Church it is Sunday.
Sunday is the Resurrected Day! Sunday is what we call the Lord's Day! The Jews always had to have a 7th day! For Christians it's the first day.
Point 13. Therefore, the principle, the Sabbath is not for Christians.
The Sabbath is interrupted even as the age of Israel is interrupted. This is taught in Col 2:16-17.
Point 14. Principle, the Sabbath is set aside in the Church-age. In Col 2:16-17 and the entire book of Galatians teaches this principle. In the Church-age, we start all over.
On the day of Pentecost, the first day of the week, on a Sunday, God the H.S. took all the believers who were alive in Jerusalem and entered them into union with Christ.
This means that all believers in the Church-age are in Christ and in union with Christ.
Psa 138:2 For thou hast magnified thy word according to all Thy name.
The R.S.V. says....For you have exalted above everything thy name and Thy word.
Therefore, God halted the age of Israel until the Rapture of the Church-age and then there are 7 more years in the age of Israel called the Tribulation.
Point 15. Moment-by-moment Sabbath for the Church-age.
This is the principle by which the believer enters into the supergrace life. So your moment-by-moment sabbath means your spiritual advance, and your annual sabbatical is comparable to the supergrace life.
- Abraham, Rom 4:17‑21.
Rom 4:19 and without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah's womb;
Rom 4:20 yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief, but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God,
- Moses at the Red sea, Exo 14:10‑14. Exo 14:10 And as Pharaoh drew near, the sons of Israel looked, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they became very frightened; so the sons of Israel cried out to the Lord.
Exo 14:11 then they said to Moses, "is it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you dealt with us in this way, bringing us out of Egypt?
- The bones of Joseph, Heb 11:22. Heb 11:22 by faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the Exodus of the sons of Israel, and gave orders concerning his bones.
- Caleb and the giants, Num 13-14 cf. Josh 14:6‑14; 15:14; Judges 1:20.