MONUMENT

 

ТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТТ

What else was the Sabbath (Saturday) observance to remind the people of Israel?

“And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, but the Lord your God brought you out from there with a strong hand and a high arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day” (Deut 5.15).

Note. The memory of the slavery and oppression that the Israelites were subjected to in Egypt should have served as another reason that would encourage the people to observe the Sabbath after their release "from the house of slavery" (Ex 20.2). Thus, the Sabbath was not only a memorial of God's creation, but also a memorial of the deliverance of the people from slavery, when the power of God was manifested with special power. And while Egypt represents the bondage of sin that holds all who have not given their heart to God, Sabbath observance is the natural response of the human heart delivered from that bondage by the mighty power of God manifested in Jesus Christ.

 

 

What else did God intend the Sabbaths to be?

“I also gave them My Sabbaths, that they might be a sign between Me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them“ (Ezek 20.12).

Note. Sanctification, or, in other words, the change by which a sinful, corrupt being becomes holy, is accomplished through redemption. In order for sanctification to take place, creative power is needed (see Ps 50.2; John 3.3,6; Eph 2.10). And since the Sabbath is the all-encompassing sign or memorial of God's creative power, it is also the sign of His regenerating and renewing power. The elect of God, when they live in eternity with Christ in the new earth (Is 66.23), will have another good reason to keep the Sabbath. The Sabbath rest will remind them not only that God created them and the entire universe, but also that He redeemed them.

 

 

Through whom does our sanctification come?

“From Him you are also in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption” (1 Cor 1.30).

Note. Thus, since the Sabbath is a sign, or memorial, it is none other than Jehovah Himself who sanctifies us. This sanctification is accomplished through Jesus Christ, and the Sabbath thus becomes a memorial, or a sign, that the believer lives in union with Christ. So, according to God's design, through sincere observance of the Sabbath commandment, the believer draws closer to Christ and the bond between Them is strengthened.

 

 

On what day will the redeemed gather to worship God in eternity?

“For as the new heavens and the new earth that I will create will always be before me, says the Lord, so will your seed and your name be. Then from month to month, from Saturday to Saturday, all flesh will come before me to worship, says the Lord” (Is 66.22-23).

Note. The Sabbath, a monument to God's creative power, will last forever. And even when a new earth comes to replace the current sinful and corrupt world, the reasons for keeping the Sabbath will remain the same. And those who, by the grace of God, will gain eternal life, and with it the right to live on the new earth, will sing the song of Moses and the Lamb every Saturday, glorifying the creative and renewing power of God (see Rev 15.3, 22.12).