Whenever my husband and I share with other believers about the importance of keeping the Lord's Sabbath Day (the 7th day of the week) - we often get the response that "it really doesn't matter what day of the week we worship God". This comment is given as an excuse to continue their "first day" worship on Sunday - the sun god's day.
A few days ago, I was reading the story in 2 Kings 5 about Naaman. He was the commander of the army of the king of Syria - and he had leprosy. Naaman sent for the prophet, Elisha, to heal him of his leprosy. Instead of going himself, Elisha sent a messenger to Naaman with the following message: "Go and wash in the Jordan seven times and your flesh shall be restored to you, and you shall be clean." (vs. 10) In verse 11, Naaman became furious that Elisha sent a messenger to him instead of coming himself to heal him.
The key verse I want to share with you today is in verse 11. It reads as follows, with Naaman speaking: "'Are not the Abanah and the Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?' So he turned and went away in a rage."
To me this sounds very much like what believers say today when confronted with keeping God's holy Sabbath day. Aren't the other days of the week better than the 7th day? Can't we just have a "rest day" on any of them and be fine? It is all a question of obedience and remembering that we are only a created being of God's - and not the Creator Himself.
In verse 14 it says, "So he went down and dipped seven times in the Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean." He could not choose any other river of his choice. It had to be the one that God chose. Also, he could not choose to only dip 3 times, 5 times, 12 times, etc. It had to be the number that God chose - the number 7.
In Genesis 2:2 & 3, God stated the seventh day - 3 times. The number 7 is God's number. Man's number is the number 6. We all know that the number 666 is the number for the Anti-christ. What about God's number - 777? When something is stated in the Bible 3 times - it means it is something very important to God. When we read, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of hosts", God is getting across to us how important His holiness really is. So what is He trying to get across to us in Genesis 2 regarding His 7th-day Sabbath? If I tried to paraphrase, it might sound like this: "It's the seventh day, the seventh day, the seventh day." He just doesn't leave any room for us to make it another day, does He?
One thing we need to remember is this: The Sabbath Day (7th day) was given long before there was a nation of Israel or before Moses was given the 10 Commandment law. That's why in the 10 Commandments it is stated to "Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy..." This 7th-day Sabbath was given for all mankind to honor and to set apart as holy. Just like in the story of Naaman, who do we think we are that we can tell God Almighty that we are going to move His holy Sabbath Day to another day?
Jeremiah 2:19 says, "'Know therefore and see that it is an evil and bitter thing that you have forsaken the Lord your God, and the fear (dread) of Me is not in you,' says the Lord God of hosts."
No comments:
Post a Comment