July 6, 2014 – The Great Commission – A Study of Matthew – The Sabbath Rest

Matthew 28:18-20 – New International Version (NIV) – The Great Commission

¹⁸ “Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

The Sabbath Rest

Matthew 12:9-14 – New International Version (NIV)

⁹ “Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, ¹⁰ and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to bring charges against Jesus, they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”

¹¹ He said to them, “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? ¹² How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”

¹³ Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other. ¹⁴ But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus.”

Where did Jesus go (verse 9)?

Who was there (verse 10)?

What were they (the Pharisees) looking for (verse 10)?

Why did they ask Jesus “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath” (verse 10)?

In your opinion, why did Jesus respond by talking about rescuing a sheep from a pit (verse 11)?

How does the value of a person and a sheep compare (verse 12)?

What does Jesus say it is lawful to do on the Sabbath (verse 12)?

How did the man respond to Jesus command to “Stretch out your hand” (verse 13)?

What happened to the man’s hand (verse 13)?

In your opinion, why would the Pharisees respond to the act of healing by plotting to kill Jesus (verse 14)?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Matthew 12:9-14 show us about the Great Commission?

Exodus 16:21–30 New International Version (NIV)

²¹ “Each morning everyone gathered as much as they needed, and when the sun grew hot, it melted away. ²² On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much—two omers for each person—and the leaders of the community came and reported this to Moses. ²³ He said to them, “This is what the Lord commanded: ‘Tomorrow is to be a day of sabbath rest, a holy sabbath to the Lord. So bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Save whatever is left and keep it until morning.’”

²⁴ So they saved it until morning, as Moses commanded, and it did not stink or get maggots in it. ²⁵ “Eat it today,” Moses said, “because today is a sabbath to the Lord. You will not find any of it on the ground today. ²⁶ Six days you are to gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will not be any.”

²⁷ Nevertheless, some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather it, but they found none. ²⁸ Then the Lord said to Moses, “How long will you refuse to keep my commands and my instructions? ²⁹ Bear in mind that the Lord has given you the Sabbath; that is why on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Everyone is to stay where they are on the seventh day; no one is to go out.” ³⁰ So the people rested on the seventh day.”

When did they the manna (verse 21)?

What happened to the manna when the sun grew hot (verse 21)?

When did they gather twice as much manna (verse 22)?

What is the seventh day to be (verse 23)?

In your opinion, what is a Sabbath rest (verse 23)?

How was the manna that was saved for the Sabbath protected (verse 24)?

What were the Israelites to do for six says and not on the seventh (verse 26)?

What did some of the people do on the seventh day (verse 27)?

In your opinion, why does the Lord say to Moses “How long will you refuse to keep my commands and my instructions” for something that seems as minor as going out to pick up the manna on the seventh day (verse 28)?

What did the people do on the seventh day (verse 30)?

In your opinion, how does this early command to rest on the Sabbath in Exodus 16:21-30 help us to understand the Pharisee’s attitude in Matthew 12:9-14?  

In your opinion, does God’s reaction to the violation of the Sabbath rest in Exodus justify the Pharisee’s reaction to Jesus healing on the Sabbath in Matthew?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Exodus show us about the Great Commission?

Ezekiel 20:10-20 – New International Version (NIV)

¹⁰ “Therefore I led them out of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness. ¹¹ I gave them my decrees and made known to them my laws, by which the person who obeys them will live. ¹² Also I gave them my Sabbaths as a sign between us, so they would know that I the Lord made them holy.

¹³ “‘Yet the people of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness. They did not follow my decrees but rejected my laws—by which the person who obeys them will live—and they utterly desecrated my Sabbaths. So I said I would pour out my wrath on them and destroy them in the wilderness. ¹⁴ But for the sake of my name I did what would keep it from being profaned in the eyes of the nations in whose sight I had brought them out. ¹⁵ Also with uplifted hand I swore to them in the wilderness that I would not bring them into the land I had given them—a land flowing with milk and honey, the most beautiful of all lands— ¹⁶ because they rejected my laws and did not follow my decrees and desecrated my Sabbaths. For their hearts were devoted to their idols. ¹⁷ Yet I looked on them with pity and did not destroy them or put an end to them in the wilderness. ¹⁸ I said to their children in the wilderness, “Do not follow the statutes of your parents or keep their laws or defile yourselves with their idols. ¹⁹ I am the Lord your God; follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. ²⁰ Keep my Sabbaths holy, that they may be a sign between us. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.”

Who lead the Israelites out of Egypt (verse 10)?

Where were the Israelites led to (verse 10)?

What did God give to the Israelites (verse 11)?

How will the person who obeys the decrees and laws be blessed (verse 11)?

In your opinion, why would the Sabbaths be considered a sign between God and the Israelites (verse 12)?

How did the “people of Israel” behave to God in the wilderness (verse 13)?

What did the Israelites do to the laws “by which the person who obeys them will live” (verse 13)?

What did God say He would pour out and destroy the Israelites in the wilderness (verse 13)?

In the eyes of who did God want to keep His name from being profaned (verse 14)?

Where did God swear that he would keep the Israelites from (verse 15)?

In your opinion, why did the Israelites reject Gods laws and desecrate the Sabbaths (verse 16)?

How did God look on the Israelites (verse 17)?

Who did God tell the “children in the wilderness” not to follow the statutes of or follow the laws of (verse 18)?

How were the children in the wilderness to respond to God (verse 19)?

What will the Sabbaths be kept as if they are to be a sign between the Israelites and God (verse 20)?

In your opinion, how does this passage from Ezekiel 12:10-20 help us to understand about the keeping of the Sabbath with the manna in Exodus 16:21-30?

In your opinion, how does the passage from Ezekiel what Jesus said about it being “lawful” to do good on the Sabbath in Matthew 12:9-14?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Ezekiel show us about the Great Commission?    

Hebrews 4:1-13 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ “Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. ² For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed. ³ Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said,

“So I declared on oath in my anger,
    ‘They shall never enter my rest.’”

And yet his works have been finished since the creation of the world. ⁴ For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: “On the seventh day God rested from all his works.” ⁵ And again in the passage above he says, “They shall never enter my rest.”

⁶ Therefore since it still remains for some to enter that rest, and since those who formerly had the good news proclaimed to them did not go in because of their disobedience, ⁷ God again set a certain day, calling it “Today.” This he did when a long time later he spoke through David, as in the passage already quoted:

“Today, if you hear his voice,
    do not harden your hearts.”

⁸ For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. ⁹ There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; ¹⁰ for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. ¹¹ Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.

¹² For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. ¹³ Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.”

What still stands (verse 1)?

Why was the message “of no value” to them (the Israelites that Moses led out Egypt) (verse 2)?

Where have “we who have believed” entered (verse 3)?

What did God do on the seventh day (verse 4)?

In your opinion, who is the “they” who will “never enter my rest” (verse 5)?

Why did those “who formerly had the good news proclaimed to them” not go into the rest (verse 6)?

What are we commanded “Today, if you hear his voice” (verse 7)?

Who does “a Sabbath-rest” remain for (verse 9)?

How will the people who enter “God’s rest” be like God (verse 10)?

What does Paul instruct us to do (verse 11)?

How is the “word of God” (verse 12)?

In your opinion, what is the “word of God” considered to be “sharper than any double-edged sword” (verse 12)?

Where do the “thoughts and attitudes” that the “word of God” judges originate (verse 12)?

What is hidden from God’s sight (verse 13)?

What is “uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account” (verse 13)?

In your opinion, how does the command in Hebrews 4:1-13 to “do not harden your hearts” help us to understand the command of Ezekiel 12:10-20 to the children in the wilderness to “Do not follow the statutes of your parents or keep their laws or defile yourselves with their idols”?

In your opinion, how does the discussion of the first Sabbath rest in Exodus 16:21-30 help us to understand better the Sabbath rest that is still promised to the “people of God” in Hebrews 4?

In your opinion, how does the command to “do not harden your hearts” in Hebrews 4 help us to understand the Pharisees in Matthew 12:9-14?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Hebrews show us about the Great Commission?

Next, back to Matthew 12:14 – (sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)