Saturday, September 21, 2019

October 6, 2019 – Festivals and Foundations – The Sabbath Blessing

The Sabbath Blessing


Leviticus 23:1-3 - New International Version (NIV)

The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘These are my appointed festivals, the appointed festivals of the Lord, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies.

“‘There are six days when you may work, but the seventh day is a day of sabbath rest, a day of sacred assembly. You are not to do any work; wherever you live, it is a sabbath to the Lord.

Who was Moses to speak to (verse 2)?

Who “appointed” the festivals that Moses was to speak about (verse 2)?

How many days are there to work (verse 3)?

What is the seventh day (verse 3)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
Exodus 16:15-30 - New International Version (NIV)

15 When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was.

Moses said to them, “It is the bread the Lord has given you to eat. 16 This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Everyone is to gather as much as they need. Take an omer for each person you have in your tent.’”

17 The Israelites did as they were told; some gathered much, some little. 18 And when they measured it by the omer, the one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little. Everyone had gathered just as much as they needed.

19 Then Moses said to them, “No one is to keep any of it until morning.”

20 However, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell. So Moses was angry with them.

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.

How did Moses answer the Israelites question “what is it” (verse 15)?

How much were the Israelites to gather (verse 16)?

Who gathered “just as much as they needed” (verse 18)?

How much is to be kept until morning (verse 19)?

In your opinion, why did some people not pay attention to Moses (verse 20)?

What happened when “the sun grew hot” (verse 21)?

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

What did the Lord say about “tomorrow” (verse 23)?

In your opinion, why was there no Manna on the seventh day (verses 24 through 26)?

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

In your opinion, why was Moses angry with the people who gathered too much in verse 20 and the Lord with those who “refuse to keep my commands” speaking of the people who went out and gathered in verse 28?

What are the Israelites to “bear in mind” (verse 29)?

When did the people rest (verse 30)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, how would the history of the manna in Exodus 16:15-30 help the people hearing Moses in Leviticus 23:1-3 better understand the Sabbath rest?

Mark 2:23-27 – New International Version (NIV)

23 One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. 24 The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”

25 He answered, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? 26 In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.”

27 Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”

When was Jesus going through the grainfields (verse 23)?

What did the disciples begin to do (verse 23)?

In your opinion, why did the Parisees say “look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath” (verse 24)?

What did David do when “he and his companions were hungry and in need” (verses 25 and 26)?

Who could lawfully eat the bread that David ate (verse 26)?

Who was the Sabbath made for (verse 27)?

What is the “Son of Man” the Lord “even of” (verse 28)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, how is the position of the Pharisees in Mark 2:23-27 supported by the instructions of Leviticus 23:1-3?  How might the Pharisees response been too strong?

In your opinion, are the actions of the disciples who were gathering the grain in Mark 2:23-27 similar to the actions of the people in Exodus 16:15-30 who went out on the Sabbath to gather the “bread the Lord has given you to eat”? 

In your opinion, does Jesus change anything about the Sabbath by His statement that “the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath”?

Romans 14:1-12 – New International Version (NIV)

1 Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters. One person’s faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them. Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand.

One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.

10 You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. 11 It is written:

“‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord,
‘every knee will bow before me;
    every tongue will acknowledge God.’”

12 So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.

Who is to be accepted “without quarreling over disputable matters” (verse 1)?

In your opinion, why would one person’s faith allow them to eat what another person’s faith would not allow them to eat (verse 2)?

In your opinion, what is the difference between treating someone with contempt and judging someone (verse 3)?

Why will the Lord’s servants stand (verse 4)?

Where should those who consider whether a day is sacred or not be fully convinced (verse 5)?

What do each of the people in verse 6 have in common?

What do none of us do “for ourselves alone” (verse 7)?

Who do Christians belong to in life and death (verse 8)?

Why did Christ die and return to life (verse 9)?

Where will we all stand (verse 10)?

Who will every knee bow to (verse 11)?

What will each of us give to God (verse 12)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, how are the people who hear the instruction of Moses to keep the Sabbath in Leviticus 23:1-3 different from the people who Paul is telling to be “fully convinced in their own minds” in Romans 14:1-12?


In your opinion, what is the uniting truth that both Jesus in Mark 2:23-27 and Paul in Romans 14:1-23 both use to move from confrontational and unimportant items to what is central?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Leviticus, Exodus, Mark and Romans help us understand about the differences that Christians may have and the unity that Christians must have?

In your opinion, how can those who consider one day sacred and those who don’t all receive Sabbath blessings when they understand what led Jesus to say that “the Sabbath was made for man”?


(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

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