Man and the Shabbat

On the six day of creation God created man in His image and likeness. Man He created as His expressed character. It was the delight of God to have created man and gave him rule over the works of His hands. Being made ruler over the earth man is the expressed visible position of God in the universe, and being placed in a place of authority over the earth shows that God is the authority over all things.

The universe cannot survive without God, and likewise the earth cannot survive without man. After the fall of man we are told that the earth came under a curse. The earth came under a curse as it was placed under the responsibility of man, and being the priest of God the one through whom God's blessing would flow to bring prosperity to the world, man had failed. Through his failure man came under a curse and likewise the earth. In the book of Leviticus 23:10 we are told that the Israelites were to bring the first of all their increase before the Lord, and the priest was to wave it before the Lord on the day after the Sabbath. This was to bring a blessing upon the field and the entire land and nation. Here we have the blessing of the Lord being passed on to the nation and land through the offering of the priest. Adam was the priest of the earth in His time and it was through him God would continue to bless the land, but when the priest failed to produce the offering required, a curse came upon the land which clearly shows that man is the temple of God, the person through whom God preserves and continue to bless and sustain.

The Sabbath day is the day of the Lord, and being called into the day of the Sabbath we are to offer before the Lord the offering due to Him. As we obey the Shabbath observing its importance we will receive the blessings promised to us. Man is a vital part in creation, as he is the creation of God for His purpose. Jesus in His message has called us the light of the world; hence we can see that man through Christ is a conduit through whom the world and the entire nations of the world will be blessed.

Adam had failed at his post, and as a result the earth came under a curse. He had forsaken his post and as a result the whole human race came under the judgment of God. Leviticus 23:10 "Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest unto the priest:" The Sabbath was an important time, a holy day of rest, it was a time of accounting. But when the Creator came to his footstool He found that his law had been broken, man had disobeyed His command.

Because of their act and irresponsibility God cast them out of the garden to work the ground and soil from which they were taken. Because they had broken His law defiling the Sabbath of the Lord to serve their desires they must now labour for their food in the sweat of the face they shall eat bread. It is a blessing to honor the Lord's Day and to do that which He commands. We were told that the Sabbath is not a very important day because of the sacrifice of Christ, but if we were to look at the scriptures from a clear point of view not trying to fit it into our way of life, we will realize that it is a commandment we are to keep. Christ had kept the Sabbath, He often attends every feast during His time on earth, and today He still watches over His day. Observing the Sabbath and offering the sacrifice of praise to the God of glory is to bring a blessing upon our lives. Breaking the Sabbath refusing to honour the Lord will only result in a cursed life.

The Sabbath is the day of the Lord, and throughout the scripture it was a day our forefathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob often observed. You would often read the story of Abraham offering sacrifices to the Lord. He had also done this very thing the very moment he enter the land of promise. It was through Abraham God had preserved His promise to humanity restoring the blessing that was upon Adam. After Noah Abraham became the priest of the Lord and the head of His house, and today because of the obedience of Abraham we are blessed. Because of his obedience to God Christ came out of his household, and Christ being obedient to God has brought about the complete redemption of man.

The promise of God has been restored, but the Sabbath must be kept. We are to honour the Lord's Day knowing that through our obedience our families, country, and finances will prosper. God gave us these laws and His feasts days that we might enter into fellowship, that we might behold His beauty and glory.

Adam was the priest that failed, Noah was the priest who prevailed, and Abraham was the priest through whom the promise was restore, but Christ is the one through whom the mission was completed. Christ death was on the day of the Lord, at Passover during the eve of unleavened bread. He had not broken one law but shows that they are to be kept as His body was broken for us on the night of Passover. God will also fulfill the feast of trumpets the feast of atonement and the feast of tabernacle. These are the Lord's appointed times which we are to obey.

Genesis 12:2-3"And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shall be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curses thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed."

Scriptures

Nu 28:9; Mt 12:5; John 7:23 Mt 12:12; Lu 13:16; John 9:14 Mt 12:1; Lu 13:15; 14:1 Ex 20:10;      Le 23:3; De 5:14 Ex 31:15 Gen 2:15-1