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Why keep the Sabbath?

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Most Christians have heard of the Ten Commandments. Many can even tell you what they are. But how many can answer this question: Why does God ask His people to keep the Sabbath?

The Ten Commandments

Photo adapted from OZinOH on Flickr

Let’s take a look at these two familiar passages and take note of the similarities and differences:

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. (Exodus 20:8-11 ESV)

Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the LORD your God commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant, or your ox or your donkey or any of your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day. (Deuteronomy 5:12-15 ESV)

If you just skimmed those passages, you’ll probably miss the point of this blog entry 😉 Go back and read them again.

Here are some things that are the same:

  • Six days are allocated for work, but the Sabbath is to be kept holy.
  • The Sabbath is not just for us, but “to the LORD your God”.
  • On the Sabbath, no one works: not you, your family, your servants, your animals or your visitors.

But did you notice the key difference between the two passages?

  • In the Exodus passage, the motivation for keeping the Sabbath comes from the character of God in Genesis. God made everything in six days and then rested. Thus we should do the same.
  • In the Deuteronomy passage, the motivation for keeping the Sabbath comes from the rescue of God in Exodus. God (not Egypt) is now their master and has a different set of [very gracious] rules to live by.

So why am I noting this on a blog about Bible Study? It’s because we’re often tempted to assume we know what a passage means just because we’ve read it somewhere else before.

The Bible was inspired by God for all time for His supreme purpose: to reveal the glory of His Son, Jesus Christ. Simultaneously, the Bible was penned by different men at different times for different purposes. With these two truths in glorious tension, we study the Bible to understand as much as we can about every word, every passage, every book – even if we’ve seen a similar story previously.

In each case, be sure to observe the context of the “duplicated” passages. It may be that the main point and application may change in each case! For example:

  • Why might God speak of the blessing of the Sabbath to a newly-freed nation at the foot of a terrifying mountain while recalling it later with an emphasis on commands and obedience?
  • Why do the details of the same battle vary between Judges 4 and Judges 5?
  • Why is Jesus recorded as saying different things in each of the four gospels just before He dies?

Feel free to leave your thoughts on those questions in the comments!

Is understanding a movie different than understanding the Bible?

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Recently a Christian friend said to me, “I’m not able to understand the Bible when I read it.”

I asked, “Are you able to understand movies you watch?”

My friend replied, “Yes, but that’s different!”

Is my friend right? Do we use a different set of skills to understand movies vs the Bible?

There certainly are some differences! You can more easily convey some things in writing than you can in visual media (and vice versa). Also, the Bible generally doesn’t come with a soundtrack nor does a movie come with cross-references.

However, a majority of the skills you use to watch and understand a movie are actually quite similar to how you’d read (and understand, and apply) the Bible. That’s what we’d expect, after all, from a God who desires that His Word be truly knowable.

Consider the following:

#1: The Bible often uses repeated words and themes in order to point out when something is important and should be remembered. Movies do the same thing. How many times has the last line of a movie simply been a repeated phrase from earlier? How many romantic comedies climax with the girl repeating the exact phrase the guy had said back on the first date? Even this memorable movie quote comes as a direct result of repeated words!

#2: The Bible is full of stories about people. As you read, it is expected that you’ll love them (e.g. Jesus, Joseph, Daniel), hate them (e.g. Eli and his sons, the Pharisees, just about all Israelite kings), learn from them (e.g. Paul, Peter, Jethro), empathize with them (e.g. the woman caught in adultery in John 8, the Psalmists) or avoid them (e.g. the “fool”, the sexually immoral, the Judaizers). Movies make heavy use of this same technique. You get drawn in, identify yourself with some character, and are are often meant to change your life as a result. Consider your favorite movie characters. Don’t you in some ways try to be more like them?

#3: The Bible is full of stories about how the world works and what is true. The Bible talks about the worth of life, of family, of work, of rest, and countless other topics. Movies address the same things. For example: What is reality? What is perseverance? What is worth fighting for? What is it to be falsely accused? What is it to sacrifice? The answers to those questions are meant to teach us more about how to live.

#4: After you watch a movie with a friend, you can discuss what the movie was about. While not everything is easily explained the first time through and may require thinking for a while, you know for a fact that the writer, actors, director and producer fully intended to communicate something. They had a main point that they wanted you to understand and wrestle with. So it is with the Bible. The author (and Author) intended it to be understood and applied.

Much more can be said here, but my conclusion is that the friend I spoke of above can indeed understand the Bible. Moreover, as one who watches many movies, I suspect my friend actually knows a lot more about Bible study than either of us even realizes!

The next time you watch a movie, ask yourself how you know what you know about it. Then determine how you knew that, and try the same technique on the Bible.

Difficult texts: Genesis 6:1-4

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When you’re reading through Genesis, you run into some strange things. Talking snakes (Gen 3:1), twins wrestling in the womb to see who comes out first (Gen 38:28-30), and… some kind of mixed-world marriage that results in superhero children…?

[1] When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, [2] the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. [3] Then the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.” [4] The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown. (Genesis 6:1-4 ESV)

I’ll reveal my cards early: I don’t think this passage is talking about angels marrying people, as is sometimes suggested. (Though City of Angels is a fun flick.)

So what’s really going on?

I think what usually trips people up here is that this passage comes right off the genealogy in Genesis 5. For many of us, when we hit a genealogy, our eyes glaze over and our brain only resets once we get back to the narrative. However, genealogies serve just as important a role as anything else in the narrative. They move the story forward over generations, but it’s still the same story. So, let’s go back even a little further to Genesis 4:

[17] Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. When he built a city, he called the name of the city after the name of his son, Enoch. [18] To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad fathered Mehujael, and Mehujael fathered Methushael, and Methushael fathered Lamech.  . . . [25] And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and called his name Seth, for she said, “God has appointed for me another offspring instead of Abel, for Cain killed him.” [26] To Seth also a son was born, and he called his name Enosh. At that time people began to call upon the name of the LORD. (Genesis 4:17-18, 25-26 ESV)

These are some of the last verses just before the Genesis 5 genealogy and our Genesis 6 text. In other words, the author of Genesis wants us to notice the two separate lines forming here: the wicked line of Cain and the godly line of Seth. In between Seth fathering Enosh and the Genesis 5 genealogy, the author notes that “people began to call upon the name of the LORD.”

With that in mind, the meaning of those verses in Genesis 6 becomes clear: the sons of God are from Seth’s godly line while the daughters of men are from Cain’s wicked line. Sadly, the theme of the “godly” seeing something “attractive” and therefore taking it shows up here just as it did when Eve saw and took the forbidden fruit in Genesis 3. (Clearly not all that appears beautiful is good!) This time the death that results from this foolish attraction is far more widespread: the Flood.

(After composing the bulk of this blog entry, my fellow Knowable Word author Peter noted to me that R.C. Sproul, Jr. just covered this text not long ago. The good news is that we agree on the interpretation! So if you’d like to read more about this passage, check out his blog.)

Observation tip: Look for contrasts

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“The real problem is not why some pious, humble, believing people suffer, but why some do not.” – C.S. Lewis

“Facts are stubborn, but statistics are more pliable.” – Mark Twain

“I don’t think marriage is a civil right, but I think that being able to transfer property is a civil right.” – Barack Obama

The quotes above, regardless of whether you agree with them or not, have this in common: they are all statements of contrast. (We’ve written about other examples of contrasts in an earlier post.) Contrasts are very helpful at emphasizing the difference between two things. That is, each side of a contrast can contain some observation that is useful, but when compared against one another, their differences are highlighted. This is very useful in determining the main point of the speaker/author.

We use contrasts all the time in our daily speech and the Scriptures are chock full of them. One sure-fire way to spot a contrast is to look for the word, “but”. That’s not the only way to find contrasts, but it’s a good starting point. (Did you notice that contrast right there?)

Consider these texts and how the contrasts emphasize the statements:

Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: “Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.” (Proverbs 31:28-29 ESV, emphasis mine)

For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression. That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all. (Romans 4:13-16 ESV, emphasis mine)

“And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” (Matthew 6:16-18 ESV, emphasis mine)

The three examples above are from Proverbs, Romans and the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). All three of those sections of Scripture make frequent use of contrasts. Why not go through a chapter or two of those sections to see how many contrasts you can pick out, and what it tells us about God, men, sin and salvation? It will be well worth your time!

How can you know the will of God?

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If you’ve been a Christian for more than approximately 37 seconds, you’ve probably been in a conversation about how you can know the will of God.  In my experience, most of these conversations quickly become debates about whether and how God speaks to individuals about specific decisions they’re facing.  The answers to those questions are significant and are often correlated with denominational lines, so I won’t presume to give God’s authoritative answer on those questions today.

However, if we go back to the original question of how we can know the will of God, we are indeed able to to speak authoritatively!  The Bible tells us plainly in several places.  Let’s look at two of them together, found only a few verses apart:

[1] Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more. [2] For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. [3] For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; [4] that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, [5] not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; [6] that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. [7] For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. [8] Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you. (1 Thessalonians 4:1-8 ESV, emphasis mine)

[16] Rejoice always, [17] pray without ceasing, [18] give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 ESV, emphasis mine)

Therefore, here are several things the Bible very plainly says are God’s will for us:

  • Abstaining from sexual immorality (4:3)
  • Self-control of our bodies, in holiness and honor, and not in passions of lust (4:4-5)
  • That we not transgress and wrong our fellow Christians regarding the items above (4:6)
  • Rejoice always (5:16)
  • Pray without ceasing (5:17)
  • Give thanks in all circumstances (5:18)

Honestly consider that list.  Are you abstaining from sexual immorality, including keeping yourself from adultery, fornication, visiting sexually explicit websites and the like?  Do you run to the Lord in prayer so often that it seems to you and others that you pray ceaselessly?  Do your friends marvel that you are constantly rejoicing and giving thanks in all circumstances, even the ones that leave others shaken and panicked?

If you’re anything like me, there’s certainly room for growth even in that short list!  Praise God that Jesus died so that my hope – and yours – is not in a perfect list, but in a perfect Savior!

So, while it is appropriate to ask whether God gives specific direction in regard to His will, it is still more appropriate to recognize that He is very clear with us on what following His will looks like according to 1 Thessalonians.  If we desire to know more of His will, let’s agree to at least start with what is already plain in His knowable Word (1 Thess 4:2!)

Difficult texts: Genesis 3:16

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So there you are, emotionally reading through Genesis 3…

You boo as the serpent comes on the scene, eager to destroy God’s good creation. You cry out to the woman to not listen to him! You cringe as she takes that terrible, terrible bite of the forbidden fruit. You tremble with the first two humans as they try to hide from God as He approaches. You hang your head with them as God questions what they’ve done. For a moment, you feel immense joy and cheer as God pronounces the curses on the serpent and makes the first promise of a coming Messiah (Genesis 3:15). But then something strange happens…

To the woman [God] said,
“I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing;
in pain you shall bring forth children.
Your desire shall be for your husband,
and he shall rule over you.“
(Genesis 3:16 ESV, emphasis mine)

You mourn but nod as you understand the reasoning for childbirth being painful. But then suddenly God seems to say, “And now for the worst part… woman, you’re gonna desire your husband!”

Ummmm… right.

Thankfully, you’re a faithful Knowable Word reader, and you’ve just got done looking at the difficult text of Colossians 1:24. There you saw that even though Paul’s words were initially tricky to understand, you could look at another passage of Scripture (Philippians 2:25-30) that used the same words to help determine Paul’s meaning back in the Colossians passage. So you wonder, “Could a similar technique be used to clear up this odd verse?”

I’m glad you asked.

In this case, you only need to read a short distance further, to Genesis 4:

Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten a man with the help of the LORD.” And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground. In the course of time Cain brought to the LORD an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. The LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.” (Genesis 4:1-7 ESV, emphasis mine)

Note God’s warning to Cain (which he doesn’t heed). He portrays sin as a predator crouching just outside Cain’s door. It desires him, all right, but not in the way a man desire a woman or vice-versa. Rather, this desire is more like the way that a lion desires a sheep. God is telling Cain that despite the ferocity of that predator, Cain must rule over it. The image here is of a lion tamer – at any moment, he is mere moments from catastrophe, yet he commands authority and the beast is subdued. Cain had that very option before him, but he did not “do well”.

So, with that lesson in mind, let’s return to Genesis 3:16. When God tells the woman that her “desire shall be for [her] husband, and he shall rule over [her]”, He isn’t saying that her curse is romantic desire for her husband, but rather that she will find herself, like the predator at Cain’s door, ready to “attack” or “master” her husband, but instead he will rule over her.

Now, that interpretation itself needs further interpretation, and indeed there are a number of views on what that means practically.  I think the simplest conclusion is this: the husband and wife in the garden, as well as today, tend to enter power struggles with each selfishly seeking to rule the other. Thankfully, the Scriptures also point us to hope in Christ, the perfect husband who rightfully rules over us, His bride, but doesn’t do so in a harsh or condescending manner; rather, He is the Husband who laid down His life for us, taking on Himself the full punishment that we deserved. Sin was crouching at our door, yet He was the one who went out to do battle with the beast in our place. What sacrificial love!

For further reading on the right role and role model for husbands and wives, consider Ephesians 5:21-32. God is far from silent on the topic of marriage, and He deeply desires that we know Him – and our spouses – still more through His knowable Word.

Bible Study Leader Tip #149: Addressing the off-topic question

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If you’ve led a Bible study long enough, no doubt you’ve had something like this happen:

You: “…so that’s what the account of the flood tells us about God’s character. Any questions?”

Bible study member we’ll call Sam: “Why is it Mormons think polygamy is okay?”

You: “…” (while feeling a combination of confusion, fear, anger and maybe even hurt)

I’ve seen this happen many times in Bible studies I’ve led or been a part of. In fact, I’m sure I’ve been the perpetrator myself. So how should you respond to Sam?

Here are some suggestions that should help get your study back on track:

Respond with grace

This is key. If you respond to Sam with irritation, impatience or even mockery (I’ve seen it), it will send a strong message to the whole study that only “intelligent” questions are welcomed. Off-topic questions are better than no questions at all.

You: “Good question, Sam!”

Ask the question back

There is a very real chance that Sam’s question IS on topic – but you may have misunderstood it. To clear this one up, just ask the question back in your own words. If you’re right, it will help Sam feel understood. If you’re wrong, you’ll avoid wasting everyone’s time by answering the wrong question.

You: “To be clear, are you asking why the Mormon faith permits men to have multiple wives?”

Check the text

Assuming you did correctly understand the question, you can now help Sam learn one of the most valuable questions to ask in a Bible Study:

You: “Does the passage say anything that could help us answer that question?”

Chances are that it doesn’t, else you wouldn’t be reading this tip =) However, it is both humble and helpful to determine if Sam really is seeing something in the text that led him to that question. If Sam responds with “no” or “I don’t think so”, then on to the next suggestion…

Defer the question

If it now becomes clear that the question really is off the topic of what you’ve been studying, you can graciously defer the question.

You: “Okay, well let’s stick to talking about this passage right now. But if you’d like, I’d be happy to talk through it afterwards.”

Sam likely won’t be put off by this, and if it’s really not that important to him, you’re done. But if it is important, you’ll have an opportunity for the next suggestion…

Use it as a discipleship opportunity

It may be that Sam really has something on his mind. Or it may be that Sam is getting lost in the study and some 1-on-1 talking could help. Or it could even be that Sam was maliciously trying to disrupt the study for any number of reasons.

In any case, you can talk to Sam later to understand him and determine what you can do to help. If possible, bring him back to the text you were studying. This may take time and patience, but who ever said that leading a Bible study was easy? By God’s grace, Sam may become one of the most insightful and helpful people in your study. Who knows? He may even lead his own study one day and need to address an off-topic question himself!

What has been your experience with off-topic questions? Do you have other suggestions to add to this list?