Old Testament Reading: Genesis 2:4-17

“These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up—for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground, and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground— then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers. The name of the first is the Pishon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. And the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there. The name of the second river is the Gihon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Cush. And the name of the third river is the Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates. The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, ‘You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.’” (Genesis 2:4–17, ESV)

New Testament Reading: Romans 5:12-21

“Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come. But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 5:12–21, ESV)

Introduction 

In the previous sermon I made five general, big picture observations concerning Genesis 2:4-25. The five observations were these:

1. Genesis 2:4 marks the beginning of a new section of the book of Genesis. The phrase, “these are the generations of…” marks the transition from one section to another in the book of Genesis. 
2. The creation account of Genesis 2 does not compete with the creation account of Genesis 1, but complements it, providing a different perspective and emphasis. In Genesis 1 God is the transcendent and all powerful Creator of heaven and earth. In Genesis 2 God is near to his people and hands on.
3. The focus of Genesis 2:4-25 is God entering into covenant with the man that he had made.
4. In Genesis 2 we have a record of God creating the holy of holies of the cosmic temple. 
5. Adam’s task, with Eve as his helpmate, was to function as a priest in this temple, to guard and to keep it, working towards its universal expansion. 

Points three through five of last weeks sermon are very important concepts and they deserve greater attention, and so in this sermon and in the next two we will return to those three points to flesh them out more thoroughly. Today we will focus on the covenant of works that was made with Adam in the garden, next Sunday we will focus upon the garden as a temple or sanctuary, and in two Lord’s Days we will return to the idea of Adam as a priest in the garden of God, Lord willing.

What do we mean when we say that God entered into a covenant of works with Adam in the garden? Answering this question will be the focus of the sermon today. 

A covenant is simply an agreement. 

When speaking of a covenant made between God and man we must say that it is a “divinely-sanctioned commitment or relationship” (Barcellos, Getting the Garden Right, 56). Notice that it is God who initiates and established covenants with man. Man has no right to say to God, “here will be the nature and terms of our relationship”, but God certainly has the right to say this man, for God is the Creator and we the creature. In the pages of holy Scripture we find a number of covenant established between God and man. All of them were initiated and established by God. It is God who condescends to enter into covenant with man. 

It should also be noticed that these covenants made between God and man (and there are many) are always for the betterment of mankind. God establishes covenants with his people in order to advance or better their estate. Divinely established covenants, to quote Nehemiah Cox, involve “a declaration of [God’s] sovereign pleasure concerning the benefits he will bestow on [his people], the communion they will have with him, and the way and means by which this will be enjoyed.” God has always related to his people by way of covenant. It is the covenant which establishes and defines God’s relationship with his people. 

We do have an analogy available to us. It is the analogy of the marriage covenant. The relationship that exists between a husband and wife is wonderful and rich, but it is established and maintained by a covenant. The husband and wife enter into an agreement with one another. They covenant together when they say, “I take you to be my wedded spouse, and I do promise and covenant before God and these witnesses to be your loving and faithful spouse in sickness and in health  in plenty and in want, in joy and in sorrow, as long as we both shall live.” It is a covenant which establishes and maintains the marriage relationship. It should be recognized that God entering into covenant with man, and God instituting the marriage relationship are set side by side in Genesis 2. This, of course, is intentional. For the marriage relationship was created to function as an image of Christ’s relationship to the church. The covenant of marriage made between man and woman is a picture of the divinely sanctioned covenant made between God and his people. 

A covenant is an agreement. When speaking of a covenant made between God and man we must say that it is a “divinely-sanctioned commitment or relationship” (Barcellos, Getting the Garden Right, 56).

There are many covenants found in the pages of holy scripture. In due time we will consider the Noahic covenant, the Abrahamic, the Mosaic, and the Davidic. But two covenants are of supreme importance, for they are the root and fruit of the others that have just been mentioned. 

These covenants – the Noahic, Abrahamic, Mosaic, and Davidic – pointed forward to and prepared the way for the covenant of grace ratified in Christ’s blood. We call the covenant of grace “the new covenant”. Remember how Christ said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me” (1 Corinthians 11:25, ESV). The new covenant, which is the covent of grace, is the fruit, as it were, of all the covenants which proceeded it. They all pointed forward to and prepared the way for the covenant of grace ratified by Christ. 

But there is another very important covenant which might be called the root or foundation of all the others. It is called the covenant or works, or the covenant of obedience, or the covenant of creation, or the covenant of life. Sometimes it is called the Adamic covenant, for it was made with Adam in the garden and required his personal, “entire, exact, and perpetual obedience” and promised life upon the keeping of it (see Second London Baptist Confession, ch 19, para 1). 

When I say that the covenant of works is the root of he other covenants I mean that it is the foundation. All of the other biblical covenants flow from it. Indeed, you cannot correctly understand the covenants made with Noah, Abraham, Moses, and David if you do not first understand the covenant of works made with Adam in the garden. In fact, the new covenant, which is the covent of grace, of which you and I are partakers if we are in Christ, would not be possible without their first being a covenant of works made with Adam in the garden. The covenant of works is the root of all other bibleof the covenant of grace. 

Another way to say this is, if you want to understand the Bible – if you want to understand your sin and your natural guilt before God – if you want to comprehend what it is that Christ actually accomplished for you, then you had better pay attention to the covenant that was made with Adam in the garden.

We have defined a covenant between God and man generally as a “divinely-sanctioned commitment or relationship”. This general definition fits all of the covenants that God has entered into with man. But let us now define the covenant of works specifically. Again, I appreciate the words of my friend, Dr. Rich Barcellos, who defines the covenant of works as, “that divinely sanctioned commitment or relationship God imposed upon Adam, who was a sinless representative of mankind…, an image-bearing son of God, conditioned upon his obedience, with a penalty for disobedience, all for the bettering of man’s estate” (Barcellos, Getting the Garden Right, 57).

Let us think about this definition for a moment and consider in light Genesis. 

First, the covenant of works was a divinely sanctioned commitment or relationship [that] God imposed upon Adam.

This relationship was not Adam’s idea, but God’s. Before God Adam had no rights. He had no right to say, here will be the nature and term of our relationship, for Adam was the creature and God Creator. This distinction between Creator and creature was firmly established in Genesis 1. Man did not make God, but God made man. Man, therefore, by virtue of his creation stood obligated before his Maker to worship and serve him always. The fact of creation itself established this relation. No specific covenant was needed. But God did graciously enter into a covenant with the man. The covenant of works was a “divinely sanctioned commitment or relationship [that] God imposed upon Adam”.

This is should not be difficult to see in the narrative of Genesis 1 and 2. God made man. God blessed man. God commanded man, male and female, to “be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion…” (Genesis 1:28, ESV). The same is true in chapter 2. The LORD God made man and then establishes the terms of their relationship. 

This might seem like a strange point to emphasize given it’s simplicity. You might be saying to yourself, “Okay, we get it. God is God and man is man. God has the right to initiate and to establish the terms of the relationship. Move on already!” But herein lies the difference between true and biblical religion and that which is man made. Herein lies the difference between the child of God and the rebel still in his sin. The chid of God says, “yes, God has the right and I will submit to him!” The rebel says, “I will decide for myself and go my own way.”

The covenant of works was a divinely sanctioned commitment or relationship [that] God imposed upon Adam.   

Secondly, the covenant of works was made with Adam who was a sinless representative of mankind, an image-bearing son of God.

Notice that the covenant was made with Adam. The woman, who name was Eve, had not been created when “the Lord God took the man [Adam] and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, ‘You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die’” (Genesis 2:15–17, ESV). The covenant was made with Adam, and not Eve.

Notice that Adam was at first sinless. Everything that God had made was good, indeed very good. Adam was made upright. To quote our confession, “God… endued the will of man with that natural liberty and power of acting upon choice, that it is neither forced, nor by any necessity of nature determined to do good or evil.” Adam was free. “In his state of innocency, [he] had freedom and power to will and to do that which was good and well-pleasing to God, but yet was unstable, so that he might fall from it” (2LBC 9.1, 2). God entered into a covenant of works or obedience with Adam and “endued him with power and ability to keep it” (2LBC 19.1). Adam was sinless. He was good and upright in the beginning. 

And notice that Adam was a representative of all mankind. Had Adam succeeded all would have enjoyed life. When Adam fell all fell in him. You and I were born in sin because we were born in Adam. We descended from him by birth. He was our federal head and representative. 

No teaching in all of scripture is more clear than this. 

The narrative of Genesis confirms that Adam was the federal head and representative of all humanity. Adam and Eve were barred from the garden and all of their descendents were born outside the garden. They were born in sin, they themselves sinned, and they, like Adam died. 

This is also the explicit teaching of holy scripture. The Psalmist said, “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me” (Psalm 51:5, ESV). Paul, in Ephesians 2 says that  we all are “by nature children of wrath” (Ephesians 2:3, ESV). And Paul developes this idea most thoroughly in Romans 5 in the passage that was read earlier, saying, “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—” (Romans 5:12, ESV). 

The clear teaching of scripture is that the covenant of works was made with Adam who was a sinless representative of mankind.

Does this bother you, Christian?

This principle is woven into our everyday experience. The decisions of others impact us.  

Your salvation in Christ depends upon this principle too! Just as Adam is the federal head of all humanity, Christ is the federal head of the elect, of al who have faith in him. Just as Adam’s is inputed to all who are in him, so too Christ’s righteousness is imputed to all who are in him.   

Thirdly, the covenant of works made with Adam was conditioned upon his obedience, with a penalty for disobedience. 

What was Adam’s obligation in the covent of works? The answer is that Adam was to obey God.

What was Adam to do? Remember that Adam, having been made in the image of God and having been blessed by God, was to “be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (Genesis 1:27–28, ESV).

Adam was to fill the earth with God’s image. He was to subdue the earth. He was to rule and reign on earth a God’s vicegerent. He was explained the kingdom of God to the ends of the earth. 

In Genesis 2 we learned that God planted a garden in Eden and placed the man who had created there. The whole earth, therefore, was not garden, but rather a garden was planted in a place called Eden. Outside the garden there was wild, unformed, uncultivated land. Adam’s task was to expand the garden to the ends of the earth. He was to imitate his Maker in bringing order and form to those places that were without form and void.    

Notice the mention of the four rivers in verses 10-14. It is a rather unexpected emphasis in the narrative of Genesis 2. Two of the rivers are known to us, and two are mysterious, but the meaning seems to be that these rivers emanated out to the four corners of the earth so that man might have all that he needed to expand God’s garden to the ends of the earth through cultivation. 

This is was Adam was to do while living in “entire, exact, and perpetual obedience” to God. 

Clearly, Adam was placed under probation or a time of testing. 

The tree of the knowledge of good and evil was a tree of testing. The tree would show if Adam had remained loyal to God. By abstaining Adam would prove himself faithful. By partaking Adam would prove himself a rebel – a breaker of the convent of works, which was a covenant requiring “entire, exact, and perpetual obedience”.  

Fourthly, the covenant of works made with Adam was for the bettering of man’s condition.

In Genesis 2:9 we read, “And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” (Genesis 2:9, ESV).

The presence of the tree of life in the garden indicates that Adam had a higher form of life offered t him by God. Adam was already alive. Adam was alive in paradise. But he was prone to fall. Adam, being under a time of testing, had not yet attained the glory of God. He was to pass the test, eat of the tree of life, and enter into glory. 

Brothers and sisters, Adam never ate of it. Adam sinned and fell short of the glory of God. And now it might be said that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23, ESV).

But do you see that the covenant of works made with Adam for the bettering of man’s condition. Adam, by keeping the covenant, was to advance to a higher form of life, not only for himself, but for all his posterity whom he represented. 

Application

Friends, do you see that where Adam failed, Christ succeeded?

Christ kept the covent of works. Christ remained obedient to God to the end. His obedience was “entire, exact, and perpetual”.  

Adam was the son of God by virtue of his creation, but Christ, being the eternal son of God entered into glory when he kept the covent of works. And this he did, not only for himself, but for all the elect as he functioned as their federal head or representative. 

Listen to the prayer of Jesus for his disciples recoded for us in John 17. Jesus “lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, ‘Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word” (John 17:1–6, ESV).

Jesus kept God’s word. He finished his work. 

Jesus was qualified, therefore, to enter into glory – into that higher form of life offered to Adam in the garden. 

Jesus entered in, not alone, but as a representative for others. He earned salvation for “all whom [the Father had] given him.”

Are you in Adam or are you in Christ? 

Are you under he covenant of works or the covenant of grace?

To be under the covenant of works means death, for “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23, ESV).

To be under the covent of grace means life – eternal life, “for the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23, ESV).

Old Testament Reading: Genesis 2:4-25

“These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up—for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground, and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground— then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers. The name of the first is the Pishon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. And the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there. The name of the second river is the Gihon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Cush. And the name of the third river is the Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates. The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, ‘You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.’ Then the Lord God said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.’ Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, ‘This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.’ Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.” (Genesis 2:4–25, ESV)

Introduction 

It has been my custom, whenever we come to a new section in a book that we are studying, be it the Gospel of John, the book of Revelation, or Genesis, to devote one sermon to the new section in order to make general, “big picture” observations, before moving through the section more methodically in subsequent sermons. I think it is important that we do this. Many of the errors that are made in the interpretation of the Bible are made when people loose sight of the context of a particular passage. And when I say “context” I do not only mean the sentences and paragraphs  that come before and after the passage under consideration, but also passages place within the book, and the books place within the whole of scripture. Critical to the proper interpretation of the Bible is this principle: scripture interprets scripture. So if we are to have any chance of interpreting Genesis 2:4-25 correctly we must pay careful attention, not only to the words, sentences and paragraphs found there, but also its context, both immediate and canonical. What does the rest of scripture say that might help us in understanding this passage correctly? That is an important question to ask. 

I’m afraid that when people read Genesis 2:4 and following many assume it is myth. They think they are handling a folktale – a fictional story with moral principles imbedded within. And I fear that others, though they might rightly believe that Genesis 2:4 and following is true and historical, assume that it is nothing more than a simple and direct retelling of the creation of the first man and woman. God made the man, he made the woman, and they were farmers. Genesis 2, in their interpretation, simply tells the facts. But the truth is found somewhere in-between these two extremes – neither is Genesis 2 myth (what it is says actually happened), nor is it a bare and plainly factual account of the creation of man. Instead, in Genesis 2 we find true history recounted in a literally style that beautifully rich, complex, and illuminating. 

How do we know that Genesis 2 is more than just a bare, factual account of the creation of man?  Well, by examining the passage itself, and by paying careful attention to the rest of scripture concerning the way that it interprets the text. 

A careful consideration of the passage itself reveals that there is structure to it. I will not linger here very long lest I bore you with too many details, but it should be noticed that Genesis 2:4 through to the end of chapters 3 make up a unit. Here we are told all about the first man and woman and their relationship to God while in the garden that was in Eden. This section (2:4-3:24) is made up of seven parts, and these seven parts form a chiasm, so that part 1 (2:5-17 – narrative – God the sole actor, man present but passive) corresponds to part 7 (3:22-24 – narrative – God the sole actor, man passive), part 2 (2:18-25 – narrative – God main actor, man minor role, woman and animals passive) to part 6 (3:14-21 – narrative – God main actor, man minor role, woman and snake passive), part 3 (3:1-5 – dialogue – snake and woman)  to part 5 (3:9-13 – dialogue – God, man and woman), with part 4 taking center stage (3:6-8 – narrative, man and woman) (See Wenham, World Biblical Commentary, p. 50). And what do we find in Genesis 3:6-8 (which is at the point or center of the chiasm)? It is this passage:

“So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.” (Genesis 3:6–8, ESV)

Clearly, Genesis 2 is more than bare, simple and factual account of the creation of man. Instead it is a beautifully rich and complex piece of literature which communicates truth to us – not only the bare facts, but the deeper truths which lie behind those bare facts. 

When we consider how the rest of the scriptures view Genesis 2 we will find that there are are many things of great importance contained within this text that are only briefly mentioned or alluded to. These truths are deposited in seed form in Genesis 2, if you will. As we read on in the pages of holy scripture we will watch those seeds develop into full grown trees. This is what I mean when I say that the story of Genesis 2 is rich. It is a story that little children can understand. At the same time it is a story so packed full of meaning that the Christian can spend a lifetime pondering and applying its truths.

Today I have five general observations to make concerning Genesis 2:4-25. I should warn you ahead of time that points 3, 4 and 5 are very important – they are very significant concepts theologically – and yet I will rush through them today, providing very little support from the scriptures. Rest assured that we will return to these points in the weeks to come to flesh them out more carefully, Lord willing. I wish only to introduce you to these truths today.

Five general observations concerning Genesis 2:4-25:

First, notice that 2:4 marks the beginning of a new section of the book of Genesis. There we read, “These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens” (Genesis 2:4, ESV). 

The phrase, “these are the generations of…”, is very important in the book of Genesis. This phrase, “these are the generations of…” (or something very close to it),  is found 10 times in the book of Genesis and it marks the transition of one section of the book to another.

The book of Genesis is made up of 10 parts, not including the prologue or introduction of Genesis 1:1-2:3 which we have already covered. The phrase, “these are the generations of…”, appears in 2:4 – “These are the generations of the heavens and the earth…”, 5:1 – “This is the book of the generations of Adam…”, 6:9 – “These are the generations of Noah…”, 10:1 – “These are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth…”, 11:10 – “These are the generations of Shem…”, 11:27 – “Now these are the generations of Terah…”, 25:12 – “These are the generations of Ishmael…”, 25:19 – “These are the generations of Isaac…”, 36:1 – “These are the generations of Esau (that is, Edom)…”, and 37:2 – “These are the generations of Jacob.”

Notice that in each instance the phrase, “these are the generations of” functions as a heading to the section that follows. In every instance but the one we are considering today it is the name of some historical person that is listed after the phrase. “These are the generations of… Adam, Noah, Terah”, etc. What follows is either a genealogy or a block of narrative concerning the descendants of that individual.  These are the people who came from so and so, or, these are the people that so and so produced. That is the idea. 

Here in 2:4 it is not a person who is named, but two things – “These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens” (Genesis 2:4, ESV). And what is described to us in the narrative that follows except that which heaven and earth generate? God, who’s throne is in heaven, forms and fashions or causes the earth to bring forth certain things. The earth gave birth to, if you will, plants, animals and man by the creative hand of the God of heaven. 

Look at verse 7: “…then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.” Verse 9: “And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food.” Verse 19: “Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name.” “These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens” (Genesis 2:4, ESV).

Secondly, notice that the creation account of Genesis 2 does not in any way compete with the creation account of chapter 1, but complements it, providing a different perspective and emphasis. 

It has already been established that in the beginning God created the heavenly realm and the earthly realm. Over the course of six days God brought the earthly realm into a form suitable for human habitation. At first “the earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep”, but God did not leave it as such, for God created the world to be inhabited. In six days time God formed and fashioned the earth creating, first of all, realms and then filling those realms with rulers or creature kings. 

Light was separated from darkness on day one. The sun moon and stars were created on day four to govern the day and night. 

The sky and seas were created on day two when God separated the waters from the waters. On day five the seas and the sky were filled with fish and birds to have dominion over those realms. 

On day three the dry land was formed. Listen carefully to Genesis 1:9-13, and pay special attention to the emphasis that is placed upon the vegetation that God made to spring up from the dry land. This will become significant as we consider the creation account of Genesis 2. 

 “And God said, ‘Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.’ And it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. And God said, ‘Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.’ And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.” (Genesis 1:9–13, ESV)

On day six God created the land animals and man to have dominion over the earth – indeed, man was created to have dominion over all that God had made. Listen carefully to Genesis 1:24-31. Again, pay special attention to the emphasis placed upon the vegetation that God had provided for man and beast to eat. 

“And God said, ‘Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.’ And it was so. And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.’ And God said, ‘Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.’ And it was so. And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.’” (Genesis 1:24–31, ESV)

By the end of Genesis we are convinced that God is God Most High. He is the Creator of heaven and earth. Everything that is has come from his hand. And man, being made in the image of God, is king on earth. He is not king as God is King, for God is his Maker and Provider, but he is to rule as a king under God’s supreme authority. God provided for man’s every need. He prepared a place for him. He provided food to sustain him. King Adam was to “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 

Genesis 2 does not present a contrary account of creation to the one found in chapter 1, but a complementary account. The emphasis go Genesis 2 is different to the emphasis of chapter 1. Both are true. 

Notice that the creation accounts of Genesis 1 and 2 begin with problems. 

In Genesis 1 we are told that the earth was at first without, form, void and dark. The solution was for God to form and fashion the earth into a place suitable for human habitation. 

Genesis 2 begins with a different problem. The earth was not suitable for human habitation because there were no plants. Verse 5 takes us back to the time “When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up…” In other words, Genesis 2:5 takes us back to the beginning of day three. The dry land had been formed, but there was no vegetation. There was no “bush of the field in the land”, which means that there were no plants growing naturally in the wild. Neither had any “small plant of the field… sprung up”, which means that there were no cultivated plants either. 

And why the lack of plants, both wild and cultivated? Two reason are stated in verse 5. One, “the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the land” and two, “there was no man to work the ground”. Wild plants are able to grow when there is rain, and cultivated plants are able to grow when man is there till the soil, irrigate and cultivate. The absence of rain and the absence of man meant no vegetation – only barren earth. The earth was not suitable for human habitation. 

And what was the solution this problem? Two things: God sent rain and God created man to till the ground. Verse 6: “and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground— then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.” (Genesis 2:6–7, ESV)

There was no vegetation, wild or cultivated, because of lack of rain and man. Solution: God caused it to rain (I think that is the best interpretation of the phrase “a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground”, and God created man.

Notice that in verse 8 we are told that “the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed.” In verse 15 we are told “The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.”

Days 3 and 6 of the creation week are emphasized in Genesis 2 and are viewed from a different perspective. Here I am simply making the point that the creation account of Genesis 2 does not in any way compete with the creation account of chapter 1, but complements it, providing a different perspective and emphasis.

This leads us to point three. Notice that the focus of Genesis 2:4-25 is God entering into covenant with the man that he had made. 

In Genesis 1 it is clear that man owes worship and service God by virtue of his creation. God is Creator. Man is creation. Therefore man is live in submission to his God to worship and serve him always. In Genesis 1 we learn that God offed rest to man should he faithfully accomplish the work that God had assigned to him. But in Genesis 2 a covenant is made. An agreement is made between God and man. The punishment of failing to follow through on the agreement is communicated. And a sign or sacrament is given. 

What is the agreement? Adam was to walk faithfully before God He was to fulfill his mission of filling the earth with the garden of God and with faithful descendants. God had abundantly provided for all of mans needs. He could eat from any of the trees of the garden with the exception of one. Adam was to abstain from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In time, he was to eat from the tree of life. In short, what was Adam to do? He was to walk in humble and faithful submission to his Maker. He was to complete his task living perpetually in depend on and in obedience to the God who made him. What was the symbol or sacrament given to Adam? What was the visible thing that would show forth the hidden realities of Adams heart? The tree of life, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And what would be the consequence of failing to keep his end of the agreement? In the day that Adam ate of it he would surely die (Genesis 2:17, ESV).

The word covenant does not appear in Genesis 2, but the elements of a covenant are there. Also, if we consider what the rest of the scriptures say about Genesis 2, it is clear that Adam, functioning as a representative for all of mankind, entered into a covenant of works with God in the garden (see Genesis 6:18, Hosea 6:7 and Romans 5:12-19).

The covenant of works established in Genesis 2 was, to quote Geerhardus Vos, “nothing but an embodiment of the Sabbatical principle [established in Genesis 1]. Had its probation been successful, then the sacramental Sabbath would have passed over into the reality it typified, and the entire subsequent course of the history of the [human] race would have been radically different” (Biblical Theology, 140).     

That the emphasis of Genesis 2 is God in covenant with man can also be seen in the change of names used for God. In Genesis 1 the name for God used is Elohim (simply “God” in English). But beginning with 2:4 the name used for God is Yahweh Elohim (“LORD God” in our English translation. Elohim is a generic name for God. It is fitting to the emphasis of Genesis 1 – God the creator of all things seen and unseen. But Yahweh is the personal covenantal name for God. Yahweh is the God of Israel. He is the God who is near. He is the God who makes and keeps covenants. He is the God who breathed into Adam the breath of life, and formed Eve from the side of man.

Genesis 2 has as its focus Yahweh Elohim entering into covenant with the man that he made. 

Four, notice that while in Genesis 1 we find a record of God creating the earth to function as a temple in which his glory would dwell, in Genesis 2 we have a record of God creating the holy of holies of this cosmic temple. 

This is a massively important concept and one that will take some time to develop and prove. This I will do in the weeks to come if the Lord permits. But I wish to simply put the idea before you this morning. 

The earth was created to be filled with the glory of God. The earth was created to be a place where man would commune with God. Read the end of the book of Revelation again to see that it is true. When God planted the garden in Eden and paced the man there it was to function as the most holy place in God’s cosmic temple. 

I am not saying that there was a temple made of stone in Eden, but that the garden itself was a temple or sanctuary where God’s glory dwelt and where man was able to commune with the God who made him. 

This all becomes very clear when we consider the tabernacle and later the temple of Israel and compare it to Eden. In brief, Israel’s tabernacle and temple were miniature replicas of the cosmos. And the holy of holies in the tabernacle and temple were crafted to remind the worshipper of Eden. This will have to be proven at another time. 

For now, consider that  God is said to have “walked in the garden” (Genesis 3:8). God’s presence was there. It was a sanctuary where man and God enjoyed communion. And consider that the same language is used to describe the temple. To Israel God said, “I will make my dwelling [tabernacle] among you, and my soul shall not abhor you. And I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people” (Leviticus 26:11–12, ESV).

The garden that God planted in Eden was a temple or sanctuary.

Five, notice that Adam’s task, with Eve as his helpmate, was to function as a priest in this temple, to guard and to keep it, working towards its universal expansion. 

Listen to verse 15: “The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it” (Genesis 2:15, ESV). It would be a mistake to assume that when God commanded Adam to “work and keep” the garden he was calling him to simply be a farmer. In fact when these verbs appear together in other passage, the context is priestly. Listen to work of the priests and Levites of the temple as described in Numbers 18:2ff. To Arron it was said, “And with you bring your brothers also, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, that they may join you and minister to you while you and your sons with you are before the tent of the testimony. They shall keep guard over you and over the whole tent, but shall not come near to the vessels of the sanctuary or to the altar lest they, and you, die. They shall join you and keep guard over the tent of meeting for all the service of the tent, and no outsider shall come near you. And you shall keep guard over the sanctuary and over the altar, that there may never again be wrath on the people of Israel.” (Numbers 18:2–5, ESV)

Adam was not simply a farmer in the garden which God planted in Eden – he was a priest. His task was to promote the worship of God. His task was to work in the garden and to keep it. He was to preserve it as holy. He was to drive away all intruders. 

In fact, when all is considered, Adam was a prophet, priest and king in the garden. He was to have king like dominion over all creation under God’s authority, he was to promote the worship of God as a priest, preserving the sanctity of the garden sanctuary, and he was to proclaim God’s law as a prophet, urging other to obey it also. 

Conclusion 

When Genesis 2 is understood in this way then we are ready to adequately comprehend the rest of scripture. When Adam sinned, he broke the covenant of works. When Adam sinned he brought upon himself, as well as all of his descendants (including you and me) the curse of the covenant. Adam and Eve were expelled, not just from a beautiful and lush garden, but from the sanctuary of God and from his presence. When Adam allowed the serpent to deceive he failed, not as a farmer, but as a priest. He failed to defend the temple of God from all intruders. He failed to preserve its sanctity. Israel’s temple was a replica in miniature of the cosmos and of the garden of Eden. It communicated that a way to communion with God was still open, by God’s grace. When the Christ appeared, he came as the second Adam, the Prophet, Priest and King. He, through his perfect obedience, entered into the most holy place, clearing the way for all who have faith in him. And what did he secure? The new heavens and new earth in which righteousness dwell. When Christ returns to judge the living and the dead and to make all things new all will become holy of holies. All who are in Christ will enjoy the presence of God forevermore. 

Are you in Christ, friend? Or are you in Adam?  Christ is the perfect and faithful high priest, whereas Adam is the failed priest. Christ is able to bring us to God. In Adam there is only judgement and death.

Are you under the covenant of works, or are you under the covenant of grace?

Do you long for the new heavens and earth in which righteousness dwells?

Old Testament Reading: Genesis 2:1-3 and Isaiah 58

“Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.” (Genesis 2:1–3, ESV)

“Cry aloud; do not hold back; lift up your voice like a trumpet; declare to my people their transgression, to the house of Jacob their sins. Yet they seek me daily and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that did righteousness and did not forsake the judgment of their God; they ask of me righteous judgments; they delight to draw near to God. [The people ask God] ’Why have we fasted, and you see it not? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?’ [God answers] Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure, and oppress all your workers. Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to hit with a wicked fist. Fasting like yours this day will not make your voice to be heard on high. Is such the fast that I choose, a day for a person to humble himself? Is it to bow down his head like a reed, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast, and a day acceptable to the Lord? Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in. If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the Lord honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly; then you shall take delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.’” (Isaiah 58, ESV)

Introduction

Dear brothers and sisters, what I have taken seven sermons to say concerning the biblical doctrine of the Sabbath, our Confession of Faith says in one succinct paragraph. The Second London Confession chapter 22 paragraph 7 states, 

As it is the law of nature, that in general a proportion of time, by God’s appointment, be set apart for the worship of God, so by his Word, in a positive moral, and perpetual commandment, binding all men, in all ages, he hath particularly appointed one day in seven for a sabbath to be kept holy unto him, which from the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ was the last day of the week, and from the resurrection of Christ was changed into the first day of the week, which is called the Lord’s day: and is to be continued to the end of the world as the Christian Sabbath, the observation of the last day of the week being abolished.

I hope that you have grown convinced (if you were not convinced already) that this is indeed what the scriptures teach concerning the Sabbath day. The Sabbath is as old as creation. The Sabbath has been kept by the people of God from Adam to this present day and to the end of the world. Prior Christ’s finished work the Sabbath was to be kept on the seventh day, indicating that there was work to be accomplished if man was to enter into God’s rest. From the resurrection of Christ to the end of the word the Sabbath day is to be kept on the first day of the week (also called the eighth day), indicating that the work has been finished by Christ (the second Adam), that he has entered into rest and that all who are in him will enter that rest when he comes again. 

Today I will cease from the work of convincing you that this is what the scriptures teach concerning the Sabbath day.  But I will enter into another kind of work – the work of application. I hope that you are convinced that the Lord’s Day Sabbath is to be kept holy unto the Lord. But now the question is, how are we to keep it?  

This is what paragraph 8 of chapter 22 of our Confession addresses when it says,

The sabbath is then kept holy unto the Lord, when men, after a due preparing of their hearts, and ordering their common affairs aforehand, do not only observe an holy rest all day, from their own works, words and thoughts, about their worldly employment and recreations, but are also taken up the whole time in the public and private exercises of his worship, and in the duties of necessity and mercy.

Again, I believe that our Confession provides a wonderful summary of the teaching of scripture. 

Prepare

First of all, notice that our Confession urges men and women, boys and girls, to prepare to keep the Sabbath day holy. Keeping the Sabbath holy requires preparation. “The sabbath is then kept holy unto the Lord, when men, after a due preparing of their hearts, and ordering their common affairs aforehand…”

To keep the Sabbath holy unto the Lord it is necessary to have your life in order. 

Diligent in our work on the other six days.

Careful planning.

Finances.

Prepare to say no to those activities not fitting for the day. 

To keep the Sabbath holy unto the Lord it is necessary to have your heart prepared.  

Begin to prepare for worship on Saturday night. 

Read the scripture text for the sermon.

Get to bed on time.

Wake up early enough to come to worship on time without being frantic. 

Come to worship with thankful, worshipful hearts ready to receive the word of God. 

Rest From Worldly Employment And Recreations 

Secondly, notice that our Confession urges men and women, boys and girls, to in fact rest (or cease) from worldly employment and recreations on the Sabbath day. Keeping the Sabbath holy requires that we cease from that which is common to engage in that which is holy. Our The Christian should “observe [a] holy rest all day, from their own works, words and thoughts, about their worldly employment and recreations…”

The word “worldly” does not mean sinful here, but it refers to those activities that have to do with life in this world. Worldly activities that are otherwise good and appropriate on the other six days of the week should be set aside on the Sabbath day, for the day is to be kept as unto the Lord. The Sabbath day is to be approached as a day that is distinct and different. It is a holy day – a day set apart for a particular kind of activity.   

The Lord’s Say Sabbath is not a day for common work. Yes, God’s will is that we work diligently and for his glory, but we are to cease from our work on the Sabbath day to engage in a different kind of activity. 

In Deuteronomy 5:12 we find the fourth of the ten commandments: “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…” The people of God are to rest from their worldly or common employments on the Sabbath day, and they are to acknowledge their God, worship him, and demonstrate their faith in him that he will provide for all of their needs. 

I want for you to also notice that the fourth commandment continues on in Deuteronomy 5:14. After saying, “On it you shall not do any work”, the text also says, “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”. 

I do wish that Christians would think more carefully about this portion of the fourth commandment. Not only does the fourth commandment command you to cease from your ordinary labors, but it also forbids having others work in your place. No, parent, it is not right for you to rest but to have your children work on the Sabbath day. It was not right for the Israelite to rest, but to have their servants or the foreigners in their midst work in their place. The Israelites were to even give rest to their beasts of burden on the Sabbath. Rest was to be promoted amongst animals and men. 

Now, granted, we do not live in Old Covenant Israel. We live as exiles in Babylon instead. But doesn’t the principle still apply? If we are truly concerned to honor the Sabbath day wouldn’t we want to keep it ourselves and also encourage others to keep it? Put differently, if you have truly been convinced of this doctrine, that the first day of the week is now the Sabbath day, then why doesn’t it grieve you to see others working on this day? Their work on the Sabbath day is in essence a denial of God as Creator and Christ as Redeemer. And I am asking, why would you want to have anything to do with causing that person to work on the Sabbath? Why would want to stand across from them at the register knowing that, in that moment, it is your business that has them working instead of resting and worshipping on the Sabbath day. Who knows, perhaps that person is a brother or sister in Christ who wants badly to have the day off, but must work, in part, because of the decisions of fellow Christians. It seems rather inconsistent to me. Brothers and sisters, I am encouraging you to do your shopping and your eating out Monday through Saturday so that you might honor the Sabbath day yourself and encourage it amongst others also. Fill up your car with gas on Saturday, friends. Change your shipping settings on Amazon so that deliveries are not made on the Lord’s Day. I am saying that we should not participate the in the sins of others by causing them to work for us on the Sabbath day. The fourth commandment seems rather clear on this point. I can hear the critics now: “that’s legalism!” Is it? Or is it is simply a constant application of God’s holy law? 

Think about it, friends. I’ll leave it to you to decide. I know that good Christian men and women differ on this point of application. I will not be following you after church to see if you go out to eat or to the store. And I will admit that it has taken my family some time to come to this conclusion, but by in large (whenever possible) I would encourage you to rest and to cease also from causing others to work for you on the Sabbath day. This seems to be what the fourth commandment is calling for. This seems to be a consistent application of the doctrine of the Sabbath.

The Lord’s Say Sabbath is not a day for common work, and neither is it a day for recreation. 

I do not believe that our confession is forbidding you from playing catch with your kid on the Sabbath day. I do not believe that our confession is forbidding you from taking a bike ride or a hike with the family on the Sabbath day. The point it is that the Sabbath day is not a day for work, nor is it a day for recreation. Recreation is not the purpose of the day – rest and worship is. It may be that playing catch with your, taking a bike ride, or a hike with the family would serve to promote the purpose of the Lord’s Day, but it is possible that these things be a distraction from the purpose of the day too. Wisdom is needed here. Certainly we would be missing the point if we allowed the Lord’s Day to be consumed by golf, the NFL, or NASCAR.

Your beginning to see, no doubt, how difficult and unpopular keeping the Sabbath day in this culture will be. There are so many things in our culture that will pull us and pressure us to forsake the day, and yet the Christian should be resolute. 

Worship Publicly and Privately

Thirdly, notice that our Confession urges men and women, boys and girls, to worship publicly and privately on the Sabbath day. Worship is the central activity of the Sabbath day. God is to be worshipped by his people on the Lord’s day. 

Remember that the Sabbath has always been a day for holy convocation. It is the day on which the people of God are to convene to worship. 

With your heart prepared, engage in worship. 

Worship God through your singing.

Ephesians 5:19 says that we are to address “one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with [our] heart…”

Worship God through your prayers. 

The Sabbath day is a day to give thanks to God. Indeed, everyday is a day to give thanks to God, but we are called to give thanks especially on the Sabbath day. 

Worship God through hearing and applying the word of God. 

Worship God through the observation of the Lord’s Supper. 

How imprint it is for us to continue in private worship after the public worship concludes. 

Do you remember the words of Chrysostom (347-407a.d.) that I quoted to you a couple of weeks ago. In the 4th century A.D. he was urging Christians to continue with private worship after the public worship of God:

For we ought not, as soon as we retire from the Communion, to plunge into affairs… unsuitable to the Communion, but as soon as we get home to take our Bible into our hands and call our wife and children to join us in putting together what we have heard and then, not before, engage in the business of life… When you retire from the communion, you must account nothing more necessary, than that you should put together the things that have been said to you. Yes, for it were the utmost folly, while we give up five or six days to the business of life, not to bestow on spiritual things so much as one day or rather no so much as a small part of one day… Therefore let us write it down as an unalterable law for ourselves, for our wives and for our children, to give up this one day of the week entire to hearing and to the recollection of the things which we have heard.

Hear the word in public worship. Recall and apply (or put it together) it in private.

Find readings for the Sabbath. Talk of God. Pray. 

Get Perspective

Fourthly, notice that our Confession urges men and women, boys and girls, to gain perspective on the Sabbath day. The Sabbath day is a day to set the mind and heart upon God, Christ, and the world to come. Our Confession is right to say the Sabbath is to be kept “unto the Lord”.

The Sabbath day is a day to gain perspective.

“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” (Colossians 3:1–4, ESV)

The Sabbath day is a day to do business with God. The Reformers referred to it as the market day of the soul. 

May I encourage you read Psalm 92 this evening? Notice that the title is “A Song for the Sabbath”. And notice how the Psalmist ponders life. He compares the wicked and the righteous in light of the truth of God’s word. He gains (and gives) perspective. This is good to do on the Sabbath day. 

Do Acts Of Mercy

Fifthly, notice that our Confession urges men and women, boys and girls, to do acts of mercy on the Sabbath day. It is appropriate to do works of mercy on the Lord’s Day. Christ himself made this clear in his teachings when, after being criticized for healing on the Sabbath day, said, “Which one of you who has a sheep, if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out? Of how much more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” (Matthew 12:11–12, ESV)

The Sabbath day is a wonderful day to do acts of mercy. 

Visit the sick on the Sabbath. 

Show hospitality on the Sabbath.

Help those who are in true need. 

Do Acts Of Necessity

Sixthly, notice that our Confession permits men and women, boys and girls, to do acts of necessity on the Sabbath day. There are activities that are simply necessary and are permitted on the Lord’s day.

It is right for you to prepare meals on the Sabbath.

It is right for you to clean up from those meals on the Sabbath. 

It may be that you find other activities necessary on the Sabbath day.

In my experience, it is easy to misuse this principle and to begin to call activities that are convenient, “necessary”.

Difficult Cases

Seventhly, and lastly, I will acknowledge that there are difficult cases that arise when determining what activities are right and lawful to be done on the Sabbath day.

It may be that your profession involves doing acts of mercy or necessity. In such cases, you do not violate the Sabbath when you work on the Lord’s Day. I have in mind emergency room doctors, nurses and staff. I have in mind police officers. I have in mind even water district employees. 

My recommendation to those of you who employed in professions such as these is to ask for the day off and to take the day off as much as possible. Don’t be seduced by the promise of overtime or extra pay. If you must work, then be mindful of the Sabbath day as much as possible. Do do not work unnecessarily on the Sabbath day. Get it off if you can. 

I must say that I do have a sympathy for those who’s employers insist that they work on the Lord’s Day even though their work is not associated with things of necessity and mercy. I have in mind here restaurant and coffee shop workers, etc. 

Because we do not live in Old Covenant Israel or in a society that has respect for the Sabbath day Christians do run into difficulties like this. Employers will sometimes insist that you work on Sundays. Here would be my advice to you.

One, make it clear to your employer that it is your religious conviction to honor the Lord’s Day. This takes courage. This requires faith. 

Two, if your employer consistently makes you work on the Lord’s Day even though you have asked for it off, I would advise you to look for another job. 

Three, if no other job can be found, and if you simply cannot afford to quit that job, I would have a hard time viewing you as a breaker of the Sabbath. I would urge you to consistently honestly and look for a solution, but I wonder if this would not be considered an act of necessity to work on the Sabbath to provide for yourself and your family when truly no other option is available to you. I’ve thought often of the Christian’s who were slaves to Romans in the days of the early church. I would imagine that some them were not allowed to rest and worship for the whole day, and yet I doubt the Lord viewed them as guilty. 

In my experience, however, the Lord usually does provide a way. Employers are usually willing to work with those who have religious convictions. If not, the other job opportunities do usually present themselves. 

Let us do everything in our power to keep the Sabbath day holy unto the Lord.  

Conclusion

Baptist Catechism 

Q. 63. What is required in the fourth commandment?

A. The fourth commandment requireth the keeping holy to God one whole day in seven to be a Sabbath to Himself. (Lev. 19:30; Deut. 5:12)

Q. 64. Which day of the seven hath God appointed to be the weekly Sabbath?

A. Before the resurrection of Christ, God appointed the seventh day of the week to be the weekly Sabbath; and the first day of the week ever since, to continue to the end of the world, which is the Christian Sabbath. (Gen. 2:3; John 20:19; Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:1,2; Rev. 1:10)

Q. 65. How is the Sabbath to be sanctified?

A. The Sabbath is to sanctified by a holy resting all that day, even from such worldly employments and recreations as are lawful on other days, and spending the time in the public and private exercises of God’s worship, except so much as is to be taken up in the works of necessity and mercy. (Lev. 23:3; Isa. 58:13,14; Isa. 66:23; Matt. 12:11,12)

Old Testament Reading: Genesis 2:1-3; Exodus 31:12–18

“Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.” (Genesis 2:1–3, ESV)

“And the Lord said to Moses, ‘You are to speak to the people of Israel and say, ‘Above all you shall keep my Sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the Lord, sanctify you. You shall keep the Sabbath, because it is holy for you. Everyone who profanes it shall be put to death. Whoever does any work on it, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day shall be put to death. Therefore the people of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, observing the Sabbath throughout their generations, as a covenant forever. It is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.’ ” And he gave to Moses, when he had finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.” (Exodus 31:12–18, ESV)

New Testament Reading: Colossians 2:16–17

“Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.” (Colossians 2:16–17, ESV)

Introduction

Brother and sisters, I want to be clear concerning my objectives in this brief sermon series on the Sabbath. 

My first objective is to convince you that our confession of faith is correct in what it says  concerning the Sabbath day. I believe that our confession (the Second London Baptist Confession) provides a faithful and true summary of the teaching of Holy Scripture concerning the Sabbath day, and my objective is to convince you of this.

And what does our confession teach about the Sabbath day? 

First of all, it asserts that the law of nature – or the moral law written on man’s heart at creation (see Romans 2:15) – shows that a proportion of time is to be devoted to the worship of God. Listen to chapter 22 paragraph 7 of our confession where is says, “it is the law of nature, that in general a proportion of time, by God’s appointment, be set apart for the worship of God…” This Adam and Eve knew naturally. This they knew, having been made in the image of God. They knew that they were to give worship to their Maker and that a proportion of time should be devoted to it.

Secondly, the confession rightly teaches that God has appointed one day in seven for a Sabbath to be kept holy unto him. Paragraph 7 continues “…so by [God’s] Word, in a positive moral, and perpetual commandment, binding all men, in all ages, he hath particularly appointed one day in seven for a Sabbath to be kept holy unto him…” 

Notice that Sabbath command is said to be “positive”. In other words, man, by nature (that is, by virtue of his having been made in the image of God) knew (and knows) that God is to be worshipped. Man also knows by nature that proportion of time is to be devoted to the worship of God (simply look at how every world religion worships according to some calendar). But God did not leave man to wonder, or to invent for himself, what proportion of time is to be devoted to worship. He positively declared what time was to be devoted to worship, namely one day out of every seven. This command was added to the natural law written upon man’s heart from creation, and so it is called a positive law.

When did God do this? When did he “[appoint] one day in seven for a Sabbath to be kept holy unto him”? Answer: He did it at creation when he made the heavens and earth in six days, rested on the seventh, blessed the seventh day and made it holy. All of this he did, not for himself, but as a pattern for man made in his image to follow. The seventh day was blessed by God so that man would find blessing in it. The day was set apart as holy so that man might approach it as holy – a day unique from the other days, set apart for the worship of God. And so the pattern of six and one was established by God at creation. 

How long will this pattern of six and one remain? Our confession is right to say that it is “perpetual”. This pattern of six and one will remain until the end of time. 

And who is bound follow this pattern? Again or confession is right to say that this commandment is “binding [on] all men, in all ages”. How can this be so? Well, it is so because God instituted the Sabbath, not in the days of Abraham (as if it were for his offspring only), nor in the days of Moses (as if it were for Israel only), nor by Christ (as if it were for the Christian only), but at creation. All who descend from Adam, therefore, are obligated to worship their Maker in this way. All people ought to worship God, who is Creator of all things in heaven and earth! And they are to worship him, not according to the inventions of men, but according to the word of God. 

All men ought to keep the Sabbath day, but we should not be surprised when the non-believer does not. What should surprise us is when the one who claims to belong to God through faith in Christ violates the Sabbath day by neglecting to gather for worship with the saints, and by approaching the day as if were common, being consumed with ordinary work and ordinary pursuits on that day. 

Indeed, the unchanging moral principle at the core of the Sabbath commandment is that God is to be worshiped by all, and that one day in seven is to be devoted to rest (that is ceasing from ordinary work) and to worship.

We must then ask, which day of the seven is the Sabbath day?  

Again, our confession correctly summarizes the teaching of holy scripture when it says, “from the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ [the Sabbath day] was the last day of the week…” So from Adam to the resurrection of Christ the seventh day – Saturday – was set apart as the Sabbath day.  

And our confession is also correct when it says, “… and from the resurrection of Christ [the Sabbath day] was changed into the first day of the week, which is called the Lord’s day: and is to be continued to the end of the world as the Christian Sabbath, the observation of the last day of the week being abolished.”

I have grown to love our confession of faith, brothers and sisters. I believe, as do you most of you, that what it says is true. It provides us with a good and faithful summary of the teaching of holy scripture on major points of doctrine. 

Indeed, the Old Covenant seventh day Sabbath has been abolished, having been fulfilled by Christ. This is indeed true! The Old Covenant Sabbath that was given fist to Adam and the again to Israel is no more! Saturday is no longer the Sabbath day because Christ finished his work, entered into his rest when he raised from the dead and ushered in a new creation. The Old Covenant Sabbath, therefore, is gone! But a Sabbath rest does remain for the people of God. The pattern of six and one continues, though it has undergone change. Who change the Sabbath? Christ did by his finished work, his resurrection from the dead, and his work of a new creation. 

Indeed our confession is right in what it says. At the resurrection of Christ the “Sabbath was changed into the first day of the week…”  It is now “called the Lord’s day: and is to be continued to the end of the world as the Christian Sabbath, the observation of the last day of the week being abolished.” 

But notice this: our confession is just that – a confession. It is a very brief declaration of what we believe the scriptures teach. But it does not provide an explanation of these doctrines. It is not called, therefore, an explanation of the faith, or even a defense of the faith, but a confession of faith. It states succinctly the primary doctrines contained within holy scripture. And it is indeed very useful! But these doctrines which are so beautifully stated in our confession do also need to be explained and defended from the word of God if they are to be believed.  

And so my first objective in this brief sermon series on the Sabbath is to explain to you from the scriptures why it is that we believe what we confess to believe concerning the proper worship of God and the Sabbath day. 

My second objective in this series is to then motivate you to keep the Lord’s Day Sabbath holy and unto the Lord. It is important that this be the second objective, and not the first. How important it is for you to, first of all, believe from the heart that the Sabbath is to be kept, and then afterward to go on keeping it! 

Notice that this is the order in which things are stated in our confession. Paragraph seven of chapter 22 states what we believe concerning the Sabbath day (this I have already read to you), and then paragraph eight states how we should keep it. There we read, 

The Sabbath is then kept holy unto the Lord, when men, after a due preparing of their hearts, and ordering their common affairs aforehand, do not only observe an holy rest all day, from their own works, words and thoughts, about their worldly employment and recreations, but are also taken up the whole time in the public and private exercises of his worship, and in the duties of necessity and mercy.

This statement is also right. But teaching on the practical side of things will need to wait a bit longer, for I am still occupied with the first objective, which is to explain to you from the scriptures why it is that we believe what we believe concerning the Sabbath day. 

A few very important truths have been established already in this sermon series. They are foundational truths and most be remembered. 

One, remember that the Sabbath was instituted at creation. 

Two, remember that the Sabbath was made for man so that he might be blessed in the keeping of it as rested from his labor to draw near to God in holy worship. 

Three, remember that the Sabbath symbolized God’s rest and also pointed forward to the rest that man was to enter into by accomplishing his work to the glory of God. The positioning of the Sabbath day on the seventh days was, therefore, very significant. Adams faithful work would lead to eternal rest, should he do it.  

Four, remember that the Sabbath day continued after man’s fall into sin. In Genesis 4 we see evidence that Adam’s children knew that they were to worship God and they did so “in the course of  time”. Also, in Exodus 16 we learn that the Sabbath ordinance was known to the people of God prior to the giving of the Ten Commandments through Moses. The Sabbath was therefore kept in the world from the days of Adam to the days of Moses. There is no way to know how many kept it, but it is clear that the Sabbath day was preserved from Adam to Moses. 

 Five, let us remember that the Sabbath is in some ways unchanging, and yet it is also flexible. That one day in seven is to be approached as holy unto the Lord will never change – not until Christ returns and we do enter into the rest that the Sabbath typified from the beginning. But the Sabbath ordinance is also capable of undergoing change. For example, the Sabbath for Adam in the garden held forth the promise of eternal life should Adam accomplish his work to the glory of God. After the fall the Sabbath day took on new meaning. It reminded Adam and his posterity that they had come short of that rest. But it also brought with it the good news that eternal rest was still a possible. It would be earned, as we know, not be sinful man, but by Jesus the Christ, who is the Savior promised from long ago.   

And so the Sabbath has been considered now from the time of creation up until the days of Moses. But what about under Moses? What should we say about the Sabbath day from the time of Moses to resurrection of Christ?

Can you see what I am doing in this series? I am following the Sabbath ordinance through the pages of Holy Scripture and I am attempting to explain how it developed along with the progression of the history of redemption. That some things about the Sabbath remained the same is undeniable. And that some things about the Sabbath changed is also undeniable. But I want for you to see that the changes were not random, nor were they man made, but they were ordained by God to correspond to the work that he was doing to accomplish the salvation of his people. In other words, the Sabbath day has always been linked up with the particular convents into which God did enter with man. With every covenant there is a Sabbath day, but the Sabbath day does also adjust to match the peculiarities of the particular covenant.

I have five brief observations to make concerning the Sabbath as it was from the days of Moses onward. We are here considering, what some have called, the judicial Sabbath, called such because it was the Sabbath in the days where the people of Israel were governed by the law of Moses. Sometimes it is referred to as the Jewish Sabbath, for it is the Sabbath as it was given parculiurly to the Isr. It is the Sabbath as contained within the law of Moses. The Sabbath was instituted at creation, it continued in the world from Adam to Moses, but in the days of Moses the Sabbath did undergo change. 

Under Moses The Sabbath Day Remained Substantially The Same

Notice first of all that under Moses the Sabbath day remained substantially the same as when it was given to Adam in the garden.

Here I am highlighting the fact that the Sabbath remained on the seventh day under Moses just as it was from the time it was instituted by God at creation, and for good reason. 

Shortly after God created man he entered into a covenant of works with him. “Do this and you shall live” was the principle under which Adam lived. And the Sabbath day corresponded to and signified this covenantal order. “Do this work and enter into rest”. The seventh day Sabbath given to Adam agreed with the covenant of works which God into with Adam shortly after he created him. 

Notice also that the covenant into which God entered with Israel after he rescued them from bodge in Egypt was a covenant of works. “Do this and you shall” live was the principle under which Israel lived. The Mosaic covenant was a kind of republication of the Covenant of Works that was made with Adam in the garden. I am not saying that it was exactly the same, for Israel could not earn their salvation through obedience to the law, but only blessing and life in the land which God would give them. Also, it is clear that the grace of God was present and active within the Mosaic Covenant. It had to be! For if the grace of God was not present and active Israel would not have lasted a day! But the grace of God was present and active through the promise that a Messiah would one day come. The people of Israel were saved by believing the promises of God. True as this is, the Mosaic Covenant was substantially a covent of works. “Do this and you shall live” was the principle that governed them. And their seventh day Sabbath corresponded to that principle – work leads to rest, obedience leads to life, do this and you shall live. 

Eventually we will come to deal with the question, why did the Sabbath day change from day seven to day one? And in part the answer will be, the day changed because the covenant changed. We are not under a covenant of works as Adam was and as Israel was, but we live under the Covenant of Grace. The paedobaptists who say that the Covenant of Grace was instituted shortly after the fall are wrong. The promise of the gospel was given shortly after the fall. The grace of God was present and active in the world from the time of the fall to the resurrection of Christ (how could it not be?). But the Covenant of Grace was inaugurated by the Christ. The New Covenant ratified in his blood is the Covenant of Grace. The seventh day Sabbath fits hand in glove with the Covenant of Works under which Adam and Israel lived; the first day Sabbath fits hand in glove with the Covenant of Grace under which we now live. The principle is we live by is not, do this and you shall live, but you live because Christ has done it. 

I have said it before, and I will say it again: the seventh day Sabitarians, though they claim to have Jesus as Lord and to be partakers of the Covenant of Grace with their mouths, do in fact deny him and the power of his resurrection by continuing in their observance of the seventh day Sabbath which has the works principle at its core. While claiming to be New Covenant Christians living under the Covenant of Grace, they wear the badge of the Old Covenant and the Covenant of Works when they gather for worship on the seventh day.  

Friends, please recognize that under Moses the Sabbath day remained substantially the same as when it was given to Adam in the garden, and this because the Mosaic Covenant was a kind of republication of the Covenant of Works made with Adam in the Garden, of which the seventh day Sabbath was a sign. 

Under Moses The Sabbath Day Contained A Gospel Promise And A Word Of Condemnation

Secondly, notice that under Moses the Sabbath day contained both a gospel promise and a word of condemnation just as it did for Adam and his descendants after the fall.  

I will not spend much time on this point given that I elaborated on it in the previous sermon. The point here is that with each Sabbath observance under the Mosaic economy there was a reminder, one, of the fact that the people of God still had come short of the rest typified by the Sabbath day, and two, that the rest of God was still open to them and in their future. In this was the Sabbath day functioned both as a law which condemned and a proclamation of the gospel. 

It was as if God were saying to Israelite on the Sabbath day, remember that you have fallen short of the rest and glory of God, and also, remember that I have been gracious to you and will provide rest for you despite your sin! This we know would come by way of a Redeemer, the second Adam, Christ Jesus our Lord. 

Under Moses The Sabbath Day Was A Day For Convocation

Thirdly, notice that under Moses the Sabbath day was a day for holy convocation. A convocation is a public gathering, or an assembly of the people for religious worship. The people of God were to assemble together to worship God on the Sabbath day.

Listen to Leviticus 23:1-3. “The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, These are the appointed feasts of the Lord that you shall proclaim as holy convocations; they are my appointed feasts.’” The first of the feast days, or days for holy convocation that the Lord mentioned was the weekly Sabbath. Verse 2: “Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work. It is a Sabbath to the Lord in all your dwelling places” (Leviticus 23:1–3, ESV).

I am not saying that this was not unique to the days of Moses. It was true before, I’m sure, and it is certainly true now. The people of God were (and are) to gather together in holy convocation on the Sabbath day to give worship to God.  

This is why the writer to the Hebrews says, “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near” (Hebrews 10:24–25, ESV). The Sabbath day is day for holy convocation. On it the people of God are to gather for worship. 

I have noticed that many Christians today give little thought at all to the Sabbath day. And among those who do consider it I have found that many have turned it into a highly individualistic thing. Many have misconstrued the words of Christ when he said, “the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath”, to mean that the Sabbath is day is their day. It is a day for them to rest, and nothing more. This was the tradition that many of us came out of. The teaching concerning the Sabbath was, Christians do not need to keep the Sabbath on a particular day but they should still make a practice of taking a break from work. In other words, the whole point of the Sabbath given at creation and written in stone on Sinai was to provide man with some rest from his toils. What a shallow understanding of the Sabbath! It should be plain to all that the Sabbath is about more than you taking a break from work. No! It is filled with symbolism, as we have seen. It is to be observed on a particular day according to the command of God, for the day is significant. And it is to be observed, not by you alone, but by us together. It is a holy convocation. Please don’t ever say what I heard others say in the tradition that we came out of – “I don’t take my Sabbath on Sunday, but on Thursday. Thursday is my day of rest.” Is Thursday a day off you? Great! I hope you are able to rest on that day. But it is not the Sabbath. Not for you, and not anyone. Only Sunday, which is called the Lord’s Day is the Sabbath day now that Christ has risen from the dead. 

Indeed the Sabbath day is a gift for man. God did bless the Sabbath day so that we might find blessing in it. But there is blessing found in the Sabbath day only when we approach it aright. The Sabbath day is not our day but it is the Lord’s Day. It is a day, not for idle rest, but of holy activity. It is not to be observed by the individual, but as a community. Though it is a day to rest from our ordinary labors and pursuits, there is a kind of work to be done on the Sabbath day. Remember that God rested from his work in creation, but he took up the task of reflecting upon his works to take pleasure in it. God’s people are to convene on the Sabbath day. Worship is to be offered up to God. Our thoughts are to be directed towards his so that we might take pleasure in him and in his works of creation and redemption. It is on this day that we are to give special attention to his word, to hear it, to reflect upon it and to apply it to our lives. It is a day for the people of God to enjoy God and to enjoy one another. This it was in the days of Moses, and this it is today.  

“Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work. It is a Sabbath to the Lord in all your dwelling places” (Leviticus 23:3, ESV). Do not neglect to “meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near” (Hebrews 10:25, ESV).

Under Moses Sabbath Observance Was More Rigorous

Fourthly, notice that under Moses Sabbath observance was, in some ways, made more rigorous. 

Now, we must be careful here. Many imagine, I fear, that Sabbath observance was substantially different for Old Covenant Israel than it is for New Covenant Israel, that is, all who believe upon Christ today. I would imagine that this idea arrises from peoples incorrect reading of the gospels where Christ is often found confronting the Jews concerning their incorrect observance of the Sabbath day. The error in interpretation arrises when people assume that Jesus was attacking the teaching of the Old Testament when he was confronting the Jewish leaders. No, Christ  never opposed the Old Testament, but only the religious leaders of his day who wrongly interpreted it. The Pharisees, for example, heaped layers upon layers of man made laws and traditions upon the Sabbath ordinance. Christ was confronting their traditions and their extra scriptural laws, but never the actual scriptural  teaching concerning the Sabbath day. Jesus had a lot to say about the Sabbath in his teaching. And he said what he said to rescue the Sabbath. He never opposed it, but sought to restore to its proper place. This he did, not so that he might throw it in the trash when he rose from the dead, but so that he might give it to his people all shinned up and restored with the gunk of man made religion having been striped away. 

When I say that “under Moses Sabbath observance was made more rigorous”, I do not mean that the Sabbath was essentially different, but that the law of Moses, which added to, expanded and strictly enforced God’s moral law, made Sabbath observance more rigorous. 

The law that God is to be worshipped, and that a proportion of time is to be devoted to worship, namely one in seven, is moral and unchanging. But under Moses judicial or civil laws were also given along with a whole host of ceremonial laws. This is what Paul is referring to when he says, “Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary” (Galatians 3:19, ESV). Why the law (here he is referring to the law of Moses)? His answer: “It was added because of transgressions…” The law of Moses was added (to the moral law which existed from creation) to make our sin most obvious and our need for a savior most clear. 

The moral principle at the core of the Sabbath command was not itself made more rigorous in the days of Moses, but the civil laws which were given to Israel along with the ceremonial laws did add to the rigor of the Sabbath day. 

Take, for example, the text that we read from Exodus 31:12: 

And the Lord said to Moses, “You are to speak to the people of Israel and say, ‘Above all you shall keep my Sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the Lord, sanctify you. You shall keep the Sabbath, because it is holy for you. Everyone who profanes it shall be put to death. Whoever does any work on it, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day shall be put to death. Therefore the people of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, observing the Sabbath throughout their generations, as a covenant forever. It is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.’” (Exodus 31:12–17, ESV)

What has changed here with the giving of the law of Moses? Not the Sabbath ordinance itself, but the enforcement of it. For the Israelite to Sabbath breaking was punishable by death. This was not so from Adam to Moses, nor it so for us today, but it was so for Israel under Moses. So here is what I mean when I say that under Moses Sabbath observance was more rigorous. 

Something similar can be said about the ceremonial law that was given to Israel. Israel was to keep, not only the weekly Sabbath, but also a whole host of Sabbath days that were added to it. Read, for example, Leviticus 23 in its entirety sometime. There, “The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, These are the appointed feasts of the Lord that you shall proclaim as holy convocations; they are my appointed feasts” (Leviticus 23:1–2, ESV). And what is the first thing that he mentions? God first mentions the weekly Sabbath. It is called a feast and a holy convocation. But then after this the Lord also commands that Israel the Passover, the Feast of First Fruits, the Feast of Weeks, the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Booths. The feast days were days of convocation that were added to the weekly Sabbath which was instituted at creation. 

Will you please pay special attention to this. To whom was the weekly Sabbath given? Not to Israel alone, but to Adam, and thus to all of humanity. But to whom was the law of Moses given, which included the moral law written on Adams hear along with man other civil and ceremonial laws? The law of Moses was given to Israel. This simple observation is so very important. 

For the purpose of our study here I want for you to recognize that while you are bound to keep the weekly Sabbath, you are not bound to keep the law of Moses, for you are not under the law, but under grace. 

Sabbath keeping was made more rigorous under Moses, not because the Sabbath principle itself was changed, but because to the moral was added the law of Moses with all of its demands. 

Some have referred to the Sabbath under Moses as the judicial or legal Sabbath, and I think this right and helpful. 

Under Moses There Was An Expectation That The Sabbath Would Remain And Yet Be Altered With The Coming Of The Messiah And The Establishment Of The New Covenant

Fifthly and lastly, see that the prophets who ministered under the Mosaic Covenant taught that with the coming of the Messiah and the establishment of the New Covenant the Sabbath would both remain and the Sabbath would be altered. 

This might sound contradictory at first, but it is not. It is the clear teaching of the Old Testament and it corresponds perfectly to what we see happen in the New Testament – the Sabbath remains, but it is significantly altered. 

First, understand that Old Testament prophets taught that the Sabbath would remain under the New Covenant. Consider, for example, Jeremiah 31:31. There we read,

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” (Jeremiah 31:31–33, ESV)

What would happen when the New Covenant was instituted according to the prophet? Among other things, God would “put [his] law within [his people], and… write it on their hearts.” Which law? Here he is referring to the ten commandments written on stone at Sinai by the finger of God. There at the ratification of the Old Covenant God wrote on stone. Under the New Covenant God would write that law on the hearts of his people.  And what is the fourth of the ten laws? “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Exodus 20:8, ESV). 

There is no reason at all to think that the Sabbath commandment passed away with the establishment of the New Covenant. 

Second, understand that the prophets did speak of day when the Sabbath would be altered and even abolished. Consider Hosea 2, for example. There the Lord is speaking of the judgements that would come upon Israel in the future. God would divorce Israel for her spiritual adultery, for her continual breaking of the convent. And in that context he says, “And I will put an end to all her mirth, her feasts, her new moons, her Sabbaths, and all her appointed feasts” (Hosea 2:11, ESV).

What does the Lord say he will do away with? Now the pattern of one day of rest out seven which was established at creation, but the rather the Mosaic, judicial, Jewish Sabbath along with the feast days that were given, not to Adam but to Israel as recorded in Leviticus 23. 

Friends This is why the New Testament speaks of the Sabbath both as if it has been abolished and yet remains. 

The judicial, Jewish, Mosaic, seventh day Sabbath has been done away with having been fulfilled by Christ. And this is why Paul says, “let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ” (Colossians 2:16–17, ESV). By the way, “Sabbath” is in the plural in the Greek. The ESV says, “a Sabbath” – “let no one pass judgment on you in questions of… a Sabbath.” It is not incorrect, but neither is it clear. I think the King James Version is better here when it says, “Let no man therefore judge you… in respect of… the sabbath days” (Colossians 2:16, KJV 1900). Paul is referring, not to the weekly Sabbath given at creation (that certainly has not be abolished), but he is referring to the judicial, Mosaic, Jewish Sabbath along with its feats days, which are also called Sabbaths. All of that has passed away having been fulfilled by Christ.

But the New Testament also teaches that a Sabbath resting remains for the people of God under the New Covenant – “So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God…” (Hebrews 4:9, ESV).

Conclusion 

Brothers and sisters, I hope you can appreciate what we are doing in this series on the Sabbath. We are laboring to understand the Sabbath day by starting at the beginning and moving forward from there. Today we have given special attention to the Sabbath day as it was under Moses. True, we do not live under Moses! We live under Christ. We are under the New Covenant and are, therefore, under grace. But it is impossible to understand the Sabbath as it applies to us without first understand why it was given to Adam and how it applied to Moses, and so we have begun there. 

My prayer is that we would understand the Sabbath and come to love the Lord’s Day. My prayer is that we would keep holy from the heart and find blessing in at God has intended. Indeed, the Spirit has written the law of God on our hearts if we are in Christ. May we love his law more and more and keep it from the heart. Christ himself said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15, ESV). May our love for him increase, and may it be manifest in our obedience to his most holy word. 

Old Testament Reading: Genesis 2:1-3

“Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.” (Genesis 2:1–3, ESV)

New Testament Reading: Mark 2:23-28

“One Sabbath [Jesus] was going through the grainfields, and as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. And the Pharisees were saying to him, ‘Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?’ And he said to them, ‘Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God, in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?’ And he said to them, ‘The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.’” (Mark 2:23–28, ESV)

Introduction

Last week I stated that we were entering into a prolonged consideration of the Sabbath. How long this focus on the Sabbath with last, I’m not entirely sure. 

Of course it is Genesis 2:1-3 which has prompted this focus, for it is here in this passage that the Sabbath principle is first introduced to us. God, having created the heavens and earth in six days, ceased from his work of creation on the seventh day and entered into rest, blessing the seventh day and making it holy. This he did, not for himself, but for man. Man made in the image of God was made to imitate his Maker by working six days and resting from his work to give special worship to God on the seventh day. The Sabbath is as old as creation, therefore. To speak with more precision, the Sabbath is one day younger than man. Man was made on day six, and the Sabbath on day seven. Indeed, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.”

But why the need for a prolonged study on the Sabbath? I’ll give three reasons:

One, there is a great deal of confusion that exists within the church today concerning the Sabbath. Clear teaching is needed. 

Two, the confusion that exists concerning the Sabbath has led many to neglect the Sabbath day entirely, and this has been going on in our culture for some time. The situation is such that even if one were convinced that the Sabbath day is to be kept, few understand how to go about keeping it. Instruction is needed. First, a biblical argument for Sabbath keeping must be made, and then instructions for Sabbath keeping must be presented. This takes time.

Thirdly, it must be acknowledged that what the Bible has to say about the Sabbath is complex. And by “complex” I do not mean that the Sabbath is impossible to understand, or even exceedingly difficult to understand, but that the doctrine is multifaceted – it has layers to it.

The Sabbath is Simple

At its core the doctrine of the Sabbath is very simple. 

The simple and unchanging moral principle at the core of the Sabbath ordinance is that God the Creator is to be worshipped by his creatures, and that man is to worship in the way that God has prescribed. Man made in the image of God is to worship God in the whole of life by living in perpetual submission to him. Man is to do his work to the glory of God, and man is also to rest and worship to the glory of God. From the beginning, therefore, it was established by God that time be devoted to the worship of God. Man is to glorify God in his work for six days, and he is to rest and offer up pronounced worship for one. This pattern is unchanging – work for six, rest and worship for one.

The symbolism of the Sabbath day is also, in some respects, simple and unchanging. What reality does the Sabbath day point to? It reminds us that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth and entered into rest on the seventh day. And what does the Sabbath day typify or point forward to? It points forward to a higher form of life for man – life characterized by true and eternal rest. The Sabbath day is a picture, a type, a foretaste of an unending, glorified, and truly restful life. This is what the writer to the Hebrews so clearly teaches when he says, “For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his” (Hebrews 4:8–10, ESV). We will give more careful attention to this passage at a later time, but for now see that it clearly states that a Sabbath rest remains for God’s people. In other words, there remains a Sabbath day or a Sabbath observance for the New Covenant people of God, for this is what the word σαββατισμός means – it refers to a  “special religiously significant period for rest and worship (Louw Nida, 67.185). A Sabbath observance remains for God’s people, why? Because we have not yet entered into the eternal rest that the Sabbath has typified or symbolized from the beginning of time.

And so at its core the Sabbath is simple. God instituted it at the beginning for man. It reminds man of God the creator. It provides man with a pattern to follow. It points forward to the promise of a higher quality of life – life characterized by unending rest. The Sabbath day is a blessed day and a holy day, and has been from the seventh day of creation.

The Sabbath is Complex

But the Sabbath is also complex. 

The Sabbath ordinance is nimble. There are some things about it that will never change, but there are other things about it that are able to adapt and change with the developments of the history of redemption. The Sabbath is both ridged and flexible –  unchanging, and yet able to change. It is complex. 

The pattern of six days of work and one day of rest will never go away – not until God’s people  enter fully into the rest typified by the Sabbath day. But if we pay close attention to what the scriptures say about the Sabbath as it progresses with the history of redemption one will notice subtle, and sometimes radical, changes. These changes are not random and arbitrary but correspond to the development and progression of God’s work of salvation. 

Changes at Resurrection of Christ 

The most radical change to come to the weekly Sabbath was its transition from the seventh day of the week to the first. We will consider the change of days more carefully at another time, but for now let me simply ask, when did this change take place? The answer is that the change took place at the resurrection of Christ from the dead? What remained the same? The pattern of six days of work and one day of rest remained. The Sabbath as a blessed and holy day, set apart for the worship of God remained. The pointing forward to eternal rest remained. But what changed? The day changed! And why? Because Christ ushered in a new creation by his life, death and resurrection. Now the Sabbath day reminds us, not only of the creation of the heavens and earth, but also of our redemption, which the scriptures call, a new creation. He is risen! He is risen indeed. 

Do you see, therefore, that the Sabbath is complex. It is both ridged and nimble. It is both unchanging and yet capable of change.

Changes in the Days of Moses

The Sabbath also underwent changes in the days of Moses after Israel’s deliverance from Egypt and upon the giving of the law. Granted, the day did not change then, but remained on the seventh as it was from the time of creation. But the Sabbath did take on greater significance. Begging with Moses the Sabbath day was to remind the people of Israel, not only of God’s creation, but also of their deliverance from Egypt. 

In Exodus 20 we have our first exposure to the ten commandments. And the reason given for Sabbath observance in that place is God’s creation. Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy, “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 20:11, ESV). But when we come to the ten commands as recorded in Deuteronomy 5 we see that the people are urged to “remember” something else when the observe the Sabbath. 

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)

Here Israel is commanded to remember, not God’s creation and rest, but God’s deliverance. They were “slaves in Egypt” and “God brought them out”, “therefore the Lord [their] God commanded [them] to keep the Sabbath day.” It was not that Israel was no longer to observe the Sabbath on the basis of God’s work in creation and his subsequent rest, but now that Israel had been redeemed the Sabbath day was to remind them also of their redemption!

So do you see that the Sabbath is flexible? The moral principles at the core of it never change – God is to be worshipped, and particular time is to be set aside for work and for rest and worship according to God’s command, specifically one day in seven. But the Sabbath is also able to adapt to take on greater meaning and significance as the history of redemption progresses. Israel was to remember not only creation when she observed the Sabbath day, but also her redemption from Egypt. In the days of Moses the Sabbath day took on greater significance than it had before. 

Changes at Man’s Fall From Innocency

And something similar happened to the Sabbath at the time of man’s fall from innocence and into sin. While the essence of the Sabbath remained unchanged, its significance was altered. Adam and Eve were to work six days and rest and worship for one inside the garden of Eden when they stood upright before God. And they were also to work for six days and rest and worship for one having been expelled from the garden of Eden. But clearly the Sabbath took on a slightly different meaning for man after the fall than it had prior to sin entering the world. 

What did the Sabbath signify for Adam and Eve while they were upright and in the garden? It communicated that they were to finish the work given to them by God and thus enter into eternal rest just as God finished his work of creation and entered into rest.

But what did the Sabbath signify after man’s fall into sin? In other words, what did the Sabbath day communicate to Adam and Eve after having been expelled from of Eden because of their sin? 

First of all, the Sabbath day must have reminded Adam and Eve of their sin. When they observed the Sabbath day over and over again it would have reminded them that eternal rest was offered to them and that they came short of it. 

This was not a part of the original function of the Sabbath. The Sabbath did not in any way condemn Adam and Eve in the garden, but only held before them the promise of eternal rest should they finish the work that God gave them to do. I suppose it would be right to say that the Sabbath did threaten Adam and Eve in the garden. It communicated the potential of failing to finish the work. But the Sabbath did not condemn them while in the garden, only held forth the potential of entering into rest. 

But after man’s fall into sin, the Sabbath day reminds us of our sin, for our lives are not characterized by rest, but by toil, trial and tribulation.  Paul says in Romans 3:23, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…” The Sabbath day from the fall of man into sin on to the second coming of Christ brings with it a very similar message. “All have sinned and fall short of the rest of God”, the Sabbath day now says. Each and every Sabbath day from the fall onward is a reminder that we have not entered God’s rest (at least not in full), but have come short of it.

But in the moment we emphasize the way in which the Sabbath confronts us with having fallen short of eternal rest, we must also emphasize the way in which the Sabbath gives us hope, though we are fallen. 

Indeed, the weekly Sabbath reminds us that we have not entered into God’s rest (in this way it condemns us) but it’s permanent presence in this fallen world also communicates that rest is still possible. Think of it! Though we rebelled against God and fell into sin,  there is still one day in seven that is blessed by God and set apart as holy. On the Sabbath day we are invited to rest from our labors as a foretaste of the rest that will be enjoyed by all of God’s people for eternity. The only reason that a day of rest remains for the people of God after the fall is that God has been gracious to us. By his grace he has determined to provide rest for his people by a Redeemer. 

What do our sins deserve? The answer: no rest at all, but only eternal torment. And indeed this is what those not in Christ will endure – eternal torment. Do you remember how the book of Revelation describes the punishment that those not in Christ – those who worshipped the beast and his image – will endure? Listen carefully to Revelation 14:8ff:

And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.” (Revelation 14:9–11, ESV)

Contrast that with the way Revelation speaks concerning those in Christ. Revelation 14:12ff:

Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus. And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!” (Revelation 14:12–13, ESV)

What do our sins deserve? No rest, but only torment. What has God graciously provided? Rest for his people. The weekly Sabbath communicates that this rest is still available. The way to rest typified by the Sabbath day has not been closed off entirely, but is still open.  

To put it differently, if God had determined to leave all of mankind in their sin – if God had determined not to save sinners at all – then the Sabbath day would have ceased with Adam’s transgression. Men and women would have been given over to a new pattern of only work, with no rest. But a Sabbath rest remains, which means that it is still possible to enter into rest, by the grace of God, through faith in the Redeemer. 

The Seventh Day Sabbath Pointed Forward to Future Rest 

How appropriate it was for the Sabbath day to remain on the seventh day prior to the death, burial and resurrection of the Christ and his session at the Father’s right hand.  

The Sabbath day was on the seventh day (Saturday) prior to man’s fall into sin, and rightly so. Adam’s faithful work would have lead to eternal rest, and the so the pattern was work and then rest, rest and then rest. The rest was in the future and was to be entered into through the accomplishment of work. 

And the Sabbath day remained on the seventh day (Saturday) from man’s fall into sin up until the resurrection and ascension of Christ, and rightly so. Again, the rest of God could still be obtained, but only through work. The law of God had to be obeyed. Eternal life had to be earned. The obtainment of this west was yet in the future. And so the pattern remained six days of work which would lead to one day of rest. 

And how appropriate it was that the Sabbath day was changed from the seventh day to the first when Christ rose from the grave and ascended to the Father, taking his seat in the heavenly places. Why did the day change from the seventh day to the first? Because Christ entered into rest. He did what Adam failed to do. He kept God’s law, earned rest through his faithful and finished work, and entered into it, being seated in the heavenly realm. 

Conclusion 

The title of this sermon is “The Sabbath: From Adam to Moses”. My desire is that you recognize what wonderful testimony the Sabbath day is to the mercy and grace of God. How wonderful it must have been for Adam and Eve and their children to rest and worship on the seventh day. Yes, it would have reminded them of what they came short of, but how wonderful it must have been for them to observe the Sabbath day and to hear it say, there is still a way. You may still approach God in worship. You may still find rest in him. And the hope of eternal rest has not been be lost, but remains. 

Of course we know that the way to rest is through faith in the Christ. We must be united to him by faith if we are to enjoy the rest that he has earned. He himself did say, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Matthew 11:28–29, ESV)

Application

Brothers and sisters, my desire for you is that you would keep the Sabbath day. 

Why should we?

To give glory to God (because it is right). 

For our good (there is blessing in the Sabbath day).

Consider what the Sabbath does for the soul. 

It centers our life upon God and upon Christ. 

It reminds us to diligently work to the glory of God. 

When we observe the day we find a blessing it. 

We find rest for our bodies. 

We find rest for our souls.

Our minds and hearts are directed heavenward where Christ is now seated.

Our affections are directed to the new heavens and earth, where we will enjoy consummate rest. 

Truly, the Sabbath day, which is called the Lord’s Day, is good for the soul.