SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/9/2013
5:06 PM
My Worship Time Focus:
Invitation to the Gentiles PT-3
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Isaiah
56:1-8
Message of the
verses: We will look at the third
sub-point under the second main point from Dr. Wiersbe’s commentary on the 12th
chapter of his book on Isaiah.
Worship (Isaiah 56:1-8):
“1 Thus says the LORD, "Preserve justice and do righteousness, For
My salvation is about to come And My righteousness to be revealed. 2 “How
blessed is the man who does this, And the son of man who takes hold of it; Who
keeps from profaning the Sabbath, And keeps his hand from doing any evil."
3 Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD
say, "The LORD will surely separate me from His people." Nor let the
eunuch say, "Behold, I am a dry tree." 4 For thus says the LORD,
"To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths, And choose what pleases Me, And hold
fast My covenant, 5 To them I will give in My house and within My walls a
memorial, And a name better than that of sons and daughters; I will give them
an everlasting name which will not be cut off. 6 "Also the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD,
To minister to Him, and to love the name of the LORD, To be His servants, everyone
who keeps from profaning the Sabbath And holds fast My covenant; 7 Even those I will bring to My holy mountain
And make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their
sacrifices will be acceptable on My altar; For My house will be called a house of prayer for all the
peoples." 8 The Lord GOD, who gathers the dispersed of Israel,
declares, "Yet others I will gather to them, to those already gathered.’”
“Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy” is the third of
the Ten Commandments and this commandment was between the Lord and the Jewish
people, not the Gentiles. The breaking
of this commandment was something that Israel did in every phase of their nation,
from the time that they left Egypt and God gave them these laws they began to
break them in their wilderness walking, and then when they crossed over into
their land they also broke this commandment and when they went back into their
land Nehemiah writes the following about them breaking this law, “15 In those
days I saw in Judah some who were treading wine presses on the Sabbath, and
bringing in sacks of grain and loading them on donkeys, as well as wine,
grapes, figs and all kinds of loads, and they brought them into Jerusalem on
the Sabbath day. So I admonished them on the day they sold food. 16 Also men of
Tyre were living there who imported fish and all kinds of merchandise, and sold
them to the sons of Judah on the Sabbath, even in Jerusalem. 17 Then I
reprimanded the nobles of Judah and said to them, "What is this evil thing
you are doing, by profaning the Sabbath day? 18 “Did not your fathers do the same, so that our God brought
on us and on this city all this trouble? Yet you are adding to the wrath on
Israel by profaning the Sabbath." 19 It came about that just as it
grew dark at the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, I commanded that the
doors should be shut and that they should not open them until after the Sabbath.
Then I stationed some of my servants at the gates so that no load would enter
on the Sabbath day. 20 Once or twice the traders and merchants of every kind of
merchandise spent the night outside Jerusalem. 21 Then I warned them and said
to them, "Why do you spend the night in front of the wall? If you do so
again, I will use force against you." From that time on they did not come
on the Sabbath. 22 And I commanded the Levites that they should purify
themselves and come as gatekeepers to sanctify the Sabbath day. For this also remember me, O my
God, and have compassion on me according to the greatness of Your
lovingkindness.”
Saturday is the Sabbath day for it is the seventh day of
the week, the day that the Lord rested after creating the earth, all that is in
it and also the stars. The first day of
the week is Sunday, the Lord’s day, and this is the day that the church
worships the Lord from the early days of the Church. John brings this up in the first chapter of
Revelations: “I was in the Spirit on the
Lord ’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like the sound of a trumpet.” (Rev. 1:10)
The reason that the Church worships on the Lord’s day is because it was
Sunday that the Lord was resurrected from the dead. Dr. Wiersbe writes “The Sabbath was a sign to
the Jews and belongs to the Law: You labor for six days, and then you
rest. The Lord’s Day speaks of resurrection
and belongs to grace. God’s people trust
in Christ, and then the works follow.”
Let us again look at Ephesians 2:8-10 to show where Dr. Wiersbe makes
this last point from: “8 For by grace you have been saved through
faith; and that not
of yourselves, it
is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so
that no one may boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good
works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” This is familiar ground to those who have followed
this blog as we have gone over it many times.
We have not seen before that the Lord had called Gentiles
to join the Jews in keeping the Sabbath, but in this passage He does. It is truly by grace that God calls the
Gentiles to do this along with eunuchs. It
runs in my mind that part of the OT law prohibited eunuchs from participating
in certain kinds of Temple worship, along with the Gentiles. In the book of Ezekiel, chapters 40-48 we see
that in the Kingdom age that the Temple worship will once again be
established. Some wonder why this will
happen, but it very well could be that because the sacrifices picture what
Christ did on the cross that in the kingdom age it will look back at what Christ
did on the cross.
“1
"No one who is emasculated or has his male organ cut off shall enter the assembly of the
LORD. 2 “No one of illegitimate birth shall enter the assembly of the
LORD; none of his descendants, even to the tenth generation, shall enter the
assembly of the LORD. 3 "No Ammonite or Moabite shall enter the assembly
of the LORD; none of their descendants, even to the tenth generation, shall
ever enter the assembly of the LORD, 4 because they did not meet you with food
and water on the way when you came out of Egypt, and because they hired against
you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you. 5 "Nevertheless, the LORD your God was not
willing to listen to Balaam, but the LORD your God turned the curse into a
blessing for you because the LORD your God loves you. 6 “You shall never seek
their peace or their prosperity all your days. 7 “You shall not detest an
Edomite, for he is your brother; you shall not detest an Egyptian, because you
were an alien in his land. 8 “The sons of the third generation who are born to
them may enter the assembly of the LORD (Deut. 23:1-8).”
Dr.
Wiersbe concludes his commentary on this section with these words” “God’s admonition to the remnant to ‘keep
justice and do righteousness’ (Isa. 56:1) was not obeyed. When you read Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai, and
Malachi, you discover that the Jews soon forgot God’s goodness and returned to
their old ways. Taking special time each
week to remember the Lord and worship Him helps us to obey His will.”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: Wonder
advice in this last paragraph from Dr. Wiersbe as I need to remember daily what
the Lord did for me in order for me to be His child, and to attend church
services also reminds me of this wonderful truth. I have to remember that I am in a battle, a
battle where the victory has been secured, but the battle still rages on. Jesus told His disciples when He came back to
them while praying in the garden “"Keep watching and praying that you may
not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.’”
My Steps of Faith for Today: Mark 14:38.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
Question: “All of them” (Exodus 14:28).
Today’s Bible
Question: “In 1st Corinthians
13:7, what four things does love do?”
Answer in our next SD.
12/9/2013 5:46 PM
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