The American Wisdom Series

Presents
Matthew #2525

If you think you know Jesus Christ and yet you are ignorant of His Word, you are deceiving yourself and headed for a great fall when Satan shows up as the false-christ.

Jesus Christ told us at the conclusion of Matthew chapter eleven that if you are heavy laden and a willing "laborer", meaning that you are willing to "come to Him" and "take His yoke upon you" and "learn about Him", then He will give you "rest"!

Matthew 11:28-29
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

[29] Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

Hebrews 4:11
Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.

[12]For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

You "see", as Christians we must go to Him and "learn of Him" and mature to the point that we understand that Jesus Christ, the Word of God, is our rest which means He is our "sabbath". In fact, the word "sabbath" means "rest". Yet there are those even this day who teach that you must keep a certain "day", even from sunset to sunset, in order to be in good standing with God. Is that true? We will find out in this study as Christ teaches us concerning the sabbath day.

Matthew 12:1
At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and His disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat.

[2] But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto Him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day.

"In the ninth chapter of Hebrews Paul compares the details of the earthly tabernacle, along with the ordinances of divine service, to the true tabernacle, Jesus Christ, and what He has done for us as our High Priest who entered into the Holy of Holies once and for all time. By teaching us in this manner, Paul shows us how perfectly the Old Covenant explains the New by letting us "see" how those shadows represent the true tabernacle, which is Jesus Christ. Col. 2:17 "Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ." For you see, the New Covenant is simply the fulfillment of, the reality of, the Old Covenant, that schoolmaster which brings us to know and understand Jesus Christ, the true tabernacle.

The ordinances of "divine service" and the "worldly sanctuary" were only figures, visible likenesses, images of the true tabernacle, Jesus Christ. In other words, they were earthly things our flesh eyes could see, things made and services performed to show us and teach us as a schoolmaster the things which cannot be seen, even His eternal power and Godhead, that power which can forgive sins and grant us "life" eternal. Romans 1:20 "For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse."

And so it was that the worldly (earthly) tabernacle was made by men's hands according to the "pattern" God gave Moses, and the ordinances of divine service were ordained so that we might be able to clearly "see" and "understand", and come to know Jesus Christ, the true tabernacle and the one and only true sacrifice for sins. He was the "real thing", the reality, the One promised by the sworn oath of Almighty God who would come and "open the way", fulfilling all things. And once the reality came, all those representative "things" were completely done away with (Col. 2:14-17).

To that end, Paul is now going to give us a description of how the earthly tabernacle was set-up and what the ordinances of divine service (vs. 1) entailed pertaining to the Holy of Holies, the Holiest part of the sanctuary, and compare them to Christ. He speaks first of that part of the sanctuary wherein all the priests could go.

Hebrews 9:2 For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the shewbread; which is called the sanctuary.

The candlestick or lampstand with the seven lamps, the detailed description of which you can read in Ex. 25:31-40, was placed on the south side of the first apartment of the tabernacle, opposite the table of shewbread (Exodus 25:37) and it was lit permanently to give light inside the Holy Place. Wise virgins might find it interesting to know that the priests in the tabernacle were responsible, evening and morning, for trimming the wicks and filling up the seven lamps with the purest of olive oil sufficient to keep it burning throughout the night (see Mat. 25:1-13).

Exodus 27:20-21
And thou shalt command the children of Israel, that they bring thee pure oil olive beaten for the light, to cause the lamp to burn always. [21] In the tabernacle of the congregation without the veil, which is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall order it from evening to morning before the LORD: it shall be a statute for ever unto their generations on the behalf of the children of Israel.

You will also find that the shewbread, consisting of "twelve" loafs of "unleavened" bread, was placed on the "pure" table before the LORD and set in two rows of six cakes each.

Leviticus 24:5-7
And thou shalt take fine flour, and bake twelve cakes thereof: two tenth deals shall be in one cake. [6] And thou shalt set them in two rows, six on a row, upon the pure table before the LORD. [7] And thou shalt put pure frankincense upon each row, that it may be on the bread for a memorial, even an offering made by fire unto the LORD.

One should take it upon himself or herself to study and learn all he or she can about the tabernacle and the things contained therein and the ordinances of service. Why? Because they teach us all about the true tabernacle, Jesus Christ, and the things of the spirit."

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Matthew 12:3 But He said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him;

Now notice that Jesus relates what has happened, i.e. His disciples going through the field plucking and eating the grain, to what David did in 1 Samuel 21 when he and his men were an hungered and they entered into the tabernacle and ate the shewbread!

[4] How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests?

1 Samuel 21:5-6
And David answered the priest, and said unto him, Of a truth women have been kept from us about these three days, since I came out, and the vessels of the young men are holy, and the bread is in a manner common, yea, though it were sanctified this day in the vessel.

[6] So the priest gave him hallowed bread: for there was no bread there but the shewbread, that was taken from before the LORD, to put hot bread in the day when it was taken away.

Now here is another teaching of Christ regarding the sabbath days!

Matthew 12:5
Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless?

[6] But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple.

[7] But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless.

Here is the verse Christ quoted from the great Book of Hosea, whose name means "salvation"!

Hosea 6:6
For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

Matthew 12:8
For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.

Mark 2:27-28
And He said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath:

[28] Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.

Since this seems to be so difficult for so many people, let us go to Colossians chapter two and nail this down once and for all!

Paul writes:

Col. 2:8
Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.

[9] For in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.

[10] And ye are complete in Him, which is the head of all principality and power:

[11] In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:

[12] Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.

[13] And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses;

[14] Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross;

[15] And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.

[16] Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:

[17]Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.

Let us return to Matthew 12 where Christ has just finished explaining to the Pharisees that the Father does not want burnt offerings and sacrifices from His children. He wants them to turn to Him and love Him and learn of His ways. To that end, even the sabbath was made for man to teach him about God's love and the rest He will give all those who labor.

Matthew 12:9
And when He was departed thence, He went into their synagogue:

[10] And, behold, there was a man which had his hand withered. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath days? that they might accuse Him.

We see the real motive for these religious types in questioning Jesus Christ, the Word of God. It should be obvious that they ask not TO SEEK THE TRUTH but rather to find fault and make accusations that they may justify and perpetuate their own religious ordinances and traditions.

[11] And He said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out?

Note: Interestingly enough, this was not against their traditions at this time but they would shortly hereafter make it such.

[12] How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days.

[13] Then saith He to the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it forth; and it was restored whole, like as the other.

So... after seeing that miracle you would think that the Pharisees would be overjoyed at the wonderful works of God, wouldn't you? However, they were not in the least bit concerned about the welfare and healing of the people who they themselves have spiritually handicapped and kept in the pits. I mean, if you lift up the lame, and heal all the blind and diseased people, thereby setting them free in Christ, in the truth of His Word... then who would you have left to yourself to fill your own tabernacle and extract tithes and offerings from?

You "see", you can't have both a religion and Jesus Christ at the same time! One or the other must go! Unfortunately, it seems that "religious leaders" will always choose religion!  Therefore, the Truth must go!

[14] Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against Him, how they might destroy Him.