of course, in 50 years, there would be 2,600 Saturday Sabbaths. Then 100 Sab baths were set aside for the Passover, two days for each of the 50 years; 2,520 days for the Sabbaths of years were observed; 50 Sabbaths for the Day of the First Fruits or Feast of the First- fruits. There would be 50 days for the Feast of the Trumpets, and 50 days for the Feast of the Tabernacles. Then during the year of Jubilee, which oc curred every fifty years, there would be 365 days. And one further, in 50 years, 50 days for the Great Day of Atone ment. Now, these were all Sabbaths un to the Lord; a total of 5,785 Sabbaths during the course of a fifty year pe riod. Obviously many more than that for which only Saturdays would ac count. So out of half a century 16 of those years would be absorbed with Sabbaths unto the Lord. The basic Scriptural principle we need to keep in mind is that until Christ came, man worked to w a rd his Sabbath — he looked toward the end of the week. Since Christ has come, we, as redeemed sinners f r o m the cross, find our Sabbath, our rest, in the Sav iour. There is a wonderful portion of Scripture in Colossians 2:16, and 17 which reminds us, “Let no man there fore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect to an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.” You see, Christ is our Sabbath, our rest.. This is exactly what He means when He tells men and women weighted down with problems, frustra tions, cares and burdens, “Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy lad- (Continued on Next Page) 25
T h e r e h a s b e e n a deal of discussion through the years concerning the subject of the Sabbath and whether Christians are to worship on Saturday or on Sunday. Our own beloved Chan cellor, Dr. Louis T. Talbot, has written a very excellent book refuting the theo ries of certain cults and isms of our day that hold this principle, and other legalistic views. Our purpose, in this current series of messages on God’s Ten Command ments, is to point out that the Deca logue is a perfect mirror of truth, re vealing the stain of sin in our lives. The fourth statement of God’s righteous standards is most necessary to an un derstanding of the teachings of Scrip ture. It reads, “Remember the Sab bath to keep it holy.” A commandment with promise, recorded in verses 8 to 11 of Exodus, chapter 20. In this statement God provided a day of rest in seven for the Children of Israel. It should be fixed clearly in our minds that the word “Sabbath” and “Saturday,” are in no wise synony mous. In the Jewish ordinances and ob servances, as we will see, there were many more Sabbaths observed than just the Saturdays. The Sabbath was some times a feast, sometimes a fast, hut al ways a time to observe the rest of God. When someone comes to your door and asks you if you keep the Sabbath, ask them which one they mean. For the Children of Israel had many, many Sabbaths in addition to Saturdays which had been- set apart for worship and adoration of the Lord. By way of illustration, in a period of 50 years, let me give you a listing of the number of Sabbaths the children of Israel commemorated. First of all,
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