Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/Sermons/zz20091108.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
Exodus: God's Forming The Nation Israel For His Abrahamic Covenant
Part II: God's Forming Israel To Heed Him, Exodus 15:22-40:38
F. God's Giving His People Their Moral And Civil Law, Exodus 20:1-17
1. The First Four Commandments: Loving God, Exodus 20:1-11
d. Commandment Four: Upholding God's True Worldview
(Exodus 20:8-11)
    Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

    A vast and deep ideological divide exists in our nation and world, one involving religious outlook, politics and even business theory, and it concerns many who wonder how to respond to it:

    (1) Mark I. Pinsky's article, "Science, faith used to be allies" in the November 2, 2009 issue of USA TODAY, p. 9A noted that "some Americans have come to view science and religion as consistent antagonists, butting heads over everything from the origin of the cosmos to when human life begins (abortion) and when it ends (euthanasia)." Other issues Pinsky reported exist in this great divide include "embryonic stem cells and cloning" of human beings, Ibid.

    (2) The depth of this split is clear even in our national politics: (a) When the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, presented the House Democratic leaders' health care bill, Representative Bart Stupak, a fellow Democrat from Michigan, led an effort to change it, for he wanted to "ban abortion coverage in any government-run 'public option' or in any private policy purchased through the new medical insurance exchanges." (Ibid., p. 8A, "Abortion foes seek to use health plan to curb access")

    The USA TODAY editor supported the bill's current form, writing: "As long as abortion remains a legal, constitutionally protected medical procedure, it ought to be covered by insurance plans, private or public." However, Representative Bart Stupak himself countered this idea in his "Opposing view" editorial on the same page; he replied that "federal funds should not be used to pay for abortion", a view that "67% of Americans" hold!

    (b) Then, all 31 times gay marriage has been put to a popular vote in state elections, the last one being in Maine last week, it has been defeated! However, legislators and judges keep approving it!

    (3) The divide over creation and evolution is massive: Director of the Vatican Observatory, Father George Coyne, claims "people who take Genesis 1-11 literally are 'a plague in our midst'", and Guy Consolmagno, a Vatican astronomer, claimed "belief in the doctrine that God created the universe in six days is 'superstition' and 'at the end of the day is a kind of paganism.'" (Answers, Oct.-Dec. 2006, p. 18-19)

    Thus, we may ask, "With today's deep division over religious outlook, politics and even business theory, what is involved in the spiritual plane, why, and how must I respond?!"

    Need: "With today's deep divide over religious, political and business theory viewpoints, what is involved, why, and how must I respond?!"

  1. God's call for Israel to observe the Sabbath Day testified of His true worldview opposite the debilitating pagan worldview that affected man's religious, political and business theory viewpoints:
    1. In Exodus 20:8a, the Lord directed Israel to recall the Sabbath Day.
    2. That charge leads us back to Genesis 2:1-3 where God had made the seventh day a time of rest after six days of creating the universe.
    3. So, to institute the Sabbath observance for man, in Exodus 20:8b-11, God had man act out the creation week: he was to work six days as God had worked in creating the universe, and rest the seventh day as God had rested after creation in perpetual memory of that event!
    4. This practice would testify against the pagan worldview that sabotaged man's blessing in religious, political and business venues :
      1. The pagans in Moses' era had ceased believing in the transcendent God and the Bible's view of creation to think that spirit and matter inseparably, eternally coexisted so that the universe's orderly state was the result of a temporary triumph of creative over inert forces, or "gods", Bruce K. Waltke, Creation and Chaos, 1974, p. 47, 57.
      2. This outlook shift sabotaged man's welfare: in religion, pagan man became insecure, bound to serve fickle, amoral "gods" by rituals in hope that doing so would preserve the universe's current order; politically, man had no power as a mere slave to fickle, amoral "gods"; in business, the seventh day turned unlucky as man was supposed to afflict himself, to shun indulging in pleasures and not to do important work lest it be unprofitable, Ibid., p. 47, 57, 65.
      3. Thus, Exodus 20:8-11 critiqued paganism's harmful worldview:
        1. In telling Israel to observe the Sabbath, God recalled that He created the universe and rested the seventh day, Ex. 20:11.
        2. That Bible's God was benevolent to ALL individuals, for they were made in His image that they might rule the world as His deputies (Gen. 1:26-29), and He had sanctified the seventh day that these His valuable deputies might rest, Genesis 2:1-3!
  2. This ANCIENT CONFLICT CONTINUES in TODAY'S deep divide in religious, political and business theory venues (as follows):
    1. Darwin's theory of evolution that holds life evolved by the "survival of the fittest" versus being created by the transcendent, moral Creator in Scripture fueled ideologies that permitted the strong selfishly to oppress the weak! Such ideologies included Nazism, Marxism and Monopolistic Capitalism (Jerry Bergman, Ph. D., "Darwin's Influence on Ruthless Laissez Faire Capitalism," [www.icr.org/article/454]).
    2. This led to (1) Nazism's racism, (2) Marxism's exaltation of society at the cost of individual rights and (3) Monopolistic Capitalism's promotion of big business' ruthless crushing of small businesses, Ibid.
    3. Hence, man is now pressed by selfish leaders in religious, political and business venues who use Darwin's "survival of the fittest" idea to enslave regular folk to accept evils like abortion, euthanasia, human cloning, fetal stem cell research, exorbitant taxation, false media propaganda, etc. at the cost of individual value and personal liberties!
    4. However, Exodus 20:8-11 critiques this contemporary worldview:
      1. Exodus 20:9-11 claims God made the universe in six consecutive solar days and rested on the seventh solar, for Exodus 20:9-10 calls man to work six days and to rest the seventh, and only if "day" in this context is a SOLAR day, not a long age, can mortals with their limited life spans obey God's Sabbath Day observance here!
      2. Also, the fact that God rested the seventh day from His creative work means the creation of the universe has ended, Genesis 2:1-2.
      3. Thus, evolution with its "survival of the fittest" idea errs, special creation as literally taught in the Bible is true, its moral God values each person who is made in His image (Gen. 1:26-27), and God is gracious to man as typified in granting him rest (Gen. 2:1-3; Ex. 20:8-11) opposite Nazism, Marxism and Monopolistic Capitalism.
  3. [The Sabbath observance is nullified for the Christian -- he is no longer under the Law (Col. 2:13-17), but the call to enter God's RESTFUL way of LIFE by GRACE still stands , Hebrews 4:4-10!]
Application: (1) May we trust in Christ as Savior to have eternal life, John 3:16. (2) Then, may we "enter God's rest" of living by God's grace in reliance on Him, Hebrews 4:4-10. (3) May we testify this true view in living before a world that is enslaved by evolutionary ideology and its paganistic, oppressive effects!

Lesson: There is a history-long conflict between the true worldview of the God of the Bible and the false view promoted by spiritual paganism, and by resorting to God's GRACE in CHRIST, the believer is blessed by God!

Conclusion: (To illustrate the message . . . )

 One of the most significant realities about the seven-day week as taught in the Genesis 1-2 creation account and reiterated in the Sabbath Day observance in the Ten Commandments is stated in the March 1990 National Geographic magazine (vol. 177, No. 3).

John Boslough's article, "The Enigma of Time," p. 127 of that issue claims that "the seven-day week as a unit of time" is "the only calendar unit that does not trace its origins to astronomy."

This is an amazing statement, for ancient Semitic people groups observed the new moon, the full moon and the four phases of the moon "as evil days," so it seems incredible that they could "become the periodic week with its humanitarian Sabbath" according to A. E. Millgram. (Sabbath: the Day of Delight, p. 342 as cited in The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible , vol. 5, p. 183)

Millgram, though not crediting God with authoring the Jewish Sabbath observance, yet honored its institution, summarizing: "The only conclusion that may be drawn is that the seven-day Hebrew week, with its humanitarian rest day as we have it now, is a unique creation of the Hebrew religious genius, and is one of the most valuable Hebrew contributions to the civilization of mankind." (Ibid.)

Actually, we know from Scripture that the seven-day week came from God Who gave it as a sign to the lost pagan world that He was the GRACIOUS Supernatural Creator of the universe, and that He places a high value on all individual human life.



May we thus believe in the God of the Bible and in His Son, Jesus Christ for eternal life, and may we HOLD to HIS worldview as Creator of all the universe in six consecutive, solar days!

In so doing, may we hold to the VALUE of ALL INDIVIDUAL HUMAN LIFE as made in the IMAGE of GOD and all this entails for SOCIETY in CONTRAST to false ideologies like Nazism, Marxism and Monopolistic Capitalism! May we PROMOTE this worldview before the world in living for God's glory in the sphere of His grace!