Saturday, November 9, 2013
Deliver The Poor And Needy
My wife and I were discussing what to do today on the sabbath. It was an interesting discussion because we wondered about things like cooking food. Is that an okay task for the sabbath? Neither of us were really certain what to say. One thing we are both certain of is God is for life. As I began to look into this I found there are many traditions about this one way or the other. As I read the scriptures, I came across a couple that for me helped put this in perspective. The first is Psalms 82. God is calling to us to deliver the poor and the needy from evil. He also says that there are those that are not judging things right.
Psalms 82:1 God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods.
2 How long will ye judge unjustly, and accept the persons of the wicked? Selah.
3 Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy.
4 Deliver the poor and needy: rid them out of the hand of the wicked.
Interestingly enough this is the scripture Yeshua (Jesus) quoted when He was accused of blasphemy by the leaders of the congregation of His day.
John 10:30 I and my Father are one.
31 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him.
32 Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me?
33 The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.
34 Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?
35 If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;
36 Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?
37 If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not.
38 But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him.
Jesus plainly talked about doing what God does. Would God not deliver the poor and the needy on the sabbath. Wasn’t Yeshua (Jesus) saying that they were the ones judging unjustly in Psalms 82? Jesus did the works of His Father on the sabbath like healing people and feeding people. He had healed a man by making clay from his spit and telling him to wash it off in a pool. Under the traditions that the congregation leaders had created, these things were breaking the sabbath. But that was the point Jesus was making. The leaders had made up those rules themselves from traditions. These rules were not in God’s commandments. There is one more scripture that makes this point.
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.
3 But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him;
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?
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.
8 For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.
It appears to me that what we are to do everyday is the works of the Father. God still keeps everything alive on the sabbath. For me, I do believe Yeshua (Jesus) kept the real law perfectly – that which is contained in the scriptures. We are to imitate Him. I believe that is what God said to Moses about the sabbath – don’t do your own thing on the sabbath. Do what I am doing.
Prayer
Father, we praise and thank You for all You do for us everyday. We thank You for giving unto us Your Son. We thank You for the sabbath rest. Please reach out to your people today, deliver the poor and the needy, give us what we need perfectly and give us rest. In Yeshua’s (Jesus’) name. Amen.