Understanding the Sabbath
Today’s Focus: Signs of the Sabbath: Eating Grain and Bread
Scripture: John 6:10-35; Matthew 12:1-8
Greetings Kingdom Citizens
In Matthew 12:1 we see Jesus and His disciples walking through a corn field on the Sabbath day picking corn and eating it. This vital in understanding this aspect of work that you can do in the Sabbath day which is to eat grain and bread. Now you may say the Law says that they were to collect enough bread on the sixth day for that day and the seventh day and do not collect any on the seventh. Understanding once again that the Law is a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ and not the actual reality. Hence what is the type and shadow? Jesus is telling the Pharisees in this passage that David did the same thing but ate the sacred shewbread which was not for the King to consume because it was in the temple. Jesus is saying in the Sabbath day you can eat grain and bread and they represent doctrine and grace. These are the two things that you can work for from the position of rest. You may ask, why do I need to work for bread? To receive this doctrine and grace you must seek the Lord of the Sabbath and seek Him with a pure heart and then receive His Word and let it manifest in you and present itself from you. So there is an active process of seeking that you must do in order to feed your spirit. God will not force doctrine down your throat but he can hold you accountable by sending messengers to tell you the truth. Now let’s understand the Grain-Bread and Doctrine-Grace Concept. This may take two messages but it is important to get the full picture of what God is saying because most people are on a Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday feeding and that is not enough to sustain you.
The children of Israel were in the wilderness for 40 years and we also know when they became hungry, God sent manna. Now we also know that the children of Israel carried the Ark of the Covenant with them and what was in the Ark of the Covenant was specific to understanding what it represented. Inside the Ark of the Covenant was manna which symbolized the grace of God. There was Aaron’s rod representing theocratic leadership. Finally there was the Law of Moses which symbolized the agreement and covenant with God. Now we understand that, God gave the children of Israel a commandment to collect bread for six days and on the sixth day collect enough bread for the seventh day and do not collect no more or try to keep excess because it will cause spoilage and rottenness. Now, Jesus collapses this time and shadow and says this in John 6:35:
John 6:35: I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
Remember after the first feeding of the great multitude, Jesus commands that the disciples gather all the fragments that remain so that nothing be lost (John 6:12). Now these twelve collected 12 baskets full of fragments. This was not some coincidental amount. Remember in the temple there was to be perpetually 12 loaves of bread on a table. The bread was called the shewbread or the Bread of His Presence. Now the disciples take up the 12 baskets full and it symbolized the 12 loaves of uneaten bread that they have not eaten yet.
In the next message we will continue this message because it is a lot of information but necessary so you have the entire picture.
Peace, Love and Grace from the Father,
Calvin Calhoun, Jr.
