Today’s post includes theses 14 and 15, on the symbolic significance of the Old Testament Sabbath as it relates to the first two parts of Hemmingsen’s “threefold time,” the past and the present. Thesis 15 shows broad overlap and continuity with what is usually referred to as the “continental” view of the Sabbath.
Assertions on the Sabbath and the Festivals of Christians (Continued)
- For if you consider past time, the Sabbath was instituted in memory of God’s rest after the creation of the world; for this reason, it was a μνημόσυνον [mnēmosunon, “remembrance” or “memorial”] of the creation of the world. Next it foreshadowed the rest of God’s people in the land of Canaan, after the completion of their many labors in Egypt and the wilderness, just as the letter to the Hebrews, citing a Psalm, indicates. 1 In addition, the Sabbath was a type of the Lord’s Sabbath-keeping when he rested in the tomb after the labors of our redemption had been completed.
- If we consider present time, the Sabbath was a type of the rest of our consciences from the storm-winds of our sins after our deliverance from the kingdom of the Devil through Christ our leader. Next, it was a sign that it is God who sanctifies men, according the following passage: “I gave my Sabbaths to them to be a sign between me and them, so that they might know that I am Jehovah who sanctifies them.” 2 In addition, it teaches that the life of the saints should always be intensely focused on meditating on their heavenly rest. 3