Mark 2: 23 – 28
Duped
23 Now it happened that He went through the grainfields on the Sabbath; and as they went His disciples began to pluck the heads of grain. 24 And the Pharisees said to Him, “Look, why do they do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?”25 But He said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and hungry, he and those with him: 26 how he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the showbread, which is not lawful to eat except for the priests, and also gave some to those who were with him?” 27 And He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. 28 Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.”
There are two other Gospels that cover this same incident. The Apostle Matthew and the disciple Luke recorded this same situation. So, let’s see what they say and then compare all three to gather more information.
Matthew 12:1-8, “At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. And His disciples were hungry, and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. 2 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!” 3 But He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: 4 how he entered the house of God and ate the showbread which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? 5 Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless? 6 Yet I say to you that in this place there is One greater than the temple. 7 But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. 8 For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”
Luke 6: 1 -5, “1 Now it happened on the second Sabbath after the first that He went through the grainfields. And His disciples plucked the heads of grain and ate them, rubbing them in their hands. 2 And some of the Pharisees said to them, “Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?” 3 But Jesus answering them said, “Have you not even read this, what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: 4 how he went into the house of God, took and ate the showbread, and also gave some to those with him, which is not lawful for any but the priests to eat?” 5 And He said to them, “The Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.”
The bible says in the book of Romans chapter 11 verse 4 that the Word of God is important in our learning “For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.” So, the Scriptures help us have hope in how we live now and for our future destiny. Therefore, it is important to study the word of God. The reason I bring up this important fact is that we as humans can try to do the right things but end up losers.
Look at the Pharisees, they tried to do all the right things but they ultimately became blind to what is important in God’s eyes. Each example or story that we read about the time our Adoni Yeshua – our Lord Jesus Christ – walked this earth He points out a different characteristic that He fulfills. In today’s study our Lord will point out that He Is ‘The Son of Man’ that the prophet Daniel spoke about. Also, He points out that He Is also the ‘Creator’ and the One Who gave the 10 Commandments. If the Pharisees had spent more time in studying the Scriptures and less time is trying to do all the right things that they thought pleased God, they would have understood that the Messiah was in their very presence.
1 Now it happened on the second Sabbath after the first that He went through the grain fields. And His disciples plucked the heads of grain and ate them, rubbing them in their hands.
The Sabbath is important to God. In book of Exodus chapter 20 we find God’s 10 Commandments, “1 And God spoke all these words, saying: 2 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 3 “You shall have no other gods before Me. 4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; 5 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. 7 “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain. 8 “ Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. 12 “ Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you. 13 “You shall not murder. 14 “You shall not commit adultery. 15 “You shall not steal. 16 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. 17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”
They are many believers today who think that there are only 9 Commandments or none at all. Really? I think you will find it interesting that the Commandments of our Precious Holy Adoni Yahweh are not all followed today. There are various reasons given for this sin. First of all you may yourself say that these are not for us today. They are just for the Jews. Then I guess it is okay to kill or steal, or commit adultery. I hear your response, ‘Well no, we can’t do those sins.’ So, are we today supposed to pick and choose which ones we are to obey and which ones we are to reject as not being applicable to us?
Aha, got you thinking, didn’t I? I believe that you will receive a new understanding of God’s Commands not His Suggestions as we take some time to look at His Holy Word.
Another statement I heard is that we are New Testament saints so we do not have to follow the 10 Commandments. A verse that they like to use for this position is from the book of Romans chapter 6 verse 14, “For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.” Now take a look again at this verse. Is it saying that you do not have to obey God’s Commandments?
What doe the Bible have to say about this. First of all let us jump back a few chapters to read the advice of the Apostle Paul. In chapter 3 of Romans we read this, “19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. 20 Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. 21 But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, 26 to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. 27 Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith. 28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law. 29 Or is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also, 30 since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. ‘31 Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law.’
The 10 Commandments were given to us by our Holy Supreme Adoni Yahweh, to show us our sinfulness. On our own we cannot keep these 10 Commandments. Therefore, our Righteous Sovereign Jehovah Elyon – The Lord Most High is Just to Judge us. Our Master and Lord Yeshua was the only One Who was able to keep all of God’s standards. Our Holy Precious King did not come to do away with the law but to fulfill the law as the book of Matthew chapter teaches us, ““Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.”
By placing our entire lives and faith is the Holy Lamb of God enables us to be eternally forgiven for all our sins and He equips us to obey His Commandments as the book of Romans chapter 2 points out, “12 For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without law, and as many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law 13 (for not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified; ‘14 for when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, 15 who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them)’ 16 in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel.”
Now to have a little fun. Without looking at the opening verses of the book of Exodus, see how many of the 10 Commandments you can name?
I am sure you named them all right? To make it easy to remember I always list them as;
1. Keep God #1
2. No Idols
3. Don’t curse
4. Honor our Creator’s Sabbath
5. Honor your Parents
6. Don’t kill
7. Don’t commit adultery
8. Don’t steal
9. Don’t lie
10. Don’t covet
Are you ready to handle another bible question? How many times are the Ten Commandments listed in the bible? The answer is 2. As we listed already in the book of Exodus chapter 20 verses 1 through 17 and the other is in the book of Deuteronomy chapter 5. They are the same, right? Not quite! Let us read what Deuteronomy lists,
1 And Moses called all Israel, and said to them: “Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your hearing today, that you may learn them and be careful to observe them. 2 The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. 3 The LORD did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, those who are here today, all of us who are alive. 4 The LORD talked with you face to face on the mountain from the midst of the fire. 5 I stood between the LORD and you at that time, to declare to you the word of the LORD; for you were afraid because of the fire, and you did not go up the mountain. He said: 6 ‘I am the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 7 ‘You shall have no other gods before Me. 8 ‘You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; 9 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 10 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. 11 ‘You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain. 12 ‘ Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the LORD your God commanded you. 13 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 14 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. 15 And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day. 16 ‘ Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may be well with you in the land which the LORD your God is giving you. 17 ‘You shall not murder. 18 ‘You shall not commit adultery. 19 ‘You shall not steal. 20 ‘You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. 21 ‘You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife; and you shall not desire your neighbor’s house, his field, his male servant, his female servant, his ox, his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.’ 22 “These words the LORD spoke to all your assembly, in the mountain from the midst of the fire, the cloud, and the thick darkness, with a loud voice; and He added no more. And He wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me.”
If you write them out next to each other you will note that they say the same thing. Some of the ones in Deuteronomy are a little wordier but say the same thing. But in a way they are different and I will show you. Let us take a look at the differences based on these questions;
1 Who wrote the Commandments?
2. How were they written?
3. What were they written on?
4. Where were they to be placed afterwards?
So let us take a look first at the 10 Commandments listed in the book of Exodus. Chapter 31 of the book of Exodus says, “18 And when He had made an end of speaking with him on Mount Sinai, He gave Moses two tablets of the Testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.” We read here the answer to a couple of our questions. They were written by our Holy Father on tablets of stone. He wrote them with His Holy and Powerful finger.
Now remember, Moses broke all the Commandments at one time when he threw them down after seeing the people’s sin. So our Holy Lord told him this in the book of Deuteronomy chapter 10, 1 “At that time the LORD said to me, ‘Hew for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and come up to Me on the mountain and make yourself an ark of wood. 2 And I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke; and you shall put them in the ark.’
So, our answers to the questions are that our Holy Supreme God wrote the 10 Commandments on tablets of stone with His Own Finger. These Commandments were to be placed inside the Ark of the Covenant. Now what about Deuteronomy’s list.
Look with me at chapter 31, 9 So Moses wrote this law and delivered it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who bore the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and to all the elders of Israel. 10 And Moses commanded them, saying: “At the end of every seven years, at the appointed time in the year of release, at the Feast of Tabernacles, 11 when all Israel comes to appear before the LORD your God in the place which He chooses, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing. 12 Gather the people together, men and women and little ones, and the stranger who is within your gates, that they may hear and that they may learn to fear the LORD your God and carefully observe all the words of this law, 13 and that their children, who have not known it, may hear and learn to fear the LORD your God as long as you live in the land which you cross the Jordan to possess….
24 So it was, when Moses had completed writing the words of this law in a book, when they were finished, 25 that Moses commanded the Levites, who bore the ark of the covenant of the LORD, saying: 26 “Take this Book of the Law, and put it beside the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may be there as a witness against you;
We now see a new light on the picture. The 10 Commandments listed in Deuteronomy were written by Moses on clay tablets with a stick and they were ultimately placed beside the ark not inside.
The difference was in the honor and holiness due to their Creator – our Holy Father. His work was to be kept in a secure holy place since He Himself wrote these words with His Finger. The written copy was kept in a secure place available for the people to be taught yearly about keeping them as God had commanded. Take a look again at what Moses said. He changed what God had said, didn’t he?
Now one last thing which I believe will quite startle you. Remember I had earlier mentioned that there were 9 Commandments that we obey not 10. I will share with you information that is not secret but reveals significant facts that we have taken for granted and for some are not probably even aware of. The question is this, what are the Roman Catholic 10 Commandments? You might quickly answer that they are the same. Nope! Here they are;
1. I am the Lord thy God; thou shalt not have strange gods before me.
2. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
3. Remember thou keep holy the Lord‘s Day.
4. Honor thy father and thy mother.
5. Thou shall not kill.
6. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
7. Thou shalt not steal.
8. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
9. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife.
10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s goods.
Now compare these to the actual words of God listed in Exodus chapter 20. Do you find any differences? Let me point them out. For one thing the Catholic church has deleted Commandment number 2 which says, that “4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; 5 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. They also changed Commandment #4.
What day is the Lord ’s Day? You will answer – Sunday? Where does this term ‘ the Lord’s day appear in Scripture? The answer – it doesn’t. What does God’s Commandment number 4 say?
8 “ Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.’
Now what day is the Sabbath? The answer is Saturday. The Roman Catholic Church rewrote God’s Commandment and changed ‘The Lord’s Day’ from Saturday to Sunday.
In order to be able to come up with 10 Commandments the Roman Catholic church changed the last Commandment, “17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.” from one Commandment into Commandments 9 and 10 by cutting God’s Commandment in two.
Am I allowed to change God’s Commandments? Are you allowed to change God’s Commandments? Is mankind or a established group allowed to change God’s Commandments? I think you know the answer – it is ‘NO’. The reason that they say they have the right to change God’s laws is because they say that they are ‘God’ here on earth.
This is how our Holy Father Jehovah Elyon – The Lord Most High feels about changing His Word. In the book of Revelation chapter 20 it says,” 18 For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; 19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.”
So, the bottom line is that we have been duped. We are all guilty of violating God’s 4th Commandment. As Protestants we are still going along with Rome in making Sunday the Lord’s Day. [Up to around 400 AD all Christians met to worship God on Saturday the Sabbath. In reality they began the Sabbath Friday at sundown to sundown on Saturday.] Why? What does the 4th Commandment say, “8 “ Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.”
The reason is because our Holy God picked this day and assigned it to be a rest day for us. In this day He wants us to ‘Remember’ Him. To think of how ‘Awesome’ He Is as the Creator. Are we doing this even on Sunday? I say we are not.
What does our Lord Jesus Christ consider as ‘His Day’? Look with me at the gospel of Luke chapter 6, “1 Now it happened on the second Sabbath after the first that He went through the grainfields. And His disciples plucked the heads of grain and ate them, rubbing them in their hands.
To try to impress Jehovah Elyon – The Lord Most High – the elders of Israel made strict rules in obeying God’s fourth Commandment. They created 39 categories of things which were unlawful to do on the Sabbath. The three things that the disciples of our Lord Jesus were breaking - were reaping, threshing, and preparing food which were all unlawful things to do.
One thing many teachers fail to notice and mention is that the Pharisees themselves were violating one of their man made laws and that is traveling on the Sabbath.
2 And some of the Pharisees said to them, “Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?”
These religious hypocrites were not camping out in the fields when our Lord Jesus and His disciples walked through the field. They were following the Lord’s convoy of people. As soon as they observed the disciples taking some grain and eating it, they voiced their complaint. To these remarks our Lord pointed out what is true.
3 But Jesus answering them said, “Have you not even read this, what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: 4 how he went into the house of God, took and ate the showbread, and also gave some to those with him, which is not lawful for any but the priests to eat?”
Our Lord told these religious men that although His disciples were breaking their man made up rules, they were not breaking any divine laws. He sited the example of when David and his men ate the ‘twelve loaves of bread’ that was dedicated to the Lord. Adoni Yahweh did not punish David and his men for doing that act which violated the law to satisfy their hunger, so could the disciples - For human need is more important that human regulations and rules.
Then our Lord lets the religious men know Who was giving the correct lesson. It was the One Who has received all glory, honor, power, and authority and was foretold by the prophet Daniel.
5 And He said to them, “The Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.”
To drive home His truth, in effect, He told them, ‘Hey guys, the Creator Is always greater than His creation.’
His rules rule!
He picked Saturday as His day and He Is the only One Who can set down what can or cannot be done on His day.
Our Precious Master and King Is God. He is the Lord of the Sabbath. This is His day. Who are we to say, ‘Oh, no Lord’ we are going to make Your day a different day. We are going to make it Sunday. So, we hope you are happy that we are doing this for You.”
Now for those of you may throw this Scripture up to counter this position. We are not under legalism but under the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ as the book of Colossians points out in chapter 2, 1 For I want you to know what a great conflict I have for you and those in Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh, 2 that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.4 Now this I say lest anyone should deceive you with persuasive words. 5 For though I am absent in the flesh, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ. 6 As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7 rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving. 8 Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. 9 For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; 10 and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power. 11 In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. 13 And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, 14 having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. 15 Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it. ‘16 So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths’, 17 which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ. 18 Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, 19 and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God. 20 Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations— 21 “Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,” 22 which all concern things which perish with the using—‘according to the commandments and doctrines of men?’ 23 These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.
You are probably saying, ‘See, there you go. The apostle Paul says for us not to deal with Sabbaths. Is this actually what the verse is saying. Let me show you something in the book of Hosea chapter 2, “11 I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her New Moons, her Sabbaths—all her appointed feasts.”
You might be saying, ‘So, what’s your point? This verse seems to justify that the Sabbaths were done away with.” I would say to this position – yes. The Sabbaths were special days in most cases created by the people. This is not ‘The Sabbath’. This has nothing to do with the 4th Commandment. These are separate feasts and days appointed by man [ Just like the Roman Catholic church has done]. This is why verse 22 comments about ‘the commandments of men.’ These are not the 10 Commandments but man designed days and rules.
So, are we all to become Seventh Day Adventists? I do not believe that we need to join. I also do not criticize them for gathering to worship our Holy God on the Sabbath. If you want to gather on a Sunday since mostly all the churches presently do, so be it. It would say, that you should begin to recognize and remember that the Sabbath is the Lord’s Day and try to use this day as your rest day and day to reflect on our Holy Creator. Try to reverse Saturday and Sunday. Make Sunday after church your day to cut the lawn or do other work. Make Saturday to remember your Holy God and to give Him the praise and attention He so rightly deserves as our Creator.
Let us now have a firm understanding that our Precious Holy God does not have 9 Commandments but 10. If we all tried to keep these our world would be a better place. Would you agree?
