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Hope Channel

InVerse, 3rd Quarter 2022: The Sabbath

Sebastien Braxton

Sikhu Daco

Justin Kim

Israel Ramos

01 Beginnings and Endings

That which happened in the beginning will also happen in the end.

We're going to talk about it on this episode of Inverse.

Coming to you from Silver Spring, Maryland, welcome to Inverse, A Bible-based conversation on life principles, contemporary issues, and thought-provoking perspectives.

Now here's your host, Justin Kim, with Inverse.

My name's Justin Kim, and in the studio we have Sebastian, Israel, and Siku, my dear friends, welcome to the show.

We are taking a little bit of a different direction for the next 13 weeks.

We're looking at the topic of the Sabbath.

Now when it comes to the Sabbath, You may have 1 of 2 reactions.

1, what is that and what are you talking about?

We're taking a little bit of a different take on the Sabbath and we wanna encourage you to go to inversebible.org where you can download the Bible study guide and get into the topic of the Sabbath with us.

We're looking at reflections on the Sabbath.

So these aren't really Bible studies to prove that the Sabbath is true or wrong or whatnot, but looking at how do we experience the Sabbath in scripture, in verse, with the Lord Jesus on a deeper level.

We're going to be talking about 1 day for 13 weeks.

And we'll be talking about it for eternity.

We started in the opener, that which was in the beginning will also happen in the end.

We're looking at this timelessness of the Sabbath and different stages in Earth's history and time about the Sabbath.

And then we'll just have an easier, easy going conversation about the Sabbath this episode.

Mighty God, Everlasting Father, we are so privileged that we get to be here.

We're thankful for the gift of the Sabbath and we understand that we cannot fully grasp all of its significance but we pray that as we go from lesson to lesson this quarter, as we reflect, as we converse, Lord, and also as we go into your word, may you reveal your heart to us.

And ultimately, may we find greater rest in him through this experience is our prayer in Jesus name.

So, I know without getting into a comprehensive systematic study on the Sabbath, just maybe for the person who may have heard this word for the first time, maybe just in a brief sound bite, what is Sabbath?

And it's traditionally kept on the seventh day.

And there is a controversy whether it's on a Friday or a Sunday or a Tuesday or whatnot.

And then through the course of these studies, we're going to see what day that is.

And we're going to look at maybe some some principles regarding the Sabbath without getting into the mechanics of it and what God had intended.

So, Israel, can you read John chapter 1 versus 1 through?

It's a long chapter, but just verses 1 through 4 for us, 1 through 5, sorry, 1 through 5.

Okay, it says, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

All things were made through him and without him, nothing was made that was made.

In him was life and a life was the light of men and the light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not comprehend it.

So we've been talking about Sabbath, or introducing Sabbath.

Let's just kind of put that on pause, and let's look at this text here, and this is a very philosophically deep abstract verse.

What are some things that we can pull out and apply for our lives and try to digest that a little bit.

This is like, you know, wheat bread from winter, winter rye wheat, and we need to chew a little bit before we get into it.

Sebastian, you're bursting with words here.

Yes, I think John 1 is something that connects us to Genesis.

And that same phrase, the in the beginning, to give the sense that everything outside of the Word, as it is posed in this text with a capital W, which is referring to Christ, as we know it says the Word became flesh, down in a few verses later in verse...

Juaquin- Verse 14, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth.

So, we connect this with the person of Jesus And to say that Jesus is in a completely different category, completely different experience to everything else that the Bible is telling us in the beginning, there was the Word and the Word was with God.

There's this communal peace, but ultimately everything has its beginning and its origin in Christ.

And we got to encounter that being, that entity that brought all these things into existence in the person of Jesus.

And therefore, even from the beginning, which takes us back to the initial origins of the Sabbath, that means it has its origins in Christ.

And therefore Jesus is that fundamental pillar that holds up the Sabbath.

It's really a powerful concept, you know, that Jesus is the author of all things.

Because I think, we know the creation story and God created all things.

And we have a picture of God as awesome and magnificent and all powerful.

And then sometimes we have this picture of Jesus as, of course, meek and lowly, because He came as a little baby, yeah, the lamb.

But the picture that's painted here in John is that God who is all powerful, who was the author of all things, that word that spoke and said, let there be, is Jesus, right?

So the meek and mild, the gentle, the loving, the caring is that very same God that we see in Genesis chapter 1.

So embodied in the person of Christ, when he came to earth to live on this earth as our example, to die for our sins is the same Jesus who instituted all things at the beginning.

And I mean, that's, it's kind of mind boggling.

We have the Jesus, the hippie, Jesus, the surfer guy, Jesus in blue jeans, Jesus with the blue, the Brad Pitt with the blue eyes, and he's like, hey I'm 1 with you guys, and he's doing this.

But, and that's where modern, modern religion is taking Jesus, and He does have that with the people element, right?

But sometimes we do reconstruct Jesus in our more pop constructs.

And you're saying that this is the primordial Jesus who was in time, ancient existence, and he's creator.

And we often in pop culture don't dwell upon that.

Like in the beginning is a very counter cultural concept.

In the beginning, There was a beginning and time exists.

And it's just, you got to, it's just like, it's just like, you got to just kind of stop and go like, whoa.

I love verse 3 because it says, it says, all things were made through Him and without Him, nothing was made that was made.

I love the way John writes and, and, what I love about this specific part of, of, the chapter is that it speaks to us about Jesus Christ as a Creator.

When we think about a Creator, we normally think about just a person who makes something, right?

But in order to create something, it takes a certain amount of vision and forethought.

Jonathan Walter

Callie Williams

02 The Right Focus

On this episode we look at the 1 positive commandment amongst many negative commandments, so don't go and do stay Coming to you from Silver Spring, Maryland Welcome to inverse a Bible based conversation on life principles Contemporary issues and thought-provoking perspectives.

Now, here's your host, Justin Kim, with Inverse.

So don't look at your phones and don't look at other channels and don't do this and do that but do stay with us here on Inverse.

We are looking at the 10 Commandments in Exodus chapter 20.

Now before you roll your eyes and groan, we're looking at some deeper aspects.

We are in the midst of a arc, a topic, of the 13 weeks on the topic of Sabbath.

And rather than looking at the Bible study on Sabbath and what's right and what's wrong, we're looking at deeper aspects, reflections on this 1 day about God.

My name is Justin Kim, you're watching InVerse, and we are amongst friends here with Jonathan and Sebastian and Kelly.

Welcome coming to our, thank you for coming.

Every week and making that long commute over here to Hope Channel Studios.

And appreciate all the conversation that we've had all throughout the years.

I guess we're going to take a little bit of a break rather than the dynamic discussion style that we've had in the past, we're just taking a little bit of break and we're looking at reflections on the Sabbath.

And so we want to encourage you to go to inversebible.org and download the Bible Study Guide and we're looking at different different aspects about the Sabbath and we're starting in Exodus chapter 20.

That's a long introduction, I just wanna say, because when we look at the law, sometimes it's a ugh law.

We're gonna ask for the Lord to bless us with his spirit.

We're gonna be talking about him, so might as well have him here at the table with us and to bless our conversation.

Father in heaven, we thank you for the privilege it is to study your word together.

I thank you for giving us Exodus 20 and all the rest, and I thank you for what you've put in there for us.

I ask that you'd guide us by your Holy Spirit, help us to see what you want us to see, and may we leave this conversation more convinced of your love.

And Braxton, can you go to chapter 20 of Exodus and read 8 through 11?

This will be a verse that we'll be reading a lot this quarter.

So if we get to it again and again, please don't blame us.

But like I said in the beginning, this is the only positive 1 amongst the negative prohibitions there, so Sebastian.

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.

For in 6 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." So the 4 of us, we are practitioners of the Sabbath.

We know what day, when it starts, and all the mechanics and then whatnot.

What are some deeper elements that we can, if we scratch on Sabbath, that we can open up into about revealing God's character?

That's why we're talking about it for 13 weeks here.

You can go in any direction you want and just kind of give you a jump ball.

I really like the idea of the Sabbath being special because God's presence is especially there on the Sabbath.

You know, I think of creation, how He created all these physical elements of this planet and the universe.

And on the Sabbath day, He created time, but filled it not with physical things necessarily, but with His own presence.

And so the Sabbath is just by that, because of that already set apart and holy and special.

And so we are invited in this commandment and throughout scripture to step into that divine reality that takes place in a special way every seventh day.

And to me, to think of that, it's just really cool.

You know, it's just kind of, it's different because it's set apart, if that makes sense.

I love the word you used, step into the Sabbath.

I think that's just a great analogy there.

And the Bible also says here to keep it holy.

The Bible doesn't say make it holy or you show it's already holy.

And so we are to intentionally step into it.

I don't know for me I think of you know Joshua and Moses well a lot of the guys in the Old Testament, when God's around, hey, take your shoes off.

So meaning the regular things that we do, that's put aside and we step into holy ground.

You know, and it's not a physical place, but it's a temp, a time thing, so it's a little bit of a different, anyway, that's what I was thinking.

It also reminds me, as you're describing God setting aside the Sabbath, is about His holiness and his distinctiveness.

We live in times where people are always trying to find ways to set themselves apart to build their personal brand, right?

Pink mohawk, blue hair, whatever the case may be, crazy goth makeup.

And I don't know, you know, I don't get that, right?

That people feel like this is the way that they're going to set themselves aside.

But when you think about the Sabbath as kind of God's, you know, sort of like His pink mohawk, right?

Like this is the thing that God says, Me as the Creator, this is the indicator that I am distinct.

And to know that this day is distinct and this day is holy is to point to the holiness of God.

That what is in God is not what is in all the other 6 days of existence, if you will, right?

And so what is in God, who God is, how he is, is so distinct as the Sabbath is from the other 6 days.

And so the Sabbath beckons us to really consider how different and how distinct and how set apart God is from the rest of every other entity.

You have Zeus, the God of lightning, you have Ares, the God of war, and you have our God, the God of the Sabbath, and he's the God of being different.

What are the different attributes that come out?

You know, a big thing about, and you know, we're equating these gods, and I know you don't mean it this way, but it's like, they aren't the same, right?

03 Legal Meditations

What does gravity and governments and spirituality have to do with each other?

We'll find out on this episode of Inverse.

Coming to you from Silver Spring, Maryland, welcome to Inverse, a Bible-based conversation on life principles, contemporary issues, and thought-provoking perspectives.

Welcome to this episode of Inverse, entitled Legal Meditations.

And before you roll your eyes, what are we talking about?

We're talking about the Sabbath and we want to encourage you to go to inversebible.org to download our Bible study guide and talking about different aspects of Sabbath when it comes to spirituality.

In the studio we have Siku, Jonathan and Israel and we'll say hey welcome guys.

Always happy to be with you, and especially when we talk about the Sabbath.

And last week, we did end on a note that we've been talking about these high concepts, deep spirituality, the goodness of God, God's character, but how many of us experience this from day to day?

And sometimes it's some of these, the rigid bones of a structure, of a skeleton, that really help, that need to be established for all the fleshly things that hang on top of it.

So that's what the theme is on legal meditations.

Jonathan, can you pray for us and we'll get in verse afterwards.

Father, I thank you so much for this privilege we have to study the word.

We pray that you will guide us, direct us, give us insight into your law and the Sabbath and how it impacts our lives.

I pray that you'll bless our conversation in a special way for we pray in Jesus' name.

We are in week 3 of our topic on the Sabbath and we want to encourage you to go to hope TV dot org slash inverse to see past videos you can also go to social media and or wherever you get your podcast your audio some messages from and shows from and and catch up in episode 1 and episode 2 which really builds us where we are in episode 3.

Let's go to the Bible and Siku can you read Deuteronomy chapter 6?

Deuteronomy chapter 6, 1 through let's go to 1 through 5 first.

It says, Now This is the commandment and these are the statutes and judgments which the Lord your God has commanded to teach you, that you may observe them in the land which you are crossing over to possess, that you may fear the Lord your God to keep all his statutes and his commandments which I command you, you and your son and your grandson, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged.

Therefore, hear, O Israel, and be careful to observe it, that it may be well with you, and that you may multiply greatly as the Lord God of your fathers has promised you a land flowing with milk and honey.

Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is 1.

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength." Let's go to verse 6.

In Israel, can you read 6 through 9, please?

And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart.

You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.

You shall bind them as signs on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.

You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates." Israel, we've been looking at the concepts of the Sabbath from about 2 weeks now, what's something that sticks out to you?

I think the thing that sticks out to me the most is the fact that God, when He created the Sabbath, intended, also had a useful intent for it, and that intent is something that expands from eternity past to the eternity future and also it has a role to play in our lives today, also, something that Siku mentioned was that our concept of rest today is not the same concept that existed before, when God created it and so even in a perfect world, there was this element of rest and so, what's been kind of going on in my mind is that in order to keep the Sabbath, we need to also have the mind of God, we need to understand God's intent for it and so, there's a need to understand who God is and what His purpose is in our lives and who are we in order for us to be able to really understand what the Sabbath is and how to keep it.

And what better way to see the mind of God as but as revealed in Scripture, that's why that's where you have the Bible.

We did talk about a lot of good stuff in the last 2 weeks.

Good, you know, like warm and core stuff, and then there's a dissonance because there's our every day, well not every day, every weekly practice of Sabbath and then what God intended, the mind of God, and sometimes there's a distance between the 2, and so in this episode we're looking at some of these hard, I don't know what the right word is, but hard rules, laws that God has put in, and we've seen the abuse of that understanding throughout human history where you just keep this out because of the law, but like I said in my opener, we have gravity.

That's not a popular thing to talk about.

How do we reconcile rules and properties and spirituality?

It's very popular to kind of like everyone do whatever you want You're your own lawmaker so to say right but that that exactly is the thing that everything that we do is Governed by laws, you know, there's natural laws.

We cannot change those It's just how reality is designed and reality is as we know from Scripture Not just a physical what we see but also the spiritual And so it makes sense that there's also law in spiritualness, in spirituality.

But because we know that creation, the Sabbath celebrates creation, is coming from God and God is love, that means everything he creates stems forth from him, is a reflection of who he is and what his character is like.

And so there has to be boundaries, but those boundaries really are only visible in the light of evil, all right?

So like before creation or before sin rather, there were boundaries, you know, Egard and Eviden, God had 1 law, right?

But it was only necessary, you know, it was put in place for a reason, but it is, we are now aware of so much more law because of sin, because of evil.

God had to express the reality of goodness in the context of an evil, you know, of an evil world.

That last week's episode on goodness is so core.

Because that lays the foundation for us to talk about the law from the light of goodness.

Some people have a negative view of law because like you have the police and if you have a negative view of the police any law that comes from the police will be like oh this is just you know in this in this world that we live in today this is you know 1 part of society telling me what to do and you get everything that even though it may even have a good intention, is viewed with that negative light.

But if you, there's a tech company out there that worships fruit, and everything that this tech company does is considered to be super awesome, so even when they make something that's totally horrible and something that totally doesn't work.

They're like, oh, it's just so wonderful.

I've just lost half my audience by doing that.

But we were looking at God, not the police or this worshipped fruit in any way.

Looking at God in terms of the laws that He provided.

You know, going to, to what, to what Jonathan was saying, because we talked about goodness and how that is the, the source of...

And notice what it says in verse 1, it says, now this is the, the commandment, this is a singular and then it says, and these are the statutes, plural, And so it's kind of like, to piggyback on what he was saying, it's kind of like with your children, you know, now everyone's got children, including Jonathan, right?

And you know, you can, we just, whenever we leave the house, hey guys, make sure you're good because people are going to be watching and they're going to be judging us as parents and we put the weight of the world on them, right?

But then, in different contexts, I was going to, I was going to go into blasphemy mode, but they might watch, right.

So, but then, but then in different contexts, you have to define what that goodness looks like.

So like, in other words, don't hit each other.

And you have to kind of define what goodness is through statues.

You have that command of goodness and then, and then the different statutes of whatever it is.

And so I think this is what happened as a result of sin not only are we weakened morally but also our intellectual capabilities have diminished and so now God has to spell out this is what it means to be good this is what it means to be loved the central the central foundation of the Sabbath and murder and not murdering and all these different things, the central foundation of that is love, but God has to explain that to us a little more.

And the great irony is that we see from human history and from biblical history that those who take those standards and then that becomes the definition of goodness in itself and God's not saying hey, you've missed the whole point of that.

So we're navigating through these and it's often in secret It's all about perspective.

Okay, and they told us The real Mount Olympus.

Yeah, And it was a mythical place where the gods live.

But they're not there because they don't exist.