Chapter 23
What Say the Scriptures? In the New Testament
What Say the Scriptures? In the New Testament
Within the canon of the Bible’s New Testament, God’s “restingâ€, after his making “the heavens and the earth, the sea and all, which is in them†is again recalled to our attention, as our traditions would seemingly suggest: Four times (Acts 4:24-28; 14:15-17; 17:24-25 and Revelation 10:6-7), there is obvious reminiscence of this agenda of creation.
A. Incompatible
As any reading of these passages will disclose, however, they do not occur in contexts, which are in any way conducive to God’s having “rested†or his inactivity in any sort of fashion:
Is anything here
Interrupting, arresting
Or halting God’s work
And herein so attesting?
Is God’s seventh day
As herein is suggesting
An acknowledgement of
His historical “resting�
Are God’s actions here
Any “rest†manifesting?
Is his any day
His agenda arresting?
Do you yourself read
Data here so suggesting?
Are these verses even
Aware of God’s “resting�
Consider, and examine these four New Testament recollections of the Fourth Directive’s Exodus 20:11. And scrutinize carefully to detect compatibility to talk and remembrance of God having “restedâ€, if such remembrance is accommodated here.
(deMSby Acts 4:24-28) 24“And those hearing lifted up their voices to God in one accord and said, ‘Master, you are the one making the heavens and the earth, the sea and all in them; 25the one saying by the holy spirit through the mouth of our father David, your child, ‘Why did the nations rage and the peoples imagine empty things? 26The kings of the earth arrayed themselves, and the rulers were gathered in one place against Yahweh and against his anointed one’; 27for truly they were gathered in this city against your holy child, Jesus, whom you anointed; both Herod and Pontius Pilate together with the nations and the peoples of Israel 28to do whatever your hand and your plan had predetermined to occur’â€1.
(deMSby Acts 14:15-17) 15“Men, why are you doing these things? We are men of like-nature to you, bringing you the good news to turn from these empty things to the living God, who made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all, which are in them; 16who allowed in past generations all the nations to go their own ways. 17Ever doing good works, however, he never left himself without a witness, giving rain from heaven to you with fruitful seasons, filling your hearts with food and joyâ€.
(deMSby Acts 17:24-25) 24“The God, making the universe and all in it is Owner of heaven and earth; he does not dwell in hand-made temples; 25neither is he served by human hands, as one in need of something. To all, he gives life, breath and everything…â€
(deMSby Revelation 10:6-7) 6“And he swore by the one living forever and ever, who created the heaven and that which is in it, the earth and that which is in it and the sea and that which is in it; there shall be no more delay; 7but in the days of the sound of the seventh angel, when the trumpet is about to blow, the mystery of God will be completed as he proclaimed to his servants, the prophetsâ€.
As you can see, three of these citations of the Fourth Directive’s text are suggestively included in the Acts of the Apostles, and tellingly possess a place within the book of Acts. Which New Testament writing and its very title seem totally incompatible and plainly inconducive to “restingâ€, inactivity or idleness by God.
Is anything here
Documenting God’s “resting�
Are verses here cited
Such import suggesting?
Is this, which entitled
“Acts†is so attesting
Is anything here
God’s agenda arresting?
B. Bearing This Title
Bearing this title, the ensuing book, “Acts†assumes, and indeed appropriately requires its God’s unceasing industry and diligent activity. Its reviews of this Directive, traditionally telling of God’s “restingâ€, therefore, necessarily speak of something altogether other than his “restingâ€.
And such is also plainly the case throughout the book of Revelation: Because God’s rôle in the book of Revelation is so very crucial and utterly indispensable, there simply is not a time in its chronology of events, wherein its narrative does not require his singular contribution.
In truth, like the book of Acts, Revelation’s use of the Fourth Directive’s words speaks of a God for whom “resting†is altogether alien, unnatural and foreign, and totally unsuited as description of God. And nowhere is this more conspicuously apparent than in these specific writings of the New Testament, the Acts of the Apostles and book of Revelation.
Account of God’s “restingâ€
These neither can be
Nor a narrative written
Of that pedigree
For God’s unceasing industry
Do they foresee
And their narratives plainly
With this do agree
For is “resting†how they
God’s persona display
Do the authors here cited
His rôle so portray?
For when scanning these words
Can account of God’s “restâ€
Be correct, while his unceasing
Labour is stressed?
It is almost, as if
Talk of “resting†is scanted
That any suggestion
Of such be supplanted
By context, its mention
Is shunned, and recanted
That context the following
Needs to be granted…
That God “ever doing
Good works†recommends
Through the practice of such
To opponents and friends
This behaviour to all
He forever extends
Never, ever such “workâ€
Is suspended, or ends
Because: God, the Almighty
“Your sanctificationâ€
Continues as his
Only preoccupation
He means ever constantly
This motivation
To be, and personify
Its proclamation
1In the New Testament, this is the only, quoted instance of prayer by the original Order of the Sabbath. And for this reason, this should be “the model prayer†of any assembly or congregation, aspiring to imitate, and to “reproduce†this, particular assembly…
If, then, your own assembly or convocation of worship would not, and could not pray such a prayer, as did this original Order of the Sabbath, it must be because of your assembly’s misperception of Scripture, its misperception of God, its misperception of the “sabbath†(which is the best biblical synonym for our word, “realityâ€) and ultimately its misperception of itself. And the ramifications of this, involving individuals are the even greater urgency, concern and alarm, as now is apparent throughout our own time…
Within the canon of the Bible’s New Testament, God’s “restingâ€, after his making “the heavens and the earth, the sea and all, which is in them†is again recalled to our attention, as our traditions would seemingly suggest: Four times (Acts 4:24-28; 14:15-17; 17:24-25 and Revelation 10:6-7), there is obvious reminiscence of this agenda of creation.
A. Incompatible
As any reading of these passages will disclose, however, they do not occur in contexts, which are in any way conducive to God’s having “rested†or his inactivity in any sort of fashion:
Is anything here
Interrupting, arresting
Or halting God’s work
And herein so attesting?
Is God’s seventh day
As herein is suggesting
An acknowledgement of
His historical “resting�
Are God’s actions here
Any “rest†manifesting?
Is his any day
His agenda arresting?
Do you yourself read
Data here so suggesting?
Are these verses even
Aware of God’s “resting�
Consider, and examine these four New Testament recollections of the Fourth Directive’s Exodus 20:11. And scrutinize carefully to detect compatibility to talk and remembrance of God having “restedâ€, if such remembrance is accommodated here.
(deMSby Acts 4:24-28) 24“And those hearing lifted up their voices to God in one accord and said, ‘Master, you are the one making the heavens and the earth, the sea and all in them; 25the one saying by the holy spirit through the mouth of our father David, your child, ‘Why did the nations rage and the peoples imagine empty things? 26The kings of the earth arrayed themselves, and the rulers were gathered in one place against Yahweh and against his anointed one’; 27for truly they were gathered in this city against your holy child, Jesus, whom you anointed; both Herod and Pontius Pilate together with the nations and the peoples of Israel 28to do whatever your hand and your plan had predetermined to occur’â€1.
(deMSby Acts 14:15-17) 15“Men, why are you doing these things? We are men of like-nature to you, bringing you the good news to turn from these empty things to the living God, who made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all, which are in them; 16who allowed in past generations all the nations to go their own ways. 17Ever doing good works, however, he never left himself without a witness, giving rain from heaven to you with fruitful seasons, filling your hearts with food and joyâ€.
(deMSby Acts 17:24-25) 24“The God, making the universe and all in it is Owner of heaven and earth; he does not dwell in hand-made temples; 25neither is he served by human hands, as one in need of something. To all, he gives life, breath and everything…â€
(deMSby Revelation 10:6-7) 6“And he swore by the one living forever and ever, who created the heaven and that which is in it, the earth and that which is in it and the sea and that which is in it; there shall be no more delay; 7but in the days of the sound of the seventh angel, when the trumpet is about to blow, the mystery of God will be completed as he proclaimed to his servants, the prophetsâ€.
As you can see, three of these citations of the Fourth Directive’s text are suggestively included in the Acts of the Apostles, and tellingly possess a place within the book of Acts. Which New Testament writing and its very title seem totally incompatible and plainly inconducive to “restingâ€, inactivity or idleness by God.
Is anything here
Documenting God’s “resting�
Are verses here cited
Such import suggesting?
Is this, which entitled
“Acts†is so attesting
Is anything here
God’s agenda arresting?
B. Bearing This Title
Bearing this title, the ensuing book, “Acts†assumes, and indeed appropriately requires its God’s unceasing industry and diligent activity. Its reviews of this Directive, traditionally telling of God’s “restingâ€, therefore, necessarily speak of something altogether other than his “restingâ€.
And such is also plainly the case throughout the book of Revelation: Because God’s rôle in the book of Revelation is so very crucial and utterly indispensable, there simply is not a time in its chronology of events, wherein its narrative does not require his singular contribution.
In truth, like the book of Acts, Revelation’s use of the Fourth Directive’s words speaks of a God for whom “resting†is altogether alien, unnatural and foreign, and totally unsuited as description of God. And nowhere is this more conspicuously apparent than in these specific writings of the New Testament, the Acts of the Apostles and book of Revelation.
Account of God’s “restingâ€
These neither can be
Nor a narrative written
Of that pedigree
For God’s unceasing industry
Do they foresee
And their narratives plainly
With this do agree
For is “resting†how they
God’s persona display
Do the authors here cited
His rôle so portray?
For when scanning these words
Can account of God’s “restâ€
Be correct, while his unceasing
Labour is stressed?
It is almost, as if
Talk of “resting†is scanted
That any suggestion
Of such be supplanted
By context, its mention
Is shunned, and recanted
That context the following
Needs to be granted…
That God “ever doing
Good works†recommends
Through the practice of such
To opponents and friends
This behaviour to all
He forever extends
Never, ever such “workâ€
Is suspended, or ends
Because: God, the Almighty
“Your sanctificationâ€
Continues as his
Only preoccupation
He means ever constantly
This motivation
To be, and personify
Its proclamation
1In the New Testament, this is the only, quoted instance of prayer by the original Order of the Sabbath. And for this reason, this should be “the model prayer†of any assembly or congregation, aspiring to imitate, and to “reproduce†this, particular assembly…
If, then, your own assembly or convocation of worship would not, and could not pray such a prayer, as did this original Order of the Sabbath, it must be because of your assembly’s misperception of Scripture, its misperception of God, its misperception of the “sabbath†(which is the best biblical synonym for our word, “realityâ€) and ultimately its misperception of itself. And the ramifications of this, involving individuals are the even greater urgency, concern and alarm, as now is apparent throughout our own time…