The morning Manna will be provided at 6am. Thanks.

Studying Three Cosmic Messages in the SSnet.org series Lesson 8, may the Holy Spirit be the speaker to your heart.

The Topic today is: Sabbath by Heschel and the Bible compared for Morning Manna of the Sabbath School Lesson Three Cosmic Messages.

The Opening Hymn will be 229 "Spirit of the Living God".

The Sabbath School Quarterly, downloadable from SSnet.org in the Teacher's Edition is on page 69.

The SSnet.org allows anyone, anywhere to read the lesson in their own language. Choose your own language to see God speaking also to your heart.

Why don’t you click on this link right now:

https://absg.adventist.org/pdf.php?file=2023:2Q:SE:PDFs:EAQ223_08.pdf

---In 1951 the Polish-American Jewish Philosopher Abraham Joshua Heschel published his book on the Sabbath.

---It made him famous.

---Talking about sacred architecture in Jewish Tradition he said that the Sabbath or time is the “palace” in contrast to the six days space.

---Time is more important than space. Why? Adventist Timothy Watson analyzed Heschel and says that time represents God.

---So in Heschel’s view, every Sabbath it is as if the Messiah descents to the earth and gives an additional soul to everyone.

---By keeping this day, man makes himself holy with an innate holiness that man has.

---Watson says that is not biblical. He says that Sabbath is not holy in the Bible because man makes it holy but because God rested on that seventh time.

---God worked six days in time and rested on the seventh time to celebrate His completion of the work in six days time.

---In the Bible there is not this philosophical contrast between space six days and time one day.

---Space was earthly but time was heavenly and eternal and on the seventh day it is a means of attaining holiness, Heschel claims. Watson disagrees because it is not biblical.

---Always remember that Modern Judaism is a mixture of Arabic philosophy, Christian Mysticism and Jewish Mysticism and even agnostic and atheistic elements. They philosophically fabricate their religion in modern times.

---Not so with Adventism. The Bible has to tell us what Sabbath means.

---God resting on it makes it holy. Holiness is not innate in the time but from God Who’s day it is. This is the difference between Heschel and Adventism.

---Heschel likes Rabbi Hayim who said: “Rabbi Hayim: "We have seen the tremendous change that the holiness of the Sabbath brings about in the life of the saint. The light of holiness blazes in his heart like tongues of fire, and he is overcome with rapture and yearning to serve God . . . all night and all day."

---Watson says “In other words, through the Sabbath, the human soul connects with the divine soul in the form of sanctified time: What is the Sabbath? Spirit in the form of time. With our bodies we belong to space; our spirit, our souls, soar to eternity, aspire to be holy. The Sabbath is an ascent to the summit. It gives us the opportunity to sanctify time, to raise the good to the level of the holy, to behold the holy by abstaining from profanity.”

---Watson warns that this is not biblical. Jesus said that the Sabbath was made for man not man for the Sabbath.

---Maybe Finley was too romantic with Heschel in this section of the Sabbath School lesson today?

---But the Bible does point out as Finley says, that Sabbath will be on the new earth in future as well. Eternity with Jesus on the Sabbath is reality to come.

---So Adventists believe that worshipping on the Sabbath is an opportunity to connect to their Redeemer Christ to meet God and receive blessing for sanctification or holiness from Him, not time. Do you see?

---Is your pastor using time as a means to enrich himself instead of God? Get away. That is not what Sabbath was made for. It is not a time to play or entertain ourselves.

---It is not a time for a community club to sit around and chat.

---Holiness is a topic and sanctification is a topic for the Sabbath and it is all connected to God with Whom you can have a relationship closely this next Sabbath.

---Did you plan to come? Plan now immediately.

Source: Timothy Watson, Is Heschel’s Sabbath Biblical?” Andrews University Seminary Studies, Vo1. 40, No. 2, 2002: 265-272.

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