Gods Sabbath

372

E NTERING INTO G OD ’ S S ABBATH R EST

through Joshua (see Joshua 6). They then knew what they had to do, but from that point on, it was their responsibility to orga nize themselves in carrying out their appointed work. The march on the seventh and final day began with the mar shalling of the armies at dawn’s first light (see Joshua 6:15). Once they knew this, it was up to each man to plan and organize his preparations so that he was ready at the appointed hour. He would have to use the mental abilities the Lord had given him to estimate how much time he needed to spend on his ablutions, dressing, morning worship, breakfast, buckling on of armour, and presentation on the parade ground. Then he would know when he needed to wake up. His preparation had to be organized so that it was accomplished smoothly and efficiently. God would do none of this for him. That was where the individual had to make wise plans for his work. The important thing to realize is that the people did not ap point themselves a work. That came from God and once it had, their responsibility began. The resurrection of Lazarus The same truth is illustrated in the resurrection of Lazarus. Before Christ gave the word calling the dead to life, the stone had to be rolled back from the entrance to the sepulchre in order that His work as the Life Giver might be seen by all spectators. This task of rolling away the stone was given to man in order for him to participate in the blessing. “Jesus said, ‘Take away the stone.’” John 11:39 (NKJV). Had those men proceeded to remove the stone without a di rective from Christ, then they would have been usurping His po sition by making plans they had no right to make. But God, through Christ, gave the specific order to roll away the stone and they obeyed the command. Once the order was given, it was over to them to plan its execution. They may have needed cer tain tools such as levers to overcome the great weight, or per haps it required two men pushing and another pulling to move it over. Whatever it took was for them to know and work out. Christ could have called the angels to do this task or used the mighty power of His Father simply to speak and thus remove the stone, but He would not deprive men of their appointed place