Exodus 20:8-11, “Remember the Sabbath
day, to keep it holy. (9) Six days you shall labour, and do all your
work, (10) but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you
shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant,
or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your
gates. (11) For in six days the LORD made heaven and
earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day.
Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”
The fourth commandment in some respects has a special place amongst
the Ten Commandments, as it is the only commandment that is implicitly stated
prior to the fall of man into sin. (Of course the previous three commandments,
along with the last six commandments would have been perfectly upheld as sin
had not yet entered the world.) Not only is this commandment stated when the
world is in perfection, but it appears that it was already being observed by
many of the Jews.
Why did God give this commandment?
We shall look at five reasons.
It is a part of the created order. When this commandment is given the
Israelites are reminded that the Sabbath day is not a new invention, nor is it
to be unique to them. The Sabbath was instituted during the creation of the
world and was set in place as a pattern for all mankind.
This commandment points to God’s desire for all mankind. If we read
the Genesis account of creation, we will notice that the seventh day is different
to the previous six, in that there is no stated end to the seventh day, there
is no evening! This teaches us that it was God’s desire and intention for
mankind to live permanently in a state of Sabbath. This doesn’t mean that all
God wanted us to do it rest, rather it means that God wanted us to live in that
kind of world, under that blessing. Everything was good and pleasing,
everything was fulfilling its created purpose, God and man were in a personal,
loving harmonious relationship, Adam and Eve were perfectly, happily married,
and creation was in complete unison. Man was living in obedience to God, God
was pouring out His blessing upon man and upon the whole earth, therefore
everything was at perfect rest and peace, living for the glory and enjoyment of
God, in the presence of God, under the blessing of God. This was and still is
God’s desire for mankind, and the fourth commandment points us back to this
desire.
The fourth commandment not only reminds us of God’s desire for
mankind, it also directs our attention to the day when that desire shall once
again be made possible through the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. The writer to
the Hebrews makes this clear in his letter, stating that it is God’s desire for
us to enter into the rest. Hebrews
4:9-11, “So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, (10)
for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God
did from his. (11) Let us therefore strive to enter that rest,
so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.” The purpose of
the Sabbath command to point us to Christ and salvation is not just made clear
in the New Testament, it is also made clear in the Old Testament; in fact it is
made clear when Moses’ repeats the Ten Commandments to the second, faithful,
generation in Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy
5:12&15, “Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the LORD your God
commanded you….You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt,
and the LORD your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an
outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath
day.” As we have already learnt, the Exodus is the great salvation event on
the Old Testament, and its primary purpose is to point to and prepare us for
the greater, ultimate salvation work to be done by Christ. Thus the Sabbath
command reminds the Israelites of their salvation from Egypt, and then points
them to the coming salvation from sin through Jesus Christ.
This commandment is given for our physical benefit. As the Psalmist
tells us in Psalm 103, the Lord knows our frame and that we are but dust. God
may be inexhaustible, and never have to sleep or slumber, but we are not like
Him in that regard. We have to take care of our bodies and have time to rest
and allow our bodies the time they need to recover and be refreshed. More
importantly, this commandment is given for our spiritual benefit. God knows how
quick we are to forget Him and how little time we give to Him during the course
of the week. In His grace He has called on us to set aside one day in the week
so that we might be refocused on Him, that we might remember that life is
ultimately about God and not ourselves, that we might learn, practice and be
reminded to worship Him and to live for Him.
In light of all these reasons, we can clearly see that this fourth
commandment is one of love and life. God wants us to live in a state of Sabbath
rest, because He knows that is the life He created us to have and know. It is in
the state of Sabbath rest that we shall know this life and know the immense
love of God and it will be in this state that we will love God best, as we
should love Him. The Sabbath command seeks to remind us of this all, point us
to Jesus and cause us to love, worship, enjoy, glorify and serve God all the
more. For all these reasons, and more could be given, it is important that we
do not disregard the Sabbath command for it is of great benefit and given to us
in love, so that we might know and have life.
God of the Sabbath, we thank You for the
Sabbath and we thank You that it is Your created design and desire for us to
live in Your Sabbath rest. We worship You today for You have made that possible
through the Lord Jesus Christ. Help us to understand the Sabbath more, and help
us to continue to obey this command, for Your glory and for our good. Amen.
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