Exodus 31:13-18 "You are to speak to the people of Israel and
say, 'Above all you shall keep my Sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and
you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the LORD, sanctify
you. (14) You shall keep the Sabbath, because it is holy for you.
Everyone who profanes it shall be put to death. Whoever does any work on it,
that soul shall be cut off from among his people. (15) Six days
shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to
the LORD. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day shall be put to death.
(16) Therefore the people of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, observing the
Sabbath throughout their generations, as a covenant forever. (17)
It is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the
LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was
refreshed.'" (18) And he gave to Moses, when he had finished
speaking with him on Mount Sinai, the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of
stone, written with the finger of God.
In the chapters following
Exodus 20, many of the Ten Commandments are restated and emphasised,
particularly the first four commandments. In the verses above the fourth
commandment is restated and further explanation is given.
The people of Israel are
told that the Sabbath is to be sign between them and God, a sign that they are
God’s covenant people, a people who are unique to the nations around them. They
are told that the Sabbath is to be regarded as holy. This doesn’t mean that the
other days of the week are less holy or less important. Rather, the people of
Israel are told to set apart one day of the week on which they are to both
worship God exclusively and to rest from their work. In doing this they are
following the pattern set at creation by God. This pattern has been set by God,
in His wisdom and for our good. As the Psalmist tells us in Psalm 103, God
knows our frame, and therefore He knows that we need rest, we need to give time
to our bodies to recuperate and to be refreshed. He also is aware that because
of our sinfulness, if He did not institute a day that we should set apart to
worship Him exclusively, we would never set aside a day to do this of our own
accord. Finally, the people of Israel are given a very stern warning, God will come
against, God will punish those who break this commandment, and that punishment
is death. This illustrates to us how serious God is about the Sabbath
commandment, we should not take it lightly or see it as something we can abuse
or misuse.
As believers in Christ,
we can easily fall into the trap of thinking that the Sabbath commandment no
longer applies to us, that it has been done away with. Yet nowhere in the New
Testament are we told that the Sabbath has been discarded. We are told that
Christ himself observed the Sabbath, and that He is Lord of the Sabbath. We
also learn in the New Testament that the early church continued to observe the
Sabbath, and through the wisdom of God and the leading of His Spirit, moved the
Sabbath day from the traditional Jewish Sabbath, the last day of the week, to
the day on which Christ rose from the dead, signalling the accomplishment and
establishment of the New Covenant. As a result for nearly 2000 years Christians
have observed the Sabbath on a Sunday. Furthermore, we are told that the early
church did not just meet on the Sabbath, or the Lord’s Day as it was later
called, they met together almost every day.
The Lord’s Day, Sundays,
have been given to us by God, in the goodness and wisdom of God. It was
instituted at creation and has remained in place since that time. It is for our
spiritual good as we gather to worship God and hear from His Word. It is for
our physical good, as we rest our bodies from the labours of the week. It is
for the good of our families, as we spend time together in worship and in rest.
It is for the good of our community as we seek to show the love and compassion
of Christ, through deeds of kindness and love. Our commitment to keeping,
respecting and upholding this day is an accurate indication of our commitment
and love for God. If we truly love God, then we will love His commands and we
will live in obedience to Him. But if our love for God is weak, and our
commitment wavers, then His commands are of lesser importance to us, than our
desires. There is also great benefit and blessing in the keeping of the Lord’s
Day, we engage in worship, we are uplifted, encouraged and sanctified by God’s
Word, we are able to serve each other and enjoy fellowship with other
believers. We also know the favour and blessing of God, we can know that God is
pleased by our desire to obey and worship Him, and He blesses us with His
presence, when we gather together to worship. The Lord’s Day truly is for our
good, our physical, spiritual, mental and emotional good, for the good our own
lives, our families, our community and our nation. Therefore it should be our
joy and delight to observe and uphold it.
All-wise and loving God,
we thank You for the Sabbath Commandment, and all the blessings it contains for
us when we uphold it. We pray that You would help us to understand its place
and importance, as well as practical ways in which we can observe it in a
manner that truly honours You. Help us to plan and structure our lives and the
rest of the week, so that we can uphold the Lord’s Day without worrying about
other things that need to be done. Help us to honour, love, obey and glorify
You with regard to this commandment. Amen.
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