Remember the Sabbath

What this episode covers

The Fourth Commandment: Remember the Sabbath (Exodus 20:8-11) There are plenty of ceremonial laws that were not inherently right or wrong in and of themselves. They were temporary laws meant for a specific people in a specific time and place. An example would be how certain food was forbidden under the Mosaic dietary laws, but are now permitted (1 Cor. 10:31; 1 Tim. 4:3-5). Ceremonial laws have been fulfilled, moral laws are permanently binding on all people. A summary of the moral law is contained in the Ten Commandments. Although they will not say it so plainly, most Christians would agree with the following statement: “I believe in all nine of the ten commandments”. Guess which one most people have trouble accepting today? The fourth commandment is the one commandment that we try to avoid talking about at all costs. Either we feel too much conviction about it or we don’t feel enough conviction, and we would like to keep it that way. Due to the significant amount of confusion regarding the fourth commandment we will likely spend three weeks dealing with it. This week we will look at the origin of the Sabbath commandment leading up to and including our passage. We will go all the way back to the account of creation in Genesis and trace some important passages leading up to the observance of the Sabbath as described in Exodus 20:8-11. Next week I hope to focus on the purpose of the commandment. This is the first commandment that is worded in a positive way, but we still tend to treat it in the negative. We focus upon all of the things we cannot do. And that is certainly part of the commandment itself. But whenever we downplay the positive side of this command, we lose sight of its primary purpose. Finally, we will close out by focusing on the several New Testament passages that address the Sabbath. That is when we will consider questions about why we worship on Sunday rather than Saturday, what aspects of Sabbath worship are still binding today, and possibly some practical steps for observing the Christian Sabbath in our modern context. Read Exodus 20:8-11 The Origin of the SabbathThe Observance of the Sabbath The Origin of the Sabbath (Genesis 2:1-3) We need to focus upon the origin of the Sabbath because that is the reason mentioned in verse 11. We are to rest after the manner in which God rested from his work of creation. It is important to note that God’s rest was not inactivity, but the cessation of his creative activities. We see this in Jesus’ statement that “My Father is working until now, and I am working” (John 5:17). So there is a sense in which the Father is both resting and working. He is resting from His creative activity and engaging in the ongoing work of preserving His covenant people. God rested for at least three reasons: His work as Creator was complete.To express His delight in His creation (cf. Gen. 1:31; Exod. 31:17). Not weary from creation, but joyful contemplation of its beauty and perfection.God pictured the rest that He would provide for man (Heb. 4:1-10). If God’s rest on the seventh day serves as a model for our sabbath rest, then it should involve cessation from our labors on the other six days. God’s final creative act was to sanctify the seventh day. He set it apart from the rest of the week. God’s example of rest has a morally-binding force as soon as he “sanctified” it. He set the day apart for a unique purpose in relation to the other six days. In 1 Kings 7 Solomon builds a palace for himself. A few chapters later he builds a house for the Lord, the Temple. What made the temple special compared to Solomon’s house? The fact that God sanctified the temple, made it more special than any other building. And, in sanctifying it, he gave it a purpose unique to all other structures. Last week we considered the idea of profaning God’s name. It is treating His holy name as if it were common. Likewise, we profane His holy day when we treat it as common. On th

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