Exploring the 10 Commandments: The Fourth Command
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“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy” (Exodus 20:8).
Have you ever heard that if you work with your hands then it is good to rest with your mind, but if you work with your mind it is beneficial to rest with your hands? This statement stuck out to me in a podcast once. If we work tirelessly in a data entry position, it might be helpful for us to go on a walk or play pickle ball on a Saturday. However, if we are chasing around children and home keeping, we might be restored with a book or crossword puzzle.
God created rest and modeled it before sin enter the world. Today we are going to take a closer look at the fourth commandment: Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
What Is the Sabbath?
“Sabbath” is not a word that I hear regularly. However, this word was very well known and used in the Jewish culture. The Hebrew Concordance shares that the word for Sabbath is shabbath, meaning: Intermission, the Sabbath. When I hear intermission, I first think about a theatre performance or a long movie. There is a break for everyone to stretch, go to the restroom, get more food, and then return.
An intermission causes us to take a momentary pause from the action to “reset.” At the end of a busy week, God invites us to stop and reset before His kingdom work picks up again (like the second act of a show). God gives us the Sabbath not to say, “well done;” He gives us the Sabbath to say, “I’m not done, but you need renewal before getting back in the game.”
Think about a sports team that has been playing hard in a game. Half time comes and the players are able to breathe, refocus, hydrate and hear from their coach to motivate them to finish strong. God has designed us to be dependent upon Him. This means that we are “in the game” but we need a break each week. We are not God, we are finite. Our Creator did not actually need rest on the seventh day. However, He chose to rest as an example and to bless that day as holy for us.
“Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy” (Exodus 20:9-11).
The Sabbath should not be seen as a burden to us, but rather a blessing and delight. The Lord knows we are dust, yet He strengthens us and aids us in our weaknesses to recharge and reconnect with Him. The purpose of the Sabbath is absolutely to physically rest, but also to spiritually renew and reconnect with our Savior. It is ironic because it seems in our American culture, we have to work hard to intentionally rest. We live in an overachieving culture, but we also live in a lazy culture. With technology, we can consider binge watching a show or scrolling on social media as rest, however was this really what God meant?
I spoke with a Christian couple from Israel recently who sabbath on Saturdays. They spend intentional time in prayer and in worship. They avoid things that distract them from God. They cease from chores and cooking on that day of the week. It really was beautiful hearing them share about their decision to follow this lifestyle command from Scripture. They were eager to seek their Savior on their day off.
Are we eager to do so? Is Saturday (or Sunday if you choose) all about what you want to do or accomplish? Or, is it about resting in the work of Christ? Jesus came and did the work so that we could rest.
3 Times Jesus Helps Others on the Sabbath
1. Once the Pharisees tried to stump Jesus because He picked some heads of grain in a field with his disciples on the Sabbath (Mark 2:23-28). He reminded them of David and his friends needing food and that Abiathar the high priest gave them the consecrated bread meant for only priests. Jesus brings up this point:
“Then he said to them, ‘The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath’” (Mark 2:27-28).
The Sabbath was created to be a blessing to man, but Jesus is saying if someone is starving, it is more important to get food to eat than to be overly concerned with the perfectionism of Sabbath law. Jesus never sinned (2 Corinthians 5:21). He remembered the Sabbath day and He kept it holy. It was the Jews who added to the 10 Commandments.
2. Another time on the Sabbath a man with a shriveled right hand was in the presence of Jesus in the synagogue. The Pharisees were observing Jesus’ response to find a reason to accuse Him.
“Then Jesus said to them, ‘I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?’ He looked around at them all, and then said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He did so, and his hand was completely restored. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law were furious and began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus” (Luke 6:9-11).
Jesus asked if the Sabbath was for good or evil. He chose to do good. The Pharisees were so angry at Jesus for healing a man in need. They did not care about people, but about Jewish practices. Jesus was teaching that when we become burdened by legalism, we miss the blessing of His intended Sabbath. The Sabbath was created as a gift to believers; it was not supposed to be a burden to us.
3. Once the Pharisees tried to stump Jesus because He chose to heal on the Sabbath (Luke 13:10-17). A woman who had been crippled by a spirit for 18 years approached Jesus while He was teaching on the Sabbath. He declared her free, put his hands on her and she was healed and praised God. The Pharisees chastised Jesus and He responds:
“’You hypocrites! Doesn’t each of you on the Sabbath untie your ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?’” (Luke 13:16-17).
The Pharisees were so consumed with the rules, Jesus points out that they themselves had broken the law. They could not see that the person with a soul in front of them was more important than their skewed interpretation of God’s law.
The Hot Debate
There is still a huge debate that goes on in Christian circles today. Does the Sabbath still apply today? I believe this question appears mainly because of Jesus’ responses on the Sabbath to the Pharisees. However, in my humble opinion, I believe that all of God’s law is perfect (Psalm 19:7) and we should be careful not to pick and choose what we obey from it. Viewing the 10 Commandments through the lens of a forgiven believer reminds us that the law is there for our freedom and our benefit. Jesus has blessed us with the freedom to take a day off, reconnect with Him, and love Him and others.
Jesus modeled this. He was on Sabbath, but as He saw those in need, He loved them and fulfilled the two greatest commandments (Matthew 22:35–40). He states in verse 40, “All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Hebrews 4:1-11 teaches more in-depth on the Sabbath after Jesus’ ascension into heaven.
Hebrews 4:9-11 says, “There remains, then, a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For whoever enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from His. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following the same pattern of disobedience.”
So I choose rest. I choose renewal and intermission to receive this blessing that was good enough for God to receive Himself on day seven of creation. I am a work in progress with learning how to spend the time off, but I believe it is a blessed day for family and friends to connect with our Savior and with one another. Notice the phrase, “Make every effort to enter that rest.” This does not come naturally to us; we have to fight for it, we have to ask the Spirit to lead us into the rest. But it is worth it when we follow Him.
The Ten Commandments List
Commandments 1-4
Thou shall have no other gods before me. (Exodus 20:3)
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven images. (Exodus 20:4-6)
Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. (Exodus 20:7)
Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. (Exodus 20:8-11)
Commandments 5-10
Honor your father and mother. (Exodus 20:12)
Thou shalt not murder. (Exodus 20:13)
Thou shalt not commit adultery. (Exodus 20:14)
Thou shalt not steal. (Exodus 20:15)
Thou shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. (Exodus 20:16)
Thou shall not covet your neighbor. (Exodus 20:17)
Jesus summed up all of the 10 commandments. As we look at commandments 1-4 they are vertical, about our relationship with God (Love the Lord your God). As we look at commandments 5-10, they are horizontal, about our relationship with others (Love your neighbor as yourself).
This week, may we remember that we are invited to take an intermission one day. We are commanded to remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. May we walk in freedom knowing that heart and purpose for rest. God is so kind to us.
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The Second Command
The Third Command
The Fifth Command
Photo credit: Unsplash/Joseph Pearson
