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Sunday School
The Sabbath Day
command to rest.
Work and rest seem to be
a God-inspired rhythm. Ex- odus 20:8-11
God is not kidding about this commandment. Notice the language: Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, and on it you shall not do any work. Also he said, You must observe my Sabbaths, and observe the Sabbath, and the Israelites are to observe the Sabbath.
The proper rhythm to resting is working. In this Sabbath command there is also the command to work: Six days you shall labor and do all your work. This work/rest rhythm is exten- sive. It applied to moms, dads, children, servants, foreigners, and animals. (Yes, even animals should learn the rhythms of God and know that their owners are Yahweh worshippers.) This work/rest rhythm is based on creation. He rested on the seventh day.
Finally the work/rest
rhythm is blessed by God and set apart for him. Jesus knew this well. He was ex- tremely busy in his min- istry, but even he had time to rest (Matthew 14:13) and one of his titles is, “Lord of the Sabbath” (12:8).
Our second printed text comes later in the book of Exodus, bracketed by the stories of Bezalel and Oho- liab being designated to build the tabernacle and the idolatry with the golden calf. Maybe the Sabbath day is a good sanity check on our exclusive worship of God and putting aside false gods.
Three reasons are given for why Israel was to follow the Sabbath command. First, following the Sabbath command was a sign. Rest- ing every seven days demonstrated Israel’s unique relationship with God.
Second, following the Sabbath command averted God’s punishment. The
penalty for disobedience was severe—death. Twice in our text punishment by death is mentioned as a penalty. Another expression is cut off from their people. Does this give anyone pause? How could Israel be a blessing to the nations if they disobeyed one of their primal commands?
Third, following the Sab- bath command was a mark of the covenant. Israel was to keep this as a lasting covenant (a long time or until God changed it). This elevated the Sabbath com- mand to things like keeping the feasts, circumcision, and obeying the law. Exodus 31:12-16
Before sin entered the world, God commanded Adam and Eve to work (Genesis 2:15). When sin fractured creation that work became laborious (3:17- 19). Sabbath is a brief respite to remind us that God will one day bring us to the full rest of his salvation.
One sacred tradition that God gave his people was the Sabbath. In the Bible Sab- bath is a word of many nu- ances. It can refer to the seventh day of the week, the Sabbath day (Exodus 20:8). It can refer to the idea of rest (v. 10). It can refer to the promised land of Israel (Hebrews 3:11) and to Heaven itself (4:6-11). It can even refer to our salva- tion (v. 3).
Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5 contain the 10 famous words/com- mandments that God gave his people through Moses. Israel knew that they be-
longed to God because he gave them his law. This con- stitutional literature gave Israel precepts by which to live. But behind the pre- cepts were God’s principles of how he wanted his people to live. And behind the prin- ciples was none other than the person of God.
The fourth command- ment stands as a bridge be- tween the two halves of the Decalogue. The first three commandments deal with our vertical relationship with God. Commandments five through ten deal with our relationships with oth- ers. In the middle is the
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