The Ten Commandments: #4 - Remember the Sabbath day

We summarize the true substance of each of the commandments which we have been discussing one commandment at a time at our Deep Dive studies.

The FOURTH COMMANDMENT: Exodus 20:8-11, " “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 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, 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. 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 following are the flavors of what this commandment really means based on our cross-reference examples of how it is obeyed and how it is disobeyed.

• (Exodus 20:11, 31:17) Remembering the Sabbath declares to the world that we believe that God is creator of heaven and the earth and he did so in SIX days. One CANNOT be a Christian and believe in the Darwinian theory of evolution. The "young earth" narrative is the biblical narrative. The earth and all creation, for that matter, is only about 6,000 years old.
• (Deuteronomy 5:15) It reminds us that God delivered us from slavery to the dominion of sin (Egypt). Salvation does not have much value unless we are delivered from sin's power and dominion. Christ rarely talked about justification compared to his talks about sanctification.
• (Ezekiel 20:12,20) The “day for God” distinguishes God’s people from those who have no time for God.
• (Isaiah 56:1-7; 58:13-14 and Jeremiah 17:18-27) God rewards and God delivers judgment to people depending on how they honor or profane the Sabbath.
• (Mark 3:3) God expects Sabbath work to center around doing the works of God or work for the Kingdom of God.
• (Mark 2:27) “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath”. It was made to make the people of God value and enjoy God, His presence and relationship with Him. Only a pause, a rest from all labor can turn our focus to God.

Finally, the Sabbath fine print is about the Principle of  Discipline and/or the Means of Grace
We put ourselves on the path of God’s project when we practice the means of grace of which remembering the Sabbath is primary since it is in the Ten Commandments.

You have to go to the AMTRAK train station to go from Los Angeles to New York. The station will not come to your doorstep. No one will fetch you. We have to put ourselves into the path of AMTRAK to get where we want to be. In the same manner, we have to put ourselves ENTIRELY in the path of God's project and presence to realize his promises to us.