To rest on the seventh day is not a suggestion from God… it is a
commandment. It is the fourth of the “Ten Commandments”.
(Exodus 20:8-10) Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. (9) Six days
you shall labor, and do all your work, (10) 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.
What does this commandment include?
Basically God asks for two things:
a. “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy”
“Remember” is to bring to memory; to have it present.
The Sabbath is not any regular day. It is a special day that should be
set apart from the rest.
To “keep it holy” is to set something apart, to dedicate it to something
special.
To what must we devote the seventh day?
We must set it apart for the Lord… for whatever what He wants.
b. “On it you shall not do any work”
We have six days a week to do our job, but on the seventh day we must
rest.
Personally, I don’t understand why so many people refuse to accept this commandment.
What part of “resting” don’t they like? This should be the most pleasant and
desirable commandment for us. Maybe the resistance is due to the fact that this
day has to be set apart for God, instead of our own plans.
TWO REASONS
There are two instances in the Bible where we read the Ten Commandments:
One is in Exodus 20, and the other in Deuteronomy 5. Both references are
practically identical, except in what they describe as the reason for the day
of rest. The commandment is the same, but the reason is different.
1. Exodus 20: The
Lord is Our Creator
(Exodus 20:8-11) Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. (9) Six days
you shall labor, and do all your work, (10) 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. (11) 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.
What relationship is there between the day of rest and the fact that God
created everything?
Just as God did the work of creation and then rested, so we have to do
our work and rest on the seventh day.
The reason why we can rest is because we know that God is in control of
everything. That is our peace of mind. We have to do our part, but we can’t do
more than that. Even so, we rest knowing that He is in control and He will do everything
that we can’t do, given our limited strength and capability.
What a relief it gives us to know that God is in control of everything
that happens in the world! What peace of mind!
2. Deuteronomy 5:
The Lord is Our Redeemer
(Deut. 5:12-15) Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the LORD your
God commanded you. (13) Six days you shall labor and do all your work, (14) 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 or your male servant or your female
servant, or your ox or your donkey or any of your livestock, or the sojourner
who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may
rest as well as you. (15) You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt
The commandment is the same, but this time God urges us to remember Him
in a different way: as our Redeemer. We were slaves (of Egypt and of
sin), but He has set us free from slavery, and has given us rest.
Sabbath is a day to recognize the redeeming work of God. If our eternal
life depended on our deeds, we would be in trouble. But the Lord saved us, and
that is why we may rest. That is where our peace comes from.
In short, God asks us to set the seventh day apart (the Day of Rest or
Sabbath) to remember two important principles:
1. God is our Creator
2. God is our Redeemer
We do our work, trying to be good and pleasing to God. But that is not
enough. Without God’s help, we would not be able to accomplish anything.
Remembering this keeps us focused and humble… careful to give the glory to whom
the glory is due.
I try to do my part, but ultimately I rest in the assurance that
everything is in God’s hands. REST resides in the certainty that everything
depends on God, and not on me. My life, my family, my nation and the world working
as they should does not depend on what I do or don’t do.
In this way, I rest from my work, just as God rested from his (Heb.
4:10).
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