The Fourth Commandment
June 22nd, 2009 by Amanda NelsonI want to begin by telling you that even after much research and meditation I am still not certain that I fully understand this commandment. Like many of theophilux’s readers I “enjoy” a life of over commitment. I have uttered more than once that I enjoy being busy and I have confessed that I do not know how to rest. However, the Sabbath is important enough to be mentioned over 150 times in scripture. It is the fourth commandment, the commandment the Lord chooses to transition His people from their relationship with Him to their relationship with others. And so let’s begin to explore this commandment.
What is the fourth commandment?
Exodus 20:8-11
8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping 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, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. 11 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.
Leviticus 5: 12-15
12 “Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the LORD your God has 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, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your ox, your donkey or any of your animals, nor the alien within your gates, so that your manservant and maidservant may rest, as you do. 15 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the LORD your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.
What does Sabbath mean?
The term “Sabbath” derives from the Hebrew shabbat “to cease”. The first Sabbath occurred in Genesis 2:2-3 on the 7th day of creation. Sabbath desecration was originally officially punishable by death (Exodus 31:15). According to dictionary.com the term Sabbath refers to “A season or day of rest; one day in seven appointed for rest or worship, the observance of which was enjoined upon the Jews in the Decalogue, and has been continued by the Christian church with a transference of the day observed from the last to the first day of the week, which is called also Lord’s Day”. Generally when the word Sabbath is mentioned we think of a Sabbath that occurs once a week, but there are also Sabbaths that occur annually and every seven years.
Annual Sabbaths or high Sabbaths include: the first and seventh days of Passover, and Pentecost, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and the first and eighth days of Sukkoth.
The seventh year of the seven-year agricultural cycle was mandated by the Torah as the Sabbatical Year. During this time the land is to be alone and no agricultural activity—including plowing, planting, pruning, and harvesting—was allowed. What an act of faith!!! In addition debts and loans were forgiven during this year. Slaves that had worked for six years are allowed to go free in the seventh year.
What are some practical ways we can observe this commandment?
Lauren Winner answers this question in her article, “In Today’s Culture, What Does It Mean to Keep the Sabbath Holy?”
“In Jewish communities, Sabbaths are truly set apart from the rest of the week. (Indeed, the Hebrew word for ‘holy’—as in, ‘Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy’—means, literally, ‘set apart.’) When I practiced Judaism, I would begin my Sabbath with a relaxed Friday night dinner, followed by a day of worship, rest, and celebration. During the Sabbath day, I didn’t think about my schoolwork, spend any money, ride in a car, or watch television. Then I became a Christian. Although I went to church on Sunday mornings, the day never seemed quite as holy. As often as not, I wound up at the shopping mall on Sunday afternoon.”
Doesn’t that sound like an internal conflict many of us have? We go to church and then…. We know we are suppose to keep the Sabbath, we know it is suppose to be a holy day, and we know that we are swamped with deadlines. What are we to do?
I believe that Lauren Winner offers a valuable solution that we can all be inspired by she went back to her roots and two commandments that govern Jewish Sabbath observance: to not work on the Sabbath, and to be joyful. So she attend church and then she worships God that afternoon and evening according to the Spirit’s leading. Sometimes the Spirit leads her to take a long walk and reflect upon nature, sometimes she gets together with friends, sometimes she spends the afternoons in scripture. We are not bound by rules and rituals that govern how we keep the Sabbath, instead the Lord desires relationship with us. If we spend the day in joyful reflection instead of worrying about tomorrow I believe that we can achieve the Sabbath peace that the Lord desires for us. And if He can create the world in six days then He can also take care of Monday morning deadlines.
June 22nd, 2009 at 12:52 PM
I agree with you that sometimes being busy is easy to see as a positive thing. I think of so many unemployed people who wish they could be so busy.
I know Bill is unable to respond to this now, but he has a very interesting perspective on it. Jesus is our Sabbath.
June 30th, 2009 at 3:02 PM
This has been a hard one for me to figure out as well. I guess I’m not settled on how to apply it yet, but I do have some thoughts. I think part of it is a perspective and time management thing. Maybe that is a byproduct. The idea is be: very effective, but don’t spend every moment of your life working. And then the idea is that we stop being “productive” and spend time with Jesus. Relationship is important! I also think a practical thing to note is that it doesn’t have to be Sunday or Saturday. I have a Christian brother who works in the ICU. Someone has to keep those people alive on weekends.
Anywho! Thanks for writing the article, Amanda!