Creator, Father, King #79

Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.

TODAY, WE’RE GOING TO look at the fourth of the Ten Commandments, which is all about honoring the Sabbath.

“On that day,” the commandment says, “no one in your household may do any work” (Exodus 20:10). (FYI: This was not to accommodate all-day NFL watch parties.)

From ancient times until now, the Jewish Sabbath starts at sundown Friday and lasts until sundown Saturday. The commandment finds its roots in God’s creative order. Exodus 20:11 declares, “In six days the LORD made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.”

Some of the Ten Commandments are repeated in the New Testament. But the fourth commandment is not. So the question lingers: now that believers live under the “new covenant” thanks to Jesus’ death and resurrection (Hebrews 8), do we still have to observe the Sabbath today?

What’s It Mean?

While the New Testament doesn’t explicitly command us to “keep the Sabbath,” it makes it clear that gathering regularly (i.e., weekly) with other believers is an important part of the Christian life. Hebrews 10:25 says, “Let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.”

Acts 2:42-47; 4:31; 5:12; 20:7; and 1 Corinthians 16:1-2 all allude to the frequent fellowship of believers, which was to be done around the teaching of God’s Word. And in Revelation 1:10, the apostle John said he was “worshiping in the Spirit” on “the Lord’s Day” (i.e., Sunday). Clearly, the biblical pattern is for God’s people to set aside a day each week to gather together to worship him.

Gathering together weekly with other believers isn’t a social club. God’s people meet together to grow spiritually as they worship the Lord, hear the teaching of Scripture, partake of the Lord’s Supper, serve one another, and seek to fulfill the great commission.

Most of all, God wants our hearts. More than perfect church attendance, the Lord wants people who worship him “in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24) every day of the week.

Now What?

Read Jesus’ interaction with the Pharisees on Sabbath law in Mark 2:23-28, especially noting the last two verses.

Did You Know?

In the Old Testament, breaking the Sabbath, if premeditated, was punishable by death (Exodus 31:14; Numbers 15:32-36). This was because observing the Sabbath was one way that Israel was separated from the pagan nations as holy to God.