The fourth commandment, the last of those pertaining to our relationship directly to the Lord our God, is a call to "remember." While the term "Sabbath" was not used during the time of bondage to Egypt (at least not that the Bible tells us), the term "the seventh day" was used.
The 12th chapter of Exodus tells of the first Passover, the one in which the angel of death passed over any house that had the blood of the lamb sprinkled on the doorposts, but in any house not covered by the blood of the lamb, the firstborn child died. This was the tenth and final plague that Egypt suffered for not releasing the Israelite slaves to Moses, the one that finally convinced Pharaoh to let the Israelites go, as his own son was one of those killed by the plague. But even though a similar command is issued in Exodus 12:16 "…and in the seventh day there shall be an holy convocation to you; no manner of work shall be done in them, save that which every man must eat that only may be done of you…" – still it does not appear to have been made into a regular practice or continuing command. But there is such significance given to the seventh day here: for the Lord their God took care of them in a miraculous way, through the blood of a spotless lamb – a foretelling of the way in which He will take care of us all through the blood of the final spotless sacrificial lamb: Jesus, the ultimate sacrifice of God Himself laying down His own life in payment of the penalty of our sin; a payment made on behalf of every one who receives Jesus Christ as their own salvation, their own deliverer from sin's wages which is death. A miracle that still happens every day in these times, as one soul, and then another, recognizes its sin and need for such a savior as He.
On a second occasion, while they are in the wilderness, the seventh day is again mentioned, but this time, for the first time it is called "a holy Sabbath." It does not become commandment even then, but is a further confirmation, I believe, of what the significance of the Sabbath is about. For God, in still another miraculous manner, shows that He is not only their deliverer, but also their provider of every day needs. And amazingly, showing what a long-suffering, merciful God He is, this miracle occurs immediately after the people are found to be grumbling and complaining, "murmuring" is the word used, criticizing Moses and Aaron for bringing them into the wilderness instead of leaving them in Egypt where at least "we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full" (Exodus 16:3). God tells Moses to relay to the people that when they complain against His servants (Moses and Aaron), they are complaining against God, have no doubt about it. Then He proceeds to furnish them with manna from heaven, that appears each morning with the dew, telling them to gather only enough to eat for one day, for anything over that amount will rot overnight. What a lesson in trusting God! One which He proves for them Himself. When some did test it by gathering a double amount, they found it rotted as He had promised.
But He commanded that on the sixth day only they were in fact to gather double the amount for the next day, the seventh day, was "the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord; bake that which ye will bake today, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning. And they laid it up til the morning, as Moses bade: and it did not stink neither was there any worm therein. And Moses said, Eat that today; for today is a Sabbath unto the Lord: today ye shall not find it in the field. Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the Sabbath, in it there shall be none. And it came to pass, that there went out some of the people on the seventh day for to gather, and they found none." (Exodus 16:23-27).
What a marvelous God is our God! First He delivers us from bondage (sin), then He provides all that we need. Why are so many people so reluctant to trust in Him? The Bible is full of miracles such as these, and those of us who have known the Lord for many years, have lives filled with evidences of His still miraculous deliverance and provision. Why would we want to trust in ourselves rather than this God; He who was able to create the universe and all that is in it in six days, must be able to sustain our every need.
Have I mentioned yet in any posting (I don't recall) that some believe, and I think I must agree with them, that the seraphim hovering over the throne of God, crying "Holy, Holy, Holy" to the Lord (Isaiah 6:3) are doing so at every act of love God shows forth towards man? And because His love towards us is never-ending, never ceasing even though we don't always recognize it, because of all that, the angels say "Holy" always and unceasingly as well? Does even that begin to give us some understanding into the unimaginable goodness of God towards us? No wonder the Sabbath is to be called "holy"; it is one more sign of His loving care of His children.
But back to the commandment: on this third occasion, the observance of the Sabbath becomes a command, no longer an occasional event. And in this commandment are two sets of instructions. The first is to remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. The second is to labour six days but labor none at all on the seventh.
I believe the Israelites were no different than us. They had a lot that needed to be done every day. The Lord knew the temptation they would face to find a loophole in order to still get the work done, even if not by themselves; which is why He chose to include in the prohibition to work, their children, and their servants, and even their animals. Oh, and just in case there is a stranger nearby, they are not allowed to use the stranger to get their work done; for nothing that they need is to be provided to them by the work of their own hands, or own thinking, on that "holy" day.
Look at how much the Sabbath brings honor to God and brings "sabbath rest" to the people (the term "sabbath rest" is packed with richness of meaning to those who trust in God and live by faith in Him):
- Being a separate people, they became identified with their God who rested on the seventh day, by themselves resting on the seventh day. This confirmed their belief in God being the Creator of all, and doing it in six days, resting on the seventh.
- And though he had already proven to them that He was able to provide for them, obedience to this commandment proved their trust in Him. Fields could have been harvested, provision could have been provided for themselves, if they just worked that seventh day. But by NOT working that seventh day, they proved their reliance upon the Lord their God to provide even whatever they could have gained for themselves on that extra day each week;
- Then there is another scripture that brings more light to the objective: "If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words." (Isaiah 58:13). We see in the New Testament that Jesus broke the Sabbath laws (healing people) by virtue of a higher law – that of the Father – and that charge of sin was not laid on Him except by the self-righteous religious of His day. This is because He exemplified Isaiah 58:13 by honoring the Father, doing the Father's ways, finding the Father's pleasure, speaking the Father's words – all instead of His own ways, His own pleasures, His own words.. At the very least, not doing any work one day a week, having no distractions from the world, would provide the opportunity to hear more clearly what God might be speaking to man and to have time to follow through with whatever His will is or just to restore man's communion with the Lord. But Isaiah 58:13 also speaks of a right attitude towards the Lord: does man delight in the Sabbath day, with thanksgiving that he can trust the Lord to provide, and that man has been given a day of complete rest by such a loving God? Or is man ungrateful because he is not interested in resting but frets because he is not out hustling for a living on even that day.
With the right attitude of thankfulness and love toward the Lord, there is nothing to be lost but much to be gained by man by this 4th commandment; making the scripture better understood that Jesus spoke:
To me the sabbath is symbolic of ALL that the Lord our God does for us; He transforms our lives as we turn to Him for all that we need, as we "rest" in Him. How odd that this holy day of the Lord made for man is the same one that played such a big part in the persecution and death of Jesus:
"Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because He not only had broken the Sabbath, but said also that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God." (John 5:18)
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