4th Commandment

One Glorious Day

Fourth Commandment
Ex. 20:8-11

Now we come to the Fourth Commandment: "Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it holy." And as we complete this first "table" of the law, it is easy to see the progression in the lessons the law is teaching us and how vital all of them are:

The First  Commandment taught us who we must worship.
The Second Commandment taught us how we must worship.
The Third Commandment taught us what our attitude must be in worship.
And now the Fourth Commandment teaches us when we must worship.

It might be good at this point to review what we mean by "law" just a bit. The law of God is usually categorized by theologians into three main areas or emphases. The first and most important category is God’s moral law. This was not first given at Mt. Sinai in the form of the Ten Commandments. This was given back in Genesis 1 when God formed the heavens and the earth. In fact, the whole of creation contains the imprint of God’s own moral character. It is, if you will, part of the very "warp and woof" of creation and, therefore, very much a part of man himself as he is uniquely made in the image of God. As such, the moral law will never change – there will never be a day when it will be acceptable before God to worship idols, to take his name in vain, to murder, lie or steal.

The ceremonial category or emphasis of the law is different. It was not given to man by God until after the fall. The ceremonial law contains God’s instructions on how man in his sin is to approach and worship him in all his all-consuming holiness. Fallen man may not

come without a sacrifice for "without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness." And, because the blood of mere animals could never atone for a man’s sin, the sacrifices even as far back as Genesis 3:3-4 could only anticipate the perfect blood of Christ. And because man’s sin was dealt with completely at the cross of Calvary, the ceremonial law was completed too. We no longer offer up animals in worship to God. Why? It isn’t because our culture has changed or because we would find it distasteful. It is because Jesus is the perfect lamb of God who has paid the price of sin for his people. No more sacrifice, no more ceremonial law, is necessary.

The civil emphasis of the law was given to Moses at Mt. Sinai for there the nation of Israel was being formed by God into a unique theocracy – a nation governed by and under God and his direct rule. 

As such, the nation Israel served as a shadow, a type of the church, anticipating what will one day be the perfect theocracy of Christ and his church for all eternity. Although many of God’s civil laws are rightfully employed and practiced by other nations and forms of government, that alone could never make them theocracies. And, even though ancient Israel was uniquely chosen by God to be a theocracy, it was also God’s theocratic and covenantal judgment upon his nation when, for the fullness of the sins of his people, he sent them into exile. When that happened, the theocracy of Israel came to a close.

So when we consider the Fourth Commandment, we are not looking at anything related to the civil or ceremonial part of God’s law, we are looking at the very heart of the moral law of God itself. This is underscored for our clear understanding in the words of God himself in Exodus 20:11: "For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it." Genesis  chapters 1 and 2 paint for us the glorious account of God’s creating the world in six days. The last thing God made was man – to rule and have dominion over creation – and the first thing God did after making man was to bless and sanctify the Sabbath. The first full day of man’s existence was to enjoy the Sabbath day.

From then on the Sabbath cycle has continued in creation and in history. But when the Israelites came under the oppression of the Pharaoh of Egypt, slavery meant forsaking the day of rest and by the time of Moses, the people had all but forgotten the Sabbath day. So when the Lord was working to free his people from Egypt, one of the first things he did was instruct them anew as to days and months and years. "This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you" (Exodus 12:2). 

And, after escaping Egypt, the Lord fed the Israelites with manna, and in doing so he further instructed them about the weekly cycle and how they were to honor the Sabbath day. "Tomorrow is a Sabbath rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord. Bake what you will bake today, and boil what you will boil; and lay up for yourselves all that remains to be kept until morning." (Exodus 16:23; see also Exodus 16:4-5) So, by the time they arrived at Mt. Sinai to receive the moral law of God, they were not at all surprised as to what the Sabbath was or how they were to practice it.

And yet, even though the Fourth Commandment is part of God’s unchanging moral law, something has changed, hasn’t it? Christians do not worship God on the seventh day but on the first day. Are we wrong to do that? Is there any good reason why we do this?

The answer is not found in the New Testament where you might think first to look, it is first found right back where we started: Genesis 1 and 2. When God first rested from his creative work and sanctified the Sabbath day, he did so not only to take delight in his work but also to delight in what it was made for. Even before the beginning of the first day, 

God had decreed and set in place his perfect plan and promise to reveal his glory and his love for man whom he would create by revealing Jesus Christ to man as man and as the perfect sacrificial expression of God’s infinite love (rf. Ephesians 1). Even before creating Eden, God ordained the glory of the marriage supper of Jesus as the groom and the church as his bride.

Ever since that first Sabbath day, all of creation has been looking forward to and anticipating the day, the climax of God’s purpose and plan in the history of the world which occurred on that first day of the week, just before sunrise, when the stone was rolled away to reveal the fact to all the world that Jesus Christ had risen from the grave. From then on, the celebration of creation was replaced by the celebration of re-creation – Jesus’ appearances, recorded in the gospels, all appear to be on the first day of the week; the disciples began gathering together on the first day of the week, and even before the Bible’s written record came to a close, that first  day of the week was given the title "The Lord’s Day."

There are many evidences in Scripture that the resurrection of Christ was the climax of all history. Not only does the celebration of creation give way to the celebration of re-creation but all the shadows and types described in the Old Testament give

 way to their realities in the New Testament: the nation Israel gives way to the fullness of God’s people, the church, the Passover gives way to the Lord’s Supper, the covenant mark of Circumcision gives way to Baptism and the Sabbath gives way to the Lord’s Day. This is because all of these signs and symbols are meant to point us to one thing – Jesus Christ risen again.

But if there has been such a great change in the day of our worship, has anything else changed? Remember, the Fourth Commandment is part of the moral law of God which is, after all, unchanging. Who we worship has not changed, how we are to worship him has not changed, nor has the attitude we are to have in worship changed.

And how important our attitude in worship is! We must worship God from the heart with thoughtfulness, with gratitude and with thanksgiving because he does not judge us according to our failures to obey his law. You see, even when God was giving Moses the Law on Mt. Sinai, he must have had grace in mind too. No one is able, perfectly, to obey the law except for Jesus. And if anyone, be he in the Old Testament age or the New Testament age, sinned against God by breaking the law in one place, he is guilty of breaking the whole and deserves to be judged by it. But God in his grace, provided a way of deliverance for all of his people – whether in the days before that momentous coming of Jesus or after it – all of God’s people are saved by grace through faith.

When we put our faith in Jesus, God regards us as righteous by the blood of his own son who perfectly lived and died and rose again from the dead. And that’s why our attitude is so important also as we regard and seek to obey the Fourth Commandment, too, which instructs us when we are to worship him.

Now, so far we have focused on what has changed. The day of our heartfelt joy and worship of God and rest has been changed by the cross of Christ from the seventh to the first day of the week. It would, therefore, be very appropriate for us to refer to the Fourth Commandment today as saying: "Remember the Lord’s Day to keep it holy." But even though the day has changed, the instructions of the commandment have not.

How are we to obey this commandment? First, we are told to remember the day. The commandment doesn’t say keep the day but remember it. You see, God knows our hearts are still sinful. Just coming to church doesn’t necessarily mean we are remembering the day. The prophet Isaiah cursed the people of Israel even though they "kept" the Sabbath. Why? Because even with all their outward attention to the commandment they had forgotten the God they were to worship and their lifestyles, language and attitudes proved it. They honored God with their lips, Isaiah told them, but their hearts were far from him.

The main thing we must do, God says, is remember the day – because the first thing we are prone to do is forget it. And when we forget it, we forget to keep it, and when we forget to keep it, we forget why it is important and special, and then we fill the day with other things – we wind up doing just like the Israelites did: as they pleased. And the day is lost to us and the commandment is broken.

So God says "remember" the day. What helps us to do that? God’s second instruction: keep it holy. The word "holy" means separate, set apart, set aside, special. We remember the day by keeping it special and separate. What keeps it holy? Two things, primarily:

We worship God – we put down our tools, our newspapers, our toys, our pre-occupations, our duties, labors, and responsibilities, and we come, we gather together and we worship him. We begin and end the day with him and with one another as his people.

We acknowledge God as giver of every good/perfect gift – that means we take the time to rest from the things which keep us busy and distracted and instead take time reflecting on his goodness, blessings. We take the time to remember that we aren’t really dependent on our jobs – we are really dependent on God. That’s why there is this very clear application to the commandment: "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." You can’t do the things you normally do during the rest of the week and remember the Lord’s Day, to keep it holy.

Now there will be some things we must still do – there are deeds of necessity, of mercy, of piety that cannot be put off because when we do these kinds of things the love of Christ shines through us. If you ever want to know the answer to the question: "Is this something I should do on the Lord’s Day?" ask yourself this: "Does the love of Christ shine through it?" If so, then your deeds worship the Lord. But if not, you have forgotten the day and you haven’t kept it holy.

But be warned: your sinful and selfish heart will always be trying to deceive you, give you excuses and lies why it is okay to take the day back and

 do what you please. The Pharisees of Jesus’ day had made the observing of the Fourth Commandment a specialty, an art. They kept the Sabbath as a labor of their own pride and success with no other purpose than to preserve their traditions and keep themselves happy. Jesus came along and wanted to know something from them: "Why are you observing the day, keeping the law? Because I know the truth." Jesus knew, "In your hearts you actually resent the Sabbath, you despise it. And therefore, God does not see all your outward obedience." Jesus must have sounded just like Isaiah to the ancient Israelites: "You honor me with your lips but your hearts are far from me."

You need to ask yourself: "Could I have that attitude as well?" If I dutifully comply with the Scriptural instructions for the Lord’s Day but have no joy in my heart for what Christ has done, I too will really come to despise the Lord’s Day in my heart and then, I will be just like the Pharisees – lost.

One day, we shall leave the Lord’s Day behind. Just as the Sabbath has been replaced with the Lord’s Day so also, one day, the Lord’s Day we practice will come to an end when 

the day of the Lord, the day of judgment and glory comes, when God in Christ will gather all his church together and when we will be with him forever – to enjoy an eternal day of rest, of worship, of joy. 

But this question I put to you: will you be happy then? If you cannot give to the Lord his one day in seven now for worship and for rest and for reflection, how will you be content to do those things for all eternity? You will not find your joy there. All of your outward practice cannot hide a heart that really despises God.

"If you call the Sabbath a delight and the LORD’s holy day honorable, …then you will find your joy in the LORD, …The mouth of the Lord has spoken." (Is. 58:13-14)

From Studies in the Book of Exodus, by The Rev. David Barker, February, 2001.