Understanding The Sabbath

For years my and I would watch reruns of the Andy Griffith Show. In the show, the town of Mayberry basically shut down on Sunday. This was common to some degree when I was growing up. Sunday was a day set aside for church, family, and rest. I remember as if it was yesterday, my mom would prepare a roast or something and we would eat dinner at about two o'clock in the afternoon. The evening would consist of roast beef sandwiches from the dinner's leftovers. This was followed by watching on television, The Wonderful World of Disney, before bed.

A sermon I recently listened to at my church on the subject of the Sabbath, sparked a week-long talk and even debate between my son Jacob and I. I feel almost sad that in all my years as a Christian, so little attention and study from the pulpit or in a class setting, has been devoted to scripture from the Old Testament.

For now, I have concluded my study of this highly important subject of the Sabbath. Here are my thoughts. The Hebrew word for Sabbath means "to rest or cease." It is associated with Saturday because God commanded it to be so. Jacob has a theory that the 10 Commandments are actually in hierarchical order. I would encourage anyone to hear him out. His theory is strong and sound. 

This fourth commandment, I believe, is the commandment that is the catalyst that weaves and binds our focus on God (Commandments 1 - 3) and our focus on His people (Commandments 5 - 10). I think there is an argument that 4 and 5 combined work too. See Exodus 20:8-11.

What does this commandment do? According to Dennis Prager of Prager University videos, setting aside a day of rest elevates humans to more than a slave on this earth. See Exodus 20:1-2. In my Core Values book, I wrote "We are not slaves. We are His children. Take time to rest."

The Old Testament is the schoolmaster of the New Testament. Jesus Christ did not come to destroy the old law, but rather to fulfill it. See Matthew 5:17. So, I have been diligently looking through the New Testament to find the fulfilled law for the Sabbath. I believe I have an answer and will discuss the fulfillment more completely at another time, but for now, understanding how important and serious this commandment is to require and elevate the human being to God's intended status, is my focus.

My brother recently told me of a story of a man who jumped from the Golden Gate Bridge to his death in San Francisco. This man left a note. In the note he wrote that if on his walk on his way to the bridge, if just one person speaks a greeting to him, he won't jump off the bridge. No one said a word.

The Sabbath commandment's power, that is elevating people to God's intended status, cannot be overstated. Honor your father and mother. Honor life. Honor marriage. Honor personal and private property. Tell the truth about yourself and others. Don’t even think about taking what belongs to others, for yourself. Do not envy, work for your own stuff.

When God commands that we love one another as we love ourselves, He means it! Is it so difficult to take time to smile and say thank you? Is it so difficult to tell others that it was nice to see them? What about hospitality? Does someone need shelter, clothes, or food? In what way are we providing mental and physical rest for others? Jesus stated, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.”

It has been suggested, even outlined, that all of the Old and New Testament commandments if listed, would fit in categories under the 10 Commandments. Eight of the 10 Commandments state what we will NOT do, to establish what we will do. Only two commandments are stated in the positive, what we will do. This 4th commandment is so vital, so important, that I believe you will find the lion share of the commandments listed under, “Remember the Sabbath, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord you God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. 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.”

Not even your servant, nor even a foreigner would be permitted to be treated as a slave. "We are not slaves. We are His children. Take time to rest." The animals were to be given a day of rest, as well.

It is no wonder that all the Law and the Prophets are summed up by Jesus in this way, “you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Have I made too much out of this one commandment? Perhaps. But it seems to me that this 4th commandment is the intersection between God and man. On the sixth day, God made man, and He said that it was very good. An intersection? Like a cross? Why not? Jesus Christ is the author, finisher and Lord of all blessed and hallowed rest.