Exodus 20:8-11 “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.”
The fourth commandment is the only one that has four verses given to it. It is quite descriptive as to what may be permitted and what is not on the Sabbath – which is Saturday.
The Sabbath day would become one of the main focus points of the Jewish religion in Christ’s day. There is no reference to anyone before Moses keeping a particular day of the week to rest or worship God. Moses established the day.
It is interesting that creation is tied in with the reason for the day. Although it says that God “rested,” there was no need for Him to rest because He is omnipotent. The day was set apart for the benefit of God’s people who would need (and we still need) a day to get rested and refreshed from our work during the week.
The “rest” is for our sake – not God’s. He established it for physical rest and so that we might spend some time in worship and fellowship with Him. Without it, we would certainly drift farther from Him.
After the unbelieving Jews kicked the Christians out of the synagogues and Temple, they had little choice but to start meeting on the Lord’s Day – Sunday. Since the early Christians were Jewish and the Sabbath practices were so ingrained in them, it would take a miracle for them to abandon the Sabbath practices.
The Lord rose on Sunday, which became another good reason for Sunday worship. The eighth day symbolizes a new beginning. The old wineskins – religious Judaism – were not suitable for believers in Christ because we are no longer under the Law.
The only commandment in the New Testament that is not repeated for believers is the fourth commandment. Apart from the Gospels and Acts, the word “Sabbath” is only mentioned once by Paul. He said, through the Holy Spirit: “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:” (Col. 2:16).
Today, God is not so concerned about believers keeping the Sabbath. He does, however, command us to not forsake those times when the church assembles together (He. 10:25). He desires our worship and praise for what He has done and will do for us. He is worthy of it all.
Are you meeting with Him and God’s people on the Lord’s Day?