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The Sabbath |
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The Fourth Command Is Unique Among the Ten Commandments |
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The
law of the Sabbath is unique among the Ten Commandments in certain
respects. While all of the
commandments are a reflection of God’s own character and are therefore a
permanent statement of unchanging moral principles, the Fourth
Commandment is: 1.
A Creation ordinance in a more particular way than the other
commandments, and so it is part of the structure of the world—the very
rhythm of life, if you will (Genesis 2:2, 3).
It was structured into reality for the welfare of humankind: “The
Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27). 2.
Not only is it part of the structure of Creation, but also it is
given to reflect God’s pattern of activity, a cycle of six and one, of
work and rest (Genesis 2:2, 3 and Exodus 20:8-11). 3.
It is also given as a sign of redemption: “You shall remember
that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God
brought you out of there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm;
therefore the Lord your God commanded you to observe the sabbath day”
(Deuteronomy 5:15). This
really makes it unique among the Ten Words, because the wording and
rational for the Sabbath commandment undergoes change as a result of
God’s redeeming his people out of Egypt.
This amending to the foundational reason for the Sabbath is
unique among the Ten Commandments and sets a precedent for the future
changes that took place at the time of the inauguration of the New
Testament.
Thus: 4.
It is the only one of the Ten Commandments that has both
unchanging and changing aspects.
As such:
4.1. Our Lord is said to
have “broken” it: “For this reason therefore the Jews were seeking all
the more to kill him, because he not only was breaking [luw
(pronounced, LOO oh), “break, set free, loose, untie”] the Sabbath, but
also was calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God”
(John 5:18).
4.2. In Christ we are given
freedom regarding how we observe it.
As a result of the Lord Jesus’ nailing the Old Covenant with its
ceremonies, sanctions and curses to the cross—thereby dealing the death
blow to the world, the flesh and the devil—we are a free people
(Colossians 2:8-15) —free, not that we should continue in sin (i.e.
what is contrary to God’s own moral nature or not in keeping with
his revealed will), but free to reflect the restored image of God in our
daily lives. How we do that
is with an enormous emphasis on liberty and grace, particularly with
regard to the interpretations and homespun religion of our fellows:
“Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or
in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day—things which are
a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ”
(Colossians 2:16, 17). In
that light we should read Romans 14:5, 6: “One person regards one day
above another, another regards every day alike.
Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind.
He who observes the day, observes it for the Lord, and he who
eats, does so for the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who eats
not, for the Lord he does not eat, and gives thanks to God.”
4.3. While the creation
pattern of six and one seems to remain, the weight of evidence from the
New Testament is that the day of worship and rest was shifted from the
seventh to the first day.
4.3.1. When used of a
specific day of the week, as over against referring to the non-weekly
holy days, the Sabbath always refers to the period of time from sundown
Friday until sundown Saturday.
Early Christians did go to the synagogue on the Sabbath, but they
did so for evangelistic purposes, and that was the day of the week when
Jewish people were there (Acts 13:14, 44; 16:13; 18:4).
But we find that the Church as a distinct entity did not worship
then but appears to have worshiped on the next day, the first day of the
week (Acts 20:7).
4.3.2. Sunday is not
identical to the Sabbath. We
may refer to it as the Christian Sabbath only in the way that we might
refer to the Lord’s Supper as the Christian Passover, or to Baptism as
the Christian Circumcision.
They are typologically and figuratively so, just as Christ is the
Passover Lamb. These Old
Testament ordinances are fulfilled in their New Testament counterparts.
4.3.3. The Sabbath is
fulfilled in the New Covenant:
4.3.3.1. In the not yet of
the world to come, all of life, all of the time, will fulfill the
Sabbath: “. .
. there remains a
Sabbath rest for the people of God.
For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from
his works, as God did from His.
Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest .
. .” (Hebrews
4:9-11).
4.3.3.2. In the now of the
present era, between the two advents of Christ:
4.3.3.2.1. Whenever we stop
working to please God by our own righteousness and rest instead by faith
on the finished work of Christ alone, we are fulfilling the Sabbath
(Hebrews 3:1-4:16).
4.3.3.2.2. Whenever we take
time to gather with the Lord’s people to adore our gracious God, we are
fulfilling the Sabbath. At
such times our ambition should be to be “in the Spirit on the Lord’s
day” (Revelation 1:10).
4.3.3.2.3. Whenever we work
hard at our calling and take a break for renewal of our inner and outer
man, we are fulfilling the Sabbath.
4.3.3.2.4. According to our
station and calling, whenever we seek to bring about working conditions
so that people have time for rest and worship, especially with their
families together, we are fulfilling the Sabbath. The
emphasis under the New Covenant is on liberty under the Holy Spirit.
We should never fail to understand that the older covenant was
marked by literal legislation down to such minutia as the kind of
underwear that should be worn during worship (Exodus 28:42).
It emphasized the barrier between a Holy God and sinful humanity
(Hebrews 12:18-21; Ephesians 2:14
ff.). Its strong suit
was condemnation and death (Leviticus 10:1, 2; 2 Samuel 6:7).
While the New Testament is not without such things, its emphasis
is radically different. As
Saint Paul informs us, the Old Covenant was “the ministry that brought
death, which was engraved in letters on stone” and “the ministry that
condemns men” Whereas his description of the New Covenant is of the
ministry “written . .
. with the Holy
Spirit . .
. on tablets of human
hearts” and “the ministry that brings righteousness” As glorious as the
Old Testament was, says Paul, “it has no glory now in comparison with
the surpassing glory (of the New Testament).” (2 Corinthians 3:3-11). If
people are not “forsaking the assembling” of themselves with the Lord’s
people on the Lord’s Day, and if they are making sure that they follow
the creational pattern of labor and rest, seeing to it that those under
their care enjoy the same privileges they do, they are quite free to
glorify the Lord and serve their neighbors with great freedom on the New
Testament fulfillment of the Sabbath. |