The Fourth Commandment

How many of you would say that life is pretty busy for you right now? How many of you would say that you find yourself feeling overwhelmed regularly? Like you could use a day just to rest and get away from the demands that are placed on you all the time?

And how many of you have found yourself feeling like Sunday is sometimes just another day full of more obligations on your plate? If you have found yourself there, and I promise you that I have. Today’s lesson is exactly what you need because it speaks to the overwhelming sense of our lives today and calls us to enjoy rest both spiritually and physically. So, today we are going to be looking at Exodus 20:8-11 and as we look at this passage, we will find something for us about Sunday being the climax of our week and why that is the case. Exodus 20:8-11 reads,

Exodus 20:8–11 NKJV

8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your 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. 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.

On Sunday, God Calls Us to Rest in the Fact that He Knows What is Best for Us.

In Genesis 2:1-2 we read,

Genesis 2:1–2 NKJV

1 Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. 2 And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.

Now, for those of you who were with us way back when we went through Genesis together, you will remember how often we discussed humans being God’s image bearers. Well, in Exodus, we find that God commands us to spend one day out of 6 to devote to rest for His glory. This would have been a big deal for these people to hear because they have just been delivered from slavery. Imagine having to work non-stop all of your life and then, all of a sudden, you are given 7.5 weeks of vacation a year! This would have been such a blessing for the people of this time to consider.

Exodus 20:8–11 NKJV

8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your 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. 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.

Another thing we need to remember about our text today is that this is an agrarian society which means that they had to farm for what they wanted. So for God to call them to Sabbath one day a week meant that that was one day less for them to till up their fields or to harvest. The word, “Sabbath” here literally means to cease or to stop. So, for them to eliminate one whole day from their work meant that they were going to have to trust that God knew what they needed better than they did and that they trusted Him to give them the ability to accomplish what they needed the other six days.

This wasn’t just for the special religious elites, but the text makes it clear that everyone, even the animals and the foreigners were to spend the day at rest on the Sabbath day.

So, what do we learn here for us today? We learn that Sunday is a time of the week where God calls us to focus on one thing and that is resting in His wisdom and enjoying Him. It isn’t a day for working on the side, but is a day where we are called to put everything on hold and to rest in Him and enjoy Him.

Now, I mentioned us being image bearers earlier. The reason I mentioned that is because in Genesis 2, we see God resting and in Exodus 20, we see that we are commanded to rest. What I find here is that this isn’t just some command, but that rest is absolutely necessary for us. We live in a world of workaholism and the Lord’s Day is the solution to that sinful problem.

If you are a workaholic, you might find yourself convicted by this command, but I want you to think about how gracious God is being here because He is essentially saying, “Here are 6 days to tend to the temporal and fleeting things of this world. Work at them with all you have. But one of seven is for you to rest and enjoy Me.” So, as we approach Sunday and you’re tired and overwhelmed. Know that God has a day waiting for you to rest and be refreshed by Him.

On Sunday, God Calls Us to Rest in His Finished Work.

Now we are going to move from Exodus 20 and look at Deuteronomy 5 where we find the ten commandments given again. However, there’s something different here. Moses doesn’t root the Sabbath day in creation here, but roots it in the Exodus. Deut. 5:13-15

Deuteronomy 5:13–15 NKJV

13 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 14 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your 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 ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. 15 And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.

So, not only were these Jews supposed to rest and be reminded of God’s action in creation. But they were to rest and consider what God did for them as He saved them from their bondage in Egypt.

What does this mean for us? Well, are you tired of living in world where you’re working to prove yourself? On Sunday, God calls us to rest in the fact that we are proven righteous before Him because of what Jesus did for us. This leads me to my last point which is in Hebrews 4 where we find the New Testament tie the first two points together.

On Sunday, God Calls Us to Be Reminded of the Final Rest to Come.

Before we go any further, I need to address a question you might have which is, “Wait, wasn’t the Old Testament Sabbath on Saturday? Why do you keep talking about Sunday?” If you’re wondering about that, you’re asking a good question. The reason is that, as BB Warfield put it, “Christ took the Sabbath into the grave with Him and brought the Lord’s Day out of the grave with Him on the resurrection morn.”

The reason that we worship on Sunday instead of Saturday now is because when Jesus rose from the dead, He broke through the seventh day into a new day which is what early Christians called the 8th day. As a matter of fact, this may be what Mark was thinking of in Mark 16:1-2

Mark 16:1–2 NKJV

1 Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him. 2 Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen.

Now, our English translations don’t capture this, but in verse two, the original could read, in verse two, “Very early in the morning, on the one of the sabbath.” Which could be an early Christian way of speaking about the 8th day, or the Lord’s Day. Also, in Acts we find that the Christians always met for worship on Sunday as well. Now let’s dive into Hebrews 4:1-11

Hebrews 4:1–11 CSB

1 Therefore, since the promise to enter his rest remains, let us beware that none of you be found to have fallen short. 2 For we also have received the good news just as they did. But the message they heard did not benefit them, since they were not united with those who heard it in faith. 3 For we who have believed enter the rest, in keeping with what he has said, So I swore in my anger, “They will not enter my rest,” even though his works have been finished since the foundation of the world. 4 For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in this way: And on the seventh day God rested from all his works. 5 Again, in that passage he says, They will never enter my rest. 6 Therefore, since it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news did not enter because of disobedience, 7 he again specifies a certain day—today. He specified this speaking through David after such a long time: Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts. 8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. 9 Therefore, a Sabbath rest remains for God’s people. 10 For the person who has entered his rest has rested from his own works, just as God did from his. 11 Let us, then, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall into the same pattern of disobedience.

I won’t take too long here, but I want you to notice a few things about this passage.

First, the writer is addressing the people who received the commandments we have been going through and is talking about how God promised them rest in the promised land, but they refused to listen to Him so they died in the wilderness.

Second, I want you to notice that in verse four the writer mentions God’s rest in creation just like we saw in Ex. 20.

Third, notice who is being spoken of in verse 10. In verse 10, the writer isn’t using a plural word, but is referring to a single individual who rested from His work like God did in creation. Remember how in Deuteronomy 5, they were to keep the Sabbath because of the Exodus. Well, in this text, the writer of Hebrews is applying the Exodus to the finished work of Jesus Christ for sinners. Let’s put it this way, the Old Testament Exodus was a picture of what Christ did for us as He saved us from spiritual slavery to sin.

Finally, what does this mean for us? Verse 9 and 11 tell us that the Sabbath still stands for us today. And that every Sunday we are called to come together for worship to rest from the work of this world because it’s hard and got wired us to need rest.

Therefore, if we refuse His command we are telling God that we know what we need better than He does. Now, there are a few reasons for work on the Lord’s Day such as works of necessity, works of mercy and providential hindrances.

Second, on Sunday’s we gather together to be reminded of the Gospel and how God has saved us from our sins.

Finally, on Sunday’s we gather together to be reminded of the rest that is to come. Hebrews 4 teaches us that Jesus led the Exodus for us and that He has gone ahead of us into the promise land and that as we go through this life as pilgrims, Sunday is set up to remind us of where we are heading.