God's Holy Day

Announcements

1 Monthly Fellowship Meal this Wednesday

2 Men’s and Ladies’ Bible Studies start this Wednesday

3 Next Wednesday is Business Meeting

4 OCC (Nicole)

Reading: Deuteronomy 5:12-15

Deuteronomy 5:12–15 ESV

12 “ ‘Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. 13 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 14 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant, or your ox or your donkey or any of your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. 15 You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.

Pray

The first three commandments focus on God. Number one is the call to exclusive covenant loyalty - we are to worship only God. Number two is the call to proper worship - we are to worship God his way, with no idols or false impressions of him. Number three is a call to carry God’s name in a worthy way. Now we come to the fourth commandment: the command to observe the Sabbath.

Before we can examine what the Sabbath reveals about God, and what this command requires of us, we need to first figure out what Sabbath actually is. Is it just one day out of seven to take off work? Is it a day that should be radically different, such as in dry counties where no alcohol is sold or where shops and stores are closed by edict? Is it nothing important at all - something that is a relic of a by-gone era? Is it a Jewish-thing with no import to the NT church, or is it prescriptive for us as Christians?

What Is the Sabbath?

The Sabbath Is a Day of Rest

Genesis 2:2–3 ESV

2 And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.

Exodus 20:11 ESV

11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

The Sabbath Is a Day of Redemption

Deuteronomy 5:15 ESV

15 You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.

What Does the Fourth Commandment Reveal about God?

God Relieves His People

Psalm 23:2–3 ESV

2 He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. 3 He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

Hebrews 4:9–10 ESV

9 So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, 10 for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.

Gathering Manna and the Sabbath in Exodus 16:22-30.

God Redeems His People

Deuteronomy 5:15 ESV

15 You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.

God Sanctifies His People

Exodus 31:13 ESV

13 “You are to speak to the people of Israel and say, ‘Above all you shall keep my Sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the Lord, sanctify you.

Ezekiel 20:11–12 ESV

11 I gave them my statutes and made known to them my rules, by which, if a person does them, he shall live. 12 Moreover, I gave them my Sabbaths, as a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them.

What Does the Fourth Commandment Require of Us?

We Must Rest from Our Labors

Deuteronomy 5:12–14 ESV

12 “ ‘Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. 13 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 14 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant, or your ox or your donkey or any of your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you.

Leviticus 23:3 ESV

3 “Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work. It is a Sabbath to the Lord in all your dwelling places.

Psalm 46:10 ESV

10 “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”

Matthew 11:28–30 ESV

28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

We Must Remember and Rejoice in His Salvation

Isaiah 58:13–14 ESV

13 “If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the Lord honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly; 14 then you shall take delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

We Must Maintain the Holiness of the Sabbath

Exodus 20:8 ESV

8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

Luke 13:15–16 ESV

15 Then the Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger and lead it away to water it? 16 And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?”