The Fourth Commandment and the Sabbath Day

The fourth commandment gave the children of Israel a day of rest from their labor. "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. (Exo 20:8)

There are many debates in Christian circles over the sabbath, and I'm not sure at this point whether I should throw my eight cents in. Suffice it to say for now that God made it very clear that this was a covenant between Him and Israel.

Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. (Exo 31:16)

The Bible says that God worked six days and rested on the seventh.

The Bible says that He had created man on the sixth day.

Therefore the day that God rested (His seventh after his six days of creating) was the first day of the week for man, because God had created man the day before He rested.

God's rest on the seventh day was on the first day of man's 'calendar' if you will. If Adam entered into God's rest he would have rested on the first day.

God gave the seventh day rest to the house of Israel as a covenant between the Lord and them, but it is interesting that Christ was risen and appeared to His disciples on the first day of the week. The old priesthood and sacrifice had been superseded by a new priesthood and sacrifice. The old covenant had been superseded by a new covenant. We could now enter into GOD'S REST!

But is God's rest a 24 period the first day of our week? Hardly! Talking of a 24 hour period is missing the point of God's rest. For you see, the day of God's rest never ends! He did not create six days, rest a day, create six days, rest a day. He created six days and entered into an everlasting rest.

Praise the Lord!! The resurrected Christ did not just bring us a new 24 hour period of rest. He brought us an everlasting period of rest. To enter Christ's rest isn't to rest the 24 hours that God rested in the beginning. It is to enter that everlasting rest of God that is ours in Christ.

It is a rest apart from the law. It is a rest of a new heart in God. Just as circumcisionn was performed on the eighth day under the law, Christ was risen on the eighth day (first day of the week), bringing in victory over sin and death. In Christ there is everlasting life and everlasting rest, and you can enter in!!

Yours in Him,

Pastor B.