This week, I am thinking about and reflecting on the Ten Commandments. Our women’s Bible study is working through Exodus, and we are sitting with Exodus 20 for a couple of weeks. If you want to read the previous posts on the first three commandments, here are the links:
Serve Him Only … about the first two commandments
Remembering Whose We Are … about the 3rd commandment
#4
“Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God. On that day no one in your household may do any work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your livestock, and any foreigners living among you. For in six days the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.”
Exodus 20:8-11 NLT
Jesus and His disciples lived in a society that observed the Sabbath. When we read about confrontations with the Pharisees, Jesus instructs them how to observe it well – not whether or not they should observe it. But when we get to the “church age,” the Apostle Paul writes,
So don’t let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths. For these rules are only shadows of the reality yet to come. And Christ himself is that reality.
Colossians 2:16-17 NLT
Application?
So, how does the fourth commandment apply to us if we are no longer compelled by law to remember to observe the Sabbath day?
Thank God for the Shadow
First, notice what the Apostle Paul said to the Colossians. The Sabbath was a shadow, and Jesus Himself is the reality.
How is Jesus our Sabbath rest?
The picture of the Sabbath begins when God “rested” after creation. God was not tired. He did not take a nap. Instead, His creative work was sufficient, good even, and complete. He instituted a regular cessation of labor for the Israelites to model that God is the provider, that His work on their behalf was sufficient, good even, and complete!
Then Jesus!! He bore our sins on the cross. His work on our behalf is sufficient, good even, and complete. In His words, “It is finished!” There is no work for us to do – our salvation is complete in Him. He is the perfect provision. Jesus fulfills the need for the Sabbath, even embodies the Sabbath.
“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God”
2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV
Jesus is our Sabbath rest. N.T. Wright, in his book, Simply Jesus, writes, “If Jesus is a walking, living, breathing Temple, he is also the walking, celebrating, victorious sabbath.”
A Theology of Rest
>>Genesis
Second, I think it’s important to recognize that the theology of rest is key throughout Scripture. In Genesis 2:15, Young’s Literal Translation says, “And Jehovah God taketh the man, and causeth him to rest in the garden of Eden, to serve it, and to keep it.” God settled Adam and Eve in the garden, establishing a place of rest – harmonious, happy, and peaceful. They were at one with God and their environment. Here “rest” was not cessation of work because God told them to tend the garden, but it was sanctuary.
>>Exodus
In Exodus, we see God instructing the newly born nation that He will provide for them. He teaches them to gather enough for two days to rest on one day each week. God specifies that the Sabbath is a gift to the people.
“They must realize that the Sabbath is the Lord’s gift to you. That is why he gives you a two-day supply on the sixth day, so there will be enough for two days. On the Sabbath day you must each stay in your place. Do not go out to pick up food on the seventh day.”
Exodus 16:29 NLT
The lesson is that the Sabbath is about trust … believing, following, obeying God … and realizing that He supplies every need.
The Exodus story continues, the people grumble, and Moses questions God. In Exodus 33:14, God promises to give the people rest. He didn’t mean He would pamper them, put them to bed, give them naps. Instead, He meant He would provide for them – completely.
“And I will give you rest.” Rest means the perfection of motion. “I will give you rest,” that is, “I will stay you.” Not—“I will put you to bed and hold your hand and sing you to sleep”; but—“I will get you out of bed, out of the languor and exhaustion, out of being half dead while you are alive; I will so imbue you with the spirit of life that you will be stayed by the perfection of vital activity.” It is not a picture of an invalid in a bath chair, but of life at such a pitch of health that everything is at rest, there is no exhaustion without recuperation.
Oswald Chambers
>>Joshua
The story is long, but if we jump to Joshua’s account, we know that God gave Israel all the land He had sworn to give to their fathers. And He gave them REST on every side! God gave all their enemies into their hands (Joshua 21).
Rest is the blessing of trusting completely in God’s finished work … being in God’s presence, worshipping Him and Him only, being obedient to His word. His divine presence is the source of rest! Philippians 1:6 says He who has begun a good work in you will complete it! We can TRUST Him!
>>Isaiah
One more bit of the story about rest … Isaiah records this amazing prophecy: “In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious” Isaiah 11:10 ESV. That root … Jesus … HIS resting place will be glorious!
>>Matthew
Remember how Matthew records Jesus’ invitation to us all?
Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”
Matthew 11:28-30 NLT
When we are yoked with Jesus, walking in step with the Spirit, we have rest for our anxious souls because we realize that Jesus has given us everything we need for life and godliness. There is no fear or worry because we have been chosen, justified, and glorified. We are held in His right hand. We know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to his purpose. AND nothing, nothing at all, can separate us from the love of God. Shouting ground, here – Hallelujah! When our hearts grasp these truths, our strivings cease, and we rest in God.
There’s more about the theology of rest … but suffice it to say, Jesus is our Sabbath rest. Belief leads to rest (Hebrews 4:3). Obeying God’s will in faith brings rest to us.
Don’t Neglect to Meet Together
Lastly, we are commanded to worship, to gather together in worship. The author of Hebrews encourages us not to neglect meeting together. For some, that satisfies the remembering of a holy day, a weekly reminder that we set aside time for worship and rest. Most Christian churches don’t meet on the “sabbath”; instead, we meet on the first day of the week to celebrate the resurrection.
And of course, no one would argue that rest itself is insignificant. Sabbath rest is found in Christ alone. And that Sabbath rest also affects our physical, emotional, and mental rest. Still, taking time for quiet meditation, prayer, Bible reading, praise, and worship … all of these aid us in rest.
Summary
Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy might be rewritten for the believer as, “Remember and celebrate that Jesus is your Sabbath rest.”
Prayer
Father, You who rested on the seventh day,
And established a rhythm of work and rest
For your people, teach us to find our rest in You.
May we walk in step with the Spirit, not tugging
The yoke askew but instead allowing our Savior
To lead, guide, direct each day. May we lay
Our burdens down, with open hands accepting
From You the circumstances of our days,
Knowing that You are our complete provision.
Amen.
Wonderful words of peace and rest!