Imagine If All Kept the 4th Commandment!

Imagine a world where everyone observes the fourth commandment. Before we think about this, I would like to review the first three commandments; in the first commandment, we learn not to substitute another god for the true God.

The second commandment is to worship God directly and not view God through images or physical objects.

The third commandment is not to use a name that reflects the character and authority of Almighty God in vain. 

The fourth commandment completes the first section of the Ten Commandments that directs our attention to our relationship with the Eternal and Creator God. Jesus summed up these first four this way, to Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.' (Mark 12:30-31, NKJV)

Let's focus now on the Sabbath, the fourth commandment from Exodus 20:8-11.

8 "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

This is the longest commandment of the Ten and it begins with two focus instructions.  Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.

The command to keep the 7th day of the week is expressed by remembering it, meaning the Sabbath was established and set in place by God in the re-creation week.   Let's review God establishing the Sabbath in the 2nd chapter of Genesis.

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. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made. (Gen 2:2-3, NKJV)

From the beginning, we see God resting on the 7th day and blessing and sanctifying the 7th day of the week, which begins at sunset as the 6th day of the week ends.

We know from John chapter 1 verse 3 that all things were made through Jesus Christ, which is how we understand the significance of Jesus stating in Mark chapter 2 verses 27 and 28 that "the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.  Therefore, the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath."

Jesus created the Sabbath so that mankind could rest from daily responsibilities. One would think this would be the most embraced command, yet it is the command that is widely ignored by most. 

Think about a loving creator who made man and made the Sabbath so there could be a weekly rest from the daily work and toil of life and time to direct our attention toward God. What a blessing it would be to mankind if the Sabbath were universally observed today.

Let's imagine the blessing of this if everyone remembered the Sabbath and kept it holy.  First, the hustle and bustle of each day would dramatically pause as the sunset at the end of the sixth day, allowing everyone a day for their minds and bodies to relax and reset. There have been studies conducted on the benefits to those who observe the sabbath, which includes improved health, lower stress, mental and physical rejuvenation leading to higher productivity, and most importantly, a deeper relationship with God.1,2,3,4

Of course, those of us who keep the Sabbath know the benefits of a day of rest focusing on God, but imagine the benefits of an entire society with less anxiety, illness, and more energy, resulting in more productivity. 

The spiritual emphasis on keeping the day holy would be a weekly focus on the relationship with God that would have positive effects as an entire population shared the understanding that a loving God wanted His creation to have a weekly rest and to share His way so all could have Life more abundantly.

This is a time we can only imagine, but there is a future reality coming in the 1,000-year reign of Christ. The Lord of the Sabbath will reign on earth, and all will have life more abundantly as they see the ways of God lead to wonderful blessings beyond anything imagined or experienced.

I hope these words renew your appreciation for God's fourth commandment and wisdom in creating the Sabbath. God set the example by resting after six days of work and blessing and sanctifying the seventh day.

Have a fantastic sabbath with the abundant physical and spiritual blessings God gives us through His Sabbath.

William M. Bradford - Beloit, Chicago and NWI UCG Congregations
 

1https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4623&context=doctoral

2 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10943-019-00799-6

3 https://www.nami.org/complimentary-health-approaches/mental-health-in-the-workplace-the-value-of-rest/

4 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30972608/#full-view-affiliation-2

Video Version of Message Link below:

https://youtu.be/S48q3_ZNDXw