Sunday’s Blessing – 05/04/2025 – The Sabbath

Sunday’s Blessing – 05/04/2025 – The Sabbath

I’ve begun a study looking into the sabbath. It has been very enlightening, and I feel I’ve just scratched the surface. Consider the first mention of the actual sabbath. It came as part of the giving of the Law of Moses, represented by the ten commandments listed in Exodus. You are probably familiar with them, but let’s take a fresh look:

And God spoke all these words, saying,

I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

1. You shall have no other gods before me.

2. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, 6but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

3. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

4. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, 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, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. 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.

5. Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

6. You shall not murder.

7. You shall not commit adultery.

8. You shall not steal.

9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

10. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s. Exodus 20:1-17 (ESV) 

Look at them again. Do you notice anything about #4? It’s the longest one given. God spends more time describing the Sabbath than He does about murder!! Does that not seem odd to you? Yet, if you asked 100 people I would venture to say that 99 of them would think murder was much worse than not keeping the Sabbath. But that’s not the end of the story. Later in the book of Exodus, God approaches Moses with this exhortation:

And the Lord said to Moses, “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. You shall keep the Sabbath, because it is holy for you. Everyone who profanes it shall be put to death. Whoever does any work on it, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day shall be put to death. Therefore the people of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, observing the Sabbath throughout their generations, as a covenant forever. It is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.’” Exodus 31:12-17 (ESV)

Did you see that? “Above all you shall keep my Sabbaths.”

Then, after spending 40 years in the wilderness, and after an entire generation had died, Moses gave the Law to Israel again. The word Deuteronomy means, “Second Law.” Here in the last book of the Pentateuch, Moses has this to say:

Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 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. 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. Deuteronomy 5:12-15 (ESV)

He spends even more time describing the 4th Law. He says all of this about the Sabbath, then continues with, “Do not steal. Do not commit adultery. Do not murder. …” Clearly, God has a message for His people about the Sabbath. I hope you read this blog for the next few weeks as we explore why the sabbath is so important.

Now for this week’s blessing:

May the Lord of the Sabbath grant you peace and rest

So you may find strength for tomorrow

In order to be a testimony of God’s grace and mercy 

By your ability to rest in your trust of the Father

May you learn from the Lord to work when it’s time and rest when it’s time

So you may complete the necessary things in your life

And find the courage to rest, even in the midst of turmoil or chaos

Until you are confident that God’s rest is the best place to live

May you receive a sabbath mindset which will become your path in pursuit of God

Because God is a God of process, set in motion by Himself

When He created the world and everything in it in six days, then He rested

Showing you how to establish things in the beginning and not fear the outcome 

And Rest