The Ten Commandments: Commandment 4

Introduction
There are twenty-four hours in a day or 1440 minutes or 86,400 seconds in a day.  What we do with those hours varies from person to person.  Some spend most of their time working a job, going to school, caring for the children, volunteering or work around the house.  For some of us there just doesn’t seem to be enough time in a day to accomplish all that needs to be accomplished.  We are all busy doing one thing or another.  Sometimes I am overwhelmed with all the work I have to do, but honestly working and staying busy comes pretty naturally for me. 
 
Sometimes I feel as though I am too busy, and I do not get the rest I need.  Stephen Covey wrote, “People expect us to be busy and over worked.  It has become a status symbol in our society – if we’re busy, we’re important; if we are not busy then we are embarrassed to admit it.  Busyness is where we get our security.  It’s validating, popular and pleasing.  It’s also a good excuse for not dealing with the first things in our lives.”  This is so true about society today.
   
Now, don’t get the wrong impression that hard work is bad, in fact it is the opposite true.  Work is essential and work is good.  I thank God for the work I am blessed to do.  Because of work I am able to provide for my family and fulfill my God-given call.  Work is a blessing from God.  God established work.  He ordained it in Eden when he placed man and woman in the garden to care for, maintain and inhabit.  I believe work was created to be pleasant, joyful and fulfilling.  The problem with work came with the introduction to sin.

Rest on the other hand is another issue altogether.  Preaching a message about rest is very difficult for me.  Why?  Because I don’t really know how to truly rest.  Rest has almost become a dirty four-letter word.  Unfortunately, some of you are like me and rest does not come very easy… I believe we can’t rest because we don’t want to, BUT because we don’t set aside time for it, value it or tell ourselves resting is a bad thing.  Did you know that rest is one of the key themes of the Bible?  Genesis begins with rest, the Psalmists write about rest, and Jesus talks about entering his rest.  Rest, like work, is a gift from God and today I am going to talk about rest and the Sabbath.
 
We are continuing our series on the Ten Commandments.  For the past few weeks, we have looked at the overall purpose of the ten commandments and I talked about what they were and were not.  The commandments were not given as a means to make us holy and righteous, but instead they were given as a way to reveal our sin nature and our inclination for rebellion against God.  So far, we have looked at the first three commandments and I am going to continue today with Commandment 4. 
 
Ex. 20:8 -11: “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy: 9 You are to labor six days and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. You must not do any work—you, your son or daughter, your male or female servant, your livestock, or the resident alien who is within your city gates. 11 For the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and everything in them in six days; then he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and declared it holy.”
 
Before I delve into the fourth commandment, I think it is important to go back to Genesis and understand what the Sabbath is and then determine why it is important for us today.
 
Genesis 2
Q:  Why do we need rest?  A: Because God modeled rest for us. 
Q:  What is rest?  Is it lying around lazily and doing nothing or is there more to it? 
 
Vs 1, 2:  On the seventh day God’s work was finished.  It was complete.  Everything He set out to do was finished and then we are told He rested.  There is no implication that God dropped everything and went into cruise mode or vegged out for a day.  I like the NET Bibles translation for the word “rested” which is “ceased”.   The Hebrew word for rest is “shabbat” which is where we get the word Sabbath.  I should note, God’s rest was not a result of exhaustion or because he was tired, but it was a ceasing, finishing or completing his work of creation.  On the seventh day God had Sabbath.  This does not mean simply ceasing work just to pick it up again, but it means being satisfied with what He had done and considered these things complete.  So, the real question is, if God rested, shouldn’t we?  God rested on the seventh day, but the author/narrator clearly implies that (humanity), made in the divine image, is expected to copy his Creator.[1]
 
Sabbath – We read about the Sabbath throughout the Old and New Testament.  Sabbath simply means to stop from ordinary work and from your normal activity.  It does not mean to stop all things and lay around mindlessly watching sports, eating junk food and not showering.
 
Exodus 20:8 – 11 gives specific. details about the day of Sabbath. 

1. Remember the Sabbath.  Keep it in your mind, ponder it and observe it.
   
2. Keep it holy.  In Genesis 2:3 God blessed the seventh day and made it holy.  The word holy means to set apart.  The Sabbath is a distinct day (unlike the rest of the week) it is set aside for rest and worship.  If God blessed this day then it should tell us it is important.
   
3. The Sabbath is the day that you rest from your normal work.  Sabbath is not simply inactivity. Instead of ‘producing’ (working and labor) it is a time to consume and enjoy what you’ve produced.

When God rested and set the Sabbath aside, He did not intend to turn Sabbath-keeping into an oppressive rule to keep people from doing anything.   The Sabbath was intended to give true freedom, freedom from turning work into tyranny and freedom to enjoy fellowship with God, our neighbors, and our loved ones.[2]  In short, the Sabbath wasn’t intended to be a burden but was intended to relieve us from burden.
 
Rest:  A Biblical Perspective
So, what does rest look like?  We need not look any further than the Bible.  Before I begin, I want to reiterate that there is a distinct difference between resting and laziness.  The author of Proverbs writes negatively about the person who is lazy and does not work.  In fact, the Bible never talks positively about laziness.  Laziness and rest are clearly two opposing ideas. 
 
In the Psalms rest is synonymous to being still or waiting. 
 
Psalm 46:10 is one of my favorite passages and I think is one of the best passages that defines rest.  “Be still and know that I am God.”  The words “be still” means to cease or stop… Stop those things causing you burden… things like worry, hard labor, frustration, anxiety, planning etc… just stop and trust God.  “Be still” could also be defined as have peace of mind.  Rest have your mind at ease because God is in control. 
 
Psalm 37:7 – “Be still before the Lord and wait…”  Stop!  Wait!  Do not fret (worry).
 
In Luke 10:38 – 42 we are introduced to two sisters Mary and Martha.   The sisters had invited Jesus over to their home.  When Jesus came Mary sat at his feet and listened to His words and teachings.  She was literally resting at the feet of God and basking in His presence.  Martha, her sister, on the other hand was running around the house like a chicken with her head cut off.  She was making sure the house was clean, cooking the meal, setting the table kind of acting like some of you when preparing for guests or a family Thanksgiving dinner.  Eventually Martha had had enough.  She approaches Jesus and says, “Can you see I am killing myself trying to get things ready and my sister, the bum, is just sitting here doing nothing.  Could you please tell her to come help me?”  She thought that maybe Jesus could convince her sister to help around the house a bit.  Do you know what Jesus’ response was?  I can assure you it wasn’t what Martha wanted to hear… Luke 10:41, 42: “The Lord answered her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but one thing is necessary. Mary has made the right choice, and it will not be taken away from her.’” He was saying to Martha, “Stop being a busy body, your sister has chosen what important, spending time with me, and I will not take that away from her.  Life is too short to be concerned with the little things of this world.  Spend your time on things that really matter.”  Now get this.  Jesus was not saying Martha was wrong, he was just letting her know at this very moment of time I am (God himself) here with you so, rest and worship.  We’ll get to the other things (the meal) later, right now… Stop.  Wait.  Rest in the Lord.
 
Matthew 11:28 – 30: Is probably one of the most well-known passages that deals with rest.  Jesus teaches that true rest comes from him.  If you are weary, tired, stressed, exhausted, and overwhelmed with life, then come to Jesus and in him you will find rest.  Jesus says to put our burdens on him and when we do our souls will find rest.  This is a promise for future rest and a promise for rest today.
 
Many of you are stressed, overworked, burdened or full of work related (whatever that work is) anxiety.  Your minds are racing, your heart (spiritual and even physical) is heavy and unhealthy, and you have a hard time ceasing from work activity.  You may be thinking right now, “I wish he would hurry up and conclude because I have a ton of things I have to do today.”  Stop.  Wait. Rest in Lord.
 
Sabbath Today
Since we no longer live under OT rule and law because Jesus came and fulfilled the law, the what does Sabbath look like for us today?  I believe first and foremost we should continue to take a day of rest from our usual work and activity; and the rest should involve worship.  Gathering today together to worship is participation in and observing the Sabbath.  The point of the (Sabbath) day is to “stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another” [3]  Resting in the presence of the Lord through worship, fellowship, prayer and communion is primarily what a Sabbath should look like.  The irony is that we don’t stop working on the Sabbath… Things still need to be done (at home and in the church).  Meals need to be cooked, dishes washed, lawns mowed… Children led during the Sunday School hour, babies need to be watched in the Nursery, music needs to be played etc.  These should not be burdensome, and I understand that sometimes they DO become burdensome.  However, when they do we need to cast that burden on to God and he will give you the strength and joy you need to complete it for his glory.  
 
I conclude with this marvelous quote from Tim Keller who sums up nicely what Sabbath means for us today, “Only Jesus offers you a 'finished work' to rest in. In fact, the very definition of a Christian is not just someone who admires Jesus, emulates Jesus, or obeys Jesus. A Christian is someone who ‘rests in his finished work’ instead of your own. Remember, God was only able to rest in Gen. 2:1-3 because his work was finished. A Christian is someone who knows that it would be quite all right if he or she died tonight. You've already finished your work--everything that actually has to happen within your lifetime has happened. The rest is gravy, icing. Gravy and icing are quite tasty, of course--but not absolutely necessary.” 
 
Because of Jesus our work is finished.  We can rest today because of the finished work of Jesus.  And yes, we also labor and toil day after day but our final rest… our eternal rest is found in Jesus and I can rest in that.
 
[1] New Bible commentary: 21st century edition. 1994 (D. A. Carson, R. T. France, J. A. Motyer & G. J. Wenham, Ed.) (4th ed.) (Ge 2:1–3). Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press.

[2] Radmacher, E. D., Allen, R. B., & House, H. W. (1999). Nelson’s new illustrated Bible commentary (Ge 2:1). Nashville: T. Nelson Publishers.

[3] Radmacher, E. D., Allen, R. B., & House, H. W. (1999). Nelson’s new illustrated Bible commentary (Ge 2:1). Nashville: T. Nelson Publishers.