Heidelcast 82: The Holy Law Of God (6)—The Fourth Commandment

That there is a Sabbath is evident in the first chapter in God’s Word. According to Scripture, Almighty God “worked” for six days, six mornings and evenings, and rested the seventh. Have you ever stopped to wonder why Scripture says that God “rested”? Was he tired? No. The God of Scripture is not a projection of human personality into the cosmos and he’s not a pagan Greco-Roman deity. The Lord was setting a pattern for us. That’s the teaching of Exodus 20:8. The Lord “worked,” as it were, six days and rested one. That pattern is built into creation, into the nature of things. It was instituted even before the fall. It was instituted before Moses. The Sabbath pattern, the 6 and 1 pattern, existed long before the 613 Mosaic commandments. That’s why the Lord referred to it at Sinai, in the 10 commandments. The fourth commandment is grounded in creation. All humans should observe the creational 6 and 1 pattern in the same way that all humans should observe the laws against idolatry, against abusing God’s name, in the way they should observe the law respecting authority, against sexual immorality, against theft, against lying, and against coveting what isn’t yours. The Sabbath pattern is just as permanent, just as built into the nature of things, the way things are; it’s just as universal as they are. It’s also confessed by the Reformed and Presbyterian churches as an essential part of theology, piety, and practice.

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