Fourth Love Commandment

4. Remember the Sabbath Day

“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.” (Exodus 20:8-11)

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God’s 7 Day / 7000 Year Plan

The 4th love commandment is an AMAZING commandment because contained in its decree is actually God’s master TIME plan for planet Earth. So not only is this commandment yet another wonderful way for us to demonstrate our love towards God, but when we keep it we are actually paying homage to — whether we know it or not! — God’s incredible time plan for planet Earth. Let’s take a look.

In creating the world, God utilized 6 days; then He followed up those 6 days of work with a day of rest — known as the blessed & holy 7th day, or simply the Sabbath. Now none of this numbering was by accident! See God could have created the world in 0 days, 1 day, 2 days, or however many days He wanted too, but He PURPOSELY chose to use 7 days for the Creation “event” in order to be able to:

“Declare the end from the beginning.” (Isaiah 46:10)

Specifically, His use of 7 days prophesied planet Earth would go through 7 equal-in-length periods of time. Later in His Word, God revealed the length of those time periods was to be a thousand solar years (1,000 trips of Earth around the sun). Therefore, EACH of the 7 days in the Creation story foretold of a 1,000 year period on Earth:

“But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that ONE DAY is with the Lord as a THOUSAND YEARS, and a THOUSAND YEARS as ONE DAY.” (II Peter 3:8)

Thus, God’s Master Time Plan for planet Earth (counted from Creation) was/is to be a total of 7,000 solar years in duration.

Sabbath Day Foretells Christ’s Millennium

But this wasn’t all God foretold about His plan for planet Earth through the Creation narrative, for the manner in which he “worked (or labored)” to create the world in 6 days followed by a 7th day of rest prophesied mankind would also “work (or labor)” under sin’s curse for 6 days (or 6,000 years) followed by a 7th day (or 1,000 year) Sabbath rest.

Later in His Word, God confirmed all of this by revealing when Jesus Christ returns to planet Earth in the clouds (during Earth’s 6,000 year) he will lock up Satan the deceiver and set up a 1,000 year Sabbath reign on Earth, where peace, love, and rest will prevail among the saints:

“And they (the resurrected saints) lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.” (Revelation 20:4)

THIS is truly what the Sabbath Day in God’s 7 day Creation story represents! It is a picture of Christ’s soon-coming glorious MILLENNIAL Earthly kingdom!

Weekly Cycle Unbroken

So think about this … all throughout mankind’s history, every 7 day week that passed was actually a mini picture of God’s complete, overall, master TIME plan for planet Earth. Isn’t that AMAZING? Isn’t that FASCINATING? And friend, it’s still going on today!!!

The weekly cycle has never gotten out of sync since the beginning of time! So every week that passes you have an opportunity to rest on God’s 7th day Sabbath (from sundown Friday till sundown Saturday) in honor and recognition of Jesus Christ’s soon-coming Earthly kingdom!

And NOW you know the momentous significance behind keeping God’s 4th love commandment. Truly, what a pleasure and privilege it is to observe the Sabbath day each week, for it is a foretaste of the coming “Day (or millennium) of the Lord”!

Root of Disobedience = Pride

But here’s the sad truth … people who become prideful, or self-centered, by making themselves god of their own life (disobey the 1st love commandment); who then fuel that pride by idolizing the materialistic world, greedily laboring and working daily to amass more and more money & dirt possessions (disobey the 2nd love commandment) … almost always do NOT want to take a day off each week to honor God. Do you understand?

That is nothing but a downer to them. They are busy with their own life, working and making money to fuel their ego; and they have no time for God. And so the sin-dominoes just keep falling in their life, as they willingly work right on through God’s Holy Sabbath day each week, proving God’s will is NOT their will.

The Sabbath Is A Test

So obeying the 4th love commandment by “keeping the Sabbath day holy” is really a test from God. He uses it to discover who TRULY loves Him or who hates Him. He uses it to find out who will humble themselves and make Him first in their life, honoring HIS will and plans, or who just loves themselves and only wants to honor their own will and plans.

The Sabbath Should Be Fun

Listen, the Sabbath should not be a day of drudgery! If it is, then something is wrong in your heart. It should be a joyous occasion! It should be a day full of happiness, love, and peace.

The Sabbath is a day to rest and not work. You should look forward to the Sabbath day each week, for it pictures the glorious time on Earth when the saints will no longer struggle and labor under sin’s curse.

Made for All Mankind

Jesus said:

“The Sabbath was made for man.” (Mark 2:27)

See, the Sabbath commandment was not just for the Jews, it’s for ALL mankind, as are ALL of God’s 10LC.

Conclusion

So don’t defile the Sabbath day, but do good. Don’t profane it, but delight yourself in the Lord! Take it easy on that day. Rest up. Read God’s Word. Get to know your heavenly Father. Take a nature walk. Smell the roses. Breathe. Enjoy it. THAT is what the 4th love commandment is all about!

How to Remember the Commandments