The Fourth Commandment

“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Exodus 20:8) Torah




 Shabbat begins at sunset on Friday evening and ends Saturday night when three stars are          visible in the sky (25 hours). On Shabbat we remember that God created the world and   then rested from His labors.


  The word shabbat ("Sabbath") is clearly connected to the verb shavat, meaning "to cease, desist, rest." The root first appears in Genesis 2:2-3 regarding God’s creative activity:  And He ceased on the seventh day from all the work that He had done. And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy,because on it God ceased from all the work of creation that He had done.    (Torah  Exodus 20:8-11) 



         

On the seventh day of creation, God ceased (shevat) from His melakhah (creative activity), and blessed that time by setting it apart (i.e., called it "holy" (kadosh) as a memorial of the work of His hands. The seventh day, then, first of all celebrates God’s role as Creator of the universe. (Torah) The word holy day (Feiertag) is rendered from the Hebrew word sabbath which properly signifies to rest, that is, to abstain from labor. Hence we are accustomed to say, Feierbend machen [that is, to cease working], or heiligen Abend geben [sanctify the Sabbath]. Now, in the Torah God separated the seventh day, and appointed it for rest, and commanded that it should be regarded as holy above all others. As regards this external observance, this commandment was given to the Jews alone, that they should abstain from toilsome work, and rest, so that both man and beast might recuperate, and not be weakened by unremitting labor.

Please understand that the Sabbath day was established for the children of Israel , It is their day of rest and it is on Saturday. For our Sabbath is the first day of the week which is Sunday, because Christ arouse on Sunday thus Christians call His rebirth their sabbath, the day that we give honor to God because as Christ rose so did we also rise from death for we were dead because of our sins.

Therefore this is the simple meaning of the commandment: Such observance should be devoted to hearing God's Word, so that the special function of this day should be the ministry of the Word for the young and the mass of poor people, yet that the resting be not so strictly interpreted as to forbid any other incidental work that cannot be avoided.

 Christians ought always to keep such a holy day, and be occupied with nothing but holy things, daily be engaged upon God's Word, and carry it in our hearts and upon our lips. But (as has been said) since we do not at all times have leisure, we must devote several hours a week for the sake of the young, or at least a day for the sake of the entire multitude, to being concerned about this alone, and especially urge the Ten Commandments, the Creed, and the Lord's Prayer, and thus direct our whole life and being according to God's Word. At whatever time, then, this is being observed and practised, there a true holy day is being kept; otherwise it shall not be called a Christians' holy day. For, indeed, non-Christians can also cease from work and be idle, just as the entire swarm of our ecclesiastics, who stand daily in the churches, singing, and ringing bells but keeping no holy day holy, because they neither preach nor practises God's Word, but teach and live contrary to it.

“The sabbath was made for man.” Of course, when it is said that it was made, there is but one meaning, namely, that God made it. It is not a device of human expediency or utility. It is a divine creation. It is God’s day.  We know that the Sabbath institution existed prior to the promulgation of it at Sinai. So the making of it referred to by our Lord cannot reasonably refer simply to the giving of the law at Sinai. And since we must go back to something that antedates Sinai, what is there that more naturally or perfectly suits the allusion than that referred to in Genesis 2:2-3.  We see that in Genesis what happened  when God had completed His work the Torah tells us that he rested on the seventh day from all His work.  The Torah tells us that God sanctify the seventh day  because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.

If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the LORD's holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, then you will find your joy in the LORD, and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob." The mouth of the LORD has spoken. (Isaiah 58:13-14)

The Sabbath is our testimony that God alone is the Creator of the universe.  He is the Master of time and has decreed that we remember the seventh day, Shabbat, as a memorial of His creation.  Shabbat is a day of blessing wherein a “double portion” of heavenly food is provided (Ex. 16:22) and represents a foretaste of olam haba, the world to come.

Side Note: It is sometimes argued that the Sabbath was given to Israel when the Torah was revealed to Israel at Sinai, and therefore has no applicability to the Church today. This is incorrect for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that Abraham himself was said to have observed all of the mitzvot (commandments), chukkim (ordinances) and torah (law) of the LORD before it was revealed to Moses ( Gen. 26:5). Indeed, given Abraham’s unique calling, we can be sure that he recognized God alone as Creator and celebrated that fact by remembering God’s Sabbath day.