One of American’s defining characteristics is its rugged individualism. Autonomous individuals often recoil at the thought of submitting to authority. Yet such individualism, or self-rule, is at odds with a prominent teaching of Scripture to submit to the authority of God and the authorities whom he appoints. Submitting to authority is the primary focus of the fifth commandment.
– J. V. Fesko in The Rule of Love
We must honor God not only by our loyalty (first commandment) and thought-life (second commandment) and words (third commandment), but also by our use of time, in a rhythm of toil and rest; six days for work crowned by one day for worship. God’s claim on our Sabbaths reminds us that all our time is his gift, to be given back to him and used for him.
– J. I. Packer in Growing in Christ
In Exodus 20, the fourth commandment required Israel to take a Sabbath rest on the seventh day of each week. This pattern was established by God as he rested on the seventh day from his work of creation. And so while the command is indeed part of the Mosaic Covenant, it is also a pattern built into the very framework of creation.
In Deuteronomy 5, a different reason was given for keeping the Sabbath. God reminded them that they were slaves in Egypt, but God had saved them out of their slavery. And so everyone (even the animals!) ought to enjoy and celebrate this new freedom by resting on the Sabbath. Here was a great blessing for everyone to enjoy!
And yet, by Jesus’ day, the Sabbath had become a burden with a myriad of man-made rules attached to it. And so Jesus teaches us further about the Sabbath in Matthew 12:5-14. He makes clear that acts of ministry (like priests offering sacrifices) can be part of the Sabbath. He demonstrates that acts of mercy (like Jesus healing people) can be part of observing the Sabbath. And acts of necessity (like getting a sheep out of a pit) are also acceptable on the Sabbath. In other words, while it is a day of rest and worship, we can do good things for other people (and animals) on this day. Again it was to be a day of blessing!
Many Christians these day have lost sight of the Sabbath, and so have lost out on a great blessing. Some Christians argue that this command is only for Israel, and has no place today. Some claim that since this command is not repeated in the New Testament, that it is not applicable to us. But here in Matthew 12, and indeed scattered throughout the gospels, we find Jesus teaching about the Sabbath. Apparently the gospel writers believed Christians needed to be instructed on the Sabbath. If it does not apply to us, why include it in the gospels when there is so much Jesus must have said and did that we know nothing about?
And in Matthew 12, we are told that Jesus is the lord of the Sabbath. The Lord we follow is lord of the Sabbath, which strongly suggests we ought to follow him in keeping it. And in Mark 2:27, we are told that the Sabbath was made for man – again it is a blessing designed for people!
While the Sabbath command remains, its application changes under the New Covenant. Because Jesus rose from the dead on the first day of the week, the church quickly started meeting for worship on that day (Acts 20:7, I Corinthians 16:2) instead of the seventh day. Instead of remembering creation and salvation from Egypt, now we remember Jesus’ work of re-creation and salvation from sins through the cross and resurrection. And so the early church celebrated our salvation through the Lord’s Supper (Acts 20:7), did acts of ministry like teaching (Acts 20:7), and also acts of mercy like giving (I Corinthians 16:2) – all on the first day of the week.
My purpose here is not only to encourage you to rethink the fourth commandment’s application for today, but even more to encourage you to consider what a blessing it would be for all of us to follow it whether it is required or not.
The Sabbath is a command, but it is also a gift. A day of worship and rest. A day of delight and joy.
A day of blessing.
What does the fourth commandment mean for the Christian? Like the Israelites, we are made in the image of a working, resting God. We still need to work, we still need to rest, and we can still receive the creation blessing of God’s holy day.
– Philip Graham Ryken in Written in Stone
How many people in the church,
which bears the name of Christ,
violate the third commandment
by allowing their misconduct
to bring reproach upon the name of Christ?
– J.V. Fesko in The Rule of Love
The Third Commandment tells us to not take the name of God in vain – to not misuse his name. There are several ways that we can use God’s name in the wrong way, which we must not do:
First, we must not use his name in an oath and then not keep our oath (Leviticus 19:12). In our day that could apply to testifying in court or to our marriage vows before God.
Second, we must not use his name offering praise to him with our lips while our hearts are far from him (Isaiah 29:13). As we praise God’s name, our praise must be true – not just empty words.
Third, we must not put words in God’s mouth (Jeremiah 23:31). We ought not claim that God said something that he did not say. The other day I heard a local radio station tell us that “Jesus says” – and then go on to read from a bestselling book. But Jesus didn’t say those words, and so that is a misuse of his name.
Fourth, we must not use God’s name with contempt – speaking of God with scorn or ridicule or hatred.
Fifth, we must not use God’s name as a swear word. “Oh my God” should be reserved for our prayers, not as an empty utterance.
Sixth, we must not use God’s name in a flippant empty manner. For instance, when we say “God bless you” – do we mean it, or are we just throwing his name around?
Seventh, we must not use God’s name as a joke. Christians like to tell “Christian” jokes, but God must not be the punch line – God’s name is not a joking matter.
All of these ways that we misuse God’s name ought to make clear the positive requirement of the command. We must use God’s name with reverence and awe. He is a great and glorious God, and we must treat him as such. May God help us to honor his name.
The positive thrust of the Third Commandment against the misuse of God’s name is a powerful admonition to make every effort to reverence His name.
– R. Kent Hughes in Disciplines of Grace
In the Second Commandment (Exodus 20:4-6), God commands us not to make for ourselves any graven or carved images of God. Why? Here are nine reasons:
First, God is the Creator, and so transcends his creation. Any visual image we could make is created, and could never fully represent the Creator God.
Second, God is Spirit, and so he doesn’t have a physical body. Any visual image we could make would be physical, and so misrepresent God.
Third, God is jealous (v5). God doesn’t want us creating false images of him, any more than a wife wants her husband to create false images of her. We must love God as he is.
Fourth, God is loving (v6). God loves us and we ought to respond by loving Him, not a false image of Him.
Fifth, God is omnipresent. Any image we could make would localize him in a specific place.
Sixth, God is glorious. No image could do justice to his glory, but would rather obscure his glory.
Seventh, God is sovereign. An image can be manipulated, but God cannot.
Eighth, God created us in his image. When we create an image of God, we make him in our image according to our biases. This flips the order of creation upside down.
Ninth, God is holy. When we create false images of God, we will follow those false images, which will inevitably lead us to sin. Or put another way: what we believe about God influences our behavior, and wrong views of God will influence our behavior in the wrong direction.
The problem with images is that they tend to do whatever we want them to, whether they should be doing it or not. And so, images are very different from the God we worship. God can’t be manipulated by human beings as if he were a puppet on a string.
– Anthony Tomasino in Written upon the Heart
Imagination is a wonderful gift, but when we use it to conjure up our own image of God it leads us astray. It is quite common to hear people say, “I like to think of God as…” and then add whatever picture they have in mind. The problem is that our view of God is to be defined by His revelation of Himself in the Bible, and when we conceive of Him apart from that, it will be misleading at best. Anything we imagine will be inevitably less than God, and when that which is less than God is used to portray God, we are led quickly to blasphemy and idolatry.
– Alistair Begg in Pathway to Freedom
Brian J. Mikul 