Hebrews 4:4

Hebrews 4:4

The seventh day

In Genesis 2:2-3 we read, “By the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing; so on the seventh day He rested from all His work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it He rested from all the work of creating that He had done.” We all know how this “rest day” was built into the 10 Commandments where we are told to “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.” Exodus 20:8. 

Here in the UK, some of us grew up in a culture that was regarded as Christian and where the “Sabbath Day” or Sunday was still a day-off for most people. Shops and businesses were closed, traffic was light, churches and chapels were well attended, Sunday afternoons were for children’s Sunday School. A law allowing Sunday trading for smaller businesses was passed in 1986 and expanded to include all business in 1994. Gradually, entertainment and sport followed suit, so that today it is impossible to make any distinction between the “Sabbath” and all other days of the week. The people who religiously cling to a “rest day” are Jews and Muslims. Have we gained a lot from having an extra day available for work? Are we better off? Do we benefit from occupying ourselves with anything other than spending time with those who wish to worship God? I personally do not see any changes for the better in our culture; in fact, the opposite has occurred. 

It seems that we all need to take this verse of Hebrews seriously, Sabbath observance is not just a peculiarity of the Jewish law from which we 21st Century Christians are excused. The Law simply reinforced what God had already put in place centuries before, that all human beings need to stop their work and business at least one day of the week just as He did. If God rested from His labours, do we not also need to rest from ours? And do we no longer need to set aside time for Him? This need for rest is a fundamental principle that is an important factor in the creation account. It was established long before the Law enforced it. There is nothing in Scripture that tells us that this no longer applies. The wider spiritual implications will be explored further in the next verse. 

 

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