The Bible’s Fourth Commandment

The Bible’s Fourth Commandment says “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of Yahweh your Elohim. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days Yahweh made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore Yahweh blessed the seventh day and hallowed it” (Exodus 20:8-11). Of course, most people will immediately ask: Why is setting apart the seventh day (Saturday) so important? How will our relationship with our Father in heaven Yahweh benefit any more by observing this particular day rather than any other day we might choose? Isn’t this only a symbolic commandment, one that is never meant to be taken seriously? Today we’re going to share with you the real essence and the true importance of this Commandment. As always, we will let the Bible interpret itself and ask Yahweh’s Holy Spirit to give us guidance and wisdom as we discuss this very important topic. May you have the eyes to see and the ears to hear for this heavenly message.

Before we go on any further, let’s keep this truth straight: As days in the Bible are reckoned from sunset to sunset (Leviticus 23:32), the Sabbath begins at sunset Friday evening and ends at sunset Saturday evening. But how is it that many people don’t know about this amazing fact? Why is the correct day of the biblical Sabbath so frequently ignored, attacked and explained away by so many? Could it be that the challenges to the Sabbath command are views generated by Satan the devil, the unseen ruler of this present evil world? After all, Satan the great deceiver wants us to accept his views because he hates Yahweh’s Law. He is doing all he can to influence people to ignore, avoid or reason their way around it. As Satan is the real “god of this age” (2 Corinthians 4:4), he has deceived most of humankind (Revelation 12:9). The whole world falls prey to his influence (1 John 5:19). Yes, Satan’s objective has always been to destroy the relationship between the true Elohim and humanity. Satan wants nothing more than to thwart all the people from developing a loving, personal relationship with their Creator Yahweh—that being the purpose of the Fourth Commandment. Satan wants to prevent us all from becoming Father Yahweh’s family!

In Exodus 31, Almighty Yahweh links the Sabbath with His creative acts and the redemption of Israel and, in this light, emphasizes the critical importance of keeping the biblical Sabbath. And Yahweh said to Moses, “You are to speak to the people of Israel and say, “Above all you shall keep My Sabbath, for this is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, Yahweh, sanctify you. You shall keep the Sabbath, because it is holy for you. Everyone who profanes it shall be put to death. Whoever does any work on it, that soul shall be cut off from among the people. Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to Yahweh. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day shall be put to death. Therefore the people of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, observing the Sabbath throughout their generations, as a covenant forever. It is a sign forever between Me and the people of Israel that in six days Yahweh made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed” (Exodus 31:12-17). Listen! The expression “Above all” emphasizes the importance of keeping the seventh day holy, and the death sentence for breaking it shows the gravity of this sin!

Furthermore, here’s another amazing biblical truth: The Savior of mankind Yahshua and His original apostles kept the Sabbath! What does Savior Yahshua’s personal example teach us about Sabbath observance? “So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read” (Luke 4:16). Yahshua used the Sabbath for their intended purpose—to help people develop a personal relationship with their Creator! After Yahshua’s death and resurrection, His apostles followed His example in their observance of the Sabbath day. The apostle Paul observed the Sabbath. “Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures” (Acts 17:2). And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded both Jews and Greeks” (Acts 18:4). The thousands of Jewish believers at Jerusalem were “zealous for the Law” (Acts 21:20). They were biblical Sabbath-keepers. Today, however, most religious people who profess to follow Yahshua the Messiah do not follow the example set by Him and His apostles. Most fail to realize that the rejection of the seventh day Sabbath as the biblical day of worship did not start until almost 300 years after Yahshua’s ministry on earth! But who changed the Sabbath day worship?

In A.D. 321 Constantine declared Sunday, a day consecrated in honor of the pagan sun god, to be the official day of rest in the Roman Empire, making it the worship day of choice for the church assemblies! The substitution of Sunday for the Sabbath took hold largely through a political decision made by the Roman Emperor Constantine, who legalized Christianity to secure political advantage over a contender for the office of emperor. Constantine was quick to grasp the political advantage of accepting and supporting Christians, but that acceptance came with a very heavy price—state control over all religious matters! But nowhere in the Bible does either the Father in heaven Yahweh or Messiah Yahshua ever grant permission to change the time of the Sabbath from the seventh day (Saturday) to Sunday, the first day of the week! The first century apostles did not change it. Indeed, no human being, institution or state has ever had the right to tamper with what Yahweh has set apart as holy! Yes, people in this world have been lied to for very long! The Sabbath, the day set aside to remind us regularly that our Creator is the only true Elohim, is very vital to our relationship with Him. It shapes the way we perceive and worship Him. Therefore, the Father in heaven commands us to remember the Sabbath by formally worshiping Him on that day! It’s time to know the Bible truth about Sabbath. You can read more about the true biblical Sabbath here and here.

In closing, the Bible’s Fourth Commandment to observe the Sabbath on the correct day to worship our Creator is very important! The seventh day biblical Sabbath is the day on which Almighty Yahweh and Yahshua Messiah’s true believers and followers grow closer to each other. “Let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching” (Hebrews 10:24-25). Yes, the Messiah and His original apostles consistently obeyed Yahweh’s command to keep the Sabbath holy! They kept the seventh day as the Sabbath, just as their fellow Jews of that time did! All of us desperately need to take time to grow close to our Creator. He tells us how much special time we need to set aside for our relationship with Him and when to take it. We have to decide whether we trust His judgment and are willing to obey His Sabbath commandment. The New Covenant faithful community is made up only of “those who keep the commandments of Yahweh and hold the testimony of Yahshua” (Revelation 12:17). As we have noted before, the First Commandment tells us who we are to worship, the Second Commandment tells us how we are to worship, and the Third Commandment gives us instructions on how we are to worship Almighty Yahweh. The Fourth Commandment provide further instructions on how we are to worship Him! And yes, Yahweh’s commandment to us remains “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Exodus 20:8; Deuteronomy 5:12). May Yahweh keep you and bless you for faithfully obeying all His Ten Commandments. And may you be enlightened by this true and faithful heavenly message. We humbly pray all these things to Almighty Yahweh through Yahshua Messiah our Master and King, Amen. Halleluyah & Shalom!