Day 4 – The Sabbath is commanded

“𝘙𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘣𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘢𝘣𝘣𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘣𝘺 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘺.” 𝘌𝘹𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘴 20:8 𝘕𝘓𝘛

Gathered at the base of Mount Sinai, the Israelites looked up at the glory of God as He appeared in the form of fire on the summit. Lightning flashed, thunder crashed, and a long and loud blast from a ram’s horn caused the nation to tremble in fear. Smoke billowed into the sky like from a brick kiln, and the whole mountain shook violently. From this epic stage, God gave His chosen people His Ten Commandments for the Covenant Community – roared in thunder before it was set in stone by His own finger.

I have always thought that God chose to start this command with “remember” in case you forget. But the fourth commandment is the only one amplifying and extending the principle God set in creation: to rest. “Remember” in Hebrew is the word “zâkar”. The primitive root meaning is 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥. The creation order is so important that by telling us to remember the Sabbath (the seventh day), God is commanding us to properly mark this day and to recognize it as it was intended – holy and sanctified.

Prayer: Father, thank You for amplifying the importance of the seventh day in creation through Your commands. Teach me, Lord, to mark and recognize this day and that with every Sabbath, I remember who You are. Amen.