Because He Says So – The Fourth Commandment

Because He Says So

The Fourth Commandment

Observe holy convocations

God’s people must take care to assemble regularly to worship Him both on His appointed Sabbaths and at the annual feasts, where they celebrate His sovereign and saving grace and daily provision of their needs.

Leviticus 19:3

“…and you shall keep my Sabbaths: I am the LORD your God. “

Here is yet another—and, undoubtedly, the most compelling—reason for keeping the Lord’s Day holy: God says so. Did Israel need to be reminded of this? Did they think that Sabbath-keeping was something conjured by one of the priests, or some other member of the nation? Of course not. They knew God had spoken this word to Moses. God’s point was to punctuate His commandment with the authority of His being. Because He is God, moreover, because He is the Lord your God, and has spoken this word to you, you must keep it. For His sake, not yours. The Sabbath was made for man so that man could remember who he is before God.

In this series of In the Gates we present a detailed explanation of the Law of God, beginning with the Ten Commandments, and working through the statutes and rules that accompany each commandment. For a practical guide to the role of God’s Law in the practice of ethics, get The Ground for Christian Ethics by going to www.MyParuchia.com and click on our Book Store.

–

In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore, editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001, 2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.