A Perpetual Covenant – The Fourth Commandment

A Perpetual Covenant

The Fourth Commandment

Exodus 31:12-17

And the LORD said to Moses, ^“You are to speak to the people of Israel and say, ‘Above all you shall keep my Sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the LORD, 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 his people. Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the LORD. 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 the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.’”

The Lord’s Day is a perpetual covenant between the Lord and His people. God defines the terms of this covenant, intending it for our good, but guarding it with sanctions of discipline for those who fail to keep covenant with Him. The Lord’s Day is meant for our refreshment in Him. We can be sure that if we fail to keep this day holy unto the Lord we will suffer. Our souls will not be refreshed, and we will not have the spiritual strength to seek the Kingdom and righteousness of God throughout the week. Further, our general attitude toward God’s holy and righteous and good Law will be compromised, so that we may fail in keeping it as we should. Thus we will lay ourselves open to temptation and sin, until it pleases God to bring us under His discipline.

The weakness of the Church today is directly traceable to our low regard for the Lord’s Day. This is not a “free day” for us to do with as we please. If we take this attitude toward the Lord’s Day, we will be the losers, for we will not know the refreshing power and presence of God like we might if we practiced remembering and guarding the Lord’s Day with all vigilance, week after week.

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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.