The third commandment.

[MoreCoffee]

To anticipate possible misunderstandings the third commandment is (according to Catholic numbering) this:

Observe the day of the Sabbath, so that you may sanctify it, just as the Lord your God has instructed you. For six days, you shall labour and do all your work. The seventh is the day of the Sabbath, that is, the rest of the Lord your God. You shall not do any work in it, nor shall your son, nor daughter, nor man servant, nor woman servant, nor ox, nor donkey, nor any of your cattle, nor the sojourner who is within your gates, so that your men and woman servants may rest, just as you do. Remember that you also were servants in Egypt, and the Lord your God led you away from that place with a strong hand and an outstretched arm. Because of this, he has instructed you so that you would observe the Sabbath day. ​

Deuteronomy 5:12-15

Catholics sometimes construct a Church building's interior with the ten commandments in mind, there can be seven steps up to the sanctuary and then three steps up to the altar. The seven steps being the seven commandments for governing relationships between one human and another and the three steps being for the three commandments governing the relationship between human beings and their God. But most Catholic church buildings have only the three steps up to the altar and the whole area surrounding the alter is regarded as the Church building's sanctuary.


The above observations are only superficial because how one constructs a building is a small matter yet is reflects some of the love, awe, and sanctity of the men and women who design and build such structures and it is intended to reflect something of the glory of God revealed in Christ and also in the types and shadows of the tabernacle and temple.


Yet this thread is about the commandment to observe the sabbath. And the natural question to ask is how do you observe the sabbath?

 

[Cassia]

Perhaps the title should not be titled according to differences. But rather toward the commonality of all as just the command itself.

Remembering the Sabbath to keep it Holy.

Genesis 2:2
By the seventh day God finished the work that he had been doing, and he ceased on the seventh day all the work that he had been doing.
Ezekiel 20:12
I also gave them my Sabbaths as a reminder of our relationship, so that they would know that I, the Lord, sanctify them.
Deuteronomy 5:15
Recall that you were slaves in the land of Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there by strength and power. That is why the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.​

When David ate from the shewbread it was breaking the Levitical law. When Jesus said He's the Lord of the Sabbath He turned the attention away from the temple to the Person. He is greater than the temple. It was a turn in typology. Since the priests worked on the Sabbath how could His disciples be found guilty? As the Lord of the Sabbath, He had the right to change the regulations concerning the Sabbath.

A pat answer would be to treat the Type every day as being of the Rest. That's actually what I try to do. Remembering where I came from before being bought off the slave block of the world, Jesus has brought us within to find the rest that belongs to the church age and gives hope of a greater rest to come.

 

[Rens]

I rest every saturday. I let my mom take care of the kids. Oh tomorrow not. Kids have kids church.

 

[Cassia]

I rest every saturday. I let my mom take care of the kids. Oh tomorrow not. Kids have kids church.

How is rest day so far? Restful?

 

[Rens]

How is rest day so far? Restful?

Yes hanging around on the soccer field.
Their dad wanted to give them kids church today but he hasnt called yet. It's 4.30. He takes the sabbat rest very literal. He still sleeps.

 

[Rens]

Those reformed christians in Holland keep sunday rest. They may not take the car or buy anything. One guy ona forum complained. He wasnt even allowed to go fishing from his parents. Bur he could play video games and they just went to bed.

 

[MoreCoffee]

Those reformed christians in Holland keep sunday rest. They may not take the car or buy anything. One guy ona forum complained. He wasnt even allowed to go fishing from his parents. Bur he could play video games and they just went to bed.

Keeping Sunday as a day without normal work - there are some exceptions such as works of mercy - is a good thing. Rest, recreation, prayer, corporate worship are all good activities on Sunday.

 

[Josiah]

I WONDER ("wonder" means to question, speculate - not to make a statement or stand).....

In the OT, there are several types of "law" and only the MORAL law still applies. I wonder if the Third Commandment is the only one of the 10 Biggies that is not moral law but rather ceremonial law? I wonder if the entire point of this is to rest. A kind of celebration of creation but mostly a time of rest. Ceremonial law doesn't apply anymore. People may still CHOOSE to rest on Saturday but it being no longer a matter of law. And never a matter of morality.

I don't really see any OT connection to public worship. Indeed, some question whether the Jews practiced regular public worship at all until the Babylonian Captivity.... prior to that, some view that regular worship was always a PRIVATE, family-centered thing done in each home. Some think it was daily, some that it was a Friday evening thing (and so associated with the Sabbath). Public worship existed before 500 BC but had nothing to do with the Sabbath but with feasts and such. So, it MAY be that worship was associated with the Sabbath but it was a private thing.... and it seems not really the point of the Sabbath at all, REST was the point. The Pharisees by Jesus' day had stressed the REST part to an absurdity.

I wonder if this connection to public worship is a CHRISTIAN thing.... perhaps the only example of CHRISTIAN ceremonial law? Very early Christians changed the day of public worship from Saturday (a day to celebrate Creation - for the Jews, God's greatest act) to Sunday (a day to celebrate salvation, the Resurrection - for Christians, God's greatest act). And, as a matter of legality, made weekly public worship a matter of the Third Commandment. The "Rest" part of it became far less significant than the "Thou Must Go To Church and Worship" part (indeed, the rest part has almost vanished).

I wonder if the point of the Third Commandment was originally about public worship at all (or even special private devotions)? After many centuries, the JEWS connected it to the Sabbaoth but a lesser point that REST..... early Christians connected it the Sabbath (now Sunday) and made it the prime point over rest. I'm not sure EITHER was God's point as His figure wrote that in the stone tablet......

I wonder if this "commandment" actually applies at ALL anymore but was part of the Ceremonial Law of Judaism?

But I don't know....


??????



- Josiah

 

[Rens]

Keeping Sunday as a day without normal work - there are some exceptions such as works of mercy - is a good thing. Rest, recreation, prayer, corporate worship are all good activities on Sunday.

Yes I think it's about setting time apart with God, not sleeping.

 

[MoreCoffee]

Yes I think it's about setting time apart with God, not sleeping.

Some extra sleep is good too

 

[Rens]

Some extra sleep is good too

He gives it His beloved in the sleep.

 

[Cassia]

Hebrews 4:8
If Joshua had really given the people rest, there would not be any need for God to talk about another day of rest.
Matthew 11:28-29
If you are tired from carrying heavy burdens, come to me and I will give you rest. Take the yoke I give you. Put it on your shoulders and learn from me. I am gentle and humble, and you will find rest.​

The rest is best found in Him. But sleep often helps. Sometimes when I feel overloaded I'll just sleep while God moves the world. Being still because He IS God.

 

[MoreCoffee]

Hebrews 4:8
If Joshua had really given the people rest, there would not be any need for God to talk about another day of rest.
Matthew 11:28-29
If you are tired from carrying heavy burdens, come to me and I will give you rest. Take the yoke I give you. Put it on your shoulders and learn from me. I am gentle and humble, and you will find rest.​

The rest is best found in Him. But sleep often helps. Sometimes when I feel overloaded I'll just sleep while God moves the world. Being still because He IS God.

Worry and anxiety are poor quality means of change for the world. Prayer and faith are mysterious means of changing the world. Normal work and effort are effective means of changing some things in the world. Ultimately the one and only way for the world to change is for God to change it.

 

[Cassia]

Worry and anxiety are poor quality means of change for the world. Prayer and faith are mysterious means of changing the world. Normal work and effort are effective means of changing some things in the world. Ultimately the one and only way for the world to change is for God to change it.

Yes and after all is done, thru prayer faith stands.

 

[MoreCoffee]

Let's have a good sabbath rest today.

 

[MoreCoffee]

One post raised the idea that the third commandment is not moral-law but ceremonial-law. Why would it be one of the ten commandments if it were not moral law?