“ Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. For six days you shall labour and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant, or your ox or your donkey or any of your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day” (Deuteronomy 5:12-15).

When I was preaching through the Ten Commandments some years ago, I came across an example of how the keeping of the Sabbath or Sunday, as we would refer to it today, could be seen as a wholly positive thing. Apparently when John Patten’s great missionary work among the cannibals of the New Hebrides started to bear fruit and a good number of them had been converted, Saturday became known as ‘cooking day’. The reason was quite simple: the natives were so concerned that they would not have enough time to worship God and hear His Word explained, they would prepare all their food on the Saturday, so that no such tasks would take them away from the worship on the Sunday.[1] It seems to me that they clearly understood the benefit of a day of rest!Although there are differences in how scholars interpret the word Sabbath from the Hebrew, the gist of the meaning seems to be, ‘to rest’, ‘to put off doing something’, ‘to complete something’ or even ‘to celebrate something’. All of which can be applied as good things in relation to worship. So, firstly, the keeping of the Sabbath is a creation ordinance (Genesis 2:3). God had commanded that His people kept the Sabbath holy (v.12); this was part of His Covenant with them (Exodus 31:12-13). In support of this commandment Meredith Kline argues that it is in effect God’s seal on the covenant and by keeping this commandment we understand: ‘the pattern of that divine act of creation which proclaims God’s absolute sovereignty over man, and thereby he pledges his covenant consecration to his Maker. The Creator has stamped on world history the sign of the Sabbath as his seal of ownership and authority.’[2] Secondly, the Sabbath belonged to God since He had claimed it as His own. Thirdly, it was a reminder of the pattern of creation: at the end of six days, when God had finished creating: ‘He rested on the seventh day from all the work he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy,’ (Genesis 2:2-3).

If we are to take the above truths seriously, then our attitude to the Christian Sabbath (Sunday) should reflect this. The reasons are simple and beneficial: the Sabbath is to be a day of rest; there are six days to work and then there is a one, when we can focus on the worship of God. He knows what is best for us and it makes sense that there is a day when we rest from work, and place special emphasis on the worship of our Lord and Creator. In other words, we set it apart as ‘holy’. The Lord Jesus’ own words sum up perfectly the true meaning and intention of setting one day apart: “the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27). It was intended to be a benefit, just as Sunday should be a benefit to God’s people today.

Unfortunately, in recent years the keeping of Sunday as a special day has become open to debate even among Christians. It seems to emphasise one thing, as expressed by Brian Edwards: ‘perhaps one of  the greatest tragedies in this whole debate is that Christians are not looking at the day as a privilege but as duty’.[3]

But that is missing the aspect which is picked up on by the author of the letter to the Hebrews. In Hebrews 3:16-4:11 we are reminded that some of the Israelites never reached the Promised Land due to their unbelief. The writer goes on to compare the Sabbath to the rest that God’s people will experience when they come to Him. If the Promised Land was rest for the Israelites after their long and dangerous journey in the desert, then heaven and the new creation awaits those who have turned from their sinful ways and become obedient to God.[4]Have you ever thought of Sunday in those terms? Here is a chance to meet with God’s people and experience a little bit of what God has in store for us. The preaching of the Word and the worship should encourage us and help us remember that one day we will be able to worship Him perfectly and know Him completely. There will be no need for Pastors and preachers in the New Creation, and I will be all the more happy for that! Is that your experience of Sunday, and do you prepare for it in that way? Thomas Watson’s words raise a challenge for us. ‘Having dressed your bodies, you must dress your souls for hearing the word’.[5]

This certainly lays an emphasis on our attitude to worship and how we prepare for it. These words also emphasise  the responsibility that lies on those who teach as they handle the very ‘oracles of God’. In the light of this let us all examine our attitude to Sunday with the utmost care so that we might benefit all the more from God’s wonderful provision of such a day.

[1]  Brian H. Edwards, The Ten Commandments for Today (Bromley, Day one publications, 1996), 154.
[2] Meredith G. Kline, Treaty of the Great King, The Covenant Structure of Deuteronomy (Eugene, Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2012 [formerly 1963]) 19.
[3] Edwards, The Ten Commandments, 143.
[4] J. A Thompson writes that Sunday is very much the: ‘fulfilment of the old (covenant). The first day provides opportunity to commemorate the resurrection of Christ which made possible the deliverance from the bondage of sin, and the renewal of life by way of a new creation’ J.A Thompson, Deuteronomy, An Introduction and Commentary (Leicester, Inter-Varsity Press, 1974) 117.
[5] Thomas Watson. The Ten Commandments (London, The Banner of Truth Trust, 1965) 101.