• The fourth commandment:

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
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,
     your male servant, or your female servant,
     or your livestock,
     or the sojourner who is within your gates.
For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth,
     the sea, and all that is in them,
     and rested on the seventh day.
Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day
     and made it holy.

Question 103: What does God require in the fourth commandment?

Answer 103: First,
                          that the ministry of the gospel and the schools
                             be maintained
                          and that, especially on the day of rest,
                          I diligently attend the church of God
                             to hear God’s Word,
                             to use the sacraments,
                             to call publicly upon the LORD,
                             and to give Christian offerings for the poor.
                     Second,
                             that all the days of my life
                             I rest from my evil works,
                             let the LORD work in me through his Holy Spirit,
                             and so begin in this life
                             the eternal Sabbath.

A human being is not a machine. Relaxation in its own time is a good thing. The fourth commandment links up with this human need: after six days of work there is one a day of rest. Such a day of rest is a blessing. Hard-working people get back on their feet, but in a different way than on a free Saturday.

The rest of the so-called Sabbath day is not tied in to the day itself, but comes from God and can only be obtained from him. This can already be seen from the name for this day: a Sabbath of the LORD. That is “a Sabbath consecrated to Yahweh”.¹ That determines how one should spend this day to enjoy its rest. It will be a busy program. The large number of verbs in Lord’s Day 38 has been pointed out, and rightly so.² In any case, the Sabbath is not a day on which nothing is accomplished.

Let us first look at the text of the commandment itself.

Liberation Day⤒🔗

Exodus 20:8 does not say: be mindful to set aside (to sanctify) the Sabbath day. Perhaps many people unwittingly interpret the commandment this way. With the word “Sabbath” they think of each new Sunday that they must keep holy.

However, it says: remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Remembering comes first and the act of sanctifying is subordinate to this.

To remember means to go back in thought to a historical day in the past. So Israel was to remember “the Sabbath day” on each new Sabbath. That, of course, was a Sabbath day from the past. Their weekly recurring Sabbath was apparently named after the one glorious Sabbath from the past that they were to remember.

What Sabbath day could that have been?

Israel had been delivered from Egypt about two months before the law was given. Just before their exodus, Moses had said that they should “remember” this day.³ There is therefore, a lot to be said for this liberation day being the historic Sabbath that they should commemorate every week.⁴

We are familiar with something similar. In the Netherlands, the fifth of May is noted as “Liberation Day”. On this annually recurring day the one real liberation day of May 5, 1945 is commemorated. That momentous day saw the end of World War II. In the same way, on each weekly Sabbath, Israel was to remember that unique Sabbath day of the past when God delivered them from Egypt. This commandment seamlessly connects here to the introduction of the law that focuses on their redemption from the house of slavery.

This liberation day receives a lot of attention in the version of the law as we find it in Deuteronomy 5. Israel was to remember that they had been slaves in Egypt, but that the LORD had delivered them from there “with a mighty hand and outstretched arm.”⁵

Therefore, since that time, every slave and slave woman was to be free on the Sabbath. In principle, this meant that all slavery was abolished. Master and slave, mistress and slave girl, they celebrated their deliverance from the hard service in Egypt together. They were now in the service of Yahweh, who does not want anyone to be exploited.

There was even rest for the oxen and the pack mules. Thus, in a society of high workloads, slavery and stress, the Sabbath became a celebratory signal of the freedom God grants his creatures.

This symbol of liberation was reinforced by all kinds of social laws that encompassed this commandment. In addition to the Sabbath day, Israel also had the Sabbath year. During that time even the ground was given a year’s rest. It too was part of God’s creation. Therefore, the soil was not to be impoverished. In the seventh year, the Sabbath year, the sower had to stay away. The field did not have to produce and could “regain its strength”. And the vineyard was not endlessly “stimulated” to produce as much as possible, for the vines were not to be pruned.

On top of that, after seven times seven years — that is, twice a century — there was the Year of Jubilee. This truly was an outstanding year of freedom: every Israelite slave was set free, and every family regained its former landholdings.⁶ The commandment of the Sabbath pointed the way to the wonderful living and working environment of paradise. This is confirmed by a subsequent reason for this commandment.

Day of Rest←⤒🔗

An apparently very different motivation for the Sabbath is that the LORD made heaven and earth in six days and rested on the seventh day. This is how it is stated in Exodus 20:11. Was this the version engraved on the stone tables? For us, the main point is that both versions — both reasons — come from God and are therefore completely equivalent. They are in fact an extension of each other.⁷

The Old Testament uses three different words to describe the rest of God on the seventh day:

1. We first read that the LORD rested on the seventh day in Genesis 2:2. To rest here means to stop working because the project is completed and entirely successful. “Very good” was God’s own judgment at the end of the sixth day. He is like a visual artist who looks at his painting with satisfaction and adds nothing more.
2. Exodus 31:17 ties in with this and says that God “rested and was refreshed”. David and his weary men refreshed themselves at the Jordan River after their flight from Absalom.⁸  They were bone-tired and needed to recover their strength. Prior to this they could barely keep going: totally finished. The point of comparison is that on the seventh day the LORD added nothing more to his work. It was completely finished.
3. In Exodus 20 the fourth commandment uses yet another word for “rest” (“and [he] rested on the seventh day”). This conjures up the image of people who are relaxing and sitting or lying down to enjoy their rest. You may even think of cows lying peacefully in the pasture, for God uses this word “rest” in Exodus 23:12 also for the resting of one’s ox and donkey on the Sabbath.

Together, the three words — in the meanings of: to quit working, breathing easier, and being well-rested — paint the richly nuanced picture of someone who has put a stop to their work and is enjoying it in peace because everything has been completely successful. The way God invited his people at Sinai to celebrate with him the completion of heaven and earth is surprising. They were allowed to share in his rest. His celebration also became their celebration. To that end, he had delivered them from Egypt. The liberation motif and the rest motif belong together. In Egypt they had to toil seven days a week. Therefore, the Sabbath was both rest day and liberation day for them. The versions of Exodus and Deuteronomy complement each other.

What About the Sabbath Prior to Sinai?←⤒🔗

We first hear of “the seventh day” in Genesis 2:2, 3. On that day God had completed his work and rested. He had completely accomplished his purpose (v. 2). This was reason for him to bless this day, i.e., to give it legal validity, and to sanctify it, i.e., to set it apart from all the other days (v. 3). He made it into a special day — a holy-day — for himself.

We do not hear of any command to Adam to remember this day.⁹ On the other hand, it is here that “the foundation for the Sabbath is established, and it appears from verse 3 that all mankind would enjoy it and consecrate it to God, if they had continued to act as image bearers of God”.¹⁰

After this we hear nothing more about this day until well over a month before the legislation at Sinai¹¹ Surprisingly, this is when the Bible first uses the word “Sabbath” (Ex. 16:23). The Israelites were in the wilderness. Every day it rained fresh bread from heaven (v. 4), called “manna”. Later in the day it melted away. On Fridays, a double portion rained down because on Sabbath the heavens remained closed. The term “Sabbath” apparently did not need to be explained to the Israelites. The account leaves the impression that — more than a month before the proclamation of the law — they were not unfamiliar with the Sabbath, even though apparently they did not as yet keep it.

Then comes the legislation at Sinai. It is quite clear that in its choice of words the fourth commandment (Ex. 20:11) closely follows Genesis 2:3. Israel’s Sabbath is based unmistakably on the seventh day of the creation week. And the reason for blessing that day for himself is also the reason for God to bless and to set aside Israel’s Sabbath. “Through that consecration this day itself becomes a blessing and something beneficial proceeds from it.¹² His people may share in his own rest and joy at the completion of his creation.

What has remained of this commandment after the Sabbath was moved to the first day of the week?

The Sunday←⤒🔗

Everyone understood why the Sabbath was the last day of the week. Therefore, it is no small matter that it was changed from the end to the beginning of the week. Did this not cause the old Sabbath to lapse and caused it to be replaced by something else?

There must indeed be a very serious reason for this drastic shift. Christ himself did give the first day a dominant place. He did this immediately after his resurrection. On the evening of that day he came to his disciples. With some emphasis, John calls that day “the first day of the week”. By this he points to the “unforgettable, significant, incomparable character of that world-changing day.”¹³ Exactly one week later he appeared again. In this way he gave this first day a special meaning. It was not an apostle, but Jesus himself who set this day apart from the other days.¹⁴

Many years after his ascension, he appeared to John on Patmos. It was “the day of the Lord. This designation was apparently already a familiar concept within the Christian church at that time. Shortly thereafter, in Christian writings, the Sunday is plainly designated as such.¹⁵ It is therefore the day of Christ’s resurrection. This is all the more evident because he immediately makes himself known as “the living One who died, and behold I am alive forevermore...”¹⁶

The importance of this day is given added emphasis because it is the only specific designation of a day that we encounter in this book of the Bible.¹⁷ He appeared emphatically on his day as the one who lives to bring all his own to the promised land. That is the theme of the book of Revelation. In fact, it is about the grandiose fulfillment of the exodus from Egypt. Therefore the Sunday does not eradicate the ancient Sabbath, but it fulfills it. Just as baptism is called a Christian “circumcision”¹⁸ so we might call the Sunday a Christian Sabbath. That is why the Catechism rightly speaks of “especially on the Sabbath, that is on the day of rest” (the Sunday).¹⁹ What does this mean for the celebration of this day?

To Church←⤒🔗

According to this commandment, the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. He infused it with a saving power for the Israelites. They did not automatically receive this blessing power as soon as it became Sabbath. The condition was that they would spend this day differently than the rest of the week. It was made holy. To begin with, they had to stop their daily work. With that, the blessing began concretely. While the whole world carried on with work, Israel enjoyed a blessed rest. Even the working animals were allowed to catch their breath. This weekly rest was an unprecedented benefit to mankind. Yet the primary purpose of the Sabbath is not social, but religious. Especially on the Sabbath, God wanted to meet with his people. According to Leviticus 23:3, the Israelites were required to observe “a solemn rest, a holy convocation” on the Sabbath, in all their dwelling places.²⁰ The later worship in the synagogue and thus the church service comes here into view.²¹ In such gatherings God extends his blessing.

The Catechism does not give a complete liturgy and limits itself to some main aspects. It is striking how much activity is expected of the members of the church. Reference has already been made to the many verbs used in this Lord’s Day. During the worship service they are constantly at work: they have assembled to hear God’s Word, to use the sacraments, to pray and show mercy to the poor. Thus they receive the promised blessing and rest. Characteristic of the whole of the worship service is the preaching. That is why the church service can be characterized as the “ministry of the Word”.²² The word “ministry” indicates that the Word of God is “administered” and served, such as happens with food.²³ A sermon has to make the Word so understandable that the hearers internalize it: they “take it in”. In this way God gives his people new strength for their onward journey toward the new earth.

This “ministry of the Word” further requires a church building with everything that belongs with it, no matter how austere. It requires especially someone who is capable of serving that Word. Therefore, the Sabbath commandment demands that care be taken to maintain the ministry of the Word, that is, the training of pastors and “the schools”. It is obvious that in this context are meant the schools for future ministers.²⁴

Before and After Church hours←⤒🔗

No one will be sitting in church the entire Sunday. There is time for coffee and other forms of recreation. As had been noted earlier, this too is part of the blessing of the Sunday. Luther once spoke of “a godly idleness”.

What is allowed and what is not? Should you put a doily over the radio, the television set and the telephone, as Orthodox Jews still do on their Sabbath?

For the Jewish scribes in Jesus’ days, the Sabbath rest practically coincided with avoiding as many activities as possible. Someone with a withered hand was not in mortal danger and therefore should not be cured on the Sabbath. This was the reason why people spied on Jesus “to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath, so they might find a reason to accuse him”. Jesus healed the man.²⁵ Also on a Sabbath he healed someone who had been sick for 38 years and another one who had been blind from birth.²⁶ These were not medical emergencies. Apparently Jesus helped them on purpose on the Sabbath day. Thus he made these healings into celebratory signals of God’s liberating blessing on the Sabbath. This blessing is also contained in our Sunday. Those who believe this will therefore gladly fill it up with things (or conversely, get rid of things) so that they receive and enjoy this blessing in an optimal way. This requires a certain pattern of the Sunday. No one can escape this. What is allowed and what is not? That may turn out differently for some than for others. Our motivation for our actions will have to be that we spend this day in such a way that we receive from it the blessing that God puts in it. Those who are looking for such blessings will always come out ahead.

Working on Sundays←⤒🔗

What does this commandment say about Sunday labour? This is not about milking cows or putting out a fire, but about going to a fair or taking a course on Sunday, or working in a bread factory because the customer demands fresh bread on Monday. Work is not wrong in itself. Even a busy Monday should be sanctified. But sanctifying the ancient Sabbath meant, first of all, that the daily work remained undone. That is, in all sobriety, still the prerequisite for enjoying the blessing of this day to the fullest. The Sunday is more than a hectic workday with one or two church services. The Catechism deliberately speaks of a day of rest. Israel, having been liberated, was allowed to enjoy the luxury of a weekly day of rest. God grants that same privilege to his church at this time. It is a privilege that he requires the members to rest on Sundays.²⁷ The church is not to experience this as an inconvenient yoke!

On the other hand, the Sunday is coming under increasing pressure. The question arises at what cost coercion to work on Sundays should be avoided. Further reflection will especially be needed on this point. As far as we know, the New Testament does not broach this subject anywhere in concrete terms. Also Lord’s Day 38 makes no statement on this subject. It does claim — in the line of the fourth commandment — the opportunity for a day of rest.²⁸ It is worth continuing to stand up for this given space and to make personal sacrifices for it if needed. Otherwise, “we surrender powerlessly to the silent death of ‘the day of the Lord’ in an increasingly secularized society.”²⁹

Not an Eternal Day of Work But an Eternal Sabbath←⤒🔗

Sunday is well past when the alarm clock rings on Monday morning. What remains is “the eternal Sabbath. This simply continues after Sunday into Monday and it lasts “all the days of my life”. For the Lord commands in this same commandment that “I let the LORD work in me through his Holy Spirit” every day. Little might remain of the church services, but the blessing of the Sabbath continues to work through our lives. Sunday’s churchgoers find themselves once again in the hectic traffic. It is all about work: busy, busy, busy. They are in danger of becoming stressed or resorting to wrong practices (“evil works”). Performance is demanded. It is never enough. Society seeks refuge in the eternal workday. That is why stores and stock exchanges are open every day of the week. On Sundays everything is just the same as on Mondays.

For Christians, the Monday may be like the Sunday. In the midst of all their toil from Monday to Saturday, they find rest in the accomplished work of their great forerunner, Jesus Christ. “That opens perspective to their perfect working together and resting together with the triune God.”³⁰ The perfect Sabbath rest therefore still awaits them.³¹