Worship And Reflection

Every seven days, Israel was to stop everything and remember who made it.

Exodus 20:8–11 (ESV) “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, 10 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. 11 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.

In Genesis 2, the Sabbath is the first thing God calls Holy. Think of this commandment in light of God's own reference to creation. "The Sabbath is made for man", Jesus says to those who stifle His healing of the man with the withered hand. 

The Sabbath is a gift to reorient ourselves around God's sovereign power over all His creation. Christians get a reminder every week to think about His omnipotence and glory. There is not a part of Creation that God did not produce.

Now about the particulars of the command. We do well to note the implicit reference to s head of household role here in observance of this command. The Lord is speaking to Fathers here and giving them the command for their entire house. In God's view, the Father is the lead worshipper who pauses the home's business for the remembrance of God's goodness and glory. 

Secondly, notice that even the strangers among them are to cease working. The worship of God was to have an evangelistic motive for Israel. They were to be attractive to the other nations in these laws, and by example and instruction draw other nations into the worship of the Lord.

You can play the scenario out in our head for the Israelite home that hosts a foreigner over s Sabbath day's stay. The question will inevitably be posed as to why they cease from the necessary labors of an agrarian society that depends on the produce of the land for survival. Right there the evangelistic opportunity arises, "We worship the God who made all things and He commands us to lay our efforts down and gaze upon His glory and power to remind ourselves we are His creatures and He is our sovereign Creator. By this we remember that our times are in His hands." (See Psalm 31:15).

Then you would have to remind yourself that pagan nations never knew what to offer their gods to secure a blessed harvest and here is someone before them resting by the command of their God. They serve a God who calls them into rest and not anxious toil in life. They serve a God who will bless their 6 days more than your 7 days. They serve a God who calls them into rest and remembrance that He is their source and not the land alone. 

What kind of God is this? A gracious and generous God who loves and gives. 

And herein lies the seeds of the Gospel.