Read Exodus 28-31

“For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a sabbath of complete rest, holy to the Lord; whoever does any work on the sabbath day shall surely be put to death.” Exodus 31:15

In Chapter 20, the Ten Commandments are given to Moses. Yesterday, where they are housed is explained and the extraordinary details given regarding the Ark and the Tabernacle. Here in Chapter 31, and seemingly out of the Blue, God decides to give some commentary on just the 4th. Not the first 3, or the last 6, The Fourth!!! That in and of itself makes this Verse stand out.

Notice what God says about it: 1^st, we “May” work for 6 days, but “Must” rest on the 7^th. Some Industrious people may have gotten all their work done and take a couple of days off; those 6 days were not a requirement. But those less Industrious people who “did not” get all their work done; they couldn’t make up for it on the Sabbath! They were to still take that 7^th Day off. It was not an Option! 2^nd, it was to be a “complete rest”; not partial! It was to be “holy” to the Lord; not filled with the common or mundane. It was to be Religious in nature. So if you went to the Tabernacle in the morning, offered up your sacrifice, and had your meal together, that Afternoon was not open to do whatever you wanted.  It was to be the “Complete” day, and it was to be “Holy”. Finally, it was to be a “serious” day! To violate it was a Capital Offense and carried with it the Death Penalty. You can see an illustration of this later on when a man decides to collect some wood on the Sabbath. It didn’t end well for him!

So what does this mean for us today? There is far too much I could comment on, so let these thoughts stay with you.
1^st, Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy does not Save you. If you kept every one of them perfectly your whole life, and then missed just one, you would still be condemned!
2^nd, Jesus died to forgive your violation of the Sabbath Day; every one of them!
3^rd, God doesn’t remove this Commandment for the Christian just because Jesus has paid the penalty. He may have changed the Day we keep it from the 7^th to the 8^th. But it still exists for us today.
4^th, God changes His People’s hearts to Love His Law, including the Sabbath Day. It should be something we begin to love and do!