Sunday school notes on the fourth commandment
Attendance and memory
Collect memory work notes (Mitch record)
Memory assignment (Exodus 20:8-11)
Review the purpose of the law
God saved Israel, and then gave them the law
First the gospel, then the law. We obey not so that we can be saved, but because we are saved: in gratitude, love, as dependent children
The law is also given for our good
Sabbath object lesson
Distribute candy, before eating ask students to “trust” in my providing candy and not “work” to earn candy the rest of the class.
Since I have already provided candy for you, is it hard for you to “rest” in this way, enjoying your candy?
God had already rescued Israel and provided for all their needs (manna, Exodus 16:35; clothes didn’t wear out, Deuteronomy 8:4). He asked them to continue to trust in his guidance and provision by resting one day in seven.
The Sabbath is not a killjoy, but a way of trusting in God’s care and provision for us.
God’s purposes in the Sabbath (some of these may be later developments)
Rest as a way of trusting in God and honoring his lordship (Deuteronomy 5:12-15: “. . . 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.”).
A time for worship and celebration (Psalm 92; Isaiah 58:12-14: “the Sabbath a delight . . . delight in the Lord”), perhaps even joyful feasting.
A time for God’s word to be preached (Acts 13:24,27), and to enjoy fellowship with God’s people.
A sign and remembrance of the rest we will one day enjoy in heaven thanks to Jesus’s victory over sin and death (Hebrews 4).
A gift to his people for their refreshment.
There was even a Sabbath year, in which Israel was not to farm, but God would provide (Exodus 23:10; Leviticus 25:1-7). This may be God’s provision for the land to continue to be fertile (”lie fallow”).
Sabbath implications for work (if time permits)
If God gives his people special times of rest, how do you think he wants us to spend the rest of the time?
God himself worked well before he rested (Genesis 1:31: “And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.”).
In the fourth commandment, God even commands us to work: “Six days you shall labor, and do all your work.”
God wants us to work “heartily, as for the Lord” (Colossians 3:23).
The Sabbath reminds us that God provides for all our needs. But one of the ways he does this is through our work: “If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat” (2 Thessalonians 3:10).
The Sabbath gone wrong
Many times the Pharisees criticized Jesus for healing on the Sabbath, or even plucking grain.
Jesus’s responses show us that God’s Sabbath was always intended to be for his people’s good, not to be a harsh burden. E.g., Mark 2:27: “And he said to them, ‘The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.’”
What about us?
God certainly wants us to trust in his provision and guidance. And he still wants us to enjoy rest.
Some people believe that we are still to observe a Sabbath rest one day a week, on the Lord’s day.
Other people believe that when Jesus died, he gave us the beginnings of the perfect rest that we will enjoy completely in heaven, because our sins are completely and forever forgiven. So every day is a kind of Sabbath rest for us!
Some principles:
Romans 14:23: “For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.”
What are some reasons that we might observe the Sabbath in faith? (See above)
What are some reasons that we might observe the Sabbath not in faith? (Smugly thinking we are better than others, or that we are earning God’s approval; laziness.)
What are some reasons that we might not observe the Sabbath, in faith? (Regularly reflecting on our dependence on God, and on the fact that Jesus has rescued us from sin and death and given us perfect rest.)
What are some reasons that we might not observe the Sabbath, not in faith? (Because we just don’t want to.)
Colossians 2:16: “Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath.”
In the matter of the Sabbath, God wants us each to do what we believe is right, in faith, but without imposing our views on others. We may certainly study it, talk about it, and even try to persuade one another, but we may not look down on one another.
Exodus 20:12: “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.”
The very next commandment after this one requires us to obey and honor our parents! What do your parents teach you about the Sabbath? How do they ask you to practice it? Do you obey and honor them?