Speaker 1: 0:01

Welcome to the Daily Blade. The Word of God is described as the sword of the Spirit, the primary spiritual weapon in the Christian's armor against the forces of evil. Your hosts are Joby Martin and Kyle Thompson, and they stand ready to equip men for the fight. Let's sharpen up.

Speaker 2: 0:20

Welcome to day three as we march through the Ten Commandments found in Exodus, chapter 20. Today we're going to talk about the fourth commandment, also very misunderstood, I think, especially as post-resurrected Christians. We'll pick it up in verse eight. It says this Remember the Sabbath day To keep it holy. Six days you shall labor 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 the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and he rested on the seventh day. Therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

Speaker 2: 1:07

You see, here's the ancient rabbis will say that the fourth commandment is the hinge commandment. This is brilliant. A lawyer comes to Jesus and says what's the greatest commandment in the whole Bible? He quotes the Shema, which is basically this love God, love people. If you look at the 10 commandments that way, you will understand that Commandments 1, 2, and 3 are love God. Commandments 5 through 10 are how we are to love people, and the Sabbath commandment. The fourth commandment is the hinge commandment, that this is how we are to prioritize our relationship with God. Jesus is going to come along and say that hey, listen, man, you have turned the Sabbath into something it was not meant to be. It was not meant to be a burden, it was meant to be a blessing. And so then the early church comes along and they kind of well, not kind of they changed the Sabbath the Jewish Sabbath was sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday. And then the early Christians turned their day of worship to the Lord's day, because the resurrection was the most important thing. So it's not the day that matters, but here's what matters the principle of the Sabbath matters.

Speaker 2: 2:08

That God has created us in rhythm. Think about this that God was not in a hurry when he created the earth. I mean, why in the world did he take six days? Why not create it all? In one word, because God created us to live in rhythm. He creates the first three days and then on the subsequent three days he fills the environments that he created on those first three days, and there was evening and there was morning, and the next day Our heart beats in rhythm. We live in seasons. There's something about music that the rhythm of music gets to deep places in our heart, and God has called us to live in this kind of rhythm that we are supposed to work for six days.

Speaker 2: 2:48

We work hard from sunup to sundown and get all the work done that God has for us, and we get tired. And being tired is a constant reminder that we are needy, that we need God to do this miraculous thing. You ever think about this? You lay down, go to bed and it's like you go into a little coma. You are unconscious and yet God refuels you so that you can be ready for the next day. But here's what's interesting If you take it all the way back to creation, which is where this commandment is rooted, it says that God worked for six days and he rested.

Speaker 2: 3:19

Well, why did he rest? He didn't rest because he was tired. He doesn't get tired. He rests as an example for Adam and Eve. Well, think about this. What day were Adam and Eve created? They were created at the end of God's week, and so they were created on the sixth day and saying can you imagine, before they go to bed their very first night, and Adam goes to the Lord and says all right, boss, what are we going to do tomorrow? Because I got a lot of work to do. I mean, I've got to subdue and cultivate, I've got to be fruitful and multiply. I can't wait to get to work on that one. What are we going to do tomorrow? And God says to Adam and Eve here's what you're going to do tomorrow. Nothing, you're going to rest. And they're thinking we're not even tired, we haven't done anything, all we've done is be created.

Speaker 2: 4:00

So the Sabbath is not simply a result of your week to rest. Sabbath means that you prioritize God as first and foremost in your life. The first full day of the very first humans, the first thing they did was they rested in the Lord, they connected with the Lord. They weren't resting from work, they were resting for work.

Speaker 2: 4:20

You see, because when we give God our first and best, not with just our finances, but especially with our time this is why the church gathers on a Sunday morning to give him the first and best of our week. Because if we reorient our entire life but God is not first in your life, then your whole life is going to be out of order. And so let me ask you do you Sabbath? And I know you're like, nah, I'm too busy. Well, if the devil can't make you bad, he'll make you busy. I dare you. I dare you to live in the kind of rhythm where one day a week, you stop, you rest, you refocus your life on Christ, you connect with your loved ones, you have time of worship and rest so that you can be the man God has called you to be. For the rest of the week, remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.

Speaker 1: 5:12

We'll see you tomorrow. Thank you for listening to today's episode Before you go. If you want to help equip other men for the fight, share this podcast around and leave us a five-star rating and review. Stay sharp.