“Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work,” verse 9.
- It is to be noted that man has six days out of seven to do all his work. Were the Lord to demand six days for His service who could complain? And yet man, despite having six days to pursue his own interests, still misuses the Sabbath Day to indulge himself!
- Work, for ourselves or for others, is what the Lord intends us to do. The Lord has a very simple rule to deter laziness in those who tend to be ‘work-shy’! “For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat,” 2 Thessalonians 3:10. That thinking is very far removed from the accepted notions of today. Here in Ulster, as elsewhere in the UK, we are into the second, indeed in some cases the third, generation of those who have never worked and live off state benefits. In certain cases it it is because of ailment and physical disabilities BUT in many, many cases it simply laziness! If Paul’s rules were applied there would be many no longer living off state benefits and the tax burden on the rest of the populace would be much less.
- The unpleasantness associated with labour is the result of sin. Genesis 3:17-19. Adam’s work in the Garden before the fall would have been most pleasant indeed. “And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it,”Genesis 2:15. It can be seen in verses 19 & 20 that Adam worked alongside the Lord. “And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field.” Such glorious work would not be grievous! Sin has turned a paradise into a place of toil, Job 14:11-2.
- We must take care that all under our authority and rule honour the Lord by observing His appointed Sabbath. “But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates,” verse 10.
- If we believe the Bible’s account of the creation, we will keep the Lord’s Sabbath. “For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day . . . ” verse 11.
Sabbath-breakers are rejectors of the Bible’s testimony that the Lord is the Creator of all things.