Q: What does God require in the fourth and fifth commandments?
A: Fourth, that on the Sabbath day we spend time in public and private worship of God, rest from routine employment, serve the Lord and others, and so anticipate the eternal Sabbath. Fifth, that we love and honor our father and our mother, submitting to their godly discipline and direction.
Leviticus 19:3
Every one of you shall revere his mother and his father, and you shall keep my Sabbaths: I am the Lord your God.
The fourth commandment deals with the Day of Rest or the Sabbath. For the Jews, this meant they take off the seventh day every week (Friday sundown to Saturday sundown) and refrain from any sort of work – ranging from not doing occupational work to not even pressing a button on an elevator.
Thankfully, Christians are not bound by this commandment. We do not have the same Sabbath day as the Jews. We take our rest on Sunday, or the first day of the week for the Jews. As Christians, we do not take rest on the Sabbath because the Law demands us, too.
However, we take rest on the Sabbath because Jesus is the Lord of Sabbath. The Christian Sabbath is instated so that we remember and celebrate all that Jesus was and all that he came to do.
“And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for Sabbath. So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”” (Mark 2:27-28)
Jesus Christ is such a monumental figure in Christian history. It is impossible for the Christians to imagine Sabbath or the day of rest without referencing to what Jesus Christ did on the cross for us. As a result, Christians celebrate the Sabbath on Sundays for Christ was resurrected on that day to justify us from our sins.
The Israelites receive the command to observe the Sabbath day as a reminder of God delivering them from the land of Egypt.
“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.” (Deuteronomy 5:15)
How much more, having been saved, should the believer celebrate Christ’s saving work on a Sunday? The Israelites kept and still keeps to this day the Day of Sabbath to the strictest details, remembering how the LORD God has delivered them. Christians who also have received deliverance should observe our Sabbath for Christ has delivered us from our worst enemy, sin and death.
Sabbath Day has wonderful theological purposes – to help us remind of what Christ has done for us. However, the day also is given to us by God for practical reasons. God wants this Sabbath Day for our own good. Praise God for He knows what is best for us.
“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” (Hebrews 10:24-25)
The Sabbath Day give us, the believers, a chance to come meet the Lord and spend time with our fellow brothers and sisters. The Day enforces us to meet each other and be an encouragement for one another.
And as we meet together, we remember the Day drawing near – The Day of eternal rest. The Sabbath is a stark reminder for us to learn to rest and remember that God is sovereign.
“For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.” (Hebrews 4:8-10)
If even God Almighty has taken rest and commands us to take a rest, we ought to do it. God has biologically created our body to desire rest and, without break, we will be the ones who are breaking. And this rest is of spirituality – the rest in order to meet God and have communion with God.
Praise God for the gift that He has given us in Sabbath that we may remember to take breaks and observe the greatest gift that God has given us in Christ.
The fifth commandment begins dealing with our relationship with other people. The first group of people mentioned by the Ten Commandments is the unit of family. In the time that we are living, honoring and respecting do not go too far. This culture is all about rebellion.
On the other hand, the Scripture teaches that one’s old age is a gift from God and elders are to be obeyed. The Scripture often praises an older man for his old age. Compared to our culture where youth is often glorified, the Jewish culture praises the old age!
“You shall stand up before the gray head and honor the face of an old man, and you shall fear your God: I am the LORD.” (Leviticus 19:32)
“The glory of young men is their strength, but the splendor of old men is their gray hair.” (Proverbs 20:29)
“Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is gained in a righteous life.” (Proverbs 16:31)
When the Scripture talks about honoring an older man, it is suggesting honoring the authority that God has placed in our lives. According to the fifth commandment, this honor must be given to one’s parents whether one likes to or not.
Honoring one’s parents, according to the Bible, comes with benefits for the children as well. It is a good thing for the child to honor one’s parents.
“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.” (Exodus 20:12)
Paul quotes this specific passage in Ephesians 6. He adds on a little commentary that this is the first commandment with a promise – the promise that it will benefit us if we keep this commandment.
How do we honor our parents? We honor them by obeying them in our youth and giving them proper respect they deserve as our parents as we get older.
“When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.” (John 19:26-27)
Jesus, at the point of his death, shows the proper honoring of his mother by entrusting her to John the disciple. Jesus shows us that he took his earthly family to utmost importance. Who are we to dishonor and disrespect our parents if Jesus was careful to abide by the fifth commandment even at the point of his death?
“And they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them. And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.” (Luke 2:50-52)
Jesus, from his youth to his death, honored his parents. Not only did he honor his earthly parents, but he honored his heavenly Father.
“And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:8)
Jesus portrays a clear picture of what it means to completely obey the fifth commandment in honoring one’s parents. Not only was he finished there, but he honored his heavenly Father. The fifth commandment, then, is to lead us to see the greater picture of obeying the one true authority – God.
Our obedience to the commandments is, ultimately, for our own good. God has established these commandments that we might benefit from obeying them. By obeying the commandments, we also understand how God desires for us to live – in a relationship with Him and loving fellow believers.
The commandments also remind us of Jesus Christ. The fourth commandment is a reminder of Christ’s atoning sacrifice and the fifth commandment is a reminder of how Christ honored God the Father even to the point of death.
εὐαγγέλιον 