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8/12/2019 1990 Issue 8 - Law and Liberation: The Fourth
Commandment - Counsel of Chalcedon
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aw
iberation
y
Wen
ourie
Sunday
Many Christians are very concerned that Sunday
observance is in decline under secularist pressure.
Voltaire, one of the philosophical fathers of the
humanistic French Revolution, believed that the
destruction of the Christian sabbath would hasten the
demise
of
Christianity. Voltaire was right. The
Sabbath is a vital mark of our freedom under God
and we need to know our theology
of
the Sabbath
when certain questions are raised or risk the
lo
ss
of
our liberty: To what degree is the Old Testament
Sabbath law binding today? How and by whom
should Sunday be kept as a sabbath? What about
Sunday trading, organized sport, and the opening of
cinemas? Does the fourth commandment require
legislation by the state to preserve
or
enforce
conditions favoring Sunday observance in which
Christians benefit but non-Christians are frustrated
in the pursuit
of
their objectives? Since the Sabbath
began with God, the future
of
Sunday must ,be
determined by His word not by the opinion
of
the
reasonable man.
Here
we
have to
do
with a life
principle from God as opposed to a humanistic
principle--a way that leads to death.
t
is
of
vital
to society
as
a whole.
We live
in an
age that has cast out the
ab
solutes
of
God and His word; an age
of
relativism,
lawlessness, and restlessness. There is a persistent
contrariness to the norm
of
God's law leading to
even greater restlessness as man strives for peace
without God. Paradise is the goal of the Marxist
ideologists invading our land.
It
is also the quest
of
the consumerism
of
a perverted capitalism bent on a
life
of
seemingly limitless credit, more expenditure,
and greater fun. But the end thereof are the ways
of death (Proverbs 14:12).
By contrast, there is the theology of the sabbath
which speaks of God's pattern for His creation,
redemption from sin, true rest, genuine hope, and
certain victory. Indeed, the sabbath is a tool for
victory on earth in time and for eternity,
if it
is
properly understood and used. The Christian
sabbath opposes the lawlessness
of
our age and
testifies to God's order
of
righteousness and truth
that shall fill the earth as far as true faith and practice
in
Christ is found.
The
Old
Sabbath
Almighty God, could have created
all
things out of
nothing instantly. Instead,
He
chose to create time
periods such
as
days. The first week
of
created
history contained six days in which God brought a
complete and mature creation into being and one day--
the seventh-- on which He ceased from His creative
activity. Not that God was inactive. He continued
to uphold His creation by His providence. Mail,
created in God's image, was required to reflect God
and His ways in knowledge, holiness, righteousness
and dominion, and the pattern of six days of work
and one day
of
rest was for man to follow.
Subsequently, history unfolded through the Fall to .
the redemption
of
the children
of
Israel from
Egyptian bondage. In their liberated state, the
Israelites received the Decalogue.
t
Mount Sinai
the sabbath law referred to the pattern set by God in .
His creative activity. In its restatement on the eve
of
their entrance into the promised land forty years
T)le Counsel of Cbalcedon October 1990 Page .
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8/12/2019 1990 Issue 8 - Law and Liberation: The Fourth
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later, the sabbath lawrequired observance in terms '
of their redemptio l . . The rest was 110t merely a
cessation
from work
btit an occasion
for
rejoicing
in
that mighty act
of Gcx:I
by giving liberty to others.
The
sabbath was
not
confined to the weekly event,
nor
was
it
restricted
to
purely human benefit: But
in the seventh year shall be a sabbath
of
rest unto the
land, a sabbath for the Lord: thou shalt neither sow _
thy field,
nor prune
thy vineyard" (Leviticus 25:4).
The earth was also to benefit from a sabbath every
seventh year.
So
one
would expect that
in a
century
there would
be
fourteen sabbatical years.
In
fact,
there were
i x t e e n ~
for every fiftieth
e a r ~ t h e j u b i l e e - ~
was to
be
obserV'ed asa sabbath too.
But
if the' land
was
not
worked during t h ~ s e
tin i.es,
from whence
the food supply? "And if
ye
shall say, .
What
shall
.
we
eat the seventh year? behold,
we
shall
not sow
,
nor
gather in
our
increase: Then will command my
blessing
upon
you in the sixth year,
and it
shall
bring forth' fruit
for
three years.
And ye
shall
sow
. he eighth year,
and
eat
yet
of
old fruit until the ninth
.year; until her fruits come in
ye
shall
ea_t
of the
old
store" (Leviticus 25: 20-22). Clearly, the lesson is:
God commands; the people obey;
God
blesses and
provides all that is needed; and the people live in
a
provident way as opposed
to
conswrterism.
..
.There was also the release from debt every seventh
year
which was of particular benefit to the Hebrew
poor
, (Deuteronomy 15:1,2). Moreover, since the
land
belonged to
Goo
.and could not
be
ultimately
sold, the
jubilee
was also a yearfor the reversion
of
unredeemed
land
to the original Hebrewowner who
through poverty had "sold"
out
(Leviticus
25:23,25,28).
Yet
another application
of
the sabbath
principle
was
to
be found
in
Deuteronomy 15:12
.which required the release
of
Hebrew slaves every
seventh year. There
is
much more,
but
the meaning
of the sabbath is clear;
t
has to .do with rest,
redemption,
and
freedom not only for man
but
also
for the earth
and
the animals. Its observance was
not only
for a
day once a week but
for
a
year
every
seventh
year and
wo years every fortyninth year
artd fiftieth year.
In the Old Testament, the death penalty
was
' applied
for violations of the weekly sabbath:
ye
shall keep
the sabbath therefore; for
it
is
holy
unto
you
:. every
one that defileth it
shall surely
be put
to death:
for
whosoever doeth any work therein; that
soul be cut
of f from
among
his people" (Exodus 31:14).
Concerning the sabbatical
years,
R I. Rushdoony
notes: "Between the exodus and the Babylonian:
Captivity,
it was
.neglected
70
times,
and
hence
70
years of captivity were imposed
to
give the land
rest." The bisitutes of
Biblical
Law p.l39). This
was "to fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth of
The counsel
of
Chalcedon October
1990
Page 20
Jere:mlah, until
the .
land had enjoyed
her
sabbaths:
for
as long
as
she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to
fulfill threescore
and
ten years''
IT
Chronicles
36:21). t was a matter
of
life
or
death.
The
sabbath
brought all things
in
relation to God.
t
demanded
the dedication
of
the whole
of
life to
God
and
it
stood as a witness to
that
consecration. It was a
covenant matter: "Wherefore the children
of
Israel
.shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath
throughout their generations, for .a.. perpef:\lal
covenant. It
is
a sign between me and the children
of
Israel for ever .. "(Exodus
31
: 6-17). The sabbath
spoke of the authority and sovereignty for God' as
.well as His providence and
it
required
the
covenant
people's submission, faith, and obedience.
The
hristian
abbath
.christians enter into true sabbath rest . hrough the
redeeming bloodof Christ and His resurrection from
the dead.
n
this
rest
.we take
our
hands
off
our
work trusting in the Providence
of
God
who orders
:all things and cares for us, and we joyfully celebrate
our redemption. While worship was a daily exercise
in
a family context
in
theOld Testament (and so
it
should be now too), the
New
Testamnt emphasizes
that
we
are not to forsake "the assembling
of
ourselves together" (Hebrews .10:25)..
and
this is
commonly understood to
r e f ~ r
to Christians,
gathering together
for
worship
on
the Lord's
a y ~ : .
Sunday. Our Lord
Jesus
Christ said: The sabbath
was made for
man,
and
not
man for the sabbath:
therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the
sabbath."
(Mark
2:27-28). Every burden that
ma,n
would impose on his fellows
in
the matter
of
sabbath
observance, as the Pharisees
did
with their
distortions of the
Law
of
God
, is forbidden. Mari is
not to be the servant
of
the .sabbath. The sabbath is
for the benefit of
man,
that is , man under the
Lordship and direction
of
Christ. The proper use of
the sabbath is found in the expository . ancl
admonitory teaching and preaching.
of
the whole
of
God's written word.
Both
its meaning
nd . ts.
application to every
area oflife
will be given. Where
. such practice is found
t h ~ i e
will be true rest in
Christ's government of all .things and there will be
the victory celebration in the .worship of, . he
Almighty in psalms and hymns
of
praise and
thanksgiving. Then, too, the time may be spent in
doing good to our fellow men in
deeds
of
kindness
and mercy
as
bearers
of
the good tidings
of h r i s t
The
sabbath, properly used, becomes a
tooL
for the
victory of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ
in
all
the earth. To reject the Christian sabbath is to spurn
the redemption brought to us
by
Christ
and
to adopt
ways that
re
in conflict with the
Lord
of the
S ~ b ~ .
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8/12/2019 1990 Issue 8 - Law and Liberation: The Fourth
Commandment - Counsel of Chalcedon
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Dominion Work
Another very important aspect of this commandment
concerns our work: "Six days shalt thou labour, and
do all thy work." Even before the Fall, Adam
worked (Genesis 2:15,19) in fulfillment
of
the
Dominion Mandate
of
Genesis 1:28. After the Fall,
work became a drudgery: "In the sweat of thy face
shalt thou
eat
bread .."(Genesis 3:19).
or
the
Christian, the Dominion Mandate, taken together
with the Great Commission of Matthew 28:18-20,
gives meaning
and
purpose to whatever work we are
gifted and cal led to
do
. n "whatever ye do,
do
all
to
.
the glory
of
God" (I Corinthians 15:58).
In our
work we are
not
attempting to create a paradise
on
earth but we are simply fulfilling the requirements of
God in
tenns of
His
Law
and
in
the context
of
His
Kingdom which will ultimately overspread this earth
in righteousness and in truth.
Dominion work is productive, provident (even
in
times
of
abundance), future-oriented and
consciously able to rest in God. It stands opposed
to greedy consumerism, credit expansion, and the
instant satisfaction
of
present desires which spends
tomorow's money today. t flourishes and benefits
society as a whole where it is least restricted by
humanistic governmental controls--the control of
men who would
be
as
God
because they lack faith
in
the total government
of
all things by God.
True
Christian faith, characterized by dominion work
and
sabbath rest, stands as a bulwark against the
ruthlessness of power-hungry
men and
the
decadence of lovers of pleasures both of whom seek
rest without
God
--a "strong delusion" (II
Thessalonians 2:11).
The
Sabbath and Society
God has always dealt with mankind in terms
of
a
covenant whereby a nation walks either
in
obedience
or
in
disobedience to the laws of God. Covenant
keeping testifies to the grace of the triune
God
in
election, redemption, and regeneration. Where true
trinitarian faith is alive and well there the Christian
sabbath is observed and properly used and that
society is blessed with true rest
in
God. Every
sphere
of
life experiences the benefit: some
relaxation is given to those who are under the power
of others (Calvin's Geneva Catechism); family life
is enhanced; Christian people grow
in
the knowledge
of God and in His grace and are equipped
to be
the
salt
of
the earth
and
the light
of
the world; true
liberty under God's
Law
is secured. And while
recognizing legitimate work for some
in
essential
services on Sundays, provision will
be
made
for
them to rest too.
The sabbath serves
as
a barometer that indicates
where a society stands in relation to God. The
current desire to remove ancient laws preserving
sabbath observance reflects the decline
in
Christian
faith and practice in
our
society. Where Christian
faith is revived by the grace
of God to
reassert itself
as the victorious and conquering faith that
it
is in
every area
of
life, there
the
sabbath
and
godly liberty
will remain
intact
Where Humanism is the prevailing faith, as
it
is in
our
day, there the sabbath cannot be properly
observed. Certainly, Christians
must
protest against
all attacks
on
their liberty
and
bring legal pressure to
bear on lax rulers but
it must be
remembered that
legislation to preserve the sabbath cannot
be
a true
cure without a wholesome
and
common Christian
faith on the part of the legislators
and
the populace.
To the degree that a once Christian State is given to
.Humanism,
to that
degree
it
cannot preserve the
Christian Sabbath. Would
we
have the preservation
of the Sabbath and
our
freedom under God? Then
we
must repent
of
our surrender
of
every area
of
life
to humanism, and
we must
determine by the
enabling grace of
God to
recapture what
we
have
lost.
We
must begin
to
rebuild
on the
foundation
of
God
's word and with a true application
of
the
theology
of
the Protestant Reformation
in
every area
of life--theology, worship, family-life, education,
philosophy, law, economics, politics, and
so
on.
Only a positive, . victorious, conquering
and
rebuilding Christian faith can truly bring rest to a
society under the authority and sovereignty of God.
Conclusion
There can
be
no
sabbath where the Christ
of
the
Biblical, Protestant, Reformed,
and
Evangelical
Faith is denied
in
favor
of
a freedom fighter or
Lord
Maitreya. The Christian sabbath
on
which we
celebrate
our
victory over sin and death spells the
defeat of humanism in all its forms .
No
wonder it is
targeted for destruction by the spirit
of
antichris
t
Corrections
JVith
; all Chrj Stian c : h u r ~ ~ e s = : lecau se; . w ~ a t
made
f ~ i ~ i i
~ i
[ l l t ~ u f . i t ~
The Counsel
of
Chalcedon October 1990 Page
21
