660. The Ten Commandments - #4 - Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it Holy - October 11, 2024

[00:00:06] Welcome to Wisdom Today. My name is Bill Kelley and I'll be your host. In this podcast we will be exploring the book of Proverbs.

[00:00:21] I'm in prayer. Father God, I thank you for anyone listening to this podcast today. Lord, I pray that you would reveal to everyone listening how much you truly love each and every one of them. I ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

[00:00:36] This is Proverb 11, beginning in verse 1.

[00:00:41] Dishonest scales are an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is His delight.

[00:00:48] When pride comes, then comes shame, but with the humble is wisdom.

[00:00:54] The integrity of the upright will guide them, but the perversity of the unfaithful will destroy them.

[00:01:02] Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death.

[00:01:10] The righteousness of the blameless will direct His way aright, but the wicked will fall by His own wickedness.

[00:01:19] The righteousness of the upright will deliver them, but the unfaithful will be caught by their lust.

[00:01:26] When a wicked man dies, his expectation will perish, and the hope of the unjust perishes.

[00:01:35] The righteous is delivered from trouble, and it comes to the wicked instead.

[00:01:41] The hypocrite with his mouth destroys his neighbor, but through knowledge the righteous will be delivered.

[00:01:49] When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices.

[00:01:54] And when the wicked perish, there is jubilation.

[00:01:57] By the blessing of the upright the city is exalted, but it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked.

[00:02:06] He who is devoid of wisdom despises his neighbor, but a man of understanding holds his peace.

[00:02:15] A tale-bearer reveals secrets, but he who is of a faithful spirit conceals a matter.

[00:02:24] Where there is no counsel, the people fall, but in the multitude of counselors there is safety.

[00:02:31] He who is surety for a stranger will suffer, but one who hates being surety is secure.

[00:02:40] A gracious woman retains honor, but ruthless men retain riches.

[00:02:46] The merciful man does good for his own soul, but he who is cruel troubles his own flesh.

[00:02:54] The wicked man does deceptive work, but he who sows righteousness will have a sure reward.

[00:03:04] As righteousness leads to life, so he who pursues evil pursues it to his own death.

[00:03:12] Those who are of a perverse heart are an abomination to the Lord,

[00:03:18] but the blameless in their way are his delight.

[00:03:23] Though they join forces, the wicked will not go unpunished,

[00:03:27] but the posterity of the righteous will be delivered.

[00:03:31] As a ring of gold in a swine's snout, so is a lovely woman who lacks discretion.

[00:03:39] The desire of the righteous is only good, but the expectation of the wicked is wrath.

[00:03:47] There is one who scatters, yet increases more.

[00:03:51] And there is one who withholds more than is right, but it leads to poverty.

[00:03:58] The generous soul will be made rich, and he who waters will also be watered himself.

[00:04:05] The people will curse him who withholds grain, but blessing will be on the head of him who sells it.

[00:04:14] He who earnestly seeks good finds favor, but trouble will come to him who seeks evil.

[00:04:23] He who trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will flourish like foliage.

[00:04:30] He who troubles his own house will inherit the wind, and the fool will be servant to the wise of heart.

[00:04:39] The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise.

[00:04:46] If the righteous will be recompensed on the earth, how much more the ungodly and the sinner.

[00:04:55] Friends, today I'd like to take a closer look at verse 30.

[00:05:00] And Proverb 11, verse 30 says this,

[00:05:04] The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise.

[00:05:12] Now friends, we will come back and take a look at that verse prior to closing today.

[00:05:17] But what I'd like to do is to continue our study in the Ten Commandments.

[00:05:23] And about six weeks ago, the Lord asked me to do the Ten Commandments, but only on Friday.

[00:05:30] So I began the Ten Commandments five weeks ago, because remember, on the last Friday of every month,

[00:05:40] my wife Judy comes on, and that's the one time every month where she comes on.

[00:05:46] So today we'll be going over commandment number four.

[00:05:50] But before we begin, what I'd like to do is read all of the Ten Commandments.

[00:05:57] So we're going to revisit Exodus chapter 20, beginning in verse 2.

[00:06:02] I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

[00:06:11] Now we begin the Ten Commandments.

[00:06:14] Commandment number one is verse 3.

[00:06:17] You shall have no other gods before me.

[00:06:20] Commandment number two, which we've already been going over, is verse 4.

[00:06:25] You shall not make for yourself a carved image.

[00:06:29] Any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth,

[00:06:39] shall not bow down to them, nor serve them.

[00:06:43] For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children

[00:06:51] to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me,

[00:06:56] but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love me and keep my commandments.

[00:07:04] And last week we went over commandment number three, and that is found in verse 7.

[00:07:09] You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain,

[00:07:14] for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

[00:07:21] And today we are going to do commandment number four, that is verse 8.

[00:07:27] Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.

[00:07:30] Six days you shall labor and do all your work,

[00:07:34] but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God.

[00:07:39] In it you shall do no work, you nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant,

[00:07:50] nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates.

[00:07:54] For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them,

[00:08:02] and rested the seventh day.

[00:08:04] Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.

[00:08:10] Verse number 12 is the fifth commandment which we will be going over next Friday.

[00:08:17] Honor your father and your mother,

[00:08:19] that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

[00:08:25] Now the last five commandments basically have to do with our flesh.

[00:08:30] I like to think that the first commandments basically we're thinking about God,

[00:08:36] and we're thinking about our neighbor.

[00:08:39] And the last five commandments were basically in the flesh.

[00:08:44] And if we are thinking about God and our neighbor,

[00:08:49] we will never do any of the last five.

[00:08:52] So in verse 13 commandment number six says you shall not murder.

[00:08:58] Number 14 is the seventh commandment.

[00:09:02] You shall not commit adultery.

[00:09:05] Verse 15 is the eighth commandment.

[00:09:08] You shall not steal.

[00:09:11] Number 16 is the ninth commandment.

[00:09:14] You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

[00:09:18] And the tenth commandment begins in verse 17.

[00:09:22] You shall not covet your neighbor's house.

[00:09:25] You shall not covet your neighbor's wife,

[00:09:28] nor his male servant, nor his female servant,

[00:09:33] nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's.

[00:09:40] So friends, what I'd like to do today is go back to verse 8 through 11.

[00:09:48] Here is verse 8.

[00:09:50] Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.

[00:09:54] And friends, that is my first point today.

[00:09:57] Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.

[00:10:01] Let's go to verse 9.

[00:10:03] Verse 9.

[00:10:04] Six days you shall labor and do all your work.

[00:10:08] But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God.

[00:10:13] In it you shall do no work, you, nor your son, nor your daughter,

[00:10:20] nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle,

[00:10:25] nor your stranger who is within your gates.

[00:10:29] So friends, my second point is, in it you shall do no work.

[00:10:37] Let's go on to verse 11.

[00:10:40] For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth,

[00:10:45] the sea and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day.

[00:10:51] Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.

[00:10:57] So friends, my third point of the day, and last point.

[00:11:03] Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.

[00:11:09] Now what I'd like to do is, I am reading out of the Nelson Study Bible,

[00:11:13] and what I'd like to do is go over the commentary for these four verses, verses 8 through 11.

[00:11:20] The fourth commandment, remember the Sabbath day, was the special sign of the covenant with Israel at Mount Sinai.

[00:11:33] With this command, God set Israel apart from its neighbors.

[00:11:40] Other peoples had their own various patterns of work and rest,

[00:11:46] but Israel was to set aside one day in seven for rest.

[00:11:53] The word Sabbath means rest.

[00:11:57] The day was kept holy by ceasing all labor on that day.

[00:12:03] The Sabbath was specifically the seventh day, Saturday.

[00:12:09] Now I want you to think about that.

[00:12:12] The Jewish people do things differently than we as Christians.

[00:12:18] When we think about going to church, we think church day is Sunday.

[00:12:25] But the Jewish people go to the synagogues on Saturday.

[00:12:30] So Saturday is the Sabbath, and it actually begins, I believe, at 6 p.m. on Friday evening.

[00:12:41] I want you to think about that.

[00:12:44] Because you're not supposed to do anything between 6 o'clock in the evening to 6 o'clock on Saturday evening.

[00:12:53] And what you are supposed to do on that day is you're basically to worship the Lord.

[00:12:58] During the Sabbath, the Israelites worshiped God and recalled his deliverance of them from slavery.

[00:13:08] And in slavery, we're thinking about Deuteronomy.

[00:13:12] And Deuteronomy in chapter 5, verse 15, let me read this to you.

[00:13:20] And it says,

[00:13:41] Now what I'd like to do is go further in the book of Exodus and read the Sabbath law.

[00:13:50] And this begins in verse 12, and it's seven verses.

[00:13:56] But I want you to think and contemplate and meditate the instructions of God for what we are to do on the Sabbath day.

[00:14:11] And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

[00:14:24] Meaning,

[00:14:26] And you throughout your generations, meaning, we should still be doing it today.

[00:14:32] That you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you.

[00:14:37] You shall keep the Sabbath, therefore, for it is holy to you.

[00:14:43] Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death.

[00:14:48] Now, friends, I don't know about you.

[00:14:51] But when it says, if you don't do this, you're going to be put to death.

[00:14:56] Now, it's hard for us as Christians today to relate to this.

[00:15:01] But back in the Old Testament, people were put to death for things that would never happen today.

[00:15:09] But that is how serious God took this commandment.

[00:15:15] You have to do this.

[00:15:17] Do not not do this.

[00:15:21] For whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people.

[00:15:31] Work shall be done for six days.

[00:15:34] But the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord.

[00:15:40] Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.

[00:15:47] Therefore, the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant, meaning forever.

[00:15:58] It is a sign between me and the children of Israel forever.

[00:16:03] For in six days, the Lord made the heavens and the earth.

[00:16:06] And on the seventh day, he rested and was refreshed.

[00:16:10] And when he had made an end of speaking with him on Mount Sinai, meaning God, he gave Moses two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone written with the finger of God.

[00:16:24] Now, friends, let's remember what the Ten Commandments were.

[00:16:28] The Ten Commandments were ten commandments that God literally wrote on two tablets of stone himself.

[00:16:38] They were literally written with God's finger.

[00:16:42] And we think about that today.

[00:16:45] Well, and it's real easy to say, well, that didn't happen.

[00:16:49] That couldn't happen.

[00:16:50] Friends, if it's in the Bible and the Bible says it happened, then it happened.

[00:16:55] Moses was up there for 40 days.

[00:16:58] He was up there with 40 days with God.

[00:17:01] They communed.

[00:17:02] They talked.

[00:17:03] God said, this is what we're going to do.

[00:17:05] He wrote the Ten Commandments and he says, Moses, this is what you need to do.

[00:17:11] I created the world in six days.

[00:17:16] And you are going to do.

[00:17:19] And you are going to do.

[00:17:21] And you are going to sanctify this day for generations to come throughout eternity.

[00:17:28] You are going to follow the Sabbath day.

[00:17:32] Now, friends, I wish many of us today kept the Sabbath.

[00:17:38] Most of us are not Jewish people.

[00:17:41] Now, we have been grafted in to God's family.

[00:17:46] So actually, in a way, we are basically adopted into the Jewish faith because of Abraham,

[00:17:57] because of what Jesus did on the cross.

[00:18:00] So we are, if we are in Christ, then we are in God's family, meaning that basically we are Jewish.

[00:18:10] But friends, the most important thing of this commandment is that we are to have a day of rest.

[00:18:20] And friends, that's something most families do not even think about today.

[00:18:27] I know a lot of times the majority of people ordinarily have jobs that last Monday through Friday.

[00:18:34] Of course, there's many occupations.

[00:18:36] If you work like in a restaurant or, you know, whatever, a driver.

[00:18:42] Many, many people work like if you're working at McDonald's or Walmart.

[00:18:48] Sure, you might work every Saturday and Sunday.

[00:18:51] But the majority of people work Monday through Friday.

[00:18:54] And they go, well, on weekends.

[00:18:56] But what do you do on weekends?

[00:18:57] On weekends, you tend to get caught up.

[00:19:00] You know, I'm going to go do this.

[00:19:01] I'm going to mow the lawn.

[00:19:02] I'm going to work in the yard.

[00:19:03] I'm going to do this.

[00:19:05] And a lot of people think, okay, well, Sunday's church day.

[00:19:08] But you never make an entire day out of it.

[00:19:11] And the point of this commandment is that you're to do no work on that day.

[00:19:22] And friends, I'm going to be honest with you.

[00:19:24] I have a hard time with this as well.

[00:19:28] I mean, sometimes I might end up working the yard for an hour on Sunday.

[00:19:33] Now, Sunday would be the day because that's the day we go to church.

[00:19:37] Most churches today don't have church on Saturday.

[00:19:40] If they do have church on Saturday, it's Saturday evening.

[00:19:44] But most people don't have church on Saturday morning.

[00:19:47] And I really don't want to belittle this point.

[00:19:49] I really don't because I don't really want to get people angry at me and saying,

[00:19:55] oh, my gosh, you're just over the top.

[00:19:57] But what I'm trying to get across is, friends, we simply,

[00:20:02] especially if you are raising a family at this time and you have small kids in the home,

[00:20:08] or even if the kids are getting a little bit bigger and they're teenagers.

[00:20:12] But I know so many people that basically have something every single night of the week.

[00:20:21] They don't have any time to rest.

[00:20:25] They don't have any time to spend with their family and say, let's just take a day off.

[00:20:34] Not do any work, not do any sports, not do any activities and just relax.

[00:20:41] And maybe take the family, go to church and maybe in the afternoon, go to the lake and fish.

[00:20:49] Enjoy yourself.

[00:20:52] Relax a bit with your family.

[00:20:58] And friends, most people only dream about doing that.

[00:21:04] Most people can't even imagine spending a whole day with their family and not working.

[00:21:13] But that's what the Bible tells us that we are to do.

[00:21:17] So my call to action today is to consider the Sabbath day.

[00:21:24] Now, I'm not going to say the Sabbath day is on Saturday for most of you listening,

[00:21:30] unless you are Jewish.

[00:21:33] That could be.

[00:21:34] But if you are a regular, ordinary Christian,

[00:21:39] let's say that Sunday is our day of rest.

[00:21:43] Think about going to church in the morning,

[00:21:47] maybe Sunday school, having a nice family meal at lunch,

[00:21:52] taking the afternoon off and simply enjoying each other's company.

[00:21:59] And trying to slow down a bit.

[00:22:05] We do not have to be busy 24-7.

[00:22:09] And that's what a lot of families are doing today,

[00:22:13] is you are in perpetual motion and don't even have any idea what it is to rest.

[00:22:20] Friends, I will never end a podcast without giving anyone an opportunity to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

[00:22:28] If there is anyone listening today and you've never taken that step,

[00:22:32] I invite you to repeat a simple prayer after me today.

[00:22:35] Jesus, I believe that you are the Son of God and you came to earth and died on a cross for me.

[00:22:44] Jesus, I confess that I am a sinner and in need of a Savior.

[00:22:49] And Jesus, I am looking to you as my Savior.

[00:22:54] I ask that you come into my heart.

[00:22:56] I make you my Lord and Savior.

[00:23:00] Now, may the Lord bless you and keep you.

[00:23:04] The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you.

[00:23:08] The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

[00:23:13] Friends, this is the weekend.

[00:23:16] Please take your family out.

[00:23:18] Take your spouse out.

[00:23:20] Take your kids out.

[00:23:22] Enjoy yourself.

[00:23:23] Have a nice family time this weekend.

[00:23:26] And I will see you back on Monday as we further explore wisdom today.