The fourth of the ten Commandments is “Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.” Notice that God did not have to tell the Israelites what day the Sabbath was.
He had already taught them that they could gather the manna for six days and on the sixth day, Friday, they were to gather a double portion so they would not have to gather or to work for their food on the seventh.
The instructions from God were not to work on Saturday, but it also does not say they were to rest on the Sabbath. Actually they were told to make it holy. In Hebrew “holy” means separate or distinct.
There are actually only two commandments that require positive action. All the others say, “Thou shalt not.” And remember the Sabbath is the only commandment that requires a ritual.
It’s also important to note that the ten Commandments are universally applicable.
And it is interesting to note that the Christian world is the only non-Jewish civilization to have adopted the Ten Commandments. And the best part of all is
there is a good reason for accepting and adopting the Ten Commandments as our creed: it affirms that God created the world in six days and on the seventh day He rested. This is a good pattern for man to follow to be healthy, wealthy and wise. And the neat part of it is that your children and your animals are just as free from work as you are
on the Sabbath.
After teaching we need a day of rest we are next told to honor our father and our mother. If a child does not honor parental authority he is less likely to honor God.
In fact, it is so in reverse also. If a child does not honor their parent they are less likely to honor God.
If we pay close attention we will see there are only two commandments telling us who we should honor. First God and second our parents.
Actually it is more important to honor your parent than it is to love them. The moral success of a society does not depend on children loving their parents, but it does depend on children honoring their parent.
We know in Paul’s writings he repeats “Children obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
“Honour your father and mother”, which is the first commandment associated with the promise. It says “so that it may be well with you and you may have a long life on the earth.”
The only moral authority that is higher than parents is God. And then comes the reward! To honor your father and mother is the only one of the Ten Commandments that specifies a reward. The promise is to all of society. It promises the collective nation that if its members honor their parents,
the family will be preserved, it religious traditions and beliefs will be preserved, and the civilization will long endure.
The breakdown of the family is a guarantee of the breakdown of a civilization. God bless those parents
who have raised up a child In the way he should go.
God’s promise is:
Train up a child
in the way he should go:
and when he is old,
he will not depart from it.
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