Deuteronomy 5:15, commentary and pictures

Moses repeated the Sabbath command on the east side of the Jordan to the new generation who were about to possess Canaan after their fathers died in the wilderness. The command is to labor six days and keep the seventh day holy as God's Sabbath, with no work by household, servants, strangers, or livestock, the day being a literal twenty-four-hour memorial of creation. The reason given is that the Lord brought Israel out of servitude in Egypt by a mighty hand and outstretched arm, freeing them so they could serve Him freely and therefore placing them under special obligation to keep the Sabbath strictly. Remembering that former bondage requires granting equal rest to servants, animals, and resident foreigners within the household. That sanctification and obedience is still required of every person now, making the seventh day a test of loyalty that cannot be set aside for a day God did not sanctify.

Setting and Wording

The verse belongs to the covenant made at Horeb and spoken face to face out of the fire, made not only with the fathers but with Israel alive that day, and it is now repeated as Moses calls all Israel to listen, learn, keep and do the statutes and judgments. It stands within the Decalogue by which Israel had pledged to govern life, with the Sabbath command as part of the law to be heard, learned, kept and obeyed. It is Moses's repetition of the Sabbath command on the east side of the Jordan just before Israel took possession of Canaan. It was given to a new generation whose fathers had died in the wilderness after their transgressions brought God's judgments so that they would not enter the promised land, while their grown children were to possess Canaan.

The repetition was needed because many of those grown children had been small children with no remembrance of the grandeur when the law was given and others had been born in the wilderness. God therefore instructed Moses to gather them to relate all the journeyings since leaving Egypt and the great transgressions of their fathers, and to recapitulate the Ten Commandments with all the circumstances connected with the giving of the law. The purpose was that they would realize the necessity of obeying the Ten Commandments and all the laws and judgments given through Moses. Few of the present generation had been old enough to comprehend the solemnity when the law was first spoken from Sinai, so the history of deliverance and wilderness journeying is joined with recapitulation of that law to present God's claim to obedience anew as Israel is about to enter the promised land, with obedience made the condition of prosperity there.

The command is to labor six days and keep the seventh day holy as God's Sabbath, with no work by household, servants, strangers, or livestock so that servants may rest equally. The rest extends to servants, animals, and resident foreigners within the household, so Israel was to remember its own former servitude and grant rest to those under its care. The specified day is a literal twenty-four-hour day, not an indefinite period, connected with God's six-day creation and seventh-day rest. The Sabbath in the passage is the seventh day holy to the Lord, set apart for human observance as a memorial of creation so people remember and worship Him as the only true and living God. It is also a sign of sanctifying power and a perpetual covenant, so its observance recalls both creation and deliverance.

Reason and Obligation

The command to keep the Sabbath day rests on deliverance from servitude in Egypt, for the Lord brought the people out by a mighty hand and outstretched arm and therefore commanded Sabbath observance as a definite command given after the exodus. Remembering that mighty deliverance by keeping the Sabbath is the stated reason for obedience, and the rest commanded reaches servants and others within the household so that they may rest as well. As part of the repeated commandments, the Sabbath is to be kept continually and taught to children, expressing a requirement from God rather than a matter left to human choice.

Israel was brought out of harsh Egyptian slavery so the people could serve God freely, honor His Sabbath, and obey Him without restriction. They could not serve God in Egypt, and being set free placed them under special obligation to keep the Sabbath strictly. Remembering former servitude required granting rest to those under their care, with rest extending not only to the Israelite but to servants, animals, and resident foreigners within the household.

The verse belongs to the Ten Commandments, among the first four showing duty to God, and stands among the commandments, statutes, and judgments expressing God's will. Those commandments are definite requirements to be remembered, kept and done continually, to govern life, and to be taught, given so that Israel would be a holy people unto Himself and would understand from the circumstances of the giving of the law the necessity of obeying them. The same principle makes violation of the laws governing human physical nature a violation of God's law, just as breaking a commandment is sin, because both belong to God's law.

The Sabbath command is a test of loyalty, requiring keeping the seventh day He sanctified rather than accepting a day He did not set apart. God's commandments will be used in judgment, and failure to learn what He commanded gives no excuse for keeping another day. Reverence for God is shown by obeying His law, which must be learned, kept, and done, and His cooperation and blessing cannot be expected while disobedient to it. Refusal to obey its precept, even by those professing to serve the Lord, is unbelief and disobedience that leaves the mind clouded.

Present Call to Obey

The instruction belongs to God's people today, for the sanctification once required of Israel in the wilderness is required of every person now. That sanctification means setting mind, soul, and body apart for God through perfect obedience to His will, with no excuse accepted for disobeying His commandments. The Sabbath command stands within the commandments given after God brought Israel out of bondage in Egypt, and those commandments were recorded for study and practice in principle in 1901 to make the path plain and shield from temptation. The Sabbath is the day God requires His people to observe, yet comparatively few honor Him by keeping it. Obedience to the fourth commandment, including keeping the Sabbath, is an experience needed to perfect Christian character, and yielding the will to God in this matter makes efforts to save people more effective for their whole being.

What God required of His ancient people in order for them to be a holy people unto Himself included keeping the Sabbath among the commandments and the statutes and the judgments to be kept and done. Studying the verse together with Deuteronomy 4-8 gives profitable preparation for the day of God's great final review. The present is the time of investigation, when every character will have been investigated and every case decided for eternity before people stand before the Judge of all the earth to answer for their deeds. The verse holds definite and clear truth of highest importance that must be taken from under the bushel and made to shine before crowded cities nigh and afar off as the last warning call to a perishing world. Gathering the people into public halls and speaking its Sabbath truth to them on the Sabbath itself, with all the movement and expense that requires, is in the Lord's order to make an impression upon them.

The seventh-day Sabbath is a commandment to be kept, set apart as a memorial of God's creation for human observance so people remember and worship Him as the only true and living God. Abandonment of the seventh day for the first day is the breach that must be repaired, calling Sabbath-keepers to restore the foundations of earlier generations. The verse's command belongs to God's law as part of the Ten Commandments. The same principle that makes breaking a commandment sin applies to the laws governing human physical nature, since violating them is also violation of God's law.