Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
This is the first commandment that actually deals with behavior as it pertains to humans and the effects said behavior has on them rather than god.
On the surface it doesn't seem to bad to suggest that people take a day off, but once we read it carefully we find that a big part of this command turns the focus back on god again, in that we are supposed to do this because god did it. Further, it is not simply a requirement that people take a break once in a while it is a specific day that everyone must take not work.
The nature of this command becomes more clear when viewed in the context of Number 15:32-36. in this passage a man is caught gathering sticks on the Sabbath and at the behest of god is put to death for his violation of this law. Once you read that it becomes clear that once again this law was not really about making things better for our fellow humans, but about control. God wanted his followers to take a day off and spend it worshiping him. In fact isn't this exactly the mentality of many modern Christians when it comes to Sunday?
Certain pieces of law have been put into our legal system based upon this law, such as laws prohibiting sale of liquor on Sunday, but by and large this is another commandment that is largely ignored by our government. Little wonder since it would violate the establishment clause, plus a death sentence for work on Sunday would wipe out just about everyone in the country. In modern society it would be impossible for us to implement a common day off for everyone.
On the surface it doesn't seem to bad to suggest that people take a day off, but once we read it carefully we find that a big part of this command turns the focus back on god again, in that we are supposed to do this because god did it. Further, it is not simply a requirement that people take a break once in a while it is a specific day that everyone must take not work.
The nature of this command becomes more clear when viewed in the context of Number 15:32-36. in this passage a man is caught gathering sticks on the Sabbath and at the behest of god is put to death for his violation of this law. Once you read that it becomes clear that once again this law was not really about making things better for our fellow humans, but about control. God wanted his followers to take a day off and spend it worshiping him. In fact isn't this exactly the mentality of many modern Christians when it comes to Sunday?
Certain pieces of law have been put into our legal system based upon this law, such as laws prohibiting sale of liquor on Sunday, but by and large this is another commandment that is largely ignored by our government. Little wonder since it would violate the establishment clause, plus a death sentence for work on Sunday would wipe out just about everyone in the country. In modern society it would be impossible for us to implement a common day off for everyone.
