The Fourth Commandment

The Fourth Commandment as it is written,

Exodus 20:8-11 MKJV
(8) Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
(9)  Six days you shall labour and do all your work.
(10)  But the seventh day is the Sabbath of Jehovah your God. You shall not do any work, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, your manservant, nor your maidservant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger within your gates.
(11)  For in six days Jehovah made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore, Jehovah blessed the Sabbath day, and sanctified it.

What does it mean to set the Sabbath apart; to keep it Holy?

Many of our Bible translations read “make or keep it Holy”.

Holy is one of those words that is a little difficult to cling to as a picture in our thoughts and minds.

The Hebrew word is qadash and here are all the things it means below:

H6942 – Original: קדשׁ qadash {kaw-dash’} a primitive root; TWOT – 1990; v AV – sanctify 108, hallow 25, dedicate 10, holy 7, prepare 7, consecrate 5, appointed 1, bid 1, purified 1, misc 7; 172 1) to consecrate, sanctify, prepare, dedicate, be hallowed, be holy, be sanctified, be separate
1a) (Qal) 1a1) to be set apart, be consecrated 1a2) to be hallowed 1a3) consecrated, tabooed
1b) (Niphal) 1b1) to show oneself sacred or majestic 1b2) to be honoured, be treated as sacred 1b3) to be holy
1c) (Piel) 1c1) to set apart as sacred, consecrate, dedicate 1c2) to observe as holy, keep sacred 1c3) to honour as sacred, hallow 1c4) to consecrate
1d) (Pual) 1d1) to be consecrated 1d2) consecrated, dedicated
1e) (Hiphil) 1e1) to set apart, devote, consecrate 1e2) to regard or treat as sacred or hallow 1e3) to consecrate 1f) (Hithpael) 1f1) to keep oneself apart or separate 1f2) to cause Himself to be hallowed (of God) 1f3) to be observed as holy 1f4) to consecrate oneself

That is a lot of words and it is good to read them all.

The opposite of Holy is Profane¹treat (something sacred) with irreverence or disrespect. This can also help us determine what it means to set something apart, or make it Holy.

We do not treat the seventh day, or Sabbaths, as common things.

The Sabbaths are special, Holy – set apart. They are not just like any other day of the week.

In fact, we should not work on it. Do you know why?

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  treat (something sacred) with irreverence or disrespect