What are two key biblical teachings or commands the obedience of which gives a strong indication that a person truly trusts in and is dedicated to God? The minds of many of us may go quickly to the two great commandments of loving God and others (Matt. 22:37-40). Yet, there is another direction we can look, and that is the fourth (Exodus 20:8) and fifth (Exodus 20:12) commandments, which are these: “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy…. 12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.”
The New City Catechism #10 uncovers the following about these: “What does God require in the fourth and fifth commandments? Answer: Fourth, that on the Sabbath day we spend time in public and private worship of God, rest from routine employment, serve the Lord and others, and so anticipate the eternal Sabbath. Fifth, that we love and honor our father and our mother, submitting to their godly discipline and direction.
The reason I say that these two commandments can show whether a person has true faith is the prominent place they receive in the Old Testament summary of what God requires. After the LORD tells Moses to speak to Israel that they should be holy as God is holy (Lev. 19:1-2)—the summary of Old Testament ethics—He immediately follows this with the command (Lev. 19:3): “Every one of you shall revere his mother and his father, and you shall keep my Sabbaths: I am the LORD your God.” In an ethical admonition to Israel God, through Moses, connects the fourth and fifth commandments.
Why is this so? Because behind these two commandments are movements of the heart that get to the core of how we view God.
Rest
The first movement of heart is that of rest. In other words, where do we look for true life, strength, and the power to live as God wills? There are two main options we have, captured by Jeremiah 17:5, 8: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose hearts turns away from the LORD. …Blessed is he man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD.” When a person rests from routine employment once a week, sits under the preaching and teaching of God’s Word, along with worship with and encouragement of other Christians, this is an act of faith in and dependence upon our God and Savior that leads people to find their ultimate rest in Jesus Christ (Hebrews 4). People who refuse to find their rest in Jesus Christ through weekly rest and assembling together, tend to have more of an inclination to depend upon self.
Those who find their rest in God tend also to revere God and this is highlighted in the fifth commandment.
Reverence
The reason that one of the Ten Words (or Commandments) is the honoring of parents is that this commandment is designed to train children from an early age to submit to authority of all kinds, starting with parents, so that they will ultimately submit to the authority of the King, our Lord and Savior. This connection between reverencing those older and with authority and reverencing God is found in Leviticus 19:32: “You shall stand up before the gray head and honor the face of an old man, and you shall fear your God: I am the Lord.”
So, two important ways we can live out our true faith is to rest and revere. These heart stances stand behind two commandments we are wise to heed, for His glory and our benefit.
Your Resting, Revering Pastor,
Tom
