Yahweh’s pattern is: work six days and stop. It is a way of saying that work is not god. These principles remain for the people of God, even though our culture and government is non- covenantal and pays no attention to them.

From ‘Is Reformation Really Possible? Or: The Ongoing Perils of the Church (Nehemiah 13:4-31) in Ezra & Nehemiah: The Quest for Restoration, Focus on the Bible (Fearn: Christian Focus, 2025), pp 195-97.

A bit about the background and theology of the sabbath. This will likely make some readers angry, others disappointed, and still others thinking there is need for more depth. I realize there are debates about linking the sabbath and ‘the Lord’s Day,’ and that there are some who likely regard the sabbath as more of a ceremonial affair for Israel. However, I cannot escape the fact that the sabbath idea seems written into creation (Gen. 2:1-3) and was a ‘live’ matter even before Sinai (cf. Exod. 16).

Exodus 31:12-17 indicates (especially verses 13 and 17) that the sabbath is a ‘sign.’ It marked Israel out as unique, for other peoples did not have the sabbath. Strangely, perhaps in reaction to later scribal details and legalism, there is often a negative view of the sabbath in the contemporary church. Even evangelicalism, though holding a kind of tolerance for the sabbath, has more interest in bolstering the case for why we don’t need to adhere to the fourth commandment. For some, there are only nine commandments.

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