 |  |
Christ and of God" (Eph. 5: 5, cf. Col. 3: 5). To covet anything is to make of it a god,
an idol. Perhaps here is an instance where we need to exercise particular care due to the
influence of the materialistic society in which we live.
"Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain." Among those things
`which are upon the earth' and are to be mortified (Col. 3: 5, 8) Paul include
`blasphemy'. This he tells Timothy is one of the marks of the last days (II Tim. 3: 1, 2),
pointing out that `men shall be lovers of their own selves . . . . . lovers of pleasures more
than lovers of God' (verses 2, 4). In such a situation the name of God and all things holy
are unlikely to be held in reverence. Nor, would we think, even allowing for the
influence of the ungodly society around us, would any member of Christ's Body wish to
speak lightly, or without reverence, of God.
Of all the Ten Commandments, the fourth is the one which is most in dispute so far as
members of the One Body are concerned. But there are certain points to be noted: the
fourth Commandment is as much (perhaps more) a command to `labour six days', a point
worth noting at the present time when the working week grows gradually shorter and
even nominal acknowledgment of God grows less. In the second place the emphasis is
upon remembering the sabbath day to keep it holy. "For in six days the Lord made
heaven and earth, the sea and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore
the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hollowed it." The sabbath, as such, is then first an
ordinance of creation and then, following six days of labour, a welcome opportunity for
man to rest from his labours, as God did from His. Dr. E. W. Bullinger's comments in
Number in Scriptures are of interest here (p.9):
"Moreover, man appears to be made on what we may call the seven-day principle. In
various diseases the seventh, fourteenth, and twenty-first are critical days; and in others
seven or 14 half-days. Man's pulse beats on the seven day principle, for Dr. Stratton
points out that for six days out of seven it beats faster in the morning than in the evening,
while on the seventh day it beats slower. Thus the number seven is stamped upon
physiology, and he is thus admonished, as man, to rest one day in seven. He cannot
violate this law with impunity, for it is interwoven with his very being."
Man therefore, being made on `the seven day principle', it is hardly surprising to find
that the People of God were enjoined in this covenant relationship with God `to
remember the sabbath day' following six days of labour.
But what should be our attitude to the `sabbath'? Paul makes but one reference to it in
the prison epistles, Col. 2: 16, "Let no man judge you . . . . . in respect of an holy day, or
of the new moon, or of the sabbath days". The matters of which he has been speaking
are, he says, `a shadow of things to come; but the body (or substance) is of Christ'. :Let
no man judge you"; but precisely what does Paul mean by this? The primary
significance of `judge' (krino) is `to separate, divide, put apart: hence to pick out'. "Let
no man pick you out . . . . . in respect of an holy day, etc." The principalities and powers,
who, it would seem, had some jurisdiction or authority in these matters have been
`spoiled'. Indeed the inference suggests that prior to the triumph of the cross, these
principalities and powers clung to Christ Himself in an adverse way; these He `stripped
off' as a garment, divesting Himself of their influence. Having done this, He displayed