The purpose of the command is that we should meditate on the kingdom of God.
3 conditions in which the keeping of the law consists:
- it represented spiritual rest
- there should be a stated day for rest, meditation and assembly
- rest to servants etc
In the OT it is the sign that God is their sanctifier. (Ezek. 20:12)
Seven, as well as the number of perfection, is the number of perpetuity. Completion will not come until the last day.
We begin our rest in Christ, but with the war against the flesh it will not be completed until the last day. Meanwhile we make progress in it.
Its message is one of ultimate rest from our labours. It is not about rest from physical labour.
The ceremonial part was abolished. The shadows are left behind. Reality has come in Christ. Col. 2:16,17. The substance of this reality spreads over the whole week, not just the one day. We must shun the superstition of days.
However, there is still a place for stated days as 2) and 3) above list. The assembling is so that all things be done decently and in order. (1 Cor 14:40). Ruin and confusion would ensue if it were dissolved.
Why not daily? Some part ought to be set apart for assembly.
The reason for meeting is not as a ceremony which supposes a spiritual mystery. Rather it is for good order in the church. To honour it as a mystery is to obscure the gospel of Christ. To mark the difference, another day, the Lord’s Day was appointed.
The fulfilment of the true rest comes in the Lord’s resurrection.
Summary:
- we are to meditate throughout life on the everlasting Sabbath rest
- each one should privately, when there is leisure, meditate on God’s works, and observe necessary order for the hearing of God’s word by meeting once per week
- we should not inhumanly oppress those subject to us.
This removes the ‘trifles of the false prophets’ of the early church who were imposing a Jewish-like superstitious observance on the people.
Categories: Calvin, Institutes
