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Verse:“But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates.” —Exodus 20:10
The fourth commandment of the Decalogue (Exodus 20:8–11) sets apart the seventh day of the week as God’s holy Sabbath and defines the personal and social scope of its observance. We and our households should observe the Sabbath according to God’s ordination. By specifically including our servants, our cattle, and the strangers who are with us, the commandment indicates that all who work for us should be allowed to keep the Sabbath. This principle was taken into serious consideration at a weekend conference of Sabbath-keeping Adventists held at the home of Jesse Thompson in Ballston, New York. The conference began on Friday, March 12, 1852.
That afternoon, the attendees unanimously voted to purchase a hand press to print the Advent Review and Sabbath Herald.
The main reason for the decision was to avoid printing a periodical advocating the Sabbath, perhaps during Sabbath hours, on non-Adventist presses.
For sure, one can easily move from valid concerns into legalistic obsessions and start codifying rules of Sabbath observance the way that the Jewish rabbis did during the late intertestamental period. Jesus even warned against reading into Scripture what is not suggested by its teachings and making “the commandment of God of no effect” through human tradition (Matthew 15:3–13).
However, the most common tendency is to ignore the true meaning of the Sabbath and to overlook the far-reaching implications of its observance.
The early Adventist concern for consistent Sabbath observance should also be our concern today. Without falling into legalism, can you see any specific area in which you and your family could do better in this regard? Perhaps the Sabbath reforms instituted by Nehemiah in Jerusalem in the postexilic period (Nehemiah 13:15–22) could motivate each member of your family, including children, to do his or her part in facilitating Sabbath observance within the home circle. Whether at home or elsewhere, we should always observe the Sabbath as God’s holy and blessed sanctuary in time.