"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 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. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.” Exodus 20:8-11
Let us continue our consideration of the “not working” part of the commandment, to whom it applies, in particular:
It applies to those who serve, or work for us. Why would we obey God’s command to not work on the Lord’s Day while expecting others to work for us? Few if any of us have “servants,” but should we expect our employees to work on the Lord’s Day—whether they are believers or not? And what are the people who cook and wait on us in restaurants? Are they not working for us—as servants?
When we engage in “unnecessary commerce”(1), are we not putting others to work, for us? We cannot stop others from working, but we can cease having them serve, or work for, us—on the Lord’s Day.
How does livestock apply? In a farming and/or ranching context, livestock are not pets. They are “tools/equipment of the trade.” While humans have a humanitarian responsibility to care for animals, we should not put them to work to earn us money on the Lord’s Day. I can well imagine that most are thinking “Huh?” Of course! Because few, if any of us, are engaged in this kind of business. To apply the principle to a non-agricultural setting, maybe we should think in terms of not having our businesses run on the Lord’s Day, even if we are not personally working.
Lastly, the commandment applies to “strangers” among us. Let this be a reminder that not only are we not to labor on the Lord’s Day, we are not to put others—including non-believers—to work on the Lord’s Day. It doesn’t matter that they may not be believers. Do not all of the Ten Commandments apply to believers and non-believers alike?
Next time: God not only established the Sabbath, He was the first to observe it as the perfect Example.
Note: (1) “Necessary commerce” might include purchasing emergency medication when someone is sick.