This blog is based on the section “God Gives Moses the Ten Commandments” found in “Part Two: Establishing the Work of Your Hands: Moses” of my 2004 book The Promised Land, at pages 95-98.

The Ten Commandments embody the most famous of Moses’ teachings. Given by God himself at Mount Sinai (Exodus 19:1-2; 20:1-20), they stand as beacons marking the way to a holy life.

Since God is the only one who can truly set us free from every form of slavery to sin, we must have no other gods besides him.

We must not worship any “idols” such as money, sex, power, fame or glory.

We must not misuse the LORD’s name in vulgarity or in jest.

We must keep the Sabbath holy.

We must honor our fathers and our mothers.

We must not murder.

We must not commit adultery.

We must not steal.

We must not lie.

We must not lust for anything that we do not have—be it our neighbor’s house, our neighbor’s wife, or our neighbor’s car.

Of all these wise commandments, I think the idea of keeping the Sabbath holy has the most direct application to establishing the work of our hands.

As you may know, the story of the Ten Commandments appears twice in the Bible.

In Exodus, the Ten Commandments are part of the narrative of the escape of the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt (Exodus 20:1-17).

In Deuteronomy, Moses reminds the people of the Ten Commandments during his farewell address on the Plains of Moab just before his death (Numbers 35:1; Deuteronomy 1:5;5:1-22).

In the account in Deuteronomy, Moses emphasized that God’s people need the Sabbath as a day of rest. He told them:

“Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the LORD your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day. (Deuteronomy 5:15).

In the account in Exodus, Moses emphasized that God’s people need the Sabbath as a day to refresh themselves—as a day to see that the work of their hands is good, it is very good. He told them:

“For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” (Exodus 20:11).

The rules for keeping the Sabbath day holy were:

“Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your ox, your donkey or any of your animals, nor the alien within your gates, so that your manservant and maidservant may rest, as you do.” (Deuteronomy 5:13-14).

In the popular imagination, this is a Puritanical command. Its alleged purpose was to make people miserable by keeping them from doing what they wanted to do.

Actually, the truth is exactly the opposite. In order to be able to do what we want to do—to establish the work of our hands—it is essential that we rest and refresh ourselves at least one day each week.

Because God wants us to establish the work of our hands, the commandment to keep the Sabbath day holy begins by commanding us to do all our work. It says: “[s]ix days you shall labor and do all your work” (Deuteronomy 5:13 (emphasis added)).

God does not approve of anyone using the Sabbath as an excuse for laziness. “All your work” must be finished before you rest.

Many people never follow the part of the commandment about getting all their work done. They fritter away six days of the week, working below their potential.

Their slough catches up with them on the seventh day. Because they lack the discipline to work efficiently for six days, they back themselves into a corner where they feel they “have to” work every day of the week.

And because they won’t be rested, it will be all the harder to get all their work done in six days the next week. All work and no play will make Jack a dull boy.

In contrast, disciplined people who work hard for six days of a week will be efficient enough to rest one day that week. And because they are rested and refreshed they’ll find it much easier to get all their work done the following week in only six days.

We are supposed to do for others what we would like them to do for us. Therefore, we need to help other people rest and refresh themselves, too.

For that reason, the commandment to keep the Sabbath holy specified that neither “your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your ox, your donkey or any of your animals, nor the alien within your gates” shall do any work on the Sabbath so that they can rest “as you do” (Deuteronomy 5:14).

The Hebrews were commanded to remember that they “were slaves in Egypt” (Deuteronomy 5:14). Because God had delivered them from such “cruel bondage” (Exodus 6:9), they were never to mistreat other people that way—not even slaves!

Notice that this command to help others enjoy the Sabbath is not a Puritanical, intolerant way of imposing our religious beliefs on others. Its purpose is to help others rest and refresh themselves—even if it means that we are inconvenienced.

This command to help others enjoy the Sabbath struck me most forcefully when I was a young attorney in a large law firm.

For some reason that I forget, I had to work on a draft document on a Sunday because “the ox was in the ditch.” (This quaint phrase refers to a Mosaic Law that allowed you to do urgent work on the Sabbath that helps others—such as getting an ox out of a ditch.)

In those “ancient” days before computers were small enough and cheap enough to have at home, the “word processing center” was at the law firm.

You had to schedule time for the “word processing experts” to type a document. And you had to be physically present at the law firm to make hand-written changes to the document and then give the document back to the “experts” who re-typed it.

I specified that the document must be ready for my review by early Sunday afternoon. I thought I was being a very good Christian because I made sure that I scheduled my work session so that I could go to church before coming to the law firm.

When I arrived, the document was ready. And an African-American woman was sitting there reading her Bible. She was waiting for me.

I was horrified. It was painfully obvious that—in order for me to attend church—I had used my authority and economic clout to entice someone else to work on Sunday.

Indeed, I made someone who may have been a descendant of slaves miss church so that I could be a “very good Christian.” Therefore, I was treating her worse than Moses permitted an Israelite to treat a slave.

I was ashamed. It would have been far better if I had missed church instead of being so “pious” that I made someone else miss church.

Now I understood why so much of the commandment about keeping the Sabbath day holy specifies that we must let other people rest.

This commandment wasn’t given in a Puritanical spirit, forcing people to be miserable on the Sabbath. This commandment was given in a compassionate spirit, forcing us to stop exploiting other people by making them work on the Sabbath.

This commandment guarantees each person the chance to rest and refresh themselves at least one day each week.

Therefore, establish the work of your hands by getting all your work done in six days each week.

And don’t try to establish the work of your hands by exploiting others. Instead, bless other people by helping them to rest at least one day each week.

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To read more about my Visions of the Sabbath, please read my blog “Sabbath Creation”.