"So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience." Hebrews 4:9-11

 When God delivered Israel out of Egypt He brought them to the foot of Mt. Sinai and spoke the Ten Commandments to them with His own voice. Of all the Commandments there was only one which He told them to remember, -"Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy." Then He explained to them why, -"For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth. . .and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy."

God certainly had man in mind when He gave the Sabbath to the first humans, but the reason He stated pointed to Himself and served as a reminder that everything that we see was created by Him. God said "remember" because it was not a new Commandment but one which He had given in the very beginning but all people had forgotten it because of neglect.

 Since the creation of the world, idolatry has been a constant barrier between man and God. Everything from animals and heavenly constellations to rocks and trees have been worshiped as god. One might wonder if this could have ever been possible had people not forgotten the "remember" Commandment. The Sabbath is a weekly reminder that one God alone is Creator and that everything else is just something made by Him.

 I can imagine Satan pondering the question of how he could deceive people into leaving the Creator God to worship him through created things. Paul wrote that those who worship idols are really worshiping demons masquerading as gods. (1 Cor.10)

Paul told the Roman Church that long ago people exchanged the truth of God for a lie, -"They exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and animals. . .and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator. . .for this reason God gave them over to their depraved passions." (Rom.1) 

 If they had only remembered the Sabbath and kept it holy, they would not have forgotten who their Creator was and been deceived into worshiping vain idols.

Our text reveals that the weekly Sabbath remains for the people of God in the New Covenant. Unfortunately, many Bible translations leave the word "Sabbath" out of this verse and read only "rest" in an attempt to make this passage refer to a future rest in Paradise. However, the Greek word in the original manuscripts is "Sabbatismos" which means "Sabbath observance" and the context itself reveals Paul’s true intent, -"For the one who has entered His rest (God’s rest) has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His."

The only place we find in the Scriptures where God entered into a rest is when He rested on the seventh day - so when we keep the Sabbath we are entering into the same rest that He kept."Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest", that is, the same "rest" that God entered into at the end of creation week.

 God blessed the seventh day, no other day has His blessing. God sanctified (set apart) the seventh day, no other day has been set apart for rest and for a holy convocation. Can we worship God anytime, anywhere? Yes, but in doing so let us never neglect to remember the forgotten Commandment which is blessed and holy forever.