Exodus 31:16 Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. 17 It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.
The model given humanity by God is one in which He was productive for each of the six working days of the week. Thus, lest we lose sight of God’s ideal, let us take a second look at the fourth commandment, and then we will consider what the Lord has to say about the days in which we live, in the historical context of the twin cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.
Exodus 20: 8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: 10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates. 11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
When the Bible says that in six days The Lord made heaven and earth, it is certifying the fact that God was productive for each of the six working days and thus the Sabbath rest for us humans is not merely a command, it is a sheer necessity. This does not mean that every person has to work a six-day week, for there are high intensity, and high concentration jobs in our day, which require rest at shorter intervals. But the concept of persons being productive throughout the working week is what is set as an example for us by God.
Exodus 23:12 Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest: that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed.
May The Lord add His blessing to the study of His word. God bless!