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Chapter 27GenevaCat.1.27

II. La loi — Le 26e dimanche

The Fourth Commandment

The text of the fourth commandment is presented as a divine instruction for rest.

The Fourth Commandment 166. M: Let's turn to the fourth. E: “Remember the day of rest, to keep it holy. You shall work for six days and do all your labor; the seventh is the rest of the Lord your God. On that day you shall do no work at all—neither you, nor your manservant, nor your maidservant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor the foreigner who is within your gates.1 For in six days God made heaven and earth and everything in them; on the seventh, He rested; therefore, He has blessed the day of rest and made it holy.”2 ”

The Nature of the Commandment

The commandment is explained as having a ceremonial aspect that was fulfilled and abolished in Christ.

167. M: Does it command us to work six days a week so that we may rest on the seventh?✦ E: Not simply.3 But by giving leave to work for six days, it reserves the seventh, on which it is not permitted to work.✦4 168. M: So does he forbid us from doing any work one day a week?✦ E: This commandment has a special consideration, for keeping the rest is part of the ceremonies of the old law.5 That is why it was abolished when Jesus Christ came.6 169. M: Are you saying this commandment belongs properly to the Jews and was given for the time of the Old Testament? Catechumen: Yes, insofar as it is ceremonial.

The Purpose of Rest

The institution of the Sabbath serves three distinct purposes: spiritual representation, church order, and relief for servants.

Three reasons why rest was instituted. M: How so? Is there anything beyond the ceremony? E: It was established for three reasons. 171. Minister: What are they? C: To represent spiritual rest, for the order of the Church, and for the relief of servants.7

Spiritual Rest and Mortification

Spiritual rest is defined as the continuous work of mortifying the flesh so that God may govern the believer.

The spiritual meaning of outward rest 172. M: What is this spiritual rest? E: It means stopping our own work so that the Lord can work in us. 173. Minister: How is that done? Student: By mortifying our flesh—that is, by renouncing our nature—so that God may govern us by his Spirit. 174. M: Does this have to be done only one day a week? C: It has to be done continually. Once we've begun, we have to keep at it for the rest of our lives.

The Symbolism of the Seventh Day

The seventh day serves as a figure of perfection and a reminder that our spiritual rest is only completed in the life to come.

175. Minister: Why, then, is a specific day set aside to represent that? Student: It isn't required that the symbol be exactly like the reality; it's enough that there is some resemblance.8 The number seven 176. Minister: Why is the seventh day chosen instead of another? Child: In Scripture, the number seven signifies perfection; therefore, it is fitting to represent perpetuity. It also warns us that our spiritual rest has only begun in this life, and it won't be perfect until we leave this world.

Read the original Latin

Le quatrième commandement 166. M : Venons au quatrième. E : « Qu'il te souvienne du jour du repos pour le sanctifier. Six jours tu travailleras et feras toute ton oeuvre; le septième c'est le repos du Seigneur ton Dieu. Tu ne feras en icelui oeuvre aucune, ni toi, ni ton serviteur, ni ta chambrière, ni ton boeuf, ni ton âne, ni l'étranger qui est dedans tes portes. Car en six jours Dieu a fait le ciel et la terre et tout ce qui y est compris ; le septième il s'est reposé; pourtant a béni le jour du repos et l'a sanctifié. »

167. M : Commande-t-il de travailler six jours la semaine, pour se reposer le septième? E : Non pas simplement. Mais en donnant congé de travailler six jours durant, il réserve le septième, auquel il n'est loisible de besogner.

168. M : Nous défend-il donc toute besogne un jour la semaine? E : Ce commandement a quelque considération particulière, car l'observation du repos est une partie des cérémonies de la loi ancienne. Par quoi à la venue de Jésus-Christ elle a été abolie.

169. M : Dis-tu que ce commandement appartient proprement aux Juifs et a été donné pour le temps de l'Ancien Testament? E : Voire, en tant qu'il est cérémoniel.

Trois raisons pourquoi le repos a été institué 170. M : Comment donc? Y a-t-il quelque chose outre la cérémonie? E : Il a été fait pour trois raisons.

171. M : Quelles sont-elles? E : Pour figurer le repos spirituel, pour la police ecclésiastique, et pour le soulagement des serviteurs.

La signification spirituelle du repos extérieur 172. M : Qu'est-ce que ce repos spirituel? E : C'est de cesser de nos propres oeuvres, afin que le Seigneur oeuvre en nous.

173. M : Comment cela se fait-il? E : En mortifiant notre chair, c'est-à-dire renonçant à notre nature, afin que Dieu nous gouverne par son Esprit.

174. M : Cela se doit-il faire seulement un jour la semaine? E : Il se doit faire continuellement. Car depuis que nous avons commencé, il nous faut poursuivre toute notre vie.

175. M : Pourquoi donc y a-t-il jour certain assigné pour figurer cela? E : II n'est pas requis que la figure soit du tout pareille à la vérité, mais suffit qu'il y ait quelque semblance.

Nombre de sept 176. M : Pourquoi le septième jour est-il ordonné plutôt qu'un autre? E : Le nombre de sept signifie perfection en l'Ecriture ; ainsi il est propre pour dénoter la perpétuité. Aussi il nous admoneste que notre repos spirituel n'est sinon commencé durant cette vie présente et ne sera point parfait jusqu'à ce que nous sortions de ce monde.

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩Exod.20.9-Exod.20.10;Deut.5.13-Deut.5.14 — Six days you shall labor and do all your work. Exod.20.10 — but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God; on it you shall not do any work—you, your son, your daughter, your male servant, your female servant, your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. Deut.5.13 — Six days you shall labor and do all your work, Deut.5.14 — But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work—you, your son, your daughter, your male servant, your female servant, your ox, your donkey, any of your livestock, or the foreigner within your gates—so that your male servant and your female servant may rest as you do.
  2. ↩Exod.20.10;Deut.5.14 — but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God; on it you shall not do any work—you, your son, your daughter, your male servant, your female servant, your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. Deut.5.14 — But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work—you, your son, your daughter, your male servant, your female servant, your ox, your donkey, any of your livestock, or the foreigner within your gates—so that your male servant and your female servant may rest as you do.
  3. ↩Exod.20.8-Exod.20.11;Deut.5.12-Deut.5.15 — Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Exod.20.9 — Six days you shall labor and do all your work. Exod.20.10 — but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God; on it you shall not do any work—you, your son, your daughter, your male servant, your female servant, your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. Exod.20.11 — For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and he rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the day of the Sabbath and made it holy. Deut.5.12 — Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the LORD your God commanded you. Deut.5.13 — Six days you shall labor and do all your work, Deut.5.14 — But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work—you, your son, your daughter, your male servant, your female servant, your ox, your donkey, any of your livestock, or the foreigner within your gates—so that your male servant and your female servant may rest as you do. Deut.5.15 — Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.

Notes

  1. 1 ↩French icelui is the older demonstrative “that one/that day,” referring to the seventh day of rest.
  2. 2 ↩Older French pourtant here means “for that reason / therefore” (pour tant), not modern “however.” Rendered as “therefore” to preserve the causal force of the creation rationale.
  3. 3 ↩« Non pas simplement » denies that the command is a bare positive order to work six days; the next sentence supplies the true emphasis (permission for six days, reservation of the seventh).
  4. 4 ↩« donner congé de » is permission/leave rather than a strict command to work; « besogner » is ordinary labor/occupation, rendered here as « work ».
  5. 5 ↩«considération particulière» = a distinct/special aspect of this commandment, not mere «thoughtfulness».
  6. 6 ↩«elle» refers to the ceremonial observance of the rest (l'observation du repos), not the whole moral substance of the commandment.
  7. 7 ↩In early modern French, police means polity/order/governance, not modern law-enforcement 'police'. Rendered as 'the order of the Church'.
  8. 8 ↩Source prints 'II n'est pas requis'; almost certainly a typographic error for 'Il n'est pas requis'. Translated as the intended impersonal construction.

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