Moses entered a complete list of the Ten Commandments into the written record of the law twice: once in Exodus 20 and again in Deuteronomy 5. Israel’s leader wrote these 10 commands, which are the bedrock of Christian belief and behavior. The two accounts are nearly identical with one notable exception: One commandment reads quite differently in the two records.

The Sabbath covenant is a sign that God will complete His work in man, which He began at creation. It is a testament to His faithfulness, which endures forever. 

That one commandment is the fourth—the Sabbath command. In both places God tells us through Moses to observe the Sabbath and keep it holy. He commands no work to be done in it—either by us or by anyone who lives in our household. The major difference in the two accounts is the reason God gives for keeping the Sabbath holy.  

In Exodus 20, God says: “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 20:11).

In Deuteronomy 5, He says, “And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day” (Deuteronomy 5:15).

The two accounts show the Sabbath is a both a sign of creation and a sign of redemption. It is a reminder both that God created us, and that He desires to save us.

The Sabbath as a reminder of our relationship to our Creator

When God created man, He said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness” (Genesis 1:26). He made us to be perfect, just like Him. Of course, we have not been perfect. We have not lived up to our potential. Looking upon all He created, the heavens, the earth, everything on earth, and finally man and woman, God observed, “indeed it was very good” (Genesis 1:31). Then “He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done” (Genesis 2:2). Creation was perfect and complete. God wants us to remember that. When we keep the Sabbath day, He wants us to remember that He made us to be perfect—to be just like Him.

Thus He commands us to keep the Sabbath day holy and to remember the perfection of our creation. As Moses writes in Exodus 20, “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.”

Redemption from sin

Sadly sin has fouled God’s perfect creation. Satan first sinned and tempted man, who took the bait and followed suit. We all have messed things up very badly by becoming slaves to that sin. As the apostle Paul cried out, “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:23).

Thankfully, God has the solution. We can still become what He fully intended us to be at His creation. How grateful we are with Paul when we realize the opportunity we have! He says, “I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:24).

We who were once slaves to sin have been saved by God’s grace if we will believe this salvation. It is not because of anything we have done that God has offered us the solution. It is because “God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us” that we are saved (Ephesians 2:4). That is the other thing God wants us to remember on the Sabbath day.

Israel’s redemption from Egypt is like our redemption from sin. Thus God (through Moses) also writes in Deuteronomy 5, “remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day” (Deuteronomy 5:15).

God reinforces His point that the Sabbath is a sign of creation and redemption. He says again through Moses: “Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you...Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed” (Exodus 31:13, Exodus 31:16-17).

Essentially, the Sabbath covenant is a sign that God will complete His work in man, which He began at creation. It is a testament to His faithfulness, which endures forever. As Paul told the Philippians, we can be “confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6).

Clearly, the Sabbath is a sign of creation and redemption. God has entered into a covenant with us to make us His holy and separate people. He is doing His part in that covenant by offering us redemption to that from which we have fallen. We must do our part by believing and obeying His Word. The Sabbath is our perpetual reminder He will complete the work of creation in us when He first said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.”