1 00:00:00,510 --> 00:00:07,800 Many people who revere the Ten Commandments don't think that the Fourth is particularly important, 2 00:00:07,800 --> 00:00:15,080 let alone binding. Once you understand it, however, you will recognize how life-changing, 3 00:00:15,080 --> 00:00:19,220 even world-changing, the Sabbath commandment is. 4 00:00:19,220 --> 00:00:24,619 And you will begin to appreciate how relevant it is to your own life. 5 00:00:24,619 --> 00:00:30,179 The Fourth Commandment reads: "Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy. 6 00:00:30,180 --> 00:00:37,280 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. 7 00:00:37,280 --> 00:00:42,840 On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son nor daughter, nor your male 8 00:00:42,850 --> 00:00:50,440 or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns." 9 00:00:50,440 --> 00:00:52,860 Why is this so important? 10 00:00:52,860 --> 00:00:59,500 First, perhaps more than any other commandment, it elevated the human being. 11 00:00:59,500 --> 00:01:01,100 How so? 12 00:01:01,100 --> 00:01:07,100 For nearly all of human history, life consisted overwhelmingly of work. 13 00:01:07,100 --> 00:01:10,340 In effect, humans were beasts of burden. 14 00:01:10,340 --> 00:01:15,900 This commandment and only this commandment changed all that by insisting that people 15 00:01:15,900 --> 00:01:19,990 cease working one day out of seven. 16 00:01:19,990 --> 00:01:25,900 Second, more than any other commandment, the Sabbath Day reminds people 17 00:01:25,900 --> 00:01:29,060 that they are meant to be free. 18 00:01:29,060 --> 00:01:33,140 As the second version of the Commandment -- the one summarized by Moses in the Book 19 00:01:33,140 --> 00:01:38,800 of Deuteronomy -- states, "Remember that you were slaves in Egypt." In other words, remember 20 00:01:38,800 --> 00:01:45,440 that slaves cannot have a Sabbath. In light of this, I might add that in the Biblical view, 21 00:01:45,440 --> 00:01:51,400 unless necessary for survival, people who choose to work seven days a week 22 00:01:51,400 --> 00:01:53,420 are essentially slaves 23 00:01:53,420 --> 00:01:59,060 -- slaves to work or perhaps to money, but slaves nonetheless. 24 00:01:59,060 --> 00:02:04,880 The millionaire who works seven days a week is simply a rich slave. 25 00:02:05,880 --> 00:02:12,680 Third, while the Bible could not universally abolish slavery, the Sabbath commandment greatly 26 00:02:12,680 --> 00:02:19,240 humanized that terrible institution and even helped make slavery impossible. 27 00:02:19,240 --> 00:02:24,700 By definition, a slave owner was under no obligation to allow a slave to ever rest, 28 00:02:24,700 --> 00:02:27,760 let alone to rest one day every week. 29 00:02:27,760 --> 00:02:31,840 Yet, that is exactly what the Fourth Commandment commanded. 30 00:02:31,840 --> 00:02:41,460 Even a slave has fundamental human rights. Therefore a slave too, is a human being. 31 00:02:41,460 --> 00:02:50,220 Fourth, the Sabbath almost singlehandedly creates and strengthens family ties and friendships. 32 00:02:50,220 --> 00:02:55,420 When a person takes off from work one day every week, that day almost inevitably becomes 33 00:02:55,430 --> 00:02:59,690 a day spent with other people -- namely, family and/or friends. 34 00:02:59,690 --> 00:03:03,800 It has similar positive effects on marriages. 35 00:03:03,800 --> 00:03:09,240 Ask anyone married to a workaholic how good it would be for their marriage if 36 00:03:09,349 --> 00:03:13,909 the workaholic would not work for one day each week -- 37 00:03:13,909 --> 00:03:18,959 and you can appreciate the power of the Sabbath Day. 38 00:03:18,959 --> 00:03:25,479 Fifth, the Sabbath commandment granted animals dignity. 39 00:03:25,479 --> 00:03:29,399 Even one's animals had to rest one day a week. 40 00:03:29,400 --> 00:03:36,340 It is, to the best of our knowledge, the first national law in history on behalf of animals. 41 00:03:36,340 --> 00:03:41,960 And its benefits to animals surely went beyond a mandatory day of rest for them. 42 00:03:41,960 --> 00:03:46,220 People who felt divinely obligated to give their animals a day of rest 43 00:03:46,220 --> 00:03:52,400 were much less likely to treat their animals cruelly any day of the week. 44 00:03:52,400 --> 00:03:59,780 Now, all five of these life-changing and society-changing benefits of the Sabbath 45 00:03:59,780 --> 00:04:03,240 are available to anyone. 46 00:04:03,240 --> 00:04:11,220 You don't have to be a Jew, a Christian, or even a believer in God to derive all these benefits. 47 00:04:11,220 --> 00:04:15,220 But the reality is that those who believe the Ten Commandments were given by 48 00:04:15,230 --> 00:04:18,350 God are the ones who have kept the Sabbath alive. 49 00:04:18,350 --> 00:04:25,520 The God factor plays another role in the Sabbath. Just as faith in God brings people to the Sabbath, 50 00:04:25,520 --> 00:04:31,140 observing the Sabbath brings people to faith in God. That is why the first version 51 00:04:31,140 --> 00:04:36,160 of the Ten Commandments, the version in the Book of Exodus, ends with these words: 52 00:04:36,160 --> 00:04:40,980 "For in six days God made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, 53 00:04:40,980 --> 00:04:47,260 but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore God blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy." 54 00:04:47,270 --> 00:04:52,230 However you interpret six days -- and many Jewish and Christian believers do not translate 55 00:04:52,230 --> 00:04:56,810 "days" as 24-hour periods -- the point is this. 56 00:04:56,810 --> 00:05:02,140 Every time you keep the Sabbath you are affirming that there is a Creator, 57 00:05:02,140 --> 00:05:08,320 that the world didn't just happen, that life isn't some meaningless coincidence, 58 00:05:08,320 --> 00:05:17,340 but that it is infinitely meaningful and therefore each of us has a unique significance and purpose. 59 00:05:17,340 --> 00:05:23,080 Not bad for one day a week. No wonder that the Sabbath is one of the Ten Commandments. 60 00:05:23,090 --> 00:05:28,760 No wonder that those who have it in their lives are often happier, with richer family lives, 61 00:05:28,760 --> 00:05:35,020 more serenity, a community of friends, and, yes, are even healthier. 62 00:05:35,020 --> 00:05:37,560 You might want to give it a try. 63 00:05:37,560 --> 00:05:38,760 I'm Dennis Prager.