Greetings to you my dear friend, I hope all is well with you and with your family wherever you are. In Mark 12, reading from verse 28, the bible says: “Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, “Which is the first commandment of all?”  Verses 29-31 continues, “Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one. And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.”

The word for “first” as applied in the question of the scribe— ‘’which is the first  commandment of all?”  comes from the Greek word prótos which means “first in order, time, place or importance. The word for “second” as used in verse 31—"and the second is like namely this” also comes that Greek word ‘deuteros'  which means second in rank, time or place. This means that  the Ten Commandments are divided into two sections, the first four and the next six. Jesus acknowledges that the first four Commandments are higher than the next six. Nonetheless, let me quickly chip in this—they are all extremely high and they all express righteousness. They are all perfect, but Christ says that of the two tables, the higher is the first four commandments because they express our direct duty to God.

The Sabbath commandment, the fourth commandment, is found on the table that expresses our direct duty to God. This means that when someone disregards the Sabbath or teaches that the Sabbath is no longer in force, that person is denying people the knowledge of one aspect of showing direct duty and love for God. It is a crime against humanity to blind the people of the fact that one way to express direct duty to God as required by the first table of the law is the Sabbath commandment.

My dear friend, this is a very serious matter. The Sabbath commandment is on the table that expresses our duty and love for God directly and to disregard that commandment is to disregard our duty, love and faithfulness to God. And when I say to disregard it, I mean to disregard it deliberately and knowingly. In times of ignorance, God overlooks but when someone knows the seventh day Sabbath and yet disregard it, that person is ignoring his or her duty to God. The seventh day is the Sabbath and God deliberately placed it on the first of the two tables, the table that shows, expresses and reveals our direct duty and unmixed love for God.

 My dear friend, as you keep the Sabbath holy, remember that of the Ten Commandments, the first four according to Christ is higher than the next six. The Sabbath commandment is among the four that are higher than the next six. May the Lord bless you and guide you. May he doubly bless your children and protect them as you choose to honour and show your duty to your Saviour in humble obedience to that commandment which is among the first table—The commandment that says: Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Happy sabbath and may the Lord bless you.