Deuteronomy 5:12-15

(12-15) The language of this commandment is identical with the form it takes in Exodus only so far as the 13th and 14th verses are concerned; and even here the special mention of the ox and the ass is confined to Deuteronomy. The introduction and the close of the command, which gives the reason for it, are different here. The reason drawn from the creation is not mentioned; the reason drawn from the exodus is. This fact illustrates the observation that in Deuteronomy we find “the Gospel of the Pentateuch.” If for the exodus of Israel we substitute here “the exodus of Christ, which He accomplished at Jerusalem,” not so much by His death as by His resurrection, we have a reason for keeping not the Sabbath, but the Lord’s Day.

It is worth while to observe that the Israelites had express authority given them to enforce the observance of the Sabbath upon Gentiles, when these could be regarded as “strangers within their gates.” The words Isaiah 56:6 seem to show that “strangers” who “took hold of the covenant” of Jehovah were expected to “keep His sabbath from polluting it.” For an example of its enforcement, see Nehemiah 13:16; Nehemiah 13:20.

If any difficulty is felt at the variation of the form of the commandment from that which we have in Exodus, it should be observed, first, that the command itself is not altered, as appears by Deuteronomy 5:13, compared with Exodus 20:9; and secondly, that in this exhortation Moses calls Israel to hear the statutes and judgments which he, as their mediator, commands them, and that he is free to enforce them by such reasons as may seem to him best.