Looking back over the vicissitudes of King Nebuchadnezzar, "when his heart was lifted up, and his mind hardened in pride," the pride of indulging the thought of human accomplishment, Daniel's statement to him, "And seven times shall pass over thee, till thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will," seems to be closely connected with the fourth commandment, showing clearly what to avoid in order to come under the protection of divine law. In carefully studying this commandment, a perfect order for the fulfilment of our daily work is revealed, and we find, as we follow this order faithfully in the accomplishment of whatever we have to do, whether it be the lessons of the child at school or the complicated problems of the business man, that all things are brought into unity with God's law.
"Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy"! Here is given the first step in the order of our work; and before attempting anything we are bidden to remember first that the entire burden of its accomplishment (as seven signifies completeness) rests upon God, not upon us, for of ourselves we can do nothing. Here, too, is unfolded a divine law that accomplishment separated from God (not kept holy) is at that instant separated from all that God bestows, hence from intelligence, action, ability, power, and all other divine qualities. Obedience to this first step, as pointed out to us, brings in its natural order of unfoldment the next step. "Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work." Here is the promise that the necessary work shall be done; not part of it, but all that thou hast to do. This is surely a reward wonderful enough to cause us to seek earnestly to earn it, for "all" in God's sight cannot well be less than perfect.
In the joy of contemplating this finished work, there may come to us the temptation of personal triumph, when like Nebuchadnezzar our hearts may be lifted up and our minds hardened in pride, and we may be in danger of forgetting the seventh day. Then does infinite Love lead us back to remembrance, as the order of God's perfect law unfolds: "But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates." Here we are taught to give all honor to God, and to see that neither in ourselves, our sons, our daughters, nor in any human agency, does the power of accomplishment abide. "For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it." In Science and Health under the definition of "day" it is written: "The objects of time and sense disappear in the illumination of spiritual understanding, and Mind measures time according to the good that is unfolded" (p. 584). In the light of this explanation we see what the next step does for us.
