Jehovah has been consistent since the beginning. He set the example for us to follow to honor the Sabbath from the time of creation itself. He rested on the seventh day from the work He had completed. Then He blessed and sanctified it.
2By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. 3Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.
Throughout scripture, Jehovah reinforces His purpose for Sabbath and His command for man to rest on the Sabbath. He did not create or command Sabbath for His benefit, but for ours. Those who refuse to obey Him do so to their own loss.
” 27Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.
Jehovah even made special effort to lead and teach His people to honor the Sabbath while they left Egypt and traveled through the wilderness to the promised land.
The Sabbath Observed
22Now on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each one. When all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses, 23then he said to them, “This is what the LORD meant: Tomorrow is a sabbath observance, a holy sabbath to the LORD. Bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and all that is left over put aside to be kept until morning.” 24So they put it aside until morning, as Moses had ordered, and it did not become foul nor was there any worm in it. 25Moses said, “Eat it today, for today is a sabbath to the LORD; today you will not find it in the field. 26“Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, the sabbath, there will be none.”
27It came about on the seventh day that some of the people went out to gather, but they found none. 28Then the LORD said to Moses, “How long do you refuse to keep My commandments and My instructions? 29“See, the LORD has given you the sabbath; therefore He gives you bread for two days on the sixth day. Remain every man in his place; let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.” 30So the people rested on the seventh day.
31The house of Israel named it manna, and it was like coriander seed, white, and its taste was like wafers with honey. 32Then Moses said, “This is what the LORD has commanded, ‘Let an omerful of it be kept throughout your generations, that they may see the bread that I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’” 33Moses said to Aaron, “Take a jar and put an omerful of manna in it, and place it before the LORD to be kept throughout your generations.” 34As the LORD commanded Moses, so Aaron placed it before the Testimony, to be kept. 35The sons of Israel ate the manna forty years, until they came to an inhabited land; they ate the manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan. 36(Now an omer is a tenth of an ephah.)
Some claim the Sabbath is no longer relevant… but Jesus and His disciples honored the Sabbath, as did Paul. The disciples of Christ obeyed Sabbath even after Jesus rose from the dead and then went back to heaven. Sabbath has not become obsolete.
14And Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about Him spread through all the surrounding district. 15And He began teaching in their synagogues and was praised by all. 16And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read.
For those who still have trouble believing that Sabbath is still relevant as a day of rest and worship… you have a homework assignment. Find a verse where Jesus, His disciples, or Paul teach not to observe the Sabbath. Now observe their behavior. Even after Jesus died and rose again, there are something like 85 references to disciples or Paul observing Sabbath as significant in Acts alone!
The simple truth is that Sabbath is still relevant… and it really is fairly easy to observe. We just rest and worship. Do we really feel that we are too busy and that everything we do is so valuable we can’t possibly stop one day a week to rest and spend time with our family and with Jehovah? I used to make excuses about not observing Sabbath as well, but ultimately there is no valid reason in scripture to ignore Sabbath… just a bunch of worldly customs to stay busy doing stuff all the time. It has been a wonderful and transformative experience for me and for my family and my relationship with Jehovah to honor the Sabbath. I encourage you to prayerfully ask our Father to help you to embrace His commands. He created Sabbath for us and for our benefit!
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