8 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9 Six days shall thou labor, and do all thy work:
10 But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the I AM thy God. In it thou shall not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy animals, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
Exodus 23:12 Six days thou shall do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shall rest, that thine ox and thine donkey may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed.
Exodus 31:12 And the I AM spoke to Moses, saying,
13 Speak thou also to the children of Israel, saying, "Truly my sabbaths ye shall keep. For it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that ye may know that I am the I AM that does purify you.
14 This is why ye shall keep the sabbath, for it is holy to you. Every one that defiles it shall surely be put to death. For whoever does any work on it, that soul shall be cut off from among his people.
15 Six days may work be done, but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the I AM. Whoever does any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.
16 And so the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a continual covenant.
17 It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel for ever. For in six days the I AM made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He rested, and was refreshed.
Mark 2:27 - And He said unto them, "The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath:"
Leviticus 23:3 - Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, an holy assembly for reading. Ye shall do no work on that day. It is the sabbath of the I AM in all your dwellings.
Genesis 2:3 - And God blessed the seventh day, and made it holy, because that in it He had rested from all His work He created and made.
Hebrews 4:9 - So there remains a rest to the people of God.
Ezekiel 20:12-24 - And so also I gave them My sabbaths, to be a sign between Me and them, that they might know that I am the I AM that purifies them.
Isaiah 58:13 - If thou turn away thy foot from violating the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on My holy day, and call the sabbath a delight, the holy day of the I AM honorable, and will honor Him, not doing thine own things, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:
Deuteronomy 5:12-15 - Keep the sabbath day to purify it, as the I AM thy God has commanded thee.
13 Six days thou will labor, and do all thy work:
14 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God. In it thou will not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thine ox, nor thine donkey, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates, that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest as well as thou.
15 And remember that thou was a slave in the land of Egypt, and that the Lord thy God brought thee out of there through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm. That is why the Lord thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath day.
Ezekiel 20:12 - Moreover also I gave them My sabbaths, to be a sign between Me and them, that they might know that I am the I Am that purifies them.
Commandment #4 is for the benefit of all humanity. It is a day of REST.
This commandment elevated the human being. Before, life existed of work, humans were beasts of burden. This changes that. It makes man more than just working machines.
This commandment reminds us that we're meant to be free one day a week we are free from work. We are not slaves to the work force that one day a week.
Though it does not not abolish slavery, this commandment does make it impossible. This commands slaves to be given fundamental human rights. They are not lesser beings. They are humans who get a day of rest just like their masters.
Observing the Sabbath strengthens family ties and friendships because it stops workaholics from harming their non-work life. They MUST take one day a week to be with those they love. It strengthens marriage, also, for the same reason.
And this is the first known law on behalf of animals. They must not be worked to death either.
Observing Sabbath brings people to God. Every time they keep it affirming there is a Creator, that they are emulating Him and His day of rest at creation by resting also.
This commandment is the same as the rest of The Law. It was our schoolmaster that was to bring us to Christ. There isn’t any place in scripture after The Cross that instructs us to keep the Sabbath.
Hebrews 4:4 “For he spoke in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, ‘And God did rest the seventh day from all His works.’
5 And in this place again, ‘If they shall enter into My rest.’
6 Seeing then it remains that some must enter into it, and they to whom it was first preached didn't enter in because they didn't believe.
7 Again, He limits a certain day, saying in David, “Today, after so long a time, as it is said, Today if ye will hear His voice, don't have stubborn hearts.”
8 For if Joshua had given them rest, then would He not afterward have spoken of another day.
9 There remains then a rest to the people of God.
10 For he that is entered into His rest, he also has stopped his own works (trying to earn salvation), as God did from His (works of creation).
11 Let us work then to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.”
Our rest is in Jesus, not in our own works. We walk by faith, not by works.
Isaiah 28:11-12 “For with stammering lips and another tongue will He speak to this people.
12 To whom He said, ‘This is the rest that ye may cause the weary to rest. And this is the refreshing:’ yet they would not hear.”
The rest we have in Christ includes the Gift of Tongues.” (From Bro John Wiltse’s article “Which Mountain” available at http://bolcf.blogspot.com/2014/09/which-mountain.html)
However, Romans 14:5 "In the same way, some think one day is more holy than another day, while others think every day is alike. You should each be fully convinced that whichever day you choose is acceptable.
6 Those who worship the Lord on a special day do it to honor Him. Those who eat any kind of food do so to honor the Lord, since they give thanks to God before eating. And those who refuse to eat certain foods also want to please the Lord and give thanks to God.
7 For we don’t live for ourselves or die for ourselves."
If you choose, of your own free will, to keep the Sabbath for its many benefits, it's OK as long as you do it to acknowledge that Jesus is our rest. It isn't necessary for salvation, but it might be good for your health and family.
11 For in six days the I AM made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day, and so the I AM blessed the Sabbath day, and made it holy.
God could have created the universe in one second if He wanted to. Or He could have taken billions of years. But the book of Genesis clearly says He took six days and rested the seventh.
Does God need physical rest? No, of course not. He did this as an example of what He wanted us to do. He designed us to need this day per week of rest.
The New Testament tells us that Jesus is our Sabbath. We are to rest in Him, cease from our work of trying to earn salvation, saving ourselves through Christ instead. The entire Sabbath day rest was an object lesson for the salvation offered by Christ.
What about all the Old Earth theories? The ones that say Genesis wasn’t telling the truth?
These theories (evolution, Day Age, Gap Theory) that make the universe billions of years old totally destroy this entire object lesson of the Sabbath. They make it meaningless.
When God says here “in six days the I AM made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day:” He meant six days as we know them. No more. No less.