What Sabbath Should You Keep?

AFTER being freed from Egyptian slavery, the Israelites were instructed to keep a weekly Sabbath. That Sabbath fell on the seventh day of the week, beginning at sundown on Friday and ending at sundown on Saturday. What was the purpose of the law requiring Sabbath observance? Is this the Sabbath that we today should keep?

Sabbath observance was first imposed upon the Israelites in connection with the miraculous provision of manna. On the sixth day, the people were to gather enough manna to last for two days, as none would be made available on the seventh day or the Sabbath. (Ex. 16:22, 23) When the seventh day came, however, some of the people did look for manna, indicating that they were not accustomed to observing a day of rest. (Ex. 16:27) Therefore, God’s message through Moses was: “How long must you people refuse to keep my commandments and my laws? Mark the fact that Jehovah has given you the sabbath. That is why he is giving you on the sixth day the bread of two days. Keep sitting each one in his own place. Let nobody go out from his locality on the seventh day.”​—Ex. 16:28, 29.

In arranging for his people to have a Sabbath, Jehovah God was acting in their interest. It gave all the people, including slaves, and even the domestic animals, a period of needed rest and refreshment. Additionally, the Sabbath was to remind the Israelites of what the Most High had done in liberating them from Egyptian bondage. During that period of oppressive slavery, the people knew no rest. God’s law stated: “The seventh day is a sabbath to Jehovah your God. You must not do any work, you nor your son nor your daughter nor your slave man nor your slave girl nor your bull nor your ass nor any domestic animal of yours nor your alien resident who is inside your gates, in order that your slave man and your slave girl may rest the same as you. And you must remember that you became a slave in the land of Egypt and Jehovah your God proceeded to bring you out from there with a strong hand and an outstretched arm. That is why Jehovah your God commanded you to carry on the sabbath day.”​—Deut. 5:14, 15.

Since Sabbath observance was to serve as a reminder of what Jehovah God had done in freeing the Israelites from Egypt, it is clear that the law about keeping a Sabbath did not exist earlier; nor had it been given to any other people. This is further confirmed at Exodus 31:16, 17, where we read: “The sons of Israel must keep the sabbath, so as to carry out the sabbath during their generations. It is a covenant to time indefinite. Between me and the sons of Israel it is a sign to time indefinite, because in six days Jehovah made the heavens and the earth and on the seventh day he rested and proceeded to refresh himself.” So, in the case of the Israelites, Sabbath observance was a visible sign or proof of the covenant relationship that they enjoyed with their God. Surely, if other peoples had been keeping such a day of rest, the Sabbath could not have served as a distinguishing sign.

Though commanding his people to keep the Sabbath, Jehovah God was more interested in their heart appreciation for the arrangement than in a perfunctory observance of a day. This he made plain through his prophet Isaiah in these words: “If in view of the sabbath you will turn back your foot as regards doing your own delights on my holy day, and will actually call the sabbath an exquisite delight, a holy day of Jehovah, one being glorified, and will actually glorify it rather than doing your own ways, rather than finding what delights you and speaking a word; you will in that case find your exquisite delight in Jehovah.”​—Isa. 58:13, 14.

Note that what pleased the Most High God was not a mere refraining from work. Rather, it was a matter of setting aside the day as especially devoted to him, and, hence, concentrating on spiritual matters. The Israelites were to refrain from following their own selfish pursuits and were to find delight or pleasure in doing God’s will.

Therefore, according to the testimony of Scripture, only the Israelites were commanded to keep the seventh day as a Sabbath. This Sabbath observance served as a sign of the covenant between Israel and Jehovah God. With Jesus Christ’s fulfilling the Law, Sabbath keeping was not imposed anew on his followers. (Rom. 7:4-6)