In the beginning during the Creation week, we read: Genesis 2:1-3. (NIV) "Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done." So God 'rested from all His work' as a command to us to stop from our work. Also He 'blessed the seventh day and made it holy.' In other words, its special for Holy purposes to be close to Him. So the Sabbath is as old as Creation giving a division of the week from these earliest days.
Look forward now to when Moses was a character on the earth. Exodus 20:8-11says:
" “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy." Here we are again. Adam & Eve are long gone. We are now in the wilderness with Moses and the Israelites. Still, we find that this is important to God. This is the fourth of the Ten Commandments. These first four reflect the First Commandment which the 'expert in the Law' questioned Jesus with in Matthew 22:34-40. (Commandments 5 to 10 are for our duties to our neighbour.)
Let's look further into the Sabbath in the Gospels. Luke 4:16 says: " He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom." This is the well known passage where Jesus instructs those present that “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”" In the previous passage (Matthew) Jesus points out that The Law still applies. Here, as an example He keeps it.
Next passage? Do things change when the church is commissioned in the book of Acts? Acts 17:1-3 says: "When Paul and his companions had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. As was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead. “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah,” he said." No change here then.
In Acts 13:14 we also find: " From Perga they went on to Pisidian Antioch. On the Sabbath they entered the synagogue and sat down." The custom of Paul & Barnabus was the same here where both 'Fellow Israelites and you Gentiles who worship God' were present. Further on in the same chapter we also find: (Acts 13:42-44)" As Paul and Barnabas were leaving the synagogue, the people invited them to speak further about these things on the next Sabbath. When the congregation was dismissed, many of the Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who talked with them and urged them to continue in the grace of God. On the next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord." So no change here either.
Let's look even further into this. No scripture for this one! Remember The Six Day War, 1967? (From www.sixdaywar.co.uk we read:) 'In 1967 Israel did not wake up one morning and decide to go to war - she woke up one morning and found she had to defend herself.' Also, part of 'Churchill's own memories of 196War' are added here: 'Just after dawn on 5 June 1967 – just as the world was beginning to believe that Israel’s days were numbered – Israel made her lightning strike, destroying the Egyptian Air Force in 2hrs50mins & four Arab air forces in the space of 36 hours. It was one of the most instant and dramatic military victories of all time. To many it seemed to be the ‘war to end all wars’!' (And) 'Like the Israeli government of the day, I was taken by surprise, finding myself a prisoner Westbound on the QE2, committed to a 2-week lecture-tour of the United States. By the time I could get back to Israel, the war was almost over, bar the shouting – Israel having dramatically turned the tables on her attackers, Egypt & Syria who had thought to take her by surprise!'
These first movements in the war, described by Churchill, resulted in attacks by Israel on the Egyptian Air Force. By June 10 (Saturday - the Jewish Shabbat or rest day), Israel had completed its final offensive in the Golan Heights, and a ceasefire was signed the day after. So again, the Sabbath or Shabbat is important to God even now in our present times.
The Shabbat or Sabbath secures an appointed season for religious worship. If it was necessary in the beginning, how much more so now, when mankind has a strong tendency to forget God and His claims?
The Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them: “‘“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”’ “So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.”" (Numbers 6:22-27.)