"If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing
as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the
Lord's holy day honorable,...then you will find your joy in the Lord..."
(Isaiah 58:13,14, NIV).
Is the Sabbath relevant? Is it really practical to keep the Sabbath in
today's world? How should it be observed today?
To answer these questions, let's consider what the Bible, God's inspired
Word, reveals.
Jesus Christ said that He was "Lord of the Sabbath" and that "the
Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath" (Mark 2:27,28). He did not limit the Sabbath by teaching that it was made for any
particular group of people at any specific time in history. Instead, it
was made for all mankind for all time. It was enshrined in the Ten Commandments,
the heart and core of God's divine law for mankind.
Right relationship with God
The Sabbath was made for mankind, but for what purpose?
The book of Isaiah, chapters 58 and 59, describes mankind's separation
from God because of our sins. "Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened,
that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear. But your iniquities
have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from
you, so that He will not hear" (Isaiah 59:1,2). These verses point
out the hypocrisy of those who claim to seek God, yet are still filled
with sin and evil intentions (Isaiah 58:1-4; 59:4-15).
