The Lord made plain what He wanted from Israel in regard to the seventh day of the week, known as the Sabbath,

“Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed” (Exodus 31.15–17).

1. The seventh day was a day of rest.
2. The seventh day was holy to the Lord.
3. For working on the seventh day the punishment was death.
4. Israel was to keep the seventh day as a day of rest.
5. The seventh day was a sign between the Lord and Israel.
6. The pattern for the Jewish work week and day of rest was what the Lord did in the beginning.

Even as the Lord marked a complete cycle of seven days for Himself, so He wanted Israel to do the same, but He has not required this of the world, for we wait for the true Sabbath coming our way (Hebrews 4).