From reading the text we must conclude that the sabbath was instituted before the time this commandment was given, and that the knowledge of it was part of ancient understanding. In Genesis we read, And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made. (Gen. 2:3)
Remember the sabbath day, was the commandment. Remember suggests that the observance of it was lost in the confusion attending the servitude of Israel in Egypt. It also intimates that heeding the custom was prohibited by their taskmasters; or that Jacob's children had undergone a progressive degeneration from the spiritual heights they attained under the Shepherd Kings to the forlorn depths of religious indifference where despair and utter distress took possession of them. At any rate they were reminded that its observance was indeed necessary.
The Sabbath is a day of rest, and one in which to think of the Lord, our God. The Commandment is, Not to do that which should have been done during the six days preceding the Sabbath, or seventh day, and let remain undone, those things that can wait 'til the day following the Sabbath. Any labor not necessary is forbidden on the Sabbath. Observance of this "Word" was enjoined upon Israel, and complying with it, the people were continually blessed with precepts imparted from above.
The Hebrew word Shabbath, means rest or cessation from labor. The statement found in Gen. 2:2, is that God rested on, and hallowed the seventh day. By the Jewish law given at Sinai the seventh day was to be a day of rest, in which no secular work was to be done, and which was to be kept holy to God.
At a later period the simple Jewish law of early days was added to by the traditions of the elders, until the Sabbath rules became burdensome, and, in some cases, foolish. It was against this, and not against God's Law of the Sabbath that Jesus set himself in his teaching and healing.
The Sabbath, one day out of each week, was kept by the Jews on the day now called Saturday. How early this was taken to be the seventh day is not known. After the Ascension of Jesus the Disciples met on the first day of each week for prayer and praise. The Jewish Christians for a long time kept both the first and seventh; but as Gentile Christians, having never kept any such day before, celebrated only the first day of the week as the Lord s day. The celebration of the seventh day by Christians was finally abandoned. (Cruden's Concordance of the Bible)
Throughout the ages the Jews have accepted the Sabbath as Israel's heritage, and declare that they who take pleasure in the Sabbath shall find peace and joy. "They who take delight therein, to restrain their feet from following their usual paths on God's holy day, shall tread upon the high places of happiness and shall enjoy the heritage of the House of Israel." They, too, offer this prayerful thought:
Our God and God of our fathers, grant that our rest on this Sabbath be acceptable to Thee. May we, sanctified through Thy commandments, become sharers in the blessings of Thy word. Teach us to be satisfied with the gifts of Thy goodness and gratefully to rejoice in all Thy mercies. Purify our hearts that we may serve Thee in truth. O help us to preserve the Sabbath as Israel's heritage from generation to generation, that it may ever bring rest and joy, peace and comfort to the dwellings of our brethren, and through it Thy name be hallowed in all the earth.
Praised be Thou, O Lord, who sanctifieth the Sabbath.
(Jewish Union Prayer Book)
May we say this in conclusion, that, as "on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made" (Gen. 2:2), let us serve and honor Him daily, but dedicate one day a week to His praise and to His honor and glory. In doing this we render unto the Maker of a grand and glorious Creation the feeble thanks of a grateful people.