Exodus 16 is the first mention of the Sabbath. Think about what God’s intention for the Sabbath was, that He didn’t provide manna on that day because His plan for their rest included not gathering, baking, nor boiling. They were to stay where they were and not “go out.” The idea of rest didn’t just mean to cease from their normal work and do whatever they wanted to do, but it meant “to sit down in quiet, to ease self, to settle, to repose, to desist from exertion, to put away, to cease, to be still, to celebrate,” according to Strong’s Concordance. The Hebrew word used in Exodus 16 was the same word used to describe God’s resting following completion of creation in Genesis 2:3.
As God expanded on the terms of the covenant He established with them, He would later reveal that their observance of the Sabbath was a sign of the covenant (Exodus 31:13). Failure to keep it was punishable by death.
Jesus gave us no such command, but He did give us an example, as did the apostles. He didn’t command His followers to keep the other Ten Commandments, either, but He clearly expected them to keep them without being told.
Scripture is full of examples of God’s people confusing man’s traditions with God’s commands, and in their preference for their traditions failing to worship God and please Him. This is an opportunity for us to evaluate our Sabbath observances.
A lover of God will not simply do or not do something because it is commanded or forbidden; he will want to please God. That means seeking His mind and doing what we know to do.