Leviticus 23:31 Ye shall do no manner of work: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. 32 It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath.
This passage of scripture shows us the proper time to begin observance of the Sabbath, not from six o'clock as many people believe, but from sundown on Friday evening to sundown on Saturday. Our times for sunset do change with the seasons, but the stipulation from sunset to sunset never changes. The same way that God had originally instituted the Sabbath, was observed and kept by the disciples and followers of Christ, even when there were real emergencies to attend to. After Christ had been crucified on Friday, one of His followers asked for His body so that a decent burial could be made, but the Sabbath drew on, and therefore the women who had brought spices to anoint His body, put it off until after the Sabbath, for sunset was soon approaching. Let's read:
Luke 23:54 And that day was the preparation, and the sabbath drew on. 55 And the women also, which came with him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the sepulchre, and how his body was laid. 56 And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath day according to the commandment.
The "Commandment" here spoken of is the one taken from the Decalogue, which says "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days thou shalt labor and do all thy work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath, in which thou shalt not do any work". And so, in obedience to this law which has never been changed by God, Christ's true disciples rested according to the commandment. The same law was reiterated in the days of Nehemiah, when many of the Hebrews had become lax in their observance of the Sabbath, and thus the prophet Nehemiah set about to institute the necessary reforms which were warranted. Let's read:
Nehemiah 13:19 And it came to pass, that when the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark before the sabbath, I commanded that the gates should be shut, and charged that they should not be opened till after the sabbath: and some of my servants set I at the gates, that there should no burden be brought in on the sabbath day. 20 So the merchants and sellers of all kind of ware lodged without Jerusalem once or twice. 21 Then I testified against them, and said unto them, Why lodge ye about the wall? if ye do so again, I will lay hands on you. From that time forth came they no more on the sabbath.
In our day there has not only been an attempted change of the times and laws given us by God, but even in the lives of those who acknowledge the Sabbath as still binding, there is often seen a loose and careless attitude as it pertains to the beginning and ending of the Sabbath day, an attitude that is often transferred to all other ares of our lives, for if we cannot serve God with specificity as regards to time, it's unlikely that we will be careful to do our temporal work within stipulated hours. There is absolutely a need for reform in this matter for whatsoever God has commanded us must be fulfilled in entirety, in order for us to realize the blessings that are promised to the faithful.
We therefore end with a passage of scripture which calls for urgent reform on this very point, because specific blessings require specific obedience. Let's read:
Isaiah 58:13 If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: 14 Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.
May God add His blessing to the doing of His every word. God bless!