Isaiah 56 · a question people ask
Does 56:2-6 tell Christians to keep the Sabbath?
The chapter names the Sabbath three times. The blessed man "keeps the Sabbath without profaning it" (56:2); the LORD speaks to the eunuchs "who keep my Sabbaths" (56:4); and the foreigners he will bring include "everyone who keeps the Sabbath from profaning it" (56:6). It speaks to those it names, and these notes don't apply it to anyone's keeping of the Sabbath today. The question Christians ask is taken up in Exodus 20's honest question, Is the Sabbath command for Christians today?, which sets out the main views with their verses. It isn't repeated here, and these notes don't pick among its views.
The verses
“Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who holds it fast; who keeps the Sabbath without profaning it and keeps his hand from doing any evil.””
“For the LORD says, “To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, choose the things that please me, and hold fast to my covenant,”
“Also the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD to serve him, and to love the LORD’s name, to be his servants, everyone who keeps the Sabbath from profaning it, and holds fast my covenant,”
““Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. You shall labor six days, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. You shall not do any work in it, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your livestock, nor your stranger who is within your gates; for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day, and made it holy.”