A Sabbath for Man and His God - There Remains a Rest

Introduction

Permit to begin with a brief story: “One man challenged another to an all-day wood chopping contest. The challenger worked very hard, stopping only for a brief lunch break. The other man had a leisurely lunch and took several breaks during the day. At the end of the day, the challenger was surprised and annoyed to find that the other fellow had chopped substantially more wood than he had. “I don’t get it,” he said. “Every time I checked, you were taking a rest, yet you chopped more wood than I did.”” But you didn’t notice,” said the winning woodsman, “that I was sharpening my ax when I sat down to rest.””[1]

It is important for our physical and spiritual wellbeing that we have periods of rest. We need time to relax and reflect. Our bodies need time to recover. It is good to not have our minds spinning wildly all the time or focused solely on accumulation. Our Father and creator knew this and so He provided the means for this in the sabbath. We will examine this today as we continue to examine Israel’s journey to Sinai.

Background

This isn’t the first time we’ve heard of the Sabbath, although its been a while. The Sabbath was first introduced in Gen. 2:1-3 where we are told the God Himself rested from His creative activity. This isn’t rest in the sense of tiredness of fatigue. It means He stopped His work on the seventh day. But this is only the first half of what was done on that day. Moses tells us He blessed it and made it holy. It was to be a day for our benefit and dedicated in worship to Him. We will return to this point later. For now I will add that this Sabbath rest is so important it is commanded (Ex. 20:8 - 11) and death is commanded for those whom break it (Ex. 31:15). One such incident is described in Num. 15:32-36. The sabbath and its remembrance is a big deal. We will explore part of this today.

Exposition

Verse 22 - 23: The people gather twice as much on the sixth day as required by the LORD. They come to Moses asking why the sixth day was different from the rest. Moses explains the seventh day is to be a day of rest, a sabbath, unto the LORD. This would have been utterly unknown to the Israelites whom endured long days of back breaking labor everyday during their Egyptian bondage. Now Yahweh is telling them: ‘You don’t need to toil everyday. I didn’t design you that way. You were made to worship and fellowship with Me. Trust me to provide for and sustain you. Rest!’ Even as God the creator rested from His labors so would Israel now enjoy this day of rest as well. It was the LORD’s day, a time to reflect on what He has done and remember that the world depends in Him and not us. It was a day for worship unto Him. The people would have opportunity to consider and reflect upon what Yahweh has done. In short, the sabbath represents Yahweh’s claim on our time and our daily function. Both are to be submitted to His good grace.

This is direct bearing on our lives day, even though the sabbath command isn’t repeated in the NT. We are to work to provide for our families and ourselves. It is wise to store up for hard times and/or be prepared but we are not to gather for gathering’s sake or engage in selfish hoarding. The accumulation of material things is not our purpose and can’t truly give pleasure. If it could we wouldn’t have greed or dissatisfaction. It is not our purpose in life to endlessly labor and toil and the continuation of life not within our realm of responsibility. We work to live. We don’t live to work. The sabbath, properly observed, prevents us from elevating anything to the status of God. It gives us opportunity to enjoy the work of our hands while acknowledging the One who enables us to do so. It keeps clear that Yahweh is LORD and provider and runs the universe. This is how we are to live.

We will go into this later, but for now I will also add that the Sabbath is also given as a distinguishing mark of God’s people among the nations and a sign of redemption and (Deut. 5:15) and restoration. We recognize the LORD’s claim on our lives, acknowledging His grace and experience refreshing so we can continue to make His glory known.

Verses 24 - 26: As Moses declared there was no spoiling of the manna. The people ate what was left over from yesterday since none was provided. The reason none was provided is interesting. OT Scholar Peter Enns wrote: "It is not simply that the Sabbath is 'observed' by the Israelites in that they refrain from gathering food. Rather, it is God who refrains from supplying the food. It is he who ceases working, so that no manna or quail is to be found."[1] The people are to do as their God and creator does. They are to gather the first six days and rest on the seventh. “ Give the seventh day to the LORD. The life of man is not to be consumed by labor or work. Work is necessary and is good. After God created Adam He gave him to work in the garden. He was to till the garden and it would produce food. But the garden wasn’t the ultimate source. Yahweh was. Scripture is silent as to whether Adam and Eve observed a Sabbath but I believe we can rightly infer that they did. Before they ate of the fruit they would have been living in perfect harmony with the will of God and the Sabbath is a creation ordinance. He is for all humanity, not just the Israelites.

Verses 27 - 30: Some people still refuse to trust and obey the word of the LORD, incurring God’s anger. This repeated failure to believe shall be the undoing of the entire generation. Unbelief is grave sin. It is a treasonous attack upon the character of God, a denial of what He has declared Himself to be. Scripture is absolutely clear, for example Heb. 11:6, that covenant relationship and fellowship with God requires faith. This faith must be a constant faith. Just as His mercies are new everyday so we are to trust Him everyday regardless of whether we fully understand His leading of our lives. We are not called to know. We are called to believe and act on that behalf. Our faithful God will fulfill His promises. This is why Christ could emphatically state to seek God’s kingdom first with all these things be added unto you. The chiding of Moses is a chiding of the people. They didn’t yet understand the LORD has freed them from endless toil and they are no longer to walk in that way. From creation God mandated rest even as He rested. This is how this must be. He is providing time for them to rest. The God who redeemed them is a God who rested. He is a God of rest. He is a God of freedom. So the people are to stay in their tents and rest.

Christ said that the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath (Mk. 2:27). It is for us to recover and recollect on our salvation. It is a merciful, loving gift to us so we can know Him better. When I was taking online classes , I strived to not work on Sunday, not out of a sense of legalism, but because it is for me to rest physically and mentally. It gives me time or reflect, and I really should do it more, on the eternal rest that we will receive in Christ (Heb. 4:9-11). This shall be a rest from laboring with toil. It shall be a rest from the ravage of sickness. It shall be a rest from the mental and emotionally hits we can take. It is a rest from the struggle with sin that besets us. It shall be a rest into our promised land, our eternal inheritance. Let us not take this for granted or reduce it to an obligation. Let us enjoy it for the Father gave it to us in His good grace. Let us appreciate and utilize it.

Verses 31 - 36: The manna is a source of delicious food and a sign of remembrance. When the people inherit the land of promise they can look back on the manna and recall His gracious provision and loving care for them. They would eat it for 40 years, their entire wilderness sojourn. The ark not yet built, the manna was placed before the testimony. It would be placed in the ark later and serve as a reminder of what God has done and will continue do.

Practical Application

The Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible says this about Gen. 2:1-4: “In brief, “bless” is the language of giving, while “declare holy” is the language of claiming. When something is blessed by God, it becomes a vehicle of his generous giving and an expression of his warm concern. When God declares something holy, he claims it for himself, taking it out of ordinary circulation (whether it is a place, a day, or an animal for sacrifice) and declaring it special. This provides a clue to God’s intention in requiring man to observe the sabbath. Freed from time-consuming everyday work, man should accept the seventh day as a blessing from his Creator (using it to recall all God’s goodness in creation and to praise him for it), and recognize the claim it makes on his life. As a day “set aside,” the sabbath is a reminder that all time is the Creator’s gift—a fact man acknowledges when he consciously gives back to God part of what is his anyway.””[3]

Bibliography

[1] Galaxie Software. (2002). 10,000 Sermon Illustrations. Biblical Studies Press.

[2] Philip Graham Ryken, Exodus: Saved for God's Glory, (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2005), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 438.

[3] Elwell, W. A., & Beitzel, B. J. (1988). Sabbath. In Baker encyclopedia of the Bible (Vol. 2, p. 1875). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.