GETTING STARTED
In Genesis, God spent six days creating all of existence and then rested on the seventh day. Fast forward to Exodus 16, where he introduces the same idea to his people for the first time and calls it Sabbath. Six days they will work, but the seventh will be a day of “solemn rest.” Throughout Scripture, God places importance on us slowing down our lives, taking a deep breath, and carving out time to spend with him. We need to recharge our batteries. Of all the commandments given to the Israelites, this one should be easy to keep . . . right?
- How would your life change if you placed more importance on rest?
READ THE WORD: EXODUS 16:22-36 (ESV)
22 On the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers each. And when all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses, 23 he said to them, “This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Tomorrow is a day of solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord; bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and all that is left over lay aside to be kept till the morning.’” 24 So they laid it aside till the morning, as Moses commanded them, and it did not stink, and there were no worms in it. 25 Moses said, “Eat it today, for today is a Sabbath to the Lord; today you will not find it in the field. 26 Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, which is a Sabbath, there will be none.”
27 On the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, but they found none. 28 And the Lord said to Moses, “How long will you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws? 29 See! The Lord has given you the Sabbath; therefore on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Remain each of you in his place; let no one go out of his place on the seventh day.” 30 So the people rested on the seventh day.
31 Now the house of Israel called its name manna. It was like coriander seed, white, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey. 32 Moses said, “This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Let an omer of it be kept throughout your generations, so that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’” 33 And Moses said to Aaron, “Take a jar, and put an omer of manna in it, and place it before the Lord to be kept throughout your generations.” 34 As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron placed it before the testimony to be kept. 35 The people of Israel ate the manna forty years, till they came to a habitable land. They ate the manna till they came to the border of the land of Canaan. 36 (An omer is the tenth part of an ephah.)
English Standard Version, copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
DIGGING DEEPER
- What instructions did the Israelites receive about keeping the Sabbath?
- How did some of the people break the Sabbath (vss. 27-30)? How did God respond?
- How was manna described? Why did God command the Israelites to keep it throughout the generations (vss. 31-36)?
- Identify the commitments that are consuming all of your time and energy. How can you rearrange your life to make rest a priority?
RESPOND TO GOD
In time, religious leaders would make the Sabbath more and more complicated, until it was all but impossible to keep. Even Jesus, who came to fulfill the Law, was accused of breaking the rules by healing a crippled man, and by picking grain from a field to eat. Thankfully, as believers under the New Covenant, there are no requirements to be met for keeping Sabbath rest. But the things God values don’t change, and it is clear that he values his people stepping away from the grind of life and resting in him.
- Thank God for the gift of work, and for the gift of rest.
- Pray for guidance in how you can become closer to God by placing more value on taking time to recharge.