Sabbath comes to us as a gift from above, a flame lit in Eden that carries the fragrance of life eternal. It summons us to a sanctuary of peace, assurance, and counter-cultural resistance in every age, no less in our own anxious times. Sadly, this is not everyone’s experience.
The Sabbath commandment has often been ripped from its wider textual contexts, which speak so clearly of the grace and generosity of the Sabbath-giver. Consequently, in Christian and (to a lesser extent) Jewish communities, the Sabbath has often become a day to dread rather than anticipate, to endure rather than relish. A day when, depending on the era, all kinds of activities were banned – whether playing cards or watching TV or dancing – and rarely replaced by activities that might bring God’s people a sense of participating in a blessed, holy time.
The generosity and grace of the Sabbath
As we shall see, Sabbath-keeping is rooted biblically in God’s rest on the seventh day of creation. However, the first directive regarding the Sabbath is given to the Israelites in the wilderness, as God graciously and miraculously institutes the daily delivery of the manna. Six days they may collect it, and, on the sixth day, a double portion because there will be no manna to collect on the seventh. ‘This is what the LORD commanded: “Tomorrow is to be a day of Sabbath rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD. So, bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Save whatever is left and keep it until morning”’ (Exodus 16:23).
Here, before the giving of the law in Sinai, God is teaching his people several things: that you can trust God for provision every day, even in the wilderness; that the seventh day is not a day of work; and that you must learn to shape your whole week to make that a reality: collect twice as much food on the sixth day.
God, however, is also seeking to expand his people’s understanding of his power and so reinforces the seriousness with which he regards the Sabbath. Manna hoarded overnight on any other day of the week hatches maggots by morning, but manna kept overnight for the Sabbath day remains fresh. Here God is demonstrating his power over natural processes. Firstly, maggots usually take 24 hours to hatch after being laid. Here the process is accelerated. Or if, on the other hand, manna is so constituted to somehow naturally attract flies to lay eggs that produce maggots within say 12 hours, God miraculously delays the decaying process. Either way, God has power to bless obedience and to discipline disobedience in ways that confound human calculation.
So, this command to make the Sabbath a no-work day, holy to the Lord, comes first in
