“What? Take a whole day off every week just to worship and praise God? There’s no way I could possibly do that. I have way too much to do!” Well, today’s passage shows us that observing the Sabbath isn’t just a problem for modern Americans in general or for workaholics in particular. In fact, verse 27 tells us quite plainly that some of the people went out to gather their food on the morning of the seventh day, even though Moses had specifically told them they would not find any (v. 25).

But God was not just making up arbitrary, onerous rules for His people to follow. On the contrary, God had provided for them in miraculous ways, raining down bread from heaven for them to eat (v. 4). And even though this manna spoiled if they tried to keep it overnight on any other day of the week, on the night after the sixth day it was preserved. In fact, only on the sixth day did God give the people more than they needed – twice as much, so that everyone could rest on the Sabbath and still have enough to eat (v. 22). Keeping the Sabbath was thus an opportunity for the people not only to rest from their labors but also to reflect on the amazing ways that God provided for them.

And the same thing is true for us today. Just as we give a tithe of our money as a way of expressing our trust that God will provide for our material needs, so we give God a seventh of our time to demonstrate our confidence that He will make a way for us to do everything we need to do on the other six days. Keeping Sabbath is thus a great way to express our faith that God will provide for us.

Of course, Sabbath-keeping requires that we should work hard during the remainder of the week so we can spend extra time with the Lord on Sunday – after all, Moses told the people in verse 23 to do their Sabbath day cooking ahead of time. And it’s also true that in our modern world it’s just not possible for everyone to have the same day off – what would we do if none of the firefighters or police officers, doctors or nurses were on duty?

But it’s also true that God has provided just as richly for all of us as He did for His people who were wandering in the desert. In fact, we know that the Lord went so far as to give up His only Son so that we might be saved. So why wouldn’t we want to linger awhile with the One Who loves us so much? The Lord has given us a day off each week to spend with Him – why won’t we take it?

Exodus 16:22-30 (NASB)

22 Now it came about on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each one. When all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses,
23 then he said to them, “This is what the LORD meant: Tomorrow is a sabbath observance, a holy sabbath to the LORD. Bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and all that is left over put aside to be kept until morning.”
24 So they put it aside until morning, as Moses had ordered, and it did not become foul, nor was there any worm in it.
25 And 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, the sabbath, there will be none.”
27 And it came about on the seventh day that some of the people went out to gather, but they found none.
28 Then the LORD said to Moses, “How long do you refuse to keep My commandments and My instructions?
29 “See, the LORD has given you the sabbath; therefore He gives you bread for two days on the sixth day. Remain every man in his place; let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.”
30 So the people rested on the seventh day.