Sabbath Reform in the Wilderness
By G.
Sabbath Reform in the Wilderness.
WHEN the children of Israel were in Egypt, they were servants of the Egyptians. This being the case, they were subject to Egyptian law. While Joseph lived, they were under his immediate supervision, and were otherwise comparatively independent. Then they were faithful to the true God, and prospered in material things. They had possessions in the land of Goshen, "in the best of the land," and they "grew, and multiplied exceedingly." But after Joseph's death, Egyptian rule and Egyptian influence soon began to work apostasy in the ranks of God's people. They so far departed from the God of their fathers that they worshiped the gods of the Egyptians. Then the Lord gave them over to the rapacity of their idolatrous masters, in order that they might see the folly of their way, and be willing to return to Him. "And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigor." Ex. 1:13. "And it came to pass in process of time, that the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage." Ch. 2:23. Then the Lord appeared to Moses at the burning bush in Mount Horeb, and said to Him, "I have surely seen the affliction of My people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows." Ch. 3:7. And Moses was there commissioned to go and bring forth the Lord's people out of Egypt. He was to say to Pharaoh, "Thus saith the Lord, Let My people go, that they may serve Me." Ch. 8:1. Moses was fearful that the Israelites themselves would not believe his message; because forty years before that time, when he was an acknowledged power in Egypt, they had not understood that he was to deliver them from their bondage. So the Lord gave him three signs which were to convince them that he had been commissioned by the Lord. And when Moses went to them accompanied by his brother, Aaron, and showed them the signs which the Lord had given him, "the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord had visited the children of Israel, and that he had looked upon their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshiped." Ch. 4:31. Delivered that They Might Serve.
The Israelites were eventually delivered by a mighty hand, and of the situation then the Lord says, "Unto Me the children of Israel are servants; they are My servants whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt." Lev. 25:55. And now that by faith they had crossed the Red Sea (Heb. 11:29), and were in the direct care and under the direct guidance of the God of Israel, they would naturally be expected to obey His commandments. On coming through the Red Sea, they celebrated their deliverance and the overthrow of their former masters, and then were led three days' journey into the wilderness, to a place called Marah. Here the water was bitter, and the people murmured because they had no water to drink. But the Lord showed Moses a certain tree, and when it was cut down and cast into the water, the water was healed. Then the Lord made a conditional promise to the people. He said, "If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in His sight, and wilt give ear to His commandments, and keep all of His statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians; for I am the Lord that healeth thee." Ex. 15:26. Being the descendants of Abraham, and partakers of the promises to him, it was meet that they follow in his footsteps; and he kept the commandments and statutes and laws of the Lord. Gen. 26:5. Six weeks after their departure from their homes in Egypt, the people came to the wilderness of Sin. Here they bitterly murmured again, this time because of the lack of food; and they longed for the fleshpots of Egypt. Then the Lord said unto Moses, "Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in My law, or no." Ex. 16:4. So we see that the law of God was in existence at that time, and He was proving His people in the matter of obedience. And the next thing revealed is the particular part of the law on which they were tested. The Sabbath, being the memorial of God's rest after creation, is the special mark or sign of the true God; and now that Israel had been delivered from the servitude of Egypt, would they really submit to the law of Him who had delivered them? Would they recognize His memorial, the neglect of which had so estranged them in Egypt? Note that the Lord did not at this time enact any law; the reference was solely to that which already existed. The very first instruction in regard to proving them whether they would walk in His law or not, had reference to their gathering manna on the sixth day, and making preparation for the Sabbath. "It shall come to pass, that on the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in; and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily." Verse 5. On the other days they were forbidden to keep any of the manna over until the morning; but it seems that some of them were afraid that the manna might fall in the morning, and they tried to keep over what they had not eaten of their abundant supply. Some of those who were weak in the faith, "left of it until the morning, and it bred worms and stank." Verse 20. "And it came to pass, that on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for one man; and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses. And he said unto them, This is that which the Lord hath said, To-morrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord; take that which ye will bake to-day, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning. And they laid it up till the morning, as Moses bade; and it did not stink, neither was there any worm therein. And Moses said, Eat that to-day; for to-day is a Sabbath unto the Lord; to-day ye shall not find it in the field. Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the Sabbath, in it there shall be none." Still there were those who were slow to believe, disobedient in heart. There was a large "mixed multitude" in the camp who were the principal instigators of murmuring and rebellion. "And it came to pass, that there went out some of the people on the seventh day for to gather, and they found none. And the Lord said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep My commandments and My laws? See, for that the Lord hath given you the Sabbath, therefore He giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days; abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day. So the people rested on the seventh day." Here began a Sabbath reformation. God had broken the Egyptian yoke from the necks of His people, and had brought them out where they could serve Him. He had brought them "out of darkness into His marvelous light." He had set them free, and that meant freedom to obey His law instead of Egyptian law. It was Christ who had liberated them, and "if the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." John 8:36. He had now restored to them "the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord," of which they had been deprived in Egypt by the "rigor" of their servitude, as a result of their own apostasy. It was not a new Sabbath day, for it is expressly called "the seventh day, which is the Sabbath." It was the same Sabbath day that was blessed and sanctified at creation; and the same that was emphasized when, a few weeks later, the whole law was rehearsed at Sinai. G.