Exodus 16:23, commentary and pictures

Tomorrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord, the seventh day set apart as holy rest belonging to Him on which no own work is to be done, and what is to be baked and boiled is to be prepared that day with what remains laid up to be kept until the morning. The day before is Friday the preparation day, when all food for the Sabbath is to be finished, even to one hour before sundown, so the sacred hours are entered in readiness. God gave a double portion of manna on the sixth day and none on the seventh, keeping what was laid up for the Sabbath sweet and unchanged, and by gathering and preparing He tested whether the people would walk in His law and keep the Sabbath holy. Given in the wilderness before the law was spoken on Sinai, the provision shows the Sabbath already obligatory, sustains the seventh day hallowed at creation, and is the same Sabbath placed in the bosom of the Decalogue requiring sacred observance to the close of time. All baking, boiling and cooking are therefore to be done on Friday, leaving the Sabbath free from unnecessary work for rest, worship and spiritual refreshing, with only simple provision such as warming food prepared the day before, while care of the sick and suffering remains as necessary mercy work.

Words and Wilderness Setting

To morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the Lord, which means the seventh day is a holy Sabbath rest belonging to the Lord and reserved for Him. No own work is to be done on it, for the day is set apart as holy rest unto the Lord and its sacred hours require unnecessary labor to be set aside. As holy unto the Lord it is also a fitting time for affectionate, personal conversation about religious experience.

Bake what will be baked and boil what will be boiled that day, and lay up what remains over to be kept until the morning, so that gathering and all ordinary food preparation are finished before the Sabbath. The direction was given through Moses when manna was provided, requiring Israel to gather a double portion on the sixth day because the next day was the holy Sabbath rest unto the Lord. It is a plain command from the Lord to prepare beforehand rather than cooking on the Sabbath, leaving them ready for the Sabbath when they were not to do their own unnecessary work and were to keep the day holy to the Lord.

The day before the Sabbath is Friday, the preparation day, when all Sabbath food preparation is to be done. Baking and boiling, all purchases and all cooking for what will be eaten on the seventh day are to be done then, with the remainder kept until morning, so the Sabbath is not spent cooking or doing ordinary work. Preparation commences Friday morning and everything is to be finished one hour before sundown so the Sabbath is entered in readiness for its sacred hours, with work left undone at its commencement waiting until it is past. The command given to the Hebrews to prepare on the sixth day stands as an injunction to all Christians requiring His holy day to be as sacredly observed now as in Israel's time.

The instruction was given in the wilderness before the law was spoken on Mount Sinai, showing the Sabbath was already obligatory before Israel came to Sinai. The manna provision preserved the Sabbath law during Israel's wilderness years, with the stored manna remaining fresh to confirm that God had provided twice as much on the sixth day so they could rest on the seventh when none would be found. By the doubled manna and its preservation, and by continually testifying to the Sabbath commandment before it was given from Sinai, the weekly miracle taught Israel the Sabbath was sacred.

God brought Israel out of Egypt so they might keep His Sabbath and fulfill His law, and called them out so they could keep it as His memorial. In bondage their taskmasters had tried to force Sabbath labor by increasing the weekly work required, but deliverance brought them where they could observe unmolested all His precepts. That deliverance is a pattern for the end-time call out of Babylon to keep His Sabbath and not worship the beast nor his image, refusing the rival spurious sabbath set up by removing His memorial.

The manna was given by miracle while Israel was led by Jesus enshrouded in the pillar of cloud, in the continuous history of Exodus 13, 14, 15 and 16. That history begins with the passage through the Red Sea where the waters stood as a wall and the cloud stood as protection and Israel was saved from the Egyptians.

Manna Miracle and Test

On the sixth day twice the usual amount fell, and on the seventh none fell at all, because enough was given on Friday for two days so that Israel could rest on the seventh when none would be found in the field. The day after the sixth day was the holy Sabbath rest to the Lord, and the extra provision on the sixth day with its absence on the seventh impressed its sacredness upon the people. The recurring provision was a standing weekly miracle that repeated the Sabbath law given in Eden and preserved that law through the wilderness years.

What was laid up overnight for the Sabbath stayed sweet, pure, fresh and unchanged without spoiling. Manna left overnight on other days spoiled, but what was kept for the Sabbath did not spoil. Through nearly forty years of wandering the appointed rest day was thus constantly kept before Israel by the weekly withholding of manna every seventh day and by the miraculous preservation of the double portion that fell on the preparation day.

Gathering and preparing the manna tested whether the people would walk in the law and keep the Sabbath holy. All cooking was to be done on the sixth day, which is Friday the preparation day, with the remainder laid up until the morning, so that ordinary food preparation would not be left for the Sabbath. Going out to gather on the seventh day was refusal to keep the commandments and laws. Even heaven-sent bread required preparation, and that requirement was given not for that time only but reaches through the ages to the present for spiritual good, teaching dependence on God who supplies daily needs while setting a boundary against careless and irreverent treatment of the Sabbath as a day of rest and spiritual devotion.

Every detail was not provided without human effort, for the people were to cooperate, and this cooperation served their moral discipline. The education given embraced all habits of life, with everything concerning well-being placed under divine care and law. Even in providing food the highest good was sought, for the manna in the wilderness was of a nature to promote physical, mental and moral strength, so that notwithstanding the hardships of wilderness life there was not a feeble one in all the tribes. The manna was heavenly food, and strangers who joined Israel and met the conditions and did not profane the Sabbath could share it.

Sabbath Doctrine Confirmed

The seventh day hallowed and sanctified at creation had its validity sustained by the miracle in the giving of the manna. That weekly provision was a standing miracle, repeated every week, and it repeated the Sabbath law given in Eden. The recurring supply, with enough provided on the sixth day for the Sabbath and none falling on the seventh, testified to the Sabbath commandment given in Eden and proved the day to be a holy institution.

The holy Sabbath proved by the manna is the same Sabbath whose sacredness was proclaimed in the giving of the commandments upon Mount Sinai and placed in the very bosom of the Decalogue. The direction to bake and boil on the sixth day and keep the remainder until morning shows that Sabbath food was to be prepared beforehand, and cooking food on the Sabbath violates the fourth commandment. The manna kept for the Sabbath did not spoil, unlike manna kept overnight on other days. The prohibition is a solemn command that guards against gluttony and indulgence so the day can be devoted to sacred meditation and worship, and keeping it in this way honors the commandment and secures God's blessing.

The special directions given through Moses for keeping the Sabbath were recorded for the benefit of all who live to the close of time and must be listened to and obeyed. The command given to the Hebrews to prepare on the sixth day is an injunction from Jehovah to all Christians, requiring His holy day to be as sacredly observed now as in the time of Israel. The instruction is still binding and must not be disregarded, for God meant what He said. It applies as fully on the campground as in the home, without letting bustle and excitement detract from its sacred dignity, and those who present the claims of the divine law must not break it to please appetite, since doing almost as much cooking on the Sabbath as on other days dishonors God and shuts out His blessing through failure to keep the Sabbath according to the commandment.

God gives man six days for labor and pronounces a blessing on those who keep the seventh holy. The sixth day is for all needful preparation and the seventh is reserved to God, with no own work to be done on it. Ceasing from labor gives workers time for spiritual refreshing and physical rest. Such rest and preparation stand as a memorial declaring the seventh day is the Sabbath.

This holy Sabbath is discarded for a spurious first-day sabbath. A rival spurious sabbath is set up by removing God's memorial, in contrast to the Sabbath as God's memorial. God called the children of Israel out of Egypt so that they might keep His Sabbath, with its rest and getting food ready beforehand. That deliverance is a pattern for the last days, when God calls His people out of Babylon so they will keep the same Sabbath and will not worship the beast nor his image, refusing the spurious rival sabbath that exalts itself above God by removing His memorial.

Preparing Before the Sabbath

All baking and boiling, all purchases and all cooking for the Sabbath are to be done on Friday, the preparation day, with what will be eaten on the seventh day baked, cooked and laid up to last over the Sabbath. Food was to be prepared before the Sabbath and kept until morning rather than prepared as ordinary work on the Sabbath, so that no unnecessary work is done on the seventh day. Completing cooking and other secular preparations on Friday before sunset leaves the Sabbath free from worldly employment and free for rest and spiritual devotion. The restriction on cooking manna placed barriers around the Sabbath that are not to be treated lightly or as a light thing, and to disregard these special requirements is to disregard a commandment. Ceasing from labor in this way gives time for spiritual refreshing and physical rest and stands as a memorial that the day is holy.

Full preparation includes having baths taken, shoes blacked and polished, and clothing put in readiness beforehand. All business transactions are to be ordered all through the week in remembrance of the Sabbath, so that when the day of rest comes it can indeed be kept holy unto the Lord. No work that could have been done the day before, even small work, is to be done on the Sabbath, and nothing of own work is to be permitted to encroach upon holy time. Readiness when the Sabbath comes means worshiping God in quietness and studying His Word closely united with Christ, which prepares for dwelling in holy abodes.

Eating places and health restaurants are to be closed on the Sabbath, with no cooking, serving, selling, or restaurant work done on that day. On Friday wholesome, easily carried foods such as bread, crackers, beans and other simple foods are to be baked, cooked, wrapped, priced and put in baskets or packages to be taken home. Those packages are to be kept until the morning and eaten in homes and apartments over the Sabbath, supplying what is needed without opening the restaurant. Doing all the work on Friday and only handing out what was made ready fulfills duty without breaking the rest of the holy Sabbath. Desire for weekday food or fear of sickness gives no excuse for Sabbath cooking, since plain food prepared beforehand is enough to live on.

The Sabbath is to be kept as sacredly on the campground as in the home, without letting bustle and excitement detract from its sacred dignity. All needful preparation is to be made beforehand by baking and boiling the day before, because tomorrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord. Those presenting the claims of the divine law to others must not break that law themselves merely to please the appetite. Doing almost as much cooking on the Sabbath as on other days dishonors God and through failure to keep the Sabbath according to the commandment shuts out His blessing.

The day before the Sabbath is to be made a day of preparation so everyone is in readiness for its sacred hours with as little labor as possible and no unnecessary work done on it. Families should prepare in advance during the week and teach children to help keep the day holy, rather than spending the Sabbath in cooking or ordinary work. Work left undone at the Sabbath's commencement should wait until the Sabbath is past. This baking, boiling and laying up of a double portion on the sixth day tested whether Israel would keep the Sabbath holy.

Resting on the Sabbath

No cooking is to be done on the Sabbath, and to do almost as much cooking on the Sabbath as on other days dishonors God. All baking and boiling belong to the day before, with what remains laid up to be kept until the morning, so that ordinary cooking is completed on Friday and the Sabbath is kept as rest and worship. Only simple provision is allowed, such as hot gruel or something equally simple on a cool Sabbath morning and some kind of food warmed for dinner, with all further cooking avoided as a violation of the Sabbath. Food prepared the day before may be reheated in cold weather so Sabbath meals need not be cold, what is needed such as beans being cooked on Friday and kept warm in the oven though it may be eaten cold if preferred, and the Sabbath is not a day to prepare or cook tidbits. Sabbath meals are to be simple and smaller than on other days yet still pleasant, including a special treat for children where needed.

Nothing of own work is to be permitted to encroach upon holy time, for the seventh day is reserved to God while the sixth day is for all needful preparation. Care for the sick and whatever is necessary for their comfort, and the care of the suffering, is an act of mercy and necessary work that does not violate the commandment. God does not desire the sacrifice of health even on the Sabbath. The Sabbath is a day of rest and spiritual devotion, sacred meditation and worship honoring God rather than personal convenience and unnecessary work. The restriction on cooking guards against gluttony and indulgence and against treating the Sabbath carelessly or irreverently, and keeps the mind clear for spiritual things. Daily food teaches dependence on God who supplies His people's needs while testing whether they will follow His law.

God meant what He said, and His barriers around the Sabbath in the restriction on cooking manna are not to be spoken of lightly or treated as a light thing. To disregard these special requirements for preparation and keeping is to disregard a commandment of God, which no man or woman is left free to venture to do. Careless inattention to this preparation and keeping displeases Him. Failure to honor Him in this and to keep the Sabbath according to the commandment shuts out His blessing, especially for those presenting the claims of the divine law who must not break that law merely to please appetite. As holy unto the Lord, the Sabbath is a fitting time for affectionate, personal conversation about religious experience, which the Lord blesses.