And they laid it up till the morning, as Moses bade: and it did not stink, neither was there any worm therein.
On the sixth day a double portion was to be gathered in the morning, cooked by baking and boiling, laid up until the morning as directed, and eaten on the seventh day with no gathering in the field because the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD. What was kept for the Sabbath morning stayed fresh without foul odor or larvae, whereas manna kept overnight on other days bred larvae and became foul and unfit to eat, so its preservation when kept as instructed was miraculous. This belongs to a threefold weekly miracle of a double supply on the sixth day, none on the seventh day, and no spoiling of the Sabbath supply, which placed a divine seal on the sacredness of the Sabbath and constantly reminded Israel of its obligation through forty years in the wilderness. The doubled provision and its preservation each week taught that the seventh day is the LORD's Sabbath, repeating the Sabbath law established at creation when God hallowed the seventh day before it was proclaimed at Sinai, and this standing miracle testifies constantly to that commandment and sustains the validity of the seventh day. Because God required all cooking to be done on the sixth day in preparation for Sabbath rest, every Sabbath keeper must now make all needful preparation beforehand and not cook on the Sabbath, trusting that food prepared on Friday keeps wholesome over the Sabbath, as God now calls His people out of Babylon to keep the true Sabbath against the spurious rival sabbath.
Manna Kept for Sabbath
On the sixth day a double portion of two omers was to be gathered in the morning, then cooked by baking and boiling beforehand and laid up until the morning as Moses directed, to be eaten on the seventh day. The rule was to gather every morning for six days, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD when none would be found in the field, so the stored portion was to be eaten that day without gathering. The weekly preparation and storing of food on the sixth day with rest on the seventh showed that the Sabbath was sacred. Its preservation upheld the Sabbath law and enabled rest without gathering during forty years in the wilderness.
What was laid up for the Sabbath morning stayed fresh with no foul odor and no larvae in it. Manna kept overnight on other days bred larvae and became foul and unfit to eat, unlike the Sabbath portion which could be kept overnight without stinking or breeding worms. Its overnight preservation when kept as instructed was miraculous, part of a threefold weekly provision in which a double supply fell on the sixth day, none fell on the seventh, and the Sabbath supply did not spoil. That standing preservation showed divine care and impressed the sacredness of the Sabbath, sustaining the validity of the seventh day hallowed at creation and proclaimed in the commandments given on Mount Sinai in the heart of the Decalogue even though that holy institution is discarded.
Sabbath Confirmed by Miracle
The verse belongs to a threefold weekly miracle in which a double supply fell on the sixth day, none fell on the seventh day, and the portion laid up for the Sabbath did not spoil but stayed fresh without foul odor or larvae, unlike manna kept overnight on other days which bred larvae and became foul and unfit to eat. This preserving of the preparation-day double portion till morning while manna was withheld every seventh day is also described as a double miracle that placed a divine seal upon the sacredness of the Sabbath institution. Its preservation was a miracle that upheld the Sabbath law and made it possible to rest without gathering, constantly reminding Israel of the sacred obligation of the Sabbath and of God's appointed rest-day through forty years in the wilderness and through nearly forty years of wandering.
God brought Israel out of Egypt and fed them from heaven with manna day by day so they might keep the Sabbath day holy and fulfill the precepts of His law. He delivered them from taskmasters who had tried to force labor on the Sabbath by increasing the work required each week, to a place where they could observe unmolested all the divine precepts. In this way the Sabbath institution was brought prominently before them at the exodus and afterward confirmed when the law was spoken at Sinai in awful grandeur in the Ten Commandments.
The doubled provision on the sixth day and its preservation each week taught that the seventh day was the LORD's Sabbath, repeating the Sabbath law established at creation. That law was given in Eden before it was proclaimed at Sinai, when God hallowed and sanctified the seventh day and proclaimed it sacred in the commandments given on Mount Sinai in the heart of the Decalogue. This standing miracle testified and testifies constantly to that Eden-given Sabbath commandment and sustains the validity of the seventh day even though that holy institution is discarded.
The miracle showed God's care for Israel and belonged to an education embracing all habits of life in which everything concerning well-being was under divine care and law. Even in providing food God sought their highest good by giving food fitted to promote physical, mental and moral strength, so that despite the hardships of wilderness life there was not a feeble one in all their tribes. The provision confirms God's miraculous supply of bread in the wilderness and illustrates that God called His people to cooperate with Him rather than supply everything without their participation. The manna provided was heavenly food in which those who honored God's Sabbath could share when kept as instructed for the Sabbath.
Sabbath Keeping Required Today
God forbade baking and boiling on the Sabbath and required all of it to be done on the sixth day in preparation for Sabbath rest, and the keeping of the manna laid up on the sixth day from stinking or breeding worms shows this provision. He is no less particular now, so every Sabbath keeper must make all needful preparation for Sabbath meals before the Sabbath and must not cook any food upon the Sabbath. They are to deny self and eat food prepared on the sixth day even if it is not as palatable, with only what is simple and necessary permitted on Sabbath morning, such as hot gruel in cool weather and some food warmed for dinner. To neglect sixth-day preparation and to cook upon the Sabbath beyond this violates the fourth commandment and transgresses God's law. The prohibition guards against gluttony, because the Sabbath is set apart for sacred meditation and worship.
By God's provision food prepared on Friday keeps wholesome over the Sabbath, as food prepared before the Sabbath could be kept until morning without spoiling. Sabbath keepers can therefore close their business and restaurant on the seventh day and do no Sabbath cooking or selling. They are to prepare packages of wholesome simple foods such as bread and crackers on Friday, wrapping them and putting them in baskets or packages with the cost marked, for customers and helpers to take away and live on until work opens again.
God called the children of Israel out of Egypt that they might keep His Sabbath and His memorial, with the manna kept over the Sabbath remaining pure as proof of His sanctified day. That deliverance for Sabbath keeping is the pattern for the end, and in the same way He now calls His people out of Babylon. The call is that they may not worship the beast nor his image but keep the true Sabbath and God's memorial against the rival spurious sabbath. That spurious sabbath is exalted by the power that thought to change times and laws, identified as the man of sin.
On the sixth day a double portion was to be gathered in the morning, cooked by baking and boiling, laid up until the morning as directed, and eaten on the seventh day with no gathering in the field because the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD. What was kept for the Sabbath morning stayed fresh without foul odor or larvae, whereas manna kept overnight on other days bred larvae and became foul and unfit to eat, so its preservation when kept as instructed was miraculous. This belongs to a threefold weekly miracle of a double supply on the sixth day, none on the seventh day, and no spoiling of the Sabbath supply, which placed a divine seal on the sacredness of the Sabbath and constantly reminded Israel of its obligation through forty years in the wilderness. The doubled provision and its preservation each week taught that the seventh day is the LORD's Sabbath, repeating the Sabbath law established at creation when God hallowed the seventh day before it was proclaimed at Sinai, and this standing miracle testifies constantly to that commandment and sustains the validity of the seventh day. Because God required all cooking to be done on the sixth day in preparation for Sabbath rest, every Sabbath keeper must now make all needful preparation beforehand and not cook on the Sabbath, trusting that food prepared on Friday keeps wholesome over the Sabbath, as God now calls His people out of Babylon to keep the true Sabbath against the spurious rival sabbath.
Manna Kept for Sabbath
On the sixth day a double portion of two omers was to be gathered in the morning, then cooked by baking and boiling beforehand and laid up until the morning as Moses directed, to be eaten on the seventh day. The rule was to gather every morning for six days, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD when none would be found in the field, so the stored portion was to be eaten that day without gathering. The weekly preparation and storing of food on the sixth day with rest on the seventh showed that the Sabbath was sacred. Its preservation upheld the Sabbath law and enabled rest without gathering during forty years in the wilderness.
What was laid up for the Sabbath morning stayed fresh with no foul odor and no larvae in it. Manna kept overnight on other days bred larvae and became foul and unfit to eat, unlike the Sabbath portion which could be kept overnight without stinking or breeding worms. Its overnight preservation when kept as instructed was miraculous, part of a threefold weekly provision in which a double supply fell on the sixth day, none fell on the seventh, and the Sabbath supply did not spoil. That standing preservation showed divine care and impressed the sacredness of the Sabbath, sustaining the validity of the seventh day hallowed at creation and proclaimed in the commandments given on Mount Sinai in the heart of the Decalogue even though that holy institution is discarded.
Sabbath Confirmed by Miracle
The verse belongs to a threefold weekly miracle in which a double supply fell on the sixth day, none fell on the seventh day, and the portion laid up for the Sabbath did not spoil but stayed fresh without foul odor or larvae, unlike manna kept overnight on other days which bred larvae and became foul and unfit to eat. This preserving of the preparation-day double portion till morning while manna was withheld every seventh day is also described as a double miracle that placed a divine seal upon the sacredness of the Sabbath institution. Its preservation was a miracle that upheld the Sabbath law and made it possible to rest without gathering, constantly reminding Israel of the sacred obligation of the Sabbath and of God's appointed rest-day through forty years in the wilderness and through nearly forty years of wandering.
God brought Israel out of Egypt and fed them from heaven with manna day by day so they might keep the Sabbath day holy and fulfill the precepts of His law. He delivered them from taskmasters who had tried to force labor on the Sabbath by increasing the work required each week, to a place where they could observe unmolested all the divine precepts. In this way the Sabbath institution was brought prominently before them at the exodus and afterward confirmed when the law was spoken at Sinai in awful grandeur in the Ten Commandments.
The doubled provision on the sixth day and its preservation each week taught that the seventh day was the LORD's Sabbath, repeating the Sabbath law established at creation. That law was given in Eden before it was proclaimed at Sinai, when God hallowed and sanctified the seventh day and proclaimed it sacred in the commandments given on Mount Sinai in the heart of the Decalogue. This standing miracle testified and testifies constantly to that Eden-given Sabbath commandment and sustains the validity of the seventh day even though that holy institution is discarded.
The miracle showed God's care for Israel and belonged to an education embracing all habits of life in which everything concerning well-being was under divine care and law. Even in providing food God sought their highest good by giving food fitted to promote physical, mental and moral strength, so that despite the hardships of wilderness life there was not a feeble one in all their tribes. The provision confirms God's miraculous supply of bread in the wilderness and illustrates that God called His people to cooperate with Him rather than supply everything without their participation. The manna provided was heavenly food in which those who honored God's Sabbath could share when kept as instructed for the Sabbath.
Sabbath Keeping Required Today
God forbade baking and boiling on the Sabbath and required all of it to be done on the sixth day in preparation for Sabbath rest, and the keeping of the manna laid up on the sixth day from stinking or breeding worms shows this provision. He is no less particular now, so every Sabbath keeper must make all needful preparation for Sabbath meals before the Sabbath and must not cook any food upon the Sabbath. They are to deny self and eat food prepared on the sixth day even if it is not as palatable, with only what is simple and necessary permitted on Sabbath morning, such as hot gruel in cool weather and some food warmed for dinner. To neglect sixth-day preparation and to cook upon the Sabbath beyond this violates the fourth commandment and transgresses God's law. The prohibition guards against gluttony, because the Sabbath is set apart for sacred meditation and worship.
By God's provision food prepared on Friday keeps wholesome over the Sabbath, as food prepared before the Sabbath could be kept until morning without spoiling. Sabbath keepers can therefore close their business and restaurant on the seventh day and do no Sabbath cooking or selling. They are to prepare packages of wholesome simple foods such as bread and crackers on Friday, wrapping them and putting them in baskets or packages with the cost marked, for customers and helpers to take away and live on until work opens again.
God called the children of Israel out of Egypt that they might keep His Sabbath and His memorial, with the manna kept over the Sabbath remaining pure as proof of His sanctified day. That deliverance for Sabbath keeping is the pattern for the end, and in the same way He now calls His people out of Babylon. The call is that they may not worship the beast nor his image but keep the true Sabbath and God's memorial against the rival spurious sabbath. That spurious sabbath is exalted by the power that thought to change times and laws, identified as the man of sin.