And the LORD said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws?
The Lord's question is a rebuke for refusing to keep His commandments and laws, spoken to those who went out to gather manna on the seventh day against His special direction and found none, whose Sabbath-breaking was disobedience and disloyalty to God. It belongs to the miraculous provision of manna before Sinai, when God commanded a double gathering on the sixth day and rest on the seventh to impress the sacredness of the Sabbath, withholding manna every seventh day and miraculously preserving the preparation-day portion fresh through the Sabbath for nearly forty years. The Sabbath was already known, expected and kept as one of God's commandments and laws on the way to Sinai, not first given there nor for Israel alone, for the seventh day had been hallowed at creation and made known in Eden and the weekly manna continually repeated that law before it was proclaimed at Sinai in the bosom of the Ten Commandments. As part of the Decalogue it carries imperishable obligation not for Israel merely but for the world, continuing as the Creator's sign so long as heaven and earth endure and honored by all in the restored Eden. The instructions and rebuke were recorded for all who live to the close of time, so the Sabbath command remains a test of obedience, and as God brought Israel out of Egypt that they might keep His Sabbath unmolested, He calls His people out of Babylon that they may not worship the beast by accepting the spurious first-day rival sabbath set up by the man of sin.
Manna and Sabbath Setting
The question belongs to the miraculous provision of manna before the law was spoken at Sinai, when instruction was given for a double gathering on the sixth day and rest on the seventh to impress the sacredness of the Sabbath. The extra portion on the sixth day, the absence of manna on the seventh, and its staying fresh through the Sabbath were designed to impress the people with the Sabbath's sacredness, and failure to follow these instructions was disobedience to God. Every seventh day the manna was withheld, while the double portion that fell on the preparation day was miraculously preserved and kept fresh through the Sabbath. Through nearly forty years of wandering this weekly miracle constantly reminded Israel of God's appointed rest day. This weekly withholding and preservation also repeated the Sabbath law given in Eden, teaching that the seventh day is the Lord's Sabbath, with Friday's provision made enough for two days.
The Lord's question is a rebuke for refusing to keep His commandments and laws, directed at those who went out to gather manna on the seventh day contrary to that special direction and found none. Their Sabbath-breaking was disobedience to God and showed failure of loyalty to Him. The weekly manna miracle had already taught them that the Sabbath was sacred and binding before they reached Sinai, yet they remained lax in keeping its sacred obligation. That disregard for the Sabbath was among the reasons the first generation was excluded from Canaan. That disobedience is connected especially with profaning the Sabbath.
God brought Israel out of Egyptian bondage that they might keep His Sabbath, and tested them upon His law by commanding a daily gathering with a double portion on the sixth day and rest on the seventh. In bondage their taskmasters had attempted to force them to labor on the Sabbath by increasing the amount of work required each week and making the conditions of labor harder and more exacting. Israel was delivered from bondage and brought to a place where they might observe unmolested all the precepts of Jehovah. The manna with its doubled provision on the sixth day affirmed the sacredness of the Sabbath, which the Son of God later proclaimed at Sinai as the Ten Commandments.
Though everything needed for religious service could have been supplied without human contribution, cooperation was required, giving each person a part in the work as moral discipline. His commandments and laws cover all the habits of life and everything that concerns well-being as a matter of divine care. Even in providing food He sought Israel's highest good, and the manna fed to them in the wilderness was fitted to promote physical, mental, and moral strength. So notwithstanding the hardships of wilderness life there was not one feeble person in all their tribes. Strangers who observed the Sabbath were allowed to share the manna, the food from heaven.
Sabbath Law Before Sinai
Exodus 16:28 proves the Sabbath was already known, expected and kept as one of God's commandments and laws on the way to Sinai before it was embodied in the law. When some profaned it, the rebuke for refusing to obey showed Israel already had knowledge of it there and was under obligation to keep it. The manna experience taught Israel to keep those commandments and laws, including the Sabbath, and continually testified to it. The Sabbath was therefore not first made known or given at Sinai, and it was not an obligation for Israel alone.
The seventh day had been hallowed and sanctified at creation and made known to mankind in Eden. The weekly manna upheld it, continually testified to it, and repeated the Sabbath law given in Eden, with no manna falling on the seventh day and Friday's provision sufficing for two days. God sustained the validity of the seventh-day Sabbath by that miracle and by commanding a daily gathering with a double portion on the sixth day and rest on the seventh. It was afterward proclaimed at Sinai in the very bosom of the Ten Commandments, when the Father and the Son descended and spoke the precepts of the law in the hearing of all Israel so there could be no mistake.
As part of the Decalogue the Sabbath carries imperishable obligation, not for Israel merely but for the world. It continues as a sign of the Creator's power so long as heaven and earth endure. It will be honored by all in the restored Eden when all worship from one Sabbath to another.
Yet this holy institution is discarded for a spurious first-day rival sabbath set up by the man of sin and accepted by the professed Christian world in disloyalty to God. The Sabbath command remains a test of obedience, and replacing God's sanctified day with a rival Sabbath defies Him and warns against disobeying His law. By that rival sabbath the man of sin exalts himself above God, removes God's memorial, and defies God.
Warning and Present Obedience
The directions given through Moses about gathering each day and gathering twice as much on the sixth day and resting on the seventh were written down for the good of everyone living on earth until the close of time, so the question how long refusal to keep the commandments and laws would continue summons all to hear God's words and obey them. That rebuke was spoken because some went out to gather on the seventh day against the special direction and found nothing, and their Sabbath-breaking was disobedience that was reproved. God had brought Israel out of Egypt so they might keep His Sabbath and proved them upon His law by this daily test, and the law thus tested was afterward spoken without possibility of mistake when the Father and the Son came down upon Mount Sinai and uttered its precepts in the hearing of all Israel. The Sabbath command still stands as a test of obedience, and to set aside God's sanctified day for a rival Sabbath defies Him and stands as a warning against disobeying His law.
Israel's lax keeping of the weekly reminder of the Sabbath's sacred obligation showed refusal to obey, and that disregard was among the causes for which the first generation was shut out of Canaan. God warned that after they settled in the land their children would be scattered among the nations. As God called the children of Israel out of Egypt that they might keep His Sabbath, so He calls His people out of Babylon that they may not worship the beast nor his image. That final call means refusing the spurious rival Sabbath by which the man of sin lifts himself above God, takes away God's memorial, and defies God.
The verse requires the Sabbath to be kept by resting from work and forbids carrying on common labor on that day. A restaurant therefore is never to be opened on the Sabbath but is to be closed, with all food for customers and for helpers made ready on Friday. On Friday simple foods such as good bread and crackers and other simple food already provided are to be wrapped up and placed in baskets or in packages with compartments, with a little note stating the price, so that people can take them to their rooms and live on them until the restaurant is opened again, and only what is already prepared is to be handed out, which keeps the Sabbath unbroken. Sickness or fear of being harmed by weekday food is no excuse for breaking it.
The Lord's question is a rebuke for refusing to keep His commandments and laws, spoken to those who went out to gather manna on the seventh day against His special direction and found none, whose Sabbath-breaking was disobedience and disloyalty to God. It belongs to the miraculous provision of manna before Sinai, when God commanded a double gathering on the sixth day and rest on the seventh to impress the sacredness of the Sabbath, withholding manna every seventh day and miraculously preserving the preparation-day portion fresh through the Sabbath for nearly forty years. The Sabbath was already known, expected and kept as one of God's commandments and laws on the way to Sinai, not first given there nor for Israel alone, for the seventh day had been hallowed at creation and made known in Eden and the weekly manna continually repeated that law before it was proclaimed at Sinai in the bosom of the Ten Commandments. As part of the Decalogue it carries imperishable obligation not for Israel merely but for the world, continuing as the Creator's sign so long as heaven and earth endure and honored by all in the restored Eden. The instructions and rebuke were recorded for all who live to the close of time, so the Sabbath command remains a test of obedience, and as God brought Israel out of Egypt that they might keep His Sabbath unmolested, He calls His people out of Babylon that they may not worship the beast by accepting the spurious first-day rival sabbath set up by the man of sin.
Manna and Sabbath Setting
The question belongs to the miraculous provision of manna before the law was spoken at Sinai, when instruction was given for a double gathering on the sixth day and rest on the seventh to impress the sacredness of the Sabbath. The extra portion on the sixth day, the absence of manna on the seventh, and its staying fresh through the Sabbath were designed to impress the people with the Sabbath's sacredness, and failure to follow these instructions was disobedience to God. Every seventh day the manna was withheld, while the double portion that fell on the preparation day was miraculously preserved and kept fresh through the Sabbath. Through nearly forty years of wandering this weekly miracle constantly reminded Israel of God's appointed rest day. This weekly withholding and preservation also repeated the Sabbath law given in Eden, teaching that the seventh day is the Lord's Sabbath, with Friday's provision made enough for two days.
The Lord's question is a rebuke for refusing to keep His commandments and laws, directed at those who went out to gather manna on the seventh day contrary to that special direction and found none. Their Sabbath-breaking was disobedience to God and showed failure of loyalty to Him. The weekly manna miracle had already taught them that the Sabbath was sacred and binding before they reached Sinai, yet they remained lax in keeping its sacred obligation. That disregard for the Sabbath was among the reasons the first generation was excluded from Canaan. That disobedience is connected especially with profaning the Sabbath.
God brought Israel out of Egyptian bondage that they might keep His Sabbath, and tested them upon His law by commanding a daily gathering with a double portion on the sixth day and rest on the seventh. In bondage their taskmasters had attempted to force them to labor on the Sabbath by increasing the amount of work required each week and making the conditions of labor harder and more exacting. Israel was delivered from bondage and brought to a place where they might observe unmolested all the precepts of Jehovah. The manna with its doubled provision on the sixth day affirmed the sacredness of the Sabbath, which the Son of God later proclaimed at Sinai as the Ten Commandments.
Though everything needed for religious service could have been supplied without human contribution, cooperation was required, giving each person a part in the work as moral discipline. His commandments and laws cover all the habits of life and everything that concerns well-being as a matter of divine care. Even in providing food He sought Israel's highest good, and the manna fed to them in the wilderness was fitted to promote physical, mental, and moral strength. So notwithstanding the hardships of wilderness life there was not one feeble person in all their tribes. Strangers who observed the Sabbath were allowed to share the manna, the food from heaven.
Sabbath Law Before Sinai
Exodus 16:28 proves the Sabbath was already known, expected and kept as one of God's commandments and laws on the way to Sinai before it was embodied in the law. When some profaned it, the rebuke for refusing to obey showed Israel already had knowledge of it there and was under obligation to keep it. The manna experience taught Israel to keep those commandments and laws, including the Sabbath, and continually testified to it. The Sabbath was therefore not first made known or given at Sinai, and it was not an obligation for Israel alone.
The seventh day had been hallowed and sanctified at creation and made known to mankind in Eden. The weekly manna upheld it, continually testified to it, and repeated the Sabbath law given in Eden, with no manna falling on the seventh day and Friday's provision sufficing for two days. God sustained the validity of the seventh-day Sabbath by that miracle and by commanding a daily gathering with a double portion on the sixth day and rest on the seventh. It was afterward proclaimed at Sinai in the very bosom of the Ten Commandments, when the Father and the Son descended and spoke the precepts of the law in the hearing of all Israel so there could be no mistake.
As part of the Decalogue the Sabbath carries imperishable obligation, not for Israel merely but for the world. It continues as a sign of the Creator's power so long as heaven and earth endure. It will be honored by all in the restored Eden when all worship from one Sabbath to another.
Yet this holy institution is discarded for a spurious first-day rival sabbath set up by the man of sin and accepted by the professed Christian world in disloyalty to God. The Sabbath command remains a test of obedience, and replacing God's sanctified day with a rival Sabbath defies Him and warns against disobeying His law. By that rival sabbath the man of sin exalts himself above God, removes God's memorial, and defies God.
Warning and Present Obedience
The directions given through Moses about gathering each day and gathering twice as much on the sixth day and resting on the seventh were written down for the good of everyone living on earth until the close of time, so the question how long refusal to keep the commandments and laws would continue summons all to hear God's words and obey them. That rebuke was spoken because some went out to gather on the seventh day against the special direction and found nothing, and their Sabbath-breaking was disobedience that was reproved. God had brought Israel out of Egypt so they might keep His Sabbath and proved them upon His law by this daily test, and the law thus tested was afterward spoken without possibility of mistake when the Father and the Son came down upon Mount Sinai and uttered its precepts in the hearing of all Israel. The Sabbath command still stands as a test of obedience, and to set aside God's sanctified day for a rival Sabbath defies Him and stands as a warning against disobeying His law.
Israel's lax keeping of the weekly reminder of the Sabbath's sacred obligation showed refusal to obey, and that disregard was among the causes for which the first generation was shut out of Canaan. God warned that after they settled in the land their children would be scattered among the nations. As God called the children of Israel out of Egypt that they might keep His Sabbath, so He calls His people out of Babylon that they may not worship the beast nor his image. That final call means refusing the spurious rival Sabbath by which the man of sin lifts himself above God, takes away God's memorial, and defies God.
The verse requires the Sabbath to be kept by resting from work and forbids carrying on common labor on that day. A restaurant therefore is never to be opened on the Sabbath but is to be closed, with all food for customers and for helpers made ready on Friday. On Friday simple foods such as good bread and crackers and other simple food already provided are to be wrapped up and placed in baskets or in packages with compartments, with a little note stating the price, so that people can take them to their rooms and live on them until the restaurant is opened again, and only what is already prepared is to be handed out, which keeps the Sabbath unbroken. Sickness or fear of being harmed by weekday food is no excuse for breaking it.