Exodus 16:29, commentary and pictures

Because the Lord had given Israel the Sabbath, He gave on the sixth day the bread of two days so the people could rest on the seventh. The command for every man to abide in his place and go out of his place on the seventh day no more means to remain in place, not go out to gather food, and thus keep the day sacred. The weekly provision was a standing threefold miracle, with a double portion on the sixth day, none on the Sabbath, and the sixth-day portion kept fresh through the seventh, repeated for forty years. The Sabbath so given was the seventh day hallowed at creation, the same institution given in Eden, repeated by the manna law, and later proclaimed at Sinai and placed in the very bosom of the Decalogue. God's calling Israel out of Egypt that they might keep His Sabbath is the pattern for the last work, when He calls His people out of Babylon that they may keep the same true Sabbath and reject the spurious rival sabbath.

Manna Provision and Command

The verse belongs to the account of God's miraculous gift of manna in the wilderness: because the Lord had given Israel the Sabbath, He gave on the sixth day the bread of two days so the people could rest on the seventh. He gave them the bread of heaven, angels' food, to stop their murmuring, yet it did not satisfy them. The weekly provision of manna for forty years, with the people's rest, showed that the Sabbath was sacred.

The command for every man to abide in his place and let no man go out of his place on the seventh day means to remain in place, to stay in place rather than go out to gather food, and thus to keep the day sacred. The people were required to remain in their places on the seventh day, and the Sabbath was not to be profaned. The weekly manna miracle reminded them of the Sabbath's sacred obligation, though it did not lead them to faithful observance.

The weekly provision was a standing miracle and sign, repeated continually. It was threefold: a double portion fell on the sixth day, none fell on the Sabbath, and the sixth-day portion was miraculously preserved fresh through the seventh day. God reminded the people to keep the seventh-day Sabbath, a day of rest set apart by God, by withholding manna on that day and preserving the double portion gathered on the sixth day, and the manna provision enabled Israel to observe it. For forty years, for nearly forty years of wandering, Israel was constantly reminded of God's appointed rest day by the withholding of manna every seventh day and the miraculous preservation of the double portion that fell on the sixth preparation day.

The verse was spoken after God brought Israel out of Egypt to a wilderness place where they might observe unmolested all His precepts and fulfill the precepts of His law. In bondage their taskmasters had tried to force Sabbath labor by making weekly work harder and more exacting, and at the exodus God brought the Sabbath prominently before them after that oppression. He fed them with manna in the wilderness, and by a double miracle placed His seal upon the sacredness of the Sabbath institution. The weekly manna miracle impressed the Sabbath's sanctity on them before the law was given at Sinai, the same Sabbath afterward spoken at Sinai and delivered to Moses on two tables of stone written with the finger of God.

Sabbath Origin and Sacredness

The Sabbath given in the verse is the seventh day hallowed and sanctified at creation, the same holy institution given in Eden. By the miracle of the manna its validity was sustained, for double bread fell on the sixth day and every man was commanded to rest in his place on the seventh day instead of going out to gather food. That same Sabbath was afterward proclaimed at Mount Sinai and placed in the very bosom of the Decalogue, delivered on two tables of stone written with the finger of God. The weekly provision was a standing miracle that repeated the Sabbath law given in Eden before it was spoken at Sinai, and it continually testified to the Sabbath commandment.

The withholding of manna every seventh day with the miraculous preservation of the double portion that fell on the sixth preparation day constantly reminded Israel of God's appointed rest day. The people's rest and the weekly provision for forty years showed that the Sabbath was sacred, and by a double miracle God's seal was placed upon the sacredness of the Sabbath institution. The provision of manna was a continuing sign of the Sabbath commandment and of its sacred obligation. Yet the weekly miracle that reminded them of that obligation did not lead them to faithful observance.

The double portion, the absence of manna on the Sabbath, and its remaining fresh through that day were a threefold sign meant to impress the Sabbath's sacredness, and the provision also showed God's care for His people. The gift of the Sabbath and the double portion of bread on the sixth day belonged to an all-embracing education covering every habit of life, with everything concerning well-being under divine care and divine law. In providing food God sought Israel's highest good, giving in mercy the bread from heaven, angels' food, of a nature to promote physical, mental, and moral strength. Despite the hardships of wilderness life there was not a feeble one in all their tribes.

The heavenly bread was given to stop murmuring, yet it did not satisfy them. God did not do everything for the people, and their moral discipline depended on each person cooperating with Him.

End-Time Call and Observance

God called the children of Israel out of Egypt that they might keep His Sabbath which He had given them. That deliverance is a pattern for the last work at the end, when God calls His people out of Babylon that they may keep the same true Sabbath and not worship the beast nor his image. The seventh-day Sabbath is God's memorial, while the spurious rival sabbath is a humanly established counterfeit that displaces the day God blessed and sanctified. It is to be rejected because by it the man of sin exalts himself above God, removes God's memorial, and defies God.

Because the Lord had given Israel the Sabbath He gave on the sixth day the bread of two days so the people could rest on the seventh, commanding every man to abide in his place and let no man go out on the seventh day. The Sabbath is not to be profaned, and strangers who honored its conditions could share in the heavenly food given to Israel. Sabbath restaurants must therefore close and do no cooking, packaging, or selling on the Sabbath, with all work done on Friday. Simple foods such as bread and crackers are to be prepared, wrapped, put in baskets or packages with the price marked on Friday, for customers to take to their apartments and for helpers to carry through the Sabbath, so no one breaks the Sabbath and all have enough to live on until the restaurant opens again.