Six days of gathering manna had trained Israel to reach for what they needed each morning. So when the seventh day came, they just did the same as yesterday, even though they had been told to rest. The result was emptiness.
“Nevertheless, some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather it, but they found none. Then the Lord said to Moses, “How long will yourefuse to keep my commands and my instructions? Bear in mind that the Lord has given you the Sabbath; that is why on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Everyone is to stay where they are on the seventh day; no one is to go out.” So the people rested on the seventh day.” (Exodus 16 v 27-30)
Every morning, for six days, manna was there. On the seventh day there was none, ever. Yet there is always one, or in this case, some! The day before, the sixth day, they had a double portion which would last them into the seventh day. However, there they were again, looking for manna on the seventh day. They were not doubting God would provide. In doubting the request to stop on the seventh day, they chose not to believe in the importance of rest.
What I love is the preparation God makes on the sixth day. In effect, it was God saying:
I have already thought of tomorrow. You don’t have to.
The Sabbath was never a reward for finishing all the work (does it ever get finished?!) It was a gift so that we would believe that what God had given in the six days was enough for the seventh. So the people rested on the seventh day.
Eventually.
That rest was still there waiting for them when they finally stopped reaching for what they’d already been given.
Every generation must enter into the rest God has given. It is not only the Sabbath, and it is not just for one day. The manna-free day prophesies into our lives lived under the Lordship of Christ now, where there is no place for working for our salvation. This is what it means to have the Sabbath rest. We don’t work for our righteousness. And yet our enemy, ingrained in us, is the belief that God is not pleased with us, that He wants more from us.
There is nothing you can do to cause you to be saved, not one thing. It is total grace. Not one performance, not one sin-free day, not one commandment or act of purity or sacrificial giving. Nothing. Get rid of the whole notion.
Sit back, receive His presence, be thankful for His forgiveness, and be happy today. This matters enormously, because if we fail to enter that rest, where is there left to go? Everything hangs on this one thing: that our obedience is to enter into the finished work of Jesus.
This is incredible, but true. There is a day, every day, now, when you don’t need to look for provision. It has already been given.
Missions Paul 