Sabbath

"Now on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each one. When all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses, then he said to them, 'This is what the Lord meant: Tomorrow is a sabbath observance, a holy sabbath to the Lord. Bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and all that is left over put aside to be kept until morning.' So they put it aside until morning, as Moses had ordered, and it did not become foul nor was there any worm in it. Moses said, 'Eat it today, for today is a sabbath to the Lord; today you will not find it in the field. Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, the sabbath, there will be none.'" -Exodus 16.22-26

Israel is given another trust exercise. On the sixth day gather enough manna for two days, because the seventh day is a sabbath, a day of rest. They go out to gather and trust that God will preserve it and not have worms and the foul smell that happens every other day. There is trust that it will come again on the first day of the next week. And we see the beginning of an important lesson, man needs to rest.

For four hundred and thirty years they had been worked every day of the week, slaves don't get a day off. But now God is teaching them that each week needs a day to be set aside for rest and refreshment. There is a lot that can be said on this subject, but one of the first lessons with preaching/teaching is "Don't put everything you know into a single sermon/lesson." The same is true of blogging. There will be much more of this to come. Here we find God teaching His people about how He intended life to be lived, with a day of rest.

Men, it is crucial that we take a day and rest. It is crucial to our sanity and survival that we have one day set aside where we don't focus on the things we have to do every other day of the week. We need one day to set aside our job, and the chores we need to take care of, and focus on rejuvenating our bodies, minds, and souls. What does a sabbath look like? More on that when we get to Jesus and the New Testament.

I know what it's like to be busy. I know what it's like to want to squeeze as much work as you can into the one free day you have, because it's the only time you have to get it done, but this is something we need to avoid. We need to learn to rest and relax. We need to learn how to let things go, and just unwind for a while. We weren't made to run seven days a week, God created the sabbath so we don't have to.

We have an amazing gift in the sabbath day, don't forget to observe it.

"Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."

To God alone be the Glory!

Strength and Honor

Daily Needs

"Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether or not they will walk in My instruction. On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily.'... When the layer of dew evaporated, behold, on the surface of the wilderness there was a fine flake-like thing, fine as the frost on the ground. When the sons of Israel saw it, they said to one another, 'What is it?' For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, 'It is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat.' ... Moses said to them, 'Let no man leave any of it until morning.' But they did not listen to Moses, and some left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and became foul; and Moses was angry with them. They gathered it morning by morning, every man as much as he should eat; but when the sun grew hot, it would melt." -Exodus 16.4-5, 14-15,19-21

Israel's complaints about empty bellies have reached God, and now He is about to fill them. But with this provision comes a test of faith. Do they really trust God to continually provide for them? Do they trust Him to come through over and over again?

One morning they wake up and the ground is covered with something they have never seen before. Bread has come from heaven, just as God promised. And with this provision comes instructions, only take what you need for today, except on Friday, then take enough for two days so that you can rest on the Sabbath. Here they face a choice, trust or attempt to control. If they choose to trust, then they rely upon God fully. They depend on Him to bring food each morning as He promised He would. This faith is what God is trying to cultivate in them, but in order to choose faith there has to be an option opposite faith, and some choose to try and control.

For one reason or another, some don't trust God. Maybe it isn't that they don't trust Him, but they just want to cover their bases in case He happens to be busy and forget one morning. So instead of gather what they need, some hoard and stock pile, making sure they have enough to take care of themselves. But their plan backfires, as our attempts at control most often do. Instead of waking up to manna, they find worms and a foul stench.

Men, we like control, we've said all this before. We don't like when we can't control things and have to rely on others to get the job done right. It's nerve racking to have to depend on someone else for something that you need in order to survive. But that is the just the faith that a Man of God is called to have. I think of Jesus is Matthew 6.11, "Give us this day our daily bread." As He teaches His disciples to pray He tells them to seek from God only what they need for today. He is teaching them to live in dependence upon God.

Now to clarify, faith is not an excuse for irresponsibility. I'm not saying that you shouldn't save for retirement, or your kid's college. But don't hoard everything that you get trying to build a safety net that allows you to have a false sense of security in your own resources and abilities. Let us learn to trust in God for our daily needs, because when we try to hoard we end up with worms and a foul stench.

God will provide the things that we need. Let us trust Him for our daily bread.

"Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."

To God alone be the Glory!

Strength and Honor

Complain

"The sons of Israel said to them, 'Would that we had died by the Lord’s hand in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat, when we ate bread to the full; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.'" -Exodus 16.3

People love to complain, it's a simple fact. No matter what has happened, no matter how good something is, people will always find something to complain about. Israel was oppressed for over four centuries. They finally are set free and God delivers them with the wealth of Egypt in their possession. Once they get into the wilderness they are pursued by Pharaoh, and again, God delivers them by parting the Red Sea. For a moment the people praise Him, and it seems as if they have finally learned to trust Him.

At the end of Exodus 15 Israel has reached Marah, there is water but it is bitter and undrinkable. God responds to Moses' cry and shows him a tree that makes the water sweet once it has been thrown into it. After this God leads them to Elim where there are twelves springs and seventy date palms. They have food, water and a place to rest. But this isn't the Promised Land, and they set out from Elim towards the wilderness.

Just over two months into freedom the people start talking about how good it was in Egypt. Hunger has started to set in, and they recall the bounty of food that they had as slaves. Never mind that they were slaves, they had full bellies. And now they have been set free to starve. It reminds me of Esau back in Genesis 25, he sells his birth right for a bowl of lentil stew and bread because he was "about to die; so of what use then is the birthright to" him? He sold something big for immediate satisfaction. Israel looks at the little they had, and now sees the momentary discomfort, and they would rather be full slaves than hungry freed men. God had just brought ten plagues on Egypt and parted the Red Sea, don't they think that maybe He could provide some food? But rather than turn to Him, it's easier to complain.

Men, do you fall into the complainer category? As soon as things start to get a little hard, or uncomfortable, do you begin to think about the "good old days"? Never mind the fact that you used to be in some kind of slavery, at least you got to enjoy something small. Never mind that God delivered you, there's no way He can satisfy the longing. We know how bad the situation was, but we would rather go back to it than face the situations with God now.

For some reason there is this mindset that turning to God takes away all your troubles. That isn't the case, but because of the expectation we complain as soon as God doesn't seem to come through. Never mind everything He has done to get us to this point, something like hunger tears our faith in Him, and when He doesn't bring instant satisfaction we let everyone know about it.

I've complained a lot over the years. When things haven't worked out, or taken longer than I thought, I've let God know how upset and unhappy I am. And yet who am I to complain to God about what He's failing to do? He saved me from sin, which He didn't have to do. He gave me new life in Christ, which He didn't have to do. He's allowed me to be part of His epic story, which He didn't have to do. And somehow I have the nerve to complain about something that I feel I'm owed?

I don't want to complain, I want to trust. God has taken care of me time and time again. He has never failed to come through, so what right do I have to complain?

"Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."

To God alone be the Glory!

Strength and Honor