Sabbath: Exodus 16

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0:00 For the rest of us, we are going to continue thinking about Sabbath together. Hi. We're thinking about Sabbath all Lent, all six weeks of Lent. We're talking about Sabbath and challenging ourselves to consider what a Sabbath practice might look like for us. Two weeks ago, the first Sunday of Lent, we talked about this notion of the seventh day

0:31 and the seventh day rest, and that when God is making the world out of His own imagination and bringing it into existence with the force of His will, He creates the seventh day. So the seventh day isn't the absence of work, but the presence of rest and appreciation. So seventh day rest isn't just the absence of something, it's the presence of something else. It's the culmination or the payoff for the work of creation. God makes the whole world not because He's obligated or because He must, but because when He does,

1:06 He'll enjoy it. And the invitation for humanity is to do the same, to sit in a seventh day rest and enjoy the good work of God. And then last week we talked about the difference between work in the garden and toil outside the garden. We looked at the reality that the first ones in the garden, in Eden, had work to do. The grapes don't just fall out of the sky and into their mouths, they have to figure out how to cultivate the plants. They have to lead and shepherd the animals, they're working, but once they're outside of the garden,

1:38 God says the work that you were doing once now will be toil, where you've got great fruit, and you'll get thorns and thistles. And we talked about the difference in work that we have seventh day rest work, and we have toil. We live inside, and then if the best version of Sabbath is a little taste of garden work, of Eden work, of promised land reality. The best experience of Sabbath is one little foretaste of what's coming infinitely at the end.

2:13 The promised land Eden experience, breaking into our reality one day a week, where we get to rest, appreciate the provision, protection, creativity of God, the love of God in our direction. We sit and absorb it. It doesn't mean that we roatly and routinely avoid work, means that we put strictures around ourselves to build dependence on God and taste the Eden rest. Today I want to look at the next place that this idea of Sabbath comes up,

2:46 and it's in Exodus chapter 16. If you're able to look there with me, that would be great. You can type it in, or Exodus is the second book in the Bible, if you're in a paper copy like me. And at this point in the story of Israel, they've left Egypt miraculously. In Exodus chapter 16, they've left Egypt miraculously. God defeated the Egyptians, first of their gods in the plagues, then their army at the sea.

3:18 And now they're making their way to Sinai, where God asked Moses to bring them to worship. In Exodus chapter 16, we pick that up, if we read in verse 1, they set out from Elam, and all the congregation, the people of Israel, came to the wilderness of sin, which is between Elam and Sinai on the 15th day. At the second of the second month, after they had departed the land of Egypt. And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, and the people of Israel said to them,

3:50 would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, where you have brought us out into the wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger. It sounds, you heard what they're saying, hey, why did you bring us out here? You brought us out here to die, huh? And it sounds pretty faithless, and on the face of it it is faithless.

4:20 I mean, they just saw the ten plagues and the Red Sea. You think they would have a little bit more confidence in God. But you can understand their lack of faith. They're like two million people in the desert. Egypt has become the great military power of the region. If you, if you, the only places you can get are places you grow on foot. In their time, Egypt is the strongest military power in the world. And it's because they have all these resources.

4:51 They're right there on the Nile. It's green. They can grow, they can grow food. They can build. Some people think Egyptians had flush toilets. I mean, they're smart. The Israelites are in the like lap of the Nile River with all the food, like meat pots. Not great food, but they know where it is, right? And Moses and Aaron against the Israelites will at some point. And then by the power of God, they leave like civilization and go out into the wilderness.

5:25 All two million of them. And then of course they have that crazy experience of the Red Sea. Now they're past the Red Sea. Israel's done. They're out there and they're like, well, what, there's, what are we going to do appropriately? What are we going to do? Right? What are we going to eat? Hey, how are you going to take care of us? Because they know where food comes from. And it's not from dry sand. Right?

5:56 They know where water comes from. And it's not just like bubbling up out of the ground. It comes from a river. And there are no rivers in the desert. The Egyptians have the river. And when you see every logical solution means, let's get back to those meat pots, man. Or we are out here dead. Yeah, it stinks to be slaves, but they got the water. What else are we going to do? And they go to Moses and Aaron and they're like, you are the guys. Why did you bring us out here? Great.

6:27 Good job. You defeated the Israelite or the Egyptian army. Now we die of hunger. I would have rather the Egyptian army kill me. Hunger sounds like a painful way to die. Right? Okay. So verse four. Then the Lord said to Moses, amen. Behold. I'm about to rain bread from heaven for you. It's an absurd sentence. I hope he wrote it down because it doesn't make any sense. He would doubt it as soon as he left the conversation. Right?

6:58 And the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day that I may test them. Whether they will walk in my law or not. On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily. So Moses and Aaron said to all the people of Israel, at evening, you shall know that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt. And in the morning, you shall see the glory of the Lord.

7:29 Because he has heard your grumbling against the Lord. For what are we that you grumble against us? I love that. Moses and Aaron, the Lord has heard your grumbly. Look, what am I going to do? This is like, you're grumbling at me like I brought you out here. Did you see how this happened? Like, you think I did this? You can grumble at me all you want, but it's not getting you anywhere. So when you grumble, you're grumbling to the Lord and he has heard your grumbling. Right? And Moses said, when the Lord gives you, when the Lord gives you in the evening,

8:05 meet to eat, and in the morning, bread to the full, because the Lord has heard your grumbling that you grumbled against him. What are we? Your grumbling is not against us, but it is against the Lord. Okay, so this is before the Ten Commandments, and God is saying, I'm going to do this thing for you. I'm going to rain bread from the sky. I'm going to rain quail in the evening and bread in the morning.

8:36 Just go out and get what you need, man. Go out and get what you need, bring it back. But on the sixth day, take twice what you need, because on the seventh day, you're not taking any. And this gets back to what Beverly and I were talking about. I grew up with this idea, I don't know where it came from, that Sabbath was like one of the Ten Commandments. It was this conditional covenant at Sinai that Christ fulfilled and resolved me from. Now I'm not obligated to keep the law, I get the righteousness of God by grace.

9:09 So I don't have to do the Sabbath, because I get righteousness by grace, it's not by what I do. So it might make sense to keep the Sabbath, but I have no obligation. But this is what's interesting to me, is like the Sabbath is in the story of creation. Like in Eden, there's Sabbath. And then they get to the desert and he is expecting them to follow a Sabbath rhythm before he's even talked about the Ten Commandments. They haven't even made it to Mount Sinai yet.

9:41 And so I'm starting to think that Sabbath is this rhythm that's built into the world. Like in the same way that there's a water cycle that chlorophyll works to make food for the plants. Sabbath works to usher life in for humanity. That it's just part of the fabric of the way the world works. And that God is setting up a pattern for us to try and teach us.

10:11 I was thinking about why he would do it this way, give them just enough bread for the day. I mean, there's two million of them in the desert. And they're like, so maybe the reason he gives them just enough for the day is because, look, that's a lot of bread. Right? Like, I mean, and even the quail.

10:43 Like if you think about, like, you know, they had a structure to their camp, how everything had to go, right? Everybody's in orders and they're in the tribes. But like two million people in tents in the desert does not sound great to me. Right? But now you think about how much space that takes up. And now the manna is on the ground or the quail is on the ground outside of the camp. How far are they walking? Like in order for there to be an omer for everyone.

11:14 I'm saying it's a big thing. And maybe there's like this thing about if I'm really good at getting picking up manna, I can get more. Like if I'm a really big dude or I've even better, I've figured out a special basket I could make where I could gather all sorts of manna,

11:47 man. And like when they're done, look, I know we don't have money. We're out here in the desert, but there are things I want, right? And I get a little, what, a little cigarette trade or something for, in order to get more manna. And I build a little economy. And that gives them just enough for the day. And the first thing to realize here is everything in Israel in the desert is completely stripped

12:17 away. So you get a really nice picture of reality. And the reality is they cannot manufacture the bread. Their survival is not, is in no way dependent upon them. Hand to mouth, man. They are dependent upon God. Every, every morsel of food they get, God, they don't even know where it comes from, man. They don't even know what it is. They call it what is it.

12:47 And they translate what is it into the word manna. It just falls out of nowhere. And I was thinking about how this is a theme for God. When he really wants to get humanity's attention, he takes away every other option for them. And I'm going to give you the story of Abraham and Sarah. God's like, hey, Abraham, I'm going to give you everything is going to come through your kids. And Abraham's like, yeah, we're like in our 90s and barren.

13:18 So you must mean my maidservant. Let's take care of it that way. God's like, no, man. Look, the nation will come at my gifting to you. Will you let me give it to you? Think about it. He does it again. He does that move a couple of times. But there's another one. Remember, right before Jesus is born, his cousin, John the Baptist Zacharias, in the Holy of Holies, and he's like, hey, Zachari, you're going to have a baby.

13:49 And Zacharias says the same thing. You're crazy. I'm too old and my wife is barren. And God says, that's how I like to do it. That way you get it. Right? That way you get it. One of my favorite little phrases is in the Gospel of John. Let me see if I marked it here for us. It's in John 13. If you're punching things in on a phone, you can probably beat me to it.

14:20 John 13 verse 6. Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, this is what, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. That's how the ESV says it. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. I've also heard it translated. He showed them the full extent of his love.

14:53 Right? You can imagine this setting. Just hang with me for a second. The disciples have been walking now. We talked about it a couple of weeks ago. They were up in the wilderness in a retreat after he rose Lazarus from the dead. Then it comes time for the Passovers so they're going to make their way to Jerusalem. They go by and they have a meal with Lazarus, whom he has raised from the dead and his sisters. Then they come through Jericho and they heal blind Bartimaeus on the way. Now there's a whole crew coming with them.

15:23 They're afraid because the Pharisees have said that they want to kill Jesus, but they're marching in in the city. Then he says, bring me the donkey. They get the donkey and they do the triumphal entry into the city where they're waving the palm fronds and calling them Hosanna, someone David. Then they go into the upper room that's prepared. Now they've been through all this with all these people. Now it's just a few of them in the upper room together in the evening with the meal that they've been celebrating since they were little kids. Having loved his own into the world, he now shows them the full extent of their love. And as they come in from all their travels, this is where the story comes in.

15:57 During supper, when the devil had already come into Judas, Simon, to betray him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hand and that he had come from God, was going back to God, rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments and, taking a towel, he tied it around his waist. And he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

16:28 And he came to Simon Peter. Remember, Simon Peter, we think Simon was probably the oldest in the way that rabbis worked. They had one disciple that was older. When the rabbi died, that was the next disciple that took over his teaching, especially in an itinerant rabbi. And then the disciples would follow after him. And so we think Simon Peter was, that's why he always spoke first, because he was the oldest. He was going up to lead. And Jesus is doing a thing that you can't even compel a Jewish person to do, to wash these people's feet. And Simon Peter can't believe it.

16:58 And then, then, wrapped in what he said to Simon Peter, who said to him, Lord, do you wash my feet? And Jesus answered him, what I am doing, you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand that Peter said to him, you shall never wash my feet. And Jesus answered him, if I do not wash you, you have no share with me. And Simon Peter said to him, Lord, then not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. And Jesus said to him, that one who is, you know, let me wash your feet, that's enough, Peter.

17:31 We are not in the desert, you know what I mean? We are out living out of tents with sand. And some of us have gotten pretty good at making bread. You know what I mean? Pretty good at making bread.

18:01 We know how to take care of ourselves. We can get the house we need, we can get the car we need, we can get the clothes we need, we can get the IRA we need. We can get the food we need, we can get the entertainment that we need. We have gotten pretty good at taking care of ourselves. Thank you very much. Peter, in the upper room, after seeing the Lazarus situation, the Bartimaeus situation, the Tiletha Coom, little girl situation, after being in the wilderness retreat with Jesus, after learning at his feet, in John's understanding, three years, he's been following the guy around, he's like, dude, I got this.

18:44 Like, you don't have to do this. Jesus, you don't have to wash my feet, man. Let me take care of it. I can handle it from here. And Jesus looks Peter straight in the eye before he denies him three times and says, Peter, learn to let me do for you, man. I am God, you are not. I give you receive. I create you appreciate my creation. This is the pattern Jesus is trying to impose upon Peter so that he understands that humanity is made to receive God from God, not to give back.

19:30 I think that's why God gives the Israelites in the desert. Just enough for the day. That's enough. Look back, Exodus 16. Sorry, we're getting there, guys. I lost my place. Exodus 16. Then Moses said to Aaron, say to the whole congregation, verse 9, of the people of Israel, come near before the Lord, for he has heard your grumbling.

20:01 And as soon as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, they looked towards the wilderness and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared to the Lord. And the Lord said to Moses, I have heard the grumbling of my people of Israel and say to them, at twilight, you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. And then they will know that I am the Lord your God. In the evening, quail came up and covered the camp. And in the morning, do lay around the camp. And when the do had gone up, there was on the face of the wilderness, a fine flake like thing, fine as frost on the ground.

20:38 And the people of Israel saw it, they said to one another, what is this? For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, guys, this is a bread man that the Lord had given you to eat. This is what the Lord has commanded. Gather of it, each one of you, as much as he can. You shall eat and take an omer according to the number of persons that each of you has in your tent. Then the people of Israel did so, they gathered some more, some less, but when they measured it with an omer, whatever gathered much, whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack.

21:15 Each of them gathered as much as he could eat. And Moses said to them, let no one leave any of it over till the morning. But they did not listen to Moses. Some left part of it till the morning, and it bred worms and stank. And Moses was angry with them. Morning by morning they gathered it, each as much as he could eat. But when the sun grew hot, it melted. On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much bread, two omers each.

21:48 And when all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses, he said to them, this is what the Lord has commanded. Tomorrow is the day of solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord. Take what you will bake and boil what you will boil. And all that is left over lay aside to be kept till morning. So they laid it aside till the morning as Moses commanded them, and it did not stink. And there were no worms in it. And Moses said eat it today.

22:19 For today is the Sabbath to the Lord. Today you will not find it in the field. Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh, which is the Sabbath, there will be none. On the seventh day, can you guess what they did? Yeah, man. There's more out there. Some of the people went out together, but they found none. And then the Lord said to Moses, how long will you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws? What?

22:53 This is why I asked you if you have a good memory of a time you were dependent upon somebody else. They had enough for their seventh day. Everybody had enough. They gathered twice as much on the sixth day. They baked it and boiled it, and they had it ready to eat. And Moses was like, dude, God gave you a day off, man, just rest and enjoy it. Eat what he gave you yesterday.

23:23 They were like, yeah, cool. But if I get ahead of the thing, if I can get ahead of it, then I'm not so dependent. What if he doesn't come through tomorrow? What if he doesn't give me what I need in the next day? It is very hard to depend on someone that is not you. Very hard.

23:53 I just made a couple reasons. And in this case, it's very clear, right? Like, there are some good things. If you can depend on someone else, there might be answers that you can't imagine. When they go to grumble to Moses and Aaron, they had no idea that God would rain bread from heaven, quail in the morning, and water from a rock. They're like, the rules of the world suggest 2 million people don't survive in the desert. They had no idea that God had a solution that they couldn't imagine.

24:25 This is true. But the only way they find that is when they're out in the desert and there's nothing left. If they walk back that evening and don't wait until the morning to see the manna, they miss it. You see? So dependence on God means there might be answers you can't imagine. There might be solutions you can't see coming. Just because you're in over your head doesn't mean all hope is lost when you belong to the God of creation in life.

24:58 Just because you can't imagine a way out doesn't mean there isn't one when the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is your God. Here's the kickers. When you're dependent on someone else, you have potential to be disappointed. I mean, this is like you are not God.

25:29 That is good news. But also it can be uncomfortable because God might do it different. They would like the meat pot, right? And they get the manna for 40 years. They get the potential to be disappointed and brutal. Complete lack of control. This is what gets them out there on the seventh day looking for it again.

25:59 It's because they don't like the idea of like sitting there out completely outside of their control going, is God going to come through again for me? He forces dependence on him in the desert. I was thinking about what does it feel like to be dependent on someone else. And I found this little Psalm, Psalm 127.

26:31 Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil, for he gives his beloved sleep.

27:04 Right after the part we read in Exodus, Moses is so frustrated with Israel. He's like, God gave you the Sabbath as a gift. Can you imagine the ones that got up on the seventh day, how they were sleeping? They wanted to get out there first. Maybe there would be a little bit less. Maybe I could go find it and they miss the rest and the sleep. The Psalmist is saying, God gives his beloved sleep. You can rest. It is in vain that you eat your bread of anxious toil. You have a God who provides. Set aside anxiety and toil and rest in provision of God.

27:38 Okay, last little pit for you because I was trying to imagine what is the good news for me here. I mean, I love that God provides for me, but it is very hard to sort out where I'm trusting myself and where I'm trusting him. And I need to know what is why I would do the work of that. It's hard to figure out where am I trusting God, where am I trusting myself?

28:12 Is this anxious toil? Is this Eden rest? How do I figure this out? If I were in the desert just picking up manna, it would be easier, but I am navigating my job and career and my possessions and my things. And it is hard to figure it out. Why do the work? Because the short answer is nobody can sort that out for you. There's no just like hard and fast rule on when you're trusting yourself versus when you're trusting God.

28:43 This is why faith is an internal relationship, but it's there for you. What's there for you? That's what I wanted to find. Here it is in the end of Philippians chapter 4, chapter 3. Sorry, 4, it's not 3, it's 4, it's got to be. 10, yes, 4, 10. This is Paul writing to the church in Philippi in the New Testament. I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have received your concern for me.

29:15 You have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but had no opportunity, verse 11, not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am in to be content. I know how to be brought low and I know how to abound in any and every circumstance. I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger and abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. You know why you would do the hard work of sorting out when you're depending on yourself and when you're depending on God?

29:48 Because by the grace of God, those dependent on him get contentment. Anxiety is not a product of lack or plenty. It can come in both. Contentment is not a fruit of having enough or not having enough. It can come in both. You can be content in plenty and in want. And flip side, you can be anxious in plenty and want. The good news for you is you, by the power of Christ, have the spirit of God in you.

30:21 And the spirit in God builds in you the capacity to rest some. To trust his provision. To quit your anxious toil. To receive sleep. To sleep. Rest. Provision. Let me pray that we could do it like Paul.

30:53 Hey Lord, thank you for the gift of Sabbath. Teach us how to leverage Sabbath to rest in you. That we might build a life of faith that yields contentment for us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.