This is the first time in the Bible that the Sabbath was given to man to keep. Although God had rested after the six days of creation in the Garden of Eden, He had never told man to rest (John 5:17), nor is there any mention of any observance of the Sabbath before this time, though it had been well over two thousand years.
Some might wonder why God gave the Sabbath to the children of Israel at this time before the giving of the law. It is important to see that God always shows us His purposes in grace before responsibility comes in. The children of Israel were now a redeemed people, and God could only give them rest based on that redemption. Afterwards, when they put themselves in a place of responsibility under law, God gave them the Sabbath as His promise of earthly rest if they could keep the law. They could not. Thankfully they will enjoy the Sabbath of rest during the millennial reign of Christ, and that rest will not depend on law-keeping, but on the work of Christ at Calvary (Psalm 130:3-8; Ezekiel 44:24).
Sabbath or Lord’s Day?
The Sabbath day is Saturday, and we are not asked now in this day of grace to keep the Sabbath. For a Christian to keep the Sabbath day is really to deny his position as a heavenly man. Our blessings are in heaven, not on the earth as Israel’s were. Heaven is our eternal home (2 Corinthians 5:1); our conversation (manner of life) is there (Philippians 3:20), and we are waiting for the Lord Jesus to come and take us there (1 Thessalonians 1:10; 1 Corinthians 15:49-52). Christ, who is the head of His body, the Church, is now seated in the heavenlies and we are seated there in Him (Ephesians 1:20, 2:6). Both of the occasions on which the Lord stood in the midst of His disciples in the upper room were on the first day of the week, and so was the day of Pentecost. We know, too, that this was the day on which the early disciples met to break bread (Acts 20:7). They were told that the Sabbath was a “shadow of things to come,” (Col. 2:17) and it was not for them to keep as Christians. Of course, we know that they often preached the gospel on the Sabbath when the Jews were together, and so we can and do preach the gospel at any time and in any place where the Lord opens the door. We are not under law as to the first day of the week, but it is our liberty and joy to use it as the Lord’s Day, for Him and for His glory.
Omer of Manna
Moses was then told to take an omer of the manna and lay it up before the Lord, and this he did. He placed it before the testimony, and then later, when the tabernacle was built, he put it in a golden pot in the ark. The manna, as we have remarked previously, typified Christ, and just as this golden pot full of manna was to be kept for the generations to come, so we are never to forget that all blessings come to us through Him. He was the true Bread of God who came down from heaven, and it is a delight to know that through eternal ages we will feed upon that “hidden manna” (Revelation 2:17). We will never weary of feeding on Christ as the One who came down to earth and went into death in order to bring us into blessing.
Further Meditation
1. How does the manna remind us of Christ?
2. What scriptures help us to understand why a Christian doesn’t keep the Sabbath?
3. The truth about the Lord’s Day is only hinted at in this chapter. If you want to consider it more deeply you might enjoy reading The Lord’s Day: Do You Devote It to Him? by A. H. Rule.