Manna and Work

 

 

When we have a diet of manna we are tempted to think that we work for it.

We sink into the assumption that our efforts are indispensable

We cover our minds with forgetfulness that every day, manna is a gift.

We turn legitimate work ethic into work ego.

We need rest from that -- a day of utter dependence.

We need a day of emptying, releasing, and reflecting.

"See the LORD has GIVEN you the sabbath."

Yes, it was a specific gift to a specific people, but it was also a broad principle for humanity.

The story is a lesson for living and the law is a sign-post for eternal and temporal truth.

When we live off yesterday's manna, we are reminded that today's manna fell from heaven and all we did was gather it.

It expands our hearts of humility, generosity, and trust.

We can engage in futile arguments over calendar questions, definitions, and fine points of interpretation or we can embrace the gift and lesson of sabbath rest ... and enter in.

You will have a sabbath whether or not you observe one. You will either die early of stress or lose years to anxiety, and unproductive flailing in an effort to create manna that only God can give.

Exodus 16:22-36

New International Version

On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much—two omers for each person—and the leaders of the community came and reported this to Moses. He said to them, “This is what the Lord commanded: ‘Tomorrow is to be a day of sabbath rest, a holy sabbath to the Lord. So bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Save whatever is left and keep it until morning.’”

So they saved it until morning, as Moses commanded, and it did not stink or get maggots in it. “Eat it today,” Moses said, “because today is a sabbath to the Lord. You will not find any of it on the ground today. Six days you are to gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will not be any.”

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 you refuse 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.

The people of Israel called the bread manna. It was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey. Moses said, “This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Take an omer of manna and keep it for the generations to come, so they can see the bread I gave you to eat in the wilderness when I brought you out of Egypt.’”

So Moses said to Aaron, “Take a jar and put an omer of manna in it. Then place it before the Lord to be kept for the generations to come.”

As the Lord commanded Moses, Aaron put the manna with the tablets of the covenant law, so that it might be preserved. The Israelites ate manna forty years, until they came to a land that was settled; they ate manna until they reached the border of Canaan.

(An omer is one-tenth of an ephah.)