2-25-15. Exodus 16:23-30. Keep The Sabbath Holy…But Don’t Be Legalistic About It-my devotional

Exodus: 16:23-30                                                                                Kevin E. Jesmer

Key verse 16:23                                                                                    2-23-15

“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.’”

The ancient Israelites were called to worship their Creator by keeping the Sabbath. God cared about his people and their spiritual lives and so he implemented some laws about the Sabbath. Look at Exodus 16:23-30, “23 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.’” 24 So they saved it until morning, as Moses commanded, and it did not stink or get maggots in it. 25 “Eat it today,” Moses said, “because today is a Sabbath to the Lord. You will not find any of it on the ground today. 26 Six days you are to gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will not be any.” 27 Nevertheless, some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather it, but they found none. 28 Then the Lord said to Moses, “How long will you refuse to keep my commands and my instructions? 29 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.” 30 So the people rested on the seventh day.” (NIV)

God wants his people seek and find rest in him on the Sabbath. Part of seeking God and finding rest in him, is to worship Jesus along with other believers, on the Sabbath. When we seek our rest in God and consider the Sabbath Day a holy day, set apart to him, God gives us real rest and restores our souls. Let’s learn more about God’s intention for a Sabbath’s day’s rest in this passage.

The Israelites were commanded to not to work on the Sabbath. They were to not even cook food. Why? God knows that the busy routine of daily living would distract people from worship. It is so easy to let work, family responsibilities and recreation, crowd their schedules so tightly, that they couldn’t focus and take time to worship the Lord. Their busy schedules would make their hearts like hard packed paths, that the seed, which is the word of God, cannot be planted and take root in. And so making the Sabbath holy, practically meant to carefully guard their time with God as they made seeking and finding rest in rest in him, and fellowship with each other a top priority in their lives. We are talking about the ancient Israelites, but the same can be extrapolated to contemporary believers also.

But does this mean that we must come to church every Sunday with no exception? There are a growing number of Christians who would say, “No”. There is a passage in Hebrews 10:24-25 that urges believers to never give up meeting together. It reads, “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” Charles Spurgeon once said, “We may wickedly stay away from the appointed meeting place, but He never does…” But I don’t think this means never missing a Sunday Worship service. There are other meetings that one can attend to spur one another on in the faith. These could range from two people who study the Bible and pray, to a men’s meeting or woman’s meeting, to a group Bible study. It can also mean Sunday Worship by not exclusively.

There are some people who take Sunday worship service attendance too legalistically. I have an article written by a Seventh Day Adventist pastor about why it is important to never miss a Sabbath Day worship service. It is 16 pages long. It is very tedious and hard to finish reading. SDA followers do take attending church every Saturday to new heights. Adherents will cook food on Friday so they don’t have to on Saturday, just like the ancient Israelites were instructed to do in Exodus. Up until the 1950’s they thought that those who worship God on Sunday have the number of the beast.

There are some evangelical Christians who would say that a person should never, ever miss a Sunday worship service. And if they do, it should only be because of extreme sickness or a major car accident, death or birth. If their car breaks down, they will leave their car at the side of the road and take a taxi to church. They will say “no” to every other social or family gathering. They will quit their job if it interferes with Sunday church attendance. They will go to church sick. They will ignore a person in the midst of their suffering in order to make it to Sunday worship service. They will drive 4 or more hours every week to be faithful to Sunday worship at a certain church. If they miss a Sunday worship service they will feel guilty, thinking they have ignored Jesus and their calling and that they have become a bad influence to the rest of the congregation. Pastors will loose hope in them to grow as leaders in the church. They loose the joy of being a Christian. They could easily become like those who left the man beaten on the side of the road to engage in their religious practices. (The parable of the Good Samaritan. Luke 10:25-37) But should we fall into this way of thinking? Is entering into Jesus’ Sabbath rest the same as never missing a Sunday worship service? No.

In the New Testament era, the emphasis is not regular attendance at a church gathering on Sunday. The emphasis is now entering into the Sabbath rest for our souls, that is found only in Christ. The author of the Book of Hebrews tells us about this in Hebrews 4:7-11, which reads, “7 God again set a certain day, calling it “Today.” This he did when a long time later he spoke through David, as in the passage already quoted: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.” 8. For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. 9 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 10 for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. 11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.” (NIV)

Jesus makes a similar invitation to people who believe in him. In Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus makes the plea, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (NIV)

There were people among the Israelites who had no desire to enter into God’s rest. Look at verse 27. “Nevertheless, some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather it, but they found none.” Such people have little heart for seeking and finding God’s rest. They can neither rest with Jesus nor work for God. Even though God does his best for people to find spiritual rest, there will always be people who will not take hold of it. Notice verse 27b, “…but they found none.”  Their efforts were fruitless. They thought that they could get more manna. Maybe they thought they could sell some of the extra. Maybe they were fearful about the future and didn’t trust in God’s provision and were compelled to hoard manna. Despite their reasons, they were unfruitful in their attempts. Some people do miss Sunday worship in an attempt to make a little more “manna”, or money. They think that their missing 3 hours, going to church on Sunday, will somehow make a big difference in their bank accounts. But their efforts are more than fruitless.

In my nearly 30 years of following Jesus and almost never missing a Sunday Worship Service, (by God’s grace) I can see the benefits of regular and faithful Sunday worship. When we are faithful, then we form deep relationship with others in the congregation. We become part of the group, like a family member. People notice when we miss, not in a condemning way, but because they truly miss us. We mature in our faith, by hearing the word of God regularly. We worship in song. We exercise our singing voices which is part of the equipment that God created us with. We spur each other on in our walk with the Lord. We pray for each other. We share about what is going on in the work of God. We talk and relate. We become leaders in the church, because this world is run by those who show up. It is all good at church. People really benefit in every way, and God is pleased, when people keep the Sabbath Day holy.

But it can never be a legalistic thing. It could so easy become this. But it must not. One of my friends summed it up quite nicely in and gracefully in this statement…. “Maintaining a balance in my relationship with parents and church obligations has been challenging to me.  I personally have found some freedom in Christ in this area – I don’t hold myself ultra strict in my Sunday attendance so that I never miss a single Sunday.  I try my very best to go to nearly all of them – but I’ve found that I also must honor my parents as well – and this means sometimes missing a Sunday.  I don’t think the Lord holds this against me, but rather sees my heart as I honor my parents.  I also don’t see this freedom as inhibiting my spiritual growth, but rather allowing me to exercise my freedom has allowed me to enjoy God all the more.  Of course, I do respect others’ convictions in this area – and I’m always trying to see others view points on this as well.”

I want to close this discussion with a quote from Charles Spurgeon. “If I had never joined a church till I had found one that was perfect, I should never have joined one at all; and the moment I did join it, if I had found one, I should have spoiled it, for it would not have been a perfect church after I had become a member of it. Still, imperfect as it is, it is the dearest place on earth to us… The Church is the nursery for God’s weak children where they are nourished and grow strong. It is the fold for Christ’s sheep—the home for Christ’s family.” – Charles Spurgeon.