Rules For Farming, Work, Rest, Worship, And Cooking (Exodus 23:10-19) Series

Today, we work our way through Exodus 23:10-19. This is another one of those passages where we will find ourselves being pulled in lots of different directions. God sort of hops around, from one topic to another. And we will have to do our best to hop with him, and keep up. Part of me wonders if that isn't part of the point. The vision God has for his kingdom people covers all of life. Any sermon that covers farming, work, rest, worship, and cooking, has pretty much covered life. Right? God's vision covers everything we do.

So. Even though our passage starts in verse 10, let's start in verse 12. And then we'll backtrack (I couldn't make it come out right following the verse order). Verse 12:

(12) Six days you (masculine singular) shall do your work,

while on the seventh day you shall cease ("shall sabbat"),

in order that your ox and your donkey may rest,

and [in order that] the son of your female servant and the resident alien may be refreshed (Exodus 31:17; 2

Samuel 16:14),

The easiest way into these verses, is by reminding ourselves about the manna God has been giving Israel in the wilderness. God set it up so that six days a week, God's people would work. They would go out and gather the manna, and on the seventh day-- Saturday-- they would rest. This created a rhythm to the week. It also created a cycle of time, where days don't seamlessly blend, one into the other. Life is not an unending, undifferentiated blur. There is a rhythm and flow, to all of it.

Now, this seven day rhythm wasn't something that came naturally to the Israelites. It was something they had to learn. They had what you could call a slave mentality, or maybe a consumer mentality. The focus was on getting as much as you can, whenever you can, because life is hard. You alone are responsible for providing for yourself, and that's a tough job. So life is all about work. You worked seven days, to provide for yourself, seven days. That's how it was in Egypt. And that's the attitude they brought with them into the wilderness (along with Egyptian loot).

God broke them of this slave mentality by how He gave them manna. For five days each week, God gave his people enough for that day. You'd go out and gather, and there'd be plenty. You'd have "no lack." If you tried to get enough for the next day, out of a lack of faith in God's provision, or out of greed perhaps, God made sure that it would get maggots. So the next day, when you woke up, you'd have day-old, maggot-filled manna. And you'd look around outside, and see beautiful fresh manna. When you look at the maggot-filled manna, and the fresh manna, which do you choose? (LIFO for the win!).

So you learn pretty quickly that there's no sense worrying about tomorrow-- that God will supply you with the bread you need for today, today (Matthew 6:11). And having your daily bread is enough, when Yahweh is your God (1 Corinthians 8:13-15).

But on the sixth day of the week, Friday, God changed the routine. God wanted people to have a day of rest-- Saturday. And so He changed how the manna worked, or, who knows, maybe He slightly changed the recipe to make it shelf-stable. On Friday, the people would gather enough for two days, so that they could enjoy their day of rest, on a full stomach. And that's a total kindness on God's part, right? It's hard to enjoy a day of rest, if you're hungry.

So at this point, God has rewired his people, transformed their minds and behaviors (Romans 12:1-2). This cycle of life has become part of who they are. It's part of what defines Israel, as Israel. And what we see in Exodus 23:12, is that this cycle is something that God wants to continue in the promised land. You work six days, and you take one day off.

Now, what's interesting here, is why Exodus 23 says you take this one day off.

The "you" throughout these two verses is masculine singular. The focus here is on the male head of the house, who has authority over the servants in his house, and over his animals (a sentence that makes no one quite happy, maybe).

God commands the man here to rest on the Sabbath, not for his own sake, but for the sake of his servants and his animals. His animals need a day of rest. And his servants need a time of refreshment. The Sabbath rest isn't just about you, as an individual. It's also about everyone around you, especially the most vulnerable-- the people who can't say "no." The people who can be forced to work. A Sabbath where the men get to watch (Saturday) college football, while the wives or servants make a perfect dinner after synagogue gets out, isn't a true Sabbath for everyone.