The Sabbath Way: Finding the Rest Your Soul Craves by Travis Westಮಾದರಿ

When Life Is Challenging, Sabbath Reminds Us That All of Life Is a Gift

In Exodus 16, the people of Israel begin to reckon with the realities of the wilderness. The previous two chapters narrated how God miraculously liberated the enslaved Israelites through Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, enabling them to pass through the Red Sea and onto dry ground (see chapter 14) and prompting songs of praise after their freedom was secured (see chapter 15).

But now things are starting to get real. They are in the wilderness. The wilderness is a fierce landscape. It does not readily provide the necessary means of survival, such as water, food, and shelter. It is void of convenience. The deprivation of the wilderness peels away the illusion that we are autonomous, independent, self-made individuals who have neither limits nor needs. The wilderness strips away our pretense, prompts us to embrace our dependence on God, and opens our hearts to transformation.

God led the Israelites into the wilderness precisely so that they could experience its transformational power. God knew it was the only way to transform their former identity—an identity forged in the “iron furnace” of Egyptian oppression (Deuteronomy 4:20)—into a new identity as the free and beloved people of God. It is one thing to take the people out of Egypt, but another thing entirely to take Egypt out of the people. Identity transformation is slow work, and it requires certain conditions.

The wilderness is the landscape of Israel’s transformation. But the vehicle of their transformation is the Sabbath. The story in Exodus 16 is about manna, but the point is to introduce Sabbath. Sabbath will be their companion throughout the wilderness, apprenticing them to the ways of God and cultivating a spirit of freedom and trust to replace their spirit of captivity and fear. It is important to note that God gives the Sabbath as an act of grace before instituting the law. Liberation from Egypt and transformation through Sabbath rest were gifts of grace offered before the law was established. This undermines the false stereotype that the Old Testament is all law and the New Testament is all grace. Grace has always preceded and undergirded law.

The principles of Sabbath—an orientation toward trust, an embrace of “enough,” a balance of work and rest, and a gratitude that acknowledges the gift of life—provide the guidelines by which Israel is to receive manna. They work for six days by gathering manna each morning. They gather only enough for the day as an act of faith that God will provide more tomorrow. Then, on the Sabbath, the situation reverses, and they rest instead of gathering, trusting that what they gathered on the sixth day will be sufficient for the Sabbath as well. Every day, then, Israel is formed by a reality that orients them toward trust. And every day they are shaped by a situation that ushers them toward gratitude.

Theologian Norman Wirzba says the manna story teaches us to see that “food is not a ‘product’ but a gift that we must nurture.” A mealtime prayer I once heard described food as “God’s love made edible.” We are so far removed from the scarcity of wilderness today that reminders like this are vital to our spiritual health. With water from a tap and shelves upon shelves of food, we must nurture the perspective that food, like life itself, is a gift. Sabbath rest is a great place to start.