Dear Family,
Today is Monday, May 8, 2023. It is Day 30; Day 2 of Week 5 in our Count to Pentecost.
Before God allowed the Israelites to reach Mt. Sinai and be granted a formal covenant with many promises, including those that were intended to make them a great nation, God wanted “to prove” Israel
Exodus 16:4-7 (4) Then said the LORD unto Moses; Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no. (5) And it shall come to pass, that on the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in; and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily. (6) And Moses and Aaron said unto all the children of Israel; At even, then ye shall know that the LORD hath brought you out from the land of Egypt: (7) And in the morning, then ye shall see the glory of the LORD; for that He heareth your murmurings against the LORD: and what are we, that ye murmur against us.
This proving of Israel by God centered around the 7th day of the week, the Sabbath, the day of rest or ceasing. God made it Holy. Of course, the Sabbath had been in effect since the first week of creation. Yet, here in the wilderness, God reaffirmed the cycle and the holiness of the Sabbath. At Mt Sinai, God formally incorporated it into the covenant and described the Sabbath in the 4th Commandment.
This Commandment has much to do with God’s recognizing a people as His own. God calls it “a sign.”
Exodus 31:13, 15-17 (13) Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying; Verily My Sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you. (15) Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD: whosoever doeth any work in the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. (16) Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. (17) It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He rested, and was refreshed.
May our God recognize us as His people by our response to His “proving” each one of us. May He bless us to be faithful.
Ben Faulkner, Pastor
©2023, Church of the Sovereign God