God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it. To sanctify means to set apart. God set this day apart because it marked the completion of His creative work.
This is the first time the idea of something being sanctified appears in Scripture. Before a place is sanctified, before a priest is sanctified, before an offering is sanctified, God sanctifies time. He sets apart the seventh day as special.
This also teaches us that God built rhythm into creation. Man was not designed to run endlessly without worship, reflection, and rest. God made man to live under His order, not in constant striving. Rest is not laziness when it is received according to God’s design. It reminds us that we are dependent creatures, not the Creator.
The seventh day also reminds us that God’s work was complete and good. He rested because He was done.
For the believer, this points us again to rest in Christ. Hebrews 4 speaks of entering into God’s rest. The greatest rest a person can have is not merely physical rest, but spiritual rest - resting from trying to save ourselves and trusting fully in the finished work of Jesus Christ.
Matthew 11:28 says, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
God having provided manna to be his people's food in the wilderness, the remembrance of it was to be preserved. Eaten bread must not be forgotten. God's miracles and mercies are to be had in remembrance. The word of God is the manna by which our souls are nourished, Mt 4:4. The comforts of the Spirit are hidden manna, Re 2:17. These come from heaven, as the manna did, and are the support and comfort of the
Divine life in the soul, while we are in the wilderness of this world. Christ in the word is to be applied to the soul, and the means of grace are to be used. We must every one of us gather for ourselves, and gather in the morning of our days, the morning of our opportunities; which if we let slip, it may be too late to gather. The manna must not be hoarded up, but eaten; those who have received Christ, must by faith live upon him, and not receive his grace in vain. There was manna enough for
all, enough for each, and none had too much; so in Christ there is enough, but not more than we need. But those who ate manna, hungered again, died at last, and with many of them God was not well pleased; whereas they that feed on Christ by faith, shall never hunger, and shall die no more, and with them God will be for ever well pleased. Let us seek earnestly for the grace of the Holy Spirit, to turn all our knowledge of the doctrine of Christ crucified, into the spiritual nourishment of our
souls by faith and love.
God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it. To sanctify means to set apart. God set this day apart because it marked the completion of His creative work.
This is the first time the idea of something being sanctified appears in Scripture. Before a place is sanctified, before a priest is sanctified, before an offering is sanctified, God sanctifies time. He sets apart the seventh day as special.
This also teaches us that God built rhythm into creation. Man was not designed to run endlessly without worship, reflection, and rest. God made man to live under His order, not in constant striving. Rest is not laziness when it is received according to God’s design. It reminds us that we are dependent creatures, not the Creator.
The seventh day also reminds us that God’s work was complete and good. He rested because He was done.
For the believer, this points us again to rest in Christ. Hebrews 4 speaks of entering into God’s rest. The greatest rest a person can have is not merely physical rest, but spiritual rest - resting from trying to save ourselves and trusting fully in the finished work of Jesus Christ.
Matthew 11:28 says, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
God having provided manna to be his people's food in the wilderness, the remembrance of it was to be preserved. Eaten bread must not be forgotten. God's miracles and mercies are to be had in remembrance. The word of God is the manna by which our souls are nourished, Mt 4:4. The comforts of the Spirit are hidden manna, Re 2:17. These come from heaven, as the manna did, and are the support and comfort of the
Divine life in the soul, while we are in the wilderness of this world. Christ in the word is to be applied to the soul, and the means of grace are to be used. We must every one of us gather for ourselves, and gather in the morning of our days, the morning of our opportunities; which if we let slip, it may be too late to gather. The manna must not be hoarded up, but eaten; those who have received Christ, must by faith live upon him, and not receive his grace in vain. There was manna enough for
all, enough for each, and none had too much; so in Christ there is enough, but not more than we need. But those who ate manna, hungered again, died at last, and with many of them God was not well pleased; whereas they that feed on Christ by faith, shall never hunger, and shall die no more, and with them God will be for ever well pleased. Let us seek earnestly for the grace of the Holy Spirit, to turn all our knowledge of the doctrine of Christ crucified, into the spiritual nourishment of our
souls by faith and love.