Read Exodus 16:11-36 at Bible Gateway.
Hebrew paragraph divisions
Exo 16:11-27 {s} YHVH provides manna + Sabbath rest commandment
Exo 16:28-36 {p} The Sabbath rest is YHVH’s commandment + memorial of manna
Strong theme
YHVH teaches Israel the seventh day Sabbath rest commandment with manna
Exo 16:11-36 {s+p} reverse parallelism
Now why have I started posting the strong theme chiastic structures, skipping over the single paragraph chiastic structures? In this section of Exodus, I have not yet been able to find the single paragraph structures, if they can make them.
But what an interesting center of the structure:
.. and all that remains over, lay up for yourselves to be kept until the morning. And they laid it up till the morning, as Moses commanded; and it did not rot, neither was there any worm in it. Exo 16:23:c-24
Why would this be the central axis of the entire strong theme, teaching seventh day Sabbath rest? When I asked my Heavenly Teacher, the Ruach haKodesh, the Holy Spirit, that question, He said it is because when it is the common occurrence for something to breed worms and rot if kept until the next morning, when it doesn’t breed worms and rot, it is a mark of supernatural power. The mark of supernatural power says,”This is the finger of God;” this is God’s Good Housekeeping seal of approval, so to speak, on Moses’ words and the specifics of the commandment that YHVH is teaching. (You see, you don’t have to be smart if you know Who to ask for answers.)
Many people believe that as long as you rest one day out of seven, it doesn’t matter which day it is, as long as it is a day that is convenient for you. If that were true, then whatever day each individual family chose for their rest day, when they laid up their prepared food until the morning, it would not breed worms and it would not rot. Not breeding worms and not rotting is the Holy Spirit’s supernatural power showing that the day of rest has His seal of approval.
However, the text clearly teaches us that on mornings one through six, whatever was laid up until the next day bred worms and rotted. Only on the morning of the seventh day, did it not breed worms and rot. God is teaching us that not only is Sabbath rest His commandment, but seventh day Sabbath rest is His commandment.
Why is He so particular about the seventh day? I have a theory about that …
There is an archive of all I have studied and written so far about Sabbath rest according to the Scripture if you would like to learn more.
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