Sabbath Before Sinai

In the way God gave the manna, we have undeniable evidence that the Sabbath did not originate when the law was given at Sinai. Before the Israelites came to Sinai they understood that God expected them to keep the Sabbath. When every Friday they had to gather a double portion of manna in preparation for the Sabbath, the sacred nature of the day of rest was continually impressed upon them. And when some of the people went out on the Sabbath to gather manna, the Lord asked, “How long do you refuse to keep My commandments and My laws?”BOE 142.7

“The children of Israel ate manna forty years ... until they came to the border of the land of Canaan.” For forty years they were reminded daily of God’s unfailing care and tender love. God gave them “of the bread of heaven. Men ate angels’ food” (Psalm 78:24, 25)—that is, food provided for them by the angels. They were taught each day that they were as secure from being deprived as if they were surrounded by fields of waving grain on the fertile plains of Canaan.BOE 143.1

The manna was a symbol of Him who came from God to give life to the world. Jesus said, “I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which comes down from heaven. ... If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world” (John 6:48-51).BOE 143.2

After leaving the Wilderness of Sin, the Israelites set up camp in Rephidim. Here there was no water, and again they distrusted the providence of God. The people came to Moses with the demand, “Give us water, that we may drink.” They shouted in anger, “Why is it you have brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” When they had been so abundantly supplied with food, they remembered with shame their unbelief and promised to trust the Lord in the future, but they failed at the first test of their faith. The pillar of cloud that was leading them seemed to conceal a frightening mystery. And Moses—who was he? What could be his purpose in bringing them from Egypt? Suspicion and distrust filled their hearts, and in the storm of rage they were about to stone him.BOE 143.3