Exodus 16:22 And it came to pass, that on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for one man: and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses. 23 And he said unto them, This is that which the Lord hath said, To morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the Lord: bake that which ye will bake to day, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning.
This passage of scripture teaches us that Friday is the day when all of the necessary preparations for the Sabbath that can be done, should be completed before sundown, so that we could welcome the sacred fellowship with God, both in the spirit and letter of the commandment. The fourth law of the Decalogue states that all of our work should be done on the six working days allotted for this purpose, and therefore we should not put off until the Sabbath, work and preparations which can be done beforehand. There is need of great reform and improvements in this area, and so we will examine the issue from a biblical perspective.
The Church is likened unto a woman who has been married to Christ, and therefore the sacred fellowship which takes place within this relationship, should be understood in this context. God has ordained the Sabbath as a sacred appointment to meet with all of mankind, and the time thus devoted must be used for that purpose. When we make an arrangement to spend quality time with our spouses on a special date, we do not wait until the appointment has begun to get our clothes in order, nor do we intersperse our date with ironing and fussing about being ready, for all of these necessary things should be done before the appointment with our loved one has commenced.
The same is true of the spirit of the preparation day, in that our main purpose in thorough preparation is to spend the entire Sabbath with our Creator, and therefore, whatsoever distracts from this occasion, which could have been avoided by proper planning, thus interferes with the sacred hours of fellowship which God has ordained. A fitting example of what the Bible is speaking about can be found in the experience of the women who had prepared spices for the anointing of the body of Christ, after He had expired on the cross. This was a very important work to be done, before potential decay could begin, yet because it was late on Friday evening when the Sabbath hours were drawing on, they decided to put it off until after the sabbath, lest a violation of the sacred hours take place. Let's read:
Luke 23:54 And that day was the preparation, and the sabbath drew on. 55 And the women also, which came with him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the sepulchre, and how his body was laid. 56 And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath day according to the commandment.
In our day and in our own experiences, there is need of great reform in this aspect of proper Sabbath keeping, for too many chores are left to clutter the sacred hours, and it true that in many cases, the rush to get ready for church on Sabbath morning is characterized by yelling and shouting, and ironing and bleaching, and cooking and baking, and many other secular duties which should have been completed before the Sabbath hours arrived. When this is the case, the spirit of the law is thus violated, and the blessings of rest as promised in the law are forfeited. God is now calling on all saints to make the necessary changes by His grace, so that we can worship the Lord in spirit and in truth, for this is the only type of worship that is mandated and accepted in the scriptures. We therefore end with a passage of scripture which encourages to embark upon reform in this area, for it is an issue that must be addressed in many Sabbath-keeping households. Let's read:
Exodus 16:28 And the Lord said" ...... How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws? 29 See, for that the Lord hath given you the sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days" ..... 30 So the people rested on the seventh day.
May God add His blessing to the study and doing of His every word. God bless!