Exodus 34:31 “Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during the plowing season and harvest you must rest.
People often ask what faith looks like in practical terms. We exercise faith every day. We trust that the designers and builders knew what they were doing when they made the buildings in which we live and work. We trust the people driving toward us in traffic, that they will stay in their lane and not cross the center line.
Faith isn’t something that only exists in the spiritual realm. It is woven into every part of our lives. If we take medicine, we trust the doctor and pharmaceutical companies, at least to some degree. Faith can be equated with the English word trust. But some people have a difficult trusting, don’t they.
One of the central teachings that the LORD imposed on the Israelites as they were exiting Egypt was the keeping of the Sabbath. Every seventh day was to be a day of rest, modeled after the days of creation in Genesis chapter one. Six days of work, one day of rest. And there were no exceptions!
So why force the Israelites to take a day away from work every week? What was the lesson the LORD was trying to teach Israel? Did they every learn it? Will we learn it?
The biggest difficulty Israel had was trusting the LORD. They wanted to do it their own way, follow their own path, their own wisdom, their own inclinations. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it!
So the LORD gave the Israelites the opportunity to show their trust in Him every seven days. Instead of striving to make ends meet, they were required to take time off from work. And the LORD promised to provide for them if they would trust Him. This would take an act of faith every week.
The Sabbath was woven into the fabric of their lives. Every seven days, every seven years, every seven sevens years. They would have to trust. And three times a year they were required to gather as a people and worship, leaving their land vulnerable to invaders. They had to trust that what the LORD had promised He would fulfill.
Our text tells them that even during the most important times for a farmer, the planting season and the harvest season, they were to take every seventh day off. Now for farmers, this was extremely difficult. If the seed doesn’t get in the ground in a timely manner, with the rains coming at the proper time, no crop. If the crop is ready, and a storm comes at the wrong moment, no crop.
So taking time off during these most important moments in the calendar to honor their trust in Him was a very big thing. So the LORD closes a loophole. Even during these critical times, they are to trust Him. Even when starvation is on the line, trust Him.
Now most of us don’t keep a Sabbath day. We might take a day or two off of work each week, but they don’t have the same “life in the balance” quality that they did for the Israelites. Most of us have some cushion in our finances. We have crackers in our kitchen. We won’t starve.
But for the Israelites, this was a big ask. They had to trust every week, week in and week out. They had to gather for the required festivals every year. They had to bring the sacrifices required from their own wealth, their flocks.
And each time they did, they were trusting Him to provide. This was faith in action. How can we weave faith into our lives on a continual basis? What practice could we adopt that would give us the blessing of trusting that they could have received?
The Arnold Journey 