The Sabbath and Israel 

Memory Verse: "Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them" (Ezekiel 20:12).

Scripture Reading: Exodus 16:22-30.

Introduction: From the time that God ended His work, rested on the seventh day and blessed and sanctified it, until He had called Abraham and had made a people of his offspring, and the captivity of this people in Egypt for several hundred years and their deliverance from their slavery in Egypt, there is no specific record of God's giving the Sabbath to anyone, nor is there a direct record of its observance during those years.
  However, it is reasonable and logical to assume that if God made it for man, that He gave it to the beings for whom it was created. It is logical also to assume that if "Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws" (Genesis 26:5), as God testified of Abraham, that those commandments, statutes, or laws included the Sabbath commandment.
  However, the accuracy of logic is commensurate to that of the premises upon which it is based. And here are two premises not clearly set forth at this point in time: that God did deliver the Sabbath to the beings for whom it was created, and that the laws of God of which Abraham was aware and obeyed, included the Sabbath. Honestly, it would be difficult, due to the vagueness of the premises to assume positive position on them.
  This leaves a question as to how Israel knew for sure which day was the Sabbath, if it had been forgotten for any cause from the time of creation until Moses. It would be logical to assume that if Israel was persuaded only with great difficulty to observe the Sabbath, even after it was spoken to them upon Mt. Sinai, that they would not likely have observed it readily while in slavery in Egypt. It is not likely that the task-masters were lenient enough to allow such a letup in the production of materials.
  Just how, then, did Israel know for sure when the seventh day came? Did God just arbitrarily appoint "one day in seven," or tell Moses to pick out a day, or to call a council and decide which one? How did Israel know which day? This lesson will specifically answer this question.

Lesson Questions:

1. How did Israel know God's purpose for the Sabbath? Nehemiah 9:13,14.

2. What did God do to identify the Sabbath positively? Exodus 16:4,5,19,20,23-29.

3. Would keeping any one day of the week as Sabbath have satisfied the commands of God? Was Jesus different? Matthew 5:17.

4. Are these examples important to Christians? Romans 15:4; Hebrews 4:9-12; 1 Corinthians 10:10,11; Exodus 16:2,7,10-15; 1 Timothy 4:12-15.

5. Describe the restriction given regarding Sabbath keeping. Jeremiah 17:21-27; Exodus 34:21; 35:2,3; Exodus 16:23,29; Nehemiah 10:31; 13:15-18.

6. Did God allow "civil service" on the Sabbath? Nehemiah 13:19-22.

7. What was the penalty for Sabbath desecration? Exodus 31:14-16. Was the penalty ever enforced? Numbers 15:32-36.

8. Was Sabbath-keeping of any special importance to Israel? Exodus 16:4,6; 31:13,17; Ezekiel 20:12; Jeremiah 17:21-27.

9. Since it was a sin to break other commandments before Israel's formation and Mt. Sinai, would it have been very odd for there to have been exemption from Sabbath observance?