There is one point more in our chapter which we shall notice, namely, the institution of the Sabbath, in its connection with the manna and Israel's position as here set forth. From the second chapter of Genesis down to the chapter now before us, we find no mention made of this institution. This is remarkable. Abel's sacrifice, Enoch's walk with God, Noah's preaching, Abraham's call, together with the detailed history of Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, are all presented; but there is no allusion to the Sabbath until we find Israel recognized as a people in relationship and consequent responsibility to Jehovah. The Sabbath was interrupted in Eden; and here we find it again instituted for Israel in the wilderness. But, alas! man has no heart for God's rest. And it came to pass that "there went out some of the people on the seventh day for to gather, and they found none. And the Lord said unto Moses, 'How long refuse ye to keep My commandments and My laws? See, for that the Lord hath given you the Sabbath, therefore He giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days: abide ye every man in his place; let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.'" (Ver. 27-29.) God would have His people enjoying sweet repose with Himself. He would give them rest, food, and refreshment, even in the wilderness. But man's heart is not disposed to rest with God. The people could remember and speak of the time when they "_sat_ by the flesh pots" in Egypt, but they could not appreciate the blessedness of sitting in their tents, enjoying with God "the rest of the holy Sabbath," feeding upon the heavenly manna. And, be it remarked, that the Sabbath is here presented as a matter of gift.--"The Lord hath _given_ you the Sabbath." Further on in this book we shall find it put in the form of a law, with a curse and a judgment attached to it in the case of disobedience. But whether fallen man gets a privilege or a law, a blessing or a curse, it is all alike. His _nature_ is bad. He can neither rest with nor work for God. If God works and makes a rest for him, he will not keep it; and if God tells him to work, he will not do it. Such is man. He has no heart for God. He can make use of the name of the Sabbath as a something to exalt himself, or as the badge of his own religiousness; but when we turn to Exodus xvi, we find that he cannot prize _God's_ Sabbath as a _gift_, and when we turn to Numbers xv. 32-36, we find he cannot keep it as a _law_.