Years ago, when I was in the corporate world, I had a boss, Bob, who I would rank as my best corporate boss ever. What made him best? First of all, he was very good at what he did. He was known nationally throughout the industry. More importantly, Bob was a man of character.
I remember once when we had a production mistake that required someone on the construction site early Monday morning. Bob had me fly Sunday with no specific instructions. I quickly assessed the situation and had the wrongly-built parts on a truck headed back to the factory (which, fortunately, was 10 miles away). The parts were revised and returned to the construction site by the next morning. The customer was a little surprised when I prescribed the fix without discussing with them who was going to pay.
As I said, Bob was a man of character. I learned from him that we always fix the problem at hand and perform an autopsy later. So that’s what I did. After the prescribed fix was in process, I found myself in the customer’s corporate offices, entering a conference room where I was outnumbered by far. In typical corporate adversarial thinking, the meeting participants were poised, ready to assess blame. Instead, we did a non-adversarial autopsy (I had learned from Bob) and discovered that we built exactly what they specified – what they specified was not what they really wanted. I have many similar stories seeing the benefits of Bob’s non-adversarial approach to doing business.
As a man of character, Bob was also a benevolent boss. A corporate C-suite decision was made that relocated my job from Minnesota to Memphis. With four kids in school, the prospect was challenging, to say the least. His benevolence came through in ways we could not have imagined. He even arranged for my sophomore daughter and me to travel to Memphis to help her get a feel for the area. I was able to get her connected with a Young Life leader and some high school girls. As I write this, I am flooded with great memories of Bob modeling character and benevolence. It brings tears to my eyes.
I don’t know if we fully understand what a benevolent king God is. I was recently reading Psalm 113. It is part of a grouping of Psalms frequently labelled the Passover Hallel (Hallelujah) or the Egyptian Hallel. The Hallel Psalms contain praise to the benevolent Divine King, Yahweh, for rescuing their Israelite ancestors from Egyptian slavery. How benevolent was their view of God?
Who is like the Lord our God,
the One who sits enthroned on high,
who stoops down to look
on the heavens and the earth?
He raises the poor from the dust
and lifts the needy from the ash heap;
he seats them with princes… (Psalm 113:5-8)
Only a benevolent king would go find the poor and needy in the dust and ashes and bring them into the palace to seat them with the princes. As I think about this, I wonder how we might respond if we actually witnessed such benevolence. Especially if we were a prince (or princess) with inherited or earned station. The older prodigal brother comes to mind.
In the last post, Wilderness, we wondered if part of the wilderness experience was to provide the Hebrews with the opportunity to get to know Yahweh, the Divine King who rescued them from Pharaoh (who thought he was a divine king). Think about this: For hundreds of years, all they knew was a malevolent, harsh king. Did they even know what benevolence looked like? They would soon find out.
Their first introduction to God’s benevolence was his very presence. Pharaoh was a distant king, making decisions from a distance that affected the people. When the C-suite executives made the decision that we should uproot our family, they were not present during the resulting difficulties we experienced. Bob was. God welcomed his people out of captivity through the theophanies of pillars of fire or cloud. He was present. He “walked with them.” It reminds me of life in the Garden before the Fall, when things were “on earth as in heaven” with God present and walking with his created humans.
Secondly, Yahweh ensured they had a supply of water (in the wilderness!) and sufficient food. If you recall, he provided manna each morning and quail each evening. In the morning, there was a layer of dew around the camp. When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor. The people of Israel called the bread manna. Manna sounds like the Hebrew for What is it? (Exodus 16:15). It was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey.
The people were instructed to gather exactly what they needed for the day (think, “Give us this day our daily bread”). Gathering more than needed led to spoilage and maggots. Everyone had enough…
Moses: “Everyone is to gather as much as they need. Take an omer (~ 3# or 1.4 kg) for each person you have in your tent.” The Israelites did as they were told; some gathered much, some little… the one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little. Everyone had gathered just as much as they needed. (Exodus 16:16-18)
Not only did the benevolent Divine King provide sustenance, but he also provided rest. Consider that for hundreds of years, the enslaved Israelites were likely worked by the slave-masters seven days a week. I cannot imagine the malevolent king of Egypt tolerating a weekly 15% labor loss. It wouldn’t be good for economics and project management. So…seven days a week.
At the same time God provided his rescued people with sustenance, he provided rest. He told them he would provide the bread (manna) six days a week. On the sixth day, they could gather enough manna for two days so they could rest on the seventh day – a day of sabbath. What a gift! A day each week to rest and do nothing! Moses reminded the people that it was a gift…
Bear in mind that the Lord has given you the Sabbath; that is why on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. (Exodus 16:29)
Sabbath is a biblical principle rooted in rest, worship, and trust in God. It originates from Genesis 2:2-3, where God rested on the seventh day after creating the world, setting a pattern for humanity to follow. I find no biblical evidence of “sabbath-keeping” prior to this gifting to the rescued people. Keep in mind that the gift of sabbath was given before it was formalized as one of the Ten Commandments. This might be something of significance for us 21st-century Christ-followers to pay attention to.
I wonder, do we tend to view the sabbath as a command only and miss the gift?
Practical Theology Today 