03-The Giving of the Law at Sinai

As we have seen, sabbath-observance among men began among the Jews in the Wilderness of Sin before Sinai. Sabbath-observance by man is unknown in Genesis. Indeed, the sabbath is not even mentioned in Genesis. The command to 'remember' at Sinai, therefore, if it is a backward look – if, I stress – does not refer to creation, but to the establishment of the day for the Jews at the giving of the manna in Exodus 16, a few weeks earlier. In fact, the word 'remember' may not be referring back at all. I go further. The call to remember addresses the future