27 And it came to pass, that there went out some of the people on the seventh day for to gather, and they found none.

28 And the Lord said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws?

29 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.

30 So the people rested on the seventh day.

When God commanded the Israelites to only gather one omer per person each day, some of the Israelites had disobeyed and gathered extra. Then He had given them a specific exception: they could gather two omers on the morning before the sabbath, and some Israelites disobeyed yet again, trying to gather one portion on both days.

Some people sinned by relying on God too little and overexerting themselves against His will, and some sinned by relying on God too much and trying to do the minimal effort each day. Both approaches were wrong.

We are meant to have a nuanced relationship with God, relying on Him where He is meant to be relied on, and not where He is not. We are supposed to seek His will and do it, but also follow our own judgment where He has not expressed His will. Sometimes one of His laws supersedes or places a boundary on another of His laws, and we are meant to recognize when we cross that threshold and adjust our behavior accordingly.

The life of the disciple is meant to be active and observant. We are expected to actually pay attention and adapt to God’s movements, not just sit in the same place, applying the same rules to situations that are not applicable. We must also be careful not to carve out our own exceptions, pretending all the while that it is really God’s exception. We may fool others with such a claim, and maybe even our own selves, but there is one who will not be fooled, and He will require an answer of us sooner or later.