Advocates of Sabbatarian Sabbath-keeping usually argue that “the Sabbath is not a burden”. On the surface, this argument seems valid. However there are some nuances to Sabbath Keeping as according to the Israelites. Especially some of the punishments and restrictions that were imposed on the Israelites. I have taken a snippet of a commentary that discusses these issues. Come to you’re own conclusion about the dilemma!
Numbers 15 includes an example of one who broke the Sabbath law:
And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man who gathered sticks upon the sabbath day. (Numbers 15:32)
Now I may be wrong, but I have a notion that any one of you readers does more work on the Sabbath or seventh day than this man did. He only picked up a few sticks. Do you want to go under Sabbath day restrictions? Let’s read further and learn what happened:
And they who found him gathering sticks brought him unto Moses and Aaron, and unto all the congregation. And they put him in prison, because it was not declared what should be done to him. (Numbers 15:33, 34)
We have come now to God’s verdict, and it is harsh:
And the LORD said unto Moses, The man shall be surely put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp. And all the congregation brought him outside the camp, and stoned him with stones, and he died; as the LORD commanded Moses. (Numbers 15:35, 36)
Do you want to be under the law of the Sabbath day? I’m afraid that a great many people who talk of keeping the Sabbath day are breaking it. God meant business about this Sabbath day. Before we conclude this study we shall see the reason God protected the day as He did. We will see that it was symbolic of something tremendous that He has done for you and me. He did not want it violated in any fashion whatsoever. Neither can those who talk of keeping the Sabbath violate what it symbolizes, as we shall see.
Let us notice some of the things that they could not do on the Sabbath day, which the Scripture enjoins. For example:
Ye shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations upon the sabbath day.(Exodus 35:3)
The Jews were forbidden to kindle a fire. Now if you were one who kept the Sabbath but you drove your car down to your church on that day, the minute you inserted the key in the ignition and started the motor of your car, you kindled a fire in every one of the cylinders, although you did not see it. In doing this you broke the Sabbath. I called the attention of a friend to this, since he believes he ought to keep the Sabbath. But I notice that he continues to start his car every Saturday, and I see no indication that he is going to start walking.
And that’s not all of it. I turn again to Exodus and read God’s provision for the Sabbath rest during the time He provided manna for His people in the wilderness. Notice this language:
And he said unto them, This is that which the LORD hath said, Tomorrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the LORD: bake that[manna] which ye will bake today, and boil that ye will boil; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning. And they laid it up [the leftover manna] till the morning, as Moses bade; and it did not become odious neither was there any worm in it. And Moses said, Eat that today; for today is a sabbath unto the LORD: today ye shall not find it in the field.(Exodus 16:23-25)
No cooking was permitted on the Sabbath day at all. And it would not be permissible to go to a restaurant where someone else had done the cooking, either.
Exodus 16:29 ties into the above verses:
See, the LORD hath given you the sabbath; therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days. Abide every man in his place, let no man go out on the seventh day.
The expression “a Sabbath day’s journey,” which is about 750 yards, comes from this verse of Scripture. Therefore the Jews could go no farther than 750 yards on the Sabbath.
When Antiochus Epiphanes made his attack upon the nation Israel, he was able to overcome some of the Maccabees, and the reason was that he attacked on the Sabbath day. He knew the Jews would not strike back because they would not even engage in defensive warfare on the Sabbath.
When you turn to the Mishnah (or text) that was combined with the commentary in the Talmud (containing the civil and canonical laws of the nation Israel), you will find that they had reduced the Sabbath day observance of Israel to minutiae, the most trifling regulations. They had 39 ways of breaching the Sabbath, and they divided each one of those 39 ways into another 39 ways, and 39 multiplied by 39 equals 1521 ways in which one could break the Sabbath in Old Testament times!
Let me give you some examples: If you tied a knot you broke the Sabbath. A scribe could not carry a pen, because that would be carrying a burden on the Sabbath. A person was not even permitted to kill a flea — it was rather amusing to me that a man could not kill a flea even though it was biting him! In other words, the flea had a free day on the Sabbath. A person could not wear a coat or garment over his other clothing. The thought was that the individual might become too warm, take off his coat and put it over his arm, and that would be carrying a burden on the Sabbath. A woman was not permitted to look in a mirror on the Sabbath day for she might see a gray hair and want to pull it out, and that would be reaping on the Sabbath. Oh, my friend, they had reduced it to where it had become all but ridiculous. Beloved, would you want to revert to the Sabbath?
Home 