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COOKING
ON SABBATHS
In
the Holy Days chapter, Leviticus 23, all the Holy Days are listed including
the
weekly
Sabbath.
Let’s
look at what this chapter says about working on these days:
| Sabbath |
do
no work |
Leviticus
23:3 |
| Feast
of Unleavened Bread first day |
do
no customary work |
Leviticus
23:7 |
| Feast
of Unleavened Br seventh day |
do
no customary work |
Leviticus
23:8 |
| Feast
of Weeks |
do
no customary work |
Leviticus
23:21 |
| Feast
of Trumpets |
do
no customary work |
Leviticus
23:25 |
| Day
of Atonement |
do
no work |
Leviticus
23:28 |
| Feast
of Tabernacles first day |
do
no customary work |
Leviticus
23:35 |
| Feast
of Tabernacles eighth day |
do
no customary work |
Leviticus
23:36 |
So
we see that there are two days on which no work may be done and six others
on
which
no customary work may be done.
Just
what is the difference?
Is
there a kind of work that may be done on those six days but not on the
other two?
We
can find a part of the answer in Exodus chapter twelve where Yahweh is
giving
directions
about keeping two of these same days. He says the same thing as he
later
said
in Leviticus 23:7&8 but in slightly different words which make it a
little clearer,
“No
manner of work shall be done on them;
but that which everyone must
eat; that only
may
be prepared by you.”
Exodus 12:16
So
that is what is meant by the phrase ‘do no customary work.’ It means that
all the
normal
work must be suspended for those days except the work of preparing the
Feast
meal.
The one annual Holy Day when Yahweh says, “Do no work,” is the day of
atonement
when there is no meal to be eaten because it is a day of total fasting.
For
the weekly Sabbath this is just a clarification of the original commandment
in
Exodus
20:8-11 to do no work on the Sabbath day.
Yahweh
made this crystal clear when he was giving manna to the Israelites in the
desert.
Exodus
16:5 "And it shall be on the sixth day that they shall prepare what
they
bring
in, and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily."
Exodus
16:21 So they gathered it every morning, every man according to his
need.
And
when the sun became hot, it melted. 22 And so it was, on the
sixth day, that they
gathered
twice as much bread, two omers for each one. And all the rulers of the
congregation
came and told Moses. 23 Then he said to them, "This is what
Yahweh
has
said: 'Tomorrow is a Sabbath rest, a holy Sabbath to Yahweh. Bake what
you will
bake
today, and boil what you will boil; and lay up for yourselves all that
remains, to be
kept
until morning.'"
24
So they laid it up till morning, as Moses commanded; and it did not stink,
nor
were
there any worms in it. 25 Then Moses said, "Eat that today,
for today is a
Sabbath
to Yahweh; today you will not find it in the field. 26 Six
days you shall gather
it,
but on the seventh day, which is the Sabbath, there will be none."
27
Now it happened that some of the people went out on the seventh day to
gather,
but
they found none. 28 And Yahweh said to Moses, "How long do
you refuse to keep
My
commandments and My laws? 29 "See! For Yahweh has given you
the Sabbath; therefore
He gives you on the sixth day bread for two days. Let every man remain
in his place;
let no man go out of his place on the seventh day."
30
So the people rested on the seventh day.
It
took our fathers a while to finally get the message. No work on the
weekly Sabbath!
That
includes no work to prepare food. Verse 23 gives the instructions
for the
day
of preparation. If we want to
eat
cooked food on Sabbath then
we
must do any cooking or baking of that food on the sixth day.
Further
collaboration is found in Exodus 35:
Exodus
35:2 "Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh day shall
be a holy
day
for you, a Sabbath of rest to Yahweh. Whoever does any work on it shall
be put to
death.
3 You shall kindle no fire throughout your dwellings on the Sabbath
day."
Some
have said that this command pertained only to building the tabernacle
because
that subject is discussed immediately afterwards in Exodus 35.
While
the prohibition against building a fire on Sabbath would certainly have
applied
to the construction work too, it seems that the commandment is general.
The
construction tasks which would have required fire are mentioned only as
part
of the long list of tasks and no allusion to the use of fire on Sabbath
is made
while discussing the construction work.
The
command being in the same chapter is no indication because the chapter
and
verse divisions were a MUCH later addition. (Long after the time
of the Messiah.)
One
of the Israelites got into trouble after he knew that there was to be no
cooking
on
Sabbath. He was doing some work in preparation to building a fire:
Numbers
15:32 Now while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they
found
a
man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day. 33 And those who found
him gathering
sticks
brought him to Moses and Aaron, and to all the congregation. 34
They put him
under
guard, because it had not been explained what should be done to him.
35 Then
Yahweh
said to Moses, "The man must surely be put to death; all the congregation
shall
stone him with stones outside the camp."
The
death penalty is still in effect for disobeying the commands of Yahweh.
We are
still
required to observe these commandments, statutes and judgments.
Of course, if
we
do disobey, we can come before Yahweh in repentance and ask that
Yahshua’s
sacrifice
be applied to cover that sin. In that case Yahweh will not execute
us for the
sin.
But is that what we want to do? Do we want to apply Yahshua’s sufferings
just so
we
can have a fresh-cooked meal on Sabbath? Certainly not! Also;
If we truly repent
then
how could we cook again on the next Sabbath?
This
is a small commandment which is easy to obey and we have no need to violate
it.
It
is really a matter of whether we decide in our heart to obey Yahweh or
not.
The
man gathering sticks was executed because he defied Yahweh.
Will
we be so bold? I pray not.
Br
Tom
Back to Food
Preparation in 'Keeping Sabbath'
Scriptural
Helps Home Beginning
of Keeping Sabbath
7-17-99
7-2001
3-2006