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While the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day. Those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses and Aaron, and to all the congregation. They put him in custody, because it had not been declared what should be done to him.
Yahweh said to Moses, “The man shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall stone him with stones outside of the camp.”
Numbers 15:32-35 sits inside this longer paragraph.
While the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day. Those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses and Aaron, and to all the congregation. They put him in custody, because it had not been declared what should be done to him.
Yahweh said to Moses, “The man shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall stone him with stones outside of the camp.” All the congregation brought him outside of the camp, and stoned him to death with stones, as Yahweh commanded Moses.
While the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day.
Those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses and Aaron, and to all the congregation.
They put him in custody, because it had not been declared what should be done to him.
Yahweh said to Moses, “The man shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall stone him with stones outside of the camp.”
And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks upon the sabbath day.
And they that found him gathering sticks brought him unto Moses and Aaron, and unto all the congregation.
And they put him in ward, because it was not declared what should be done to him.
And the LORD said unto Moses, The man shall be surely put to death: all the congregation shall stone him with stones without the camp.
And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks upon the sabbath day.
And they that found him gathering sticks brought him unto Moses and Aaron, and unto all the congregation.
And they put him in ward, because it had not been declared what should be done to him.
And the LORD said unto Moses: 'The man shall surely be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones without the camp.'
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
15 distinct cross-references across this passage (16 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv32–34 This seems to be added as an example of…
This seems to be added as an example of a presumptuous sin; for as the law of the sabbath was plain and positive, so this transgression of it must needs be a known and wilful sin.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv32–35 And they that found him gathering sticks,.... Admonished him,…
And they that found him gathering sticks,.... Admonished him, as say the Targum of Jonathan and Jarchi, but he would not desist; wherefore they
brought him unto Moses and Aaron, and unto all the congregation; to Moses and Aaron, and to the seventy elders, who might be at this time met together, to hear, try, and judge causes; for it cannot be thought that the whole body of the people are meant; and it is most likely that it was not on the sabbath day, but the day following, that they brought the man to them, who were then sitting in the court; though Aben Ezra observes, that some say they brought him to them the first night.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv32–34 On the sabbath-day - This seems to be added…
On the sabbath-day - This seems to be added as an example of a presumptuous sin: for as the law of the sabbath was plain and positive, so this transgression of it must needs be a known and wilful sin.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On v32 Verse 32. They found a man that gathered sticks…
Verse 32. They found a man that gathered sticks upon the Sabbath] This was in all likelihood a case of that kind supposed above: the man despised the word of the Lord, and therefore broke his commandment; see Nu 15:31. On this ground he was punished with the utmost rigour of the law.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv32, 33, 35 Num 15:32. A man gathered sticks on the sabbath…
Num 15:32. A man gathered sticks on the sabbath day — This seems to be mentioned here as an instance of sinning presumptuously; and accordingly it is so understood by the Jews. The law of the sabbath was plain and positive, and this transgression of it must therefore have been a known and wilful sin. And from the connection of this verse with the former it may be justly inferred that this man had sinned with a high hand, despising the word of the Lord, and the authority of his law.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv32, 34 Moses mentions here, as is his wont (compare Lev…
Moses mentions here, as is his wont (compare Lev 24:10-16), the first open transgression and its punishment in order to exemplify the laws which he is laying down. The offence of Sabbath-breaking was one for which there could be no excuse. This law at least might be observed even in the wilderness. Transgression of it was therefore a presumptuous sin, and was punished accordingly.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On v32 Wilderness of Pharan, if this crime were committed soon…
Wilderness of Pharan, if this crime were committed soon after the murmuring of the people, or in some other part of the desert. This example tends to show the severity and extent of the former precept. The law had condemned the breaker of the sabbath to be put to death. But Moses consulted the Lord, to know in what manner; or perhaps there were some circumstances attending the offender, which extenuated or enhanced his crime. Some of the Rabbins have unjustly aspersed the character of Salphaad, as if he were the person, because it is said that he died in the desert in his own sin, chap. xxii. 3. (Calmet) --- Those who transgress with full knowledge, deserve to be severely chastised; (Luke xii. 47,) and this is the more necessary, when the law has been lately promulgated, to restrain the insolent. (Haydock) --- God generally makes an example of those who first transgress his laws, as he did our first parents, Cain, the Sodomites, the worshippers of the golden calf, &c. He punished thus the sacrilege of Nadab, the disobedience of Saul, the lie of Ananias and Saphira. (Cajetan) (Du Hamel)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On v32 The Sabbath-breaker. Re-enforcement of the Law of the Sabbath,…
SECOND SECTION
The Sabbath-breaker. Re-enforcement of the Law of the Sabbath, and of the Law in General
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Num_15:32-41
32And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks upon the sabbath day. 33And they that found him gathering sticks 34brought him unto Moses and Aaron, and unto all the congregation. And they 35put him in ward, because it was not 24declared what should be done to him. And the Lord said unto Moses, The man shall be surely put to death: all the congregation shall stone him with stones without the camp. 36And all the congregation brought him without the camp, and stoned him with stones, and he died; as the Lord commanded Moses.
37And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 38Speak unto the children of Israel, and bid them that they make them 25fringes in the 26borders of their garments, throughout their generations, and that they put upon the bfringe of the cborders a 27ribband of blue: 39And it shall be unto you for a bfringe, that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the Lord, and do them; and that ye seek not after your own heart and your own eyes, after which ye use to go a whoring: 40That ye may remember, and do all my commandments, and be holy 41unto your God. I am the Lord your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the Lord your God.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
This section expressly says that the children of Israel were in the wilderness at the time the event happened, i.e. that it belongs to the sojourn of thirty-eight years in Kadesh. But the story also proves how strictly they insisted on the law of the Sabbath. The dispersion of the tents in the desert could in many ways make the violation of the laws of the Sabbath an easy matter. Notwithstanding, the man was detected that gathered wood (for fagots), and was put in confinement. The story of the Sabbath-breaker is a companion-piece to that of the blasphemer (Leviticus 24). It serves as a corroboration of a chief requirement of the law, just as that does. But in this case they were not yet clear about the degree of the punishment. When he was brought before Moses, Aaron and the congregation, that is, the authorities, the college of elders appointed as judges, there was as yet no definition how he should suffer capital punishment. Their not proceeding at once to extremities, to the solemn act of stoning, seems to rest on the consideration that this transgression against the Sabbath might perhaps be a lesser guilt than blasphemy. It characterizes the prudence with which Moses and the college of judges proceed. They put him in confinement (perhaps for a considerable time, וַיַנִּיחוּ). It was not yet expressly determined. פָּרַשׁ is a word which, as in Lev_24:12, has a sacred sense, quite in contrast with that by which the Pharisees, at a later period, called themselves. Moses had to seek for the decision of Jehovah. That decision in this case, also, called for stoning outside of the camp, in which the congregation was to participate, because here, too, the whole congregation was involved in the guilt.
[It is a generally accepted view that the incident of the Sabbath-breaker is introduced here as an illustration of presumptuous sin, as Dr. Lange intimates above, § 5. The same connection also offers a natural explanation of the judicial proceeding in the case. It was not determined what one should do to him, is indefinite, and may either refer to the judges, or to the revelation of God in regard to such cases. The latter is the common view. (See in the London Polyglot all interpretations except the LXX. and Vulg. Yet they may not have independent value; but all, in this case, may perhaps only follow the lead of the Aramaic Paraphrase.) But the former seems quite as natural. The phrase וַיַנִּיחוּ אֹתוֹ בַּמִּשְׁמָר וגו seems to say: “They let him rest in custody, for one did not determine what one should do to him.” LXX.: οὐ γὰρ συνέκριναν τί ποιήσωσιν αὐτον. Vulg.: nescientes quid super eo facere deberent. The LXX. and Vulg., in the parallel passage, refer לִפְרשׁ to the same subject, viz. the judges. The context suggests the ground of their indecision. The ordinances just given, including expiations for sins, Num_15:1-29, were made for the time “when ye be come into the land which I give unto you,” Num_15:2; Num_15:18. Regarding presumptuous sins, therefore (Num_15:30-31), it might be supposed that the penalty was only to be visited under the same conditions, viz. when they were settled in Canaan. It was likely this that divided the judges. The question was whether under present circumstances such a sinner was to be capitally punished. It had already been declared that death was to be the penalty (Exo_31:14-15; Exo_35:2).
Dr. Lange’s notion that the doubt was whether Sabbath-breaking might not be less criminal than blasphemy is quite untenable. The same may be said of the view that he shares with others, viz. that the judges were in doubt about the form of the death-penalty. Stoning was the common way of inflicting death (Exo_17:4; Num_14:10), and had already received divine sanction as the proper mode of doing it in the case of both man and beast (Exo_19:13; Exo_21:28). The point of the divine answer to Moses was, that the crime was then and there to be punished by death, as appears from the emphatic words that sum up the transaction: and he died, as the Lord commanded Moses(Num_15:36).
This episode begins with the words: And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness. This “is properly introduced here to contrast the ordinance of the Sabbath given some time ago (Exo_31:14) with the series of ordinances first given in this chapter. The latter were not obligatory until after the settlement in Canaan; the former was obligatory already. Transgression of it was therefore a presumptuous sin, and was punished accordingly.” The Bible Comm. This fact has its importance in determining the place of the law of the Sabbath among the Old Testament ordinances. It was unconditioned, as was also the law against blasphemy. It was in force and enforced when ceremonial laws were not. It was before symbolical ordinances, and it continues after them. Its observance or violation involved all that was vital in religion, for it involved the very question of loyalty to God, as did the law about blasphemy. And it involves the same now.—Tr.]
This occurrence has, as its consequence, an enforcement of the law in an increased degree, and in a symbolical form. But as, at a later period, the Pharisees with their פָּרַשׁ misapplied the law concerning blasphemy and the violation of the Sabbath to the condemnation of Christ, so, too, the following ordinance was made to serve Pharisaic hypocrisy (Mat_23:5).
Num_15:37-41. Henceforth the Israelites were to wear memorials of the law on their garments. The ordinance is supplemented in Deu_22:12. The zizith (from צִיצ, “ornament, bloom, curl,” to consist, according to Deut., of twisted cords, as גְּרִילִים), as a tassel, is, so to speak, the blossom of the garments. According to Deut., it is fastened at the side of the upper garment, and that with a cord of blue purple. The meaning of it might be, that by the band of fidelity the law should remain for the Israelite a flower of life, an ornament. Thus, then, it was no longer the priestly garments only that had a symbolical meaning, but also the clothing of every Israelite—a contrast with the wearing finery of the fashions, that is made by tailors and women of the poetry of vanity. Still this symbol also was perverted by the later spirit of legalism into a means of self-righteousness. Probably at quite an early period this ornament was supplemented by a particular border or seam on the upper garment (LXX. κράσπεδον). See on Mat_23:5. The downward look, directed toward these signs of the law, was to counteract the danger of distracted wandering of the senses and of the lust of the eyes. Very significant is the expression: a whoring after the eyes, and spying about according to the heart, the lusts of the heart. In conclusion, the final object of this ordinance is strongly emphasized. They are not, by their hearts’ lusts and the vagaries of their eyes, to be ensnared in idolatrous lust of the world. And they are not thereby to forget that Jehovah is the Redeemer and Lord; as the highest Personality, He is the Protector of their personality which is elevated above the world. The conclusion may be taken to mean: I am your Divinity; ye shall, therefore, make no divinities for yourselves of the things of the world.
HOMILETICAL HINTS
The repetition of the law of sacrifice in the wilderness, a kingdom of grace, a sign of promise, a sign of continued training. The difference between sins of infirmity and of outrage with uplifted hand (of wickedness). The Sabbath-breaker. The outward mementoes of the law: their use; their danger (see Matthew 23).
Footnotes:
[24](Luther: expressed; De Wette, Zunz: decided; Bunsen: no declaration.)
[25]tassels.
[26]tips.
[27]cord.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv32, 35 a man that gathered sticks upon the sabbath day--This…
a man that gathered sticks upon the sabbath day--This incident is evidently narrated as an instance of presumptuous sin. The mere gathering of sticks was not a sinful act and might be necessary for fuel to warm him or to make ready his food. But its being done on the Sabbath altered the entire character of the action. The law of the Sabbath being a plain and positive commandment, this transgression of it was a known and wilful sin, and it was marked by several aggravations. For the deed was done with unblushing boldness in broad daylight, in open defiance of the divine authority--in flagrant inconsistency with His religious connection with Israel, as the covenant-people of God; and it was an application to improper purposes of time, which God had consecrated to Himself and the solemn duties of religion. The offender was brought before the rulers, who, on hearing the painful report, were at a loss to determine what ought to be done. That they should have felt any embarrassment in such a case may seem surprising, in the face of the sabbath law (Exo 31:14). Their difficulty probably arose from this being the first public offense of the kind which had occurred; and the appeal might be made to remove all ground of complaint--to produce a more striking effect, so that the fate of this criminal might be a beacon to warn all Israelites in the future.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv32–35 32. While… in the wilderness — This is one…
32. While… in the wilderness — This is one of Colenso’s texts for disproving the Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch. But his argument is not conclusive, since Moses was with Israel several months after leaving the wilderness — in Edom and on the plains of Moab. Deu_32:48. See map.
A man that gathered sticks — It is evident from the mention of this violation of the sabbath in immediate connexion with the foregoing high-handed sin that it is intended as an instance of this kind of offence. It was a man and not a child. In the sabbatic stillness of the camp he could not have been ignorant of the sacredness of the day. The act was not one of mercy or of necessity, such as the case of hunger, (Luk_6:1-4,) but of gross impiety against the supreme moral Governor and of rebellion against the theocratic King. The sabbath being a positive as well as a moral institution is well adapted to call out that opposition to God’s authority which regards his commands as unreasonable, and hostile to human happiness. No other one of the precepts or prohibitions of the decalogue affords so high a test of obedience to Jehovah’s authority, from the fact that the moral element in it which finds a response in the conscience and reason of men is not observable, being overshadowed by the positive element — the divine authority.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv32, 34 32–36. The penalty for breaking the Sabbath. This section…
32–36. The penalty for breaking the Sabbath. This section was perhaps placed by the compiler next to the preceding because it relates a signal instance of deliberate transgression.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On v32 (32) And while the children of Israel were in…
(32) And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness . . . —Better, Now the children of Israel were in the wilderness, and they found, &c. It is probable that the incident which is here recorded is designed to illustrate the presumptuous sins which were to be punished by death. The offence may have been committed shortly after the promulgation of the commandments contained in this chapter, but all that is certain is that it was committed “in the wilderness,” i.e., according to Ibn Ezra, in the wilderness of Sinai, but more probably during the period of the wanderings in the wilderness after the arrival at Kadesh. No inference can be drawn from this verse as to the time at which the account was committed to writing. The observance of the Sabbath was obligatory in the wilderness as well as in the land of Canaan (comp. Exo_16:27-30), and the punishment of death had already been denounced against those who profaned it by doing any work thereon (see Exo_31:15; Exo_35:2), but the manner in which death was to be inflicted does not appear to have been hitherto declared. The same verb which is here rendered “declared” occurs in the parallel case of the blasphemer in Lev_24:12, where it is rendered “shewed”:—“And they put him in ward, that the mind of the Lord might be shewed them.” The punishment of death had already been denounced against those who cursed father or mother (Lev_20:9). It could hardly be thought that a lighter punishment was to be inflicted on one who blasphemed the name of Jehovah, but in that case, as in this, the mode of death does not appear to have been previously enjoined.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv32–35 THE SABBATH-BREAKER (verses Mat_12:5) for the temple fire was…
THE SABBATH-BREAKER (verses Mat_12:5) for the temple fire was supplied with wood; and under the gospel the law of the Sabbath, so far as it was outward and arbitrary, was totally repealed: it passed away like a shadow, leaving us face to face with the substance, the reality which it had obscured viz., the eternal rest from sin and self which belongs to the kingdom of heaven. (Rom_14:5 Gal_4:10 Col_2:16 Heb_4:9, Heb_4:10) We keep indeed the Lord"s day because as a fact it has been kept from the first, and no one has a right to ignore the universal custom of Christians; but our Sabbath is a spiritual one, for it is that ceasing from our own works by virtue of unselfishness and self-devotion which, as it is the secret of "rest" in this life, so it will be the essence of "rest" in the life to come. It follows that the popular use of this story to enforce the outward observance of a legal Sabbath is simply and purely superstitious, and directly antagonistic to its true teaching. Consider therefore
I THAT WHILE ALMOST ALL OTHER ORDINANCES, EVEN CIRCUMCISION AND THE PASSOVER, FELL INTO DISUSE, THE SABBATH REMAINED FIXED, INVIOLABLE, AND ETERNAL. Even so while all outward things may change, while even sacraments themselves might fail, the true Sabbath of the soul can never alter, never cease to be observed and sought. To cease from our own works by a true unselfishness; to live for others by an active love; to find our rest in contemplating good and rejoicing in it; that is to rest from our labours as God did from his, and that is the law of the holy Sabbath which can never be altered. As long as God is God, and man is man, God can only set to us, and we can only set to ourselves, this law as the law of all laws to be observed for ever.
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II THAT THE VIOLATION OF THE SABBATH-LAW WAS NOT PARDONABLE. The sentence of death was confirmed, on special appeal, by God himself. Even so whatever directly violates the law of rest, and so destroys that rest, is fatal and deadly to the soul. For as this rest is the end of all religion, and is to be heaven itself, that which directly militates against it (and that is in the deepest sense selfishness) has never forgiveness, can never be overlooked or suffered to continue.
III THAT THE ESSENCE OF THE MAN"S CRIME WAS NOT THAT HE GATHERED STICKS ON THE SABBATH, BUT THAT HE GATHERED THEM FOR HIMSELF. For the priests were guiltless, cleaving wood for the altar on the Sabbath; and though the Jews to this day will not make a fire on the Sabbath even to save a man"s life, yet it is certain that our Lord would have commended it, and that from an Old Testament point of view. (Mar_2:26, 27 3:4) Even so the essence of all sin, and the cause of all wrath, is selfishness. Selfishness is the real and only Sabbath-breaker, because it alone disturbs that Divine rest which stands in conformity to the will of God. (see on Gal_2:20 Col_3:3 1Jn_3:21, 1Jn_3:22, &c.);
IV THAT THE DOOM OF THE SABBATH-BREAKER WAS STONING A PUNISHMENT INFLICTED BY ALL, AND EXPRESSIVE OF UNIVERSAL CONDEMNATION. Even so the true punishment of sin is that it arrays against us both God and all good and holy beings. A selfish person would find neither sympathy nor allowance in heaven: his soul would fall crushed beneath the weight of silent disapproval and unintended reproach. And so the only way to war against a sin of selfishness upon earth is to enlist the sympathies of all good people against it.
V THAT THE END OF THE SABBATH-BREAKER WAS DEATH, ALTHOUGH IT WAS NOT IMMEDIATELY EXECUTED. Even so spiritual death is the certain end of selfishness. Amidst the uncertainties of time indeed that death appears to be postponed; selfishness is quite consistent with some amount of religion. But the sentence of death against it is plain and irrevocable, and it will surely be carried out. (Mat_10:38, 39 16:25 Luk_12:21 Rom_8:6 Php_2:4, 5, 21)
Vers. 32-30. The law of the Sabbath: a solemn vindication.
I THIS DOOM OF DEATH SHOWS THE IMPORTANCE OF THE SABBATH IN THE SIGHT OF GOD.
1. There was need of something special to call attention to this point. Those commandments which concerned himself directly he had to fence in a special way. Commandments against filial impiety, murder, adultery, theft, false witness, covetousness, these concerned man directly, and through him they concerned God; man, therefore, might be trusted to help in vindicating these commands. But those against polytheism, idolatry, profanity, and Sabbath-breaking concerned God directly and man only indirectly. Man, therefore, might not perceive the hurt, even though it was real and most serious. Thus it became needful for God to deal in a specially stern and impressive way with the Sabbath-breaker. His people must be made to perceive and bear in mind that he meant the seventh day to be a holy day. It was as much sacrilege to spend it in common occupations as it was to defile the ark in the holy place.
2. There was need to arrest the attention of such as kept the Sabbath in a negative rather than a positive way. God gave the Sabbath, not for idleness, but for that most valuable of all rest which is gained in quiet, undisturbed communion with God, and meditation on all his wonderful works. Those who employed the Sabbath in solemn and devout approaches to the God of the covenant were delivered from temptation to break the Sabbath. Filled with the fullness of God, there would be no room for base, transgressing thoughts. But no commandment could bring the unwilling heart to God. It might do something to keep the work of the common day away from the hands; it could do nothing to keep the thoughts of the common day out of the heart. The heart was to be sought; it could not be forced, being in its nature beyond force. Many, therefore, would keep the day negatively, in utter idleness, and this idleness itself tended to disobedience. The doing of little things would seem practically the same as doing nothing. So men had to be taught, by terrible examples, not to trifle with holy things. If a man thoughtlessly touches things dangerous to physical life, his thoughtlessness will not deliver him from fatal consequences. If a man sports with poisons, or moves carelessly among machinery, he is very likely to lose his life; so men who trifled with the Sabbath were in great peril. Safety, progress, approval, blessedness, were for those who obeyed from the heart. But those who through heedlessness of the heart disobeyed with the hand had no right to complain when death outside the camp awaited them.
II THIS SOLEMN VINDICATION HAS AN IMPORTANT BEARING ON THE CHRISTIAN DAY OF REST. This is not the place to take up even a fragment of the interminable discussion on the obligation of the Sabbath. But is not the very fact of such a discussion evidence that the lapse of the obligation is by no means a tiring clearly and easily to be seen?
1. This solemn vindication hints to us that it is a prudent thing to be on the safe side. Thus we may both escape great dangers and secure great blessings. To spend the day of rest just as we please is a claim, not of conscience, but of self-will. It cannot be pretended that ceasing from work one day in seven is a hurt to one"s self or to the world. Practically, all Christians confess the need of a day of rest. If God so blessed one day in seven to those who knew him as he might be known in the obscurities and distances of the Jewish economy, is it not reasonable to expect that in the fuller light and nearer approach of God in Christ Jesus, a seventh day of rest, rightly used, may be the means of the greatest blessing. We are now under the perfect law of liberty; and because it is a law of liberty it is all the more a law to the liberated soul. We use not our liberty for an occasion to the flesh; we ought to use it for an occasion to the Spirit. God blessed and hallowed the seventh day, because in it he rested from his work of creation. What a propriety then in keeping the first day of the week, as that in which the Christian"s Master rested from temptation, toil, and his victorious struggle with death and Hades!
2. This solemn vindication should make us considerate of all who are called by the ugly name of Sabbatarian. No doubt with regard to the Sabbath there has been much of bigotry, ignorance, and of melancholy misinterpretations of the Scripture; but the weak brother who reads this narrative of the Sabbath-breaker"s doom may well be excused if to stronger minds he seems ridiculously precise. Christ will deal with us as severely as his Father dealt with the Sabbath-breaker if we make one of his little ones to offend. It is necessary above all things to be safe. We must not confound the scrupulosity of the weak with the scrupulosity of the Pharisee. That, indeed, is always abominable attending to little external things, and neglecting the weightier matters of the law. God"s service, after all, whether on week day or Sunday, consists in the things we do rather than in those we refrain from doing. God, we may be sure, will take care that the day of rest is not narrowed out of harmony with the liberty of the gospel. As there were matters of necessity provided for under the law, so there is like provision under the gospel. A man of right spirit will not misinterpret the necessities. Jeremiah Horrocks, the young clergyman who first observed the transit of Venus, is said to have made his discovery on the Lord"s Day, without allowing it in the least to interfere with his duties in the church. One of the most important principles of his steam-engine flashed into the mind of Watt as he was walking along Glasgow Green one Sunday morning. And it was one Sunday morning that Carey, entering his pulpit in India, received the new regulation prohibiting suttee. He at once sent for his pundit, and completed the translation into Bengalee before night. Y.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v32 A man that gathered sticks upon the Sabbath.
Num_15:32-36
A man that gathered sticks upon the Sabbath.
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Gathering sticks on the Sabbath
An Oriental legend tells us that, while Solomon was once on his way to visit the Queen of Sheba, he came to a valley in which dwelt a peculiar tribe of monkeys. Upon asking about their history, be was informed that they were the descendants of a colony of Jews, who settling in that region years before, had, by habitual neglect of the Sabbath, gradually degenerated to the condition of brutes. The story is, of course, a mere fable, but the moral is worth remembering. The ceremonial part of the Sabbath is done away, so that greater liberty is allowed to us than was given to the Jews. Works of necessity and mercy take precedence even of the regularly appointed duties of the day (Hos_6:6). The moral part is, however, as strongly in force as ever. To have the mind exercised on spiritual subjects, and occupied in advancing the interests of our souls, is an imperative duty. To be guilty of a wilful profanation of the Lords day is--
I. An unreasonable sin. A young man, well off in the world, and an elderly man of business, were riding in a railway carriage together, between London and a country town, when the question of Sunday amusements came up. I maintain that Sunday ought to be a general holiday, said the younger, in a tone which betokened assurance and presumption, and the people ought not to be kept out of such places as the Zoological Gardens and the Crystal Palace grounds. I would have Sunday used for recreation. Recreation! answered the elder, gravely, yes, that is the very word. The Sabbath is meant for recreation, and if people were recreated, they would want very little of the so-called recreation which they now make so much of. The conversation on that subject dropped.
II. A presumptuous sin. The man who was so signally punished, for merely gathering a few sticks on the Sabbath, might have argued that he could only be charged with a very small breach of the Divine law, and that the bundle of faggots was really necessary for his comfort. Such flimsy excuses would be of no avail. His conduct was a decided act of rebellion against God, and he was, in fact, accusing Him with being a hard master, who did not deserve to be obeyed. Those who believe in taking God at His word, cannot doubt that any wilful neglect of His commandments is always followed, sooner or later, by loss! A thrifty merchant remarked to his physician, Had it not been for the rest which I have enjoyed on the Lords Day, I should long ago have been a maniac! Many are the instances of those who have dug their own graves, because they had no Sundays. (J. N. Norton, D. D.)
Obedience tested in the little
This incident has often been quoted as an instance of extreme and intolerable severity, and has been cited against those whose reading of the Scriptures leads them to propose to keep the Sabbath day. The mocker has found quite a little treasure here. The poor man was gathering sticks on the Sabbath day, and he had to forfeit his life for the violation of the law. Had the text read--And a certain man was found in the wilderness openly blaspheming God, and he was stoned to death--we should have had some sense of rest and harmony in the mind : the balance would seem to be complete. But that is the very sophism that is ruining us. We do not see the reality of the case. We think of huge sins; there are none. We think of little sins; there are none. It is the spot that is ruin; it is the one little thing that spoils the universe. Obedience can only be tested by so-called little things. Where one man is called to be a hero on some great scale, ten thousand men are called to be courteous, gentle, patient; where one has the opportunity of being great on the battle-field of a death-bed, all have opportunity of being good in hopefulness, charity, forgiveness, and every grace that belongs to the Cross of Christ; where one has the opportunity of joining a great procession, ten thousand have the opportunity of assisting the aged, helping the blind, speaking a word for the speechless, and putting a donation into the hand of honest poverty. Let us realise the truth of the doctrine that we are not called upon to display our obedience upon a gigantic scale within the theatre of the universe and under the observation of angels--but to go out into the field and work with bent back and willing hands and glad hearts, doing lifes simple duty under Heavens inspiration and encouragement. The man who gathered sticks on the Sabbath day might have been quite a great man on festival occasions when all Israel had to be dressed in its best; he might have been one of the foremost of the show. You discover what men are by their secret deeds, by what they do when they suppose nobody is looking, by what they are about when they are suddenly pounced upon. (J. Parker, D. D.)
The Sabbath-breaker and his doom
I. The sin.
1. The transgression of a moral law, which was enforced by the most solemn commands and by the severest penalty.
2. The transgression of this law wilfully.
II. The arrest. The offender was seized in the act of transgression, and taken before the judicial authorities.
III. The consultation. The direction of the Lord is sought as to the mode by which the sentence of death is to be executed upon him.
IV. The sentence. This was determined by the Lord. The transgressor must be put to death (Exo_31:14-15); he must be put to death by stoning (Num_15:35).
V. The execution. And all the congregation brought him without, &c. (Num_15:36). The people were the executioners. This would increase the force of the warning which the event gave to the nation.
Conclusion:
1. The moral element in the law of the Sabbath is of perpetual obligation. We still rest for body and mind; we still need worship for the spirit.
2. The neglecters of religious duties and privileges will do well to take warning. If any man fails to observe religiously the Lords day, he does so at his own loss and peril. (W. Jones.)
Punishment of Sabbath-breaking
1. The perpetration of one particular presumptuous sin, together with its circumstances, as what, where, when, and how. The fact was seemingly but a small matter, namely, gathering a few sticks, &c., and possibly he might pretend some necessity or conveniency to himself thereby, &c., but because really it was done with an high hand, in contempt of God and His law, and a profaning of His holy Sabbath.
2. The punishment for this perpetrated fact of profaning the Sabbath, wherein--
(1) The sinner is apprehended.
(2) Accused.
(3) Imprisoned, because it was not yet known what sentence to pass upon him.
For though the matter of the fact was twice doomed with death (Exo_31:14; Exo_35:2), yet was it not declared what manner of death such a sinner should die. Therefore God is consulted about this, who expressly declareth it (Num_15:35). Besides, though the law be in the rigour of it a killing letter, yet might it admit of some favourable construction from necessity, &c., which might make the offender capable of pardon. So Moses did not rashly doom him; nor ought magistrates be hasty in matters of life and death, as in other cases of an inferior nature. They ought to be wary: God and His Word ought to be consulted.
(4) He was condemned, God Himself passing the sentence that he should be stoned (Num_15:35). This was the heaviest of all the four kinds of death that malefactors suffered in Israel for capital crimes--some were sentenced to be strangled, others to be slain with the sword, some to be burned, and others to be stoned; the two last were undoubtedly the most painful (because longer in dying), and therefore inflicted upon the grossest offenders. Though in mans judgment this might seem too severe a sentence for such a seeming small offence, yet in Gods judgment it is not a light offence to profane the Sabbath by doing needless works upon that holy day. We may well suppose that this sinner (by the connection of Num_15:30 with this relation) sinned presumptuously and with public scandal.
(5) He was executed accordingly, being carried without the camp, which was a circumstance aggravating the punishment, being a kind of reproach, as the apostle noteth (Heb_13:11-13). This was done to the blasphemer before (Lev_24:14). This severity doth likewise farther signify the eternal death of such as do not keep the Sabbath of Christ, entering into the rest of God by faith, and ceasing from their own works as God did from His (Heb_4:1-11), finding rest for the soul in Christ (Mat_11:28). (C. Ness.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v32 The Sabbath-Breaker Stoned. —
The Sabbath-Breaker Stoned. —
v. 32. And while the children of Israel were in trie wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks upon the Sabbath-day. The incident, the exact time of which is not given, took place some time during the long years of the wilderness journey, and is here inserted as an example of a presumptuous sin.
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v. 33. And they that found him gathering sticks, that caught him in the act of openly transgressing the Law of God, brought him unto Moses and Aaron and unto all the congregation. The matter was brought to the official knowledge of the entire assembly, for all the people would be involved in the guilt unless steps were taken to remove it.
v. 34. And they put him in ward, not as a punishment, but to prevent his escape, because it was not declared what should be done to him, the judges in charge of his case were not altogether clear under the present circumstances whether the offender was to receive capital punishment.
v. 35. And the Lord said unto Moses, The man shall be surely put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones without the camp, the execution taking place outside, in order not to defile the camp.
v. 36. And all the congregation brought him without the camp, and stoned him with stones, and he died, as the Lord commanded Moses. So the guilt was removed from the congregation, and the offender received his just reward. The members of Christian congregations should never forget that they will become partakers of other men’s sins if they permit evil-doing to go on in their midst and do not take the steps prescribed by God for the removal of the malicious sinner by excommunication.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv32, 35 it had not been declared what should be done…
it had not been declared what should be done with him
This can be stated in active form. AT: "Yahweh had not declared what they should do with him" (See: Active or Passive)
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translationWords
Israel
desert
Sabbath
Moses
Aaron
declare
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv32, 34 15:32-36 This case illustrates 15:30-31. The Sabbath was the…
15:32-36 This case illustrates 15:30-31. The Sabbath was the Lord’s holy day, which was not to be disregarded (Exod 20:8-11; 31:14-15; 35:1-3).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.