5—KINDLING A FIRE ON THE SABBATH, EX. 35:3
By F. B. R.
Does this kindling of the fire have reference to a fire to cook with or by which to keep warm, or does it have reference to a work in one's heart? It has reference to the kindling of fire in the wilderness of Sinai, for any purpose. That wilderness through which the children of Israel passed was in a very warm section of the country. Fire was needed neither day nor night to keep warm. The only fire that was needed at all was to cook food; but special instruction was given in this, as will be found in the sixteenth chapter of Exodus. Before the Sabbath came, they were to bake or boil what was required, so that they would have no work of that kind to do on the Sabbath day; and yet we read in one place of a man who went out to gather sticks on that day, and in another place where some went out to gather food. Now God did not forbid fire regardless of the needs of His people. The Sabbath is not made to be a day of discomfort. Matt. 12:1-12 shows us this very clearly. The Sabbath was made to be sacred, not to be a yoke of bondage, nor was it to be a day which man would use to his own profit. Read the commandment—Ex. 20:8-11—and Isa. 58:13. The Sabbath was made to be a day of rest, a day of blessing, a day in which the soul could find real enjoyment in the works of God. Consequently it was not against man, but for man. So Jesus used it. He justified His disciples when they plucked and ate the ears of wheat. When our Lord saw the sick man in the synagogue, He healed him, and by His conversation with the Jews, showed that He did right. "It is lawful to do well on the Sabbath day." Consequently if His people are in a cold climate, and they need a fire, they are certainly not breaking the Sabbath law looking after their needs in that way.