COOKING ON THE SABBATH.
By Thomas K. Henry
Are we not apt to cook too much on the Sabbath? If I am in error in this matter I hope to be corrected; but it is my opinion that we are. The word says, "To-morrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord: bake that which ye will bake to-day, and seethe that ye will seethe, and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning." Ex. xvi, 23. If we are not allowed to bake or boil, we are not allowed to fry or stew; as one form would be bad as another. In the fifth verse of the chapter above cited the children of Israel are commanded to prepare that on the sixth day which they would eat on the Sabbath; and in chap. xxxv, 3, it says, "Ye shall kindle no fires throughout your habitations upon the Sabbath day." In Num. xv, 32-36, we have an account of a man being stoned to death for picking up sticks on the Sabbath. Now the question is, Are these commands requiring the observation of the Sabbath any less stringent in this dispensation than they were in that? I am unable to see that they are. And besides this lack of evidence to prove their abolition, we find in the New Testament [Luke xxiii, 54], that the preparation day was still observed. It may be asked, Are we required to refrain from preparing proper food in sickness, or from building fire to make us comfortable in this cold climate? I think the only question to be determined in these cases is this: Is it necessary for us to do this work? If it is, the Bible does not prohibit us from doing it. But we should be sure that it is necessary before we venture to begin. We find that David ate of the shew-bread, which was unlawful; but because it was necessary, he did not sin. Luke vi, 3, 4. We find also in Mark ii, 27, that the Sabbath was made for man, and it does not seem reasonable that God would make anything for us that would prove injurious to our health; and this view is strengthened by Christ's permission to water our animals, and to help them out of the mire on the Sabbath day. But to close let us say, We cannot be too careful how we tamper with God's holy law. Rives, Jackson Co., Mich.