Sabbath Stick Gatherer Brought Before Mosesby KandD
15:34Numbers 15:34
And they put him in ward, because it was not declared what should be done to him.
The Sabbath was made for the benefit of man. The verse records the holding in ward of a man who openly went before the congregation on the seventh day and gathered wood to make a fire or did other unnecessary work, acting against the commandment of the Lord. Sin done knowingly with a high hand is different from sin of ignorance, and presumptuous sin will receive the awful visitation of God, whether the one who commits it is old or young. To knowingly work on the seventh day breaks God's holy commandment and is a great crime of such magnitude in the sight of Heaven.
Breaking the seventh commandment in the last days is the same kind of knowing sin, and it is regarded as exceedingly sinful now because God is purifying unto Himself a peculiar people zealous of good works. Under the Mosaic law this transgression required the death of the offender, for he was cut off from the people and taken without the camp and stoned to death. The penalty was both temporal and eternal and did not end with being put to death, for one not deemed worthy to live on earth will not be taken to heaven but must suffer the second death as the full and final penalty of the transgressor.
This shows that God is very particular regarding observance of His holy law. The temporal penalty of stoning to death is abolished and is not now required, yet there is coming a time when every disregard of God's law must be answered for. Because the death penalty is abolished, the sin is indulged beyond measure and thought to be a small offense that confession alone can settle, but its corrupting influence brings God's frown and curse upon the church and removes His presence from the camp. The church must therefore not hold offenders in fellowship with the privileges of the house of God but must take a strict, thorough course with the offender and suspend them to satisfy God's displeasure and remove His frown.
The Sabbath was made for the benefit of man. The verse records the holding in ward of a man who openly went before the congregation on the seventh day and gathered wood to make a fire or did other unnecessary work, acting against the commandment of the Lord. Sin done knowingly with a high hand is different from sin of ignorance, and presumptuous sin will receive the awful visitation of God, whether the one who commits it is old or young. To knowingly work on the seventh day breaks God's holy commandment and is a great crime of such magnitude in the sight of Heaven.
Breaking the seventh commandment in the last days is the same kind of knowing sin, and it is regarded as exceedingly sinful now because God is purifying unto Himself a peculiar people zealous of good works. Under the Mosaic law this transgression required the death of the offender, for he was cut off from the people and taken without the camp and stoned to death. The penalty was both temporal and eternal and did not end with being put to death, for one not deemed worthy to live on earth will not be taken to heaven but must suffer the second death as the full and final penalty of the transgressor.
This shows that God is very particular regarding observance of His holy law. The temporal penalty of stoning to death is abolished and is not now required, yet there is coming a time when every disregard of God's law must be answered for. Because the death penalty is abolished, the sin is indulged beyond measure and thought to be a small offense that confession alone can settle, but its corrupting influence brings God's frown and curse upon the church and removes His presence from the camp. The church must therefore not hold offenders in fellowship with the privileges of the house of God but must take a strict, thorough course with the offender and suspend them to satisfy God's displeasure and remove His frown.