{"id":6536,"date":"2015-06-12T07:44:55","date_gmt":"2015-06-12T14:44:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hoshanarabbah.org\/blog\/?p=6536"},"modified":"2015-06-12T07:44:55","modified_gmt":"2015-06-12T14:44:55","slug":"gathering-firewood-on-the-sabbath","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hoshanarabbah.org\/blog\/2015\/06\/12\/gathering-firewood-on-the-sabbath\/","title":{"rendered":"Why was gathering firewood on the Sabbath a capital offense?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>Numbers 15:32. <i>A man gathering sticks. <\/i><\/b>A man gathering sticks. The man gathering sticks on the Sabbath is an example of intentional sin, for which there is no sacrifice (atonement or forgiveness; Num 15:30\u201331).<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/hoshanarabbah.org\/blog\/2015\/06\/12\/gathering-firewood-on-the-sabbath\/attachment\/30345571\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-6537\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-6537\" src=\"http:\/\/hoshanarabbah.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/30345571-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"30345571\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/hoshanarabbah.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/30345571-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/hoshanarabbah.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/30345571-1024x681.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/hoshanarabbah.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/30345571-451x300.jpg 451w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Furthermore, the act of gathering sticks on the Sabbath teaches us something else. Sticks are used to start fires, something that the Torah commands us not to do on the Sabbath\u2014especially if it relates to our work, business or secular activities such as building the tabernacle (Exod 35:3 cp. vv. 4\u201335 or cooking food, see Exod 16:23).<\/p>\n<p>A fire is a biblical metaphor for strife and division, which is usually caused by the misuse of the tongue (Prov 16:27; 26:20\u201321; Jas 3:5\u20136). Those who stir up the fires of strife and division must be put out of the camp, even as the man who was gathering sticks on the Sabbath to build a fire had to be put out of the camp of Israel.<\/p>\n<p>Similarly, Paul gives instructions about putting individuals outside of the camp or congregation of redeemed Israel in several places (Rom 16:17\u201318; Tit 3:10 cp. 1 Cor 5:9\u201311 in reference to a reviler).<\/p>\n<p>Why should such individuals be treated as a pariah to the congregation of the righteous? Simply this, with smooth words and flattering speech they will deceive the hearts of the simple (Rom 16:17\u201318) and destroy the congregation. Paul calls such individuals who use their tongues to draw a following grievous or savage wolves and perverse men (Acts 20:29\u201330).<\/p>\n<div class=\"evernoteSiteMemory\"><a href=\"javascript:\" onclick=\"Evernote.doClip({title: 'Why was gathering firewood on the Sabbath a capital offense?',url: 'https:\/\/hoshanarabbah.org\/blog\/2015\/06\/12\/gathering-firewood-on-the-sabbath\/',contentID: 'post-6536',suggestTags: 'Book of Numbers,Death Penalty,Gathering Firewood,Sabbath,Shabbat',providerName: 'Hoshana Rabbah Blog',styling: 'text' });return false\" class=\"evernoteSiteMemoryLink\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.evernote.com\/article-clipper.png\" \nclass=\"evernoteSiteMemoryButton\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\t\t\t\t<div class=\"evernoteSiteMemoryClear\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Numbers 15:32. A man gathering sticks. A man gathering sticks. The man gathering sticks on the Sabbath is an example of intentional sin, for which there is no sacrifice (atonement or forgiveness; Num 15:30\u201331). Furthermore, the act of gathering sticks &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hoshanarabbah.org\/blog\/2015\/06\/12\/gathering-firewood-on-the-sabbath\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[64],"tags":[921,119,1205,82,356],"class_list":["post-6536","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-weekly-readings","tag-book-of-numbers","tag-death-penalty","tag-gathering-firewood","tag-sabbath","tag-shabbat"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Why was gathering firewood on the Sabbath a capital offense? | Hoshana Rabbah Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/hoshanarabbah.org\/blog\/2015\/06\/12\/gathering-firewood-on-the-sabbath\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why was gathering firewood on the Sabbath a capital offense? | Hoshana Rabbah Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Numbers 15:32. A man gathering sticks. A man gathering sticks. The man gathering sticks on the Sabbath is an example of intentional sin, for which there is no sacrifice (atonement or forgiveness; Num 15:30\u201331). Furthermore, the act of gathering sticks &hellip; Continue reading &rarr;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/hoshanarabbah.org\/blog\/2015\/06\/12\/gathering-firewood-on-the-sabbath\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Hoshana Rabbah Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-06-12T14:44:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/hoshanarabbah.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/30345571-300x200.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Natan Lawrence\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Natan Lawrence\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hoshanarabbah.org\\\/blog\\\/2015\\\/06\\\/12\\\/gathering-firewood-on-the-sabbath\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hoshanarabbah.org\\\/blog\\\/2015\\\/06\\\/12\\\/gathering-firewood-on-the-sabbath\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Natan Lawrence\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hoshanarabbah.org\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3ed5c40cd99881c4176aa291f72109df\"},\"headline\":\"Why was gathering firewood on the Sabbath a capital offense?\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-06-12T14:44:55+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hoshanarabbah.org\\\/blog\\\/2015\\\/06\\\/12\\\/gathering-firewood-on-the-sabbath\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":245,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hoshanarabbah.org\\\/blog\\\/2015\\\/06\\\/12\\\/gathering-firewood-on-the-sabbath\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/hoshanarabbah.org\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/06\\\/30345571-300x200.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Book of Numbers\",\"Death Penalty\",\"Gathering Firewood\",\"Sabbath\",\"Shabbat\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Weekly Scripture Readings\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/hoshanarabbah.org\\\/blog\\\/2015\\\/06\\\/12\\\/gathering-firewood-on-the-sabbath\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hoshanarabbah.org\\\/blog\\\/2015\\\/06\\\/12\\\/gathering-firewood-on-the-sabbath\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hoshanarabbah.org\\\/blog\\\/2015\\\/06\\\/12\\\/gathering-firewood-on-the-sabbath\\\/\",\"name\":\"Why was gathering firewood on the Sabbath a capital offense? 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