1. It cannot be hereby forbidden, to kindle a fire, for their refreshment, in cold weather; for that is as necessary as any of the other conveniences of life, such as eating, drinking, sitting down when we are weary, &c. and it was done with very little pains or difficulty; so that it would not much hinder the religious exercises of that day. On the other hand, the not making a fire, provided the season of the year was extremely cold, would indispose men for the worship of God. Therefore,
2. It is most probable, that the meaning of that scripture is this; that since, at that time, wherein this law was given, many of them were employed in the work of building and adorning the tabernacle; which, as all artificers know, required the kindling of fires for the melting of metals, heating of iron tools, &c. and, whereas the people might be apt to think, that, because the building of the tabernacle required expedition, they might kindle fires, and therewith employ themselves in the work thereof, on the Sabbath-day. Therefore Moses tells them, that it was not a work so absolutely necessary, as that it required, that they should attend to it herein; which seems to be the reason of that law, which prohibited the kindling a fire on the Sabbath-day.
As for the application of this law, to the dressing of food, which seems to be prohibited in that scripture, ‘Bake that ye will bake to day, and seethe that which ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over, lay it up to be kept for you until the morning,’ Exod. xvi. 23. The meaning thereof seems to be this; Bake, or seethe that which is necessary for your food, the day before the Sabbath, and lay up the rest, to be baked or seethed on the Sabbath. The command more especially prohibits their gathering manna on the Sabbath, and preparing it for baking or seething; which would have taken up too great a part of the day, and have been a diversion from the religious worship thereof. But the baking or seething, which would have afforded but a small interruption to the work thereof, does not seem to have been forbidden.
And this leads us to enquire, what judgment we may pass on the stoning the man who gathered sticks on the Sabbath-day; which we read of in Numb. xv. 32, &c. The gathering of sticks for the making a fire on the Sabbath-day, seems to be a work of necessity; and therefore some may be ready to conclude that the punishment inflicted on him was too severe. But, instead of excepting against the greatness of the punishment inflicted, I would rather infer from hence, that the crime was very great. For,
(1.) He might have gathered sticks on other days, and thereby have provided a sufficient quantity for his necessary use, on the Sabbath-day; or else, he should have been content to have been without a fire on that day; rather than give so ill a precedent of the breach of the Sabbath.
(2.) It is probable he did this, not to supply his present necessities, but to increase his store; and, that he did not gather a few sticks, but a large quantity; which cannot be pretended to be a work of necessity.
(3.) It is not unlikely, that the man made a practice of it, for several Sabbaths together; and so lived in a total contempt and neglect of God’s public ordinances.
(4.) It is also reasonable to suppose, that he did this presumptuously, publicly, and in defiance of the divine command, after having been reproved for it; and he might obstinately vindicate this wicked practice, and resolve, for the future, to persist in it; for that is the nature of a presumptuous sin. And it is plain, that he sinned presumptuously therein; inasmuch as God, in the verses immediately foregoing, had threatened, that the soul that doth ought presumptuously, or, as it is in the margin, with an high hand, who reproached the Lord herein, should be cut off; and then this account of the man’s being stoned for gathering sticks on the Sabbath-day, is brought in as an instance of a just punishment of a presumptuous sinner.
These things being duly considered, we cannot take occasion from hence, to conclude, as many do, that there is this difference between the legal and the gospel-dispensation, in that the Sabbath was formerly to be observed more strictly than now; and that this was a part of the yoke which neither they nor their fathers were able to bear, the relaxation whereof is reckoned a branch of that liberty which we have under the gospel. But this sounds very ill in the ears of all serious Christians, who think the duties of religion, and the strictness of our obligation thereunto, a privilege rather than a burden. Thus concerning the lawfulness of our performing works of necessity on the Sabbath-day.
We proceed farther to consider, that works of mercy ought to be done on that day; such as visiting and preparing medicines for the sick, relieving the poor, providing food and water for cattle, and other brute creatures. This our Saviour vindicates by his practice, and illustrates by asserting the necessity of lifting out a sheep, that was fallen into a pit, on the Sabbath-day, Matt. xii. 10-13. However, when we maintain the lawfulness of performing works of necessity and mercy, on the Sabbath-day, the following cautions ought to be attended to;