Over the years I have been presented with some good questions regarding the Sabbath and I want to always look at scripture as we answer these questions. These are the common questions I have been asked regarding the Sabbath. But, as always I am not the final authority on the topic and just want to help shed some light on some of these questions. Make sure that you take everything to our Father YAHWEH and His Son YESHUA in prayer.
Question: What constitutes as work on the Sabbath?
Genesis 2:2-3
“And on the seventh day ELOHIM completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made. And ELOHIM blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it He rested from all His work which ELOHIM in creating had made.
Exodus 20:9-11
“Remember the Sabbath day, to sanctify it. Six days you labor, and shall do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of YAHWEH your ELOHIM. You do not do any work- you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days YAHWEH made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. There YAHWEH blessed the Sabbath day and sanctified it.”
Jubilees 50:12
“And every man who does ANY WORK thereon, or goes on a journey, or tills his field (garden work/farm work), whether in his house or any other place, and whoever lights a fire, or rides on any beast (horseback riding), or travels by ship on the sea (cruises), and whoever smites or kills whatever, or slaughters a beast or bird, or whoever catches an animal or bird or a fish (hunting and fishing) or whoever fasts or goes to battle on the Sabbath.”
Lighting a fire in my opinion has a strong connection to the ritual in Judaism when they light the Shabbat candles to bring in the Sabbath; and saying a prayer saying YAHWEH commanded the lighting of the Shabbat candles when He didn’t. It seems to be an intentional lighting of a fire the same way the tradition in Judaism is to not eat lamb on Passover as YAHWEH commanded in Exodus, but they rather replace it with shank bone, which is the exact opposite of what YAHWEH commanded. Also, the man who was stoned for collecting sticks on the Sabbath must have been collecting sticks to build a fire. And building a fire requires work, he had six days to gather all of the sticks and get the fire started before the start of the Sabbath. Again, this is my opinion on the situation.
Jubilees 2:25-26
“He created the heavens and earth and all that He created in six days, and ELOHIM made the seventh day holy for all His works. Therefore He commanded for this reason, that whoever does any work on it shall die, and that he who defiles it shall certainly die. Therefore you shall command the children of Yisra’el to observe this day that they may sanctify it and not do any work on it, and not to defile it, as it is MORE HOLY THAN ALL THE OTHER DAYS.”
As we can see our Father YAHWEH wants us to get away from doing what we normally we do on the other six days. This day is set apart to Him, so no garden work, horseback riding, hunting, fishing, cruises, cooking, cleaning, shopping, paying bills are not permitted on the Sabbath. The goal is to rest as He commanded and get OUT of the world. The Sabbath is more holy than all of the other days; therefore, separating yourself from worldly activity, worldly talk, are ways to honor the Sabbath because it is the holiest day of the week.
We see that in Genesis our Father YAHWEH gave us the example that He expects us to follow and reinforces this by telling us to remember to rest on the Sabbath in the 10 commandments. The weekly 7th Day Sabbath and Yom Kippur all called “Shabbat Shabbaton’s” which means complete stopping and complete ceasing from all activity. Many have asked saying “YESHUA said that it is good to do good on the Sabbath, so isn’t working as a doctor or nurse considered doing good on the Sabbath?” Yes, YESHUA did heal on the Sabbath which is doing good, but He didn’t earn a wage nor did He heal with pharmakia, so if you were to go out and heal someone with natural medicines without receiving a wage for it, then this is a good thing, but we know most people don’t work for free, especially if it is their job. YESHUA’s examples were all about SUSTAINING LIFE and not earning a wage or personal gain. The problem is that the Pharisees were accusing YESHUA of breaking THEIR version of the Sabbath by adding many man-made traditions to it. Examples:
Mathew 12:5
“Or did you not read in the Torah that on the Sabbath the priests in the Sanctuary profane the Sabbath, and are blameless?”
So what is YESHUA saying here? They profaned the Sabbath yet they were innocent? That is because they were making slaughtering offerings for the forgiveness of sins on the Sabbath, which is doing GOOD because they were sustaining life on the Sabbath by making atonement for the people. The Book of Jubilees confirms this:
Jubilees 50:11
“This work alone shall be done on the Sabbath-Days in the Sanctuary of YAHWEH your ELOHIM; that they may atone for Yisra’el with offering continually from day to day for a memorial well-pleasing before YAHWEH, and that He may receive them always from day to day accordingly as you have been commanded.”
YESHUA wasn’t profaning the Sabbath by doing any work, He was merely showing the Pharisees that they were hypocrites that added to the Word of YHWH to make themselves appear more holy, but it was all works of the flesh and not the Spirit.
As YESHUA said in Mathew 23 “they lay heavy burdens upon men, but they themselves do not lift a finger.” However, if the command is from the Torah then you are to do it, just not according to their works. For example if they said to keep The Sabbath holy then you are to do it because it’s in the Torah, but not according to their works means that because of their man-made laws they added to the Torah like (you cannot tie your shoes on the Sabbath, you cannot write on the Sabbath, winnowing which plucking heads of grain that YESHUA’s disciples did in Luke 6)
They held their added traditions to higher value than the Torah making the commandments of YAHWEH of no-effect. The Pharisees tried to accuse YESHUA of breaking The Sabbath; when in actuality they were measuring YESHUA up to their added prohibits to the Torah and not the actual words of YAHWEH, which is why YESHUA said in Mathew 15:6-10
“So you have nullified the Command of ELOHIM by your tradition. Hypocrites! Isaiah rightly prophesied about you saying, ‘This people draw near to Me with their mouth, and respect Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. But in vain do they worship Me, teaching as teachings the commands of men.”
Luke 12:1
“Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees which is hypocrisy.”
An example of their hypocrisy is found in John 7:19-23
“Did not Moses give you the Torah? Yet NOT ONE of you does the Torah! Why do you seek to Kill Me? The crowd answered and said, “You have a demon, who seeks to kill You? YESHUA answered and said to them, I did one work, and you all marvel. Because of this Moses has given you the circumcision though it is not from Moses, but from the fathers and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath, so that the Torah of Moses should not be broken, are you wroth with Me because I made a man entirely well on the Sabbath?
See the hypocrisy? The Pharisees accused YESHUA of breaking the Sabbath because He healed a man’s entire body on the Sabbath, yet they would circumcise their son on the 8th day according to the Torah on the Sabbath to keep the commandment, what’s the difference? Their added tradition of what they viewed as work made them hypocrites of what they were doing themselves. They healed a small portion of a child’s body and YESHUA healed the man’s entire body, yet they didn’t view their circumcision as work, but viewed YESHUA’s healing as work. They also would pull a sheep out of a pit to save the animal, and YESHUA said “how much more the life of a man?” (Mathew 12) YESHUA healed a woman who had been bound by Satan for 18 years.
Luke 13:10-16
“And He was teaching in one of the congregations on the Sabbath, and see, there was a woman having a weakening spirit for eighteen years, and was bent over and was unable to straighten up at all. And YESHUA, seeing her, called her near and said to her, “Woman, you are loosened from your weakness.” And He laid His hands on her, and immediately she was straightened up, and praised ELOHIM. But the ruler of the congregation, responding, much displeased that YESHUA had healed on the Sabbath, said to the crowd, “There are six days on which men should work, so come and be healed on them, and not on the Sabbath day.” Then the Master answered him and said, “Hypocrite! Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loosen his ox or his donkey from the stall, and lead it away to water it? “And this one, being a daughter or Abraham, whom Satan has bound, look, for eighteen years, should she not be loosened from this bond on the Sabbath?
Since, when is healing someone a bad thing or considered work? YESHUA was always showing the Pharisees their hypocritical teachings. Furthermore, we can agree that there are thousands of other doctors or nurses who do not observe the Torah that will gladly work in your place, it’s just time to decide whether you will obey the commands of YAHWEH or not. Doing good can also be helping the poor, a medical emergency in the family, stopping a dog or child from being hit by a car, saving them from drowning etc. All of these help SUSTAIN LIFE! Nowhere are wages being earned in any of the scriptures, the goal is to rest, to eat, read, pray, worship our Father YAHWEH who has blessed us with all of these things. He is simply saying give Him 24 hours away from the world and draw closer to Him and His ways, because this day is about Him and not ourselves.
We just have to make the decision to be obedient to our Father YAHWEH or not, it’s all a test. Will you pass the test in trust in the provision of YAHWEH or will you trust in yourself to provide while profaning the Sabbath? I personally, had a decision to make when it was “mandatory” to work on the Sabbath or be fired and I choose to stand for the commands of YAHWEH and I said I wasn’t going to work and I was blessed for trusting in Him.
Exodus 16:4
“And YAHWEH said to Moses, “See, I am raining bread from the heavens for you. And the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day. In order TO TRY THEM, whether they walk in My Torah or not.”
The purpose is to turn away from work and our own desires on this day, to rest, praise and worship of Father YAHWEH and His Son YESHUA on this day.
Question: Who are the male and female servants? Can you children work?
Exodus 20:9-11
“Remember the Sabbath day, to sanctify it. Six days you labor, and shall do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of YAHWEH your ELOHIM. You do not do any work- you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days YAHWEH made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. There YAHWEH blessed the Sabbath day and sanctified it.”
We see a part of the instructions that our ELOHIM gives is not only for you not to work, but also your sons and daughters, so if you have children living with you and they are working on the Sabbath it is your duty to make sure they stop because it’s our duty as a parent to raise up children according to YAHWEH’s word:
Deuteronomy 6:6-9
“And these Words which I am commanding you today shall be in your heart, and you shall impress them upon your children, and shall speak of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up, and shall bind them as a sign on our hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.”
What about the male and female servants? To apply this in modern day, if you go to a restaurant or even a drive through window of a fast food place, they have to work in order to prepare your food and ring up your order which means that they have provided a service for you; therefore, they have become your male or female servants for the time period which would violate the Sabbath. Even going to the grocery store and going through a check out or even a self-checkout is still causing someone else to work for you. Someone had to open the store, stock the shelves, ring you up, or even caught on the self-check-out machine. Also, if you own a business and keep the business open and pay employees to work on the Sabbath then this is also violation of the commandment, because they are your male and females servants that you are paying to conduct a service for you and others. Make sure you close down shop on the Sabbath day.
Question: Buying or selling on Sabbath?
This correlates with the question about the modern day servants. But it also includes that we are not supposed to buy or sell on the Sabbath Day. This includes anything for your business, buying something on Amazon, Craigslist, yard sales, flea markets, or paying bills online. We have six days to do all of these things, but the seventh day is holy unto YAHWEH.
Jubilees 50:8
“And the man that does any work on it shall die. Whoever lies with his wife or whoever says he shall do whatever on it- that he shall depart on a journey thereon in regard to ANY BUYING OR SELLING…”
Buying and selling is so serious that we can look to Nehemiah’s example:
Nehemiah 13:15-21
“In those days I saw in Judah those treading wine presses on the Sabbath, and brining in sheaves, and loading donkeys with wine, grapes, and figs, and all kids of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. So I warned on the day they SOLD FOOD. And men of Tsor dwelt there, bringing in fish and all kinds of goods, and sold them on the Sabbath to the children of Judah, and Jerusalem. Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said to them, “What EVIL matter is this that you are doing, PROFANING the Sabbath day? Did not your ancestors do the same so that our ELOHIM brought all this evil on us and on this city? Yet you bring added wrath on Yisra’el by PROFANING the Sabbath.” And it came to be, at the gates of Jerusalem, as it began to be dark before the Sabbath, that I commanded the gates to be shut, and commanded that they should not be opened till after the Sabbath. And I stood some of my servants at the gates, so that no burdens would be brought in on the Sabbath day. And the merchants and sellers of all kinds of wares spend the night outside Jerusalem once or twice, and I warned them, and said to them, “Why do you spend the night around the wall? If you do so again, I lay hands on you!” From that time on they came no more on the Sabbath.”
Nehemiah was literally referring to what YAHWEH spoke in:
Jeremiah 17:21-27
“Thus said YAHWEH, “Guard yourselves, and bear no burden on the Sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem, not take a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath day, nor do any work. And you shall sanctify the Sabbath day, as I commanded your ancestors (10 commandments.) But they did not obey, or incline their ear, and they made their neck stiff not to hear and not to receive instruction. And it shall be, if you diligently obey Me,” declares YAHWEH, “to bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, and sanctify the Sabbath day, to do nor work in it, then kings and heads sitting on the throne of David shall enter in through the gates of this city, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their heads-the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And this city shall be inhabited forever. And they shall come from the cities of Judah and from the places around Jerusalem, and form the land of Benjamin and from the low country, from the mountains and form the Negev, bringing burnt offerings and slaughtering’s, grain offerings and incense, brining offerings of praise to the House of YAHWEH. But if you do not obey Me to sanctify the Sabbath day, and not to bear a burden when entering the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I shall kindle a fire in its gates, and it shall consume the palaces of Jerusalem, and not be quenched.”
So as we see that buying or selling on the Sabbath is so serious that Nehemiah not only closed the gates to prevent people from buying or selling, but also place guards to stop them.
Question: Can you cook on Sabbath?
The ultimate goal is to rest as our ELOHIM did on the Sabbath and get everything prepared, chopped and cooked, which is why Friday is called “Preparation Day.”
Luke 23:54-56
“And it was Preparation day, and the Sabbath was approaching. And the women who had come with Him from Galilee followed after, and saw the tomb and how His body was laid. And having returned, they prepared spices and perfumed. And they rested on the Sabbath according to the Command.”
Exodus 16:23-29
“And he said to them, “This is what YAHWEH has said, ‘Tomorrow is a REST, a Sabbath holy to YAHWEH. That which you bake, bake; and that which your cook, cook (So no cooking). And lay up for yourselves all that is left over, to keep it until morning. And they laid it up till morning, as Moses commanded. And it did not stink, and no worm was in it. And Moses said, “Eat it today, for today is a Sabbath to YAHWEH, today you do not find it in the field. Gather it six days, but on the seventh day, which is the Sabbath, there is none.” And it came to be that some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather, but they found none. And YAHWEH said to Moses, “How long shall you refuse to guard My Commands and My Torot? See, because YAHWEH has given you the Sabbath, therefore He is giving you bread for TWO DAYS ON THE SIXTH DAY. Let each one stay in his place, do not let anyone go out of his place on the seventh day.”
Just like we read in Luke 23 about Preparation Day, we see that our Father YAHWEH already instituted back in Exodus 16, by providing twice as much manna on the 6th day so they could rest on the Sabbath, and this pattern was established for 40 years in the wilderness. They did all of their preparation on the 6th day and laid it up until the Sabbath, the same way we should do today.
Jubilees 50:8-9
“And whoever draws water (if you have a well for example) thereon which he had not PREPARED for himself on the SIXTH DAY, and whoever takes up any burden to carry it out of his tent out of his house shall die. You shall DO NO WORK whatever on the Sabbath Day except that you have PREPARED for yourselves on the SIXTH DAY, so as to eat, and drink, and rest, and guard the Sabbath from ALL WORK on that day, to bless YAHWEH your ELOHIM, who has given you a day of Festival, and a holy day, and a day of the holy reign for all Yisra’el is this day among their days forever.”
As we can see Preparation is key and we must get everything done so we can rest. There were times when I would prepare my meals two days in advance for the Sabbath if I thought I would be pushing it before the sunsets, especially in the winter when the sunsets at 4:30 pm. I stated earlier that I do not use an oven, stove, or microwave on the Sabbath, but if I want something hot I’ll put a soup or chili in the crockpot and leave it on before the Sabbath begins. Just some ideas to give you. I personally do warm food as a personal conviction, so I encourage you to take everything to YAHWEH in prayer.
Question: Can you have sex on the Sabbath?
Jubilees 50:8
“And the man that does any work on it shall die. Whoever profanes that day, whoever lies with his wife or whoever says he shall do whatever on it…”
Isaiah 58:13
“If you do turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on My holy day, and shall call the Sabbath ‘a delight,’ the sanctified of YAHWEH ‘esteemed,’ and shall esteem it, NOT DOING YOUR OWN WAY, NOR FINDING YOUR OWN PLEASURE (Sex is a pleasurable act), nor speaking your own words, then you shall delight yourself in YAHWEH. And I shall cause you to ride on the heights of the earth, and feed you with the inheritance of Jacob your ancestor. For the mouth of YAHWEH has spoken!”
We are to turn away from our pleasures, our desires and even not to speak our own idles words on the Sabbath, so that means refrain from worldly talk of politics or things that don’t esteem our ELOHIM! Plus, you can go a whole 24 hours without having relations with your spouse. Also, we can find more confirmation in Leviticus:
Leviticus 15:18
“And when a woman lies with a man, and there is an emission of semen, they both shall bath in water, and be unclean until evening.”
Therefore, having relations on the Sabbath means that you will be unclean on YAHWEH’s holy day. It would be best to wait until after the Sabbath passes.
Question: Can I fast on the Sabbath?
Jubilees 50:12
“And every man who does ANY WORK thereon, or goes on a journey, or tills his field (garden work), whether in his house or any other place, and whoever lights a fire, or rides on any beast (horseback riding), or travels by ship on the sea (cruises), and whoever smites or kills whatever, or slaughters a beast or bird, or whoever catches an animal or bird or a fish (hunting and fishing) or whoever FASTS or goes to battle on the Sabbath.”
Judith 8:6
“And she fasted all the days of her widowhood, EXCEPT THE SABBATH, and evenings of the Sabbaths, and the new moons, and the evening of the new moons and the Festivals and Appointed Times of the house of Yisra’el.”
A good question does arise when people want to know why YESHUA fasted for 40 days and 40 nights. And my opinion is that YESHUA was taken to the wilderness to be tried by the devil, but nowhere else in scripture is there record of YESHUA making it a habit to fast on the Sabbath, it is even recorded in Luke 6 about how His disciples plucked grain on the Sabbath to eat, and I personally have not seen it mentioned of any of the disciples fasting on the Sabbath. And another good question is what about when Moses fasted for 40 days and 40 nights while receiving the 10 commandments on Mount Sinai? I personal belief is what scripture says in:
Mathew 4:4
“But He answering, said, “It has been written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but every word that comes from the mouth of YAHWEH.” YESHUA was quoting Deuteronomy 8:3
“And He humbled you, and not let you suffer hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your ancestors know, to make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but by all that comes from the mouth of YAHWEH.”
So I believe that Moses was literally sitting in the presence of our ELOHIM and having a feast of the Living Words that were being spoken to him. He didn’t need earthly food, because He was eating the spiritual food of every word that was spoken out of the mouth of YAHWEH!
Question: Can I travel on the Sabbath?
This question isn’t so easily answered and again I am not the authority on it, but I will present four scriptures pertaining to it. So again, please take everything to our Father YAHWEH and His Son YESHUA in prayer and see how the RUACH HA’KODESH The Holy Spirit leads you.
Exodus 16:29
“See, because YAHWEH has given you the Sabbath, therefore He is giving you bread for two days on the sixth day. Let each one stay in his place, do not let anyone go out of his place on the seventh day.” So the people rested on the seventh day.”
Jubilees 50:12
“And every man who does any work thereon, OR GOES ON A JOURNEY…”
So the question then becomes what is constituted as a journey? What is the distance? Because we see this mentioned in the New Testament:
Acts 1:12
“Then they went back to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, which is NEAR JERUSALEM, A SABBATH DAY’S JOURNEY.”
There must be something here because YESHUA said in Mathew 24:20
“But pray that your flight may not be in the winter, nor on the Sabbath Day.”
So say its 2,000 feet and others disagree; however, for me I choose to stay in the house and refrain from traveling, but again, this is what I do, and I encourage anyone reading or listening to pray to see what He leads you to do. As always may our Father YAHWEH bless you in YESHUA’s Name!