Numbers 15 – Sabbath Breaker Stoned

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective

Reading through the book of Numbers, it is difficult to come away and not realize just how much God demanded of the Israelites. The list of responsibilities, both ceremonial and religious, were astounding. Again, we need to be clear that these requirements were not issued in order for Israelites to “work” for salvation. Salvation in the Bible has always been granted based on one thing and one thing only: faith. Salvation in the Bible has never been something that a person could earn or work toward.

The reasons all of these things were given to Israel were threefold. First, it was representative of the fact that sin is thoroughly sinful. It is anathema to God. It breaks our fellowship and it destroys life. There is no other way to understand sin and those who attempt to whitewash it clearly fail to realize the full ramifications of sin’s effect on all of God’s Creation. God hates it.

Second, the many requirements given to Israel were to point out that it was literally impossible to maintain fellowship with God because eventually something would occur in the life of the believer that would preempt that fellowship. Third, all of the regulations, requirements, and laws were given to Israel to point to the One who would eventually come and fulfill all of it and He would do so on our behalf. This speaks of God’s tremendous love for those whom He created in His image.

God differentiates between willful sinning and sinning that is done by accident, often without fully understanding what was done. In the case of either, depending upon the nature of the sin, forgiveness and reinstatement to fellowship with God could be achieved, in most cases. However, there were some sins that required the death penalty. We read about one such situation in Numbers 15:32-36.

32 While the people of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day. 33 And those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation. 34 They put him in custody, because it had not been made clear what should be done to him. 35 And the LORD said to Moses, “The man shall be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp.” 36 And all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him to death with stones, as the LORD commanded Moses. (ESV)

Previously, the Israelites had been warned that the Sabbath was to be kept holy. It would be a time when all Israel would simply rest, as God had rested on the seventh day following His creative efforts. Honoring the Sabbath would be for Israel a time to simply rest, reflect, enjoy family, and take a day off from work. It would be a time of renewal for people.

The Sabbath was also extended to the Land in that every seven years, the Land was to lie fallow (unused) for one year. This would give the Land an opportunity to replenish itself. Constant use of Land agriculturally without a break would eventually ruin the soil, as it would have no time to regain its nutritive value. It would become good for nothing. Unfortunately, we learn that Israel ignored this for 70 years. This is why God brought in a foreign invader (Babylon), captured or destroyed the people and took them from the Land. During those 70 years, the Land had a chance to replenish itself. However, as we learn in Daniel 9, even after the 70 years were over, God would require 70 x 7 years or 490 years in total because of their disobedience, wherein the nation of Israel would be controlled by foreign Gentile powers until the times of the Gentiles had been fulfilled.

Regarding the Sabbath day of the week, it would begin on Friday evening and extend to Saturday evening. This was to be a statute for Israel into perpetuity. Please note that this was given to the nation of Israel. It was not given to the Church, which is why in the New Testament, the “Lord’s Day” was often celebrated on Sunday, the first day of the week, and the very day that Jesus rose from the dead.

When I hear Christians today speak of observing the “Sabbath,” I cringe, because they are talking about worshiping on Saturday as the Israelites did. The Church is not Israel. The Church has not replaced Israel. The Church is separate from Israel. God is not finished with Israel and that is very clear from Scripture. The only way a person can arrive to the conclusion that God is done with Israel and has transferred all rights and privileges originally given to Israel, to the Church, is by allegorizing Scripture. That is the only way. When Scripture is taken in its most plain and ordinary sense (literally), it speaks for itself and it becomes clear that God has a program for Israel and a program for the Church. Salvation for both is received the exact same way (through faith), but God has a unique program for each and Israel’s will find its fulfillment in the coming Millennium. It is similar to the fact that God’s will for each individual is different, yet salvation for them is received the exact same way.

The Sabbath was not to be broken by anyone living in Israel. The Sabbath was to be observed. God decreed it and that was final. So what happens when someone broke it?

In the above passage, we learn of a man who decided to gather sticks on the Sabbath. Once the people realized what he was doing, they grew concerned. They had already known that the Sabbath was not to be broken, so they took the man into custody. However, at that point, Moses had not given them any instructions on what to do to a person who broke the Sabbath.

Moses inquired of the Lord and the answer was swift and unmistakable. “The man shall be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp.”

Seems harsh, doesn’t it? The guy was just “gathering sticks” probably for a fire. Death for picking up sticks? Had the Lord not ever told the people through Moses that breaking the Sabbath was not to be tolerated, we might have a reason to feel sorry for the man. But, the law had been given by Moses. It had been made clear that the Sabbath was to be recognized and was a holy day for the people of Israel. The man had no excuse.

But why did ignoring this law mean death? The short answer is that the man was deliberately rebelling against God’s sovereignty. He was willfully ignoring God’s rule in the life of the Israelites. Had the people not put him in custody, chances are great that worse things possibly by way of a plague would have been visited on the people.

In the life of Israel, we see a constant stream of seemingly endless attempts by Israel to disavow God’s rule in that nation’s life. They grumbled, they complained, they threatened to stone Moses and Aaron on more than one occasion. They often rebelled at God’s goodness and put Him to the test. On at least one occasion, God told Moses He was going to destroy the entire nation and would start over with Moses. Moses intervened for them and God relented, but even then, God sent plagues killing thousands of the Israelites.

So, as punishment for his crime of breaking the Sabbath, the people, under Moses’ direction, took the man outside the camp and stoned him to death. He was effectively “cut off” from the nation of Israel and it was done outside the camp so as not to defile the camp itself since his dead body would simply lie there. To us, it seems harsh, very harsh. But God was making a point.

Did the man have salvation and lose it because of this? If he was an actual believer, he did not lose his salvation. However, he certainly destroyed fellowship with God, didn’t he? It may be doubtful that the man was a believer because it seems that if he was, he would not have deliberately set a law like that aside. The death of this man served as a warning to all Israel. Do not set aside what God has decreed. If you do, there will be severe consequences. We’ve seen this play out in Israel’s history repeatedly.

God created laws to send a message to a wayward people, people who were often bent on mischief. They wanted to do things their way, not God’s way. God had to be strict with them. There is nothing wrong with strict, fair laws, that benefit everyone.

We are in a time right now, where the level of corruption we are seeing being uncovered in both state and federal governments is mind-boggling. We see it and it is difficult to grasp. We’re told by several sources that there is plenty more revealing information to come. It is abysmal to think about. It’s not just the setting aside of laws so that Americans were spied on (including Trump). We are talking about revelations that more than hints at serious pedophilia and human trafficking crimes.

There are currently, 13,600 sealed indictments against people right now. About 1,300 of those have been unsealed. Apparently, at least some of the indictments apply to the same person, so we may not be talking about 13,600 people here. Still, it is staggering.

How did we get to this point? We got here because of the fact that corrupt people with aberrant political ideologies (Marxism), gained control of our institutions and governments in America. Like many within Israel of old, they set aside America’s laws for numerous purposes.

These people, who clearly believe themselves to be above the law, need to caught, arrested, indicted, and full justice served. They must be made examples of what happens when people entertain treasonous ideas about overthrowing America. Some must be put to death if they are found guilty of treason against the United States. This will go a long way as warning for future generations.

God created laws for Israel to remind and warn people that they needed to stay within the boundaries He set if they were going to continue in fellowship with God. It did not matter if the individual Israelite (or foreigner living in Israel at the time), was a true “believer” or not. The law applied to all. To break those laws could mean their deaths. It would be a lesson that would impact the rest of the people who saw that form of justice meted out.

It is the same today. We have laws for the benefit of all in society. Justice is supposed to be blind, but too often, it has been overruled by the rich and powerful, who work for outside influences. The tide needs to turn back to the rule of law as outlined by the Constitution of the United States of America.

Though there is tremendous grace under God for those who have salvation, we cannot use that grace to disregard God’s moral code. In fact, with Christ living within us, we have everything we need to live a life of godliness (2 Peter 1:3 ESV).

His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence…

We need to live there and we need to vote in people who will endeavor to enforce the laws that exist and to make new laws that coincide with the Constitution. This is the country in which we live. I used to think we didn’t need to worry about it. God would work all things out. God expects His children to live a life that supports the law. We must do that and we must encourage everyone else to do the same.

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective