Whatever Happened to the Sabbath Laws?

August 7, 2009, 12:56 pm by dc-agape.

Exodus 31

This is the last chapter before Moses comes down from the Mount Sinai and finds the people already sinning by worshipping the Golden Calf.  In this chapter two topics are discussed.  YHWH appoints two men to oversee the construction of his glorious Tent and all the expensive accouterments of worshipping him.  This new alter was unlike YHWH’s commandments to Moses prior to the Mount of Sinai.  Previously YHWH was satisfied with an earthen alter made from un-worked stone (Exodus 20:24-26).  Technically there was no worked stone in the Tent of Meeting, but the gold, silver, bronze, and the semi-precious stones that were added to the Tent were removed from stone and had to be worked.  It would seem that within 11 chapters YHWH has changed his mind about what an altar to him should look like.  The second topic is YHWH favorite: the Sabbath.  This is one that modern Christians and Jews pretty much ignore, but YHWH seemed very serious about it in the Old Testament.

The two men YHWH appointed to make the Tent of Meeting were named Bezalel and Oholiab.  These two men survived the coming murder by the Levites (3,000 men were killed – Exodus 32:28) and the plague that YHWH set against the Israelites (an unknown number were killed – Exodus 32:35).  These two men were talented in all the craftsmanship required to build the Tent of Meeting and all the expensive items that YHWH desired.  These men could: “make artistic designs in gold, silver, and bronze, cut and set stones, woodwork, and all other kinds of craftsmanship including the knowledge of how to make clothing, perfumes, and the anointing oil.  Humans have lost a lot of skills over the millennia…today you’re lucky if can find one person skilled in a single one of those talents!

The rest of the chapter stresses YHWH desire for the Israelites to remember the Sabbath.  Three verses are crucial to this discussion.  The first one is about the permanency of this regulation:

Exodus 31:16-17 the Israelites are to observe the Sabbath, celebrating it for generations to come as a lasting covenant.  It will be a sign between me and the Israelites forever, for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he abstained from work and rested.

It would seem that YHWH was serious about this Sabbath thing.  He wanted it to be celebrated forever!  But he wanted it celebrated in a special way…by resting.  No work was allowed to be done on the Sabbath.  But even here YHWH could not make up his mind if he wanted someone who worked on the Sabbath to be exiled or killed.  These two verses are definitely in contradiction to each other:

Exodus 31:14 Observe the Sabbath, because it is holy to you.  Anyone who desecrates it must be put to death; whoever does any work on that day must be cut off from his people.

Now the difference between desecrating and working the Sabbath is not specified.  But the punishment for the two crimes is certainly different.  Desecration required the death penalty, where as working the Sabbath required being exiled from Israel.  But then YHWH changes his mind and says this only in the next verse:

Exodus 31:15 for six days, work is to be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord.  Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day must be put to death.

Notice the reversal of punishment.  In the 14^th verse exile was required.  Yet in the 15^th verse humans are to kill the person working on the Sabbath.  Also notice that YHWH was not going to do the killing…No, he required his followers to carry out the sentence.  Yet today no one is murdered for working on the Sabbath.  What seemed very important to YHWH in Moses’ time can be ignored in modern times.  I guess we should be glad that YHWH is not as demanding as he was to the poor Israelites.

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