[Music] hello and welcome to another teaching from 119 ministries our ministry believes that the whole bible is true and directly related to our lives today if you would like to know more about what we believe and teach please visit us at testeverything.net if you enjoy this video don't forget to hit the like button and subscribe to our channel by hitting the button down below we hope that you enjoy studying and testing the following teaching [Music] have you ever been told that there's not to be any fire on the sabbath exodus chapter 35 work shall be done for six days but the seventh day shall be a holy day for you a sabbath arrest to yahweh whoever does any work on it shall be put to death you shall kindle no fire throughout your dwellings on this sabbath day for those studying the commandments of elohim with a desire to apply its truth and not forsake truth this commandment can often result in some questionable confusion quite often we witness the house of judah or jews applying this commandment in certain circumstances in such a way that it appears rather extreme on the flip side those in mainstream christianity witness and study what orthodox jews have done with this verse and immediately demand the same application from anyone teaching obedience to all of elohim's commandments as if the jews understand everything about god's word perfectly they are supposedly implying that if one believes all of the old testament is still be true then the jews are the perfect example to emulate sadly this is often done in order to supposedly prove the futility of applying god's commandments for today that any attempt to keep yahweh's commandments is obviously absurd and that men have clearly evolved beyond such outdated commandments in such an approach other commandments are discarded as well lumping them into one convenient outdated basket all because it is understood that the intent of the messiah was to change the law of god as taught by paul it can all quickly become such a mess the over-the-top jewish interpretation of this verse then becomes an obstacle for mainstream christians in understanding the whole truth of the word likewise it is also often an obstacle for the house of judah or jews as a doctrinal distraction from the true intent purpose and wonderful joy of the sabbath that has been given to us some of the traditional jewish practices as it relates to exodus 35 3 would appear rather odd to many how can we or do we make sense of this some of those odd practices include only using special elevators that do not create a spark or refusing to drive cars or the avoiding of many other such things that can be even loosely interpreted as involving a fire on the sabbath while it must be admitted that such restraint and prohibitions are certainly affording parameter guidelines that prevent the breaking of this commandment in the literal or even beyond at the same time the entire point in obedience to this commandment is simply being missed in reality that can become the larger issue we should consider the teachings of messiah yeshua in mark chapter 7. there is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him but the things that come out of a person are what defile him we certainly do not want to add or subtract from the law of god deuteronomy 4 2 however nor do we want to invent traditions that replace the intent and purpose of the law of god you shall not add to the word that i command you nor take away from it that you may keep the commandments of yahweh your elohim that i command you now let's focus on the whole context of mark chapter 7. then the pharisees and the scribes asked him why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders but eat bread with unwashed hands he answered and said to them well did isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites as it is written the people honors me with their lips but their heart is far from me and in vain they worship me teaching as doctrines the commandments of men for laying aside the commandment of god you hold the tradition of men the washing of pictures and cups and many other such things you do he said to them all too well you reject the commandment of god that you may keep your tradition for moses said honor your father and your mother and he who curses father or mother let him be put to death but you say if a man says to his father or mother whatever prophet you might have received from me is corbyn that is a gift to god then you no longer let him do anything for his father or his mother making the word of god of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down and many such things you do when he had called the multitude to himself he said to them hear me everyone and understand there is nothing that enters a man from outside which can defile him but the things which come out of him those are the things that defile a man if anyone has ears to hear let them hear there is an interpretive balance that requires us to rightly divide the word of truth meaning there is also a wrong way to divide the truth second timothy 2 15 be diligent to present yourself approved to god as a workman who does not need to be ashamed accurately handling the word of truth the word of god is certainly sharper than a two-edged sword hebrews 4 12 but sometimes our personal doctrines can really dull and dilute the truth hebrews 4 12 for the word of god is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit of both joints and moral and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart however those who really desire to worship in spirit and truth and obey the truth will seek these things out john chapter 4 verse 24 god is spirit and those who worship him must worship him in spirit and truth romans 2 8 but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth but obey unrighteousness wrath and indignation sometimes in our studies we forget the inclusion of context and hermeneutics to assist us in establishing correct understanding and application of god's word sometimes the best question we could ask is why why would god not want us to light a fire on the sabbath that is a very simple question but offers profound interpretive benefit and hermeneutical application in verse 3 we find that the fire is not to be kindled in the dwellings does this mean that if i'm in a forest in the middle of nowhere away from any dwellings that i can create a fire technically the answer is yes i already have my wood and i'm not working to collect that wood to create a fire numbers 15 now while the sons of israel were in the wilderness they found a man gathering wood on the sabbath day those who found him gathering wood brought him to moses and aaron and to all the congregation and they put him in custody because it had not been declared what should be done to him then yahweh said to moses the man shall surely be put to death all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp so all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him to death with stones just as yahweh had commanded moses we can only conclude that there must be a reason why god is focusing on the dwellings of those during this time period as it relates to kindling a fire what purpose did the fires in the dwelling serve as opposed to any random fire one might kindle the telling difference is embedded in the intent and purpose of the commandment established in the prior verse exodus 35 verses 2-3 work shall be done for six days but the seventh day shall be a holy day for you a sabbath of rest to yahweh whoever does any work on it shall be put to death you shall kindle no fire throughout your dwellings on the sabbath day the fire we are not to kindle is a fire clearly related to work in some way this makes sense because the central point of the sabbath is resting thus it is not necessarily the fire itself that is the issue as some make it out to be we should not be focusing on the fire but the work which is the opposite of rest is the opposite of the intent of the sabbath anyone focused on the fire has completely missed the point yahweh was trying to make in his instruction this helps explain the difference between the focus on kindling a fire in a dwelling and simply just anywhere if it was all about not kindling a fire anywhere then yahweh would have not limited the instruction about fire on the sabbath to just the dwellings obviously the fire and the dwelling serves a purpose and somehow that purpose is contrary to resting this begins to speak to what effort it takes to prepare and produce the fire or what the fire is intended to serve which is daily work in the middle east thousands of years ago or even today a fire was a central element to facilitate much of the daily work activity cooking cleaning tool and supply production are all examples of daily work that required a fire the type of fire god is referring to is a fire to support working not only was it a burden of work to prepare for that fire thus do any activity before or after the sabbath but the fire and context of the dwelling is also intended to serve the working person this means that the one who creates a fire on the sabbath is intending to work this is the relationship between fire and work god defines the context and the context is fire that is in the dwellings this commandment would have been correctly interpreted in this way by those intended to receive it when moses delivered it they understood that should we not also understand it in the same way should we ignore that or apply that those who were all caught up in the commandments of men and believe that they're not to push a button or turn on a switch may or may not have their heart in the right place but they are certainly missing the intended message god is speaking to regarding this commandment god is simply stating to not only rest on the day that he created for rest but to not even prepare for or think of work when we are to be resting and focusing on him there are principles we can take from this commandment and also apply to our modern circumstances each believer should consider these things in their walk for those who believe that there is no modern application here i've given this matter little thought in our work saturated daily lives and busy minds presumably when the prohibition was presented kindling fire was indeed work starting a fire was not as simple as flipping a lighter today or pushing a button nor is creating fire today intended quite often to serve our daily work some cultures today still use fire as the central need for daily work we need to examine and apply these things through the eyes of the giver and receiver of the commandment not whatever interpretive glasses that we are wearing at the time every bible scholar should agree with such a statement there is a mainstream practical usage of fire today that is not related to work and was not present in the context of exodus 35 verses 2 through 3. more often than not simply keeping warm and colder climates comes to mind as such an example in such circumstances applying exodus 35 2-3 today as intended would mean having one's preparation for a fire done before the sabbath and then using the fire to keep a household warm but not for daily work the obvious critical difference to recognize and ask as it relates to exodus 35 verses 2 through 3 is this is the fire intended and used for work how that question is answered defines a type of fire and thus enabling the correct application of exodus 35 verses 2 through 3. if this was not the case are we to believe that those in the first century talking and studying to the wee hours of the morning during weekly shabbat fellowship were not using candles or lanterns of course they were and they were doing this before and after the cross would that not be defined as lighting of fire in a dwelling technically it would that means that they understood exodus 35 in the context in which it was given lighting and fire in a dwelling does not violate yahweh's commandments as long as it is not being done for work or work to prepare for and maintain the fire for the sabbath are we to believe that they were just sitting around in the dark that would be just plain silly the context of exodus 35 verses 2 through 3 is related to our work activity or simply not resting unless we want to ignore the verse prior to verse 3. kindling a fire meant something in the context in which it was given can it not be agreed that we should practice the commandment as it was given the conclusion of the matter is this we should not work to create a fire that is intended to support more work that is the only way the commandment could have been interpreted when it was given such an interpretation completely makes sense given the whole point of the sabbath in itself so the question becomes this should we apply the commandment as it was intended to be interpreted or should we apply it how our culture would interpret it should the interpretations of the commandments of god change based on every new generation or should we interpret them through the generation in which they were given should the interpretation be based on the culture of their reader or the culture of those present and living when the text was given hopefully these questions will expose the common sense that we should use in our understanding of scripture this is not as complicated as some have made it out to be some actually do desire this commandment to be that complicated because they love the traditions of the fathers some even want this commandment to be that complicated to use an excuse to abandon the sabbath rest that was made for us the reality is that it is not that complicated we are to rest not work that is for our benefit we are to not work or force anyone else to work nor consume ourselves with preparing or thinking about work on a set of heart or holy day why would we want to work when he says to rest we might just find that focusing on god the word instead of traditions of men or things of the world just happens to resonate well with our spirit if something about ignoring the daily burdens of the world and entering into the weekly freedom of spending time with god and his family on the sabbath is frightening and a burden to us then we have much more complex issues to address rather than the simple matters of obedience resting and spending time with yahweh and his family is a blessing not a burden it shows our love for him 1st john chapter 5. by this we know that we love the children of god when we love god and keep his commandments for this is the love of god that we keep his commandments and his commandments are not burdensome the focus of this sabbath is yahweh and resting not creating a fire to work it is as simple as that on another note some have interpreted that not kindling a fire on shabbat means to not become angry as a metaphor that very well could be the case however did our creator ever become angry with israel on shabbat yes of course does our creator sin is he our example yes he is how we treat anger or their reasons for anger should not be any different on shabbat than any other day we address this because sometimes we receive this question could kindling a fire be a reference to arguing slash debating and that is what we are to not do on the sabbath we already mentioned where yahweh himself got angry on shabbat so we know that getting angry on shabbat is not his sin as yahweh does not sin but what about arguing or debating well that doesn't really fit either although we have seen teachings that go to great lengths to attempt to show that kindling a fire is metaphorical and not literal we need to consider the evidence against that position yeshua paul and likely countless others argued and debated on the sabbaths in fact in one mention in acts it was said to be paul's custom to do just that we hope that some are not going to suggest that yeshua and paul were guilty of sin because they argued and debated on the sabbath they even intentionally got others angry on the sabbath because of what they were teaching not kindling a fire on the sabbath is not intended to be metaphorical but literal making that commandment metaphorical causes even more problems than it solves the point is this not kindling a fire is a literal commandment but must be interpreted within the context of the commandment to rest and the culture in which that commandment was given we hope that this teaching has blessed you and remember continue to test everything shalom it is because of you our generous supporters who make it possible to offer these high quality teachings completely free of charge if you feel led to support 119 ministries so that we can continue this effort please visit testeverything.net and click on the support 119 tab learn how you can partner with us to take the whole word of god to the 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