Exodus 35:1-3 (ESV)

Moses assembled all the congregation of the people of Israel and said to them, “These are the things that the LORD has commanded you to do. Six days work shall be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on it shall be put to death. You shall kindle no fire in all your dwelling places on the Sabbath day.”

The priority God gives to the Sabbath is truly wondrous. He just keeps hammering the point. This time He mostly repeats what He said in Chapter 31.

But now we get an interesting addition. You shall kindle no fire in all your dwelling places on the Sabbath day. What’s so special about kindling a fire?

Well, first of all, with primitive methods starting a fire is definitely work. Here’s a downloadable movie of what it looks like when a modern expert does this with exactly the right kinds of wood.

http://www.primitiveways.com/Fire%20by%20Friction%20Methods.mov

The Israelites may not have even had the best wood (a good insulator, so that it can get hot enough.) Plus, it’s unlikely that anyone back then was as good as the guy in the video. The preferred method may have been to just add some kindling to the coals from yesterday’s fire. If you don’t let the fire go out, no special skills (or materials) are needed. This appears to be how Abraham handled fire.

And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together. – Genesis 22:6 (ESV)

Starting a fire from scratch seems not to be an option there. But if the Israelites are prohibited from kindling a fire for a whole day, the coals will surely go out. What then?

Maybe God telling the Israelites not to kindle a fire specifically, “in all your dwelling places” is the key. Some central, communal fire, such as the one in the bronze altar, may have served as the source.

Fire shall be kept burning on the altar continually; it shall not go out. – Leviticus 6:13 (ESV)

If so, this command against kindling a fire on the Sabbath would have had an interesting effect. It forces the people to depend on God, and on one another.

Independence is at the heart of who we are. It was how our nation was born. Nevertheless, the concluding sentence of The Declaration of Independence acknowledges our dependence on God.

And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

Church should feel like we’ve made a pledge like this to each other, especially within a fellowship group. Koinonia should be intense.

The weekly study guides, which include all six devotionals plus related questions for discussion or meditation, are available for download here:

https://www.ailbe.org/resources/itemlist/category/91-deep-studies