Small Purchase on the Sabbath

A question was submitted by a brother recently concerning the Sabbath day. He asked, "If he took a walk on the Sabbath and became really thirsty wouldn't it be okay to buy a drink to quench his thirst?" We must rely on the scriptures to answer this question and not our own judgments. Proverbs 3:5 Trust in Yahweh with all thy heart, And lean not upon thine own understanding: The Sabbath requires preparation. When Israel was released from Egypt Yahweh fed the people in the wilderness with a substance called manna, meaning "what is it". The command of Yahweh was to collect just what one would need for the day except on the sixth day when twice as much was to be collected. If on the first through the fifth day they collected more than they could eat it would become rotten and worm infested in the morning. On the sixth day it would be good for the sixth and the seventh day. Israel also was allowed to turn the manna into other baked items anytime except the Sabbath. So in Exodus 16:23 Yahweh tells Israel to bake what they needed for the Sabbath on the sixth day.

Exodus 16:23 And he said unto them, This is that which Yahweh hath spoken, Tomorrow is a solemn rest, a holy sabbath unto Yahweh: bake that which ye will bake, and boil that which ye will boil; and all that remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning.

Yahweh clearly points out that the Sabbath is to be a solemn rest. The Sabbath is a break from what is done all the other days of the week and no work is to be done on it. From Exodus 16 we learn that Yahweh expects us to prepare in advance for the secession of daily activities on the Sabbath. The Sabbath rest is not a burden because we are prepared, it is a vacation from the world by having our food and drink ready so that all we have to do for substance is take the time to sit down and eat. Another item that Exodus 16 points out is that we are not to exert ourselves on the Sabbath. We will be given twice as much on the sixth day so that on the seventh no work is required to sustain us for the Sabbath day. This extra measure is a blessing for those who keep the Sabbath.

Considering the question maybe the walk we took is too exertive and is causing us to not to keep the solemn rest. If one plans to take a walk on the Sabbath it can also be planned to take a bottle of water with on the walk. Looking at the question from a different angle we could ask is it wrong to spend money on the Sabbath. Nehemiah had to deal with this question because the gentiles came to sell there items or food on the Sabbath day.

Nehemiah 10:29 They clave to their brethren, their nobles, and entered into a curse, and into an oath, to walk in Elohim's law, which was given by Moses the servant of Elohim, and to observe and do all the commandments of Yahweh our Master, and his ordinances and his statutes; 30 and that we would not give our daughters unto the peoples of the land, nor take their daughters for our sons; 31 and if the peoples of the land bring wares or any grain on the sabbath day to sell, that we would not buy of them on the sabbath, or on a holy day; and that we would forego the seventh year, and the exaction of every debt.

Nehemiah says by the commandments of Yahweh the people will not buy the items that the nations bring to sell. One of these items was grain which was a food product for the animals and the people. Nehemiah was dealing with a major problem in Jerusalem, he writes in chapter 13 of the many things that the people had done to pervert the Sabbath.

Nehemiah 13:15 In those days saw I in Judah some men treading wine-presses on the sabbath, and bringing in sheaves, and lading asses therewith; as also wine, grapes, and figs, and all manner of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the sabbath day: and I testified against them in the day wherein they sold victuals. 16 There dwelt men of Tyre also therein, who brought in fish, and all manner of wares, and sold on the sabbath unto the children of Judah, and in Jerusalem. 17 Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said unto them, What evil thing is this that ye do, and profane the sabbath day? 18 Did not your fathers thus, and did not our Elohim bring all this evil upon us, and upon this city? yet ye bring more wrath upon Israel by profaning the sabbath. 19 And it came to pass that, when the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark before the sabbath, I commanded that the doors should be shut, and commanded that they should not be opened till after the sabbath: and some of my servants set I over the gates, that there should no burden be brought in on the sabbath day.

In verse 19 of Nehemiah 13 we find that the gates were shut so that Jerusalem would not do work outside of the city. This also was to prevent the nations from bringing items into the city to sell on the Sabbath day. Nehemiah was preparing the people for the Sabbath by making sure to his authority that business would not continue on Sabbath. Shutting the gates meant that if one lived in Jerusalem that he or she would have had to be home before the Sabbath and be prepared to keep it holy.

Nehemiah was dealing with Jerusalem in a manor which he was inspired to keep the Sabbath holy. Was Nehemiah on track with the teachings of Yahshua? The author of the question might say well my ox is in the ditch, is this justification for purchasing a drink? Luke in Chapter 14 writes of Yahshua healing on the Sabbath.

Luke 14:1 And it came to pass, when he went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees on a sabbath to eat bread, that they were watching him. 2 And behold, there was before him a certain man that had the dropsy. 3 And Yahshua answering spake unto the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath, or not? 4 But they held their peace. And he took him, and healed him, and let him go. 5 And he said unto them, Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a well, and will not straightway draw him up on a sabbath day? 6 And they could not answer again unto these things.

Yahshua is not telling the Pharisees that it is okay to pull the ox or ass out of the well rather he is comparing compassion for an animal to that of a brother. It might also be a test of value because an animal has a certain value that would be received at sale. Brethren are priceless so any objections would show that one values their own processions more than the love of a brother. The Sabbath is not a barrier for compassion. The buying of the drink once again is lack of preparation so really the only ox in the ditch is the one that we put in the ditch. The thirst in the questions was caused by exertion and lack of preparation for the exertion caused this brother to go against the commands of Yahweh. Yahshua not only kept the commandments of Yahweh without blemish but he also made it clear that disobedience was not acceptable. Yahshua gave us the example by which we are to live.

Mark 1:21 And they go into Capernaum; and straightway on the sabbath day he entered into the synagogue and taught. 22 And they were astonished at his teaching: For he taught them as having authority, and not as the scribes.
Mark 6:2 And when the sabbath was come, he began to teach in the synagogue: and many hearing him were astonished, saying, Whence hath this man these things? and, What is the wisdom that is given unto this man, and what mean such mighty works wrought by his hands?

[ Home ] [ Up ] [ Sabbath Restaurants ] [ Sabbath Business ] [ Scriptural Sabbath ] [ Small Purchase ]