And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness they found a man gathering sticks on the sabbath day.
While Israel was in the wilderness, some men found another Israelite gathering sticks on the Sabbath day, and nobody knew what to do with him. The placing matters. This story comes right after the law about sinning "with a high hand," and it forces the question of why so small an act drew so heavy a sentence.
The chapter has just set out two categories: sins done unintentionally, which had a sacrifice, and sins done in open defiance, which had none. This story illustrates the second kind. The difference between the two is not the size of the act. It is the knowledge behind it.
The presumptuous sinner cannot plead ignorance; his sin is the breaking of a well-known command… To despise the word of the LORD is presumptuous. It is sin apart from the nature of the thing done. God gives an example, for He teaches us both by example and by precept.
The same writer sets this case beside the blasphemer of Leviticus 24 and notes that our instincts would rank the two very differently — one an outrage, the other a trifle — yet "each was equal to the other in guilt."
Readers often feel the penalty is out of proportion to a bundle of firewood. One commentator answers that the smallness of the thing exposes the heart behind it.
Many unbelievers would call it far too harsh. They would say the same about the disastrous results that followed Adam's sin in eating the forbidden fruit. But sin is lawlessness. The creature asserts its own will and defies the Creator. The element of defiance is never more pronounced than when the matter involved is only trivial.
They did not improvise. Nobody had named a penalty, so they held the man in custody and asked God. One writer turns their pause into a rule for hard cases.
Where we have no clear word of the Lord, so far as we know, there is always one great safeguard: to wait. Never be in a hurry to devise a remedy, or to exercise discipline, without the word of the Lord. What is done cannot be undone… So, however solemn the sentence, the children of Israel had fresh proof that God entered into their difficulties. He took the greatest interest in what concerned them. Never can souls wait upon the Lord and be confounded.
The command about the Sabbath was old and plain. The punishment for breaking it was not. One writer asks why Israel had to hold the man at all, and then explains what the sticks were for.
Because, although the commandment was explicit, the breaking of it had not been anticipated, and no penalty had been laid down… He purposely left the case unnoticed until occasion required it. But occasion did require it, for man is capable of anything. He has no heart for God's rest. To kindle a fire on the Sabbath day was not only a plain breach of the law. It showed complete alienation from the mind of the Lawgiver, because it brought into the day of rest the fitting symbol of judgment. Fire is a picture of judgment, and it was wholly out of keeping with the rest of that day.
The man injured no neighbour. The weight of the act came from what the day stood for.
He had not directly harmed other people by his working. But he had defied the Word of God, which is certainly more serious. Why did God make the Sabbath so serious a matter? Because He was telling mankind a basic truth: no one can gain or keep a relationship with God by human works. So anyone who broke the Sabbath was choosing his own works instead of faith in the clear Word of God.
Commentators are careful about how far this law reaches today. The same writer adds that God no longer asks for a death sentence for Sabbath work, and that God gave the Sabbath to Israel, not to the nations.
One writer turns the picture on anyone who adds his own effort to a finished work.
They may think it a light thing to break that Sabbath, that rest, by only gathering a few of the worthless, rotten sticks of their own works. Ponder this solemn lesson. God guarded the shadow with the penalty of death. What then will happen to the soul who dares to sin in this way against the Holy Spirit, despising the great salvation, the eternal Sabbath of rest in Christ?
- Known. This was not ignorance. The man defied a command everyone already knew. That is what presumptuous means here.
- Small. The small size of the act is the point, not the excuse. Defiance shows most where nothing but God's word is at stake.
- Waited. Israel had no ruling, so they held the man and asked. Souls who wait on the Lord are never put to shame, and what is done cannot be undone.
- Rest. The day guarded a truth about God, that no relationship with Him is gained or kept by human work.
- Sticks. The warning outlives the penalty. A man gathering his own works into God's rest pictures the soul that refuses the rest Christ has already secured.
And they that found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses and Aaron, and to the whole assembly.
A man is caught gathering sticks on the sabbath, and the people who find him do not judge him on the spot. They hand him over instead, which raises two questions: why not settle it themselves, and why does picking up firewood concern the whole nation?
They had no instruction to go on. One commentator finds in their action a rule for any case where we have no clear word from the Lord:
Here a very important principle comes out — what is to be done where, as far as we know, we have no clear word from the Lord. There is always one great safeguard: to wait. Never be in a hurry to devise a remedy, or to exercise discipline, without the word of the Lord. What is done cannot be undone. It is better to wait and admit you do not know. But let it be the kind of not knowing that is confident the Lord hears and cares for us. This is exactly what they did. And they were right… However solemn the sentence was, it gave the children of Israel fresh proof. God entered into their difficulties and took the greatest interest in what concerned them. Souls can never wait on the Lord and come away ashamed.
This judgment lands in a chapter full of grace. One commentator marks the turn:
Here the grace of God runs over, and presumptuous sin alone is fatal. The next lesson we learn is this: God had not tied His own hands. He would still judge whatever was against His glory along the way.
So the man had something to answer for. The act was small, but the command behind it was plain:
This was surely a presumptuous sin — it was flying in the face of a most plain and positive commandment of God. This is what especially marks a presumptuous sin, and leaves it completely inexcusable. No one can plead ignorance in the face of a command from God.
The other case in view is the blasphemer of Leviticus 24. The two sins are not even of the same kind, and our instincts rank one far above the other:
Gathering sticks was sin because it had been forbidden. Blasphemy would have been sin even if there had been no command. Compared with Leviticus 24, human judgment would see a great gap between the two cases. It would hand the heaviest penalty to the blasphemer. It would treat gathering sticks on the sabbath as a small matter. But in divine things human judgment is always wrong. Each was equal to the other in guilt, despising the authority of God.
The sabbath was a day of rest God had given. One writer reads that rest as a shadow of rest in Christ, and the sticks as works of our own:
Men may presumptuously deny the testimony of the Holy Spirit to the finished work of Christ. They may think it a light thing to break that Sabbath, that rest. It is only a few worthless, rotten sticks of their own works, after all. Think carefully about this solemn lesson. The shadow itself carried the penalty of death. What then will happen to the soul that dares to sin against the Holy Spirit in this way, and despises the great salvation, the eternal Sabbath of rest in Christ? … Christ is the rest of God. Give up your own works: enter into His rest.
The whole assembly acts here, and later readers have tried to copy the pattern. One writer warns against that:
We have to remember that we are not under the law, but under grace. For this reason it is unsafe to try to use Old Testament laws as a guide to church action. People have done this far too often, especially where the New Testament gave no authority at all for what they proposed.
- Found. The man was caught doing something small, but plainly forbidden. What marks a presumptuous sin is not the size of the act but the clearness of the command it breaks.
- Brought. Those who found him did not handle the case themselves. They took it to Moses, Aaron and the whole assembly.
- Waited. With no clear word from the Lord, waiting was the safeguard. Hasty discipline cannot be undone, and no one who waits on the Lord comes away ashamed.
- Weighed. Our sense of proportion misjudges this story. Gathering sticks and cursing God's name look worlds apart to us. Both despised the same authority.
- Warned. The sticks picture our own works carried into God's rest. That rest points to Christ, so the deeper danger is refusing the rest He finished. Give up your own works and enter it.
And they put him in custody, for it was not declared what should be done to him.
Israel is in the wilderness, and a man is caught gathering sticks on the Sabbath — the day God had guarded with a clear command. They know he is guilty, but no penalty has been given, so they hold him under guard and wait for God to speak.
The custody was not hesitation about guilt. It was the gap between a known command and an unstated penalty.
But why did they have to put the man in custody? Because the commandment was clear, but nobody had expected anyone to break it, and God had set no penalty. To speak in human terms, the Lord had not expected such folly from man as the interruption of His rest, and so He had not formally provided for such a case. We need not say that God knows the end from the beginning. But in the matter now before us, He left the case unmentioned on purpose, until the occasion called for it. But sadly, the occasion did require it, for man is capable of anything. He has no heart for God's rest.
Their response gives a pattern for cases where Scripture has not yet spoken.
And here comes out a very important principle — what should we do where we have no clear word of the Lord, so far as we know? There is always one great safeguard, namely, to wait. Never be in a hurry to devise a remedy, or to exercise discipline, without the word of the Lord. What is done cannot be undone. It is better to wait and take the place of ignorance, but at the same time an ignorance that is confident that the Lord hears and cares for us. This is exactly what they did. And they were right… Whatever the solemnity of the sentence, the children of Israel had fresh proof that God entered into their difficulties and took the greatest interest in what concerned them. No soul ever waits on the Lord and is put to shame.
The incident does not sit in the chapter by accident. It follows immediately on the rule about sinning with a high hand, where the sacrifices of the earlier verses stop.
Verse 30 deals with presumptuous sins, in despising the word of the Lord, and no offering is prescribed for such. Then comes an example of such a presumptuous sin: the man who broke the sabbath by gathering sticks. He was put to death. This was undoubtedly judgment of a drastic kind.
The offence looks small next to the sentence. One writer sets it beside the case of the man who cursed God's name.
To despise the word of the Lord is presumptuous. It is sin apart from the nature of the thing done… The presumptuous sin recorded in Numbers 15 looks trivial. That is to show the complete and perfect obedience Israel is to give in that day… Human judgment would see a great difference between the two. It would give the heaviest penalty to the man who cursed God's name, and treat the gathering of sticks on the sabbath as a small matter. But in divine things human judgment is always wrong. Each was equal to the other in guilt, for each despised the authority of God.
God's answer came at last. One writer turns that answer on the reader.
Here we have the case of the man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day. The Sabbath had only just been made known, so they asked what should be done to him. The Lord said, "The man shall be put to death." Men may presumptuously deny the testimony of the Holy Spirit to the finished work of Christ. They may think it a light thing to break that Sabbath, that rest, by only gathering a few of the worthless rotten sticks of their own works.
No one carries out that sentence today. But the offence it pictures has not grown lighter.
Why did God make the Sabbath so serious a matter? Because He was declaring the basic truth that no relationship with God could be gained or kept by human works. One who broke the Sabbath was therefore choosing his own works rather than faith in the clear Word of God. Today, under grace, God does not demand the death sentence for working on the Sabbath. He never laid the Sabbath on the other nations, but only on Israel under law (Ex. 31:12-17). However, the spiritual significance of this is more serious than the literal law of the Sabbath. Suppose someone refuses to trust God's Word about the sacrifice of His Son, and trusts his own works instead. He will suffer not only death, but the judgment of eternal fire.
- Command. The Sabbath law was clear. Only the penalty was missing, so his guilt was never in doubt.
- Custody. They held the man instead of inventing a sentence. That was the right answer where God had not yet spoken.
- Waiting. Where the Lord has not spoken to a case, waiting is the safeguard, because what is done cannot be undone.
- Word. God answered. Those who wait on Him in their difficulties find He takes real interest in what concerns them.
- Rest. A handful of sticks carried into God's day pictures our own works carried into the rest He gives. Nothing of ours may touch it.
And Jehovah said to Moses, The man shall certainly be put to death the whole assembly shall stone him with stones outside the camp.
The march pauses for a single incident. A man gathers sticks on the sabbath, and the law has not yet named a penalty for it. So the whole camp waits while Moses asks God what to do. The answer is death by stoning outside the camp. Why did so small an act cost so much?
Israel did not settle the case themselves. They held the man and waited for God to speak.
Here a very important principle comes out. What should we do when we have no clear word from the Lord, so far as we know? There is always one great safeguard: wait. Never rush to devise a remedy, or to use discipline, without the word of the Lord. What is done cannot be undone. It is better to wait and admit we do not know — but with the confidence that the Lord hears us and cares for us... However solemn the sentence was, the children of Israel had a fresh proof that God entered into their difficulties and took the greatest interest in what concerned them. Souls who wait on the Lord are never disappointed.
The man knew the command. That single fact removes every excuse.
This was certainly a presumptuous sin — it openly defied a plain and definite commandment of God. That is what marks a presumptuous sin above all, and leaves it completely inexcusable. No one can plead ignorance when God has given a command.
Elsewhere in the law a man who cursed God's name received the same sentence. To us the two cases look nothing alike, and that reaction is itself the lesson.
The sin recorded in Numbers 15 looks trivial, and that is the point: it shows the complete and perfect obedience Israel was to give in that day... Set beside Leviticus 24, human judgment would see a huge difference between the two. It would give the heaviest penalty to the blasphemer and treat the gathering of sticks on the sabbath as a small matter. But in divine things human judgment is always wrong. Each was equal to the other in guilt, because each despised the authority of God. Both were presumptuous sinners. The One who said, "You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain," also said, "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy."
Nobody was hurt by a bundle of sticks. The offence lay in what the day itself stood for, and in what working on it said about the man's confidence.
He had not directly harmed other people by his working, but he had defied the Word of God, which is certainly more serious. Why did God make the Sabbath so serious a matter? Because He was declaring to mankind the basic truth that no one can gain or keep a relationship with God by human works. So the man who broke the Sabbath was choosing his own works instead of faith in the clear Word of God. Today, under grace, God does not require the death sentence for working on the Sabbath, and the Sabbath was never imposed on Gentiles, only on Israel under law... But if someone refuses to trust God's Word about the sacrifice of His Son, and trusts his own works instead, he will suffer not only death, but the judgment of eternal fire.
Another writer weighs the man's whole record. One breach was enough.
A man was found gathering sticks on the sabbath day. Even if he had kept the law at every other point, he was still guilty... The sabbath day pictured the rest of soul God gives through redemption, so nothing on man's part could be allowed to pollute that rest.
The law had one answer for the sinner who defied it on purpose.
The soul that sins presumptuously... he shall be cut off — "his iniquity shall be upon him." Under the law, the presumptuous sinner faced the full severity of the law. No mercy; but "stone him with stones outside the camp."
Why did God involve every person in the camp?
The judgment God pronounced was carried out by the whole congregation. This tells us that believers should fully agree with God's judgment against what dishonors Him.
- Wait. When no word from God covers the case, hold still instead of inventing a remedy. What is done cannot be undone.
- Defiance. The act was small, but it broke a plain word of God. Anyone who knows the command cannot plead ignorance.
- One voice. The same God forbade blasphemy and commanded the sabbath, so both sins drew one sentence. In divine things our own judgment is always wrong.
- Rest. The sabbath said that no one gains or keeps a relationship with God by working. Trusting your own works instead of God's Word still ends in judgment.
- Agreement. All Israel had a hand in the stoning. God's people are to agree with His judgment on what dishonours Him.
And the whole assembly led him outside the camp, and stoned him with stones, and he died, as Jehovah had commanded Moses.
A man gathers sticks on the Sabbath, and God sentences him to death by stoning outside the camp. The act looks tiny and the penalty huge, so two questions press: what did the man really break, and why did the whole camp take part?
The man did not act in ignorance. The Sabbath law was public and well known, so he had no excuse.
This was surely a presumptuous sin. It flew straight in the face of a plain, definite command of God. That, above all, is what marks a presumptuous sin and leaves it completely without excuse. No one can plead ignorance when God has given a command.
Before this verse comes a pause. The people did not know what penalty to give, so they held the man and waited. One commentator makes that pause a pattern for anyone facing a case God's word has not yet settled.
Here a very important principle comes out: what should we do when, as far as we know, we have no clear word from the Lord? There is always one great safeguard — wait. Never rush to devise a remedy or to apply discipline without the word of the Lord. What is done cannot be undone... So, however solemn the sentence was, the people of Israel had fresh proof that God entered into their difficulties and took the greatest interest in what concerned them. Souls who wait on the Lord are never put to shame.
The smallness of the act is the point, not an objection to it. When the thing commanded is trivial, there is nothing left to defy but the One who commanded it.
How do we react to it? Many unbelievers would condemn it as harsh and unjustified... But sin is lawlessness. It is the creature asserting its own will and defying the Creator. And that defiance is never clearer than when the thing involved is trivial.
Set beside the blasphemer — the man who spoke against God's name — our instinct puts the two crimes far apart. Another writer says that instinct is wrong.
The sin here looks trivial, and that is deliberate: it shows the complete and perfect obedience Israel was to give... In the one case the act was sin because God had forbidden it. The other was sin even if no command had been given... Human judgment sees a huge gap between the two. It gives the blasphemer the heaviest penalty and treats gathering sticks on the Sabbath as a small matter. But in the things of God human judgment is always wrong. Each was as guilty as the other.
Why did this one law carry so much weight, and what does it mean for us now? The day of rest stood for something God will not share with human effort.
His work did no direct harm to other people, but he had defied the Word of God, which is far more serious. Why did God treat the Sabbath so seriously? Because He was telling everyone a basic truth: no relationship with God can be gained or kept on the basis of human works. So the man who broke the Sabbath was choosing his own works instead of faith in the clear Word of God. Today, under grace, God does not require the death sentence for working on the Sabbath, and the Sabbath was never laid on other nations, but only on Israel under law. Yet the spiritual meaning of this is more serious than the literal Sabbath law. If someone refuses to trust God's Word about the sacrifice of His Son, and trusts his own works instead, he will suffer not only death, but the judgment of eternal fire.
Once a person stands on law as his ground before God, the size of the failure stops mattering.
The man had not lit the fire, but he had gathered the sticks in open defiance. And note this: if a man stands on the principle of law... he is under the curse, because the smallest breach of that law brings a curse.
No single executioner carried out the sentence. The whole congregation did, and one commentator draws a lesson from that for God's people today.
The whole congregation carried out the judgment God pronounced (v.36). This tells us that believers should agree fully with God's judgment on what dishonours Him.
- Waiting — Israel had no word from God for this case, so they held the man and waited. That is the safeguard, because what is done cannot be undone.
- Defiance — the word about the Sabbath was plain and public. The man broke it on purpose, so he could not plead ignorance.
- Triviality — the act was small, and that sharpens the defiance instead of softening it. Before God, the man with the sticks and the man who blasphemed were equally guilty.
- Rest — God's word about the Sabbath guarded one truth: no one gains or keeps a relationship with God by working for it.
- Agreement — the whole congregation carried out the sentence. God's people are still to stand with His judgment on what dishonours Him.