Cooking on the Sabbath--Is It Allowed?

by Rod Thomas | The Messianic Torah Observer

Was God’s commandment that the Hebrews not go out to gather manna on the Sabbath a prohibition against cooking on the Sabbath?
I had not intended to do a post on this past Sabbath’s Torah Portion Reading as I had already determined to post on the subject: “Seek Ye First The Kingdom of God And…” But given that I frequently receive questions from listeners and readers on the topic of cooking on the Sabbath, and seeing that the Torah Reading under the “Triennial Reading Cycle” this past Sabbath touched upon a passage that is used by some to support their understanding on the subject of cooking on the Sabbath, I felt it important to use this opportunity to discuss it before the next Sabbath hits. So I hope, trust and pray that this discussion will help those of you who are unclear about cooking on the Sabbath make informed, and spiritually sound and healthy choices.
 

Exo. 16:25-17:16 

This reading entails the gathering of manna against the Sabbath. Father set out to teach us about the holiness and sanctity of the Sabbath. He also set out to test and try our faith and our obedience. (16:25-28). 
 
25 And Moses said, Eat that to day; for to day is a sabbath unto the LORD: to day ye shall not find it in the field.
 26 Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the sabbath, in it there shall be none.
 27 And it came to pass, that there went out some of the people on the seventh day for to gather, and they found none.
 28 And the LORD said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws? (Exo 16:25-28 KJV)

 We Learn the Principles of Trust, Obedience and Preparation

 
Thus, Father provided us twice as much manna on the 6th-day so that we could gather two-times the daily allotment of manna in preparation of the coming Sabbath. Now I ask you: was this commandment to gather twice-the amount of manna in anticipation of the weekly Sabbath an indication that we are not to cook on the Sabbath? Or rather  was this commandment a prohibition against work on the Sabbath? If this were indeed the case, then it would stand to reason that gathering manna on the Sabbath was seen by Abba as work. 
I will give you my answers to these questions once we’ve concluded our reading of this passage.
But continuing: in verse 29 we see Moshe takes note of the disobedience by many of us to YHVH’s commandment to gather the double-portion of manna on the sixth-day in anticipation of the coming Sabbath. Thus, Moshe seems not to rebuke the people as much as to educate them about the Sabbath. He says to them:
“See! YHVH has given you (“natan) the Sabbath; therefore on the sixth day He gives you bread for two days” (16:29a). 

The Sabbath Reintroduced as a Gift

Moshe in other words was saying to us here that YHVH has given–natan–has in effect “gifted” us the Sabbath; that the Sabbath is a special day for us which He–YHVH–set-apart for us to focus on His goodness and to afford us a time of much needed rest and reflection. Thus the Sabbath is a good thing for you. Nevertheless, YHVH requires that you obey his commandment not to go out and gather manna on the Sabbath (specifically), nor participate in any activity that would detract from that rest and reflection.

Forced Compliance To YHVH’s Commandment

 
So, what Father did to enforce his prohibition against gathering manna on the Sabbath was the following: 
“Remain each of you in his place; let no one go out of his place on the seventh day” (Exo. 16:29b; KJV). 
In other words, if you’re not going to do as I’ve instructed you to do regarding my prohibition against gathering manna on the Sabbath, I’m going to put in place a provision that will inhibit you from gathering on the Sabbath altogether. You are hereby prohibited from leaving your dwelling place on the Sabbath. This will force you–in fact, this will by default condition and train you to make provisions for your food needs on the 6th-day each week as I shall provide.

Not a Prohibition Against Cooking on the Sabbath, But…

Let me just say  now that I reject the thinking put forth by some in our Faith community that this verse is a proof-positive for a perceived prohibition against cooking on the Sabbath. Contextually speaking, there’s nothing mentioned here, whatsoever, about cooking on the Sabbath. 
 
Now, I know this presents for many of you a rather trite understanding of the Sabbath from the standpoint of whether one is permitted to cook or not on the day. But it is what it is. And my point is, should one draw from this passage an understanding that one is emphatically prohibited from cooking on the Sabbath when cooking is not at all mentioned? I would say no. But then, is it reasonable to conclude that this passage somewhat implies that one is prohibited from cooking on the Sabbath? I would have to say possibly.
 
So with this nebulous understanding on the issue of cooking on the Sabbath, what then about the Sabbath can we draw from this passage? Maybe if we can dissect the relevance of the Sabbath as described in this passage, then maybe we can arrive at a more accurate answer to our question on cooking. 

Sabbath a Set-Apart Day

 
It is clear from this Torah passage that the Sabbath is one of the most important provisions–even gifts–given by YHVH to His people to not only keep, but also to enjoy. And when He re-introduced the Sabbath to us while we were in the wilderness of Raphidim, He required that we recognize that this day was to be viewed and treated unlike any other day of the week; that it was to be a day when we would not do the things we ordinarily did the other six-days; that our focus was to be that of the Creator on that day; and that this particular mitzvah–commandment–would test our willingness to obey and trust in Father’s provision of providing us sustenance each and every Sabbath.
 
I personally see in this passage, Father attempting to teach us that the Sabbath is in reality a special gift that He has given to His elect–His people. And contrary to Rabbinic understanding of Sabbath-keeping, the Sabbath was, and never was intended to be a burden to the people of God. And although the Sabbath was a special gift, with tremendous spiritual and prophetic applications (beyond the scope of this posting I might add), it was not up to us to determine whether we would keep it or not; nor determine how we would keep the day if we decided to keep the day. In other words, it was never up to man to determine how we are to keep the Sabbath. And this principle plays out perfectly in this week’s haftarah reading:
 
Isaiah 58:13, 14—“If you turn away your foot from the Shabbat from doing your pleasure on My holy day; and call the Shabbat a delight, the holy of Yahuah, honourable; and shall honour Him, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words: Then shall you delight yourself in Yahuah; and I will cause you to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed you with the heritage of Ya’aqov your father: for the mouth of Yahuah has spoken it” (Cepher).

 The Sabbath Is Supposed to be a Joy, But Keeping it is Not an Option

In other words, what we see described here in Isaiah, Father trying to get across to us that our keeping of Sabbath is not optional. Yes, the Sabbath is a gift which is intended to bring rest and joy to God’s people, but it is not a day in which God’s people do that which pleases or works best for them. It is supposed to be a day in which we set-apart from all the other days–keep it holy; honor it; honor the Almighty; delight exclusively in YHVH on that day and for this one day, do that which YHVH would have us do. 
 
And when we get to a place in our walking out of Torah that we freely hand over our free-will to YHVH, then we find (along with all the other elements of Torah-living) that the Sabbath is really a delight and we benefit physically and spiritually from keeping it.

The Context and Spirit of Sabbath in this Passage

 
So back to our original question about cooking on the Sabbath? Well, taking into account the context and spirit of these key passages of Scripture, I would venture to say, if one finds that they must cook on the Sabbath for whatever reason (young children; a sick or elderly loved one; or let’s just say circumstances out of one’s control, then I say cook on the Sabbath. Do what you need to do to feed you and your family. But I would honestly ask yourself–why can’t you use the example given to us in this Torah Reading to prepare whatever meals we need for the Sabbath the day before? Why do you feel you need to cook on the Sabbath? Cooking is something that we do every other day of the week. Yet Abba is asking us to set aside those things we do those other six-days of the week and give Him our full-undivided attention. So can we do that? Can we instead of focusing on what we’re going to eat on the Sabbath, have food set out for us to eat on the Sabbath already prepared and keep Sabbath in Spirit, unencumbered by the otherwise daily concern that comes with having to cook meals.? And if you find that you absolutely must cook on the Sabbath, maybe use this particular event as a reminder to next week, prepare your meals ahead of time so you won’t have to cook.
 
In our home, we don’t cook on the Sabbath because we’ve made provisions ahead of time to remove the need for cooking on the Sabbath. We see cooking as personal preference–“doing our pleasure on the day.” So we eliminate that worry by preparing our meals on the sixth-day so that we may fully engage the Sabbath, find joy and honor Abba by focusing our attention on Him that day.

Is Cooking on the Sabbath Really Necessary?

 
Let me ask you this: if, heaven forbid, some natural or manmade event temporarily made our stoves, ovens, grills, etc. inoperable–and let’s be honest, this has happened to countless individuals over the years–we’d have to figure out pretty quick how to subsist without cooking now, wouldn’t we? Just saying. 

The Sabbath From a Spirit and Truth Perspective

 
Let’s reference for a brief moment the proclamation that our Master made to the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well on that fateful day:
 
 23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
 24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. (Joh 4:23-24 KJV)
 
This essential principle of the True Faith once delivered by our Master Yahoshua applies to every aspect of our walk in Messiah. Indeed, it applies even to our keeping of Shabbat. Understanding and Truth are essential to Torah-living and Torah-keeping. Yet, far too many of us keep and live Torah only from a mechanical–rote–perspective; a religious perspective if you will. And frankly, we’ve inherited much of that mechanical, rote keeping of Torah, which we know to be horrendously skewed by rabbinic laws and traditions from orthodox Judaism. Indeed, orthodox Jewish teaching prohibits cooking on the Sabbath–along with a laundry-list of other prohibitions against the day as well.

Judaism’s Perspective on Sabbath

 
But here we can clearly see that Judaism has taken interpretation of Torah into her own hands and has led millions of ignorant would be Torah-keepers away from the true intent and purpose of the Sabbath. Thus, it fell upon Yahoshua to make the following statement in response to certain religious leaders’ staunch criticism of Him and His disciples on something they witnessed them doing on the Sabbath:
 
Mark 2: 27, 28–“For the Shabbat was created for man, and not man made for the Shabbat. Thus, the Son of man is also the master of the Shabbat” (AENT).
 
Context: Here we find Yeshua and His disciples harvesting, winnowing and grinding grain on the 2nd Sabbath after the first of the month (ie., after the Rosh Chodesh). Their actions came to the attention of the Pharisees and of course incurred their wrath:
 
So what prompted this bold but brilliant statement from our Master? Mark recorded the following incident that took place on a Shabbat in the fall of 27 CE:
 
Yeshua walked through the wheat fields on the Sabbath day, and His disciples began to pluck the ears of grain as they went. The Prushim said to Him, “Look, why do they do that which is not lawful to do on the Sabbath day?” Yeshua said to them, “Have you never read what David and those who were with him did when they had need and were hungry? He went into the house of YHVH in the days of Abiathar the Cohen Gadol and ate the showbread, which is not lawful to eat but for the priests, and he gave also to those who were with him.” Then He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore, the Son of Man is likewise the master of the Sabbath” (Mark 2:23-28; Rood). 
 
(And for your reference, the King David and the shewbread incident can be found in 1 Samuel 21:1-6.)

Yeshua Master (Lord) of the Shabbat

 
So what then is the point behind Yeshua’s remarks that the Son of Man is the master (ie., Lord) of the Sabbbath? Yeshua and His entourage were traversing a wheat field on the 2nd Shabbat of the Chodesh. In their transit, the disciples indulged themselves by picking the heads of wheat grain, rubbing the chaff from the grain, and eating the grain. This, according to the so-called oral law/tradition, was prohibited because it constituted “work” on the Sabbath. According to Rood’s Chronology, the plucking of grain heads was tantamount to harvesting; the rubbing of the chaff from the grain was considered threshing; and eating the grain, well, was equivalent to grinding–if you can believe that. 
 
So the pharisees, upon seeing this or being made aware of this situation, confronted Yeshua and berated Him for allowing His disciples to violate their laws of the Sabbath.
 
Yeshua responded with a simple Tanakh reference that would serve to illustrate the principle that the Sabbath was not made by YHVH for men to regulate and control; that the Sabbath was holy unto itself and not under subjection or control by any man other than Mashiyach who is the Master of the Sabbath. And the tanakhian reference Master gave the Pharisees was that of David and his men, while fleeing King Saul’s persecution, were in dire need of sustenance. David and his entourage happened upon a Levite priest serving in the Tabernacle. David asked the priest for food for he and his men. The priest indicated that he had no other food than the shewbread that had recently been removed from the holy place of the tabernacle. The priest, seeing the need, gave David and his men the shewbread which according to Torah was to be consumed only by the attending Levitical Priests in the course of their duties serving the tabernacle (Lev. 24:5-9).
 
I love the ESV Commentary on “the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath”: 
 
Jesus does not challenge the Sabbath law itself but rather the Pharisees’ interpretation of it. As Messiah, Jesus authoritatively interprets every aspect of the law (cf. 5:17-48) and here points out the Pharisees’ blindness to the actual intent of the Sabbath–to bring rest and well-being. This final argument in response to the Pharisees’ challenge (12:2) is the decisive argument–that because of who Jesus is, he has the authority to interpret the law. (ESV Commentary)

 Man is not Permitted to Determine How We Keep Sabbaath

So whether it’s cooking or traveling to a fellowship gathering on the Sabbath, or whatever, we are compelled to look to Yeshua and the Holy Spirit for direction when determining whether this or that other is permissible on the Sabbath. Obviously, it’s not for us to blow-off Sabbaths to do what we want to do on the day, but at the same time, religion cannot dictate to us how we are to keep the day either. In our home, as I mentioned earlier, we neither cook nor patronize restaurants on the Sabbath. And if we are blessed to attend fellowship on the day, we do so with joy. This we’ve come to understand, taking into account the Spirit and Truth of the Sabbath, that we honor YHVH and His Sabbath by removing the daily practice of cooking on that day; focus on Him; fellowship with other like-minded brethren; and learn of Him and His ways.

Yeshua is the Eternal Connection and Reason for Shabbat

 
Yeshua is the eternal connection and reason for Shabbat. Any good host for an event will have a purpose and reason for that event he or she is hosting and generally that purpose and or reason is put forth to their guests. The Shabbat is the weekly event of Mashiyach. “For Mashiyach was, is and forever will be the reason for Shabbat…” It is on the seventh-day of the week that we “rest and rejuvenate” our spirit, soul and body in Mashiyach. We rest from our labors and enjoy the fruits of our labors in Him. Yah’s elect connect with Yeshua on the Sabbath on a spiritual level. Unfortunately, that spiritual rest and communion and unity in Mashiyach has been “reduced into a ritual effort of the flesh, an intellectual theological idea and a socio-political factor that has taken on humanist and Gnostic interpretations, making it a ‘burden’ rather than a blessing” (Roth; AENT) And of course, the bulk of the world who profess Jesus as Messiah take this to the other extreme and completely reject the seventh-day Sabbath for it either being inconsequential or pagan-based day of worship.

Rest in Yeshua Messiah

 
It was Master who invited any who would to become His disciple to pick up their stakes and follow Him–ie., leave all they’ve known behind–friends, families, business, wealth, social status, fun, etc. And in so doing, they would be relieved of life’s heavy burden (eg., secular and religious) and find rest (Mat. 11:28). He further mentioned that any who chose to follow Him, take up His burden (ie., His yoke) and learn of Him, they would find rest for their weary souls (Mat. 11:28, 29). 

Eternal Rest Through Yeshua Messiah

 
There is coming a time when God’s people will find eternal rest from the world’s ways, difficulties, trials and persecutions. It will be a time when peace will reign supreme over all the earth and the Word of the Almighty will flow forth from Mount Zion, out to all the nations of the world: 
 
But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it.  2 And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. 3 And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. (Mic 4:1-3 KJV).
 

Conclusion

 
Are we prohibited from cooking on the Sabbath and does Exodus 16:25-28 support this belief? No to both questions. However, we must consider the issue of cooking on the Sabbath very carefully and determine the following: 
 
Is it right to cook on the Sabbath when cooking takes time away from worship, fellowship, learning and prayer on the Sabbath? 
 
Is it right to cook on the Sabbath when we know good and well that we can do better simply by preparing the meals we would have on Sabbath the day(s) prior to sundown on the 6th day?
 
Is it right to cook on the Sabbath when we see that we can better utilize the limited time we have on Sabbath for worshiping YHVH, learning of Yah’s ways and producing good fruit (ie., praying, healing, teaching, preaching, discipling, etc.)?
 
I say, if the answer to any of these questions is no, then cooking is definitely something that we can put off till sundown on the 7th-day. 
 
Faithfully

 

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