Sabbath sanctity: Not to prepare food on Sabbath Nehemiah 8:9-10

The lesson Israelites out of the Exodus were taught is that they were to prepare on Friday for the Food on Sabbath since they were to pick up Manna twice as much to take care also for Sabbath. Of these events in 1450 BCE and later, nearly everyone knows.

What some missed is that this principle of not preparing food on a Sabbath, was also repeated in the days of Nehemiah and Ezra after 444 BCE. The prooftext for this principle is Nehemiah 8:9-10:

“Then Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, ‘This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep.’ For all the people were weeping when they heard the words of the law. Then he said to them, ‘Go, eat of the fat, drink of the sweet, and send portions to him who has nothing prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

Note the phrase “to him who has nothing prepared” they should be dependable on those who did prepare. There is no command here saying: “to him who has nothing prepared, [quickly prepare something to eat, the Lord will understand]”.

This message is for the Marthas in the Seventh-day Adventist church. We know that they love to spend time in the kitchen hosting and taking care of others, but Sabbath is Sabbath and it means rest, it means a holy day, not a holiday, a day Holy unto the Lord. It is His day. For that reason, one cannot prepare food or do the hosting for cooking on the Sabbath.

The washing and cutting of the vegetables and the packing thereof in the pot should have been done already on Friday. These days even the pots come with timers. Rice can cook with a timer. Rice should have been washed already the day before Sabbath. Basically all the Marthas should do on a Sabbath is to bring out the prepared food, place it on the tables with knives, spoons and forks, or spoons and chop-sticks. There are congregations where the Marthas are not in the main service in the sanctuary since they are standing behind the stoves. They are concerned that it is unkind if they are not providing proper meals. It is unkind to the Lord to be kind to people on the Sabbath, especially when the Marthas had time the day before to prepare the meals for the Sabbath.

Sabbath Reformation means the recognition of Sabbath sanctity. If one becomes jealous of the Sabbath time for any activities that can break the sanctity, the Lord opens the windows of heaven and blessings He pours in buckets.

It also means that the washing of dishes need not be on the Sabbath. We bought special plastic containers in which we carry the whole dinner set with spoons, chop-sticks, forks, knives to church in our car. At the church meal all the cutlery and plates are packed back in the two plastic containers and left in the car to be washed after Sabbath. Except for warming up the food, no one prepares any food of any kind in our congregation. In such an environment one can sense the Spirit of God talking strongly to all of us and every Sabbath is worth attending.

Dear God

Bring a Sabbath Reformation in our church but start with me. Amen.