Cooking on Sabbath

Sin or not a Sin?

 Remember…
• Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six
days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: but
the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy
God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou,
nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant,
nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy
stranger that is within thy gates: for in six days
the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all
that in them is, and rested the seventh day:
wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and
hallowed it. Exodus 20:8-11.
 The significance of the Sabbath
• All through the week we are to have the
Sabbath in mind and be making preparation to
keep it according to the commandment. We
are not merely to observe the Sabbath as a
legal matter. We are to understand its spiritual
bearing upon all the transactions of life.{6T
353.4}
• While preparation for the Sabbath is to be
made all through the week, Friday is to be
the special preparation day. {6T 354.4}
 The repairers and restorers…
• And they that shall be of thee shall build
the old waste places: thou shalt raise up
the foundations of many generations;
and thou shalt be called, The repairer of
the breach, The restorer of the paths to
dwell in. (Isaiah 58: 12)
 Our work
• In the time of the end every divine institution is to be
restored. The breach made in the law at the time the
Sabbath was changed by man, is to be repaired. God's
remnant people, standing before the world as reformers, are
to show that the law of God is the foundation of all
enduring reform and that the Sabbath of the fourth
commandment is to stand as a memorial of creation, a
constant reminder of the power of God. In clear, distinct
lines they are to present the necessity of obedience to all
the precepts of the Decalogue. Constrained by the love of
Christ, they are to co-operate with Him in building up the
waste places. They are to be repairers of the breach,
restorers of paths to dwell in. See verse 12. {PK 678.2}
 Kufunikira kwa Sabata
• [See “The Observance of the Sabbath,” in
Testimonies for the Church 6:349-368.] Our
heavenly Father desires through the
observance of the Sabbath to preserve among
men a knowledge of Himself. He desires that
the Sabbath shall direct our minds to Him as
the true and living God, and that through
knowing Him we may have life and peace.—
Testimonies for the Church 6:349 (1900). LDE
pg. 77 par. 4
EXODUS 16: 23
• And he said unto them, This is that
which the LORD hath said,
Tomorrow is the rest of the holy
Sabbath unto the LORD: bake that
which ye will bake to day, and seethe
that ye will seethe; and that which
remaineth over lay up for you to be
kept until the morning.
• Speak not lightly of the restrictions placed upon
Israel in Sinai regarding the cooking of manna.
The Lord has placed barriers around his
Sabbath, that it may not be regarded with the
least carelessness or irreverence. When the
Lord said, "Tomorrow is the rest of the holy
Sabbath unto the LORD: bake that which ye will
bake today, and seethe that ye will seethe," he
meant that Friday should be our preparation
day, in which we are to do all our cooking.
{RH, June 8, 1897 par. 3}
Seventh-Day Adventist Believe pg 296
• The Sabbath begins at sunset on Friday evening
and ends at sunset Saturday evening (see Gen
1:5; cf. Mark 1:32). Scripture calls the day
before the Sabbath (Friday) the preparation
day (Mark 15:42) –a day to prepare for the
Sabbath so that nothing will spoil its sacredness.
On this day those who make family’s meals
should prepare food for the Sabbath so that
during its sacred hours they also can rest
from their labors (see Ex. 16:23).
• Those who neglect to prepare for the Sabbath on
the sixth day, and who cook food upon the
Sabbath, violate the fourth commandment, and
are transgressors of God's law. {1SP 225.2}
• All who are really anxious to observe the
Sabbath according to the commandment, will
not cook any food upon the Sabbath. They
will, in the fear of that God who gave his law
from Sinai, deny themselves, and eat food
prepared upon the sixth day, even if it is not so
palatable. {1SP 225.2}
 Eat cold food?
• While cooking upon the Sabbath should be avoided,
it is not necessary to eat cold food. {CG 532.2}
• In cold weather let the food prepared the day before,
be heated. And let the meals, though simple, be
palatable and attractive. Provide something that will be
regarded as a treat, something the family do not have
every day. {CG 532.2}

• In winter, at our homes, the food previously cooked

should be warmed before it is eaten. In warm weather
this is unnecessary. {ST, May 25, 1882 par. 4}
• I see no question in this matter as to what we
shall have on the Sabbath day. The food
which we have provided on the preparation
day can be placed on the table warm,
especially in cold weather. In traveling, persons
eat cold lunches for days together, and realize no
inconvenience or harm. We want palatable,
healthful food every day of the week; but
upon the Sabbath, let your cook have her day
of rest, in the place of cooking for a family.
Let every provision be made on Friday. {RH,
June 8, 1897 par. 4}
 The Kindling of fire
• Ye shall kindle no fire throughout your
habitations upon the sabbath day. {Exodus
35: 3}
JN Andrews
• It should be observed, 1. That this language does
not form part of the fourth commandment, the
grand law of the Sabbath. 2. That as there were
laws pertaining to the Sabbath, that were no
part of the Sabbatic institution, but that grew
out of its being intrusted to the Hebrews, such as
the law respecting the presentation of the shew-
bread on the Sabbath; and that respecting the
burnt-offering for the Sabbath: so it is at least
possible that this is a precept pertaining only to
that nation, and not a part of the original
institution. {1873 JNA, HSFD 67.3}
3. That as there were laws peculiar only to the
Hebrews, so there were many that pertained to
them only while they were in the wilderness. Such
were all those precepts that related to the manna, the
building of the tabernacle and the setting of it up, the
manner of encamping about it, etc. 4. That of this
class were all the statutes given from the time that
Moses brought down the second tables of stone
until the close of the book of Exodus, unless the
words under consideration form an exception. 5.
That the prohibition of fires was a law of this class,
i.e., a law designed only for the wilderness, is evident
from several decisive facts. {1873 JNA, HSFD 67.3}
Decisive facts
1. That the land of Palestine during a part of the
year is so cold that fires are necessary to prevent
suffering. 2 {1873 JNA, HSFD 68.1}
2. That the Sabbath was not designed to be a cause
of distress and suffering, but of refreshment, of
delight, and of blessing. 1 {1873 JNA, HSFD 69.1}
3. That in the wilderness of Sinai, where this precept
respecting fires on the Sabbath was given, it was not
cause of suffering, as they were two hundred miles
south of Jerusalem, in the warm climate of Arabia.
{1873 JNA, HSFD 69.2}
• 4. That this precept was of a temporary
character, is further applied in that while
other laws are said to be perpetual statutes and
precepts to be kept after they should enter the
land, no hint of this kind here appears. On
the contrary, this seems to be similar in
character to the precept respecting the
manna, and to be co-existent with, and
adapted to, it. {1873 JNA, HSFD 69.3}
5. If the prohibition respecting fires did indeed pertain to the
promised land, and not merely to the wilderness, it would
every few years conflict directly with the law of the passover.
For the passover was to be roasted by each family of the
children of Israel on the evening following the fourteenth day of
the first month, which would fall occasionally upon the
Sabbath. The prohibition of fires upon the Sabbath would not
conflict with the Passover while the Hebrews were in the
wilderness; for the passover was not to be observed until they
reached that land. But if that prohibition did extend forward
to the promised land, where the passover was to be regularly
observed, these two statutes would often come in direct
conflict. This is certainly a strong confirmation of the view
that the prohibition of fires upon the Sabbath was a
temporary statute, relating only to the wilderness. 5 {1873
JNA, HSFD 70.1}
Ellen White
• During the sojourn in the wilderness the
kindling of fires upon the seventh day had been
strictly prohibited. The prohibition was not to
extend to the land of Canaan, where the
severity of the climate would often render
fires a necessity; but in the wilderness, fire was
not needed for warmth. {PP 408.4}
The purpose of fire
• Levitiko 6:12 Ndipo moto wa pa guwa la nsembe
uyakebe pamenepo, wosazima ; wansembe ayatse’po
nkhuni m’mawa ndi m’mawa ; nakonze’po nsembe
yopsereza, natenthe’po mafuta a nsembe zoyamika.
13 Moto uziyakabe pa guwa la nsembe, wosazima.
• Numeri 28:9 Ndipo dzuwa la Sabata ana a nkhosa
awiri a chaka chimodzi, opanda chirema, ndi awiri a
magawo khumi a efa wa ufa wosalala, ukhale nsembe
ya ufa, wosanganiza ndi mafuta, ndi nsembe yache
yothira ; 10 ndiyo nsembe yopsereza ya dzuwa la
Sabata liri lonse, pamodzi ndi nsembe yopsereza
yosalekeza, ndi nsembe yache yothira.
During Camp meeting
• The Sabbath should be as sacredly observed on
the campground as it is in our homes. We should
not let the bustle and excitement around us detract
from its sacred dignity. No cooking should be
done on that day. …There has sometimes been
almost as much cooking done on the Sabbath as
on other days; and the blessing of God has been
shut out by our failure to honor Him in keeping
the Sabbath according to the commandment.--
Undated Manuscript 88. {13MR 293.3}
Pleasing the appetite
• And let us not come to the camp-meeting to break the
Sabbath by cooking on that day. The instructions
which God gave to Israel should not be disregarded:
"Bake that which ye will bake today, and seethe that ye
will seethe;" for "tomorrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath
unto the Lord." God meant what he said; and shall we
who are presenting to the people the claims of the
divine law, break that law ourselves, merely to please
the appetite? God forbid! I know that frequently the
Lord has withheld his blessing because we have failed
to honor him by keeping the Sabbath according to the
commandment. {RH, May 8, 1883 par. 10}
Let also the workers rest
• The cooking may be so planned as to give the
workers more advantages of the meeting than
they have usually enjoyed, and on the
Sabbath, in particular, their duties should be
made as light as possible. We should have
sympathy for those who are confined to the
hot kitchen, engaged in the preparation of
food, and should be willing to deny ourselves
unnecessary luxuries for their sake.
{GosHealth, April 1, 1898 par. 11}
• For we can do nothing against the truth, but
for the truth. {2 Corinthians 13:8}
• 16 All scripture is given by inspiration of
God, and is profitable for doctrine, for
reproof, for correction, for instruction in
righteousness: 17 That the man of God may
be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all
good works. {2 Timoteyo 3:16-17}
• A lie, believed, practiced, becomes as truth to them
(men). Thus the purpose of the satanic agencies is
accomplished, that men should reach these
conclusions through the working of their own
inventive minds. But how do men fall into such error?
By starting with false premises, and then bringing
everything to bear to make the error true. In some
cases the first principles have a measure of truth
interwoven with the error, but it does not lead to
any just action, and this is why men are misled. In
order to reign and become a power, they employ
Satan's methods to justify their own principles. They
exalt themselves as men of superior judgment, and they
have stood as representatives of God. These are false
gods.--Lt 55, 1895.
Proverbs 27:6
• Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the
kisses of an enemy are deceitful.