Numbers chapter 15 states that “the children of Israel…found a man that gathered sticks upon the sabbath day” and that “The man shall be surely put to death.”
But was this solely about picking up a few sticks, perhaps to make a fire with which to cook, stay warm, etc.?
Let us consider the context in which the statement is made so as to not take a text out of context to make a pretext for a prooftext.
The chapter begins with the LORD saying to Moses, “When ye be come into the land of your habitations…And will make an offering by fire unto the LORD, a burnt offering, or a sacrifice” and continues referring to “burnt offering or sacrifice…for a burnt offering, or for a sacrifice…an offering made by fire …an offering made by fire” and that such laws pertain to “you of the congregation, and also for the stranger that sojourneth with you, an ordinance for ever in your generations.”
We also find that it is specified that “if ye have erred, and not observed all these commandments…Then it shall be, if ought be committed by ignorance without the knowledge of the congregation…the priest shall make an atonement for all the congregation of the children of Israel, and it shall be forgiven them; for it is ignorance: and they shall bring their offering, a sacrifice made by fire unto the LORD, and their sin offering before the LORD, for their ignorance…seeing all the people were in ignorance…if any soul sin through ignorance…the priest shall make an atonement for the soul that sinneth ignorantly.”
Thus, there is a law dealing with sinning ignorantly. On the other hand, “But the soul that doeth ought presumptuously, whether he be born in the land, or a stranger, the same reproacheth the LORD; and that soul shall be cut off from among his people.”
Now, with reference to fiery burn sacrifices (which require the usage of wood) along with statement regarding sinning ignorantly and sinning presumptuously, we come to the text in question:
And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks upon the sabbath day. And they that found him gathering sticks brought him unto Moses and Aaron, and unto all the congregation. And they put him in ward, because it was not declared what should be done to him.
And the LORD said unto Moses, The man shall be surely put to death: all the congregation shall stone him with stones without the camp. And all the congregation brought him without the camp, and stoned him with stones, and he died; as the LORD commanded Moses.
Now, of course, as per the Law as a whole, what is going on within the succinct statement “they put him in ward, because it was not declared what should be done to him” refers to the fact that there had to be at least two witnesses, it had to be determined whether the man was sinning ignorantly and sinning presumptuously, etc.
Now, directly after these statement the text continues with the LORD saying to Moses that the children of Israel are to do the following:
…make them fringes in the borders of their garments throughout their generations, and that they put upon the fringe of the borders a ribband of blue: And it shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the LORD, and do them; and that ye seek not after your own heart and your own eyes, after which ye use to go a whoring: That ye may remember, and do all my commandments, and be holy unto your God. I am the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the LORD your God.
As per the greater context, “to go a whoring” refers to idolatry. Thus, they were to make fringes so as to remind them to “do all my commandments,” to “be holy” because it was the LORD who liberated them from slavery in Egypt.
It may be that the man was gathering stick for whatever reason it was and was found guilty of performing a work-like function which was forbidden for the Sabbath day of rest; which is why the fringes are commanded as reminders. However, when we put all of the pieces together we realize that it appears that the man was not merely picking up sticks and not merely seeking to cook or keep warm but knew he was sinning, was witnessed doing so by at least two people, and appears to have been gather wood with which to build an idol.
This is because the text begins by referencing fiery burnt sacrifices and refers to the fringes are reminders of the commandments so that they did not “go a whoring” because “I am the LORD your God.”
The word we have seen translated as sticks is actually not merely in reference to little pieces of wood with which one could no really build anything—such as an idol. The Hebrew word in `ets (Strong’s H6086) and is found, for example, 328 times within the KJV which translates it as follows: Tree (162x) Wood (107x) Timber (23x) Stick (14x) Gallows (8x) Staff (4x) Stock (4x) Carpenter (with H2796) (2x) Branches (1x) Helve (1x) Planks (1x)
Stalks (1x)
Within the book of Numbers it appears in 13:20, 19:6, 31:20 and 35:18 as “wood” and two times within our chapter 15 text as “sticks.”
One last note of note; in Jeremiah 10:3 the same word is used within the context of gathering wood for the making of idols:
For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not. They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.
Thus, it may very well be that this was not merely a case of picking up sticks but of idolatry.