Sabbath desecration

According to Mosaic Law, to desecrate shabbat intentionally, despite warning, is a capital offense (Exodus 31:14).

All work was prohibited during shabbat, even minor tasks, such as "gathering wood" (Numbers 15:32-36).

As such, it would be practically impossible for Orthodox courts to enforce the death penalty in modern times, even if they had the political standing to do so.

Some Reform and Conservative rabbis condemn capital punishment generally, partly based on this stringency.

People who consistently violate shabbat today are generally not considered reliable in certain matters of Jewish law.

[citation needed] Congregationalists, Presbyterians, Methodists, and Baptists, as well as many Episcopalians, have historically espoused the view of first-day Sabbatarianism, which teaches that the Lord's Day (Sunday) is the Christian Sabbath, in keeping with the understanding that the moral law contained in the Ten Commandments stands eternally.

[5][6][7][8] The Westminster Confession, held by Presbyterian Churches, teaches first-day Sabbatarianism: As it is the law of nature, that, in general, a due proportion of time be set apart for the worship of God; so, in His Word, by a positive, moral, and perpetual commandment binding all men in all ages, He has particularly appointed one day in seven, for a Sabbath, to be kept holy unto him (Ex.

[11][12] The General Rules of the Methodist Church similarly require "attending upon all the ordinances of God" including "the public worship of God" and prohibit "profaning the day of the Lord, either by doing ordinary work therein or by buying or selling".

First-day Sabbatarian organizations, such as the Lord's Day Alliance in North America, as well as the Lord's Day Observance Society in the British Isles, have mounted campaigns with support in both Canada and Britain from labour unions, with the goal of preventing secular and commercial interests from hampering freedom of worship and preventing them from exploiting workers.

It is a symbol of our redemption in Christ, a sign of our sanctification, a token of our allegiance, and a foretaste of our eternal future in God's kingdom.