Matthew 12:1-8

 Shabbath (shab-bawth’) – “to rest or cease from exertion”  Exodus 16 – Please Turn in Your Bibles

 “Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. 12 Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall.”

 "For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”

 “Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.”

 21 For even though they knew God, they did not glorify (“doxazo”) Him as God or give thanks (“eucharisteo”) but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

 Please Turn in Your Bibles  Exodus 35:3 - "You shall not kindle a fire in any of your dwellings on the Sabbath day."

 “Now while the sons of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering wood on the Sabbath day…  "The man shall surely be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp."

 34 'Then the land will enjoy its Sabbaths all the days of the desolation, while you are in your enemies' land; then the land will rest and enjoy its Sabbaths. 35 'All the days of its desolation it will observe the rest which it did not observe on your Sabbaths, while you were living on it.

 20 Those who had escaped from the sword he carried away to Babylon…21 to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths. All the days of its desolation it kept Sabbath until seventy years were complete.

The Talmud taught that it would break the Sabbath rest to climb a tree, to ride, to swim, to clap one's hands, to strike one's side, or to dance…to pick fruit, or even to lift it from the ground, would be like reaping. If a person were to roll wheat to take away these husks, she would be guilty of sifting with a sieve…

If she were rubbing the ends of the stalks, she would be guilty of threshing. Is she were cleaning what adheres to the side of a stalk, she would be guilty of sifting. If she were brushing the stalk, she would be guilty of grinding. If she were throwing it up in her hands, she would be guilty of winnowing.”

 “We will not understand the attitude of the orthodox unless we understand the amazing seriousness with which they took the Sabbath Law. That Law forbade all work on the Sabbath day, and so the orthodox Jews would literally die rather than break it.”

Antiochus IV Epiphanes Pompey the Great

 “And His disciples were hungry, and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat.”  Luke 6:1 “…His disciples plucked the heads of grain and ate them, rubbing them in their hands.”

 "When you enter your neighbor's vineyard, then you may eat grapes until you are fully satisfied, but you shall not put any in your basket. When you enter your neighbor's standing grain, then you may pluck the heads with your hand, but you shall not wield a sickle in your neighbor's standing grain.”

 The Mishnah teaches the oral traditions by example (called the oral “Torah”). It presents actual cases being brought to judgment, usually along with the debate on the matter and the judgment that was given by a wise and notable rabbi based on the rules and spirit of the teaching ("Torah") that guided his sentencing.

 6 So the priest gave him consecrated bread; for there was no bread there but the bread of the Presence which was removed from before the LORD, in order to put hot bread in its place when it was taken away.

 8 "Every Sabbath day he shall set it in order before the LORD continually; it is an everlasting covenant for the sons of Israel.9 "It shall be for Aaron and his sons, and they shall eat it in a holy place; for it is most holy to him from the LORD'S offerings by fire, his portion forever."

 Then on the Sabbath day two male lambs one year old without defect, and two-tenths of an bushel of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering, and its drink offering: 10 'This is the burnt offering of every Sabbath in addition to the continual burnt offering and its drink offering.

 Hosea 6:6 “For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.”

“It is common for men of corrupt minds, by their zeal in rituals, and the external services of religion, to think to atone for the looseness of their morals.”

 Then he said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath."

2 For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. 3 For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God. 4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.