May we have grace to ponder these things aright. Let us cultivate a lowly and an obedient spirit. God has said, “To this man will I look, even to him who is of a contrite spirit and trembleth at My word.” May these words sink down into our ears and into our hearts; and let the constant breathing of our souls be, “Keep back Thy servant, O Lord, from presumptuous sins, and let them not have dominion over him.”[13] It only remains for us, ere closing this section, to notice the case of the Sabbath-breaker and the institution of “the ribband of blue.” “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 to Moses and Aaron, and to 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.” (Ver. 32-36.) This surely was a presumptuous sin—it was flying in the face of a most plain and positive commandment of God. It is this that specially marks a presumptuous sin, and leaves it utterly inexcusable. Ignorance cannot be pleaded in the face of a divine command. But why, it may be asked, had they to put the man in ward? Because, although the commandment was explicit, yet the breach of it had not been anticipated, nor had any penalty been enacted. To speak after the manner of men, Jehovah had not contemplated such folly on man’s part as the interruption of His rest, and therefore He had not formally provided for such an occurrence. We need not say that God knows the end from the beginning; but in the matter now before us, He purposely left the case unnoticed until occasion required. But, alas! occasion did require, for man is capable of any thing. He has no heart for God’s rest. To kindle a fire on the Sabbath day was not only a positive breach of the law, but it evidenced the most complete alienation from the mind of the Law-giver, inasmuch as it introduced into the day of rest that which is the apt symbol of _judgment_. Fire is emblematical of judgment, and as such it was wholly out of keeping with the repose of the Sabbath; nothing therefore remained but to visit the Sabbath-breaker with judgment, for “whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”