What is the penalty for gathering sticks on the Sabbath? Stoning!
Sound severe? You could say that. But it also drives home the point that breaking the Sabbath commandment is sin (keeping the Sabbath DID make the original Top Ten list, after all!) and that ALL sin is deserving of death.
God's experiment with the people of Israel was to instruct a nation in what holiness looks like. The commandments are not suggestions. They are not negotiable. With the emphasis given to the law and the covenant over the last year, ignorance of the law is not a plausible excuse. Disregarding the covenant for any reason (and there seems to be no real reason cited here in vs. 32-36) is inexcusable...and merits death.
It's almost shocking to us today that God would demand His covenant to be taken so seriously...but what does that tell us? Which is out of line? God - or our sensibilities? What if reverence for God really is so important that breaking His law ought to mean death meted out by the community? Perhaps that cold shock of spiritual reality would teach us to be ruthless in weeding out the sins and bad habits in our lives.
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