Remember the Sabbath Day

We just finished a kitchen remodel. In the course of events we also purchased new ovens. Beautiful, stainless steel, convection, double ovens from Kitchen Aid. As I sat down to browse through the instruction manual (hey, I'm an engineer! what do you expect?) I learned that our ovens keep the Sabbath. And boy do they ever!

When the Sabbath Mode is set, only the number and start keys will function, no tones will sound, and the displays will not show messages or temperature changes. The heat sources icons will appear lit on the oven display throughout the Sabbath Mode. When the oven door is opened or closed, the oven light will not turn on or off and the heating elements will not turn on or off immediately.

If a power failure occurs when the Sabbath Mode is set, the oven(s) will remain in Sabbath Mode but will no longer be actively cooking. The “ON” indicator will no longer be lit. Touch OFF to return to normal operating mode (non-Sabbath Mode, not cooking)

It continues like this, spanning two pages. There are countless steps for enabling, disabling, setting, changing settings, and on and on.

Is this really what God intended when He gave us the gift of the Sabbath? How on earth does this complicated mess of intricate steps, lights not turning on, and indicators remaining lit fulfill the Fourth Commandment?

Jesus repeatedly condemned the Jewish leaders of His day for adding to His Law. They piled additional burdens upon the people while refraining from keeping the essence of the Law. I find it amusing (actually, quite sad) to see that even ovens are a means for perpetuating this ungodly legalism today. May God have mercy and bring the light of the Gospel to the Jews.