Should Believers Drive Gas Cars On Sabbath?

Originally Written: 2015-04-26

Please note that this was originally written as a blog post and later converted into a "study page" because I don't want to host studies that I write on the blog. For that reason, this "study" may sound more informal like a blog post and might not be worded as well or as thoroughly and detailed as I would like. If time permits, I'll update it, but for now I'm leaving it as-is until time permits to revise this more.

Exodus 35:3 Do not kindle a fire in any of your dwellings on the Sabbath day.

Those of us who observe the Sabbath know we’re commanded to not start a fire on the Sabbath. I spoke with a brother who is knowledgable on gas-fueled cars and learned that in gas-fueled cars the fuel injector injects gasoline into the cylindar. The piston (which is in the cylindar) goes down the crank shaft. As the piston goes back up it compresses the gas/air mixture in the cylindar.

When it reaches close to or just before top dead center, usually at least every other time, the spark plug ignites the gas/air mixture. Each time this happens as the engine is running, there is a new spark igniting the gas/air mixture. This happens even if your car is just idling - as long as the engine is on. These are mini-combustions where the gas is igniting every time.

He went so far as to say "they’ve done studies to show that there is a flame in the cylinder as piston comes up". He said if it was on the outside of the car, we would see it light instantly and go out as soon as the gasoline air mixture consumed. It sounds like from his description it is like a quick flash of a flame that would go out very quickly much like if you filled a balloon with a flammable liquid and then set it on fire.

He also said, "this is why car gets hot".

I have online fellowship and/or if needed I could fellowship in person with at least one other person if that was absolutely required and travel to their place before and leave after to avoid driving on Shabbat.

Right now, however, my view is that fellowship and Scripture readings can be remote (although in person is obviously better in many cases). Seeing as how I can observe Shabbat to my understanding in a way that meets the Scriptural requirements albeit remotely, why would I start a fire on Shabbat because I want to go to another location for Shabbat? I don’t view being in person as a requirement. If it is, then all of us “gathering online alone from remote locations” are not fulfilling the Sabbath commandment. I mean, if we can just start fires or break Sabbath commandments just cause we want to .... where do we draw the line?

Well you can’t just break a Sabbath command because you want to. You have to have some other command that is greater than that command to justify breaking it. A “want” in my mind is not a justified reason.

Now - if you were isolated, had no phone, no internet, and therefore no way to remotely gather... The other question would be can the traveling be done before Shabbat and you stay over at that location during the entirety of Shabbat? For example, if there’s a believer locally and you can travel there before, stay for the night, and leave after shabbat, isn’t that a better alternative if there is a fire happening when you start a car?

Anyhow, that’s how my brain thinks. I’m sure many other brains think differently. But that’s where I’m coming from and which is why I don’t condone driving on Shabbat with a gas-fueled car.

Now if it was an electric car - I view that differently because electricity is not fire in my view. Fire is put out by water - electricity spreads through water. Fire consumes the fuel source, electricity does not necessarily have to consume anything. I view electricity more like lightning than fire. If electricity was fire, then what is burning? The copper wire isn’t burning. There has to be some consumable/burnable fuel source for something to be a fire in my mind. Electricity doesn’t meet that requirement. I can’t take a pile of copper wires and throw them in a fire to keep the fire going, which shows that the copper wires or whatever other metal wires electricity travels through are not being consumed.

I don’t view the electric spark all by itself in the gas-fueled cars as the reason why there is a fire - it is that spark in combination with the gas. The gas is being burned, albeit in a controlled environment to keep the fire from spreading or the car from exploding.

Fire needs something to be consumed to spread. Electricity needs something to be conducted through to spread. They are very different just like corn is different from wheat which is why we don’t have to worry about corn leavening but we do have to be concerned about wheat leavening. But that’s another discussion for another day.

Anyhow... the small fires in gas-fueled cars is why I don’t condone driving on the Sabbath. Unless of course it would save a life (e.g. driving a believer to another believer’s house who is a medic and they are bleeding profusely and need immediate attention from a trained medic). Then it would be permissible.

Caveat: This article was written on the Roman Date of 2015-04-26. I can’t guarantee at the time you read this my opinion will still be the same. Search this matter out for yourself and do your own studies. I could be wrong.

Sadly, I end up in many cases being the odd-ball even amongst believers because of taking extra steps to avoid breaking commandments. From the perspective of anyone else, I’m adding a barrier to them doing something or fellowshipping with me by not wanting anyone to drive on Shabbat. From my perspective, however, we can’t just break commandments because it’s more convenient to do so. It would have to be due to a required commandment of greater weight that otherwise would not be kept.

So, for example... if you were required by the Scriptures to actually be in person and nobody would let you stay at their place for all of Sabbath and you couldn’t, due to your health, sleep in your car outside their place... then okay maybe you would have some justification to burn gas in your car to attend a Set-Apart gathering (Miqra Qodesh). But just cause you want to if you don’t view it as a requirement? I don’t know about that.

If in person fellowship is an absolute requirement I don’t think I would be even doing online ministry hardly at all. I would be more focused in building an in-person assembly for fellowship. If in person fellowship is a requirement, then I think all of us logging in online who don’t have at least one other believer with us in person are not doing what’s required and need to move where another believer is or make a weekly trip somewhere for Shabbat. But since I don’t view that as a requirement, the online Sabbath morning gathering hosted @ https://WYLH.org at this time appears to meet the requirement and make the “need to burn gas” not really a need - but a want - a non-requirement - with not enough justification Scripturally to support it.

The only solution I would see is getting an Electric car. Then you could easily drive where you want on Shabbat without burning a fire.

OK - Modified this post... more research done on my part to help you out!

I found this link which shows clearly on page 5 in pictures when the gas is ignited and combustion occurs and how it looks in your car. The first paragraph on page 5 of that linked PDF states this:

As the piston travels upward it reduces the cylinder’s effective volume to compress the air/fuel mixture. Just before the piston reaches top dead center (TDC) the spark plug ignites the concentrated air/fuel mixture to initiate combustion.

I got to thinking also... why do Gas-Fueled cars have a tail pipe with smoke coming out and electric cars have no tail pipe?

That speaks volumes to me as well. The pipe on a car is like the chimney in a house it seems. You might not see it - but you are burning something. Maybe it is small... but it is burning.

Another site online states:

Today, all gasoline powered vehicles burn only finely divided particles or droplets that are sprayed from the carburetor or fuel injectors, into the engine cylinders.

And yet another site online with a quote from a physicist, Dr. Stephen Granande states:

For another, even though there’s gasoline vapor in the tank, you’ve got to add a source of fire to get it started. Like my dad always told me when we worked on engines, you need fuel, air, and fire to make an engine go.

Seems I’m not so crazy afterall...