No servile work. No cooking. No doing of what pleases us or what we like. No gossip talks. Doing good deeds.

(8) Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. (9) Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work; (10) but the seventh day is a sabbath unto Jehovah thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: (11) for in six days Jehovah made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore Jehovah blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. Exodus 20:8-11 ASV

The sabbath forbids work in the category that an animal can also do. The forbiddance was interpreted as even to forbid picking up a mat from the floor. Jesus always snapped back at the misguided views about activities during the Sabbath day letting the detractors know that as the Author the Sabbath He knows what deeds are acceptable on the rest and holy day. In a modern world with many new activities, keeping the Sabbath day holy while resting and going about our activities is challenging.

The tenor of the Sabbath regarding absolute cessation of servile work in addition to the clarifications brought by Jesus can guide us in our effort to keep the day holy while we rest from work.

God started teaching the Israelites to keep the Sabbath while they were still in the desert. The first test came in looking for food for the Sabbath day. They were to get double portion of food on the sixth day to have enough for the seventh day. Some went out anyway on the seventh day to look for food. God was very upset. As a result, God forbids them to go out on the Sabbath day:

Exodus 16:27-30 KJ3 

(27) And it happened on the seventh day, some of the people went out to gather, and did not find any.  (28) And Jehovah said to Moses, Until when do you refuse to keep My commandments and My laws? (29) Behold! Because Jehovah has given the sabbath to you, therefore He is giving to you two days of bread on the sixth day. Each man of you remain in his place. Do not let anyone go out from his place on the seventh day. (30) And the people rested on the seventh day. 

Therefore, if you are in doubt on what to do on the Sabbath day, stay home and rest and sleep. Jesus does not mind. There is a holy convocation called for on the seventh day but we also read that Jesus taught the Samaritan woman that God can be worshipped in Spirit.

Can we cook food with kindled fire or a heat source?

Exodus 35:2-3 KJ3 

(2) Work may be done six days and on the seventh day it shall be holy to you, a sabbath of rest to Jehovah; everyone doing work in it dying shall die.

(3) You shall not kindle a fire in all your dwellings on the day of the Sabbath.

The order about preparing food is recorded in Exodus 16:23-24: WE MAY NOT COOK

(23) And he said to them, That is what Jehovah said, Tomorrow is a rest, a holy sabbath to Jehovah. What you will bake, bake. And boil what you will boil. And lay up for yourselves all that is left over, to keep it until the morning. 

(24) And they laid it up until the morning, as Moses commanded. And it did not stink and no maggot was in it.

Is heating food in a microwave, a stove, et cetera considered as kindling fire? Does our car or heavy duty truck needs rest as our animal? Is lifting the finger to push a button, or traveling where we would have to lift our luggage or baggage, or driving or driving to our assembly, or fixing our car or taking our car to a mechanic, forbidden work?

Can we go shopping or to the grocery store on the Sabbath day?

Before the Exile, Jeremiah brought accusations against those who were carrying a burden from home, to the gates of the city, who were stationing at the gates during the Sabbath day in Jerusalem. God promised them longevity for the country if they stop and destruction if they refuse to heed to the command of no work on the Sabbath.

Jeremiah 17:21-27 LITV

(21) So says Jehovah, Take heed for the sake of your lives, and do not carry a burden on the sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem.

(22) And do not carry a burden from your houses on the sabbath day, nor do any work, but keep the sabbath day holy, as I commanded your fathers.

(23) But they did not obey nor bow down their ear, but they made their neck stiff, not to hear, nor to receive instruction.

(24) And it shall be, if you carefully listen to me, says Jehovah, to bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the sabbath day, but keep the sabbath day holy, to do no work in it,

(25) even kings and rulers sitting on the throne of David shall enter into the gates of this city, riding on chariots and on horses, they and their rulers, the men of Judah, and those living in Jerusalem. And this city will be inhabited forever.

(26) And they will come from the cities of Judah, and from the places about Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin, and from the lowland, and from the mountains, and from the south, bringing burnt offerings, and sacrifices, and grain offerings, and incense, and bringing sacrifices of thanksgiving to the house of Jehovah.

(27) But if you will not listen to Me to keep the sabbath day holy, and to not carry a burden and enter at the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath day, then I will kindle a fire in her gates. And it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem; yea, it shall not be put out.

As the history of the Israelites goes, they went to exile for rampant disobedience and breaking of the Sabbath. They came back after the 70 years.

But, again, we read that Nehemiah described the same situation that enraged God before the exile happening again (Nehemiah 13:15-21). God showed that He is so serious in wanting us to rest on His Sabbath day that he condemned to death an Israelite who was found gathering sticks on the sabbath day (Numbers 15:32-36).

On the topic of buying and selling during festivals, new moons, and in the Sabbath, Nehemiah instructs that it is forbidden.

Nehemiah 10:31 LITV

(31) And if the people of the land should bring goods or any food to sell on the Sabbath, we would not take from them on the Sabbath, or on the holy day. And they would forego the seventh year, and the interest of every hand.

Amos condemned the same tendency long before. We may not wish to rush the sabbath day to be over.

Amos 8:4-5 LITV

(4) Hear this, you who swallow up the poor, even to make the humble of the land to cease,

(5) saying, When will the new moon have passed, so that we may buy grain? Or the sabbath, so that we may open the wheat, making smaller the ephah, and making greater the shekel, and to falsify the deceitful balances,

In our modern era, as the Torah went out of Zion (Isaiah 2:3; 51:4-5) through Christianity (Luke 24:47; Acts 1:8), to us who can hear the voice of Jesus (John 10:16), may we preach for total merchandising stoppage during the Sabbath day? No. Jesus knows that we are not living in His Jerusalem but among pagan nations. He did not charge the Israelites to go warring the pagan nations to force them to comply with the Law (Torah) as it was to be enforced in Israel.

If we may not ask the governments of the world to emulate the forbiddances in Jerusalem during the Sabbath day, does it imply that we, believers, during the Sabbath day, can go on carrying burden, doing work, going shopping, being impatient for the Sabbath to be over so we can attend to our business or occupations?

From the spirit of the forbiddances mentioned about and according to Matthew 5:17-18, nothing of the activities mentioned in this paragraph is permissible. However, if we have to minister to someone in doing some chore that does not amount to a work that an animal is forbidden to do on the Sabbath day, Jesus encourages us to do good during the Sabbath day.

What may we talk about on the Sabbath day? NOTHING.

Isaiah 58:13 Darby

If thou turn back thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day, and call the sabbath a delight, the holy day of Jehovah, honourable; and thou honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking idle words;

We can only do good deeds on the Sabbath besides seeking to be with God (Jesus) on the 7th day. Jesus does not fault us if we keep busy working all the 6 days that He gives us. He cares that we respect His Sabbath by doing what pleases Him and not what pleases us (Isaiah 58:13). For example, it pleases us to watch TV, movies, sports, et cetera, for 6 days but, God (Jesus) wants us to give up those pleasures on the 7th day to His pleasure. He promises us blessings in Isaiah 58.

And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace. Mark 3:4 KJV

Then said Jesus unto them, I will ask you one thing; Is it lawful on the sabbath days to do good, or to do evil? to save life, or to destroy it? Luke 6:9 KJV

Let us be wise!