Man is required to turn away his feet from the Sabbath, and refrain
from seeking his own ways, words, and pleasure, on that day, not
because he needs a day of rest, but because by so doing he can honor
the great God. Those who keep the Sabbath with this object in view,
will call it a delight, the holy of the Lord, and honorable.
The fourth commandment points back to what God did during the
first week of time. The creation and rest occupied the first week.
Immediately following, Jehovah sanctified and blessed the day on which
he had rested. In this way the seventh day became the holy Sabbath of
the Lord for Adam and his posterity. It was ever to be observed by the
race as the memorial of the living God.
Those who locate the institution of the Sabbath at Sinai, urge that
no mention is made of Sabbath-keeping in the brief record of the book
of Genesis, as proof that the Sabbath was made for the Jews alone.
As evidence of the unsoundness of this position, please notice the
following facts:
1. The sacred record nowhere intimates that the Sabbath was instituted
at Sinai, while it distinctly locates its institution at creation.
2. The Sabbath being made for man, Mark ii, 27, as a memorial of
creation, there are no reasons why the Jews alone should enjoy its
blessings. All men have need of it as much as they.
3. The facts connected with the giving of the manna show that the
Israelites understood the obligations of the Sabbath, that some of
the people violated these sacred obligations, and were reproved by
Jehovah, thirty days before they saw Mount Sinai. See Ex. xvi-xix. They
came to the wilderness of Sin, where the manna was first given, on the
fifteenth day of their second month. On the sixth day they gathered
a double portion of the manna, sufficient for that day and for the
Sabbath which followed. Moses said to the people, “This is that which
the Lord hath said, To-morrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the
Lord.” On the seventh day, Moses said, “Eat that to-day; for to-day
is a Sabbath unto the Lord. To-day ye shall not find it in the field.
Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the
Sabbath, in it there shall be none. And it came to pass, that there
went out some of the people on the seventh day for to gather, and they
found none. And the Lord said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep
my commandments and my laws? See, for that the Lord hath given you the
Sabbath.”
Here we see that the Sabbath was understood, and its violation was
rebuked by Jehovah. But the Israelites had not yet seen Sinai. Indeed
they did not come to the mount from which the ten commandments were
proclaimed, until thirty days from the time the manna was first given.
See chap. xix. Here is a nail driven in a sure place, and ministers and
men should cease to assert that the Sabbath was first given at Sinai,
till they have searched the sacred narrative with greater care.
The original plan of the Sabbath contemplated its perpetual observance
as long as God, the creator, and created man should exist. It does not
point forward to redemption. It was instituted before provisions were
made for redemption. It looks back to creation. It was made for man
before the fall; but, in consequence of the fall, it is of tenfold more
importance to him throughout the entire period of his fallen condition.
And it will exist during man’s future life upon the new earth in all
its original significance and glory. We have seen the Sabbath based
upon the great facts of the creation in six days, Jehovah’s rest
upon the seventh day, and his sanctifying and blessing the day of his
rest. As long as these continue to be facts, so long will the Sabbath
continue. Redemption does not propose the creation of a new world as
the inheritance of the redeemed. “Behold I make all things new,” says
the Redeemer. This world, redeemed from the curse and all its results,
will be the eternal possession of the righteous. And notwithstanding
the work of redemption, the great facts connected with the creation
week will ever be vividly impressed upon the immortal minds of the
redeemed. Thus saith the prophet: “For as the new heavens and the new
earth which I will make shall remain before me, saith the Lord, so
shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that
from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall
all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord.” Isa. lxvi, 22,
23. There is no point of time in the past when all flesh have come to
worship before the God of Heaven on the Sabbath; and this can never be
while the wheat and tares, the children of the kingdom and the children
of the wicked one, grow together; and these will not be separated until
the harvest, which is the end of the world. This unity in reference to
the memorial of the great God will be seen only in the immortal state,
when from one Sabbath to another, and from one new moon to another,
all flesh shall come to worship before the Lord. “What! the moon in
Heaven?” No, not in such a Heaven as that of which the poet sings,
“Beyond the bounds of time and space,
Look forward to that heavenly place,
The saints’ secure abode.”
Beyond space there would be no room for the moon, nor for the sun;
neither would there be room for the resurrected saints, possessing
bodies like their Lord’s resurrected, glorious body; and beyond the
bounds of time, there would be no need of the sun and the moon which
are God’s great time-keepers. We are not looking for a general smash-up
in the universe, and then the creation of all new things, for immortal
saints beyond the bounds of time and space. It is this planet that
has revolted. And the Redeemer, who is coming to bring it back into
allegiance to the government of God, says, “Behold I make all things
new.” The revolt did not affect the sun, moon, and the other planets.
Redemption will not affect these heavenly bodies. When the Restorer
shall have established the immortal saints in the new earth, it will
continue its revolutions, and the sun and moon will measure off
days, and months, and years, as long as eternal ages shall roll. The
redeemed will have right to the tree of life, which Adam lost through
disobedience. That tree yields twelve manner of fruits each month.
And why may not the words of the prophet in reference to all flesh
appearing before the Lord from one new moon to another, be fulfilled
when the entire family of the redeemed shall come each month to partake
of the new fruit of the tree of life?
But to return to God’s memorial: The position taken in these
pages presents the one-day-in-seven-and-no-day-in-particular, or
one-seventh-part-of-time, theory, in its true light. If the Sabbath was
made for man, for the simple reason that he needed rest from physical
toil, and a day of worship, one day may answer as well as another.
But if it be a memorial of Jehovah’s rest, the seventh, and no other
day of the week, is the day of the Sabbath. Sabbatarians are charged
with being great sticklers for the day. And so they are. Sabbath
signifies rest. Man is required by the fourth commandment to celebrate
the rest-day of the Lord, or the day on which the Lord rested. God
rested on the seventh day. He hallowed the seventh day. Hence, the
seventh day, and no other, is the day of the Sabbath. Change the day
of the Sabbath, and you cease to celebrate the rest of the Lord. If
God rested on one day in seven and no day in particular, man may do
the same; but if God rested on the seventh day of the first week,
acceptable Sabbath-keeping is the celebration of the seventh day of
each succeeding week.
The passover was a memorial of an event that occurred on the fourteenth
day of the first Jewish month. The celebration of the day of the
passover became a statute in Israel from Moses to Christ. Remove this
observance to a day on which the event commemorated did not take place,
and the celebration would lose its significance. It would cease to be
the passover.
The American people celebrate their national independence on the fourth
day of July. And why? Because July 4, 1776, patriotic men signed the
Declaration of Independence. The men of this nation are great sticklers
for the day; and well they may be. Should they change our national
celebration from the day on which the Declaration of Independence
was signed, to a day on which it was not signed, it would lose its
significance. It would cease to be a celebration of our independence.
Let the people of this country celebrate their independence on the
twenty-fifth day of December, and let the Declaration of Independence
be read from every orator’s stand on that day, as is customary on the
fourth of July, and the American people would be regarded as a nation
of fools.
And what Jew ever thought of observing one
three-hundred-and-sixty-fifth part of time, or one day in three hundred
and sixty-five and no day in particular, and calling that the passover?
And we might as well talk of celebrating our national independence
on one day in three hundred and sixty-five and no day in particular,
as to talk of celebrating the rest-day of Jehovah upon one day in
seven and no day in particular. The veriest American idiot that can
recollect of ever hearing about George Washington or the Declaration
of Independence, might well laugh at the folly of changing the day of
our national celebration. Verily, as our Lord has said, the men of this
world are wiser in their generation than the children of light. It is
only in matters of religion that people seem to be satisfied with that
which, in regard to any other subject, would be considered consummate
folly.
And do these men who use the one-day-in-seven-and-no-day-in-particular
theory, advocate a change of the Sabbath from the rest-day of the
Father, to the resurrection-day of the Son? Then I inquire of them,
Who ever thought of celebrating the resurrection of Christ on one day
in seven and no day in particular? If they say that this can be done,
then I inquire again, Where is the change of the day of the Sabbath?
Was it a change from one day in seven and no day in particular of the
former dispensation, to one day in seven and no day in particular of
the present dispensation? This would be “confusion worse confounded.”
And to those who assert that redemption, as a greater work, is to be
celebrated on the first day of the week, as creation was anciently to
be celebrated on the seventh day of the week, I would say, We only have
your word for that. Please notice these facts:
1. The Bible is silent relative to redemption’s being greater than
creation. Who knows that it is?
2. The Bible is silent as to the observance of a day to commemorate
redemption. Who knows that a day should be kept for that purpose?
3. We have in the Lord’s supper, and baptism, memorials of the two
great events in the history of the Redeemer’s work for man. These are
appropriate.
4. There is no fitness in keeping a day of weekly repose to commemorate
the agonies of the crucifixion of Christ, or the activities of the
morning of his resurrection.
5. But if a day of the week should be kept, to celebrate man’s
redemption, which should it be? the day on which he shed his blood for
our sins? the day on which he rose for our justification? or the day on
which he ascended to the Father, to intercede for sinners? The day of
the crucifixion, when the greatest event for man’s redemption occurred,
has the first claim. The apostle does not say that we have redemption
through the resurrection; but he does say, “We have redemption through
his blood.” Eph. i, 7. Now if a day should be kept to celebrate
redemption, should it not be the day on which he shed his blood?
Redemption is not completed; but in the Lord’s supper and baptism are
two memorials of the greatest events that have occurred in connection
with this work for man. Neither of these are weekly memorials. Baptism
may be received by the believer on any day of the week; and it is said
of the emblems of the broken body and shed blood of the Son of God,
without reference to any particular day, “As often as ye eat this
bread and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord’s death till he come.”
1 Cor. xi, 26. These memorials point back to the death, burial, and
resurrection, of Jesus Christ. God’s great memorial points back to
the day of his rest. And why not let all these remain, answering the
purpose for which they were instituted? Why should the work of creation
be lost sight of in the work of redemption? Why not celebrate both
here? Both are equally remembered hereafter. It is said of the redeemed:
“And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book,
and to open the seals thereof; for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed
us to God by thy blood out every kindred, and tongue, and people,
and nation.” Rev. v, 9. The same also “cast their crowns before the
throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, and honor,
and power; for thou hast _created_ all things, and for thy pleasure
they are and were created.” Rev. iv, 10, 11. Here the redeemed are
represented as ascribing praise to both the Creator and the Redeemer.
And again, every created intelligence in the universe, in joyful
sympathy with man in view of his redemption, is represented in chap.
v, 13, as ascribing “blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, unto
Him that sitteth upon the throne [the Creator], and unto the Lamb [the
Redeemer], forever and ever.”
We here see that the redeemed, with all the enrapturing facts of
redemption completed before them, do not lose sight of the creation.
The Creator shares their adoration equally with the Redeemer. How,
then, must Adam have felt, when, in the garden of Eden, he first awoke
to all the glories of this creation which the redeemed so joyfully
remember! Fresh from the hand of his Creator, he springs to life
in all the vigor of perfect manhood. With an intellect capable of
appreciating the glories of Eden, and comprehending the grandeur and
dignity of his position, and with a heart unsullied by sin, how must
he have turned in gratitude and adoration toward the mighty Maker of
himself and all these glories! If the redeemed could cast their crowns
before Jehovah in reverent worship, in view of a creation accomplished
over six thousand years before their song of praise was uttered,
how must every fiber of Adam’s being have thrilled with emotions of
thanksgiving and adoration to the beneficent Author of his creation, as
he stood there in Eden, enraptured with the strange delight of a new
existence! And how could he best express the emotions of his heart?
Would it not be by celebrating, amid all the surrounding glories of his
Eden home, a day of rest in honor of his God? Say not that Adam had no
occasion for the Sabbath in Eden. It was the very means by which he
would rise into communion with his Maker, and offer the service of a
grateful heart to him from whom he had just received the gift of life
and all its blessings.
And if the Sabbath was thus appropriate, thus necessary, in Eden, what
shall we say of it since the fall? With sin came man’s estrangement
from God, and his proneness to forget his Maker, and wander away
from him. How much more needful the Sabbath, then, that he might not
entirely break away from the moorings which held him to the heavenly
world. The flood of sin and crime has rolled broader and deeper with
each succeeding year; and the further we come from Paradise, the weaker
and more prone to sin do we find the race, and hence more in need of
God’s great memorial.
Did Adam, while yet unfallen in Eden, surrounded with all its heavenly
influences, and in free and open converse with his Maker, need the
Sabbath? How much more, when, with the gates of Paradise forever closed
against him, he could no longer speak face to face with his Creator,
but must henceforth grapple with the sinful promptings of his own
heart, and grope his way amid the moral darkness that began to settle
upon the world when the glorious light of Eden was obscured by sin! And
if needed then by Adam, how much more still by Abel, whose eyes had
never looked upon the beautiful garden, and who had never personally
experienced the nearness to Heaven which Adam there enjoyed! And it was
still more essential to the spiritual wants of the race in the days of
Enoch and the more degenerate age of Noah, when the influence of Eden,
like the last rays of twilight from the setting sun, were fading from
the hearts of men. Abraham needed it still more to save him from the
idolatry of his father’s house; and Moses and the Jewish nation, yet
more, to keep them from the open apostasy of the heathen nations around
them. But more than to Abraham, to Moses, or to the Jews, was the holy
Sabbath a necessity to the church in the gospel dispensation, when the
Man of Sin was to arise, and oppose, and exalt himself above all that
is called God; when there should be a tendency to multiply feasts and
festivals, uncalled for by the Scriptures, in honor of Christ, and to
rank the Sabbath of Jehovah with Jewish ceremonies, and sweep it away
with them.
And now we have come down nearly six thousand years from the gates
of Paradise. Through all this time, has sin reigned, and iniquity
abounded, and the hearts of men grown less and less susceptible of
divine impressions, and in the same proportion more prone to forget the
Creator. And can we dispense with the Sabbath now? True, the dawn of
Eden restored, is visibly approaching; but the world is farther from
God than ever before. Infidelity and atheism run riot, and seemingly
the race would fain banish all thoughts and love of God from mind and
heart. More than ever, then, is the Sabbath now needed, to save men
from utter apostasy. With all the original reasons for the institution,
the accumulated necessities of six thousand years of sin, now call upon
us to throw all possible safeguards around this sacred institution.
If ever a memorial of the great God and a golden link to bind man
to Heaven, was needed, it is needed now. And the necessity of this
institution will even yet increase through the few remaining days of
peril. Can we dispense with it? Never. More and more sacredly should we
cherish it, while with earnest hearts we breathe the prayer,
“Let earth, O Lord, again be thine,
As ere with vengeance cursed;
And let the holy Sabbath shine
As glorious as at first.”
* * * * *
Transcriber’s Notes:
Punctuation has been made consistent.
Variations in spelling and hyphenation were retained as they appear in
the original publication, except that obvious typographical errors have
been corrected.
The following change was made:
p. 339: “the” inserted (to the next)