The institution of the Sabbath in different countries apparently
has a long and complex history. Many explanations have been given
of its origin, aside from the direct divine command. The simplest
and most satisfactory is probably that it was originally connected
with the worship of the moon. There are many indications in Hebrew
history that the early ancestors of the Israelites were moon
worshippers. To-day as in the distant past the inhabitants of the
deserts from whence came the forefathers of the Hebrews make their
journeys under the clear, cool light of the moon, avoiding the hot,
piercing rays of the mid-day sun. The moon with its marvelous
transformations is unquestionably the most striking and
awe-inspiring object in the heavens. It is not strange, therefore,
that many primitive peoples and especially the nomadic desert
dwellers worshipped it as the supreme embodiment of beauty and
power.
In China feast days once a month were doubtless connected with the
phases of the moon. Among the American Indians time was reckoned
by numbers of moons. The custom of observing as sacred the four
days, which marked the transition from one quarter of the moon to
another, was also widespread. In the Hebrew religion the feast of
the New Moon was closely identified with that of the Sabbath. The
Hebrew month was also the lunar month of approximately twenty-eight
days. The new moon, therefore, marked the beginning of the month
and each succeeding Sabbath a new phase of the moon. The fourth
commandment seems, therefore, like the others to have a basis in
nature, and also, as we shall note, a social reason. Would a
commandment be truly divine if it did not have a natural and
reasonable basis? By the ancients rest from labor was regarded as
one of the essential elements in the sacred day. The prophet Amos
denounced the merchants of Northern Israel because they were
constantly saying,
When shall the new moon pass that we may sell grain,
And the Sabbath that we may open the corn?
In its earlier ceremonial interpretation, to abstain from all labor
on the Sabbath was clearly regarded as a primary obligation. Like
fasting, it is probably regarded as an offering due to Jehovah.
The word "holy" in the Hebrew means set apart, distinct. The
Sabbath, therefore, was to differ from the other days of the week.
The great ethical prophets of the Assyrian period were the first
completely to divest this ancient institution of its heathen
significance and give it a deeper religious, and therefore social
and humanitarian interpretation. They gave it its true and eternal
content, declaring that God decreed that all who labor should have
their needed rest. The prophet who added the noble interpretation
in Deuteronomy 5:14, 15, declares that it was not only that old and
young, master and slave, might rest, but also that even the toiling
ox and ass and the resident alien might have the relaxation which
their tired bodies required. Thus these inspired prophets traced
the ultimate basis of the institution of the Sabbath to God's
providence for the innate needs of man. They recognized that it
was essential for the physical, mental and spiritual well-being of
the individual and, therefore, for the welfare of the State. That
the Hebrews might not forget this obligation, the prophets appealed
to the memory of the days when the Israelites themselves were
slaves in the land of Egypt and the thought of how Jehovah
delivered them from their slavery.
Tuan Fang, the great Manchu viceroy who only recently met martyrdom
at the hands of his warring countrymen, said when visiting America
a few years ago, "I think that when I return to China I will
introduce Sunday in my province." When asked whether he would make
it the seventh day, he replied, "Yes, for I think that the seventh
day is far better than the tenth. Furthermore, for the convenience
and economy of all, I will make it correspond to the Christian
Sunday. From my study of the conditions in America and of the
needs in China I am convinced that the Sabbath is a most valuable
and essential institution."
Later Judaism revived the earlier heathen content of the Sabbath,
and lost sight of its deeper political, social and humanitarian
significance. Unfortunately the Christian church and above all our
Puritan fathers followed the guidance of the later priests rather
than of the early prophets. Jesus with his clear insight into
human hearts and needs, and with his glowing love for men,
repudiated the harsh, mechanical interpretation of the Sabbath
current in his day and reasserted the teachings of the great
prophets that preceded him; "The Sabbath was made for man, not man
for the Sabbath."
Does the social and humanitarian interpretation of the Sabbath
obscure or deepen its religious significance? Does the great body
of the Christian church to-day accept the interpretation of the
prophets and of Jesus, or that of early heathenism and later
Judaism? Does the interpretation of the prophets and of Jesus
furnish a basis on which all classes in the state can unite in
appreciating and in jealously guarding the Sabbath? Does the
acceptance of one or the other of these interpretations
fundamentally affect our actual observance of the Sabbath? Our
motives and our spirit? Our attitude toward our fellow men?