Change in the Sabbath Anticipated.
By Henry F. Phelps
A FREE-WILL BAPTIST paper, the Morning Star, has an article with the above caption, which I take the liberty to copy, adding occasionally a few remarks. The editor first says that the editor of the Chicago Tribune justified himself for publishing a Sunday paper, on the ground that the fourth commandment applies to Saturday only, and that there is, therefore, "no law of God" relative to the observance of Sunday as a day of worship, any more than Tuesday or Wednesday. A very sensible conclusion, indeed. Then as a reply, he copies from the Western Christian Advocate as follows: "It is not said in the command which of the six days shall be kept, whether the former, or latter ones of the week; nor on which day we must rest, but simply, 'six days shall thou labor and do all thy work, but the seventh is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.'" Surely this is simple enough for any one to understand; and if a man will but look at it without the aid of "doctrines of men," "preconceived opinions," or prejudice, he cannot fail to see that it plainly says, the "seventh-day," and no other. Again, "The essence of the commandment is not in proportion to time—six-sevenths being allotted to labor, one-seventh to rest, there is no allusion to a specific Sabbath-day; and we who keep Sunday, obey the commandment as literally as those who keep Saturday." Here comes the seventh-part-of-time theory. What folly to thus charge God with giving a commandment which expressly says, "the seventh-day," and then to say, it does not mean so, but any day will answer as well; only mind that "any day" must come on Sunday. Again, "The great Lawgiver, indeed seems to have anticipated the change of the Sabbath, and to have so worded his law, that it should need no emendation for all time." Amen! It needs no emendation; it is as Paul says, "holy, just, and good." We believe he did anticipate the change, or attempted change, for he speaks of that power "who was to think to change times and laws." Dan. vii, 25. But there is no intimation any where to be found that God ever designed to change his law; but on the contrary he says, "I will not alter the thing that has gone out of my lips." Ps. lxxxix, 34. David says, "all thy commandments are righteousness," Ps. cxix, 112; and the Lord by Isaiah says, "My righteousness shall not be abolished." Isa. li, 6. Isaiah further says, "Because they (the people) have transgressed the law, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant, therefore hath the curse devoured the earth." And the Advocate says, "Or at least knowing the physical impossibility of keeping precisely the same twenty-four hours, in all parts of the earth, had made provision accordingly." God has not told us to keep the "same twenty-four hours," but, "the seventh-day;" and referring back to creation week as the rule, since which time has been correctly kept, we have no excuse, and there is no use of our urging such a flimsy excuse as the one just mentioned. He further says, "There is some reason to believe that the original Sabbath was lost during the bondage in Egypt. Centuries of oppression under godless taskmasters, had produced the greatest irregularity in the observance of this day of rest. Manasseh Ben Israel expressly says, in his opinion, 'the Israelites were compelled to labor on the Sabbath.' While Grotii, Dean Milner, Edwards, and many others, find proof that the reckoning was then lost." The writer seems to have forgotten just here, that if time, as he says, had been lost, that just after the children of Israel were brought out of Egypt, God in bringing the Sabbath to their remembrance, gave them to understand precisely upon which day it came, by a manifest miracle in giving the manna on six days in succession, but withholding it on the seventh. Ex. xvi. Let us hear him again, "Certain it is that when the law was rehearsed in Horeb, as the children of Israel were entering upon the promised land, the rest from creation was not assigned as the reason for the fourth commandment, but the redemption from Egyptian bondage, the commandment instead of concluding as Ex. xx, runs thus, 'remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, . . . therefore the Lord thy God commanded thee to keep the Sabbath-day.'" In answer to this we would first say, this rehearsal was not in Horeb, but "eleven days' journey from Horeb." Please compare Deut. i, 1, 3; ii, 1, 2; iv, 46. The writer seems to forget that this was not the giving of a new law, but simply a rehearsal of the covenant made at Horeb. Deut. v, 2; also notice the language in verse 12. But why the phrase, "remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt." It is simply this, they were to remember this fact, least they should become anxious about their worldly affairs, and cause their servants to labor on the Sabbath-day, and they suffer the judgments of God for so doing. Again, "It is altogether likely, therefore, that from this point a new reckoning proceeded, and the later Jews kept the commandment as literally as the earlier ones; the Sabbath in this light seems to mark the greatest event of each dispensation. Creation in the first, escape from Egypt in the next, and the resurrection of our Lord in the last." This is not Bible, God gave the Sabbath as a memorial of one event, namely, the creation. God says, "It is a sign between me and the children of Israel forever, for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations." Ex. xxxi. Paul gives us to understand that the true Israel are the people of God, therefore as long as God has a people, so long will the Sabbath continue as a "sign" and a "memorial" "that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you." Once more, "We even find the Christian Sabbath foreshadowed in the Old Testament Scriptures, in such passages for instance, as the following, from the 118th Psalm. 'The stone which the builders rejected, has become the head of the corner, this is the Lord's doing and it is marvelous in our eyes; this is the day which the Lord hath made, we will be glad and rejoice in it. If the 'stone' was Christ, if being 'refused' was his crucifixion, if the remainder refers to his resurrection, then there is a distinct allusion to the Sabbath of the coming dispensation.'" This stone doubtless refers to Christ, but there is no consistency in saying that the day refers to a day of rest. It here refers to the whole gospel day. Our Lord had fulfilled his mission, was taken, and by wicked hands was crucified and slain; his body confined in the prison-house of Satan, the grave; and if he should continue in the grave, then the plan of salvation would have been thwarted, all the sufferings of the Son of God in vain. But oh! let us "be glad and rejoice" in this gospel-day; for Jesus has arisen, a mighty conqueror, he has burst the bars of the tomb, becoming "the first fruits" of those who slept.