The Penalty of the Sabbath.
By W. N. Glenn
It is asserted against the perpetuity of the seventh-day Sabbath, that there is no penalty for its violation; or, that those who observe it are inconsistent in not attaching the death penalty as commanded by Moses. A recent writer says that “no law can remain in force without its penalty, and as it is admitted that the penalty for the violation of the Mosaic Sabbath law has ceased, therefore that law has ceased also.” Now we admit that a law without a penalty would be virtually inoperative; and if it can be shown that the penalty of the Sabbath law has been abolished, we must yield the point that the law itself is void. But where is the proof that the penalty has been abolished? So far as we have seen or heard, no evidence has been adduced other than the mere fact that Sabbath-keepers do not punish violators with death. We do not claim the right, nor have we the disposition to be executors of the law. Our province is to obey. The commission to Moses to execute the death penalty upon offenders against the Sabbath ceased with the law of which it was a part. It was not a part of the moral law; it was not written on the tables of stone, nor spoken by Jehovah as was the decalogue. This argument against the Sabbath law would hold equally as well against any other commandment. Most Christian denominations admit the binding force of the seventh commandment. Now Moses was as explicitly commanded to put adulterers to death as he was to execute Sabbath-breakers. Ex. 20 : 10, 11. Why then is not the penalty commanded to Moses carried out in the churches? The apostle Paul was particularly severe upon adulterers and fornicators (see 1 Cor. 5 : 1, 9 : 6 : 9, 10), but he does not assume to put them to death according to the law of Moses. And the Lord Jesus himself, although recognizing the full force of the law, even to a “jot or tittle” (Matt. 5 : 17, 18), did not execute the penalty against the woman taken in adultery. John 8 : 3–11 So with the fifth commandment. Ex. 21 : 15, 17; Deut. 21 : 18–21; Matt. 15 : 4. Why do not our Christian brethren who hold to the operation of the parental statute, execute the death penalty against disobedient children? “O consistency, thou art a jewel.” We have shown above that Christ acknowledged and endorsed the whole decalogue, yet did not summarily execute its penalty, even under the Mosaic dispensation. And that Paul recognized its force, although not assuming the responsibility of inflicting the penalty. John also testifies to its obligation and effect: “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law, for sin is the transgression of the law.” 1 John 3 : 4. James taught that the law was in force, and identified it thus: “If thou kill thou art become a transgressor of the law.” Jas. 2 : 11. And in verse 10 we are assured that to offend in one point is to be guilty of all. So much for the active operation of the law. But how about the penalty? Can that be void while the law is in force? Certainly not. Paul assures us that “the wages of sin is death.” Rom. 6 : 23. See also Jas. 1 : 15. Then why do we not execute the penalty in this dispensation? We have no commission as executioners. We are to preach reconciliation. 2 Cor. 5 : 18, 19. God has provided for the execution of the penalty in his own way, and in his own time. He has given authority to his Son to execute judgment. John 5 : 22, 26, 27; Acts 10 : 42. Then why did he not execute it summarily? His first advent was “not to judge the world, but to save the world.” John 12 : 46–48. When his disciples would have called down fire from heaven upon a certain village, “even as Elias did,” the Lord told them that “the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.” Luke 9 : 56. The penalty, however, is none the less sure, because not executed immediately, as Moses was commanded. A time has been appointed for the purpose. In Acts 17:31 we learn that God “hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.” See also Rom. 2 : 12, 16; Eccl. 13:14. No, the penalty of the Sabbath, or of any part of the law, has not ceased. But God is long-suffering “not willing that any should perish.” Yet his Spirit will not always strive with man, and he “knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of Judgment to be punished.” 2 Pet. 2 : 9. The trouble with a certain class of Sabbath opposers lies in this: “Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.” Eccl. 8 : 11.