What Was Blest and Sanctified.
By James White
In the teachings we received in our early days, “Dwight’s Theology” occupied an important place; with many it was the standard of truth. When first converted, we were compelled by force of Scripture evidence to reject the teachings of the “Theology” on the subject of baptism. On the subject of the Sabbath the Doctor appeared to be equally faulty. Speaking of the fourth commandment he said that the blessing and the sanctification was conferred, not upon the seventh day, but upon the Sabbath. He distinguished between the Sabbath and the seventh day in the commandment, though Jehovah said, in that commandment, “the seventh day is the Sabbath.” The object of his assertion was to make it appear that God sanctified the Sabbath as an institution, and that the seventh day was an unimportant part of the precept; that the institution did not depend upon the day, but any other day could be inserted without affecting the validity or the perpetuity of the institution or of the commandment enforcing it. Against this reasoning we have the express statement of the Bible: “And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it.” Gen. 2:3. It was the day that was blest; the day that was sanctified; and the day that was required to be kept. A very literal translation of the fourth commandment would read: “Remember the day of the rest.” “The seventh day is the rest of the Lord thy God.” “God blest the day of the rest and hallowed it.” This is the exact truth. Thus we see that to maintain a theory, the D. D. ventured to contradict the express words of Scripture as found in Gen. 2:3. We will further show the fallacy of his reasoning. God blest and sanctified the seventh day because that in it he had rested. The seventh day was his rest day, or his Sabbath day, before it was blest or sanctified; but there was no institution. When the day was blest and sanctified, then it became an institution. The sanctifying of the day was the setting of it apart to a sacred use; it made its observance obligatory, and therefore it was the making of the institution. Instead of God blessing and sanctifying the Sabbath institution, and not the day, the truth is that, before his act of sanctifying the day there was no institution to sanctify. The act of sanctifying turned the day into an institution. The day thus became an institution; remove the day and the institution is destroyed. But now an objector arises and says: “Conceding the ground that the day is an institution,—that they are identical, then what may be said of one may be said of the other. Hence, it is true, after all, that he blessed the institution. If he blessed the day he must have blessed the institution, for they are one and the same thing.”583 Let us see if that reasoning will hold good. Mr. A owns a house; Mr. B says he bought it; but Mr. C says: Not so; he bought the material of which he built the house. But B answers: What is the difference? you cannot separate the material from the house; they are identical. Being identical, what is true of one must be true of the other. It is indeed true that at this time you cannot separate the material from the house; they are identical. But at the time of which the first affirmation was made, it was not true. The time specified in Mr. C’s statement was that when the purchase was made; the affirmation referred to what Mr. A bought, not to what he now possesses. He now owns a house; but when he bought the material the house did not exist. Therefore, at the time covered by the statement of the purchase, it was not true that the material and the house were identical. And so of the day and the Sabbath institution. They are now identical; they cannot be separated. But it was not so in the beginning. God rested the seventh day, and thus it became his Sabbath,—his rest. But there was no institution,—it had not yet been made a matter of precept. Then he sanctified the day, separated it, or set it apart to a sacred use, and thus the day became an institution by being sanctified. It is a sacred institution because the day of which it was made was rendered sacred. God cannot deny himself. He said: “God blessed the seventh day and sanctified IT.” And “who art thou that repliest against God?” Search the Bible through, and you find no hint that God ever removed the blessing and sanctification from the seventh day, or that he conferred such honors upon any other day. “Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it; that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil.” Isa. 56:2. J. H. W.