Sabbath in the Eternal World
By WILLIAM COVERT
The Foundations at Creation—To Be Observed in the Earth Made New—World-Wide Meetings in Eternity In creation, God so wrought as to provide a Sabbath day for man, because the works of creation were to be remembered. Ps. 111: 4. The Sabbath was to serve as a memorial that would honor God the Creator and bless man the creature. Gen. 2: 1-4. God's work was wonderfully great and most glorious in the righteousness of its character. Ps. 111: 3. What He did was “done in truth and uprightness,” and it was done so as to “stand fast forever and ever.” Even the days of eternity can not unmake it. Verses 7, 8. The foundations of the Sabbath were laid deep down in truth, which can never change nor be moved. Examine the rock upon which it stands: “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made; . . . and God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it He had rested from all His work which God created and made. These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created.” Gen. 2: 1-4. In laying the foundation of the earth, God was laying the foundation of the Sabbath. Just one week was occupied in creation, and the last day of the week was made the rest day, and this was blessed and set apart to be the Sabbath. In making it to be the Sabbath day, it was also made to be the day of holy convocation for God's people. Lev. 23: 3. The truth upon which the Sabbath is founded, embodies the reason why God should be worshiped; and to remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy is to keep God and His work ever in mind. The order of man's work as to time each week is to duplicate the order of God's work when our world was made. This order is divine, and is upheld by the authority of God's law, which says: “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work; . . . for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.” Ex. 20: 8-11. Will Not Fail nor Be Discouraged
In former articles, we have traced the Sabbath from Eden down through the ages in its connection with wavering men, who have in a large measure gone contrary to the divine order of things. It is therefore evident that God's purpose for man, and the order of things as set forth in the Sabbath law, must yet be fulfilled on the earth when the Edenic order of things is restored. “He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till He have set judgment in the earth.” Isa. 42: 4. To Be Observed in the New Earth
The prophetic Word, which can not fail, has told us about the Sabbath when the earth is restored from sin. The fact that the Sabbath was given to man in Eden before the curse had made a mark on the works of God, forms a beautiful couple with the Sabbath for a meeting day in the renewed earth, after the curse has been removed; and so the prophet says: “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 [new month] to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before Me, saith the Lord.” Isa. 66: 22, 23. In that glad time herein foretold is portrayed the eternal age of bliss; and Sabbath meetings will be there, and monthly meetings will be there, too, according to the plan that suited best for the redeemed host. The new Jerusalem will be admirably adapted for the great assemblies that will congregate on these stated occasions. The plan is that those who have served as effective missionaries here shall shine there with glory like the stars, forever and ever. Dan. 12: 3. And these, having kept God's commandments, and having been cleansed from all sin by the blood of the Lamb (Rev. 7: 14), will have a right to the tree of life, and enter through the gates into the city. Rev. 22: 14. Stated Meetings in Eternity
The coming of those who inhabit the new earth to the new Jerusalem from month to month may be understood when we consider that the tree of life in the city bears twelve kinds of fruit, and yields its fruit every month. What this fruit is to be, the writer does not know; but the monthly yield evidently has to do with the monthly gathering. And the Sabbath keeping has to do with the Sabbath worship enjoyed by all the redeemed host. What a meeting there will be when the saints gather in the spacious city of gold! The Lord of the Sabbath will be there, who called the earth into being, and placed His blessing on the Sabbath day when it was made for man. Adam, who received the appointment from his Maker, to keep holy the Sabbath day, when it was blessed, will be there to meet with the redeemed and keep it in Eden restored. Rewarded for Their Sufferings
The martyrs who have been slain by the haters of truth because they faithfully kept the Sabbath of the Lord will be there. When the Lord brings His people home, those who have been exiled from their homes will be there. Yes, “the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads.” Isa. 35: 10. But can the reader believe that the Sabbath was abolished at the cross, to be restored when the earth shall be renewed? It is not reasonable, is it? Can the reader believe that the Lord ordered the seventh day to be kept holy from creation to the death of Christ, then ordered the first day to be kept as the Sabbath from the death of Christ until His second coming, with the understanding that the seventh day is to be kept through the eternal ages? Such a thing does not look consistent, does it? These inconsistent things have never been taught by the authority of God's word, and they will not come to pass. We will, however, see accomplished just what the word of God has foretold, for the word of God can not fail.