p. 67 | Untitled article by C. P. B.

Pacific Press Publishing Company · New York · March 3, 1892

FromThe American Sentinel, Vol. 7, No. 9

Is It the Sabbath?

By C. P. B.

AS THE SENTINEL has repeatedly demonstrated, by the most indubitable arguments, the State has no right to decide religious questions, nor to pass upon the truth or falsity of religious doctrines. It follows that the State has no right to examine the claims of Sunday, or of any other day, and decide either that it is, or that it is not, the Sabbath. Inasmuch, however, as State recognition of Sunday sacredness is demanded on the ground that that day is the Sabbath, enjoined by the law of God, and binding alike upon nations and individuals, the question, “Is it the Sabbath?” becomes a pertinent and interesting subject of personal inquiry; though, as before intimated, the result of the examination can not affect in any way the right of the State to legislate upon the question. The State can have no such right in any event. With this proposition in mind, the reader’s attention is invited to an examination of the claim that Sunday is the Sabbath.

That Sunday is by many regarded as the Sabbath, and that it is actually kept by some as such, does not affect the question, Is Sunday the Sabbath in a Bible sense, or by divine authority? This is the claim made for Sunday by those who demand that its observance shall be enforced by civil law. What then say the Scriptures of truth on this subject?

The first mention of the Sabbath in the Bible is found in Gen. 2: 2, 3: “And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all 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.” In this text there is no command to keep the Sabbath, neither indeed is it called by that name; but we are told that it was sanctified, which means set apart for a holy use; and in Mark 2: 27 we have the assurance of the Saviour that “the Sabbath was made for man.” It seems evident, therefore, that at the very dawn of human history God gave man the Sabbath. But be that as it may, there is in Ex. 20: 8-11 a positive command given to “remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy;” and it is explicitly stated that “the seventh day is the Sabbath.” “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.”

This identifies the Sabbath of the fourth commandment with the seventh day of creation week; not with an indefinite seventh part of time, nor with a seventh day after six days of work, but with the seventh day, the memorial of the finished creation.

This day was especially pointed out to the children of Israel before the giving of the law by the absence of manna upon it, and by the fact that that gathered upon the sixth day would keep over the Sabbath, while “it bred worms, and stank,” when an effort was made to keep it at any other time. The record is thus briefly given in Ex. 16:—

“Then said the Lord unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no. And it shall come to pass, that on the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in; and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily.” “And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the Lord hath given you to eat. This is the thing which the Lord hath commanded, Gather of it every man according to his eating, an omer for every man, according to the number of your persons; take ye every man for them which are in his tents. And the children of Israel did so, and gathered, some more, some less.” “And Moses said, Let no man leave of it till the morning. Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto Moses; but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and stank: and Moses was wroth with them. And they gathered it every morning, every man according to his eating: and when the sun waxed hot, it melted. And it came to pass, that on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for one man: and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses: And he said unto them, This is that which the Lord hath said, To-morrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord: bake that which ye will bake to-day, and seethe that ye will seethe: and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning. And they laid it up till the morning, as Moses bade: and it did not stink, neither was there any worm therein. And Moses said, Eat that to-day; for to-day is a Sabbath unto the Lord: to-day ye shall not find it in the field. Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the Sabbath, in it there shall be none.” “So the people rested on the seventh day.”

From Josh. 5: 12 we learn that the manna continued until they had entered the land of Canaan, forty years after they left Egypt. Thus fifty-two times every year for forty years, or a total of 2,080 times, was the definite seventh day, the Sabbath, pointed out to the children of Israel by the double miracle of the manna keeping over the seventh day and none falling upon that day. That this was the day which the fourth commandment required the people of God to keep, anciently, is beyond question; and that that day was still kept at the time of the crucifixion, not only by the Jews, but by the followers of Christ also, is expressly stated in Luke 23: 56, and 24: 1, where we read of certain women that “they returned and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment. Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared.”

From the text just quoted we learn two things, first, that at the time of the crucifixion of our Lord, the fourth commandment required the observance of the Sabbath; for the women kept it “according to the commandment;” and second, that that day was the day just preceding the first day of the week, which must necessarily have been the seventh day of the week. The unavoidable conclusion is that the fourth commandment requires, not the observance of a seventh day, that is of any seventh day after six days of labor, but of the seventh day of the week.

That the week is a definite and well-known division of time, and that consequently the seventh day of the week is likewise a well-defined portion of time, is attested by all history. Indeed few other facts are so well attested, and no other division of time is so ancient as is the weekly cycle. Moreover, the week is at once an unimpeachable witness to the truth of the Mosaic account of creation, and an imperishable monument to the original Sabbath, the seventh day of the week.

Aside from the Bible, history furnishes no clue to the origin of the weekly cycle. Some have thought that it might have been suggested by the changes of the moon; but very unfortunately for that theory the moon does not change once in seven days but once in seven days and nine hours, as nearly as may be, hence its phases do not synchronize with the week. There is absolutely nothing in nature to suggest the septenary cycle; and so patent is this fact that the “Encyclopedia Britannica,” article “Calendar,” says:—

As the week forms neither an aliquot part of the year nor of the lunar month, those who reject the Mosaic recital will be at a loss, as Delambre remarks, to assign to it an origin having much semblance of probability.

The same authority, article, “Babylonia,” says:—

The week of seven days was in use from an early period, indeed, the names which we still give to the days can be traced to Ancient Babylonia; and the seventh day was one of sulum, or rest.

This fact constitutes the week an unimpeachable witness to the truth of Genesis. But the question may be asked, How is it also an imperishable monument to the original Sabbath? The answer is easy. As the Sabbath of the fourth commandment is the seventh day of the week it can not be lost as long as the weekly cycle endures; and that it never has been lost, is attested by the fact that the week has always been known among almost all nations.

Rev. Thos. Hamilton, A. M., of Belfast, in his prize essay, “Our Rest,” published by the Sabbath Alliance of Scotland, testifies that even the Chinese formerly had, not only the septenary division of days, but that they knew and to some extent observed the original Sabbath. Seventy-five out of one hundred and seven ancient languages, reveal a knowledge not only of the weekly cycle but of the Sabbath, the last day of that cycle. On this subject Rev. Dr. Lewis has eloquently said:—

The nations that spoke many of these languages have long since gone from the earth. But the words of their mother tongue embalm their thoughts and practices as ineffaceable and unmistakable monuments showing the identity of the week andof the Sabbath. Tides of emigration have swept hither and thither over the earth. Empires have risen, flourished, and fallen, but the week has endured, amid all convulsions and changes. . . . Philology has done for the truth concerning God’s eternal Sabbath, what cuneiform inscriptions, and mummy pits, are doing for general and national history.

All of which facts support the statement, that the week is an imperishable monument to the true Sabbath.

That the week has not been lost this side of the Christian era need not even be asserted, in view of the facts already given. Even the tyro in history knows that such a thing would have been impossible. It follows, that unless we find in the Bible authority for keeping as the Sabbath a day other than the seventh day of the week, as we now have it, the claim that Sunday is the Sabbath enjoined by the fourth commandment, utterly fails for want of even an excuse for ever having had an existence. And that the Bible affords no such evidence will be shown next week.

C. P. B.