The Sabbath-Keeping Heritage by T. E. BOWEN

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Dec 30, 1915

The Sabbath-Keeping Heritage

By T. E. BOWEN

T. E. BOWEN

WHAT is involved in “the heritage of Jacob thy father,” which the Lord promises us in true Sabbath keeping?

That our father Jacob was especially blessed of God is very evident. The blessing of the birthright included, (1) spiritual blessings, for it was because of Jacob’s ambition to receive these that he entered into the conspiracy of his mother to obtain the blessing by fraud and deceit; and (2) manifold temporal blessings, as seen in the wonderful manner in which God blessed the labors of Jacob while with his father-in-law Laban in Padan-aram. He went there alone. He returned with a prosperous family, and an abundance of this world’s goods in flocks and herds.

But back of these manifest blessings from God were some very sterling principles built into Jacob’s character, which God esteemed most precious. There was Jacob’s vow at Bethel to give God a tenth of all. And he did it. He even paid interest on God’s tenth while he was in Padan-aram, where he could not put it into the treasury. “Jacob gave the tenth of all that he had, and then reckoned the use of the tenth, and gave the Lord the benefit of that which he had used for his own interest during the time he was in a heathen land, and could not pay his vow. This was a large amount, but he did not hesitate; that which he had vowed to God he did not regard as his, but as the Lord’s.”—Testimonies for the Church, Vol. IV, pages 466, 467. And while returning to Canaan, he won for himself the name Israel, having prevailed with God, through faith and prayer, on that night of wrestling with the angel. At this time he really obtained the spiritual blessing of the birthright.

Is this heritage of any worth? Was Jacob’s birthright, though lightly esteemed by Esau, of worth to Jacob and his posterity? It included a home in the kingdom of God. It involved the choice of obedience to God, of denying himself sinful worldly pleasures, of wrestling with God until he knew that all his sinful scheming and supplanting had been forgiven him in answer to his humble confession to God, and the seeking for pardon.

Involved in Sabbath keeping today are these same sterling character principles that were developed in the life of Jacob. Men and women move from principle, not from impulse and feeling, when they abandon worldly associations and customs to keep God’s holy day, thus incurring the scorn and reproach of the world. A sacrifice is involved in all this; and he who today makes it in faith, will receive the blessing of the Infinite One, just as surely as the Lord blessed Jacob spiritually, and also all that he put his hand to. There is no uncertainty connected with this. We have the promise of the Most High, a promise from his own lips: “Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.” Isa. 58: 14.

Making God’s Day a Delight

“The Sabbath should be made so interesting to our families that its weekly return will be hailed with joy. In no better way can parents exalt and honor the Sabbath than by devising means to impart proper instruction to their families, and interesting them in spiritual things, giving them correct views of the character of God, and what he requires of us in order to perfect Christian characters and attain to eternal life. Parents, make the Sabbath a delight, that your children may look forward to it, and have a welcome in their hearts for it.”—Id., Vol. II, page 585.

Meetings Not to Be Long on Sabbath Days

It is not necessary to spend all of the Sabbath in meeting, to keep it holy. Long sermons, long meetings of any kind, and long prayers are out of place. “The mind cannot be refreshed, enlivened, and elevated by being confined nearly all the Sabbath hours within walls, listening to long sermons and tedious, formal prayers. The Sabbath of the Lord is put to a wrong use if thus celebrated.”—Id., page 583. Evidently the Lord is pleased to have families spend the day largely by themselves. The children are made happy to have father and mother with them. With the cares of the week day laid aside, fathers and mothers may impart knowledge that will be as good seed sown in the hearts of their loved ones. God will bless these words of counsel and love, and cause the seed thus sown to develop into pure, noble deeds in the lives of the children.

Providing Food Thought for Sabbath

There are topics in abundance upon which we may freely think and converse on the Sabbath. Good books may be read with the younger children, and procured for the older ones, in which pure delight may be taken. Through the week, parents can watch for some story or experience that will prove both interesting and profitable for Sabbath topics of conversation. Something good must be provided or the active minds of the children will surely drift into forbidden subjects for the Sabbath—the common everyday topics. And it might be added, so will our own thoughts wander into our work-day topics, unless we studiously plan otherwise.

In our Sabbath keeping let us see how near we can come to the ideal God has for us in observing his holy day. His Spirit will then lead us into the very storehouse of God’s most choice spiritual blessings for man, which we are quite sure to find bound up for us within his gift to us of the Sabbath.