IS THE SABBATH JEWISH? by Francis Gould

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Nov 3, 1868

IS THE SABBATH JEWISH?

By Francis Gould

We answer, It is not. Such an idea has no foundation in truth. There is a large class of individuals at the present day, who tell us that the Sabbath was made exclusively for the Jews, and that it was numbered among the types, shadows, and carnal ordinances of the ceremonial law, which was nailed to the cross at the crucifixion of Christ.

In order to elucidate clearly the point before us, that the Sabbath of the Lord is not Jewish, it may be proper to notice, first, at what time in the history of our world the Jews originated. We cannot trace them back prior to Abraham. The Scriptures declare him to be the father of that nation. The Jews themselves call Abraham their father. They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham. Art thou greater than our father Abraham which is dead? and the prophets are dead; whom makest thou thyself? John viii, 39, 53. The word Jew is derived from Judah, the grandson of Abraham. The Jews were identified as the true people of God, from their earliest existence to the time when the partition wall was broken down at the ushering in of the gospel dispensation.

But what about the Sabbath? We find it stands as an existing institution long before the Jews originated, and was in force as a rule of moral action, and as a portion of the law of God to develop character, and lead men to honor his holy and righteous government. The Bible plainly sets forth that the Sodomites were sinners before the Lord, exceedingly. Gen. xiii, 13. How came they to be sinners? We learn from the Scriptures that “where there is no law there is no transgression, and sin is the transgression of the law.” They could not have been sinners unless they had transgressed some existing law. What law was it? It must have been the law of ten commandments, which was afterward written on two tables of stone.

The Sabbath was instituted in the garden of Eden. “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.” Gen. ii, 2, 3.

The types of the ceremonial law related to the great plan of human redemption, and pointed forward to Christ; and at his death that law was taken out of the way. But the Sabbath points back to the creation of the world, and is a sign, token, or memorial, of God’s creative work. “Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.” Ex. xxxi, 16, 17. We learn from the above scriptures that the Sabbath is not Jewish, nor a type, but a memorial between God and Israel forever, that Israel should remember God, and the works which he had made. The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, night unto night sheweth knowledge. The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof, the world, and they that dwell therein. For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods. Ps. xix, 1, 2; xxiv, 1, 2.

But there arises a query, in the minds of some, who constitute Israel. Some tell us that the term means only the natural descendants of Abraham, the Jews; we think that such a view cannot be correct. The Scriptures use it in another sense. The meaning of the word Israel is “Prince of God.” We are informed that Jacob wrestled with the angel of God till the break of day, and he prevailed with God. The angel said unto Jacob, Thy name shall no more be called Jacob, but Israel; for as a prince hast thou power with God, and with men, and hast prevailed. Gen. xxxii, 28. We infer from this, that all righteous persons, whose ways please God, and who walk and prevail with God from day to day, whose faith and works are accepted before him, are, with Jacob, virtually called princes of God, and hence constitute the true Israel; and where we find the true Israel, we find the Sabbath, irrespective of any nation, or particular class of people.

Paul clearly sets forth the subject. Let us hear him: “Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, and to thy seed, which is Christ. And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” Gal. iii, 16, 29. Also in Rom. ix, 6, 8, we find the following declaration: “For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel. That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted for the seed. But who are the children of promise? They are those who keep the commandments of God, the conditions on which the promise is based. The Jews did not fulfill those conditions. “Now, therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, (the ten commandments, see Deut. iv, 13,) then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people; for all the earth is mine. And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. And all the people answered together, and said, “All that the Lord hath spoken we will do.” Ex. xix, 5, 6, 8. The Jewish nation did not fulfill the conditions of the covenant according to agreement, consequently God took away the promise from them, and transferred, or gave it to another people, a people who loved to revere and honor God by fulfilling the conditions of his holy covenant.

Again, we learn from Rom. xi, that the Jews are compared to a good olive tree, but, through unbelief, many of the natural branches were broken off. Those that remained stood by faith in the promises of God. And in reference to those that are broken off, Paul says, “And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be grafted in.” Rom. xi, 23. The partition wall being removed, the Gentiles, all who stand by faith, are grafted in among them, so that they become one people, and one tree. The prophet had a view of this grafting process, when he said, After those days saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts, and will be their God, and they shall be my people.” Jer. xxxi, 33. The third angel’s message, the last message of mercy, is calculated to finish the work, uniting those who will come to Christ the living vine, and making up the breach in the law of God by the restoration of the Sabbath of the Lord, which has been trodden down by the wicked powers of earth. Dear reader, may it be said of us, “Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.” Rev. xxii, 14.

FRANCIS GOULD.

Stowe, Vt.