WHEN WAS THE SABBATH MADE KNOWN?
Those who deny the Edenic origin of the institution of the Sabbath, are sorely puzzled to tell just when and by what means Sabbatic observance became obligatory on any people. The Sabbath was proclaimed from Sinai with the other nine precepts of the moral law; but it will not do to place its origin there; for Ex. xvi, plainly shows that it was known at least a month before that proclamation of the law. We go back to the first mention of the Sabbath in the book of Exodus, and there we find no record of any institution; no precept is recorded, and no reason is assigned for its observance; but it appears upon the stage as a living institution, with which the people were already familiar, and the origin of which it was not necessary to give. The record itself is sufficient proof that the Sabbath did not originate there. Then when and where did it originate? Long have they racked their brains over this question, but the puzzle is still unsolved. As for putting it at creation, that they will not do; for that would be to admit the truth; they must somehow make it appear that it originated this side the exode; but finding no reasonable arguments to sustain their position, they endeavor to carry their point by sophisms; and here is one of the latest, apparently manufactured to order for this purpose. Mr. W. Sheldon, in the Voice of the West, says: “‘The Sabbath was made for man.’ Yes: but when, and for what length of time? Am I told that it was enjoined upon man at the creation? I deny it. There is not a word of the kind in the account. It is a mere statement concerning what God performed on six successive days, followed with the statement that he ‘rested on the seventh day,’ and sanctified it, because that in it he had ‘rested;’ but not even an intimation was then given that he required man to rest every seventh day; indeed man had not then fallen, and was enjoying Paradise, and did not stand in need of a day of rest. But Nehemiah tells us precisely when God made the Sabbath known to man: ‘And madest known unto them thy holy Sabbath, and commandedst them precepts, statutes, and laws by the hand of Moses.’ (ch. 9: 14.) Hence, the Sabbath was unknown to them till the time of Moses. In Exodus 16, the Sabbath is mentioned for the first time in the Bible, and there Moses makes known the Sabbath.” Man’s denial, as opposed to God’s word, does not amount to much. And W. S. may deny as long and as loud as to him may seem good, that the Sabbath was enjoined upon man at the creation, but since he offers us only his denial, and the Lord plainly informs us that the Sabbath was then enjoined upon man, he will not be apt to accomplish a great deal by such a course. But he has unwittingly made an admission here which is fatal to his own position. He acknowledges that at creation, God rested on the seventh day, and sanctified it, because that on it he had rested. Sanctified the day at creation! That is enough. But he does not seem to know what sanctified means. Hence he must be told. It means to set apart to a sacred or religious use; and it can be done only by giving directions how the thing sanctified shall be used. There is no other possible way in which anything could be sanctified, as the Sabbath was sanctified in the beginning; and we challenge our opponents to show any other. The sanctification of the Sabbath, then, consisted in giving directions to those who were to use it, how to use it; or, in other words, it consisted in commanding our first parents (for it was made for man) to devote it to a sacred and religious use. And this, on Mr. S.’s own admission was done at the creation. But we wish to call attention especially to his effort to show that the Sabbath was made known by Moses. “Nehemiah,” he says, “tells us precisely when God made the Sabbath known to man.” Here he is very definite; let us see how he carries it out. He then quotes Neh. ix. 14, “And madest known unto them thy holy Sabbath, and commandedst them precepts, statutes, and laws by the hand of Moses.” But when was this making known accomplished? He says that Nehemiah tells us precisely when it was; but in quoting his language he endeavors to convey the idea that it was at some indefinite time, through Moses. And this he does by adroitly omitting the preceding verse, which is a part of the same sentence. If this is not garbling and perverting the Scriptures, we know not where to look for an instance. Let us read the whole in connection, and see how it will sound. “Thou camest down also upon Mount Sinai, and spakest with them from Heaven, and gavest them right judgments, and true laws, good statutes, and commandments: and madest known unto them thy holy Sabbath, and commandedst them precepts, statutes and laws by the hand of Moses thy servant.” We know that the Sabbath was one of the things which God “spake from Heaven;” and here, when he came down on Sinai, was the time and place of his making known the Sabbath unto them. Hence we learn that the expression madest known the Sabbath, does not mean that he here first brought it to their knowledge; for they had it, at least a month before, as we learn from Ex. xvi. This is all the making known of the Sabbath that Nehemiah speaks of, and this was not by the hand of Moses, but by the Lord speaking from heaven, when he came down upon Sinai; yet hear Mr. S. as he continues. After quoting Neh. ix, 14, he says, “Hence the Sabbath was unknown to them till [till when?] Till Sinai? No. He knew it would not do to say this, with his use of the terms madest known, for it would be too glaring a contradiction of Ex. xvi, so, although this is the time of which Nehemiah speaks, he slinks off on to the indefinite expression, till the time of Moses!” But his sophism is too transparent to deceive. The terms “madest known,” W. S. takes to signify, first brought to their knowledge, Nehemiah does not so use them; the time he fixes a month before Israel came to Sinai; Nehemiah fixes it at Sinai; hence Mr. S. takes an expression of the sacred writer and gives it a different meaning and applies it to a different time, from the meaning given by Nehemiah himself, and the time to which he applies it. And this “unmitigated and unpardonable scandal,” upon all just reasoning, is done up in pamphlet form, with a series of other fallacies equally glaring; and the Voice of the West pronounces it a “candid and searching review of the Sabbath question.” Verily every man will say that which he deems to be for his own interest.