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THE GENTILE SABBATH:

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Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Aug 10, 1869

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 34, No. 7.

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THE GENTILE SABBATH:

By Dudley Marvin Canright

A Few Reasons Showing that the Seventh Day Should Be Kept by Gentile Christians.
BY D. M. CANRIGHT.
TEXT: “The Sabbath was made for man.”—Christ.
AS WE present the claims of the Lord’s Sabbath, it is often objected that it is a Jewish institution, never designed for the Gentiles. To meet this is the object of these lines. I must state my arguments concisely, and ask the reader to weigh them carefully. Christ says the Sabbath was “made;” if so, there must have been a time and place when and where it was made. It was not made when he was on earth, for it existed long before. It was not made in the days of Solomon, nor yet in the days of Samuel; for it was familiarly known long before that. Nor was it made on Sinai at the giving of the law; for its violation was prohibited before that. See Ex. xvi. Nor yet was it made at the coming out of Egypt, for it is familiarly spoken of at that time, Ex. xvi. The commandment itself points far back of this, even to Eden, Ex. xx, 8–11; and, finally, in Eden we find a plain record of its institution. Gen. i records how God made all things in six days. Chap. ii, 1–3, reads, “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 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.” The Sabbath commandment states the same: “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. xx, 8–11. The facts stated are plain, simple, and important. First, God created all things in six days. Secondly, He rested the seventh day. That made it his rest-day, or Sabbath-day, as Sabbath means rest. Thirdly, He blessed the seventh day. That made it his blessed Sabbath-day. Fourthly, Then he sanctified the day. To sanctify, is “to set apart to a holy or religious use.” Web. How would God set apart the day to a holy use? Ans. By commanding Adam to keep it holy. That he did this, and thus instituted the Sabbath in Eden before the fall, has been generally acknowledged by all Christians.
1. My first reason for believing that the Sabbath belongs to Gentiles is, that the facts on which it is founded are eternal and unalterable. It is just as true to-day among the Gentiles, as it ever was in the past among the Jews, that God created all things in six days, and rested the seventh day. But this is the reason given why the Jews should keep it; and so the same reason still exists why the Gentiles also should keep it.
2. The seventh-day Sabbath was given to man by God as a memorial, or sign, by which to commemorate his creative work and rest. Every time we keep the seventh day it calls to our minds the fact that we worship the true God who rested on that day, after he had created all things in six days. Thus it becomes a sign of the true God, or his memorial. That this is the design of the Sabbath, what God made it for, is plainly stated. Gen. ii, 3: “And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it; [why?] BECAUSE that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.” Ex. xxxi, 17: “It [the Sabbath] is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever; [why?] FOR in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.” Sign and memorial are synonymous terms. See Webster. So in Josh. iv, 4–7, of the monument of stones which they made, the Lord said, “That this may be a sign among you, . . . these stones shall be for a memorial.” Hence, the Sabbath is God’s sign, or memorial. Says the Psalmist, “Thy name, O Lord, endureth forever, and thy memorial, O Lord, throughout all generations.” Ps. cxxxiv, 13. Now if it was ever necessary for any people in any age, as the Jews, for example, to keep the seventh day to commemorate God’s creative work, that same reason exists still, why all, Jews or Gentiles, who recognize God as the creator of all things, should keep the same day for the same purpose. “Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also.” Rom. iii, 29. Is it not necessary and all-important that the Gentiles should remember and commemorate the Creator’s work and rest? Certainly. This all must confess. Well, that is the very primary object of the seventh-day Sabbath; the reason God has given why it should be kept. This reason is just as good now as ever, and just as applicable to Gentiles as to Jews. This is my second reason for believing the Gentiles should keep it.
3. The keeping of the Sabbath secures great spiritual blessings to those who observe it, by giving them a day for religious reading, prayer, meditation, and meetings. Though this is not the primary object of the Sabbath, yet its observance secures these highly-important means of grace to God’s people. Says the Lord, “The seventh day is the Sabbath of rest, an holy CONVOCATION.” Lev. xxiii, 3. Convocation, i. e., a calling together, a public meeting. Without the Sabbath, we would have no such meetings, and we all know the great importance of them. Now it needs no argument to prove that, in this respect, the Gentile Christians need the Sabbath as much as ever the Jews did. Here the same reason why the Jews should keep the Sabbath, still exists for Gentiles to keep it. But if the seventh-day Sabbath is not given to Gentiles, then God has never provided a Sabbath-day for them; for he has never required them to keep any other day.
4. Another minor, though highly-important and necessary blessing, connected with the observance of the Sabbath, is that of a weekly day of physical rest for man and beast. I can not, and need not, here argue the importance of the Sabbath-day in this respect. All know that our physical system demands the weekly Sabbath-day for rest. Do not the Gentiles need this as much as ever the Jews did? Certainly, they do. But if God did not make the seventh-day Sabbath for them, then he has left them destitute in this important matter; for he has never given them any other day. If he has, where is the record of it? Here, again, the same reason for keeping the Sabbath applies to the Gentiles as forcibly as to the Jews.
5. Another weighty and important reason, showing conclusively that the seventh-day Sabbath was not a Jewish institution—not simply made for them alone—is the fact that it was made and given to Adam, the father of the whole human race, over two thousand years before ever a Jew existed!! The Jews are the descendants of Abraham, who lived about two thousand years after the creation of the world,—the time when God made the Sabbath. Hence, no Jews could have existed before Abraham’s time. But God gave the Sabbath to Adam, who was the father of all men, Gentiles as well as Jews. In giving the Sabbath to Adam, God gave it to all his posterity, of whom he was then the representative. The Gentiles are Adam’s posterity, and hence, the Sabbath was given to them through him. Again, Adam was not a Jew. But the seventh-day Sabbath was given to him. Therefore, the Sabbath was given to some one besides the Jews. Hence, it is not for the Jews only.
6. At the very time God made the Sabbath for man, at the creation of the world, he commanded them, Gen. i, 28, to “be fruitful, and multiply, and REPLENISH THE EARTH,” that is, to stock, to fill up completely. Web. Hence, as Paul says, God “hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth.” Acts xvii, 26. This strongly corroborates the fact that God made the Sabbath for all nations who dwell on allthe face of the earth. This would certainly include the Gentiles.
7. The fact that the seventh-day Sabbath was made by God in Eden before the fall, is strong evidence of its perpetuity and of its universal application to all nations. It was not a temporal thing, brought in after the fall, to serve a special purpose with a peculiar people; but was given as a blessing to man in his Eden home. This fact should have great weight in this question.
8. Christ says, “The Sabbath was made for MAN.” Mark ii, 27. Now it is a grammatical rule that a noun unlimited by an adjective is to be taken in its broadest sense; as, man is mortal, i. e., all men are mortal. Hence this language is equivalent to declaring that the Sabbath was made for all men. Thus: 1. The Sabbath was made for man. 2. Every Gentile is a man. 3. Therefore the Sabbath was made for the Gentiles. There is no evading this conclusion, unless it can be shown that a Gentile is not a man? The Sabbath was made for man; therefore, wherever we find a man, the Sabbath was made for him. And the Gentiles are men, hence the Sabbath was made for them.
9. Another fact directly showing that the Sabbath was made to be of universal application to all men, both Jews and Gentiles, is that God has placed it in the heart of the moral law, the ten commandments. All confess that the other nine precepts are of universal application to all men, Gentiles as well as Jews. Look at them. 1. Have no other gods before me. 2. Make no images, nor worship them. 3. Take not my name in vain. 4. Keep my Sabbath, the seventh day. 5. Honor thy parents. 6. Do not kill. 7. Do not commit adultery. 8. Do not steal. 9. Do not lie. 10. Do not covet. Ex. xx. This is the substance of them. Did not God know what was appropriate when he classed his Sabbath with these moral precepts which are binding on all men? Certainly he did, and put it there intentionally, thus showing his design that all men should keep it.
10. My tenth reason for believing the Sabbath binding on Gentiles is, that the law of God, the ten commandments, was neither abolished nor altered by Christ at his coming. On the contrary, Christ and all the New-Testament writers declare that it is not destroyed nor made void, but is established by the gospel, and binding on Christians. Says Jesus, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets; I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, shall be called the least in the kingdom of Heaven.” Matt. v, 17–19. So says Paul: “Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid; yea, we establish the law.” Rom. iii, 31. James talks in the same strain: “Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. For He that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law.” Chap. ii, 10, 11. This clearly teaches that the law, every point in it, is binding on Christians. The seventh-day Sabbath is a part of that law, and hence must be kept by Gentiles.
The ceremonial law given through Moses, regulating the priesthood, sacrifices, circumcision, feast-days, new moons, and yearly sabbaths, was abolished at the cross, and is not binding upon us; but not so of the moral law.
11. The Gentiles who never saw the law nor the Bible, have the law written in their hearts by nature. Proof: “For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these having not the law, are a law unto themselves; which show the work of the law written in their hearts,” &c. Rom. ii, 14, 15. Here we are taught that the Gentiles have the law written in their hearts by nature; hence it is to the principles of this law, the sense of moral right and wrong, that God’s word appeals, to convince these Gentiles that they are sinners, and need to repent. Now the Sabbath is a part of that law; a proof of which is, that most of the Gentiles have a Sabbath, a sacred day, which comes, not once in eight, or ten, or six days, &c., but once in seven days. Where did they get this idea from? We answer. From nature and from tradition. Both facts show that God designed the Sabbath for Gentiles as well as Jews.
12. Another fact pointing to the same truth is, that all the world are declared to be condemned by that law, or to be under it. Rom. iii, 19: “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law; that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.” Here the law stops every mouth and condemns all the world. A law cannot condemn those who are not under it; but all the world are under the law; the Gentiles are a part of the world; therefore, the Gentiles are under the law as well as the Jews. This shows that it has claims upon them. Well, the seventh-day Sabbath is a part of that law; hence it is binding on the Gentiles. Paul says we are not under the law, but under grace. Very true. We, Christians, are not under the law, that is, condemned by it, for we have been pardoned; but that does not release us from keeping it.
13. But we have a direct declaration of the Lord, pronouncing a blessing on every Gentile who will keep his Sabbath. Isa. lvi, 2–7. “Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it; that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil. . . . Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the Lord to serve him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be his servants, every one that keepeth his hand from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant, even them will I bring to my holy mountain.” The strangers are the Gentiles. Eph. ii, 11, 12. Here then is a direct declaration from God that he wishes Gentiles to keep his Sabbath. This settles the point that God made it for Gentiles as well as Jews.
14. By the words of Jesus himself we have the Sabbath and the law of the Sabbath recognized as binding in the New Testament, hence obligatory on Gentiles. Matt. xii, 12. “Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the Sabbath-days.” 1. Then there are Sabbath-days in the gospel. 2. There is a law with regard to the Sabbath. It is lawful, means that it is according to law; but it could not be according to law when there is no law. Hence, in this language he recognizes the law of the Sabbath in the New Testament. That law says the seventh day is the Sabbath.
15. Devout Gentiles have kept the Sabbath. Paul, in all his travels, as related in Acts, always found devout Greeks and Gentiles keeping the Sabbath with the Jews, and this, too, outside of Judea. Acts xiii, 42–48; xvii, 1–4; xviii, 1–4. Many of these Gentiles became Christians, and kept right on observing the Sabbath as before. Thus, at Corinth.
16. History shows that the Gentiles, as well as Jews, did keep the Sabbath for 300 years and more after Christ. This they probably learned from the apostles themselves.
17. The Sabbath will be kept in the new earth. Isa. lxvi, 22, 23. All will keep it there who are saved, both Jews and Gentiles. This strongly indicates that it should be kept by all who are preparing for that holy place. These are a few of the reasons which lead me to believe that the Sabbath was made for Gentiles as well as Jews, and should be kept by them now.