How It Is Made to Appear That God Has Sanctified the First Day.
By John Nevins Andrews
[From Les Signes des Temps.] WE have carefully sought to find the sanctification of the first day of the week in the New Testament. First we inquired in our number for February, whether God sanctified the first day at the resurrection of Christ as he sanctified the seventh day at the creation of the world. We were unable to find any declaration, like that in Gen. 2:3, that God had sanctified the first day. Nor could we find the fact recorded in any manner either direct or indirect. Then we inquired in our number for March, whether Christ sanctified the first day in a gradual manner and by successive acts during the forty days between his resurrection and his ascension. We sought to find evidence that Christ met with his disciples on each of the six first days of the week during that forty days, but we could not find it. We sought to find that he met with the disciples generally on that day, but we found that he oftener chose some other day. We could not be certain that he met with them on any first day of the week except the one in which he arose, and even in this case it was only with some individuals. We sought to find that Christ even mentioned the day, but we found no place in which it is recorded that he ever so much as once made mention of the day. We concluded therefore that the day was not sanctified by God the Father at the resurrection of Christ, and that it was not sanctified by the acts of Christ during the forty days preceding his ascension. Then in our numbers for April, May, and June, we sought to find whether the apostles sanctified the day during the period recorded in the book of Acts. We sought for some grand act of sanctification in which all united, or if this could not be found we sought for a succession of minor acts by which they gradually accomplished the work of sanctifying the day. We examined minutely each chapter of the book of Acts, and found that the apostles knew nothing of the sanctification of the day. We even found that Acts 20 contains direct proof that Paul did not regard the day as one that had been sanctified to God. We therefore concluded that though the Bible begins with the sanctification of the seventh day, it ends without speaking of the sanctification of the first day to take the place of the seventh. In our number for January we showed that the Lord's day is not the first day of the week, for God has not claimed that day, nor has Christ claimed it. The Lord's day therefore which is mentioned in Rev. 1:10, without being there defined, must be that day which the Lord has claimed as his, which is the seventh day and no other. Gen. 2:3; Isa. 58:13; Mark 2:28. If any of these statements are disputed, we respectfully request those who deny them to turn to the numbers of our journal which we have named, and to examine anew the facts there presented. Now we come to a question of the highest importance. How can the sanctification of the first day be maintained when the Bible speaks only of the sanctification of the seventh day? This is a hard question, but we will answer it by stating the facts. The most usual means of establishing the sanctification of the first day of the week is to quote what the Bible says of the sanctification of the first day of the week. Thus Gen. 2:3 is quoted: "God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made." This is applied to the first day of the week with such assurance on the part of those who make this application, that the world receives this passage as a decisive testimony that the first day is the day which God has made holy to himself. It does not seem to be very honest, however, to apply what God said concerning the day of his rest, not to that day, but to the day on which he began his work. But there is a way, however, that this difficulty is obviated. It is the following: The seventh day, which God sanctified, was not the last day of the seven, but the seventh part of time, or one day in seven. The first day of the week is the seventh part of time, or one day in seven, therefore the seventh day, which God sanctified, is the first day of the week. But this explanation is not as truthful as it ought to be, for the day which God sanctified is the day on which he rested, and God rested only on the last day of the week. To say that the first day of the week has been sanctified by the act of God in sanctifying the day of his rest, is to say that the day on which God commenced his labor and the day on which he rested from all his work are one and the same day. So also when the advocates of the observance of the first day wish to teach men that they ought to observe that day, they say to them very solemnly and with great assurance: "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy." Ex. 20:8 The multitude suppose that these words were spoken by God for the purpose of enforcing the observance of the first day of the week. Yet the commandment tells us that this day of rest is the seventh day, and that it is the day on which God rested after creating the heavens and the earth in six days. This proves that the commandment relates to the last day of the week and not to the first day. And it is confirmed by the fact that the women who rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment rested on the day which preceded the first day of the week, that is to say the seventh day. Luke 23:56; 24:1. Now how are these facts set aside by those who use the fourth commandment for the enforcement of the observance of the first day? Generally there is no effort to set them aside. The commandment is brought forward as though it were given by God with reference to the first day, and the facts which show that it relates to the day on which the Creator rested are passed over in silence, and, if possible, kept out of sight. But what do they say when the commandment is shown to relate to the seventh day and not to the first day? Do they attempt to set aside these facts which are so decisive? Every man who has studied the subject knows that they cannot be set aside without doing violence to the Bible. So it is very frequently the case that instead of attempting to set aside these facts we are told: "You observe the old Jewish Sabbath, but we observe the Christian Sabbath." This reply satisfies many persons who do not seem to be aware that God has said that the seventh day is the rest-day of the Lord, and that God sanctified that day more than 2,000 years before the first Jew existed. Nor do they seem to know that the first day is never called the Christian Sabbath, nor is it ever called Sabbath of any kind. The first day of the week was never sanctified, that is, set apart from ordinary labor, to be devoted only to the worship of God. This remark is true not only with respect to the sanctification of the first day by God, which cannot be found in the Bible, but it is equally true with respect to Christ and to his apostles. We have carefully traced the subject through the New Testament, and can say in the strictest truth that neither Christ nor his apostles sanctified the first day, or set aside the sanctification of the seventh. The first day of the week has no commandment requiring men to remember it and to rest upon it from ordinary labor. The fourth commandment relates explicitly to the day of the Creator's rest, and makes no reference to the first day of the week. The tradition of the elders has changed the fourth commandment as effectually as it changed the fifth commandment in the former dispensation. Matt. 15:1-9. This tradition has taken out of the commandment the seventh day and inserted the first day in the place of the seventh. God has never given to man the right to change his law, and has never sanctioned what the elders have done to his commandment. But it will be said that the custom of observing the first day in place of the seventh is of such long standing that even if it was not according to the commandment of God when it commenced, it is now become very acceptable to God. Hear the word of the Lord on this point, and you will see that the longer men persist in making void the commandments of God by the traditions of men the more aggravating is that sin in the sight of God. Thus Malachi says: "Even from the days of your fathers ye have gone astray from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you. But ye said, Wherein shall we return?" Mal. 3:7. But how should such persons return unto God? Hear the words of Jeremiah: "Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old path, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein." Jer. 6:16. Those who make this response when invited to return from the traditions of men to the commandments of God should read what Christ has said on the subject of worship: "But in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." Matt. 15:9. But it will be asked: Should not the resurrection of Christ be commemorated? We answer: "Certainly it should be commemorated." In our next number, if God permit, we will show what the New Testament teaches with respect to that commemoration. J. N. A.