DOCTOR BENSON'S SUNDAY BOOK.
In chapter 3 the Doctor notices but two points. First, the Sabbath as a sign. This is a point which deserves large notice, but he passed it over with a very brief one. But brief as it is, it proved large enough to embody a very great and serious error. The Doctor quotes parts of verses 13 and 17, of Ex. 31, and remarks:— "It was accepted and observed with such understanding of its purport and obligation. It was a memorial of the goodness and faithfulness of their covenant-keeping God. He remembered them and extended to them his deliverance from peril and suffering." Here is another abuse of the Scriptures—an inexcusable perversion. Not a sentence in the sacred record will justify the position which he here assumes. We say it is inexcusable because the Lord, in the very text from which the Doctor quotes, revealed its purport in direct and unmistakable terms. The Scripture says:— "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." Why did the Doctor suppress this reason, which is given by Jehovah himself, and give a reason of his own, which the Lord never gave? Evidently to make the Sabbath appear to be a Jewish institution, and a sign of something which was peculiar to the Jews, the more easily to get rid of it in order to establish the "day of the sun." He says it purported to be a sign of the deliverance of the Jews from Egypt. The Lord said it is a sign of the creation of heaven and earth. In the very week of creation Jehovah rested upon the seventh day, and blessed and hallowed it. And this was the identical seventh day which he specified in the fourth commandment, which he commanded his people Israel to observe, upon which the manna was withheld. Thus the plain word of God sweeps away all the Doctor's vain talk about that day which was enjoined in the wilderness not being the Patriarchal or original Sabbath. The Lord himself bases the institution on his work of creation, and his resting on the seventh day from "the beginning." Dr. Benson says, Not so; it was instituted as a sign that God delivered the Jews out of Egypt! If one such palpable contradiction of Jehovah's own language could be found in the advocacy of the seventh-day Sabbath, we know not where we should hide our shame. But the advocates of Sunday show that they consider their case a desperate one, and they are ready to resort to the most desperate means in its support. Here we will notice the difference between Ex. 20 and Deut. 5. In Deut. 5 the Lord said he commanded them to keep the Sabbath because he brought them out of Egypt. In Deut. 24:17, 18, et al., he commands other duties in the same manner: "Thou shalt not pervert the judgment of the stranger, nor of the fatherless, nor take a widow's raiment to pledge; but thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt, and the Lord thy God redeemed thee thence; therefore I command thee to do this thing." Lev. 19:35-37; "Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in meteyard, in weight, or in measure. Just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin, shall ye have; I am the Lord your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt. Therefore shall ye observe all my statutes, and all my judgments; I am the Lord." These, and indeed all duties, cf. Deut. 7:20-25, were commanded them for the same reason, that he brought them out of Egypt. But does the Doctor, or do his indorsers, believe that these duties originated in their coming out of Egypt? Do they believe that such duties were binding only on those whom the Lord brought out of Egypt? We know they do not. Why, then, will they pretend that the seventh-day Sabbath had its origin in their coming out of Egypt, in the face of the plain declaration of the Lord to the contrary? The Lord commanded them to keep the Sabbath, and to perform all other duties, because he brought them from bondage. But he never based the obligation on any such fact. When the reason of the institution, in its origin, is given, reference is always made to creation. Did Jehovah rest upon the seventh day from bringing Israel out of Egypt? Did the Lord bless and sanctify the seventh day (or any day) because he brought Israel out of Egypt? Let him who argues such a position bring the proof. We stand upon the word of God. Let those who claim a Jewish origin for the seventh-day Sabbath show their foundation. In regard to the Sabbath as the Creator's sign, we will only add that the Scriptures always give the work of creation as the proof of the power and godhead of Jehovah. See Ps. 19:1-6; Jer. 10:1-16; Acts 17:22-26; Rom. 1:19, 20; Rev. 14:6, 7. Of this the seventh-day Sabbath is a memorial, because that in it he rested from all his work which God created and made. For this reason he blessed and sanctified the seventh day. For our proof we rest on no inference—no uncertain probability or conjecture. Will Dr. Benson or any of his indorsers undertake to furnish such proof in favor of the first day, or day of the sun? His second point in chapter 3 is, that the Sabbath is a type of the gospel; yes, and even of the land of Canaan. These are his words:— "It was also typical in its character. It was a type of Canaan, the land of promise, symbolizing the rest and rich fruition awaiting them when their pilgrimage should terminate, and their enemies should be subdued. It was also typical of the gospel dispensation, when the rites, ceremonies, and costly sacrifices of ritualistic worship should be superseded by the simple and spiritual worship of God. The Sabbath was also typical, too, of the heavenly Canaan, the eternal rest of Heaven." We must express our surprise on reading the above words. The Sabbath a type of three separate things as widely different as time is from eternity, and as far apart as earth is from Heaven! Who could tell when such a type would cease by meeting its antitype? One-third fulfilled when Israel entered Canaan; two-thirds done away when the gospel dispensation was ushered in; and fully abolished when the saints reach the heavenly Canaan! How can this be reconciled with the word of the Lord, that in the new earth the people of God shall come up to worship from one Sabbath to another? And how shall we reconcile this statement with the Doctor's further assertion concerning Col. 2, that the seventh-day Sabbath, the one which he affirms was the type of the heavenly Canaan, was nailed to the cross, and is already abolished? Why abolished so far short of its antitype? And if it was a type of the earthly Canaan also, to what extent was its sacredness and its obligation impaired by the children of Israel coming into possession of that Canaan? We think a more thorough study and consideration of the subject would have enabled the Doctor to take a position more in harmony, not only with the Scriptures, but also with himself. The truth is, the seventh-day Sabbath is not, and never was, a type of anything. It was a memorial only. But one sole reason for the institution is ever given in the Scriptures, namely, that God made the world in six days and rested the seventh day. "The Sabbath was made for man" when the heavens and earth were made; it was blessed and sanctified when man was yet an unfallen being; when man was not a subject of redemption; when the earth and all the works of the Creator's hand were still "very good;" when sin and the curse had not yet marred the glory; when the song of joy which the sons of God sang had not been hushed by man's rebellion. Then and there the Sabbath had its origin. Blessed memorial of a most glorious work! Had man continued in innocence its sacred hours would never have been desecrated throughout the ages. How fitting that it shall be honored in the new heavens and earth, where it shall be kept as holy as it was in Eden before the fall. It needs no argument to prove to the mind of any considerate reader that types did not originate in Eden. After the fall a system of redemption was devised, a Saviour was promised, and types were instituted to aid in the development of the gospel plan. But the Sabbath antedated the gospel. Had sin never entered into the world—had no gospel ever been needed—the Sabbath would have stood as the memorial of the great Creator's work. It would then have been "a sign" of precisely the same significance that it is now. But no one could have considered it a type. It bears no possible resemblance to the types of the Levitical dispensation. Reference to Heb. 4 does not at all aid the theory that the Sabbath was a type. All authorities agree that verse 8 refers to Joshua, and the name (Jesus) is so rendered in most versions. The argument of the apostle is that a rest was promised to Israel which some did not obtain because of unbelief; that rest they received under Joshua; but inasmuch as the rest is still promised in the days of David, that which they received under Joshua cannot be the real or final rest; therefore a rest still remains to be received by the people of God. Now we will project our argument on these facts:— 1. There was a rest promised which they who fell in the wilderness did not reach. This was not the weekly Sabbath, for this they had in the wilderness. 2. They could not possess that rest because of unbelief. But the Sabbath was a part of the law of God, and its validity and obligation do not at all depend on the belief of man. 3. That rest was given to Israel by Joshua. But Joshua did not give them the seventh-day Sabbath. 4. God was angry with their unbelief, and declared they should not enter into that rest. But God never "sware in his wrath" that they should not keep the Sabbath. He commanded that rebellious ones should be put to death who did not keep it. 5. As unbelief deprived them of that rest, so unbelief will deprive us of that rest which remains, which is the antitype of the rest given to them by Joshua. Surely no one can dissent from this argument, and the conclusion is inevitable. Now we will quote a few texts to show exactly what was that rest which they received by Joshua:— Deut. 3:18-20. Moses said unto the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh: "And I commanded you at that time, saying, The Lord your God hath given you this land to possess it; ye shall pass over armed before your brethren, . . . until the Lord have given rest unto your brethren, as well as unto you, and until they also possess the land which the Lord your God hath given them beyond Jordan." Deut. 12:9, 10. "For ye are not as yet come unto the rest and to the inheritance, which the Lord your God hath given you. But when ye go over Jordan, and dwell in the land which the Lord your God giveth you to inherit, and when he giveth you rest from all your enemies round about, so that ye dwell in safety," etc. Josh. 1:12-15. "And to the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to half the tribe of Manasseh, spake Joshua, saying, Remember the word which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, saying, The Lord your God hath given you rest, and hath given you this land. Your wives, your little ones, and your cattle, shall remain in the land which Moses gave you on this side Jordan; but ye shall pass before your brethren armed, all the mighty men of valor, and help them; until the Lord have given your brethren rest, as he hath given you, and they also have possessed the land which the Lord your God giveth them." Josh. 21:43, 44. "And the Lord gave unto Israel all the land which he sware to give unto their fathers; and they possessed it, and dwelt therein. And the Lord gave them rest round about, according to all that he sware unto their fathers: and there stood not a man of all their enemies before them." See also chap. 22:4. Thus we see that "the rest" given to them by Joshua is called also "the inheritance." It was the peaceful possession of the promised land. This was the rest which they who fell in the desert of Arabia never saw. It was a type of the heavenly Canaan—the rest and the inheritance which remains for the people of God. This peaceful possession which remains, this sacred quietude, free from sin and care, was prepared for man "from the foundation of the world," of which preparation the Sabbath is a memorial, but not a type. After sin entered, after the curse fell, a redemption system was introduced, and then types were instituted, but not before. We submit it to the reader, that the Doctor has made affirmations—strong affirmations, it is true,—to maintain which the proof does not exist. The Sabbath of Jehovah, blessed and sanctified from the very foundation of the world, stands secure from all assaults, and, resting securely on the word of the Lord, like that word, it abideth forever.