MAN IN THE GARDEN OF EDEN.
The following article on the Sabbath question is translated for the Review by Bro. De Vos, from De Boodschapper, the paper published by Bro. Velthuysen in Holland. We will now take up the question, “What was the relation of man, before his fall, to the Sabbath?”; in other words, does the keeping of the Sabbath by man date back to Eden or Sinai? According to the idea which we are going to oppose, the latter is the case. But the teachings of the Bible first. We say: Sabbath-keeping by man, since the opposers of the law assert that God alone kept the Sabbath, and this on the last day of creation week, but that nowhere else in the Bible is there anything said concerning resting on the seventh day, than alone in the commandment given to Israel on Sinai, and done away at the crucifixion of Christ. From a work which has a great influence (it is to be feared, greater than the Bible) among those who foster this idea, and which also teaches that man in the garden of Eden had “nothing to do” but to “enjoy himself,” we give below an extract as the point at issue for our discussion:— “In the second chapter of Genesis there is no command given concerning the Sabbath; we read only, that God rested on the seventh day. ‘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.’ No command is given here to man; we are only informed that God rested. . . . There was nothing more to do; therefore God could rest. . . . God kept a Sabbath. . . . This is the only Sabbath that God ever kept. . . . Afterward (on Sinai) we read that God commands man (Israel) to keep the Sabbath holy. . . . Indeed, Christ had no Sabbath when he was on earth. . . . Do not compel the believer, as with an iron yoke, to keep the seventh day; . . . do not bring him by Sabbath-keeping out of Heaven, where he can rest, to a cursed earth, where no rest can be found.”—Aanteek. op Genesis. The italics in the above are our own. If the reader will be so kind as to compare the italicized sentences with each other, it must instantly appear plain to him that in this case also, he either makes that “which is written” appear as though it were not, through a desire to uphold their system, or that a willful darkening is uppermost to make the plainest declaration of God of no consequence. “We read only, that God rested on the seventh day”; then he takes the literal words of the Bible: “And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested,” to repeat afterward, “We are only informed that God rested.” Where we read like this, it is no wonder that we should teach like this. We are informed of three facts: 1. God rested on the seventh day; 2. God blessed the seventh day; 3. God sanctified the seventh day. The last two acts, viz., the blessing and sanctifying of the seventh day, had their origin in the first-named deed, the resting; for the text says, “God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested.” Notice also the word “wherefore” in Exodus 20:11. It seems that the blessing and sanctifying of the seventh day by God in Eden, and the reasons therefor, are not seen or understood by many. Let us remain by the Bible. The seventh day was a day of rest or refreshing (Ex. 31:17) for the Creator. Why! Can God become tired or have need of rest? Let the Scriptures answer: “The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary.” Isa. 40:28. What did the Lord mean, then, with this his rest? Nothing else than by this means to lay the foundation of a “day of remembrance.” Because God rested on the seventh day, therefore he blessed and sanctified that day. Every one must be sensible that the blessing and sanctifying occurred after the rest day had passed. To illustrate: Because De Bril was taken on the first of April, 1572, by the “Water geuzen,” therefore, after that time, the first day of April is celebrated as a day of remembrance of that occurrence. So also here. Because of his own rest on the seventh day, and of his refreshing on that day, God “blessed” and “sanctified” that day, i. e., set it apart for holy use. And in this way the seventh day of the week became a Sabbath or rest day. God has never given another rest day. And for whose need did God give the seventh day as a holy rest, as a day of remembrance of his own rest after the completion of creation? To this, our Lord Jesus, the Lord and the defender of the Sabbath, answers, “The Sabbath was made for man.” The Sabbath was made in Eden, before man’s fall, and for his need. If he, obedient to the will of his Creator, had labored the first six days of the week, this same obedience would compel him to rest on the seventh day, and to spend that day as the glad day of remembrance of the completion of the work of creation. Luther truly says: “From this it follows, that if Adam had not sinned, he would still have kept the seventh day holy; on that day he would have instructed his children and children’s children what the will of God was, and in what his service consisted; he would have praised and thanked God, and offered offerings unto him. On the other days he would have tilled the ground and supplied the wants of his cattle.” But, says one, there is no command given in Gen. 2 concerning the Sabbath. No; we read of no command there. But if God took his children, who were yet pure and blameless, and told them of his rest when the heavens and the earth were completed, and of the blessing and sanctifying of the seventh day afterward, on their account, to what would this, according to your judgment, have led them? The answer to this last question is at the same time the answer to the one with which we commenced: “What was the relation of man, before his fall, to the Sabbath?” “Christ had no Sabbath when he was on earth,” says the law opposer. “I have kept my Father’s commandments.” “Which of you convinceth me of sin?”; i. e., of transgression of the law, so speaks Christ. “Do not bring the believer by Sabbath-keeping out of Heaven to a cursed earth,” says the first. “The law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.” “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law; for sin is the transgression of the law.” “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.” So God’s Spirit teaches the believer.