The Lost-Time Objection to the Sabbath.
By Editor
THERE is scarcely another subject in the Bible which is made so plain as that of the Sabbath,—the day of the Creator's rest, which he sanctified for man's observance. Nothing concerning it is left uncertain or obscure. Every declaration of the Scriptures on that subject, whether it regards the day selected, the work commemorated, the sanctifying or setting apart for observance, the commandment, or the honor which God bestowed upon it, all is unmistakable in its import, if we walk by the old Protestant rule: “The Bible, and the Bible alone.” Notwithstanding it is made so plain in the Scriptures, there is no subject which is more controverted at the present time than that of the Sabbath; and, no matter what phase the controversy may assume, the real ground of contention is the day. Most people are willing to accept the Sabbath as an institution, if they can reserve to themselves the privilege of choosing the day. But that privilege is all that the most obdurately self-willed and rebellious could ask, because the day is the sum and substance of the institution. This is most clearly stated by Mr. Morton, in his “Vindication of the True Sabbath,” thus:— “The only object, direct or indirect, of this commandment, is ‘the day.’ What are we commanded to remember? ‘The day.’ What are we required to keep holy? ‘The day.’ What did the Lord bless and hallow? ‘The day.’ In what are we forbidden to work? In ‘the day.’” This is strictly true; and therefore he who controls “the day” fully controls the institution, and really controls or gives direction to the commandment. And if an individual, or a people, a legislature, or all the world, assume to fix “the day” to be observed as the Sabbath, they make themselves judges, and not doers, of the law; a position not to be desired in the sight of the Lord. James 4:11. But it often happens that people become convinced that the seventh day is the Sabbath, and they say they would keep it if they only knew which day it was. They seem to think that the day was somehow lost, that times and seasons have been so changed that no one can certainly tell which is the seventh day of the week. Before we give Bible facts bearing on this subject, we will present a few points which are well worthy of our consideration. 1. This query as to the identity of the day is never known to arise in a community while people are left undisturbed in the observance of Sunday. Everybody seems to be satisfied that Sunday is the first day of the week—the very day of the resurrection of Christ. The writer of these lines once talked over six hours with a minister who argued strenuously from the Scriptures that we ought to keep the first day of the week as “the Christian Sabbath.” But after every text on that subject had been thoroughly examined, and he saw that they did not contain the proof which he had supposed they contained, he turned abruptly and inquired, “How do you know which is the seventh day?” While contending for the first day not a doubt entered his mind; when he could not maintain the first day, he could not tell one day from another! 2. All scientific, chronological, and legal records regard Sunday as the first day of the week, and therefore, Saturday as the seventh day. All astronomical calculations recognize it as such. All the laws of the nations recognize it, and most of them make a legal holiday of Sunday under the name of “the first day of the week, commonly called Sunday.” See law of New York, and others. Some go farther and make its observance obligatory as a sacred day, under the same title. 3. Sunday is a name applied to the first day of the week in all histories, cyclopedias, and lexicons, the title of Sabbath, or name of Saturday, being uniformly given to the seventh day. 4. Sunday is called the first day of the week in all the standards and all the authorities of all the churches. There is not an exception to this statement. 5. Sunday was the name given to the first day of the week (dies solis, day of the sun) by the heathen before it was recognized as a day of observance by Christians. See Webster, and many other authorities. 6. All nations and all people, wherever a week of seven days is known, call Saturday the seventh day and Sunday the first day of the week. There is no exception on the whole earth. 7. And when doubts have been raised by interested or prejudiced persons, the very ablest men in the scientific and the theological world have vindicated the integrity of the common computation. For instance, Bishop Haven, in a work on the ten commandments, says there is no reason to be given why our seventh day of the week is not the original Sabbath day. And so must every one say who considers the nature and bearing of the facts we have stated. 8. To show the weakness of the objection, we once asked an intelligent member of the Baptist Church, who presented the query, to consider the matter carefully and tell us where he thought the day might have been changed, or how he thought it could have been changed. After consideration he confessed that he could not tell either! He could not imagine how it could have been done, or if done where or when it was done, for nobody knew anything about it. 9. As nobody knows that time has been lost, as there is no record or tradition of the change or loss of the reckoning of the days of the week, we say it is utterly impossible that such a loss should be sustained, or such a change made, and yet the whole world know nothing of it, and all remain in perfect agreement as to the beginning and ending of the week. For consider:— a. If one member of a family forgets the day of the week, the others correct him. There may have been cases where a whole family forgot the day, but we never heard of such an instance. b. If a whole family forgot the day their neighbors would certainly detect the error, when it came to their knowledge. We cannot even imagine the possibility of several families or a whole community losing the day, and the same day at the same time, and continue ignorant of their loss. c. But, not only a community, but a whole State, a whole nation must lose a day at the same time, and ever remain ignorant of it. d. And not only one nation, but every nation must drop out a day exactly at the same time, and none of them ever learn that they had made a mistake. e. Moreover, every community and family and all scattered individuals of every nation on the earth must lose a day at the same time, and all remain ignorant of the loss. f. To do this, all the inhabitants of the earth must have slept two nights and one entire day, all waking up the second day after they retired to rest, and all thinking it was only the next day after they retired! In this manner only could it be possible. g. And, in that case, all the watchers with the sick, and all the mariners on the waters, must in like manner have slept, so that no “log” or reckoning could detect the mistake which had been made. Reader, do you believe a loss of a day or the change of the reckoning of the days of the week is possible, and nobody know anything about it? We can readily imagine how the recorded miracle in the days of Joshua could take place, but here is a miracle too great for our comprehension. And if a miracle, it was performed with no other object than to hide from man the sanctified Sabbath of the Creator! And now if any one is willing to keep the seventh day if he knows which it is, will not all acknowledge that it is safe, with such an enormous preponderance of testimony, to keep the Saturday as the seventh day? Can any one conscientiously overlook such overwhelming evidence, and choose the side for which even a supposition is not reasonably admissible? Now let us examine the Bible record and see what it teaches. For convenience we will consider the history of the world divided into three periods: 1. From creation to Moses. 2. From Moses to Christ. 3. From Christ to the present time. 1. When the Sabbath was made there was but one computation of time in the history of the world; that was the week of seven days. No other origin of the week can be given than that given in the first two chapters of Genesis. It was the week as counted by Jehovah, for man had then existed only a fraction of a week. The Sabbath was not counted as the seventh day of the month, or the seventh day of the year. It was not a day of rest coming every thirtieth day, or every three hundred and sixty-fifth day, but every seventh day. It stood related as to time only to the six days which preceded it. And these had no days preceding them. They date from “the beginning.” And it was not man's Sabbath, man's rest, because it did not commemorate man's work. It was the Sabbath of the Lord God. He rested upon that day “from all his work which God created and made.” It was founded on the work and the choice of God alone. “And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it.” This word bless signifies to praise or exalt as well as to prosper. It indicates the delight which God took in his work and its memorial (Comp. Ex. 31:17), and the honor which he bestowed upon it. To sanctify means “to set apart to a sacred use.” God separated it from the other days, reserving it for himself, to his glory, not to be used by man for his work, as were the other six. Of course he could not have sanctified it or set it apart, separated it from the other days, guarded it from desecration by common use, without giving Adam definite information as to how he was to regard it, how he should and how he should not use it. Comp. Ex. 19:12, 23, etc. Genesis is a book of history, not of law. It gives valuable information concerning law and obligation, but only historically. That book shows that time was reckoned by weeks in the days of the patriarchs. Notice a few instances. Just before the flood, God said to Noah, “For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth.” Gen. 7:4. Of Noah, it is said: “And he stayed yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark.” Gen. 8:10. And again, “And he stayed yet other seven days; and sent forth the dove.” Verse 12. Laban said to Jacob: “Fulfill her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years. And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week.” Gen. 29:27, 28. These quotations, and more that might be made, show that the week, composed of seven days, was known and observed by the patriarchs both before and after the flood. Hence, it is strong proof that they had the Sabbath, and observed it. Of the antiquity of the week and the Sabbath among all nations, Gilfillan, in his large book on “The Sabbath,” published by the American Tract Society, says:— “Let it suffice, however, in a matter on which there is so general an agreement, to243present the words of four eminent authors: ‘The septenary arrangement of the days,’ says Scaliger, ‘was in use among the orientals from the remotest antiquity.’ ‘We have reason to believe,’ observes President De Goguet, ‘that the institution of that short period of seven days, called a week, was the first step taken by mankind in dividing and measuring their time. We find, from time immemorial, the use of this period among all nations, without any variation in the form of it. The Israelites, Assyrians, Egyptians, Indians, Arabians, and, in a word, all the nations of the East, have in all ages made use of a week, consisting of seven days. We find the same custom among the ancient Romans, Gauls, Britons, Germans, the nations of the North, and of America.’ According to Laplace, ‘the week is perhaps the most ancient and incontestable monument of human knowledge.’ It would appear that the Chinese, who have now no Sabbath, at one time honored the seventh day of the week.”—Pages 364, 365. The only error in the above is ascribing this measurement of time to man. It was appointed directly by the Creator. All these ancient nations, being descendants of Noah and his sons, must have received the Sabbath by tradition from them. That the Sabbath would not be lost from Adam to Abraham is manifest when we consider that Adam lived and conversed with Methuselah for 243 years; Methuselah lived cotemporary with Shem about 100 years; and Shem lived 148 years after Abraham was born. The lives of these three men span the whole time from Eden even to the old age of Abraham. How easy and natural for them to hand down the Sabbath from father to son, without any probability or even possibility of losing it. EDITOR.