Sketch of a Discourse, Preached at Woodhull, N. Y.
By R. F. Cottrell
Text.—“Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. 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.” Ex. 31: 16, 17. I. Who are the children of Israel?
II. How long will Israel endure?
III. Are “perpetual” and “forever” limited or unlimited? I. To Jacob was given the name of Israel, i. e., A prince of God, because he had power with God and men, and prevailed. See Gen. 32: 28. Those who are truly “the children of God” are the children of Israel in the true sense. “For they are not all Israel, who are of Israel: neither because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but in Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.” Rom. 9: 6–8. See this teaching in the following texts: Matt. 3: 9; John 8: 39; Rom. 2: 28, 29; John 1: 47; Ps. 73: 1; Gal. 6: 16. Abraham is “the father of all them that believe.” Unbelievers are not his children in the sense of Scripture. “That he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised.” Rom. 4: 11. “Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.” Gal. 3: 7. “All Israel shall be saved,” or in other words, All the saved are the Israel of God. “And so, by the coming in of the fullness of the Gentiles, all Israel shall be saved.” Rom. 11: 26. When the Gentiles are converted, they come in and constitute a part of Israel, being grafted into the olive tree which represents Israel. See Jer. 11: 16; Rom. 11: 17. Paul tells the Ephesians that “in time past,” that is, before their conversion, they were Gentiles, that “at that time” they were “without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise.” (Both the first and the second covenants belong to Israel. Rom. 9: 4; Jer. 31: 31.) But when these Gentiles were converted they were no longer aliens from the commonwealth of Israel. “Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God.” See Eph. 2: 11–20. Israel will be saved in twelve tribes. James, an apostle of Jesus Christ, addressed his letter to his “brethren,” “To the Twelve Tribes.” James 1: 1, 2. For the “hope of Israel” Paul was bound with a chain and sent to Rome. Acts 28: 20. And when before king Agrippa, he said, “And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers; unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come. For which hope’s sake, king Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews.” Acts 26: 6, 7. The last of the church of Christ on earth, those that are sealed to prepare them to stand in “the great day” of the wrath of the Lamb, all belong to the “tribes of the children of Israel.” Rev. 7: 4. II. How long will Israel endure? How long will the seed and name of Israel remain? We answer, Eternally. The gates of the eternal city, which will be located upon the new earth, will bear upon them “the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel.” Rev. 21: 12. All the saved, being “Israelites indeed,” will pass in through those gates of pearl, because they belong to the tribes of Israel. The seed of Israel shall not cease from being a nation before the Lord, as long as the sun and moon and stars endure. “Thus saith the Lord, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; the Lord of hosts is his name; if those ordinances depart from before me, saith the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me forever.” Jer. 31: 35, 36. The seed and name of Israel shall remain as long as the new heavens and the new earth shall endure. “For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord.” Isa. 66: 22, 23. III. Are “perpetual” and “forever” limited in the text? These terms, when applied to things of limited existence, are limited in their significance; but when used concerning things of eternal existence, they are unlimited. But we have shown that the children of Israel will exist to eternity. Therefore there is no room for that poor evasion, which says that the Sabbath was given to the Israelites throughout their generations, but their generations have passed away, and therefore the Sabbath has passed away. Even Israel after the flesh have not passed away, and the true Israel will live eternally. As long as eternity shall endure—as long as the new heavens and the new earth remain—so long shall the Sabbath remain a sign, a memorial, of the fact that “in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.” There is something peculiar about this Sabbath, which so many want abolished. It was instituted in Eden, before man fell. It is recognized in all revelation, both in the Old Testament and the New; and, in prophecy, it is shown to exist in the world to come, the Paradise restored. There it will be a universal institution, though men claim that it cannot be universally binding; “all flesh” shall observe it, and come, on that one definite day, to worship before the Lord. There has been no time, since God revealed this by Isaiah the prophet, that “all flesh have worshiped God upon the Sabbath;” hence it will be fulfilled hereafter. The children of Israel will all keep the Sabbath then. If we claim to belong to Israel, and to be heirs of the promises, should we not keep it now? A perpetual covenant can have no break, or void space, in which it is not in force. Children of Israel, the Sabbath is a sign between you and the great Creator forever. Do not forget it. “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.” “Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may ENTER IN THROUGH THE GATES INTO THE CITY.”