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ANOTHER DAY

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Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Mar 21, 1882

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 59, No. 12.

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ANOTHER DAY.

By Eld. A. S. Hutchins

BY ELD. A. S. HUTCHINS.
In the fourth chapter of Paul's letter to the Hebrews, he alludes to the temporary and typical rest of ancient Israel in the land of Canaan, but is particular to state that if Joshua had given them rest, another day would not afterward have been spoken of. Of this day he says, “Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To-day, after so long a time; as it is said, To-day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.”
This certain day, to-day, and another day, each refer to the same period of time,—a period allotted to secure the “rest that remaineth to the people of God,” and which will conclude with the termination of probationary time.
Now, how it is possible for any one to seize this probationary day and use it in proof of the first-day Sabbath, it is not easy for us to conceive; for it certainly has not the most remote reference to this institution. To maintain that this institution is defended or even introduced in this chapter, is illogical and unreasonable, and makes the apostle reason most incoherently and confusedly.
But suppose the first day had been introduced in connection with the verse which mentions the limiting of another day, in such a manner as to close the seventh verse with the declaration that the day limited was the first day of the week, and that that day should be observed as the Sabbath; how much would this favor those who claim that the first-day Sabbath is a Christian institution? Let us see. 1. It would prove that the first day has been the Sabbath from the days of David and hence could not be peculiar to this dispensation.
2. It would prove that this institution originated because Joshua did not give ancient Israel rest in the promised land. Or, in other words, it would show that this certain day, the first day, would not have been spoken of if Joshua had given them rest.
3. It would make the injunction, “To-day, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts,” obligatory only on the first day.
4. It would obviate the necessity of a change of the Sabbath to the first day, in the days of Christ or the apostles. Yea, more, it would forbid the possibility of such an act, as it would also obviate the necessity of ceasing to keep the seventh day; for, according to this hypothesis, the two Sabbaths had journeyed hand in hand from the days of David, and they might have continued so to do.
Now if Paul meant to teach by the expression “a certain day,” “to-day,” “another day,” that the first day is the Sabbath, then let no one marvel that Peter says that in beloved brother Paul's epistles are “some things hard to be understood.” But, improbable as it may appear to the reader, the chapter under consideration is seized and presented with great boldness in proof of the Sunday institution. I once heard a deacon state, before a large audience where the Sabbath had been preached, that the fourth chapter of Hebrews was his proof of the first-day Sabbath. And a minister who had heard lectures in one of our tents, stated that the first day is mentioned in the fourth chapter of Hebrews, and that this fact satisfied him that this day should be observed as the Sabbath; and further than this, he stated that if it was not mentioned there, it would weaken his hold for this institution.
How Bible readers, and especially ministers of the gospel, if they have ever read this chapter with the least attention, can state that the first day is mentioned or in the slightest way referred to here, or that the least sanction is given for the observance of that day as the Sabbath, we confess to our inability to comprehend. And we frankly confess that we hardly know which is the greater, our astonishment or our regret that men claiming a call to preach the word of God should handle it thus heedlessly. It seems to us that such teachers must materially change their course of labor before the divine benediction from Heaven or of men can rest upon them. “Moreover, because the preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge.”