Two Edenic Blessings by S. B. Horton

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Mar 9, 1915

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 42, No. 10.

Two Edenic Blessings

By S. B. Horton

They Still Are with Us—God's Plan Provides No Separation in Either Case

By S. B. HORTON

DESPITE the blighting effect of sin for over six thousand years, there still remain as blessings to humanity two great institutions which link the present time with that of creation week; namely, the marriage relation and Sabbath observance. And while the religious world blushes at the terrible record of divorce—putting asunder that which “God hath joined together”—and further, notwithstanding the subject of Sabbath observance is receiving at present a large share of theological attention, yet there exists a lamentable indifference concerning the fact that the Creator joined the seventh day of the week to the Sabbath institution, and that He never intended that these should be “put asunder.”

Did Not Originate at Sinai

Many Christians are of the opinion that the Sabbath institution had its origin in the law of Ten Commandments given at Sinai. This conclusion evidently proceeds from a superficial study of the subject, for Sabbath observance has a history antedating the Mosaic period by 2,500 years. From Genesis 2 we learn that the Sabbath institution was made by three specific acts performed by the Creator. The first act was that of rest. The seventh day was employed in rest. The second and third acts followed the close of the seventh day. “God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it; because that in it He had rested from all His work which God created and made.” The blessing and sanctification of the seventh day relate not simply to the first seventh day of time, but to the seventh day of each week for all time to come. In commemoration of God's rest on that day. “The seventh day is”—not was or will be—“the Sabbath of the Lord,” is the language of the fourth commandment.

In this connection let it be said that “the Lord of the Sabbath,” while on earth, proclaimed, “The Sabbath was made for man”—man in the generic sense. These facts cannot be denied nor changed. It can never be true that the Creator or His Son ever rested upon, blessed, or sanctified and made for man, any other day of the week. The seventh day of the week is just as essential to Sabbath observance as are bread and wine to the celebration of the Lord's Supper.

Man Has Tried to Separate Them

Man has put his hand upon the Sabbath institution, and has attempted to put asunder that which “God hath joined together.” This is to be seen in the general attitude of the religious world to the observance of Sunday. They admit that Christ did not abolish the Ten Commandment law, nor did He or the apostles institute any change from Sabbath to Sunday observance. The first requirement in behalf of Sunday observance was the celebrated Sunday law of Constantine the Great in 321.

Would it not be more consistent for the teachers of Sunday observance to remove from the Decalogue the fourth commandment, which calls for the observance of the seventh day of the week, and put in its stead either the Constantine law or the command of some church council that gave ecclesiastical recognition to Sunday observance? For it is admitted that “he who takes his faith and practice from the Bible is bound at whatever inconvenience to observe Saturday as the Sabbath.”—Rev. E. A. Wasson, quoted in Review and Herald, September 24, 1895.

At Calvary the Sabbath was reaffirmed by precept and example of Christ; it was honored and taught by the apostles; and just as surely as the “Thou shalt not kill” and “Thou shalt not steal” are in effect today, just so surely may we know that the Sabbath institution of the Decalogue is to be honored and respected.