2995.— Beginning and Closing of Sabbath
When does the Sabbath begin and close? Does the last clause of Lev. 23:32 refer to the weekly Sabbath? I. S. 1. The Sabbath day in all logic and order begins and closes just the same as the other days of the week. “The evening and the morning were the first day,” and second day, and third day, and so on. So also the evening and the morning were the seventh day. Genesis 1. 2. The instructions given concerning days all the way through the Scripture begin the day at evening. Lev. 23:32 does refer to a ceremonial sabbath, which sometimes came upon the true Sabbath; but the day began just the same as the seventh day does. “From even unto even, shall ye celebrate your Sabbath.” 3. In the reform which took place under Nehemiah, who was God’s servant, and, of course, reformed according to the law of God, the Sabbath began at evening. See Neh. 13:19. “It came to pass that, when the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark before the Sabbath, I commanded that the doors should be shut, and commanded that they should not be opened till after the Sabbath.” When the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark, would be when the heavy shadows of the setting sun from the wall fell upon the gates. 4. The same truth is taught in the Gospels. The Jews had an altogether wrong idea of the Sabbath. It was to them a mechanical observance. They had really made it a burden instead of a blessing; they would not even heal upon that day. So when Jesus healed they accused Him of breaking the Sabbath. They would not bring their sick upon that day. Those who were bound by the tradition, waited until the Sabbath day was over before they brought their sick. See Matt. 8:16. “And when even was come, they brought unto Him many possessed with demons.” Mark tells us when that even was: “And at even, when the sun did set, they brought unto Him all that were sick, and them that were possessed with demons.” Mark 1:32. If you will read the context, you will see that this was the evening after the Sabbath, Mark 1:21. Luke reads, “And when the sun was setting.” Luke 4:40. From these scriptures it is very plainly to be seen that the day began at evening and closed at the same time the next evening; that the evening itself began with the setting of the sun; consequently from sunset to sunset is the Sabbath; reckoning in our time, from Friday evening at sunset, till Saturday evening at sunset. 2996.— Sign of the True God
As fire, falling from heaven, recorded in the 18th chapter of 1 Kings, was a sign between the prophets of Baal and the prophet of God, will that sign ever be required again? If so, where and by what people? W. J. A. It is one great characteristic of the work of God that He never exactly duplicates His work. His work always meets the need of the times. Baal, to whom many of the children of Israel had turned, was the sun god, the god that presided over fire. The test was upon their own ground. Surely if they worshiped the god who presided over fire, and he were a true and living god, he would answer them by fire in the consuming of their sacrifice. The Lord only did in that sacrifice what He had done many times before in the history of the children of Israel. He has given us some instances of this. One is recorded in the life of Gideon, Judges 6:21; another in the experience of the children of Israel, Lev. 9:24. So when fire descended from heaven and consumed the sacrifice which Elijah had made ready, God was not acting in a new and strange way; He was simply revealing Himself to His people again as the God who would accept every true-hearted offering that was made. All sacrifices for sin were offered for man when our Lord Jesus Christ died upon the cross. Satan in his masterly working in “the deceivableness of unrighteousness,” will in the last days seemingly, at least, bring fire from heaven, endeavoring to connect his devotees with the Elijah of old. Rev. 13:13. In the first place, that is not among the signs which God has given for the last days; in the second place, sacrifices and offerings for sin are forever abolished; in the third place, the truest signs of the true God are the souls that are recreated by His power, who are keeping the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. See Rev. 14:12. In Matt. 27:52, 53, Common Version, should not the comma be after “graves” instead of “arose”? E. E. No; we do not see anything wrong with the punctuation. If the comma were changed the text would still bear the same construction that is now placed upon it. “Many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves.” Evidently our querist would understand that they arose before Christ’s resurrection. But it seems very clear that He was the first-fruits in this respect. The graves were opened at the time of the great earthquake when He died, but the bodies did not rise until Christ Himself had arisen. The Revised Version reads: “And behold, the veil of the temple was rent in two from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake; and the rocks were rent; and the tombs were opened; and many bodies of the saints that had fallen asleep were raised; and coming forth out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered into the holy city and appeared unto many.” You will see that the construction is quite uniform throughout. Christ was then the first-fruits even in point of time, as He was in preeminence; and His resurrection assured the resurrection of all, of whom those then raised were a pledge.