The Restoration of the Sabbath
1. What, according to prophecy, was Christ to do? “Behold My servant, . . . . He will magnify the law, and make it honorable.” Isa. 42:1, 21. 2. What did Christ say in fulfilment of this prophecy? “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.” “Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.” Matt. 5:17, 18. 3. Were the scribes and Pharisees magnifying the law and making it honorable, as thus indicated by Christ? “Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of God.” Matt. 5:20. NOTE.— Christ magnified the law by showing that it reaches the thought and intent of the heart; outward conformity is not enough; hate is murder and transgression of the sixth commandment; to think dishonorably of woman is adultery and infraction of the seventh command of the Decalogue. The law is honored only when we obey from the heart fully. Matt. 5:21-28. 4. What question did the Pharisees ask Christ? “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath day?” Matt. 12:9. “What man . . . that shall have one sheep . . . fall into a pit on the Sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out? How much then is a man better than a sheep! Wherefore it is lawful [in harmony with the law] to do well on the Sabbath days.” Verses 11, 12. NOTE.— Notwithstanding the fact that they would save a sheep on the Sabbath day rather than lose the value represented, the Pharisees were angered with Christ for healing on the Sabbath the man with a withered hand. 6. What did they do after this? “Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against Him, how they might destroy Him.” Matt. 12:14. Thus by teaching true Sabbath-keeping Christ was judged worthy of death. 7. What is the follower of God admonished to do? “Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show My people their transgressions, and the house of Jacob their sins.” Isa. 58:1. 8. In what is their sin or transgression as indicated in this chapter of Isaiah? “If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, . . . and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable.” Verse 13. To “turn away the foot,” is to cease to trample it under foot; to call it a delight, the holy of the Lord, is not to call it “Jewish.” 9. What will God call all those who do this? “Thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.” Verse 12. 10. What great warning is due in the last days? “And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, . . . the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God. . . . Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” Rev. 14:9-12. The next event to follow this is the coming of Christ and the end of the world. Verses 14-16. 11. What threatens these commandment-keepers? “And the dragon [devil or Satan. Rev. 12:9] was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God.” Rev. 12:17. 12. What is the final outcome of this struggle? “And I saw as it were a sea of glass, . . . and them that had gotten the victory over the beast . . . stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.” Rev. 15:2. 13. Will the Sabbath then be restored and obeyed? “And it shall come to pass, that . . . from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before Me, saith the Lord.” Isa. 66:23. NOTE.— The restoration of Eden will be the restoration of the Sabbath; for only commandment-keepers shall partake of the Tree of Life in Eden. Rev. 22:14.