Remember the Sabbath Day.
By T. W. Richardson
THE word “remember” is an injunction never to forget, and it also shows that this was no new commandment, but one already in full existence. The delivery of the law of God, the Royal Law, in all the pomp and grandeur of Sinai, did not constitute its first appearance; for prior to that we read, in Exodus 16, that the Lord would prove them (the Israelites) “whether they will walk in My law, or no.” And after that He has to ask, “How long refuse ye to keep My commandments and My laws?” But if we look back to Gen. 2:3, we see that the Sabbath was made and sanctified at Creation, and thus not for Israelites, as there were none, but, as our Saviour says, “The Sabbath was made for man.” In James 2:10 it is shown us that to break any one of the Ten Commandments renders us guilty of all. The object of the Sabbath commandment was that man should never forget that it was God who made heaven and earth. This reminder was considered by the Almighty so important that it could not occur like other memorials, annually, but every week of our lives. What are we to remember?—The day God has set apart as His day—the Lord’s day, “the Sabbath day,” the day now commonly called by its pagan name, Saturday. It is clearly defined in the law itself as “the seventh day.” This law, made at Creation, spoken by God, and written with His finger at Sinai, stands out in bold relief, as it were in letters of fire, from Genesis to Revelation. When God speaks, who dare alter His word? It has been contended that in the early days, there being no records, the seventh day could not be traced to Creation. But this is worthless argument, for the great God who made the day could not make a mistake when He caused the manna to fall on Sunday and every day but Saturday. Even our present-day dictionaries show that Saturday is the seventh day. No, the day has not been lost. We need only date back to the time of our Saviour, for He as the Son of God and a Jew would not have kept Saturday had it not been the true seventh day. He could not alter God’s law; for He said, “My Father is greater than I.” John 14:28. He admitted the life-giving power of the law when He instructed the young man in the words, “If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.” Matt. 19:17. He also summed the law up as love to God and love to man. “This is the love of God, that we keep His commandments.” 1 John 5:3. That the Sabbath was to be kept by Christians after Christ’s death is clearly shown when He told them to pray that their flight (forty years after) be not on the Sabbath day. Matt. 24:20. And we read, “they rested the Sabbath day, according to the commandment.” Luke 23:56. Naaman to be cured of his leprosy had to do exactly what Elisha told him. He pleaded for the bright waters of Damascus, but he could not be cleansed in them. It must be absolute and perfect obedience— he must wash in muddy Jordan, and that seven times. When God speaks and says the seventh day is the Sabbath, and from “even unto even,” how dare men dictate to Him and say the first day will do as well!—Col. T. W. Richardson.