THE PROPHETS PREDICT A TRUE SABBATH REFORM.
By T.
If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on My holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable; and shalt honor Him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.” Isa. 58:13, 14. The foregoing text from Isaiah gives some of the richest promises in all the Bible. One can not read them without having a flame of delight kindled in the soul. But do not fail to observe that these promises are based upon Sabbath-keeping. That you should “turn away thy foot from the Sabbath,” is the first condition laid down. Then there are those who have their feet on God’s Sabbath day, and He is calling them to reform. He wishes them to know what the Sabbath really is, for He tells just how it should be observed. And to every one who is not keeping the day God commanded, and who is not keeping it in the manner He has prescribed, He sends these trumpet calls for repentance and conversion to the right. Think carefully about the expression, “If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath.” In our article last week on the attempted change of the Sabbath from the seventh to the first day of the week, it was shown that a power was to “think to change” God’s times and laws. It was stated in that article that the Papacy has not only “thought” to change the Sabbath from the seventh day, commonly called Saturday, to the first day, commonly called Sunday, but that this church triumphantly boasts of having7made this change, and taunts Protestants for following them in it. Any well-informed Catholic priest will confirm our statement of the fact that the Catholic Church has attempted this change in God’s day. But we ask Catholics and Protestants alike, Was it right to attempt such a change? And can we be right in setting aside a day that the Lord Himself has commanded, while we take up the observance of a day that has only the authority of man to sustain it? To answer these questions we need only to read again the text at the beginning of this article. The Lord calls us to turn our feet away from His Sabbath. Men have led us first to have false ideas of Sabbath-keeping, and then into observing a day that is not the Sabbath. The Lord does not recognize this change that men have thought to make in His day of rest; and if we view it right, the text (Isa. 58:13, 14) already quoted in this article, is a strong prophecy of a great Sabbath reform. True Sabbath-keeping will come to the front, and become the theme of earnest discussion. God, in asking us to turn our feet from His rest-day, is loudly calling for this Sabbath reform, and we may be sure it will come. Another text in Isaiah speaks of this Sabbath reform. It reads:— “Thus saith the Lord, Keep ye judgment, and do justice; for My salvation is near to come, and My righteousness to be revealed. Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it; that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil. Neither let the son of the stranger, that hath joined himself to the Lord, speak, saying, The Lord hath utterly separated me from His people; neither let the eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry tree. For thus saith the Lord unto the eunuchs that keep My Sabbaths, and choose the things that please Me, and take hold of My covenant; Even unto them will I give in Mine house and within My walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters; I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off. Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the Lord, to serve Him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be His servants, every one that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of My covenant; Even them will I bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer; their burnt-offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon Mine altar; for Mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people. The Lord God which gathereth the outcasts of Israel saith, Yet will I gather others to Him, beside those that are gathered unto Him.” Isa. 56:1–8. The foregoing scripture plainly speaks of the “outcasts” that shall be gathered to the Lord, and of the others “beside those that are gathered unto Him” that shall be brought to His “house of prayer.” This ingathering from among those who were not Jews, who were not reckoned as the chosen of the Lord, finally brings about the result that the Lord’s “house shall be called a house of prayer for all people.” This is one of the many prophecies that tell of the Gospel going to the Gentiles, to gather them to the Father in heaven as well as to gather the Jewish people to Him. Woven all thru this prophecy of the gathering in of the Gentiles is the call to recognize and observe the Lord’s Sabbath. “Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it; that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil.” God here pronounces a blessing on the man that “layeth hold” on the Sabbath. What we already hold, we can not “lay” hold of. The Lord thus emphatically points to the great letting go of the Sabbath, and invites men to lay hold on it again. And in laying hold on the Sabbath, we not only take hold of a day that the Lord has specially blessed, but in this great Gentile Sabbath reform we have the Lord’s special blessing upon the man that does it. The fifty-sixth chapter of Isaiah is filled with the promises and blessings that God offers in this time to those who will take hold of His Sabbath. It will pay you to study them much more closely than space will allow in this paper. There is still another Scripture prophecy that should be presented here concerning this predicted Sabbath reform. It reads: “The dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Rev. 12:17. The “woman” in this symbolic prophecy, as any one can see who closely studies the entire chapter, represents the New Testament church. And not only do the people of this church “have the testimony of Jesus Christ,” but they also “keep the commandments of God.” The commandments of God are the “Ten Commandments,” the “Decalog.” Every one who knows the Bible at all knows this to be the truth. And the fourth commandment of these ten says most explicitly that “the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.” Then those who “keep the commandments of God,” will also keep the Sabbath of the Lord. This prophecy of a Sabbath reform in the book of Revelation was given sixty years after Christ was crucified; therefore it must apply to the New Testament dispensation. Furthermore, it is the “remnant” of the seed of the woman, the symbol chosen to represent this New Testament church, that the Lord tells us will not only have “the testimony of Jesus,” but will also “keep the commandments of God.” The “remnant” is the last part of anything. Therefore the church that will stand for God in the closing hours of time, in other words, the church that will be living and acting upon earth when Christ comes the second time, will be keeping His Father’s commandments. And as already stated, God’s commandments can not be kept without keeping His true and only Sabbath. The majority of mankind keep Sunday instead of the Sabbath; but these prophecies show that there is to be a reformation, and those who respect God’s Word above tradition and everything else of the kind, will be called upon to return to their heavenly Father, leaving every vestige of error behind. This call is even now being made. It is not the call of man, but God’s voice, thru His infallible Word, is resounding thru the land, and in no uncertain language He is making it plain that He is not the author of any change in His Sabbath day. It stands now as it has ever stood, His great memorial of His creative power. In the Sabbath reform that God is presenting before you thru His Word and by His Spirit’s power, where will you stand? Where are you standing now? If on the wrong side, listen to the Spirit’s earnest pleadings with your soul, and honor God by doing what He requires. T.