THE DAY OF THE SABBATH by T.

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · May 8, 1901

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 27, No. 19.

THE DAY OF THE SABBATH.

By T.

“The Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.” Ex. 20:11. Here is a statement that the Lord’s blessing is upon the “Sabbath day.” He has blessed the day. Not that He has blessed a Sabbath, in a random sort of way, and the blessing is liable to hit just anywhere. But He has blessed the Sabbath day. Not only has He blessed the Sabbath day, but He also “hallowed it.” That is, He made it holy. Then when we enter upon the Sabbath day, we are in holy time.

When Moses was at the burning bush, “God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. And He said, Draw not nigh hither; put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.” Ex. 3:4, 5. When Joshua was leading ancient Israel into the promised land, he met “the Captain of the Lord’s host,” who was none other than Christ. And He “said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy.” Joshua 5:15. God thus taught: that holy ground should be approached with reverence. In like manner should we enter the hallowed moments of holy time.

We may cease from labor upon other days aside from the Sabbath, but our resting upon them does not make them holy. It takes the rest and the blessing of Jehovah to create the special blessings and holiness of that day. And since the Lord has designated the exact time, it remains for us to accept the day He has given. Otherwise we can not do real Sabbath-keeping; neither do we give the Lord the honor due unto Him, since we do not recognize the memorial He has given to keep in mind His great creative power.

Then with what care should we study to know the true Sabbath day. No other day aside from the genuine one will do; for none but the “Sabbath day” itself has in it the Lord’s sanctifying blessing, and a Sabbath blessing for us. Sabbath-keeping is important, for it involves the observance of a sanctified day. And truly to regard what our heavenly Father has thus sanctified means to sanctify us as well.

Because of early associations or education we may have a sentimental regard for some other day besides the real Sabbath. We may try to argue to ourselves that it would be the abandonment of our ancestors and all their treasured memories, should we do anything different in the line of Sabbath-keeping from what we have been taught. But all our ancestors that are worthy of such respect and emulation were valiant heroes in the struggle to know only the truth, and to let truth supplant every error. It was thus that they advanced toward the light of day, by casting off the blinding mantle of darkness. So, then, if we would be worthy of our noble ancestors, we should do as they did in following the light. Every reform that to-day rests as a blessing on the world has been under the painful necessity of riding over the prostrate sentiments and doctrines of error, in order to spread its benign values before mankind.

Let us, then, inquire closely and candidly and reverently of the Lord about His blessed day of rest. We must know for sure just what day it is; for we can not afford to miss giving the Lord the honor due Him; neither can we afford to miss the great blessing of true Sabbath-keeping.

God has written but one Sabbath law; therefore we need not become confused at the outset amid a multiplicity of statutes. Let us read that Sabbath law just as it came from the lips of our great Creator. The wording of it is, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.” Ex. 20:8-11.

We “remember” only such things as are kept alive in the memory. The memory reaches back into the past, bringing the facts and incidents of other days into the active present. Then the very first word of the Sabbath commandment points to the great event of creation, and calls us to keep alive in the mind the day that God instituted to commemorate His mighty works. The work of creation is a fixed and established fact. Therefore the day given to commemorate that creative work is also a fixed and established day. It could not be otherwise.

In this connection observe how plainly and explicitly the Sabbath commandment tells us which one of the seven is the Sabbath day: “Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.” Do you ask, Which is the Sabbath day? The Lord’s answer is plain beyond the reason or semblance of an excuse for a quibble. He says plainly, “The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.” The day commonly called Saturday is the seventh day, and not Sunday, which is the first day of the week. Everybody knows this. And every one who can read the commandment, or who can hear it read, ought to know that the day commonly called Saturday is the Sabbath, and that Sunday is not and can not be the Sabbath of the Lord. This is a simple matter of the plainest kind of fact, based on the commandment that God Himself has given. To seek to argue away such facts is to attempt to argue away the words and the doings of the great Eternal. Well may finite man pause before attempting any such deed.

But you ask, with surprised countenance, Has not the Sabbath been changed from Saturday to Sunday? Is not Saturday the Jewish Sabbath, and is not Sunday the Christian’s Sabbath? This change of the Sabbath will be a good subject for the next paper. It will be the theme of an article next week. T.