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THE SABBATH AND THE SUNDAY

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Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Sep 10, 1896

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 22, No. 36.

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THE SABBATH AND THE SUNDAY.

Some Historical Facts Worth Remembering.

THERE are many persons who have not time to read long arguments; to such we wish to present some simple facts on the much agitated and vitally important question of the Sabbath. The chronology used is Usher’s, down to the events in the life of Jesus, when Hale’s is used.

In Bible Times.

It is a Fact—
1. That in the beginning the Sabbath was instituted by the Creator in three distinct acts—he rested on the seventh day, he blessed it, he sanctified it, or set it apart, for man (Mark 2:27), hence for the race. Gen. 2:2, 3. B.C. 4004
2. That the Sabbath was undoubtedly observed as a worship day. Margin of Gen. 4:3, compare Num. 28:9, 10. About B.C. 3980
3. That a reform took place on the Sabbath in Egypt through Moses, suppressed by Pharaoh. Ex. 5:5–9. Note Pharaoh’s complaint in verse 5. B.C. 1491
4. That Israel were led out of Egypt that they might serve God. Ex. 8:1. B.C. 1491
5. That the first test of service was the observance of the Sabbath. Ex. 16:4, 26–30. B.C. 1491
6. That a few days later God’s voice proclaimed, and his finger wrote, in the very heart of the moral law the law of the Sabbath, basing it on the facts of its institution, 2,513 years before. Ex. 20:8–11; 24:12; 31:18. B.C. 1491
7. That for forty years the Lord pointed out the definite day by a three-fold weekly miracle in the fall of the manna, showing that one day only, namely the seventh, of the weekly cycle, could be the Sabbath, holy to the Lord. Exodus 16. B.C. 1491–1451
8. That the Sabbath is a sign of the Godhead, the creative power of God, and hence a test of obedience. Ex. 3:17; Eze. 20:20. B.C. 1491
9. That the Sabbath is also a sign of God’s power to redeem, sanctify and save. (Deut. 4:34–37; Ex. 15:13; Deut. 5:15; Eze. 20:12), an exercise also of creative power (Eph. 2:10). B.C. 1491
10. That the universal idolatrous worship at this time and for centuries later was the worship of the sun, the most abominable and degrading of all pagan worship. Sunday is “the wild solar holiday of all pagan times.”—North British Review, vol. 18, p. 409. See also any standard English dictionary; Schaff-Herzog Ency., article “Sunday;” Jennings’s “Antiquities,” book 3, chapter 3; Talbot W. Chambers, Old Testament Student, January, 1886; Encycl. Brit. article, “Phœnicia,” vol. 18, pp. 802, 803.
11. That against sun-worship God warned his people under penalty of death. Deut. 4:19; 13:6–11. B.C. 1451
12. That these heathen religions had their “times,” and the special “time” of the sun-worship was the Sun day, “the wild solar holiday.” The worship of these gods and the observance of these times were expressly forbidden of God.Lev. 19:26; Deut. 18:10, 11. B.C. 1490, 1451
12. That notwithstanding this the first idolatry of Israel was the licentious worship of the Egyptian sun-god Apis, or sacred bull. Ex. 32:1–6. B.C. 1491
13. That as the custom of sun-worshipers was to turn the face to the east in worship, the door of God’s temple was placed toward the east, while the center of worship, the ark of God, was placed toward the west, so that the worshiper at the door would of necessity turn his face to the west, and would thus show he was not a sun-worshiper. Ex. 26:18, 20, 22, 26. B.C. 1491
14. That Israel’s greatest and worst idolatry was the worship of the sun under the name of the Phenician sun-god Baal. See 1 Kings 16:31–33; 18:17–29; Eze. 8:5–16. B.C. 906, 594
15. That when Israel went into the idolatry of sun-worship, they always transgressed God’s Sabbath. Compare Eze. 8:16 with Eze. 20:24–26, and Jer. 7:9, 10; 17:21–23. B.C. 593, 601
16. That God promised rich blessings through his prophet for faithful Sabbath keeping to both Jews and Gentiles. Isa. 56:1–7; 58:1, 13, 14. B.C. 698
17. A partial reform in Sabbath observance was wrought through Nehemiah, but it was in many cases of form rather than spirit. Neh. 13:15–22. B.C. 445
18. That among the first reforms wrought by Jesus Christ was to bring Sabbath observance back to the basis of the Sabbath law. John 5:9; Matt. 12:1–12; John 9:14. In A.D. 28
19. That the Sabbath day—the seventh day—is specifically shown to be the day just before the first day of the week. Matt. 28:1; Mark 16:1, 2. A.D. 31
20. That this day, which came just before the first day of the week, is the Sabbath according to the commandment (Luke 23:56; 24:1), and therefore the seventh day of the commandment (Ex. 20:8–11), is the seventh day of the week. A.D. 31
21. That “the first day of the week,” after which Christ rose from the dead, is ever mentioned as a day of secular activity, of anxiety, and unrest on the part of the apostles, but never as a holy day or day of worship. See Luke 24.
22. That all through the Acts of the apostles the seventh day, the day observed by the Jews, is the only day known by the sacred title of the Sabbath. See Acts 13:42, 44; 15:21; 16:13; 17:2; 18:4. A.D. 63
23. That the first day is ever known by no other name than plain first day of the week in the eight times of its occurrence. Matt. 28:1; Mark 16:2, 9; Luke 24:1; John 20:1, 19; Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:2. A.D. 38–96
24. That the Jews kept but the one weekly Sabbath, namely, the seventh day, and that in this they had “the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law,” hence the day they kept was after the knowledge and truth of God. It was the right day wrongly kept.
25. That the last mention of the Sabbath of the Creator is in Rev. 1:10 under the title “the Lord’s day.” See Mark 2:28; Ex. 20:10; Isa. 58:13. A.D. 96
Here are Bible facts, dear reader, relative to the Sabbath and Sunday during the Bible times of earth’s history. Search the records, that you may know the truth, and, knowing it, decide for God and eternal life.