Questions by James White

Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Jul 26, 1883

Questions.

By James White

PLEASE answer through your paper the following questions:—

1. Do Seventh-day Adventists hold that the fact that God rested on the seventh day, and blessed it, and sanctified it, is authority for its observance among men?

2. Do they teach that the ten commandments were enjoined by Moses, or through him upon any beside the Hebrews and those who were circumcised as proselytes to their religion?

3. Do they teach that Christ enjoined the observance of the fourth commandment upon the Gentiles who became Christians? If so, cite their Scriptural authority.

ANSWER 1. Yes. Webster defines the word "sanctify" thus: "1. To make sacred or holy; to set apart to a holy or religious use; to consecrate by appropriate rites; to hallow. . . . . 4. To impart sacredness, venerableness, inviolability, title to reverence and respect, or the like, to; to secure from violation; to give sanction to." When therefore it is stated in Gen. 2:3 that God sanctified the seventh day, it means that he set it apart to a religious use, gave sanction to it; in other words, he commanded that men should observe it. The word "hallowed," found in the fourth commandment, is translated from the very same word that is rendered "sanctified" in Gen. 2:3. The fourth commandment introduces nothing new; it simply repeats the command to keep holy the Sabbath-day, refers to the events of the creation week, and states in closing that at that time God commanded the observance of the Sabbath. When God rested upon the seventh day, it became his Sabbath-day or rest-day; the blessing which he pronounced upon it made it superior to the other

days of the week; the crowning act of sanctifying it made its observance obligatory on men.

2. The ten commandments were enjoined neither by Moses nor through him, but by the Creator himself. See Ex. 20:1, and onward. When Moses, at a later date, repeated these commandments, he said, Deut. 5:22, "These words the Lord spake unto all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice; and he added no more. And he wrote them on two tables of stone, and delivered them to me."

Now as to the question, "Were the ten commandments enjoined upon any besides the Hebrews and those who were circumcised as proselytes to their religion?" We answer, The commandments were for all men, irrespective of race or condition. Paul says that "the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons." 1 Tim. 1:9, 10. Now read in Rom. 1:21-32 Paul's description of the heathen nations, and you will see that they did these very things, and that consequently the law was made for them. The law was not made for a righteous man but for sinners; but since there are none who are righteous, Rom. 3:9, 10, 23, the law must have been made for all.

Suppose we particularize in regard to the commandments. Would our friend claim that none but Jews were under obligation to worship the one true God to the exclusion of all others? If so, then he must hold that the heathen committed no sin in worshiping the creature instead of the Creator. Were only the Jews forbidden to take God's name in vain? Did God design to allow all except the Jews to kill, commit adultery, steal, bear false witness, etc., at pleasure? Most assuredly not. The missionaries of all Christian denominations teach the heathen to avoid all these things, and they do so on the authority of the ten commandments alone. They recognize the truth of Paul's argument that the law was made for the Gentiles as well as for the Jews. The Jews, as a nation, did not exist till several hundred years after the flood, yet we find that before the flood murder, theft, adultery, were regarded as sins, and all the inhabitants of the earth were destroyed on account of those sins. We must conclude, therefore, that the law existed long before it was spoken upon Sinai; and that it was binding upon all the inhabitants of the earth. In the case of the Sabbath the evidence is very clear, for (1) As shown above, we are expressly told that the observance of the Sabbath was enjoined in Eden; (2) There was then but one man upon the face of the earth; then of course it was to Adam that the Sabbath commandment was given; but (3) Adam stood as the representative of the whole human family; therefore the Sabbath was given for the whole human family; and this agrees with our Saviour's words, "The Sabbath was made for man."

But now the question naturally arises, "If it was intended that the Gentiles should keep the law, why was it spoken only to the Jews at Sinai?" It will not be out of place to consider this matter as briefly as possible. In the beginning God talked with man, and made known to him his will. It was his design that Adam should be the head of a race of sinless beings. But Adam sinned; having violated God's law, he was under sentence of death, but a plan was devised whereby he might escape the consequences of his sin. But as the population increased, sin increased until the whole world had gone astray from God, and the flood was sent to destroy all the inhabitants. Then Noah and his family alone remained to re-people the earth, and to them was intrusted the responsibility of keeping alive the knowledge of God. Again man was unfaithful to his trust, and soon the whole world was lost in idolatry. Only one family, that of Abraham, remained upright. Since he alone was loyal to God, he was chosen as the depositary of God's law. God did not act arbitrarily, or use partiality, when he selected Abraham; he made himself known to him, because he alone wished to retain God in his knowledge, and he alone would command his household after him to keep the way of the Lord. Gen. 18:19. On account of Abraham's faithfulness, the promise was made to him that he should be a great nation, and that in him all the families of the earth should be blessed. See Gen. 12:2, 3.

Isaac and Jacob, and their families, were the singular ones of the time in which they lived, in that they alone worshiped the true God. Jacob, or Israel, went into Egypt, and there their descendents became a great nation, the Israelites. While here they were so oppressed and hindered in their worship, that when God delivered them it was necessary to repeat his law to them. Why did he give them his law? Because they alone, of all the inhabitants of the earth, would receive it. Other people were not prohibited from learning of God, and keeping his law, but in conformity with God's promise to Abraham they were obliged to be adopted into the family of Abraham.

But the Jews were often unmindful of their obligation to God, and forgot him, until, on account of their stubborn rebellion, they were finally rejected as a nation. God would accept them as individuals, but as a nation they were deprived of the high honor of being the depositaries of his law. What then? Did God change his plan, and violate his promise to Abraham? By no means. Read Rom. 2:28, 29: "For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit." And Gal. 3:27, 29: "For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. . . . And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." God did not cast off Israel, but simply ordained that the badge of citizenship should no more be outward circumcision, but circumcision of the heart, that is, a cutting off and putting away of the carnal mind, bringing it into subjection to God's law. All who would do this were to be enrolled as Israelites, and those who remained disobedient, even though they could trace their ancestry back to Abraham, were no longer counted as part of Israel. See Rom. 2:28, 29; 9:6-8.

And so it is the Israelites still, and they alone, who are God's chosen people. As in the former dispensation, the Gentiles who accepted God and his law, became a part of the literal Israel, and shared all their privileges, so now the Gentiles are exhorted to keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, but in doing so they cease to be Gentiles and become Jews, a part of the true Israel. Those who do not become Israelites, have no part in the promises, since the promises were made to Israel, and to none other. Rom. 9:4.

3. This question has really been answered above. All who become Christians must keep the law and consequently the fourth commandment. Christ enjoined obedience to the law: "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them; for this is the law and the prophets." Matt. 7:12. And he taught obedience not to a portion of the law only, but to the whole. "Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets; I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill [to ratify, to establish]. For verily I say unto you, 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. To the young ruler he said, "If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments." Matt. 19:17. Does any one say that these words were addressed to the Jews? We reply that Christ taught none directly except Jews. The gospel was not preached to the Gentiles until sometime after his ascension. But just before his ascension he commissioned his disciples to teach all nations and baptize them; "Teaching them," said he, "to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you." Matt. 28:20. All that Christ said was for all. He did not teach one thing for one class of hearers, and another thing for another class.

Did Christ, then, enjoin the observance of the fourth commandment? We reply, Yes. Upon Gentiles? Yes; upon all who desire to obtain eternal life. Christ, however, commanded nothing upon his own authority. He commanded nothing. "My doctrine," said he, "is not mine, but his that sent me." John 7:16. He came not at all necessary that Christ should reiterate the commandments. They had been given in the most formal and solemn manner, and, like all laws, must remain in full force until as formally repealed. Even if Christ had not mentioned the law at all, we would understand that it stood unchanged, but as above quoted, he declared in the most positive terms that it should never pass away. Christ and the Father are one, that is, there is the most perfect harmony in all their thoughts and actions. They were one in creating the world; one in giving and upholding the law; one in the plan of salvation. E. J. W.