Historical Gleanings

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Mar 11, 1873

Historical Gleanings.

NAMES OF THE DAYS OF THE WEEK.

THE present names of the days of the week, as is well known, are of heathen origin, being dedicated to the divinities which were adored by pagans in ancient times. According to Gibbon, this dates back to the remotest period of which we have any authentic secular history, even to the time when the traditions of the creation and the deluge were fresh in the minds of the people. In his “Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire,” vol. v., p. 96, he says:—

“In a remote period of antiquity, Sabianism was diffused over Asia by the science of the Chaldeans, and the arms of the Assyrians. From the observations of two thousand years, the priests and astronomers of Babylon deduced the eternal laws of nature and providence. They adored the seven gods, or angels, who directed the course of the seven planets, and shed their irresistible influence on the earth. The attributes of the seven planets, with the seven signs of the zodiac, and the twenty-four constellations of the northern and southern hemisphere, were represented by images and talismans; the seven days of the week were dedicated to their respective deities: the Sabians prayed thrice each day; and the temple of the moon at Haran was the term of their pilgrimage. But the flexible genius of their faith was ready either to teach or to learn: in the tradition of the creation, the deluge, and the patriarchs, they held a singular agreement with their Jewish captives; they appealed to the secret books of Adam, Seth, and Enoch; and a slight infusion of the gospel has transformed the last remnant of the polytheists into the Christians of St. John, in the territory of Bassora.”

THE NAME OF GOD.

It is an important fact to remember that the name of God is found in the first table of the law, which constitutes his signature to that incomparable document, and shows to his creatures his title of royalty, and the source of his authority and power. An examination of the first four commandments, reveals the fact that his distinctive title is found alone in the fourth commandment, which enjoins his Sabbath. This truth has an important bearing on such prophecies as Rev. 7: 2, and 14: 1. Hence it is a matter of interest to learn that the first table was looked upon as containing the name of God. Gibbon thus speaks:—

“It is the boast of the Jewish apologists, that, while the learned nations of antiquity were deluded by the fables of polytheism, their simple ancestors of Palestine preserved the knowledge and worship of the true God. . . . Each page of the Pentateuch and the Prophets is an evidence of his power: the unity of his name is inscribed on the first table of the law; and his sanctuary was never defiled by any visible image of the invisible essence.”—Id. p. 104.

FRIDAY THE MAHOMETAN SABBATH.

It has been well observed that the true Sabbath, the seventh day, has been crucified between the papal sabbath, or the first day of the week, and the Mahometan sabbath, or Friday, even as the Lord of the Sabbath was crucified on Calvary between two thieves. That Friday was the Mahometan sabbath, Gibbon thus testifies:—

“Among the theists, who reject the use of images, it has been found necessary to restrain the wanderings of the fancy, by directing the eye and the thought toward a kebla, or visible point of the horizon. The prophet was at first inclined to gratify the Jews by the choice of Jerusalem; but he soon returned to a more natural partiality; and five times every day the eyes of the nations at Astracan, at Fez, at Delhi, are devoutly turned to the holy temple at Mecca. Yet every spot for the service of God is equally pure: the Mahometans indifferently pray in their chamber or in the street. As a distinction from the Jews and Christians, the Friday in each week is set apart for the useful institution of public worship: the people is assembled in the mosch; and the imam, some respectable elder, ascends the pulpit, to begin the prayer, and pronounce the sermon.”—Id. p. 114.