Why Not Discovered Before?
By D. A. Robinson
Let us now return to the prophecy of an attempted change of God’s law, which has already been introduced. “He shall think to change times and laws.” This act is the last one of three ascribed to this power in Dan. 7:25. And now we inquire, Has he fulfilled the prophecy? All must admit that so far as the first two acts are concerned he has fulfilled them to the letter, and in admitting this, we also admit either that he has fulfilled the third act or the prophecy has failed. But, to this last conclusion, the lover of God’s word can never come. We say, then, that the papacy has taken hold of the law and attempted to reconstruct it. In plain language, Rome has changed the Sabbath. The reader will notice that the prophecy indicates a change in that part of the law recognizing “time.” This clearly identifies the fourth commandment, for it is the only part that does. God made the sun to rule the day, placing it in the heavens as his great time-keeper; and when its setting rays fall upon the earth, they say to man that the day is just closing. This fact, that the day ends at the setting of the sun, is clearly set forth in the Bible. We will simply refer the reader to a few passages. Gen. 1:5; Deut. 16:6; Lev. 23:32; Mark 1:32; Luke 13:14. The Roman power has changed this order for a very unnatural one, that of beginning the day at midnight; and to-day, as every one knows, we are living under Roman time. Not satisfied with this, he takes hold of the fourth commandment, and tears from it the rest-day of Jehovah, inserting in its stead the pagan sun’s-day, hence the term Sunday. Rome is the guilty party in this transaction. We accuse her of the act, and will now call upon her to take the stand and give in her testimony. Does she plead “not guilty” of the charge? Nay, verily. We quote from standard Catholic authorities:— “Ques. Why was the Jewish Sabbath changed into the Sunday?” “Ans. Because Christ was born upon a Sunday, rose from the dead upon a Sunday, and sent down the Holy Ghost upon a Sunday; works not inferior to the creation of the world. “Q. By whom was it changed?” “A. By the governors of the church, &c. “Q. How prove you that the church hath power to command feasts and holy days?” “A. By the very act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday, which Protestants allow of; and therefore they fondly contradict themselves by keeping Sunday strictly and breaking most other feasts commanded by the same church.”—Abridg. of Christian Doct., p. 58. “Q. What warrant have you for keeping the Sunday preferably to the ancient Sabbath, which was Saturday?” “A. We have for it the authority of the Catholic church and apostolical tradition.”—Cath. Christian Instructed, p. 232. We now invite the reader to stop a moment and review the ground over which we have passed. The prophecy declares that some power would arise, and attempt to change the law. It also clearly identifies Rome as the power in question. We lay the charge at her feet, and she confesses the crime, though to her it is not a crime, but a mark of her power. What further testimony do we need here? A man supposed to be guilty of murder is accused, brought to trial, and confesses his guilt; all are then satisfied because they have the highest kind of evidence. So in the case before us, Rome declares she has done it, affirming that it shows her power to legislate in church matters. It has already been stated that the papacy arose in 538. The prophecy marks out for it a period of 1260 years, during which time the “saints,” “times and laws,” were to be given into his hands, “until,” says the prophet, “a time, times, and the dividing of time,” which can be easily shown to be 1260 years. This period beginning in A. D. 538, when Justinian’s decree that the pope of Rome should be the head of all the churches took effect, and ending in 1798, just 1260 years from that time, when Berthier undid the work of Justinian by taking the pope prisoner and proclaiming a Republic. An answer is here found to the oft-repeated question, “Why were not these things found out before?” A special movement could not take place till the expiration of that period. In “his hands until.” From this expression we reasonably conclude that when that time has expired they pass out of his hands. To illustrate: I ask of you the loan of your horse. You tell me I can have it until next month. When that time comes all would understand that the loan then expires. Just so with the prophecy in question. When the time of papal rule expires, the law of God will pass out of his hands,—the stumbling-block will be taken out of the way; in other words, there will be a reform, and the down-trodden commandments will be brought up, and the way prepared so that God’s people may travel safely. This brings us to the fourth proposition. 4. When the last days are reached this obstruction is to be removed. I will now call attention to the words of Isaiah again: “Go through, go through the gates; prepare ye the way of the people; cast up, cast up the high way; gather out the stones; lift up a standard for the people.” Isa. 62:10. This language is addressed to the watchmen, see verse six, and we add, to the watchmen of the last days. This is evident from verse 11: “Behold the Lord hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.” This testimony shows that salvation is about to come, and the reward is about to be given. Paul tells us when salvation will come. “So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.” Heb. 9:28. Salvation will come, then, at the second coming of Christ. The prophet adds, “Behold his reward is with him.” This is explained in the following forcible words: “Behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me to give every man according as his work shall be.” Rev. 22:12. It must be evident to all that when the last days are reached, God’s watchmen are especially called upon to make the way plain for the people. The truth has been trampled in the dust. The standard has fallen. So the prophet adds, “Lift up a standard for the people.” The standard has fallen; it must be raised up so that the loyal and true may rally around it. We will now introduce a few more propositions which have a direct bearing on the question before us. 1. The law of God is represented as a hedge or wall, but it has been broken down. This is so plain that all can see it at a glance. Had man always been obedient to God, sin never would have found its way into our world, and death, the child of sin, never would have been introduced. But Satan tempted man to break down the wall; and through the gaps that have been made, Satan has come in with every form of sin. The reason why Christ came to this earth to die was because this wall had been broken down. Had man always been loyal and true to God, he never would have needed a Saviour. But, alas! man fell, disobeyed God, broke his law, and thus incurred its penalty, which was death. Yet God loved man—pitied him, and gave his Son to die for him, or in his stead, who by this act abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. It was, dear reader, the transgression of the law that caused the death of God’s beloved Son. The law was about to strike man down, but Christ stepped forward in man’s place, and let the blow fall upon himself, thus extricating man from his hopeless condition, placing him where, by obedience to God’s law and faith in Christ “for the remission of sins that are past,” he may form a character for the kingdom of God. 2. One gap or breach in this wall, made quite prominent in the Scriptures, is the violation of the Sabbath. Several texts might be given on this point, but I will give but two, and then dismiss it for the present, as it will claim our attention again. We find that Jerusalem was destroyed because of Sabbath desecration. Jer. 17:21–27; Neh. 13:15–18. But we pass to the last proposition. 3. This gap, or breach, will be made up in the last days. The prophet Ezekiel has given us some very plain testimony on this point to which we will now call attention. “O Israel, thy prophets are like the foxes in the deserts. Ye have not gone up into the gaps [margin, breaches], neither made up the hedge for the house of Israel to stand in the battle in the day of the Lord.” Eze. 13:4, 5. This text contains some very important points: 1. The breach in the hedge. 2. It must be made up so that God’s people can stand. 3. The day of the Lord. The last of these points shall be first in our investigation. When is the day of the Lord? “Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate; and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. Isa. 13:9. Says Peter, “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat,” &c. 2 Pet. 3:10. This shows that the day of the Lord is at the second advent, after probation has ceased. See also Joel 2:1, 11; Zeph. 1:14–18. But Ezekiel has told us that when this day is near, the breach in the hedge must be made up, so that God’s people may be able to stand. In verse 10, after speaking of those who cry “peace and safety,” he adds, “And one built up a wall, and, lo, others daubed it with untempered mortar.” It has already been shown that Rome has made a gap in the law of God, and in the place of that part of the wall which she tore down has impiously erected another, and “others have daubed it with untempered mortar.” But it is to fail; for thus the prophet declares, verse 11. But, says one, do you apply this to the Sabbath question? Our answer is, We leave the prophet to make his own application. Turning, then, to his twenty-second chapter, we find the same subject brought to view again in words as follows: “And her prophets have daubed them with untempered mortar, seeing vanity, and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord God, when the Lord hath not spoken.” Eze. 22:28. In chap. 13, we saw that there were “gaps” in the hedge, and that “one built a wall” which others “daubed with untempered mortar.” So in this twenty-second chapter we have the same points set before us. In verse 28, already quoted, we have the “untempered mortar” brought to view. The prophet adds, “And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap [or breach] before me for the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found none.” Verse 30. The Lord looks for men among his watchmen to stand in the gap, and finds them not. This is to be the condition whenever the last days are reached. Then will the hedge be made up? Most certainly. He will have it accomplished, if he has to do it in the manner that the first advent of Christ was proclaimed. The lawyers, the scribes, and Pharisees, and all the men of note, were not the ones to announce the coming of the Messiah. They had no faith in it. But did the work fail of accomplishment? No, indeed. A humble John gives the joyous proclamation. After him are the poor fishermen, but God was with them. So we say of the truth before us; God will have men to proclaim it if he has to take the mechanic from his shop, the farmer from his plough, and men from the humble walks. But we wish to notice the prophet’s words still further. “Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things.” Chap. 22:26. Let the reader bear in mind that the point before us is that the gap of which the prophet speaks refers to the Sabbath; and certainly the words just quoted seem to point to that fact. He says, they “have violated my law,” and then speaks of “mine holy things.” The Sabbath is called “the holy of the Lord,” and “my holy day.” But we read on: “They have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean.” What do men say of the Sabbath at the present time? They tell us that “all days are alike.” “One day is just as good as another, no difference at all.” Certainly, the above words of the prophet seem to point unmistakably to the Sabbath. But to place the matter beyond dispute, we quote the remainder of this remarkable text,—“And have hid their eyes from my Sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.” Eze. 22:26. Thus, we can see from Ezekiel’s testimony, that when the last days are reached, the prophets or teachers are called upon to50“stand in the gap,” and make up “the breach,” preparatory to the “day of the Lord.” This clearly indicates a reform movement. A breach has been made, and it must be repaired. We wish now to present plain, positive proof, that the “breach” referred to is the desecration of the Sabbath of the Lord. This may seem like a strong statement, yet we feel confident that it can be made good. The following words are to the point: “And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places; thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of paths to dwell in, if . . .” If what? “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.” Isa. 58:12, 13. Reader, do you wish plainer testimony than this in proof of the above statement? If you do, we frankly confess our inability to gratify your wishes; for if we were at liberty to manufacture scripture, it would be beyond our power to frame a sentence from the English language more to the point than are the words we have just quoted from the prophet. How is the breach to be repaired? Answer, By taking our feet off the Sabbath. “Thou shalt be called the repairer of the breach, . . . if thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath.” Men have their feet on the Sabbath, trampling it in the dust. Reader, are your feet in a similar position? If so, we invite you in the language of the prophet to take them off. “The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God,” the opinions of men to the contrary, notwithstanding. The seventh day is holy. God made it so. It is the only day he requires us to keep. The immutable and eternal law contains a command for its observance; and there is no command in all the Bible for the weekly observance of any other day. With a brief survey of the main points we have passed over we draw this article to a close. We have seen, 1. That the way in which the people of God should walk was God’s law. 2. That this law is of such a nature as to admit of no change or abolition while heaven and earth endure. Yet, 3. We found a prediction of an attempted change of the fourth commandment, and also a power declaring that it had done the deed, presenting this act as the badge of its power to legislate for the church. 4. That it was to hold this power until the time of the end, or, as was shown, till 1798. 5. That the hedge around the people of God was his law. 6. That in the last days the breach in the hedge must be made up, so that God’s people can stand in the day of the Lord. 7. That the breach is the desecration of God’s holy day, hence there must be a reform in this respect. It is not our purpose to show that we are in the last days; an examination of God’s word with the signs of the times, in the physical, political, and moral world, will convince the candid that this is a fact. The time has come for a Sabbath reform, predicted by prophets centuries ago. Already is the influence of the movement being felt in different parts of the world, and men are turning from the “traditions of men” to the keeping of God’s holy Sabbath, by scores and by hundreds. The printed truth is being scattered like the leaves of autumn. Thus all are being invited to take off their feet from the Sabbath and call it “a delight.” Men have had their feet on the Sabbath, not willingly, but ignorant of the fact that it was the Sabbath. God has accepted them because they have walked in the light they had. In his providence, God has given us greater light, and we will be accepted as were our fathers, by walking in the light that beams upon our pathway. May this be the lot of both reader and writer; and when the Just One shall come, may we be found among those “who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” Rev. 14:12.