THE SEVENTH DAY OF THE WEEK.
By W.
In the Bible Banner a man who is attempting to settle the Sabbath question, says: "This fourth commandment, in itself, says nothing about the 'day of the week,' any more than it does of the month or year." Very well, let us suppose that it refers to the year. Then the words, "Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God," would mean that we are to work six days of the year, and rest on the seventh. That would give us only one Sabbath in the year, which might be very agreeable to some; but it would also give us only six days in the year for work! What about the remaining three hundred and fifty-eight days? On them, according to the year theory, no one can either work or rest! We think no one will be foolish enough to deliberately take the position that "the seventh day" of the fourth commandment means the seventh day of the year. Well, then, let us suppose that the commandment refers to the month. Thus "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," would mean that work may be done six days in the month, but that the seventh day of the month is the Sabbath, when no work may be done. In this case we should have twelve Sabbaths in the year, and seventy-two days for work. Many people would be hard pressed to know how to earn a living in those seventy-two days; but they would be much more troubled to know how to employ the remaining two hundred and eighty-one days of the year, in which they could neither work nor rest. We believe that no one, even of those who most hate the Sabbath, will claim that "the seventh day" of the fourth commandment applies to the month any more than to the year. Well, it must refer to something. Certainly; it applies to a period of time which consists of exactly seven days, six of which are to be used for labor, and the seventh for rest. Now the only period of seven days that is known to man, is the week, and this division of time has been known from the most ancient times. "Seven days make one week," is one of the first things learned by the school-boy. Therefore when the Lord said, "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," it is evident that he meant that we may work six days in the week, but that we must rest on the seventh day of the week. And the child of ten years who should profess ignorance of the fact that the first day of the week is Sunday, and that the seventh or last day of the week is Saturday, would be regarded in this age of schools and schoolmasters as a much neglected youth. One stock argument of our Sunday friends is that it is very essential that all people should keep the same day, so that there may be no clashing. No one will deny this. Certainly people ought all to keep the same day. And if this is so, it is very evident that God knew it when he gave the commandment. Then he must have commanded all the people to keep the same day. As a matter of fact, all the Jews did regard the same day as the Sabbath. No one will deny this. All will admit that when the Lord gave the commandment, he expected all to whom it was spoken to keep the same day. Then the commandment must refer to a definite day, and to one which all understood. That is, all must have understood "the seventh day" to refer to some specific day; for if they had had the idea that the Lord meant simply that they could rest on any day after six days of labor, and that there was no specific point from which to begin their count, there would have been no uniformity. But there was uniformity among those who regarded the commandment, because the commandment is definite. Two things being granted, the third must follow. Let it be granted that uniformity in the day of rest is essential, and that God knew this when he gave the commandment, and it must be admitted that the fourth commandment specifies a definite day as the Sabbath, and that that day is the seventh day of the week. So we find that the fourth commandment does in itself tell what day of the week is the Sabbath. For corroborative proof, we turn to the account of Christ's crucifixion and resurrection. He was crucified on the preparation day, "and the Sabbath drew on." Luke 23:54. And the women who followed, and saw where he was laid, "returned, and prepared spices and ointment; and rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment." Verse 56. That means that they did exactly as the commandment enjoins. Now the next day after that Sabbath day which they kept "according to the commandment," was "the first day of the week" (Luke 24:1) and on it they resumed their work. Now since there are but seven days in the week, and since the day succeeding the Sabbath "according to the commandment" is the first day of the week, it inevitably follows that "the Sabbath day" which the fourth commandment enjoins is the seventh day of the week. No man on earth can prove anything to the contrary; and no sane man would think of denying so plain a conclusion, if it were not that he wished to turn aside from the simple commandment of the Lord, for a way of his own choosing.