THE SABBATH OF THE LORD by Dudley Marvin Canright

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Feb 25, 1889

THE SABBATH OF THE LORD.

By Dudley Marvin Canright

WE have found in our investigation of this question thus far, that the Sabbath is as old as creation; that it was instituted by three distinct acts on the part of the Creator; that it was made for the whole race; that it consisted of the seventh day of the weekly cycle; that its object was a memorial of the creation; a sign between God and his people; and a time to be devoted to his service. Both logic and Scripture abundantly support the above.

Certainly, it would seem that we need no further argument to prove its binding obligation upon all. Nevertheless, this is disputed. Not that there is no evidence to prove its obligation upon all, for there is abundant evidence; but it is very difficult to induce men to depart from established customs, or to relinquish errors when they are more pleasing and require less sacrifice. It is often this way as regards the Sabbath. Some claim that there is now no Sabbath, and that it was made simply for the Jews; others contend that it was changed at the time of our Lord's first advent. What does the word of God reveal concerning this? How has God regarded the Sabbath through all the past?

The Bible presents before us three different phases of priesthood which naturally divide the history of our race since the creation into three dispensations. These are: (1) The Patriarchal, from Adam to the giving of the law from Sinai, during which the patriarch of a family acted as priest; (2) the Levitical, from Sinai to the crucifixion, during which the priesthood was of the tribe of Levi; (3) the Christian, from the crucifixion till our Lord shall come again, in which Christ is our High Priest. How is the Sabbath related to these? or, rather, how is it related to man during these dispensations? Has God the same regard for the holy day in all of these dispensations? Testimony is clear and explicit concerning this.

The record of the Patriarchal dispensation is very brief. It gives only the bare outlines of the times, detailing only those things which manifest God's providential dealings with his creatures, or which present before us solemn warning and precious instruction. Furthermore, the record we have—the book of Genesis—was written after all that it records had taken place. Brief, however, as is the record, it does not leave us in doubt as regards the Sabbath.

First, right at the beginning of this dispensation we have the institution of the Sabbath given a prominence second to no other thing or event. This we have already considered at some length. The Creator rested upon, blessed, and sanctified, or set apart, the seventh day of the weekly cycle for man. Gen. 2:2, 3; Mark 2:27. We have shown that the sanctifying, or setting apart, of the day, is simply saying that God commanded it to be kept; he appointed it. Hence it was a law for man, the transgression of which would be sin.

From the institution of the Sabbath to the closing of this dispensation, we do not find mention of the Sabbath by name, although it is referred to by sacred and profane historians. We mention a few instances:

1. The first reference is Gen. 4:3, 4: "And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and the fat thereof." Instead of "in process of time," the marginal, literal rendering is given, "at the end of days." Spurrel translates it, "at the end [of the term] of days." Boothroyd renders it, "at the appointed period." Now as we have but one term of days mentioned, but one appointed period set apart for the worship of God, the only logical conclusion to which we can come is that this time when Cain and Abel appeared before the Lord, was the seventh day, the holy Sabbath, when they met together for public worship. Offerings of sacrifice were allowable on the Sabbath. Num. 28:9, 10. The work in connection with these sacrifices was not man's work, but God's. The same period of time—the Sabbath—is evidently alluded to in Job 1:6.

2. The continual recurrence of the number seven throughout the book of Genesis has reference to the creation week and the appointment of the seventh day as the Sabbath. The period of seven days is mentioned in connection with Noah four times (Gen. 7:4, 10; 8:10, 12); the week is spoken of as a recognized period of time in the days of Jacob (Gen. 29:27, 28).

3. As the Sabbath was commanded of God, Enoch, who "walked with God," must have kept it, for how "can two walk together, except they be agreed"? As God's commands are righteousness (Ps. 119:172), and as the Sabbath law was one of God's commands from the beginning, Noah must have preached its obligation; for he was a "preacher of righteousness." 2 Peter 2:5; Gen. 6:9. Abraham, "the father of the faithful," the pre-eminently Christian patriarch, the "friend of God," must have kept the Sabbath; for the Lord says of him that he "obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws." Gen. 26:5.

4. The concurrent testimony of the Gentile world proves that the knowledge of the Sabbath existed apart from the Hebrews. Ancient Chinese records prove that the Sabbath—the seventh day—was once known among them. Assyrian tablets, executed 900 years B. C., recording traditions of 900 years previous to that, prove that they had knowledge of the creation and the Sabbath before the Hebrew records were written. In a "Chart of the Week," prepared by Rev. W. M. Jones, of London, a noted antiquarian, and Prince Louis Lucien Bonaparte, who is a noted linguist, the names of the week and days of the week are given in one hundred and sixty different languages and dialects, fifty-three of which are European, and the remainder Asiatic and African, ancient and modern. All of these are unanimous in establishing the identity of the week in its present order of days, counting Sunday the first day of the week; and one hundred and eight of these languages and dialects recognize the seventh day—our seventh day—as a sacred day. Many of these languages and the names of the days of the week come from remote antiquity. The week existed among all these nations from the beginning of their existence. What does it mean? It can mean nothing less than this: It is most conclusive circumstantial evidence of the verity of the Mosaic record, and proves that the creation week is identical with ours.

5. We come to the closing years of the Patriarchal dispensation. That nation that has served God best has been in bondage over two hundred years, where many of them have become idolaters. The Lord calls them out that they may serve him. Ex. 8:1. They are brought out from bondage. But before they enter into covenant relation with God (Ex. 19), before the beginning of the Levitical priesthood, a reform must take place among them. God must prove them. And how does he do this? By the Sabbath.

We have a record of this in Ex. 16, thirty days before Israel came to Sinai, where the old covenant was made, and where the next dispensation began. The test on the Sabbath came through the fall of the

manna. We read in verse 4: "Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate each day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law or no." The sequel to this is found in verses 27-29:—

"And it came to pass, that there went out some of the people on the seventh day for to gather, and they found none. And the Lord said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws? See, for that the Lord hath given you the Sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day, the bread of two days; abide ye every man in his place, let no one go out of his place on the seventh day. So the people rested on the seventh day."

In connection with this record, notice the following established facts:—

(a) The seventh day is still the Sabbath. This is not a new seventh day, as some claim, but the seventh day of the creation week. It is "the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord," pointing right back to the institution of the Sabbath at creation, the only instance we have of the hallowing of the Sabbath. Gen. 2:2, 3. The Sabbath of Ex. 16 was a day already recognized as the Sabbath.

Those who claim that this seventh day was really the sixth day of creation week, base their whole theory upon assumption, contrary to the positive express words of the Bible. The assumption that a new Sabbath was here given is founded upon nothing but fancy, to support an unscriptural theory. The word of God is positively against it.

(b) The identity of the creation Sabbath is here established. Men may have lost the order of the days of the week since creation, yet it is not irrevocably lost. By the threefold weekly miracle of the manna for forty years, the great Jehovah so marks the Sabbath that it cannot be mistaken. The manna fell on six days; a double portion fell on the sixth; that falling on the sixth day was remarkably preserved over the Sabbath; and this continued for forty years. Ex. 16:35. Thus it is that God preserved that holy institution.

(c) The reform on the seventh-day Sabbath in the close of the patriarchal dispensation, proves that it was binding all through that dispensation. The value of the Sabbath to man may here be seen by the care which the Lord had for it. Dare we reject this evidence? The love of Christ appeals to us to seek the truth, not to turn from it.

We will consider the Sabbath in the Levitical dispensation in our next. M. C. W.