THE SABBATH OF THE LORD.
By M. C. W.
WE showed in our last that the Sabbath was instituted in Eden at the close of creation week; that it originated in three acts on the part of the Creator—his rest, his blessing, his command in setting it apart or consecrating it to a sacred use. It comes to us “from the beginning,” of immaculate conception and birth, clad in its garments of Edenic purity. 3. By whom was the Sabbath made? By the Creator, of course. But who was the Creator? The Scriptures are very explicit upon this point: “And God said, Let us make,” etc. Gen. 1:28. The Hebrew word translated God is in the plural. Who are the us that form the family of God? They are God the Father, and his Son Jesus Christ our Lord; and it was Christ who created the earth. Two or three texts will make this very plain. Says the apostle Paul of Christ, in Col. 1:15-17:— “Who is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of every creature; for by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers; all things were created by him and for him; and he is before all things, and by him all things consist.” Another apostle says: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him [the Word]; and without him was not anything made that was made.” John 1:1-3. Then it was God the Father who created our world, through Christ. The Son of God was the active agent, as the apostle says again: “But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.” 1 Cor. 8:6. These texts abundantly show that the great Creator was our divine Lord, who created this earth and fitted it for the home of man. He was the one who wrought; and the one who wrought, or did the six days’ work, must have been the one who rested. Therefore the immediate Author of the Sabbath was the Son of God. And this also throws light upon another text, Rev. 1:10, which reads, “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day.” There is nothing in the text or context which indicates in the remotest degree the day to which John referred. This must be ascertained from other scriptures; and those we have examined clearly prove that the Lord’s day is the day upon which the Son of God rested, and which he blessed and sanctified. It is for this reason—Christ’s connection with the creation—that he calls himself “the Lord of the Sabbath.” Mark 2:28. Upon no other day has such honors been bestowed; no other day has he called by his Spirit (1 Peter 1:10, 11) “my holy day” (Isa. 58:13); therefore this day above all others is most truly, according to Scripture and reason, “the Lord’s day.” There is another thought in this connection which is worthy of note. Infinite Wisdom anticipated that time when men would say that those who keep the Bible Sabbath dishonor Christ. These scriptures are God’s emphatic condemnation to such a charge. Those who rightly observe the Sabbath of the Bible do truly honor Christ as the great Creator with his Father, and the Giver of all blessings which come through that creation, as well as the One through whom the people of God are created anew. Therefore Christ is truly honored by those who truly honor the Sabbath; while those who contemptuously tread it under foot, rob him of that glory which he had with the Father before the world was. John 17:5. 4. For whom was the Sabbath made? Not for the Creator. He did not bless and set apart the day until after he “had rested.” Gen. 2:3. Neither did he need rest because of weariness; for “the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary.” Isa. 40:28. Yet it is said that “he rested and was refreshed.” Ex. 31:17. God’s created work of the six days was pronounced “very good.” And then he proceeded to lay the foundation of an institution which should prove a blessing to the man he had formed. That foundation was his resting on the seventh day; and in resting for that object he was satisfied. He contemplated all his work, the rest day included, and he was refreshed; or as Spurrell translates the passage, “But rested on the seventh day and was satisfied.” He then blessed the day and set it apart or sanctified it, “because that in it he had rested.” It was set apart from the other days of the cycle, for man; for “the Sabbath was made for man.” (Mark 2:27). Just the same as the marriage institution, which was “in the beginning,” the Sabbath was made for all the race. And as the six days’ creation concerned all mankind, so also did the Sabbath. In fact the evidence seems too clear to admit of argument. The Scriptures plainly state that the Sabbath was made at the close of creation week, and sanctified, or appointed as a sacred day. Jesus says that it “was made for man.” It was therefore made for all the race; for one nation is as much the descendants of Adam as another. It would seem, in view of the plainness of the sacred record, that men professing godliness would not try to localize the Sabbath; but they do. It is ridiculed as of no account, or called “Jewish” Sabbath, by many who cannot plead ignorance of the facts of Scripture. The term is used to cast contempt on the holy day. But what are the facts? The Sabbath was made 2,500 years before the Jews became a nation, and 3,200 years before we have the term Jew at all. It is never once called “Jewish” in the word of God; but it is called, “the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.” It belongs to no one race, kindred, tribe, or nation. And certainly when Inspiration states so positively that the Sabbath was made at creation and enjoined upon man, the Christian who is honest and well informed, would ever strive to belittle it by attaching to it a title prejudicial to so many. To call the Sabbath of the Lord “Jewish,” is contrary to the plainest declarations of God’s word, casts dishonor upon a sacred institution, and contempt on one of God’s greatest blessings to man, and at the same time shows that he who uses the term “Jewish,” as applied to the Sabbath, is either grossly ignorant or else he wishes to prejudice some one whom he cannot convince by either reason or scripture. Says the apostle: “God that made the world and all things therein, . . . hath made of one blood all nations of men; for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed and the bounds of their habitation.” Acts 17:24-26. The Sabbath is one of God’s appointed seasons, and is binding upon all nations of men. It was given to man to be a blessing; but the object of the Sabbath we will consider in our next.