THE SABBATH OF THE LORD.
By M. C. W.
As noticed last week, the Sabbath question is one of the leading questions of the day; in fact, it is one of the crucial questions. And now, when men are clamoring in our legislative halls for laws which will compel the observance of a day of rest, it behooves all to enquire most earnestly, as well as honestly, as to what are the facts concerning the Sabbath. It is not what man may say, nor what men may have practiced. An opinion is not any better for being old. A counterfeit coin is no less counterfeit though it may have been passed by ten thousand good men as genuine. And when it comes to the ten thousand and first individual, its validity being questioned, it is his duty to ascertain, if possible, the truth as to its genuineness. If he does not do this, he is verily guilty. The innocency of the ten thousand before him will not vindicate him, when he knew that the coin was questioned on good authority. It is just so in regard to religious questions. There are many counterfeit doctrines; there is but one genuine. That doctrine is to be found, not in the hoary tradition of the past, but in the Scriptures of truth. What does the Bible teach? will be the earnest inquiry of every true Protestant, and it should be of all. We purpose in this and future articles to examine the Sabbath question in the light of the Bible, under the following heads: 1. When was the Sabbath made? 2. How was it made? 3. By whom was it made? 4. For whom was it made? 5. For what purpose was it made? 6. Is it a definite day? 7. For how long was it made? 1. When was the Sabbath made? The Sabbath is of primeval institution. Like marriage, it was "from the beginning," before man's disobedience "brought death into the world, with all our woe." Therefore, to the record of the beginning we turn to learn what are the facts concerning it.72The first chapter of Genesis gives an account of the first six days' creation. These days were each composed of a dark and a light part,—evening and morning,—the day beginning with the evening. This is the divine method of beginning the day. The Bible knows no other. All of the six days' work the all-wise Creator pronounced "very good." After this record of the six days, we have the following record of the institution of the Sabbath:— "Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it; because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made." Gen. 2:1-3. At this time, in "the beginning," was the Sabbath instituted, founded upon the rest of the Creator himself. And right here we would notice an objection so often brought against the Sabbath, that it was a type of the heavenly Canaan, a type of the Christian dispensation, a type of Christ himself, or a type of the rest of faith. All these positions are taken, which certainly proves that sufficient evidence is wanting for any. Types point forward to something before, which is greater in some feature or features, than the things by which they are typified. They came in consequence of sin. God gave them to sinful man in order to cheer him in his pilgrimage, and confirm his hope for something better. They exist only in connection with the remedial scheme for fallen man's salvation. But the Sabbath antedates the fall of man, antedates the presentation of the remedial scheme, antedates the time of types. Therefore the Sabbath is not a type, but a commemorative institution founded of God at the very close of creation week. No amount of sophistry can evade the plain declaration of Scripture. 2. How was it made? This is a very important question. In an institution which seems to be demanded by the very nature of man, and of which we find more or less in nearly all the nations of earth, certainly God would mark it with that distinction which its prominence requires. And this he has done in its institution. In the wisdom of God, three acts were necessary to make the Sabbath. (1.) God rested. That is, God kept Sabbath; for Sabbath means rest. God's resting upon that day made it his rest-day. But this was not enough. (2.) God blessed that day. That made the seventh day God's blessed rest-day. That is, God distinguished that day above the others by placing his blessing upon it. Just the same as the Creator gave to man, who was created in his image, the pre-eminence above all other creatures, and declared him blessed (Gen. 1:28); so a pre-eminence was given to the day upon which the Creator rested, above all other days, and it was declared blessed; and whatever God blesses, yea, "it shall be blessed." Gen. 27:33. By this we do not mean that the day would be conscious of blessing, as would the man, but as man would prosper under the blessing of God, so the day upon which God places his blessing would be more fruitful of blessing to him who would truly observe it than any other day of the cycle would be. (3.) God sanctified the day, because in it he had rested. Sanctify means, according to Worcester, "to ordain or set apart to sacred ends; to consecrate; to hallow." The original word rendered "sanctify," is defined by Young "to separate, set apart." Then when it says that God sanctified the day of the cycle upon which he rested, it means that he set it apart to a blessed use. His blessing lifted it above other days; his sanctification set it apart to a blessed or consecrated use. And this implies a command. In fact, nothing could be set apart unless there was a command concerning it. And this is evident from the use of the same original word elsewhere. We read in Joel 1:14: "Sanctify [that is, appoint or proclaim] ye a fast, call a solemn assembly." So we read in Josh. 20:7, "They appointed [sanctified] Kedesh in Galilee." That is, they commanded that Kedesh of Galilee should become a city of refuge. Again, in 2 Kings 10:20 we read, "And Jehu said, Proclaim [appoint or sanctify] a solemn assembly for Baal." And it is in this sense the word is used in Gen. 2:3. The passage could well read, And God blessed the seventh day and appointed it to be kept holy, or, proclaimed it as holy. The third verse of Genesis 2 is the record of a command of God for the setting apart of the Sabbath. In this way was the Sabbath made. There was not one act too many, there was not one too few. Divine Wisdom could not err in either direction. But these acts on the part of the Creator were just enough; and they stamp the institution of the Sabbath with a prominence second to that of no institution mentioned in the word of God. And if such prominence is given to its origin, its institution, no less prominence ought to be given to any change or repeal which might afterward take place in reference to it. We desire our readers especially to note this point, and the importance which is given in the Bible to the origin of the Sabbath. Most truly said Lange, the eminent German commentator, "If we had no other passage than this of Genesis 2:3, there would be no difficulty in deducing from it a precept for the universal observance of a Sabbath, or seventh day, to be devoted to God, as holy time, by all of that race for whom the earth and its nature were especially prepared. The first men must have known it. The words 'he hallowed [sanctified] it,' can have no meaning otherwise. They would be a blank, unless in reference to some who were required to keep it holy." But we will consider the question further in our next.