"HE Sabbath was made for man." Wherever man is found, and as long as his existence is maintained, it is but reasonable to conclude that the Sabbath which was made for him will continue. In this article we wish to trace briefly the seventh-day Sabbath through time as far as the Bible gives us any information.
"The Sabbath was made for man." Mark 2:27. From this declaration of Jesus we are led to inquire, When, how, and why was it made? The quotation shows for whom it was made. He who was with the Father in the creation (Gen. 1:26), who was in fact the active agent in the work of creation (John 1:1-3; Col. 1:16; Heb. 1:2), also made the Sabbath known to Israel on Sinai, as evidenced by a comparison of 1 Cor. 10:1-4 and Neh. 9:12-14. It was made before man sinned, given to Adam in Eden; and all must agree with the proposition that had Adam never sinned, had sin never come into this world, the same seventh-day Sabbath made for man in the beginning would have always been observed by him. It would have been kept as a perpetual institution.
In the proclamation of the law from Sinai, the fourth precept of the ten begins with the word "remember," showing that it had been an existing institution. With the language of Alexander Campbell upon this point we agree:
The oldest commemorative institution in the world is that which records the voluminous fact that nature—that familiar, indefinable, and appreciable something, admired by all and worshiped by few—is herself an effect, and not a primary cause. It is in this sublime and philosophic way that the man of true science views that primeval solemnization of time called the Sabbath, the first and one of the most significant and important of all patriarchal institutions. . . . Heaven left not this fact, the basis of a thousand volumes, to be gathered from abstract reasonings, vitiated traditions, ingenious analogies, or plausible conjectures, but from a monumental institution which was as universal as the annals of time, as the birth of nations, and as the languages spoken by mortals; an institution, too, which, notwithstanding its demand not only of the seventh part of all time, but of the seventh day in uninterrupted succession, was celebrated from creation to the Deluge, during the Deluge, and after the Deluge till the giving of the law; and which when transcribed by the finger of God from the tablets of memory to the tables of marble, begins with the very word "remember." . . . And so reads the fourth precept of the everlasting ten—"Remember the Sabbath day."—Popular Lectures and Addresses, pages 283, 284.
It must be clear, from the reading of Gen. 2:1-3, that the Sabbath not only comes to us from creation, but is also a part of the very creation itself. Certain definite stated facts make it the Sabbath. These facts are: (1) God rested on that day. (2) He sanctified the day. (3) He blessed the day. Thus the seventh day is more than any other day can be. Any day may be a rest day, but it takes God’s blessing and sanctity to make a Sabbath. No other day than the seventh bears the distinctive marks of divine approval. As long as God’s creation remains, and as long as God Himself exists, it must ever be a fact that "the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God." Our appreciation of Heaven’s blessing will be measured by our relationship to and appreciation of the day that He has blessed, sanctified, and given to man.
It "was made for man," sanctified, and set apart for his spiritual good. In the language of the poet:
How sweet, upon this sacred day,
The best of all the seven,
To cast our earthly thoughts away,
And think of God and heaven!
By its observance we honor not only God the Father, but His Son, in the work of creation. Its observance is an acknowledgment of the Author, Creator, and Sustainer of life. Any document must have a stamp, or seal, designating its authenticity. Three distinctive features of a stamp, or a seal, are essential: first, the author; second, his position or authority; third, his jurisdiction or territory. By a careful reading of the Ten Commandments, we find that but one of them contains these three characteristics. And these are found in the fourth commandment; namely, "the Lord God," "maker," "heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is." Thus the Sabbath is the one distinctive mark of God’s authority. It is for this purpose, as distinctly stated in other scriptures, that He has given the seventh-day Sabbath. "It is a sign," "a perpetual covenant" between the Lord and His people Israel (Ex. 31:15-17), Israel including God’s people in all ages. Gal. 3:29. "Moreover also I gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign between Me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them." "And hallow My Sabbaths; and they shall5be a sign between Me and you, that ye may know that I am the Lord your God." Eze. 20:12, 20.
Its History
Having thus noticed the Sabbath institution as being a part of creation, and its observance an acknowledgment of God, we will now trace its history. From creation to Sinai, and from Sinai to Calvary, there is no question but that the seventh day of creation was the day honored by the people of God. Multiplied texts of Scripture might be given to prove this, but there is no controversy on this point. We will therefore turn to the New Testament. In Luke 4:16, we find that it was Christ’s "custom" to observe the Sabbath in religious service. The women who took an interest in the burial of the Saviour, "rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment." Luke 23:56. The context clearly locates the Sabbath as being the day immediately following the preparation (Friday), and the day just before the first day of the week (Sunday).
Turning to the lives of the apostles, we find that it was Paul’s "manner" to reason out of the Scriptures on the Sabbath day. In Acts 18:1-11, we find the experience of Paul while laboring at Corinth, where he abode, and wrought as a tent-maker. "And he reasoned in the synagog every Sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks." He remained there a year and six months. See verse 11. Thus as late as twenty-five years after the resurrection of Christ, we find this great apostle to the Gentiles observing the Sabbath, the seventh day, and engaged in common labor the six working days; thus showing that it was not the custom of the apostle Paul to observe the first day of the week, but to use it in ordinary labor.
It is true that this apostle held one religious meeting on the first day of the week; but the holding of a religious service does not make a Sabbath. The reading of the context will show that this was a farewell meeting, and that while Paul was holding it, his companions in travel were by boat going around the peninsula to Assos.
The last definite mention of the Sabbath that we have in the New Testament, was by the apostle John, where he says, "I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day." Rev. 1:10. That the Lord’s day and the Sabbath are the same, is evidenced by comparison of the following texts: Mark 2:27, 28; Isa. 58:13; Ex. 20:8-11. In the first text referred to, Christ claims the Sabbath day as His, declaring that He is Lord of the Sabbath. We therefore find that from Adam in the creation to John on rock-bound Patmos, the seventh-day Sabbath is traced in uninterrupted succession.
Eternal Sabbath-Keeping
The prophet Isaiah, in prophetic vision, looking beyond the reign of sin, into the great hereafter, states that "as the new heavens and the new earth . . . shall remain before Me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before Me, saith the Lord." Isa. 66:22, 23. Thus through eternity will all flesh (people) come to worship before the Lord every Sabbath day. So the seventh-day Sabbath that was given to created Adam, will be kept by the redeemed sons of Adam throughout the ceaseless ages of eternity. How natural and reasonable that all who are preparing to live through eternity, should observe the day that was given before sin came into existence, and that will be kept after sin has run its course. In our next we will show our readers when, why, and by whom the change from the seventh to the first day was made.
