The Making of the Sabbath
By Carlyle B. Haynes
Who Made It? How Was It Made? When Was It Made?
THE vast majority of Christians, who hold different views among themselves regarding other things, seem to be agreed on this one thing,—that the observance of a Sabbath is an essential part of the worship of God. And this belief is based on the clear teachings of the Bible concerning the origin of the Sabbath institution. IT was Jesus Christ who made the Sabbath. There are many who think that Christ had everything to do with redemption, and nothing to do with creation. This is a mistake. Christ is Creator as well as Redeemer. It was Christ who brought this world into existence and peopled it with human beings; just as it was Christ who later came into this world and re-created men through redemption. Christ, the Author of the Christian religion, is also Author of the Sabbath. This truth is clearly taught in the New Testament. "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; and without Him was not anything made that was made." "He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not." "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory of the only-begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth." John 1: 1-3, 10, 14. Attention is directed to the fact taught here, that "the Word" by whom "all things were made," and without whom "was not anything made that was made," was afterwards "made flesh, and dwelt among us," and "was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not." There is no question, and there will be no dispute, that this Word was Christ, the Son of God, Jesus of Nazareth. Christ, then, made all things. There was nothing made that He did not make. He made the world in six days. Therefore it was Christ who rested on the seventh day. Christ made the Sabbath. THIS is taught again in the following passage: "Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son: in whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins: 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." Col. 1: 12-17. Notice again, that "by Him [Christ] were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible: . . . all things were created by Him, and for Him." And again we read: "God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom He hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds." Heb. 1: 1, 2. And speaking to His Son, the Father says: "Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of Thine hands." Heb. 1: 10. There is no mistake here. Christ is the Creator. These verses clearly teach this. He made all things in the beginning. Therefore He made the Sabbath. It was Christ who rested on the seventh day from the labor of creation. It was Christ who blessed the seventh day. It was Christ who made the seventh day holy, and who set it apart for the human race to keep. Inasmuch, therefore, as Jesus is both the Author of the Christian religion and the Author of the seventh-day Sabbath, it is clear that, unless He later made another day to take the place of the seventh day, the seventh day is still the Christian Sabbath. The Christian Sabbath was made by the Author of the Christian religion. The Author of the Christian religion made the seventh-day Sabbath. Hence the seventh-day Sabbath must, in the very nature of things, be the Christian Sabbath. Another question which must be understood if the truth of the Sabbath question is made plain is, When was the Sabbath made? It has been taught that the Sabbath originated at Mount Sinai at the time when the Israelites left Egypt, 2,500 years after the creation of the world. At this time, the Ten Commandments were given to Moses, engraved on two tables of stone; and among them was the Sabbath commandment. It is claimed that this was the beginning of the Sabbath institution. When Was the Sabbath Made?
THIS claim is not true. The Sabbath was made 2,500 years before the law was spoken at Sinai. It was made at the time of creation. We have the testimony of Moses himself, inspired by God, concerning this fact:
"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 He rested on the seventh day from all 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: 1-3.4 The Making of the Sabbath
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From these verses it is clear that the Sabbath was made at the very close of the creative week, at the very beginning of time, at the starting point of the human race. This same truth is taught by the Sabbath commandment itself:
"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 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, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it." Ex. 20: 8-11. At the Creation of the World
It is worthy of notice that the very commandment, the giving of which is said to be the beginning of the Sabbath, makes plain in itself the fact that the Sabbath was not then a new institution, but that it had been given when "the Lord made heaven and earth." This commandment does not inaugurate a new institution; it bids all to "remember" an institution already established. The time of the making of the Sabbath is given again in the following passage: "And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily My Sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you. Ye shall keep the Sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death. . . . Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He rested, and was refreshed." Ex. 31: 12-17.
There can be no doubt, therefore, that the Christian Sabbath was made by Jesus Christ at the time of the creation of the world.