What Shall We Do with the Fourth Commandment? by Mrs. L. D. Avery-Stuttle

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Feb 20, 1912

What Shall We Do with the Fourth Commandment?

By Mrs. L. D. Avery-Stuttle

The Unchangeable Character of God's Law

The unchangeable character of the Ten Commandments, of which the Sabbath command is a part, is so plain as to be quite self-evident. The duty of man to give obedience and love to his Creator, as indicated by the first four precepts of the Decalogue, must always have been the same, and must always remain the same. The time has never been when the claims of the Creator upon our love and service ceased or could cease in the smallest degree, neither can such a time ever come. In like manner, man's duty toward his fellows, as indicated by the last six commandments, has ever been and must ever remain the same — unaltered.

Always Present Truth

It is this law of which Christ says that not one jot or tittle shall pass away; this law of which the Son of the Eternal Himself speaks when He says, "I have kept My Father's commandments, and abide in His love."

This must be so in the very nature of the case. It has never been right to blaspheme, to worship idols, to break the Sabbath, to covet, to steal, or to murder, and never will be. This truth is eternal in its nature, and must always be "present truth," while some truth is such for a limited time only.

For about four thousand years after creation it was true that the Saviour of mankind must appear in human flesh, become a helpless babe, grow to youth and manhood, and finally die for the redemption of the race; and of course men were commanded to follow the provision made for them during this limited time, that provision being a continual succession of sacrifices and offerings and ceremonies, to keep ever before their minds the fact that the promised Redeemer would surely come and shed His blood for the remission of sin. Every time the blood of an innocent victim was spilled, man virtually declared: "I have sinned; but I hereby show my faith in a coming Redeemer who will shed His blood for me. So shall I be saved."

At the Time Foretold

Forty long, dreary centuries rolled away. At the very moment when the clock of time struck the hour foretold by the prophets, the Redeemer was born, was baptized, was crucified.

Then comes a tremendous change. Truth that had held undisputed sway for so many centuries — that the Messiah must appear, be born, and die — was truth no longer; because He had come, He had shed His blood — the great contract had been fulfilled. How vain to offer the blood of animals after this! Type had met antitype; shadow had met substance; and every law and every ceremony and every sacrifice which pointed forward to a coming Redeemer, must perforce cease at the cross of Calvary. Here must the old law of ceremonies and ordinances be nailed to the cross, their mission ended. Those impressive ceremonies upon which so much had depended for long ages, were henceforth and forever utterly annulled. This logic is self-evident.

Not to Be Confounded with Ceremonies

"Well," you say, "if self-evident, why waste time in further explanation?" — Because of a strange habit into which some of us have fallen, of mixing and confusing the moral law with the ceremonial.

"Why," you again protest, "nobody but the poor misguided Jew believes in keeping the ceremonial law any longer — except — well, I believe there is a class of people who still persist in keeping the seventh day — the old Jewish Sabbath!"

Stay! Let me ask, Is there anything in the fourth commandment of the Decalogue which calls attention to the cross of Christ, which points to it, or which in any way refers to His great sacrifice on Calvary? — No, my friend; the fourth commandment has an entirely different meaning. It points back to creation — not forward to the cross. How, then, could it or any part of it have been abolished at the cross? How could the death of Christ have annulled the fact that God created the heavens and the earth in six days and rested the seventh? Was this the aim and object of Calvary? Would it have been worth while — I ask in all candor — would it have been worth while for Christ to pay so tremendous a price in order to accomplish such an end, even if it had been possible? Could the cross of Christ have abolished the facts of creation?

"But," some one still protests, "I am willing to admit that the moral law is still in force — in fact, it must be — except the old Jewish Sabbath!"

But remember, that commandment was given before there was a "Jew" on the face of the earth.

"Well, that may be; but I must ask why you always harp on the fourth commandment. Why don't you talk about the binding force of the other nine?"

We do; and they are all binding, and of equal force. But if you will follow me, I will try to make this point plain in my next article.

But please remember that the first great reason for observing the Sabbath of the commandment, is the undeniable fact that God did create the heavens and the earth in six days and rest the seventh; and that this truth can not be altered nor this fact denied, either in time or in eternity; and that to keep in memory this eternal truth, was the very reason for the giving of the fourth commandment. When this truth can be denied, or this fact annulled, then and not till then will it be time to raise the inquiry, "Is the Sabbath commandment still binding?"