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GOD'S MEMORIAL

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Pacific Press Publishing Company · OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA · Sep 26, 1900

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 26, No. 39.

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GOD'S MEMORIAL.

By G. W. Rogers

"Thy name, O Lord, endureth forever; and Thy memorial, O Lord, throughout all generations." Ps. 135:13.
"Memorial: anything intended to preserve the memory of a person, an occurrence, or the like; something which serves to keep something else in remembrance; a monument."—Webster.
THE Bible gives us illustrations of this definition. When the children of Israel had crossed the Jordan, twelve stones were taken from the river, a stone for each tribe. And these stones were to "be for a memorial unto the children of Israel forever."
They were to be a standing memorial that that people passed dry shod over Jordan. "And He spake unto the children of Israel, saying, When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean these stones? then ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land." Joshua 4:7, 21, 22.
There was a memorial of the deliverance of the children of Israel from Egypt. It was the passover. "This day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance forever." Ex. 12:14; 13:3-9. This was a yearly memorial, to be observed as often as the fourteenth day of the first month arrived, for this was the day the Israelites came out of Egypt and were delivered from bondage.
God has caused His creative work to be commemorated. We read: "The works of the Lord are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein. His work is honorable and glorious; and His righteousness endureth forever. He hath made His wonderful works to be remembered." Ps. 111:2-4.
He has given us a memorial by which to commemorate His great creative work. "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; . . . for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore [for this reason] the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it." Ex. 20:8-11.
The Sabbath was to the children of Israel a sign or memorial from the Lord, and thus is the reason stated: "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." Eze. 20:12.
The Sabbath was given to keep the Creator always in mind, and it is evident that if it had been faithfully kept there would not now be a heathen on the face of the whole earth. When the prophet would show the true God, and distinguish Him from all false gods, he uses this language: "But the Lord is the true God, He is the living God, an everlasting King. . . . Thus shall ye say unto them, The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth, and from under these heavens." But the true and living God is the one that "hath made the earth by His power, He hath established the world by His wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by His discretion." Jer. 10:10-12.
Would an apostle point heathen worshipers to the true and living God, he makes use of the Sabbath commandment, or the fact on which it is based: "Paul stood in the midst of Mars' Hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, . . . as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, Him declare I unto you." And to do this he refers to God's great creative power: "God that made the world and all things therein." Acts 17:22-24.
The Sabbath was to be a sign or memorial of the true God forever. Again we read: "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. 31:17.
This sign was given to Israel forever. With propriety we may ask, Who are Israel? Paul can give us the desired information: "Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises." Rom. 9:4.
The promises here spoken of refer to the promises made to Abraham: "Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ." Gal. 3:16. When we receive Christ, then we sustain the relation of children to Abraham. "And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." Verse 29. And James, in writing to the Christian church, addresses them thus: "James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad." James 1:1.
When the saints are redeemed, they will all remember God's great creative power. "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for Thou hast created all things; and for Thy pleasure they are and were created." Rev. 4:11. And these redeemed ones have stated times to meet and worship and adore the true and living God; for we read: "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. 66:23.
How long will this practise continue? "For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before Me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain." Verse 22.
The Sabbath, which is the memorial of God's great creative power, will never cease to exist; for as long as it is a fact that God created the heavens and the earth, so long will the Sabbath exist as the memorial of that great event. When this sinful state of things gives way to a sinless new earth, the fact upon which the Sabbath institution is based will still remain; and the redeemed ones who will be permitted to live on the new earth will still commemorate the great creative power of God, while singing the song of Moses and the Lamb. Rev. 15:3. Thus the words of David at the head of this article will prove true: "Thy name, O Lord, endureth forever; and thy memorial, O Lord, throughout all generations."
Sioux Falls, S. D. G. W. ROGERS.