THE SABBATH MADE FOR MAN.
By T. M. Steward
MARK 2:27: "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath." This is the language of Him who knew, and from whose authority there is no appeal. 1. Who made the Sabbath? Surely, not man, for it was made for man. Then God made the Sabbath. Ex. 20:10; Isa. 58:13. 2. When was it made? The record does not say he made it for himself and 2500 years after concluded to give it to man. But it was made for man. If it was made for man, there would be no object in making it before there was a man, neither was it wisdom to make it until man needed it. The wisdom of God is manifest in that he made man first, and then, as he immediately required a Sabbath, the Lord chose the first opportunity to make one. On the sixth day, he made man (and woman) which completed his work; "and He rested on the seventh day from all his work which He had made." Gen. 1:26; 2:2. Then it was made at the close of the first six days of time, and becomes the turning point of the weekly cycle. 3. But how was it made? We read: "For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day." Ex. 20:11. This places before us the contrast between the first six days and the seventh, and tells us plainly that there are but six working days in the weekly cycle. Ex. 31:15: "Six days may work be done." Eze. 46:1: "The gate of the inner court that looketh toward the east shall be shut the six working days." Now if all days are working days, why has Inspiration used such definite language in reference to these days, as if there were but six working days? Then again in explaining his own command he says: "Six days may work be done;" but the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord. So there is the widest contrast between the six days and the seventh. As the Bible recognizes six working days and there are seven days in each weekly cycle, then there is one day in each week that is not a working day. In making the Sabbath (which signifies rest), the Lord employed one whole day for rest. He could not take one of the six, for he had appointed them for work. So he appoints the seventh (the last day in the weekly cycle) for a Sabbath (or rest) for man. Thus we have six working days and one day of rest in each week. Having thus made the Sabbath for man, God places his blessing upon it, and instructs man how to use it. Gen. 2:3. "He sanctified it," or set it apart to a sacred or holy use. To say there is no Sabbath would contradict the record given, and would reduce the weekly cycle to six days instead of seven. Who would undertake this? To say that the first day of the weekly cycle is the Sabbath, is to call one of the six days which God appointed for work, a sabbath, which would contradict God's own testimony, and convert God's holy Sabbath into a laboring or common day, which is strictly forbidden. Ex. 20:10; 31:15. "Every word of God is pure; he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar." Prov. 30:5, 6. Then the Sabbath was made by the God of Heaven by resting on the seventh day, the last day of the first weekly cycle, thus setting an example for all time to come. All time is summed up in the six working days and the one rest (or Sabbath) day. It was so made for man that all the race may have the day in each week for rest and holy meditation which marks the termination of each weekly cycle. Then how consistent to say to all: "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work; but the seventh day [of each weekly cycle] 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.