THE SABBATH by L. A. Phippeny

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Mountain View, California · Feb 22, 1905

THE SABBATH

By L. A. Phippeny

BY L. A. PHIPPENY

THE PROVING OF ISRAEL.

THE conditions existing at the time of the deliverance of Israel from Egyptian bondage, made it necessary for the Lord to reveal Himself in a peculiar manner to them. They had not forgotten the promises made to their fathers, but the hardships endured in their long period of servitude, and their associations with false religions, had blunted their perceptions of the truth. In their deliverance, therefore, the Lord rehearsed certain great fundamental facts concerning Himself and His plans, and re-educated them in a manner calculated to impress these facts indelibly upon their minds.

If we were to enumerate all these lessons, it would require the copying of their whole experience from Egypt to Canaan. Every one of them contains a profound lesson for the people of God in every after age. But there was one manifestation of divine power and goodness which the Lord specially mentions as being given to prove the people as to whether or not they would walk in His law. This was

The Giving of the Manna.

The manna was first given a full month before the declaration of the law from Sinai. While it was given for their sustenance, the moral object is thus stated by the Lord: "Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in My law, or no." Then followed instruction concerning the gathering of the manna. It was gathered daily, except on the Sabbath, when there was none to be found in the fields. But on the sixth day the Lord gave a double portion, sufficient for that day and for the Sabbath day following. The manna gathered each morning of the six days preceding the seventh was to be sufficient for the day in which it was gathered. If kept until the following morning, it spoiled. But the extra portion given on the sixth day for the Sabbath was, by the same divine power that gave it, preserved fresh for the Sabbath day's needs.

How was this a test, and what did the manifestation teach?—It was a direct test as to whether or not the people would keep the Sabbath, and, in the keeping of the Sabbath, keep the law of which it was an essential part. This was a month before the law was spoken from Sinai, and incidentally shows that the Sabbath and the law were known to them before Sinai. Of course every one of the principles of the law were known from the beginning, and were now being reiterated for a special purpose only.

A Continual Object-Lesson.

As to the manifestation itself, the daily and weekly recurrence of this miracle was a continual object-lesson concerning the facts of creation. It was a repetition, a rehearsal on a small scale, of the six days' work of creation and the institution of the Sabbath, with its significance. Day by day and week by week Israel's Leader was revealing Himself as their Creator, Provider, Redeemer, Everlasting Rest. As they ate of the food so wonderfully provided for their physical needs, they were to learn of Him who only was their spiritual food. They were to learn the lesson God Himself placed in it for them, "that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live."

And they could not avoid the lesson. There were some who doubted, and went out on the Sabbath day searching for the manna, not having gathered the double portion on the sixth day. They learned by dear experience that there was no change in the plan in order to suit their convenience or ideas. The Lord taught them and all Israel a lesson of carefulness and regard for His word.

It was only by reason of the definite and unalterable conditions surrounding this test that the people could properly appreciate the sacredness of the Sabbath and the law. To mankind in sin, the prohibition is before the permission or privilege, otherwise the blessing would be contaminated by evil. The Lord wanted them to learn a better way than their's; He wanted them to discern His character. And this could be learned only by a work revealing His creative power, setting forth the facts of creation. Hence, the manifestation for six days of each week in providing for their needs for the whole week, and the lesson of rest on the seventh day.

The Lesson of Redemption.

In addition to the lesson of creation, with its signification, was the lesson of redemption, which was a manifestation of the same power, but also a revelation of the character of their Creator-Leader, which was necessary to give them a complete view of that character. The words of the law itself were prefaced by the following proclamation concerning the One who had delivered them: "I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage." In these words the Lord their God is declared to be their Redeemer from bondage. And this deliverance from Egyptian servitude was their lesson of the power of God unto salvation from sin.

In the Sabbath commandment the Lord proclaims Himself the one who "made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is," and it was because of this fact of creation, and the great object of creation, that the seventh-day Sabbath was to be kept. And so the proclamation of the Lord concerning Himself as their

Creator and Redeemer, demanded in their lives the recognition of every fact and principle of creation and redemption. The great fact of creation was memorialized by the Sabbath and its sacred associations. The great fact of redemption from sin is memorialized or signified by soul-rest within. And the outward sign is the Sabbath-day of rest, as a token of the knowledge and presence of the Redeemer and Creator within—a token of new creation.

A Point Settled.

Some have said that it does not make any difference which day is observed as the day of rest; that the Lord demands a cessation of labor only on some one day of the weekly cycle. This lesson of the proving of Israel should forever settle this point. In it is revealed the utmost care and jealous regard for the definite facts involved. Otherwise there would have been confusion. The character of Israel's Leader could not have been made known except by these definite revelations, for He can reveal Himself only as Creator (redemption is creation). And the accomplishing of Creation's work—the preparation of eternal rest for His people—was signified by the Sabbath at the end of that work. That work of rest was fulfilled in Christ the Redeemer, who revealed Himself in the creation, and gave of His resources for the well-being of the creature and the dominion. He gave Himself to His creatures from the foundation of the world.

And so He said, "I am the living Bread which came down from heaven." "I am the Bread of Life." Is our Saviour particular how we learn of Him? Is it a matter of indifference to Him how we feed upon Him? Can we serve Him or not, as we please, with equal commendation from him? The answer is obvious: No; in order to assimilate His life, His character, we must know who He is and what He is, and that revelation is what was re-taught to Israel of old for us to-day. "And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent." The mark or sign distinguishing Him as the true God, was the fact of His being Creator, and the memorial of that fact has already been pointed out.

"Hallow My Sabbaths,"

said the Lord, through Ezekiel, "and they shall be a sign between Me and you, that ye may know that I am the Lord your God." "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." In this teaching are the fundamentals of the Gospel. The whole scheme throughout is harmonious, and reveals the foundations of truth as it is in Christ Jesus.

The Lord proved Israel of old by the manna, as to whether or not they would walk in His law; He is proving some to-day, by the living Bread that came down from heaven, whether or not they will walk in His law. He says, "Come unto Me . . . and . . . rest." In Him is life; in Him is wisdom, sanctification, redemption, rest. O, let us learn the deeper lessons, as well as the more obvious lessons, of this great Sabbath question.