The Attempt to Change the Sabbath
By W. A. Colcord
MANY attempts have been made to change the law of God, but none have been successful. Satan tried it in heaven; but he was cast out, and his angels were cast out with him. Jezebel tried it in the days of Elijah; but her priests were slain, and dogs ate her flesh by the wall of Jezreel. Nebuchadnezzar tried it when he erected his great golden image in the plain of Dura; but divine providence intervened, and “changed the king’s word.” And yet in all these instances there was a time when it seemed as tho these opposing powers were triumphant, and had gained the day. In the conflict in heaven there was no doubt a time when Lucifer had gained so many sympathizers among the angelic host that he felt that his triumph was assured. This must have been so, or he would not have dared to match strength with the Son of God. But he misjudged the case. Things were not as they appeared, and when the final test came, he was overthrown. So in the days when Israel had turned to Baal-worship. God’s prophets had been hunted, persecuted, and cut off wherever found, while the prophets of Baal were numbered by the hundreds, and ate at the queen’s table. So few, apparently, were the loyal ones still remaining, that Elijah was led to exclaim, “I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away,” altho there were, in fact, seven thousand left in Israel who had not bowed the knee to Baal. And when the great image was set up near Babylon, and the royal decree went forth that all “people, nations, and languages” should fall down and worship it, all present, with the exception of three young men, were ready to bow down. But these three withstood the idolatrous decree of the king, and, under God, brought this attempt to alter the law of God to naught, so much so that the king himself was forced to confess his defeat. Another Attempt to Change the Law of God.
But these are not the only attempts that have been made to change the law of God. Another power has arisen in the world which has sought to alter the divine precepts, and lead men into idolatry and the transgression of God’s law. This power is described in Dan. 7:25: “And he shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change times and laws; and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.” The Douay, or Catholic, Bible renders this passage thus: “And he shall speak words against the High One, and shall crush the saints of the Most High; and he shall think himself able to change times and laws, and they shall be delivered into his hand until a time and times and half a time.” That this prophecy describes the work of that great apostasy and ecclesiastical hierarchy known as the Papacy, which arose in the Christian church, is quite generally agreed to by all outside of that apostasy and not under the influence of that hierarchy. This meets all the specifications of the prophecy. The Revised Version says, “He shall think to change times and the law, evidently referring to the times and law of the Most High. The expression, “He shall think himself able to change times and laws,” is significant. That the Papacy has thought itself able to change the law of God, the following authoritative statements show: “The pope has power to change times, to abrogate laws, and to dispense with all things, even the precepts of Christ. He can pronounce sentences and judgment in contradiction to the right of nations, to the law of God and man.”—The Roman “Decretalia.” “The pope’s will stands for reason. He can dispense above law; and of wrong make right, by correcting and changing laws.”—Pope Nicholas. The Ups and Downs of the Sabbath.
But this prophecy says that this power was to think to change times. One of the greatest gifts and choicest blessings bestowed upon man in the beginning was the Sabbath, a time divinely set apart for rest and worship, and the only institution mentioned in the law of God involving time. But as men departed from God, they ceased to regard this beneficent institution. Thru the wilderness wandering, by miracle, precept, and promise, God sought to impress upon His chosen people the importance of observing the day of holy rest. By a seventy-years’ captivity he sought to teach them the evils of disregarding it. After their return from captivity they went to the other extreme, and surrounded the Sabbath with so many human regulations and restrictions that its real import and design were lost sight of, and it became, not a delight, but a burden grievous to be borne. From these senseless restrictions Christ relieved it during His ministry, and placed it back in its original divine setting, declaring that it was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Thus relieved of its burdens and human restrictions, Christ gave it in its purity to His church, as He had given it in the beginning to man. For a time it was kept by the early Christian church; but as apostasy came in, a great change took place. The original design, nature, and importance of the Sabbath were lost sight of; because it was observed by the Jews, it was styled Jewish, and finally another day largely took its place in the church. But such a change in the practise of the church could be brought about only upon the ground of the church, or some power in the church, changing, or attempting to change, the law of God; for that law not only regulates Sabbath-keeping, but stands as the very foundation of the Sabbath institution itself. That God would not change His law is evident; for this would at once destroy His character. He says, “I am the Lord, I change not.” Mal. 3:6. “My covenant I will not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of My lips.” Ps. 89:34. “Thy word is true from the beginning; and every one of Thy righteous judgments endureth forever.” Ps. 119:160. Nor would Christ; for at the very opening of His ministry He said, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets.” Matt. 5:17. Neither would the apostles, who declare: “Do we then make void the law thru faith? God forbid; yea, we establish the law.”“For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.”“Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in thru the gates into the city.” Rom. 3:31; James 2:10; Rev. 22:14. The Attempted Change Confessed.
But, true to prophecy, this same power—the Papacy—confesses that it changed the Sabbath from the seventh to the first day of the week. Not only so, but, while God sets forth the seventh-day Sabbath as the memorial and sign of His creative power (Ex. 20:8-11; 31:13-17; Eze. 20:12, 20), the Papacy sets forth the Sunday and the power to change the Sabbath from the seventh to the first day of the week as a mark, or sign, of its authority and power. The following are a few only of the many testimonies that might be presented in proof of these assertions: Ques.—Have you any other way of proving that the church has power to institute festivals of precept? Ans.—Had she not such power, she could not have done that in which all modern religionists agree with her,—she could not have substituted the observance of Sunday, the first day of the week, for the observance of Saturday, the seventh day, a change for which there is no Scriptural authority.—Doctrinal Catechism. Ques.—How prove you that the church hath power to command feasts and holy days? Ans.—By THE VERY ACT OF CHANGING THE SABBATH INTO SUNDAY, which Protestants allow of; and therefore they fondly contradict themselves by keeping Sunday strictly, and breaking most other feasts commanded by the same church.—Abridgment of Christian Doctrine. The CATHOLIC CHURCH for over one thousand years before the existence of a Protestant, by virtue of her divine mission, CHANGED THE DAY FROM SATURDAY TO SUNDAY. The Christian sabbath is therefore to this day the acknowledged offspring of the Catholic Church.—Catholic Mirror. The Catholic Church of its own infallible authority created Sunday a holy day to take the place of the Sabbath of the old law.—Kansas City Catholic. Sunday is a Catholic institution, and its claims to observance can be defended only on Catholic principles.—Sydney Catholic Press. Thru his chancellor, Cardinal Gibbons speaks as follows regarding the change in the day of rest: “Of course the Catholic Church claims that5the change was her act. It could not have been otherwise, as none in those days would have dreamed of doing anything in matters spiritual and ecclesiastical and religious without her. And the act is a MARK of her ecclesiastical power.” Father Enright, a Catholic priest, in a lecture given at Hartford, Kans., a few years ago, said: “I will give $1,000 to any man who will prove by the Bible alone that Sunday is the day we are bound to keep. . . . The observance of Sunday is solely a law of the Catholic Church. . . . The church changed the Sabbath to Sunday, and all the world bows down and worships upon that day in silent obedience to the mandates of the Catholic Church.” Thus the Papacy has thought itself able to change the law of God respecting this most important of all divine institutions, the Sabbath, and boasts of this change as the mark of its power and authority. And, as in former apostasies and attempts to change the law of God, it would seem as tho this one had triumphed and carried the day. As the last quotation says, “All the world bows down and worships upon that day [Sunday] in silent obedience to the mandates of the Catholic Church.” Not only so, but the laws of nearly every government under heaven now uphold and enforce the observance of this false sabbatical institution. And thus the Scriptures declared it would be. Referring to this power, the apostle John says, “And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life.” Rev. 13:8. But while it may seem that the apostasy has triumphed, such is not the case. God’s law and government still stand. As in former conflicts, there are still loyal ones who will not bow the knee to Baal; who, like Daniel and his companions and the apostles of Jesus, choose to obey God rather than man. In the end and final outcome, truth will triumph gloriously. Wise is that one who now, like the loyal of past ages, discerns the real nature and outcome of this conflict, and chooses to stand on the side of God and final victory.