THERE are many people who think they can make a Sabbath of their own; and it will be well for us to consider the question, Was the Sabbath difficult to make? The claim is made that merely selecting one day and resting on it makes that day a Sabbath. It is said that a person can begin work at any time,—on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday,—work six days, and then rest one, and the one on which the rest is performed thus becomes the Sabbath of the one who rests. Those who make such statements lose sight of the fact that God's rest, and not theirs, forever fixes the day.
There are others who declare that the custom and will of the majority is the deciding factor in this matter, and still others who assert that the law of the land should settle the matter. It becomes important, therefore, to find an answer to this question as to the difficulty of making a Sabbath.
And to find a correct answer, we must refer to the question we have considered in previous articles, How was the Sabbath made? In studying that question, we learned that Christ made the true Sabbath by creating a world in six days, resting on the seventh day from this creative work, blessing the seventh day, and making it holy.
Can Congress Create?
THE first requisite to the making of a Sabbath, then, is the power to create. And with this we may bring our study of this particular point to an end; for all will admit that no man, no body of men, no congress of men, no denomination of men, possesses creative power. And from this it is plain that only the Creator can make a Sabbath. And He has made a Sabbath. He does not ask us to make another, but He does ask us to keep holy the one He has made.
Was It for the Jews Only?
THE assertion is often made that the seventh-day Sabbath was for the Jews only. Referring to our consideration of the time when the Sabbath was made, the reader will recall that the Sabbath was made at creation, which was more than two thousand years before there was a Jew. Therefore it could not have been made especially for the Jews.
We do not need to go outside the Bible to find proof of this. "He said unto them, The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath." Mark 2:27. The Sabbath was made not merely for the Jews, but for all mankind. It was given to the father of the race, Adam. It was set apart, sanctified, appointed in Eden to be the Sabbath of the human race. Therefore all mankind are under obligation to observe it.
If all mankind had observed the Sabbath, idolatry would never have been established on the earth. The keeping of the Sabbath takes one's mind back to the work of creation, of which it is a memorial; and no person could have worshiped an idol when every week his attention was called to the Creator.
Temporary or Eternal?
WHENEVER the Sabbath question is discussed, the claim is advanced that the seventh-day Sabbath was designed by God to continue only until Christ should come and introduce the gospel. This claim will be discussed in detail later, when the subject of the relation of the law and the gospel is considered; but at this point, attention may be directed to a passage or two of Scripture to show how groundless this claim is.
The Sabbath is not a temporary but an eternal institution. This is evident from the following text: "The works of His hands are verity and judgment; all His commandments are sure. They stand fast forever and ever, and are done in truth and uprightness." Ps. 111:7, 8. Thus the Sabbath commandment will "stand fast forever and ever." To observe the Sabbath is just as much the duty of every person now as it has been at any period since the beginning of the race.
God designed that His people should keep the Sabbath not only until Christ's first coming, but until the very end of time. Even throughout eternity, His people will keep the Sabbath; for we are told: "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. 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. 66:22, 23.
Inasmuch, therefore, as the Sabbath is to be kept by those who are saved in the kingdom of God, and who will live on the new earth, would not all who desire a home in that land do well to begin its observance at this time?
Sunset or Midnight—Which?
IN closing our discussion of the making of the Sabbath, it may be well to point out that the Sabbath of the Bible, the seventh-day Sabbath, begins at sunset, and closes at sunset. We are told that "the evening and the morning were the first day." Gen. 1:5. That is, the evening, the dark part of the day, comes first; and then the light part. The day begins at sunset, the preceding day then closing.
Again we are told that "from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your Sabbath." Lev. 23:32. The "even" begins at sunset, as will be evident from the following verses: "At the place where the Lord thy God shall choose to place His name in, there thou shalt sacrifice the Passover at even, at the going down of the sun, at the season that thou comest forth out of Egypt." Deut. 16:6. "At even, when the sun did set, they brought unto Him all that were diseased, and them that were possessed with devils." Mark 1:32.
An illustration of this will be found in the following scripture: "When the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark before the Sabbath, I commanded that the gates should be shut, and charged that they should not be opened till after the Sabbath." Neh. 13:19.
