HOW GOD HAS HONORED THE SABBATH
By S. N. Haskell
THE Sabbath is a memorial of God's creative power. It is also a memorial of the redemption wrought by Christ. It was given at the close of the creation week. God completed the work of creation on the seventh day. In this He laid the foundation for the Sabbath. "And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it; because that in it he had rested from all His work which God created and made." Gen. 2:3. God placed in the day His own sacred rest. He then blessed the first seventh day which He had measured out of eternity. This blessing pertained to the seventh days that would follow, for the day upon which He rested was past. He also sanctified it or set it apart for a holy and religious use. Thus the Sabbath was made for man by God's first resting upon the seventh day; second, blessing it; third, setting it apart for a holy use. The work of creation was the work of God through Christ; for God, Christ, angels, Adam and Eve were present when the first Sabbath of earth was instituted; for when He "laid the foundations of the earth, . . . the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy." Job 38:4-7. Two thousand five hundred years later, when Father and Son spoke the Ten Commandments, the Sabbath was placed in the very bosom of the Decalogue. Myriads of angels in glory were present. The very mount was sanctified. Thus Moses describes the scene: "The Lord came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; He shined forth from Mount Paran, and He came with ten thousands of holy ones; from His right hand went a fiery law unto them. Yea, He loved the people; all His saints are in Thy hand; and they sat down at Thy feet; every one shall receive of Thy words." Deut. 33:2, 3. Here again the Ten Commandments, with the Sabbath as the center of the law, were associated with God, Christ, angels, and His people whom He loved. Another most remarkable Sabbath observance was at the death of the Son of God. After redemption's plan had been carried out, and Christ, in dying, had said, "It is finished," He was taken down and placed in Joseph's new tomb, where He rested the Sabbath day from the work of redemption. There was grief among those who loved Him on earth, but there was joy in heaven. The fate of Satan was sealed, and the promise of a restored creation was secured beyond a doubt. The salvation of a redeemed race was eternally secured. God and angels saw this, and ever after these events were to be indelibly linked with the observance of the Sabbath. The disciples saw how His body was laid, and they returned and prepared spices, and while their Lord rested in Joseph's new tomb, they were in their homes and rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment. Here God, Christ, angels, and the disciples were in harmony in keeping the Sabbath. Thus the seventh day became a memorial of redemption as it was of creation. Christ became the Redeemer, because He was the Creator. "In whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins." "For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers; all things were created by Him, and for Him; and He is before all things, and by Him all things consist." Col. 1:14, 16, 17. The remnant of God's people are recognized as commandment keepers. "The dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." During the time between creation and the giving of the law on Mount Sinai, the importance of observing the Sabbath had been lost sight of; but the events that took place on Sinai's mount, the speaking of the law, placed the Sabbath in its proper relation and restored it to its proper place. The failure of the fulfilment of the promise made to the Jews, of the city remaining forever if they would observe the Sabbath, shows that the true keeping of the Sabbath was lost. Jer. 17:21-27. One object in the life of Christ was to restore the Sabbath, its original sacredness, and He left a company keeping the Sabbath according to the commandment. We again pass over a period of nearly two thousand years, during which time the "man of sin" has thought to change times and laws. The seventh-day Sabbath has been replaced by a spurious day which God never blessed nor required man to keep, but the remnant of God's heritage is found observing the Sabbath, keeping all of God's commandments. The prophet Isaiah, looking down through the Dark Ages through which the church passed, uttered the following prophecy: "Thus saith the Lord, Keep ye judgment, and do justice; for My salvation is near to come, and My righteousness to be revealed. Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it; that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil. Neither let the son of a stranger, that hath joined himself to the Lord, speak, saying, The Lord hath utterly separated me from His people. For thus saith the Lord: . . . The sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the Lord, to serve Him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be His servants, every one that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of My covenant, even them will I bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer." Isa. 56:1-7. "If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on My holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable; and shalt honor Him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words; then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it." Isa. 58:13, 14. God has honored His day; shall not we honor it?