Studies on the Sabbath by R. A. Underwood

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Jan 17, 1911

Studies on the Sabbath

By R. A. Underwood

II. The Identical Sabbath Day

REMEMBER the Sabbath day, to keep it holy," was proclaimed by Christ from Mt. Sinai, and traced by His own finger on tables of stone. Some seek to evade the obligation of the observance of the seventh day of the week as the Sabbath by the assertion that it is impossible to keep the identical seventh day of creation's week. In their effort to accomplish this the usual method is to object to the record given in Genesis concerning the creation of the world, asserting that creation's week was seven indefinite periods of millions of years of time.

Without entering into the discussion of the mazes and uncertainty of the evolutionary theories, which brush aside as of little consequence the plainest utterances of the great God, and instead accept the claims of science falsely so-called, we ask on what mathematical calculation these wise scientists get six or seven "indefinite periods," successively following one another. There could be but one indefinite period to cover the entire span of this supposed evolution; for as soon as we admit that there was a second, a third, a fourth, or a fifth period, longer or shorter, following those preceding, we have something definite, or ordinal numbers are meaningless.

He that is truly wise and scientific will acknowledge, with the apostle Paul, "If any man think that he knoweth anything, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know." 1 Cor. 8:2. The first step in true science is to believe what God says is true. We read: "By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth. . . . For He spake, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast." Ps. 33:6, 9. To this record Christ sets His seal of approval with His utterance from Mt. Sinai; and later He wrote on tables of stone these words: "For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is." Ex. 20:11.

I prefer to accept these statements as the most reliable knowledge or science upon the work of creation. Because men can not understand the power of God, they deny the birth, resurrection, and ascension of Christ on equally good authority. It was not by what is termed natural law, or the science of medicine or surgery, that Christ healed the sick and dying, or raised the dead; He spoke the word, and it was done.

It is written, "He sent His word, and healed them." Ps. 107:20. The centurion said, "Say in a word, and my servant shall be healed." To the lifeless form of Lazarus, the Master said, "Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came forth."

The Round World

Another objector says, "No man can keep the identical seventh day on all parts of a round world." In this the difficulty is imaginary, rather than real. If the Sabbath law required all to keep the same definite, simultaneous time, then there would be difficulty. However, the Sabbath law only requires man to keep the definite seventh day of the week, and not the same definite time.

The sun is God's great timekeeper. Every intelligent reader knows the day does not begin or end all around the earth at once. As a simple illustration which all may comprehend without entering into a more scientific explanation of the day-line, I call attention to the United States national law which requires a definite day of the month and week for our national elections to be held. The polls must open at six o'clock A.M. and close at six o'clock P.M. on election day. Under this law the casting of a ballot would be illegal on any other day except the definite day and hour named by the law. However, the voting begins in New York City one hour before it is lawful to cast a vote in Chicago, and three hours before it is lawful to vote in San Francisco; and the voters continue to cast their ballots in California three hours after it is unlawful to vote in New York City. It is strange that some wise man has not come to the rescue of one of the political parties and proclaimed before this that a large number of votes, sufficient to decide the election of one party or the other, have not been cast on the day specified by the law.

To carry the illustration a little further: Suppose the whole world were one universal republic, and the law applied on the opposite side of the earth the same as it does in the United States, would there be any difficulty in keeping the law? No man would want to show his ignorance by making such a claim. All could not vote simultaneously, but all could vote the same definite day.

Does the traveling public by land or sea find it difficult to recognize the day as it is measured by God's great timekeeper?—No, indeed! It is amusing to see how much trouble some have over keeping the seventh day; because the Lord made the earth round, while twenty-four hours later the difficulties have all cleared away, so that any one can keep the first day of the week in all parts of the earth on a round world without any trouble.

The Miracles of the Manna

Has the Sabbath been preserved during six thousand years as a blessing to man, and can we have the assurance that we can keep the original Sabbath, blessed and sanctified by Jesus Christ, at the close of Creation's week? Let us see: Just prior to the rehearsal of the law at Sinai, we have the instruction of God concerning the gathering and the preparation of the manna over the Sabbath:

And he said unto them, This is that which the Lord hath said, To-morrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord: bake that which ye will bake to-day, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning. And they laid it up till the morning, as Moses bade; and it did not stink, neither was there any worm therein. And Moses said, Eat that to-day; for to-day is a Sabbath unto the Lord: to-day ye shall not find it in the field. Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the Sabbath, in it there shall be none. And it came to pass, that there went out some of the people on the seventh day for to gather, and they found none. And the Lord said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep My commandments and My laws? See, for that the Lord hath given you the Sabbath, therefore He giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days; abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day. So the people rested on the seventh day. Ex. 16:23-30.

In this record we have a threefold miracle wrought each week for forty years, pointing out the original definite Sabbath day, sanctified at creation. In the record we find: First, On the preparation day of the week a double portion of manna fell; second, No manna fell on the Sabbath; third, Manna gathered on the sixth day kept sweet over the Sabbath, which it did not on any other day of the week. Therefore we have in this history more than six thousand distinct miracles performed by God, pointing out the original Sabbath day. Hence from creation to the giving of the law at Sinai, the original Sabbath was preserved. Has it been lost since then? Turning to the record of the crucifixion of Christ the apostle bears testimony:

The Witness of the Gospel Record

And now when the even was come, because it was the preparation, that is, THE DAY BEFORE THE SABBATH, Joseph of Arimathea, an honorable counselor, which also waited for the kingdom of God, came, and went in boldly unto Pilate, and craved the body of Jesus. . . . And he bought fine linen, and took Him down, and wrapped Him in the linen, and laid Him in a sepulcher which was hewn out of a rock, and rolled a stone unto the door of the sepulcher. Mark 15:42, 43, 46.

Here we have the inspired statement of Mark, that near the close of the sixth day, "the day before the Sabbath," Christ had been crucified and laid in Joseph's new tomb.

Again, we have the inspired statement of another apostle that the disciples of Christ kept the Sabbath "according to the commandment:"

And that day was the preparation, and the Sabbath drew on. And the women also, which came with Him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the sepulcher, and how His body was laid. And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and RESTED THE SABBATH DAY ACCORDING TO THE COMMANDMENT. Luke 23: 54-56.

But the commandment refers to the identical day which Christ rested upon, or sabbatized, blessed, and sanctified, at the close of creation's week. See Ex. 20: 8-11; Gen. 2: 1-3.

Then surely we have good authority down to New Testament times that the memorial of the creating, sanctifying power of Christ was still preserved for man.

The assumption that the Sabbath has been lost prior to or since the days of the apostles has not a shadow of proof. The Sabbath was kept by the apostles. Thousands suffered and died for keeping it during the Dark Ages. The experience of the Jews from Christ's time to the present is positive proof of its identity.

The science of astronomy, as well as the testimony of every nation on the earth, attests to the fact that the cycle of the week, as given in the Bible, has been preserved, unclouded, through the ages, even to our own day. The seer of Patmos beholds the dragon moved against the remnant church, because their faith leads them to keep the commandments of God, which include the Sabbath. Rev. 12: 17.