Is the Sabbath Jewish? by J. C. Stevens

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Jan 13, 1909

Is the Sabbath Jewish?

By J. C. Stevens

Ten Scriptural Facts.

By J. C. Stevens.

FREQUENTLY when one's attention is called to the fact that in keeping Sunday, the first day of the week, as the Sabbath, he is not keeping the Sabbath according to the commandment (Luke 23:53-56), he seeks to excuse himself by saying, "The seventh-day Sabbath is the Jewish Sabbath. It is only for the Jews." Yet at the same time, the majority of those who thus retort profess to believe that the Ten-commandment law, of which the Sabbath is a part, being a moral or character law, is binding on all, Jews and Gentiles; and they well know the scripture which says, "For whosoever shall keep the whole law and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." James 2:10.

The seventh-day Sabbath is not a Jewish institution. It is not to be confined to the Jews, nor to any one race, nor to any one dispensation, nor to any one covenant. This is evident from the following scriptural facts:

I. In speaking of the Sabbath, Jesus our Saviour, said, "The Sabbath was made for MAN, and not man for the Sabbath." Mark 2:27. Are only Jews men? Will any Gen-tile admit it? In this statement Christ takes the mind back to creation—to the making of man, and the making of the Sabbath. Man was made on the sixth day, and the Sabbath on the seventh. Who was this man?—Adam, the father of all men—mankind. "The Sabbath was made for man." Then the Sabbath is not Jewish. It comes to us from creation.

II. In Gen. 2:2, 3, we learn that the Creator in the end of that first week of time rested on the seventh day; He then blessed it, and sanctified it. The Hebrew word "sanctify" in Gen. 2:3 is kadash, and is thus defined: "To appoint, to pronounce holy, to consecrate, to set apart a thing or person to some religious use," etc. How could the Sabbath be thus sanctified for man's use, or be set apart to be used in a sacred manner by him, except by God's telling the man to use it in this holy, sacred way? Being thus made for man, it was set apart for sacred purposes, without limitation as to age or country, and is therefore to-day obligatory upon the whole human race. The Sabbath was made in the beginning, given to the father of all men—more than two thousand years before the Jews were called out of Egypt.

III. The reasons given in the fourth commandment for its observance—"for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested on the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it"—are reasons applying equally to all of Adam's posterity as long as creation stands. If the Jews observed it for other reasons, the primary reasons for all to observe it are found in the Sabbath commandment itself.

IV. The Sabbath is a part of that law which in the nature of things is immutable. When the Creator at Sinai gave form to His law, He by His own divine finger placed the Sabbath of Eden in the very heart of that law. Deut. 10:4. Throughout the Bible, the very attributes of God Himself are ascribed to His law. Thus, the law is perfect (Ps. 19:7), holy, just, good, and spiritual (Rom. 7:12, 14), righteous (Ps. 119:172), eternal (Ps. 111:7, 8), etc. The law, then, is a transcript of God's character, hence is a moral law. The word says, "They that forsake the law praise the wicked, but such as keep the law contend with them." Prov. 28:4. Without controversy a character law, a moral law, can not be confined to one race or dispensation. Hear Paul, "Now we know what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world become guilty before God." Rom. 3:19. It declares the world guilty, for "all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23), and "sin is the transgression of the law" (1 John 3:4; Rom. 7:7; 3:20; 4:15). This law is not only for the Jews, then, for if it were, why would all be held under it, and declared guilty? All men are amenable to this law. And the Sabbath is a part of this law.

V. God is the great Governor of the universe. Dan. 4:25, 34, 35. He is a moral governor. Ps. 89:14. The psalmist says, "The Lord hath prepared His throne in the heavens, and His kingdom ruleth over all." Ps. 103:19. The Ten-commandment law is the moral law at the foundation of His moral government. This truth was taught by this law being placed in the ark, covered by the mercy-seat, on either side of which was an angel. Deut. 10:4; Ex. 25:10-22. This ark was a symbol of the throne of God in heaven. The Scriptures call the articles of furniture of the Mosaical sanctuary, "patterns of things in the heavens." Heb. 9:23. The psalmist says that God's throne is in the sanctuary. Ps. 102:19. See also Heb. 8:1, 2. John in vision saw the temple in heaven and the ark therein. Rev. 11:19. When the Father is represented as reigning, it is said, "He sitteth between the cherubim." Ps. 99:1. The Ten-commandment law was placed in that ark, no other law was, therefore showing that this law, which is an expression of His character, and embracing man's whole duty (Eccl. 12:13, 14), is at the very foundation of God's moral government. Are the Jews only under His moral government? "His kingdom ruleth over all." Ps. 103:19. "I am the Lord. I change not." Mal. 3:6. The Sabbath is a part of this law, and therefore a part of His moral government. Let us not confine to the Jews God's law any more than His mercy or His Gospel.

(Concluded next week.)