The Sabbath by J. N. Wilkinson

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Mountain View, California · Jun 10, 1908

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 34, No. 24.

The Sabbath.

By J. N. Wilkinson

AND on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made." Gen. 2:2. The Revised Version reads, "And on the seventh day God finished His work." It has been said by some that the rendering of this text in the King James Version is incorrect; and we have been referred to the Septuagint, the Syriac, and the Samaritan translations for a more correct understanding of this scripture, which we are informed reads, "And on the sixth day God ended His work which He had made," etc.

Our Saviour said, "The Sabbath was made for man." Mark 2:27. And we are frequently asked when the Sabbath was made, and we reply that it was made at the end of the creation-week. Therefore as God made the Sabbath, it must have been a part of His creative work. We have been told that man was the crowning work of God's creation in the beginning. But God could

have made man on some other day of the week besides the sixth day and he would have been man just the same. But the sixth day could not have been made the Sabbath at its close, from the fact that God did not rest on that day. Neither could the first day of the week have been made the Sabbath, for that would imply rest before labor, and rest from labor before the labor had been performed would be impossible.

But God, after He had made the world and all things therein in six days, then, in order to make the Sabbath for man, rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had wrought on the six days, and then He made the Sabbath by resting upon the seventh day. And as rest and sabbath are synonymous terms, the seventh day was not only God's rest-day, but it was His Sabbath day. And as He had rested on the seventh day, He blessed the seventh day and sanctified it; because that in it He had rested. And thus the seventh day became His holy rest-day or His holy Sabbath.

Therefore we can see no trouble with our English translation, which says, "And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made." Gen. 2:2. For His resting on the seventh day made it the Sabbath, and His blessing and sanctifying the Sabbath made it the holy Sabbath for man. And as we are to "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy," it is a gentle reminder, not only that God is the Creator of the heavens and the earth, but that in making the Sabbath, blessing and sanctifying it on the seventh day, was the crowning work of the Creator accomplished. Therefore God ended or finished His work, and the whole arrangement of God's creative work was completed on the seventh day.

J. N. WILKINSON.