WHO CHANGED THE SABBATH?
By George B. Thompson
The Facts upon Which the Day Rests — They Are Indelibly Embedded in the Past — How Can They Be Changed?
WHEN the claims of the law are presented, and it is seen that the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord, and that another day, which the Lord has never commanded to be the Sabbath, has taken its place in the practices of the religious people of the land, the question is frequently asked, "Who changed the Sabbath?" In reply to this question, we would call attention to the fact that the Sabbath has never been changed. It is something that cannot be changed. No man or combination of men, no synod or ecclesiastical council of this or any other century, could change the Sabbath, or in any way abridge its divine claims upon us. The Sabbath is a memorial of creation. It was made at the close of creation's week. God rested, blessed the day, and sanctified it. It is God's rest day. "Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 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. 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: 1-3. FOUNDED ON THE ACTS OF GOD
In this scripture is set before us the institution of the Sabbath. The Sabbath rests on the acts of God in connection with creation. Certain facts make it the Sabbath, and facts cannot possibly be changed. The facts of creation are just as true to-day as they were when the Sabbath was instituted. It is just as true to-day that God rested on the seventh day, and blessed and sanctified it, as at creation; and so long as these facts remain facts, so long does the seventh-day Sabbath remain the Sabbath. Through all the ages of eternity, it will be true that the Lord created the world in six days, and rested on the seventh. Therefore the seventh day will remain the Sabbath throughout eternity, and be kept by the redeemed hosts. "For 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. Suppose, for illustration, that you were born on the seventh day of the month, but should desire to change the date of your birth from the seventh day of the month to the first day of the month. You conclude it would be more convenient for you to have your birthday celebrated on the first day of the month than on the seventh. How would you go about it to make this change? How could you change your birthday? You might erase the record of your birth in the old family Bible, and substitute instead of the seventh day the first day of the month; but this would not change the fact that you were born on the seventh day of the month, and this day would still remain your birthday. The state legislature might meet and pass a bill, stating that the first day of the month was your birthday; but this could in no way alter the fact that you were born on the seventh day of the month, and this date, regardless of the action of the state legislature, would still remain your birthday. You could not possibly change the date of your birth, except by being blotted out of existence, and being born again on another day, if such a thing were possible. CREATION MUST BE DONE OVER AGAIN
The same is true in regard to the Sabbath. The only way the Sabbath could be changed from the seventh to the first day of the week would be for the Creator to blot out the world that He has made, and in bringing it again into existence, rest on some other day than the seventh, and thus make this His rest day. And even then, the fact would still remain that once God had made a world, that He did work six days, that He did bless and sanctify the seventh day; and as these facts still remain, it would still be true that the seventh day was God's rest day. THE FACTS ARE ETERNALLY UNCHANGEABLE
The facts upon which the Sabbath rests are eternal facts; and as they are eternal, the Sabbath itself is eternal, unchangeable, and can never be abrogated. Men speak learnedly about abolishing the Sabbath; but they can never abolish the Sabbath until they abolish the facts upon which it rests, and this, as has been seen, is an impossibility. It remains a fact, therefore, that "the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God." In it man is not to work, but rest, and remember the Creator as one who creates not only worlds, but creates us anew in Himself, makes us new creatures in Christ Jesus. The Sabbath thus stands as a memorial not only of creation, but of redemption, which is in fact a new creation.