THE TIME OF THE SABBATH.
By John Nevins Andrews
The institution of the Sabbath embraces a certain part of our time as sacred unto the Lord, and we wish now to notice the care with which God has preserved to us a knowledge of that sacred time. The institution of the Sabbath is regarded as a unit throughout the Bible. It is a sacred day which may not be shifted from one day of the week to another, nor yet from one point of commencement to another, without destroying the institution itself. Hence the reckoning of time, as presented in the Book of God, varies not. THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE DAY.
Gen. i; ii. Darkness was the first, as light was the last division of the first day. The darkness was called Night, and the light was called Day; and these two,—the evening and the morning, made up the first day. The statement is repeated with reference to the second and third days. On the fourth day God created lights in the firmament of heaven to divide the day from the night. "And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night;" that they might divide the light from the darkness. Under the rule of God’s great time-keepers, [Deut. iv, 19,] day and night have ever since existed, and have come with the utmost regularity to all the inhabitants of the earth. Thus these two great divisions of time, morning and evening, or day and night, which make up the day of twenty-four hours, have come down to us as they were given to Adam. Thus, as the first six days begun and ended, the seventh also began and ended in like manner.—With reference to evening, notice further Gen. xix, 1; xxiv, 11, 63, Lev. xxii, 6, 7. Lev. xxiii, 32. By direct commandment, the Israelites were to reckon the tenth day of the seventh month from even unto even, or from about sunset to the same point again. The commencement and termination of the tenth day must correspond to the commencement and termination of the other days. Hence at the same hour the Sabbath also begins and ends. Note also Deut. xxiv, 13—15; Josh. x, 26, 27. Neh. xiii, 19. At the command of Nehemiah the gates of Jerusalem were to be shut when it began to grow dark, before the Sabbath. This was enforced to prevent the violation of the Sabbath. The season of the year was the latter part of the seventh month, as may be learned from comparing verses 15—18, with Lev. xxiii, 39. The feast of ingathering followed the vintage. At that season the sun sets about five o’clock at Jerusalem. For proof, notice the time of sunset at Charleston, S. C., at that season. For in the same latitude, the sun sets at the same hour, by the clock. Hence it is certain that the commencement of the day, though in the vicinity of sunset, is NOT ALWAYS at that point, for the rising and setting of the sun is constantly varying. Notice further Judges xiv, 18; xix, 14—16; ii Chron. xviii, 34. Mark i, 21—32. The close of the Sabbath, or even, is clearly shown to be about the time of sunset. A further view may be obtained from an examination of Luke xxiii, 56. The crucifixion occurred the day before the Sabbath, and that their bodies might not remain on the cross upon the Sabbath day, the soldiers were sent to put them to an immediate death. John xix, 31. A more definite idea of this point may be learned from Deut. xxi, 23; Josh. viii, 29. Hence the commencement of the Sabbath was after the burial of Christ. See the texts quoted.—That God should give his people sanctified time, and then leave them at liberty to follow the customs of the heathen in respect to the commencement of the day, is a view of sufficient absurdity to refute itself. As long as the sacred institution exists, there must be uniformity in regard to the reckoning of the time. At the vernal and autumnal equinoxes, the sun rises and sets at six o’clock to all the inhabitants of the earth, and the days and nights are then equal, that is, twelve hours each. Our Lord has shown that there are “twelve hours in the day.” John xi, 9. The parable of Matt. xx, gives a further view of the commencement and ending of the day. The third hour corresponds to nine o’clock, the sixth hour to noon, the ninth hour to three o’clock, and the eleventh hour to five. The last class of laborers were called at this hour, and dismissed at even, having wrought one hour. These facts show that the fixed point from which to reckon day and night is at six. We now inquire what day of the week is the true seventh day—the day on which God rested, and which he sanctified? As there is no direct testimony with reference to the observance of the Sabbath from Creation to the departure of Israel from Egypt, we pass over that period and inquire whether the true Sabbath was known to Israel. Please read Ex. xvi. When the people murmured for bread, God sent them manna, a certain quantity every day. This continued until the sixth day, when there was a double portion. The seventh day there was none. That which was gathered on the sixth, kept good over the Sabbath. Thus by a three-fold miracle, weekly, for the space of forty years, God pointed out to Israel the true seventh day. Hence whether a knowledge of the seventh day had been preserved to Israel or not, the true day was pointed out by God himself. Now from this time forward the history of the Sabbath is given in connection with a succession of inspired men, who pronounced the blessing of God on those who should observe it, and his curse on those who should desecrate it. Hence we may be certain that throughout the time of the Old Testament, the knowledge of the true seventh day was preserved. Now we notice the testimony of the New Testament. Christ gave his sanction to the day which was then observed as the Sabbath, and explained its design.—Luke iv, 16; John vii, 23; Mark ii, 28. After the crucifixion, the disciples rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment. Then they did rest on the day which the commandment required them to observe. To teach that God’s ancient people had lost the reckoning of the week, is to affirm that the record is untrue which declares that they rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment. From the time where the word of inspiration leaves us, we have several important witnesses who have kept the reckoning of the days of the week. 1. The Jews, who have always kept the seventh day. They were scattered into all nations at the time of Jerusalem’s destruction, [Luke xxi,] and, although there are in this class many millions, yet they all agree as to what day is the seventh. 2. The Christians, who have ever regarded either the seventh, or the first day. There are many millions of this class, and they are divided into three great bodies, the Catholic, Greek, and Protestant churches; there also are subdivided into many bodies, yet all these classes agree in the reckoning of the week. 3. If the testimony of a third witness be needed, we introduce the Mahometans, who arose at the commencement of the seventh century. They were required by Mahomet to keep the sixth day, Friday. Throughout their vast body uniformity exists in reckoning the days of the week. As these three witnesses agree, not only with themselves, but with each other, we say that their testimony is to be believed. To suppose that these three classes who have acted without concert, have all made a mistake, and yet have all agreed in it, is to suppose an absolute impossibility. We may be as certain that we have the true seventh day, as we are that the sun which shines in the heaven above us, is the same sun that shone on the first week of Creation. In noticing this subject further, we will examine the views of those who, after admitting the perpetuity of the Sabbath, attempt to show that Sunday is the seventh day. 1. “The original Sabbath was observed until the departure of Israel from Egypt. Then God changed the Sabbath from the seventh day, back to the sixth, which was observed until the resurrection of Jesus. Then the first day, the true seventh day from Creation, took the place of their seventh day. So that those who now keep the first day of the week, keep the Paradisiacal Sabbath.” Jennings’ Jewish Antiquities, as quoted in the “Herald” of April 12. 2. “Christ was crucified on Friday, and lay in the tomb three days and three nights; hence his resurrection on the first day of the week must have been on Monday. Then Sunday, the previous day, is proved to be the true Sabbath.” Joseph Turner, as given in the Bible Advocate, Dec., 1847. These views, though offered in proof of the position that Sunday is the Sabbath, clearly contradict each other, for while one admits that Saturday is the seventh, and Sunday is the first day, as given in the New Testament, the other affirms that Sunday is the seventh, and Monday is the first day. As they do not agree with one another, we will inquire how far they agree with the Bible. 1. Mr. Jennings attempts to show from Ex. xvi, that the Sabbath was changed from the seventh to the sixth day, and that the seventh day was henceforward called the first day of the week. This change of the Sabbath, was made in order to distinguish Israel from the nations around, who kept the true Sabbath! Does he find this change written in this chapter? O no. He infers that the children of Israel journeyed on the seventh day previous to the one on which the manna fell. And from this inference he draws another, that the Sabbath on which the manna fell was not the Sabbath from Creation, but another. To this we reply, that men must be in a drowning state, to catch at such straws. The attempt to show that the Sabbath was changed from the seventh day back to the sixth, when no such thing is named, in order to be able to reckon the seventh day as the first afterward, shows with what determination men will “wrest93the Scriptures,” in order to sustain a sinking cause. But we wish to offer direct testimony on this point. Ex. xx, 8—11. “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. The seventh day [not the sixth] is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.—For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath-day, and hallowed it.” To express the facts in a word, God required Israel to keep that day holy, which he had sanctified. He sanctified the day on which he rested,—the seventh day. Gen. ii, 2, 3. But is it not possible after all that the Israelites were ignorant of the true Sabbath? Let Neh. ix, 13, 14, answer the question.—“Thou camest down also upon mount Sinai,—AND MADEST KNOWN UNTO THEM THY HOLY SABBATH.” The Bible then, settles this question beyond all doubt. The sign between God and Israel consisted in their keeping holy the day on which God rested. Ex. xxxi, 13—17. 2. The position of Joseph Turner. With regard to the space of time between the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we are free to confess that we have believed according to the record, that Christ was crucified the day before the Sabbath, [Mark xv, 42, 43,] and that he was raised the day after, [Mark xvi, 1, 2, 9,] or in other words, he was crucified on the fourteenth day of the first month, the antitype of the paschal lamb, [John xviii, 28; 1 Cor. v, 7,] and raised on the sixteenth day, the antitype of the first fruits. Lev. xxiii, 10, 11; 1 Cor. xv, 20, 23. Thus embracing a part of three days, instead of a part of four, as some claim, by which they contradict a multitude of texts which assert that Christ should rise from the dead on the third day. The question now arises, What proof have we that Christ was crucified on Friday? We answer, that the ONLY proof is found in the fact that he was crucified the day before the Sabbath, [Mark xv, 42,] which according to the undisputed records of all nations, comes on Saturday. How then is it proved that the Sabbath comes on Sunday? It is answered, that the Sabbath following the crucifixion was the passover sabbath, and that the next day was the Sabbath of the Lord, then Christ was raised on the first day, Monday. To this we answer, that if the day following the crucifixion was not the Sabbath of the Lord, then the position that Christ was crucified on Friday is abandoned, and the crucifixion is moved back to Thursday, for the only proof that Christ was crucified on Friday, is found in the fact that it was the day before the Sabbath, or Saturday. Thus this act of inserting another sabbath before the Sabbath of the Lord, instead of setting the resurrection forward one day, actually sets the crucifixion back to Thursday. Hence those who claim the period of three days and three nights in full time, will bear in mind that instead of setting the resurrection forward, and deranging the reckoning of the days of the week, they are actually setting the crucifixion back one day, by inserting a day between that, and the Sabbath of the Lord. J. N. A.