Ends for which the Sabbath was Appointed and Reasons why it should be Observed.
[ALTHOUGH we repudiate those weak inferences by which Justin Edwards in his Sabbath Manual seeks to vindicate a change of the Sabbath, yet we agree with him in many good things which he says in relation to the Sabbath, abstractly, as an institution, independent of the day on which it should be celebrated. The following in regard to the design of God in instituting the Sabbath, sets forth in its true light the teachings of scripture on that point.] ONE grand object of Jehovah, in all his dealings with men, is to manifest himself, and give to them correct views of his character and will. This is designed to lead them to exercise right feelings, and pursue a right course of conduct towards him, themselves, and one another. By so doing, they will glorify their Maker, benefit themselves, and do the greatest good to their fellow men. For this, God stretched out the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth; created man, and made him lord of this lower world. For this, he established for him various institutions and laws. Among them was the institution of the Sabbath; or a day of weekly rest from secular business and cares, of special devotion to the public worship of God, and the promotion of the spiritual and eternal interests of men. The first great institution established in paradise for the human race, was that of marriage. This lays the foundation for families, and for social relations among men. The second great institution, established also in paradise for the race, was that of the Sabbath. This was designed to regulate families; to point out the period for labor and the period for rest, for the public worship of God, and of special devotion to spiritual and eternal concerns. So important was this arrangement to the glory of God and to the welfare of men, that with reference to it God regulated his own conduct in the creation of the world. He wrought six days—himself. He then came out in the face of creation, and rested one day. God thus gave to this arrangement of six days for labor and one for rest, the sanction of his high and holy example. This was the proportion which would, in all ages, be suited to the nature of men, adapted to their capacities, and essential to the supply of their wants. With reference to it, time itself was to be divided, not into days, or months, or years, merely, or into any period measured by the revolutions of the earth or the heavenly bodies, but into weeks—periods of seven days; six for labor, and one for rest and special devotion to spiritual things. This division of time, measured by the conduct and will of God, and by the capacities and wants of men, was, among those who should know and do his will, to be as permanent and as universal as though it were measured by the revolutions of the earth or the heavenly bodies. It was to be, in all ages and all countries, a sign of the covenant between God and his people; an emblem and a foretaste of the rest which remaineth for them, and a special season of preparation for eternal joys. For this reason, Jehovah not only kept it himself, but he sanctified it, or set it apart from other days for this special purpose. He also blessed it, and with such a fullness of blessings, that they flow out to those who keep it, not only on that day, but through all the other days of the week. They are blessed in their bodies and souls, in their going out and their coming in, and in all their ways. In the fifty-eighth chapter of Isaiah and thirteenth verse, Jehovah speaks as if the keeping of the Sabbath were obedience, or would promote obedience to all his commands, and thus insure his blessing: "If thou turn away thy foot from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord honorable; and shalt honor him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words; then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord: and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob, thy father; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it." In the seventeenth chapter of Jeremiah and twenty-first verse, we have an exhibition of the same great principle: "Thus saith the Lord: Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the Sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem. Neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath, neither do ye any work, but hallow ye the Sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers. But they obeyed not, neither inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, nor receive instruction. And it shall come to pass, if ye diligently hearken unto me, saith the Lord, to bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day; but hallow the Sabbath day, to do no work therein; then shall there enter into the gates of this city kings and princes sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their princes, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: and this city shall remain forever. And they shall come from the cities of Judah, and the places about Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin, and from the plain, and from the mountains, and from the south, bringing burnt offerings, and sacrifices, and meat-offerings, and incense, and bringing sacrifices of praise unto the house of the Lord. But if ye will not hearken unto me to hallow the Sabbath day, and not to bear a burden, even entering in at the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day; then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched." In the above passages Jehovah speaks as if the keeping of the Sabbath were everything; as if it comprehended, or would secure obedience to all his commands. This, in an important sense, is the case. Such is the nature of man, such the institution of the Sabbath, and such the effect which the keeping of it will have upon him, that if he is obedient to God in this thing, he will be obedient to him in other things. A Sabbath-keeping people will be an obedient people. The manner in which they treat the Sabbath will be a test of their character, an index of their morality and religion. God did not think it necessary, therefore, to say to his people in these passages, that, if they would not commit murder, he would bless them; or, if they would not be guilty of theft, he would bless them. He knew that if they would rightly keep the Sabbath, they would not commit murder or theft, or ordinarily be guilty of any gross outward crimes. Men who regularly observe the Sabbath, and habitually143attend public worship, which is a part of the proper observance of that day, do not commit such crimes. While they keep the Sabbath, God keeps them; not by force or coercion of any kind, but by the influence of moral government, through means of his appointment. The Sabbath is the great and all-pervading means of giving efficacy to moral government, and holds a relation to general morality similar to that which the marriage institution holds to social purity. It was designed, and is adapted to lead people steadily to rest from worldly business, cares, and amusements; to contemplate Jehovah as the Creator, Preserver, Redeemer, Benefactor, Owner, Governor, Judge and Disposer of men; to keep alive, and render practically efficacious, the knowledge of the one only living and true God; to lead all to worship and adore him, and thus to experience the benefits of his infinitely wise, universal, and benevolent reign. Hence the reason which he gave to his ancient people why they should keep it—"that ye may know that I am Jehovah." Had all men properly kept the Sabbath, all would have known Jehovah, and worshiped him, from the creation of the world to the present time, and idolatry never would have been practiced on the earth. Hence also when the wants of his ancient people required that they should no longer depend upon oral communications merely, but should have the unchanging laws by which they were to be governed placed upon a permanent record—such as, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me; shalt not bow down to graven images; shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; shalt honor thy father and thy mother; shalt not kill, commit adultery; steal, bear false witness, or covet,"—he put this among them: "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy; in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor the stranger that is within thy gates." He places this in the midst of them; and obedience to it was essential, in order to obedience to the other commands. If they would not keep the Sabbath, they would not obey him in other things. Sabbath-breaking would be treason against the government of God, and open the way for universal profligacy and ruin. Hence, as a civil ruler, he would no more suffer the Sabbath-breaker to live among that people than he would the murderer. The penalty was placed among the local and temporary regulations of that peculiar people; it was not designed to be permanent, and was not written by the finger of God on the tables of stone; but the law was written there; because that was designed to be permanent. It expressed an obligation which arose from the nature of man, and from his relations to his Maker, and which, as really as the obligation expressed by the other laws, would be binding upon him through all time. It is sometimes said that, if the law of the Sabbath is binding upon men now, then we must, as the Jews did, put the violators of it to death by the hand of the civil magistrate. This does not follow. We are not now, as the Jews did, to put the open presumptuous violator of the first, or the fifth, or the seventh command, to death. Yet are not these commands binding upon men? Is it not wicked for men to have another god before Jehovah, to bow down to graven images and worship them, or to dishonor their parents? All the commands of the decalogue expressed obligations which were binding upon men before they were written upon tables of stone, and which will continue to be binding till the end of the world. The penalty of death attached for a time to the violation of the Sabbath, showed how the Lawgiver abhorred the crime. Nor was this abhorrence without good reason. The Sabbath-breaker violated a fundamental law. He proclaimed by actions, the most impressive of all language, "No God!" and thus produced the effect of practical atheism on himself and on others. He does this in all ages. And as long as it will be wicked for men in a state of probation to have another god before Jehovah, to bow down to graven images, to take the name of God in vain, to dishonor their parents, to commit murder, adultery, or theft, to bear false witness, or to covet; so long will it be wicked for them not to rest from worldly business, cares, and amusements, one day in seven, for the purpose of publicly worshiping Jehovah, and promoting the spiritual good of themselves and others. The reason which God gave on the tables of stone for keeping the Sabbath, was not a Jewish reason. It was one which applies alike to all men. "For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that in them is." But he did not make them for Jews merely, or for any particular people. He made them for us, and for all men. As a memorial of that fact, he set apart the Sabbath, kept it, sanctified and blessed it, for the benefit of all. All are bound, by keeping it, to acknowledge this, and to honor him as the Creator, Preserver, and Benefactor; and, as such, the Owner, Governor, and Disposer of all things. The Sabbath was appointed for that purpose, and, as a consequence, to impress on the minds of men the great truths, that "the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world, and they that dwell therein;" that the "silver and the gold are his," though acquired by human industry, and "the cattle upon a thousand hills." The earth is not eternal; it did not create itself; no creature called it into being. Nor is its existence to be ascribed to chance, to idols, or to any of the false gods which men have worshiped. In the beginning Jehovah created the heavens and the earth. And the things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. They were literally created. "He spake, and it was. He commanded, and it stood fast!" The Sabbath was designed to make all men feel this; and to lead them, by keeping it, publicly to acknowledge, "Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of thy hands. They shall perish, but thou remainest." And "Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the victory, and the majesty; for all that is in the heavens and the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O Jehovah, and thou art exalted as head above all." Such are some of the truths which, by the keeping of the Sabbath, are every week proclaimed to the world, in a manner adapted to the nature of man, and suited to make on him a strong and lasting impression.