INSTITUTION OF THE SABBATH.
SABBATH, in the Hebrew language signifies rest, and is the seventh day of the week: a day appointed for religious duties, and a total cessation from work, in commemoration of God's resting on the seventh day.—Buck. The Sabbath is a positive institution and therefore the proof of its obligation is to be sought for entirely from revelation, yet there are indications in the present constitution, that periods of rest are necessary, both for man and for beast. The recurrence of night, and the necessity of repose, show that the principle of rest enters into the present system, as much as that of labor.—Wayland. OF THE ORIGINAL INSTITUTION OF THE SABBATH.
First. The Divine authority for the institution of the Sabbath is found in Gen. ii, 1-3. "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 works 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." Now concerning this passage we remark,— 1. It was given to our first parents, that is, to the whole human race. 2. God blessed it, that is, bestowed upon it a peculiar blessing, or made it a source of peculiar blessing to man. He sanctified it, that is, set it apart from a common to a sacred and religious use. 3. The reason is a general one: God rested. This has no reference to a peculiar people, but seems in the light of an example from God for all the human race. 4. The nature of the institution is general. God sanctified it, that is, the day. The act refers not to any particular people, but to the day itself. 5. The object to be accomplished is general, and can apply to no one people more than to another. If it be rest, all men equally need it. If it be moral cultivation, surely no people has ever existed who did not require such a means to render them better. Secondly. There are indications that the hebdomadal division of time was observed by the patriarchs before the time of Moses, and that the Sabbath was regarded as the day for religious worship. 1. Gen. iv, 3. "And in process of time it came to pass that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering to the Lord." The word rendered "in process of time" literally signifies "at the end of the days," or, "at the cutting off of days," that is, as I think probable, at the close, as we should say, of a section of days, a very natural expression for the end of a week. If this be the meaning, it would seem to refer to the division of time just previously mentioned, and also of the use of this day for religious worship! 2. Noah seems to have observed the same hebdomadal division of time. The command to enter into the ark, was given seven days before the flood came. Gen. vii, 4-10. So he allowed seven days to elapse between the times of sending forth the dove. Gen. viii, 10-12. Now I think that these intimations show that this division of time was observed according to the original command, and we may well suppose that with it was connected the special time for religious worship.—Thus, also Joseph devoted seven days, or a whole week, to the mourning of his father. 3. The next mention of the Sabbath is shortly after the Israelites had left Egypt, and were fed with manna in the wilderness. Ex. xvi, 22-30. It occurs before the giving of the law, and therefore, the obligativeness of the Sabbath is hereby acknowledged irrespective of the Mosaic law. When first alluded to, it is spoken of as a thing known. God, first, without referring to the Sabbath informs Moses that on the sixth day, the Israelites should gather twice as much manna as on any other day. From this, it seems that the division of time by weeks was known, and that it was taken for granted that they would know the reason for making this distinction. In the whole narration there is no precept given for the keeping of the day, but they are reproved for not suitably keeping it, as though it were an institution with which they ought to have been familiar.—Wayland.