MEEKNESS by J. F. Case

Publishing Committee · Battle Creek, Mich. · Aug 20, 1857

MEEKNESS.

By J. F. Case

"Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth." Num. xii, 3. In this short sentence we have the secret of the success of this favored servant of God, and undoubtedly it was written for our admonition and good. By an examination of the sacred Word we learn that meekness is a characteristic of the Christian, and that great blessings are promised to those that practice this virtue. In the Word we read, The Lord taketh pleasure in his people, he will beautify the meek with salvation. But men in this age of the world have lost sight of this virtue, and do not appreciate the promise given to those who practice it; yet some men, and especially the popular preachers of the day, when they find some honest soul is about to turn their feet away from the Sabbath of the Lord our God, urge meekness as a last resort to detain them from obeying the Lord.

I once knew a preacher of this class, who upon a certain occasion, finding that a part of his flock had resolved to obey God by keeping all of his Commandments and the Faith of Jesus, determined to save them from the delusion of keeping at least the fourth command. Accordingly he with one of his brethren repaired to the house of an aged brother and sister who had but a little while previous embraced the faith. Here finding that the proof was lacking on his part, he reproved them for their lack of humility. Said he, You should have more regard for the feelings of your brethren. The course that you have taken is causing confusion in the church, and if you are keeping the seventh day you should keep the first day also, and not let it be known to the world, that you are keeping the Sabbath. This man was of the class that think one seventh part of time is all that the fourth commandment requires; but it appears that he did not see that he would have them keep two sevenths of time instead of one. During his conversation with these servants of God, he said to the sister, You should have consulted with the church before taking the step you have. If you had done so, and had not embraced the seventh-day Sabbath until I received the work of a learned man, that I have not; for, you might have been enabled to see that the seventh-day Sabbath has no claims on us. Is man any higher authority than God? was the meek reply of the sister. The minister went away confounded; for he well knew there is no authority in the Scriptures for keeping the first day of the week for the Sabbath, as I have since heard him acknowledge.

How great, thought I, is the power of meekness. This preacher would have been glad if this sister had been meek enough to obey the traditions of men, rather than the commands of God; but God says that his servant Moses was not so, but was faithful in all his house. Num. xii, 7. Though Moses was called from keeping the flocks of Jethro in the plains of Midian to lead God's people, two millions in number, through the Red Sea, and through the wilderness forty years, and was permitted to behold the glory of God as he descended upon mount Sinai, and was permitted to talk with the Lord as it were mouth to mouth, and to behold the similitude of the Lord, [Num. xii, 8.] yet was he the meekest man upon the face of the whole earth, and was faithful in all the Lord's house.

There is not an instance left in the sacred record of his ever teaching the traditions of learned men, instead of the commands of God; but he does teach us to "know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations." Deut. vii, 9. Neither did he teach that the seventh part of time was all that God required to be kept. Search the first five books of the Bible through, and there cannot be a place found where he taught such an idea. Take the book of Genesis, and we find that God made the world and all that is in it in six days and rested on the seventh. Moses does not say that God rested on the seventh part of time, which was the first day of the week, and then worked the remaining six sevenths of the week, but that he first worked six days and then rested the seventh day. Gen. ii, 2, 3. But this is not all. God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because that in it he had rested from all the work which he had created and made. Sanctify, according to Webster, is to separate, to set apart, or appoint to a holy, sacred, or religious use. Then, according to Moses, God set apart the seventh day for a sacred use. But says one, who was to use the seventh day? God or man? Man. So says the Saviour. "The Sabbath was made for man." Mark ii, 27.

We next turn to Exodus. In chap. xvi, Moses tells us that the people rested on the seventh day. This was about two weeks before the children of Israel came to mount Sinai. We next turn to chap. xxxi, 13. Here we have the testimony recorded by Moses. "Verily my Sabbaths ye shall keep, for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you. Verse 16. Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. The definition of perpetual, as given by Webster is, never ceasing, continuing forever in future time, destined to be eternal, as, a perpetual covenant, everlasting, endless. Then, according to the testimony of the Lord as recorded by Moses, the Sabbath is an eternal, or unending covenant. Six days shall work be done, but the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, an holy convocation, ye shall do no work thereon; it is the Sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings. Lev. xxiii, 3. And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks upon the Sabbath-day, and they that found him gathering sticks brought him unto Moses and Aaron, and unto all the congregation, and they put him in ward, because it was not declared what should

be done to him. And the Lord said unto Moses, The man shall be surely put to death, all the congregation shall stone him with stones without the camp. Num. xv, 32, 35.

Let us analize this testimony and see what it proves. According to our seventh-part-of-time friends it would read like this, And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks upon the seventh part of time. How does this sound? It sounds well enough, says one. Let us examine it and see. First, let me ask, why was the man stoned to death? Says one, because he gathered sticks on the seventh part of time. I do not so understand it. Says one, how then do you understand it? I will tell you. It was because that he worked seven seventh parts of time, that he was stoned. True, the seventh day is the seventh part of time, unless some days are lengthened, as one was at the time that Joshua commanded the sun to stand still. When the Lord had finished the work of creation, and rested on the Sabbath, he gave man the privilege of working six seventh parts of time, and commanded him to rest one seventh part of time, according to the reasoning of those that oppose the Sabbath of the Lord. Of such I would ask, Which seventh part of time did God bless? Was it the first seventh part, or the fourth seventh part, or the sixth seventh part, or no one in particular? No one in particular, says one. Then I ask, How could God command that the man that gathered sticks should be punished, since by your reasoning, if the man had worked twelve days and rested two, or worked eighteen and rested three days, it would have been just as well. He could not, says one. Well then, which way will you have it? You answer, he blessed some particular seventh part of time. Well, which seventh part of time? I do not know, you reply. I will tell you. It was the seventh seventh part of time, and it falls on the seventh day of the week. First. Because that God rested from the work which he had made. Second. He could not rest from any work before he had commenced it. We will now pass to Deut. v, 13. Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work, but the seventh is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work, &c.

There is still other testimony in the five books, that was penned by this humble man of God, but we will pass to notice the testimony of another noted personage, who at a later period in the history of the world showed himself to be no less humble than his predecessor, whom the Lord said he should be like unto. "Who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men, and being found in fashion as a man he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." Phil. ii, 6-8.

The first testimony of this witness is found in Matt. v, 17, 18. Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets, I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill; for verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled. All has not yet been fulfilled, for Isaiah prophesied of a new heaven and a new earth; consequently not one jot or one tittle has yet passed from the law.

Again in Matt. xxiv, 20, where this witness was giving directions to his disciples about fleeing from Jerusalem, when they saw it encompassed with armies, he gave an important testimony, which to suit the theory of our seventh-part-of-time friends would read thus: "But pray ye that your flight be not in the Winter, neither on the seventh part of time." What would this amount to? Why, says one, if their prayer was answered they would not flee at all. Would this answer meet the instructions of the Saviour? For my part I do not think it would; for the reason that in verse 16 we read, Then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains. Our Saviour never was inconsistent in his instructions; hence we conclude that our Saviour in looking down the vista of time nearly 40 years this side of his crucifixion, clearly recognized and pointed out to his disciples the seventh-day Sabbath, which was then universally acknowledged by all that professed to serve the God that gave the Sabbath. Let all remember the words of David: "The meek will he guide in judgment, and the meek will he teach his way. All the ways of the Lord are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies." Ps. xxv, 9, 10. Let all remember the promise that the meek shall inherit the earth, and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. Ps. xxxvii, 11.

Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment, seek righteousness, (i. e. seek to do right,) seek meekness, it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord's fierce anger. Zeph. ii, 3. The meek also shall increase their joy in the Lord, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the holy one of Israel. Isa. xxix, 19.

O for that meekness that will enable its possessor to be faithful in the Lord's house, obeying all of his righteous commands; for by the keeping of God's commands we shall have right to partake of the fruit of the tree of life and enter in through the gates of the city of our God. J. F. Case.