WAS THE SABBATH INSTITUTED BEFORE THE FALL?
By D. T. Bourdeau
THIS is a very important question, and many of those who oppose the Sabbath are ready to answer it in the negative, that they may make it appear that the Sabbath grew out of the fall, and was one of those types which were to be superceded by the death of Christ. But we feel safe to answer this question in the affirmative. God rested on the seventh day, and set that day apart to a religious use, as soon as he had created the heavens and the earth. See Gen. ii, 1–3; Ex. xx, 8–11. God laid the foundation of the Sabbath by resting on the seventh day, and he completed the grand Sabbatic institution by blessing and sanctifying the day on which he rested. Now the record of the institution of the Sabbath precedes the account of the fall. But some will claim that the events brought to view in the second and third chapters of Genesis are not given in a consecutive order, and that our first parents may have fallen before the Sabbath was instituted. For the benefit of such we will introduce the following points: 1. Adam and Eve were created on the sixth day; and at the close of the sixth day God saw everything that he had made, and beheld, it was very good. Gen. i, 31. Everything that God made was good, and answered to the purpose for which it was made, at the close of the sixth day. Therefore it is inconsistent to say that Adam and Eve fell (were not good) on the sixth day. 2. It is not reasonable to suppose that Adam and Eve fell on the seventh day. As soon as they were created they saw the glorious and perfect works of the Creator, and knew that they derived their existence and all their blessings from him. They were sinless, and doubtless conversed with angels. Nothing prevented them from seeing their blessed Creator in his dazzling glory, and communing with him. God spoke to them in regard to their dominion and privileges, and gave them plain directions concerning their duty, showing them what would be their reward if they did right, and what punishment would be inflicted upon them if they did wrong. Now it cannot be made to appear consistent that beings thus privileged should immediately lose their convictions of duty, and strong impressions, and violate the plain command of their kind Creator the day after they were created. 3. Again, we read that on the seventh day God rested and was refreshed. Ex. xxxi, 17. "The Creator of the ends of the earth fainteth not, neither is weary" [Isa. xl, 28]; and the idea of God's being refreshed implies that he delighted in his works, and in the act that laid the foundation of the Sabbath. But how can it be said that God delighted in his works when he rested, if our first parents, who were made in his image, and who were to have dominion over all the earth, fell from their integrity, and placed themselves under the government of the enemy on the seventh day? It is therefore evident that the Sabbath was instituted before the fall, and that it was not one of those types which were to end in Christ. Those types which shadowed forth Christ and his work implied that man had sinned, and that a way was opened for him to obtain salvation. But man had not sinned when the Sabbath was made, and he needed no types to show that he was a sinner, and that it was necessary for Christ to die. There is nothing about the Sabbath that is typical, and that points forward to Christ. The Sabbath is a memorial pointing back to creation. "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." Ex. xx, 11. We have seen the Sabbath in Eden before types were instituted; and the Sabbath will exist in the new earth when all types and shadows will have vanished away. Says Isaiah, "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. lxvi, 22, 23. Dear reader, if you would be among that happy company who will love and keep the Sabbath in the new earth, keep the Sabbath here, and call it "a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable." Isa. lviii. Hide not yourself under the vain excuse that good men have not kept the Sabbath. The blood of Christ atones for sins of ignorance; but Christ does not promise pardon and life to those who live in willful disobedience.