The Fourth Commandment and the Name of God in GloryBible World
2:1Genesis 2:1
Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
Thus the heavens and the earth and all the host of them were finished after six days of God's creating and making work, ending His work and opening the seventh day on which He rested. The finished creation was very good, perfect and complete, holy and beautiful and worthy of its Author, with man as its last crowning work made in God's image. When creation was finished the Sabbath was instituted and founded in Eden, for on the seventh day God ended His work, rested and was refreshed, and blessed and sanctified it. The seventh-day Sabbath is the memorial of that six-day making and seventh-day rest, declaring who the living God is as Creator and Maker and directing all mankind to worship Him. That rest and blessing belong alone to the seventh day, never removed or changed, given to all mankind and to be observed to the close of time and into eternity.
Creation Finished in Six Days
Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them, after six days of God's creating and making work, closing His work of creating and making and ending His work, and opening the seventh day on which He ended His work, rested from all His work, and was refreshed. The heavens and the earth and all that fills them and all that belongs to them were finished at the close of the six days, when everything God had made was very good, before the seventh-day Sabbath was established in Eden. The completed creation leads to the seventh day on which God rested, blessed the seventh day and sanctified it because in it He had rested from all His work which He had created and made.
The finished work was very good, perfect and complete, holy and beautiful, and worthy of its divine Author. The whole world was dressed in beauty, filled with things useful to man and with all the wonders of land and sea created, with everything God could do done and all the works of His hands pronounced good. God looked with satisfaction upon the work of His hands, satisfied with His work, resting not as one weary but as well pleased with the fruits of His wisdom and goodness and the manifestations of His glory.
Man was made as the last crowning work and last grand work coming from His hand, in God's own image with dominion over created things and over the created things. When the heavens and earth were finished and the foundations of the earth were laid, the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God and all the host of heaven shouted for joy. That rejoicing attended the finishing and the giving of the Sabbath to the world, celebrated as the divine rest-day and day of His appointment.
The world was made by Jehovah through Jesus Christ, by God the Father working together with Jesus Christ His equal, through His appointed agency, One equal with Himself, by His own power, and did not come into existence without Him. The making was in six days and in six literal days, with God working six days and then resting on the seventh day and on the seventh literal day, an established fact and part of God's plan from the beginning. That plan from the beginning includes equal use of the mental and physical powers in useful work. At the finished point Eden bloomed on earth, everything God had made was very good, Adam and Eve had free access to the tree of life, and no taint of sin or shadow of death marred the fair creation.
Sabbath Instituted in Eden
Genesis 2:1 records the completion of the heavens and the earth with everything in them and begins the account of the institution of the seventh-day Sabbath in Eden. At that finishing of the six days of work in making the world and all things in it, the Lord of heaven instituted the creation Sabbath as a memorial, working six days through His appointed agency, One equal with Himself, and then resting on the seventh day and being refreshed. When the foundation of the world was laid the foundation of the Sabbath was laid also, ordained and set apart to be sacredly observed as a day of rest and worship throughout all time. It is a message to all people on the earth, declaring the sacredness and binding claims of the seventh day as set apart, blessed and sanctified as a day of rest.
The verse marks the finishing of the heavens and the earth and all the host of them after six days of creating and making, closing that work when everything made was very good and opening the seventh day on which God ended His work. On that seventh day God ended His work which He had made, rested from all His work which He created and made, and was refreshed. He blessed the seventh day and sanctified and hallowed it because in it He had rested from all His work which He had created and made. That rest and blessing belong alone to the seventh day as the divine rest-day of His appointment and the seventh-day Sabbath of the fourth commandment, not to the first day of the week which has been placed in its stead. The sanctification so placed has never been removed, and the seventh day is to be observed without any change.
The Sabbath thus blessed and hallowed was set apart for man to observe as holy and given to man to be kept holy as the sign designating the people of God. It was given to Adam and Eve for all their descendants and to all mankind, not to the Jews only, having been established before Israel was chosen, and its obligation continues through the Christian age into eternity. It was committed to Adam as father and representative of the whole human family, to be sacredly observed throughout all time and to the close of time. After God rested He placed His sanctity and blessing upon the day of His rest when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God and all the host of heaven shouted for joy, and that same blessing belongs upon every Sabbath day of rest.
God saw that a Sabbath was essential for man even in Paradise for spiritual and physical health. As God ceased His labor of creating and rested and blessed the day, so man is to leave the occupation of daily life, with the day sanctified as a day of rest for the performance of spiritual duties and devoted to God in spiritual service as a day of His special appointment. The day is not intended as a period of useless inactivity or indolence, but for devoting its sacred hours to healthful rest, to worship, to holy deeds, to contemplation of the works of God, and to performance of spiritual duties. By thus setting apart the Sabbath God gave the world a memorial, not one day and any day in seven but one particular day, the seventh day, by which men show they recognize God as the living God, the Creator of heaven and earth, the true and living God, Teacher, Redeemer and Saviour. The institution set up in Eden as a memorial of the finished work, placing His blessing upon the seventh day, is wholly commemorative and given to all mankind, with nothing shadowy in it and no restricted application to any people, its observance by all who dwell upon the earth being an act of grateful acknowledgment that God is their Creator and rightful sovereign, that they are the work of His hands and the subjects of His authority.
Memorial Meaning of Sabbath
Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them, at the close of six days of creating and making work, and that completed work leads directly to the seventh day on which God rested, ended His work, and was refreshed. The seventh day so blessed and hallowed and sanctified and set apart as holy time is the memorial of creation, instituted at that completion as the creation Sabbath and divine rest-day and day of appointment, commemorating the six-day making of heaven and earth and all things in them and God's seventh-day rest. It is not the first day of the week but the seventh day, celebrated when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy, given to man to observe as holy by doing no ordinary work, and directing people to worship the Creator named in the fourth commandment and specified in Exodus 20. The God who created the world and made man through His appointed agency, One equal with Himself, gave to man the laws of His kingdom and in that law specified the day to be observed as this memorial.
The memorial shows the true and living God to be the Creator who made the world in six days, declaring and preserving forever among men the knowledge of who He is as Creator and Maker of the world above all other gods. He is thereby pointed out as above all other gods because He is the Creator of all things, called to mind as the true and living God, Teacher, Redeemer and Saviour, testifying to His existence and to His power, wisdom, love and goodness and His claim to reverence and worship. It belongs to His law which is the foundation of His government in heaven and in earth, given not to make men unhappy but to bring them into harmony with God and with the whole family in heaven who delight to do His will, with precepts to be kept by all human intelligences. The gift of His only begotten Son and the death of Christ did not sound the death knell to the laws of Jehovah or make the commandments null and void, but was to bring man back to allegiance to God.
The Sabbath was founded when the foundations of the earth were laid and creation was finished, and keeping the true Sabbath would have preserved the world from atheism and idolatry. It stands as a memorial of that creative power, pointing to Him as Maker of the heavens and the earth as a constant witness to His existence and a reminder of His greatness, wisdom and love, so that sacred observance would leave no room for atheism or idolatry. God is thereby known as the Creator to whom all other beings owe their existence, and that fact gives Him claim to reverence and worship above the gods of the heathen.
The finishing of creation, with everything God could do done and all the works of His hands pronounced good, leads to God ending His work and resting on the seventh day, blessing and sanctifying that day, and giving the Sabbath to man to be kept holy as the sign designating the people of God from all peoples and nations. This seventh-day Sabbath is God's sign and pledge between Him and His people, an evidence of His love and kindness and an assurance that He will bless them in obedience, a perpetual covenant sign to be kept throughout their generations and never made less prominent, by which the loyal who honor God and whom He sanctifies are distinguished from the disloyal who refuse. It is the prominent distinguishing sign by which the world recognizes God's people as Seventh-day Adventists, a peculiar people chosen by God separate from the world and made His representatives to exalt His downtrodden law, acknowledging before churches and world that God is the Creator. It is a token by which they are distinguished from all false religionists, a line of demarcation between him that serves God and him that serves Him not, preserving among the nations a clear knowledge of the only true God above all gods.
On the Sabbath men are to rest as God rested, looking at the work of His hands and remembering His mighty power and wonderful goodness. No servile work is to be done, for God gave man six days on which to work and claims the seventh day as His own, on which men are to worship Him and contemplate the wonderful works of the Creator, praising Him for His goodness and love. By thus setting apart the Sabbath God gave the world a memorial, not one day and any day in seven but one particular day, the seventh day, to be employed not in indolence but in contemplation of the works of God that men may know that the Lord sanctifies them and may learn their duty to their Creator. Through it His glory is beheld in the everlasting hills, lofty trees, opening buds and blooming flowers, while the heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament shows His handiwork.
Creation Rest and Redemption Rest
As the Father and the Son finished the heavens and the earth and all their host, creation was ended and was followed by Their rest on the seventh day. That finished creation and rest is matched by Christ finishing His sacrificial work as a lamb without blemish on Friday and resting in the tomb of Joseph on the Sabbath. The timing was designed in God's plan, that Christ should complete His work on Friday and rest in the tomb on the Sabbath just as the Father and the Son had rested after creation. His death at that exact time was planned, so the hour of apparent defeat was the hour of His victory, and the great plan devised before the foundations of the earth were laid was successfully carried out.
The completed heavens and earth and all their host caused the Creator and all heavenly beings to rejoice in contemplation of the glorious scene after the finishing of the work of creation. That finished creation and Sabbath rest is paralleled by Jesus resting in Joseph's tomb on the Sabbath after finishing the work of redemption. His Sabbath rest in the tomb brought joy in heaven over the promised restored creation and redeemed race that having conquered sin could never fall. The day of Jesus' rest is forever linked with the creation Sabbath, which remains a day of rest and rejoicing through the restitution of all things when heaven and earth unite in worship.
When the heavens and the earth were finished the Sabbath was instituted at the laying of the foundation of the world, when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy. The Sabbath is God's memorial to preserve to men forever the knowledge of the true God, testifying who is the living God, the Maker of the world who made the heavens and the earth in six days and rested on the seventh day, blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. It belongs to His law which is the foundation of His government in heaven and in earth, given not to make men unhappy but to bring them into harmony with God and with the whole family in heaven who delight to do His will, with precepts to be kept by all human intelligences. The gift of His only begotten Son and the death of Christ did not sound the death knell to the laws of Jehovah or make the commandments null and void, but was to bring man back to allegiance to God. Satan's claim otherwise repeats his deception of Eve in Eden and aims to get rid of the true memorial, blinding unbelievers to put everything in a false light.
Authority and Permanence Tested
Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them, and with that finishing the foundation of the Sabbath was laid at the very beginning of the world. The Sabbath is therefore as old as the world itself, older than Sunday-keeping and older than later church customs, established by the Ancient of days and commanded by His eternal word. It bears the sanction of both God and angels, rests on no human tradition, was ordained by no human authority, and demands reverence because it is grounded in God's authority rather than human tradition.
The completion leads directly to the seventh day, not the first day of the week, as the day God blessed and sanctified and set apart as the divine rest-day and day of His appointment. On the seventh day God ended His work which He had made and rested from all His work which He had created and made and was refreshed, because in it He had rested, and that rest and blessing belong alone to the seventh day as the seventh-day Sabbath of the fourth commandment. That honor does not belong to the first day which has been placed in its stead, for the first day is a common working day with not one thread of sanctity in it. The seventh day is definite and knowable, not uncertain, given to man to be kept holy unto the Lord as a memorial that He made the world in six days and rested upon the seventh, to be observed throughout generations for a perpetual covenant as a sign of obedience and loyalty. God pronounced His blessing upon all who keep the Sabbath day holy, pledged to bless those who keep it, gave men six days to labor while reserving the day of His rest for worship of the Creator of heaven and earth, who created all things by Jesus Christ.
The sanctification God placed on the seventh day has never been removed, and the seventh day is to be observed without any change. The true Sabbath was given at the creation of the world to man to be observed by him to the close of time, and the institution man cannot change. It is to be kept for a sign to a thousand generations, by which time the redeemed will be in the city of God, and its observance continues until the redeemed host are in the city of God and worship from Sabbath to Sabbath. It remains just as sacred as when God placed His sanctity upon it, proving the perpetuity of the law of Jehovah and giving authority for keeping the original Sabbath of Jehovah. Christ gave no new Sabbath after the crucifixion, and His instruction to pray that flight from Jerusalem would not be on the Sabbath shows its continuing obligation.
The law instituted in Eden that God requires His people to respect was placed in the bosom of the Decalogue as the fourth commandment, which declares who the living God is as Creator. It stands together with the creation record and the law in Exodus as God's spoken standard of right-doing, carrying eternal truth given in Scripture that can never be changed, calling for constant devotion, fear of God, and humble faithful work in His cause. The Sabbath of the fourth commandment was sanctified by God and given to man as the memorial of the creation of the world and all things therein, keeping the memory of God's great and wonderful works, and God made it the criterion of obedience binding on every man, with the original and supreme object to remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. This original Sabbath is to be kept just as the Word reads, distinguishing Seventh-day Adventists as a peculiar people chosen by God, separate from the world, made His representatives to exalt His downtrodden law. It belongs to His law which is the foundation of His government in heaven and in earth, given not to make men unhappy but to bring them into harmony with God and with the whole family in heaven who delight to do His will, with precepts to be kept by all human intelligences.
The Sabbath was given to Adam and Eve for all their descendants, not just to the Jews, and its obligation continues through the Christian age and into eternity. It was instituted in Eden at the beginning of this earth's history as a memorial of the great work of creation, committed to Adam as the father and representative of the whole human family, and given to all mankind having been established before Israel was chosen to be a peculiar people. Thus the institution is wholly commemorative and given to all mankind, with nothing shadowy in it and no restricted application to any people or particular class, its observance by all who dwell upon the earth being an act of grateful acknowledgment that God is their creator and rightful sovereign. The Sabbath was not instituted at Sinai but already existed from creation and was observed by all the patriarchs from creation down, its sacredness only dimmed when the Israelites were forced to violate it in Egyptian bondage, and the opening word Remember points back to this creation origin. When the foundation of the earth was laid the foundation of the Sabbath was laid also, because God saw that a Sabbath was essential for man even in Paradise for his spiritual and physical health, to be employed not in indolence but in contemplation of the works of God that men may know that the Lord sanctifies them.
Sunday observance has no foundation in the open Bible but originates in papal authority, set up and enforced by human laws with penalties in opposition to God Himself. Ever since that institution in Eden Satan has made a determined effort with masterly power to destroy this memorial and to institute a spurious sabbath in its place, so that the memorial would be lost from the mind and a worldwide apostasy against God's law would be brought about. By leading men and women to disregard the fourth commandment he places them on his side of the controversy, aiming to tear down this great memorial by setting aside the fourth commandment to cause men to forget their Creator, so they make no effort to resist evil and become his prey. Discarding and scorning that Sabbath while exalting a spurious sabbath that has no sacredness tramples God's law and repeats Adam's sin, and like Cain its exalters are exceedingly angry because the whole world does not regard it with the sacredness belonging to the Sabbath of the Lord. That spurious day was never set apart or ordained by God but was exchanged for the day sanctified by Jehovah, found again by searching Scripture after 1844, repeating the iniquity that caused God to command Noah to build the ark and to give 120 years probation ending in destruction when men would not repent.
With the finishing of the heavens and the earth and all their host when the Lord made heaven and earth, God made His law, and obedience was required of Adam and is required no less of every one of the human family, obedience to all of God's requirements. The law thus memorialized is immutable and endures forever, perfect to convert the soul to perfect obedience to the Lawgiver and to bind man to his Creator as owner and preserver of all things. True holiness is obedience to God, not transgression, and those who love God cheerfully yield obedience to all His commandments, while true sanctification from God is bestowed only on those who honor Him by obeying His commands. To honor the Sabbath is to commemorate creation and obey God's law; to dishonor it and follow human inclinations is to glorify self instead of God as those before the flood did, to oppose God's work and law, and to uphold a day without sanctity. Disregarding that memorial through false teaching and accepting a spurious Sabbath dishonors God's memorial of creation and confirms men and women in disobedience like eating the fruit of the forbidden tree, by which disobedience Satan gains in the fallen world what he failed to gain in heaven, power to change God's law. Their disobedience lost the Eden home, and perfect obedience to all God's requirements brings people back to it, as Christ overcame by perfect obedience in keeping His Father's commandments, and following His example in obedience restores the way heavenward.
Observance and Present Proclamation
To keep the Sabbath holy is to do no ordinary, secular or servile work on it, but to rest from ordinary work and from all secular labor and to devote its sacred hours to God in spiritual service, worship, holy deeds and contemplation of the wonderful works of the Creator. God gave man six days on which to work and claims the seventh day as His own, on which no servile work is to be done, and honoring it by both precept and example means resting from ordinary work, so that physicians are not to make appointments or travel on the Sabbath. The seventh day was sanctified as a day of rest for the performance of spiritual duties, set apart from all other days and established as a memorial of the work of creation, to be devoted to God in spiritual service as a day of His special appointment, not to be employed in indolence or useless inactivity but in healthful rest and contemplation that men may know that the Lord sanctifies them. Together with the next two verses the finishing of the heavens and the earth and all their host gives the reason for being assembled on the seventh day of the week.
The plain teaching of the sanctity of the seventh day is that the seventh day is the Sabbath of the fourth commandment to be observed apart from those who do not honor God. It is God's great test and the sign of loyalty to Him and the criterion of obedience binding on every man, requiring observance of the day He blessed and set apart rather than repudiating His Word to accept a day He has not sanctified and upholding a day without sanctity. In the day when every case is decided men will be judged by these charges of the Word of God, and those who have not searched the Scriptures and have observed a day He has not blessed will not be excused for ignorance. Ignoring that holy day and placing a spurious sabbath bearing no mark of sanctity in its stead inflicts a deep wound on God, casts off allegiance to Him in favor of human power, and leaves men without the mark by which His true followers are known, while true sanctification from God is bestowed only on those who honor Him by obeying His commands. Satan has made a determined effort ever since Eden to destroy this memorial and to institute a spurious sabbath in its stead to cause that memorial to be lost and to bring about worldwide apostasy against God's law, because keeping the whole law yet offending in one point makes one guilty of all.
The six-day making of sky and earth and everything in them followed by rest on the seventh day is an established fact and a distinguishing feature of faith that those who know the truth must not make less prominent but must make prominent before all nations, kindreds, tongues, and peoples. It makes observance of the seventh-day Sabbath the prominent distinguishing perpetual covenant sign throughout their generations by which the world recognizes God's people as Seventh-day Adventists, a peculiar people chosen by God, separate from the world and made His representatives to exalt His downtrodden law. Resting each week on the Lord's rest day acknowledges before the churches and the world that God is the Creator and distinguishes Sabbathkeepers from all who disregard God's holy day, with plain scriptural authority against the false Sabbath and compulsory Sunday rest. The facts concerning the Lord's Sabbath must be made known as present truth, and it must be shown that the seventh-day Sabbath is the Lord's memorial of creation, as part of the work to be done in proclaiming the third angel's message. That message embraces the first and second angels' messages and is based on the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, to be proclaimed everywhere with great distinctness and power, unclouded by human theories and sophistries. Nothing of this teaching from the first experience after the passing of the time is to be given up, for it has been held firmly since 1844 on solid evidence, and no evidence from the Word unsettles it, its foundation standing secure, with Scripture evidences for observance presented in every opening.
God calls for a reformation in the observance of the true Sabbath given at creation to be observed to the close of time, and men and women who believe the truth for this time are to be educated to go forth and speak intelligently about that reformation as part of giving the message of present truth in all its fulness. This memorial is testing truth to be given to the world, to be exalted by methods of work especially in sanitariums, acknowledged in its binding claims, kept aright as more important and essential than in the past, held as a sign between God and His people throughout their generations forever, and presented so the light illuminates all minds without giving offense. The finishing of the heavens and the earth with all their host stands as God's decided Thus saith the Lord requiring observance of the very Sabbath He gave, the seventh day, declaring the sacredness and binding claims of the seventh day as set apart, blessed and sanctified as a day of rest. It is the Word of the living God to be read before congregations as proof that God set the seventh day apart for observance, to be presented plainly as Thus saith the Lord instead of entering into controversy with those determined to enact Sunday laws, so that the burden of responsibility rests on those who reject it and their controversy is with God and not with men.
God's chosen loyal people have the work for this time to undeceive the world, maintain His worship, and establish churches as memorials continually proclaiming the genuineness of the Eden Sabbath instituted when the heavens and the earth were finished and when all the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy. The Sabbath thus given is a sign between God and His people, an evidence of His love and kindness and an assurance that He will bless them in obedience, by which the loyal who honor God are distinguished from the disloyal who refuse. The Lord draws very nigh to His people on the day He blessed and sanctified, and God pledged to bless those who keep it. Man's observance of the Lord's day of rest now again causes joy among the angels of heaven, even while the church militant faces persecution for keeping the Sabbath of creation which God sanctified and blessed. That rest is an example of what God wants humans to do, and by the Sabbath commandment God is pointed out as above all other gods because He is the Creator of all things, so that resting on the Sabbath means looking at the work of His hands and remembering His mighty power and wonderful goodness. It belongs to a plan from the beginning that includes equal use of the mental and physical powers in useful work, and it carries eternal truth given in Scripture that can never be changed, calling for constant devotion, fear of God, and humble faithful work in His cause.
Thus the heavens and the earth and all the host of them were finished after six days of God's creating and making work, ending His work and opening the seventh day on which He rested. The finished creation was very good, perfect and complete, holy and beautiful and worthy of its Author, with man as its last crowning work made in God's image. When creation was finished the Sabbath was instituted and founded in Eden, for on the seventh day God ended His work, rested and was refreshed, and blessed and sanctified it. The seventh-day Sabbath is the memorial of that six-day making and seventh-day rest, declaring who the living God is as Creator and Maker and directing all mankind to worship Him. That rest and blessing belong alone to the seventh day, never removed or changed, given to all mankind and to be observed to the close of time and into eternity.
Creation Finished in Six Days
Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them, after six days of God's creating and making work, closing His work of creating and making and ending His work, and opening the seventh day on which He ended His work, rested from all His work, and was refreshed. The heavens and the earth and all that fills them and all that belongs to them were finished at the close of the six days, when everything God had made was very good, before the seventh-day Sabbath was established in Eden. The completed creation leads to the seventh day on which God rested, blessed the seventh day and sanctified it because in it He had rested from all His work which He had created and made.
The finished work was very good, perfect and complete, holy and beautiful, and worthy of its divine Author. The whole world was dressed in beauty, filled with things useful to man and with all the wonders of land and sea created, with everything God could do done and all the works of His hands pronounced good. God looked with satisfaction upon the work of His hands, satisfied with His work, resting not as one weary but as well pleased with the fruits of His wisdom and goodness and the manifestations of His glory.
Man was made as the last crowning work and last grand work coming from His hand, in God's own image with dominion over created things and over the created things. When the heavens and earth were finished and the foundations of the earth were laid, the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God and all the host of heaven shouted for joy. That rejoicing attended the finishing and the giving of the Sabbath to the world, celebrated as the divine rest-day and day of His appointment.
The world was made by Jehovah through Jesus Christ, by God the Father working together with Jesus Christ His equal, through His appointed agency, One equal with Himself, by His own power, and did not come into existence without Him. The making was in six days and in six literal days, with God working six days and then resting on the seventh day and on the seventh literal day, an established fact and part of God's plan from the beginning. That plan from the beginning includes equal use of the mental and physical powers in useful work. At the finished point Eden bloomed on earth, everything God had made was very good, Adam and Eve had free access to the tree of life, and no taint of sin or shadow of death marred the fair creation.
Sabbath Instituted in Eden
Genesis 2:1 records the completion of the heavens and the earth with everything in them and begins the account of the institution of the seventh-day Sabbath in Eden. At that finishing of the six days of work in making the world and all things in it, the Lord of heaven instituted the creation Sabbath as a memorial, working six days through His appointed agency, One equal with Himself, and then resting on the seventh day and being refreshed. When the foundation of the world was laid the foundation of the Sabbath was laid also, ordained and set apart to be sacredly observed as a day of rest and worship throughout all time. It is a message to all people on the earth, declaring the sacredness and binding claims of the seventh day as set apart, blessed and sanctified as a day of rest.
The verse marks the finishing of the heavens and the earth and all the host of them after six days of creating and making, closing that work when everything made was very good and opening the seventh day on which God ended His work. On that seventh day God ended His work which He had made, rested from all His work which He created and made, and was refreshed. He blessed the seventh day and sanctified and hallowed it because in it He had rested from all His work which He had created and made. That rest and blessing belong alone to the seventh day as the divine rest-day of His appointment and the seventh-day Sabbath of the fourth commandment, not to the first day of the week which has been placed in its stead. The sanctification so placed has never been removed, and the seventh day is to be observed without any change.
The Sabbath thus blessed and hallowed was set apart for man to observe as holy and given to man to be kept holy as the sign designating the people of God. It was given to Adam and Eve for all their descendants and to all mankind, not to the Jews only, having been established before Israel was chosen, and its obligation continues through the Christian age into eternity. It was committed to Adam as father and representative of the whole human family, to be sacredly observed throughout all time and to the close of time. After God rested He placed His sanctity and blessing upon the day of His rest when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God and all the host of heaven shouted for joy, and that same blessing belongs upon every Sabbath day of rest.
God saw that a Sabbath was essential for man even in Paradise for spiritual and physical health. As God ceased His labor of creating and rested and blessed the day, so man is to leave the occupation of daily life, with the day sanctified as a day of rest for the performance of spiritual duties and devoted to God in spiritual service as a day of His special appointment. The day is not intended as a period of useless inactivity or indolence, but for devoting its sacred hours to healthful rest, to worship, to holy deeds, to contemplation of the works of God, and to performance of spiritual duties. By thus setting apart the Sabbath God gave the world a memorial, not one day and any day in seven but one particular day, the seventh day, by which men show they recognize God as the living God, the Creator of heaven and earth, the true and living God, Teacher, Redeemer and Saviour. The institution set up in Eden as a memorial of the finished work, placing His blessing upon the seventh day, is wholly commemorative and given to all mankind, with nothing shadowy in it and no restricted application to any people, its observance by all who dwell upon the earth being an act of grateful acknowledgment that God is their Creator and rightful sovereign, that they are the work of His hands and the subjects of His authority.
Memorial Meaning of Sabbath
Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them, at the close of six days of creating and making work, and that completed work leads directly to the seventh day on which God rested, ended His work, and was refreshed. The seventh day so blessed and hallowed and sanctified and set apart as holy time is the memorial of creation, instituted at that completion as the creation Sabbath and divine rest-day and day of appointment, commemorating the six-day making of heaven and earth and all things in them and God's seventh-day rest. It is not the first day of the week but the seventh day, celebrated when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy, given to man to observe as holy by doing no ordinary work, and directing people to worship the Creator named in the fourth commandment and specified in Exodus 20. The God who created the world and made man through His appointed agency, One equal with Himself, gave to man the laws of His kingdom and in that law specified the day to be observed as this memorial.
The memorial shows the true and living God to be the Creator who made the world in six days, declaring and preserving forever among men the knowledge of who He is as Creator and Maker of the world above all other gods. He is thereby pointed out as above all other gods because He is the Creator of all things, called to mind as the true and living God, Teacher, Redeemer and Saviour, testifying to His existence and to His power, wisdom, love and goodness and His claim to reverence and worship. It belongs to His law which is the foundation of His government in heaven and in earth, given not to make men unhappy but to bring them into harmony with God and with the whole family in heaven who delight to do His will, with precepts to be kept by all human intelligences. The gift of His only begotten Son and the death of Christ did not sound the death knell to the laws of Jehovah or make the commandments null and void, but was to bring man back to allegiance to God.
The Sabbath was founded when the foundations of the earth were laid and creation was finished, and keeping the true Sabbath would have preserved the world from atheism and idolatry. It stands as a memorial of that creative power, pointing to Him as Maker of the heavens and the earth as a constant witness to His existence and a reminder of His greatness, wisdom and love, so that sacred observance would leave no room for atheism or idolatry. God is thereby known as the Creator to whom all other beings owe their existence, and that fact gives Him claim to reverence and worship above the gods of the heathen.
The finishing of creation, with everything God could do done and all the works of His hands pronounced good, leads to God ending His work and resting on the seventh day, blessing and sanctifying that day, and giving the Sabbath to man to be kept holy as the sign designating the people of God from all peoples and nations. This seventh-day Sabbath is God's sign and pledge between Him and His people, an evidence of His love and kindness and an assurance that He will bless them in obedience, a perpetual covenant sign to be kept throughout their generations and never made less prominent, by which the loyal who honor God and whom He sanctifies are distinguished from the disloyal who refuse. It is the prominent distinguishing sign by which the world recognizes God's people as Seventh-day Adventists, a peculiar people chosen by God separate from the world and made His representatives to exalt His downtrodden law, acknowledging before churches and world that God is the Creator. It is a token by which they are distinguished from all false religionists, a line of demarcation between him that serves God and him that serves Him not, preserving among the nations a clear knowledge of the only true God above all gods.
On the Sabbath men are to rest as God rested, looking at the work of His hands and remembering His mighty power and wonderful goodness. No servile work is to be done, for God gave man six days on which to work and claims the seventh day as His own, on which men are to worship Him and contemplate the wonderful works of the Creator, praising Him for His goodness and love. By thus setting apart the Sabbath God gave the world a memorial, not one day and any day in seven but one particular day, the seventh day, to be employed not in indolence but in contemplation of the works of God that men may know that the Lord sanctifies them and may learn their duty to their Creator. Through it His glory is beheld in the everlasting hills, lofty trees, opening buds and blooming flowers, while the heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament shows His handiwork.
Creation Rest and Redemption Rest
As the Father and the Son finished the heavens and the earth and all their host, creation was ended and was followed by Their rest on the seventh day. That finished creation and rest is matched by Christ finishing His sacrificial work as a lamb without blemish on Friday and resting in the tomb of Joseph on the Sabbath. The timing was designed in God's plan, that Christ should complete His work on Friday and rest in the tomb on the Sabbath just as the Father and the Son had rested after creation. His death at that exact time was planned, so the hour of apparent defeat was the hour of His victory, and the great plan devised before the foundations of the earth were laid was successfully carried out.
The completed heavens and earth and all their host caused the Creator and all heavenly beings to rejoice in contemplation of the glorious scene after the finishing of the work of creation. That finished creation and Sabbath rest is paralleled by Jesus resting in Joseph's tomb on the Sabbath after finishing the work of redemption. His Sabbath rest in the tomb brought joy in heaven over the promised restored creation and redeemed race that having conquered sin could never fall. The day of Jesus' rest is forever linked with the creation Sabbath, which remains a day of rest and rejoicing through the restitution of all things when heaven and earth unite in worship.
When the heavens and the earth were finished the Sabbath was instituted at the laying of the foundation of the world, when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy. The Sabbath is God's memorial to preserve to men forever the knowledge of the true God, testifying who is the living God, the Maker of the world who made the heavens and the earth in six days and rested on the seventh day, blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. It belongs to His law which is the foundation of His government in heaven and in earth, given not to make men unhappy but to bring them into harmony with God and with the whole family in heaven who delight to do His will, with precepts to be kept by all human intelligences. The gift of His only begotten Son and the death of Christ did not sound the death knell to the laws of Jehovah or make the commandments null and void, but was to bring man back to allegiance to God. Satan's claim otherwise repeats his deception of Eve in Eden and aims to get rid of the true memorial, blinding unbelievers to put everything in a false light.
Authority and Permanence Tested
Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them, and with that finishing the foundation of the Sabbath was laid at the very beginning of the world. The Sabbath is therefore as old as the world itself, older than Sunday-keeping and older than later church customs, established by the Ancient of days and commanded by His eternal word. It bears the sanction of both God and angels, rests on no human tradition, was ordained by no human authority, and demands reverence because it is grounded in God's authority rather than human tradition.
The completion leads directly to the seventh day, not the first day of the week, as the day God blessed and sanctified and set apart as the divine rest-day and day of His appointment. On the seventh day God ended His work which He had made and rested from all His work which He had created and made and was refreshed, because in it He had rested, and that rest and blessing belong alone to the seventh day as the seventh-day Sabbath of the fourth commandment. That honor does not belong to the first day which has been placed in its stead, for the first day is a common working day with not one thread of sanctity in it. The seventh day is definite and knowable, not uncertain, given to man to be kept holy unto the Lord as a memorial that He made the world in six days and rested upon the seventh, to be observed throughout generations for a perpetual covenant as a sign of obedience and loyalty. God pronounced His blessing upon all who keep the Sabbath day holy, pledged to bless those who keep it, gave men six days to labor while reserving the day of His rest for worship of the Creator of heaven and earth, who created all things by Jesus Christ.
The sanctification God placed on the seventh day has never been removed, and the seventh day is to be observed without any change. The true Sabbath was given at the creation of the world to man to be observed by him to the close of time, and the institution man cannot change. It is to be kept for a sign to a thousand generations, by which time the redeemed will be in the city of God, and its observance continues until the redeemed host are in the city of God and worship from Sabbath to Sabbath. It remains just as sacred as when God placed His sanctity upon it, proving the perpetuity of the law of Jehovah and giving authority for keeping the original Sabbath of Jehovah. Christ gave no new Sabbath after the crucifixion, and His instruction to pray that flight from Jerusalem would not be on the Sabbath shows its continuing obligation.
The law instituted in Eden that God requires His people to respect was placed in the bosom of the Decalogue as the fourth commandment, which declares who the living God is as Creator. It stands together with the creation record and the law in Exodus as God's spoken standard of right-doing, carrying eternal truth given in Scripture that can never be changed, calling for constant devotion, fear of God, and humble faithful work in His cause. The Sabbath of the fourth commandment was sanctified by God and given to man as the memorial of the creation of the world and all things therein, keeping the memory of God's great and wonderful works, and God made it the criterion of obedience binding on every man, with the original and supreme object to remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. This original Sabbath is to be kept just as the Word reads, distinguishing Seventh-day Adventists as a peculiar people chosen by God, separate from the world, made His representatives to exalt His downtrodden law. It belongs to His law which is the foundation of His government in heaven and in earth, given not to make men unhappy but to bring them into harmony with God and with the whole family in heaven who delight to do His will, with precepts to be kept by all human intelligences.
The Sabbath was given to Adam and Eve for all their descendants, not just to the Jews, and its obligation continues through the Christian age and into eternity. It was instituted in Eden at the beginning of this earth's history as a memorial of the great work of creation, committed to Adam as the father and representative of the whole human family, and given to all mankind having been established before Israel was chosen to be a peculiar people. Thus the institution is wholly commemorative and given to all mankind, with nothing shadowy in it and no restricted application to any people or particular class, its observance by all who dwell upon the earth being an act of grateful acknowledgment that God is their creator and rightful sovereign. The Sabbath was not instituted at Sinai but already existed from creation and was observed by all the patriarchs from creation down, its sacredness only dimmed when the Israelites were forced to violate it in Egyptian bondage, and the opening word Remember points back to this creation origin. When the foundation of the earth was laid the foundation of the Sabbath was laid also, because God saw that a Sabbath was essential for man even in Paradise for his spiritual and physical health, to be employed not in indolence but in contemplation of the works of God that men may know that the Lord sanctifies them.
Sunday observance has no foundation in the open Bible but originates in papal authority, set up and enforced by human laws with penalties in opposition to God Himself. Ever since that institution in Eden Satan has made a determined effort with masterly power to destroy this memorial and to institute a spurious sabbath in its place, so that the memorial would be lost from the mind and a worldwide apostasy against God's law would be brought about. By leading men and women to disregard the fourth commandment he places them on his side of the controversy, aiming to tear down this great memorial by setting aside the fourth commandment to cause men to forget their Creator, so they make no effort to resist evil and become his prey. Discarding and scorning that Sabbath while exalting a spurious sabbath that has no sacredness tramples God's law and repeats Adam's sin, and like Cain its exalters are exceedingly angry because the whole world does not regard it with the sacredness belonging to the Sabbath of the Lord. That spurious day was never set apart or ordained by God but was exchanged for the day sanctified by Jehovah, found again by searching Scripture after 1844, repeating the iniquity that caused God to command Noah to build the ark and to give 120 years probation ending in destruction when men would not repent.
With the finishing of the heavens and the earth and all their host when the Lord made heaven and earth, God made His law, and obedience was required of Adam and is required no less of every one of the human family, obedience to all of God's requirements. The law thus memorialized is immutable and endures forever, perfect to convert the soul to perfect obedience to the Lawgiver and to bind man to his Creator as owner and preserver of all things. True holiness is obedience to God, not transgression, and those who love God cheerfully yield obedience to all His commandments, while true sanctification from God is bestowed only on those who honor Him by obeying His commands. To honor the Sabbath is to commemorate creation and obey God's law; to dishonor it and follow human inclinations is to glorify self instead of God as those before the flood did, to oppose God's work and law, and to uphold a day without sanctity. Disregarding that memorial through false teaching and accepting a spurious Sabbath dishonors God's memorial of creation and confirms men and women in disobedience like eating the fruit of the forbidden tree, by which disobedience Satan gains in the fallen world what he failed to gain in heaven, power to change God's law. Their disobedience lost the Eden home, and perfect obedience to all God's requirements brings people back to it, as Christ overcame by perfect obedience in keeping His Father's commandments, and following His example in obedience restores the way heavenward.
Observance and Present Proclamation
To keep the Sabbath holy is to do no ordinary, secular or servile work on it, but to rest from ordinary work and from all secular labor and to devote its sacred hours to God in spiritual service, worship, holy deeds and contemplation of the wonderful works of the Creator. God gave man six days on which to work and claims the seventh day as His own, on which no servile work is to be done, and honoring it by both precept and example means resting from ordinary work, so that physicians are not to make appointments or travel on the Sabbath. The seventh day was sanctified as a day of rest for the performance of spiritual duties, set apart from all other days and established as a memorial of the work of creation, to be devoted to God in spiritual service as a day of His special appointment, not to be employed in indolence or useless inactivity but in healthful rest and contemplation that men may know that the Lord sanctifies them. Together with the next two verses the finishing of the heavens and the earth and all their host gives the reason for being assembled on the seventh day of the week.
The plain teaching of the sanctity of the seventh day is that the seventh day is the Sabbath of the fourth commandment to be observed apart from those who do not honor God. It is God's great test and the sign of loyalty to Him and the criterion of obedience binding on every man, requiring observance of the day He blessed and set apart rather than repudiating His Word to accept a day He has not sanctified and upholding a day without sanctity. In the day when every case is decided men will be judged by these charges of the Word of God, and those who have not searched the Scriptures and have observed a day He has not blessed will not be excused for ignorance. Ignoring that holy day and placing a spurious sabbath bearing no mark of sanctity in its stead inflicts a deep wound on God, casts off allegiance to Him in favor of human power, and leaves men without the mark by which His true followers are known, while true sanctification from God is bestowed only on those who honor Him by obeying His commands. Satan has made a determined effort ever since Eden to destroy this memorial and to institute a spurious sabbath in its stead to cause that memorial to be lost and to bring about worldwide apostasy against God's law, because keeping the whole law yet offending in one point makes one guilty of all.
The six-day making of sky and earth and everything in them followed by rest on the seventh day is an established fact and a distinguishing feature of faith that those who know the truth must not make less prominent but must make prominent before all nations, kindreds, tongues, and peoples. It makes observance of the seventh-day Sabbath the prominent distinguishing perpetual covenant sign throughout their generations by which the world recognizes God's people as Seventh-day Adventists, a peculiar people chosen by God, separate from the world and made His representatives to exalt His downtrodden law. Resting each week on the Lord's rest day acknowledges before the churches and the world that God is the Creator and distinguishes Sabbathkeepers from all who disregard God's holy day, with plain scriptural authority against the false Sabbath and compulsory Sunday rest. The facts concerning the Lord's Sabbath must be made known as present truth, and it must be shown that the seventh-day Sabbath is the Lord's memorial of creation, as part of the work to be done in proclaiming the third angel's message. That message embraces the first and second angels' messages and is based on the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, to be proclaimed everywhere with great distinctness and power, unclouded by human theories and sophistries. Nothing of this teaching from the first experience after the passing of the time is to be given up, for it has been held firmly since 1844 on solid evidence, and no evidence from the Word unsettles it, its foundation standing secure, with Scripture evidences for observance presented in every opening.
God calls for a reformation in the observance of the true Sabbath given at creation to be observed to the close of time, and men and women who believe the truth for this time are to be educated to go forth and speak intelligently about that reformation as part of giving the message of present truth in all its fulness. This memorial is testing truth to be given to the world, to be exalted by methods of work especially in sanitariums, acknowledged in its binding claims, kept aright as more important and essential than in the past, held as a sign between God and His people throughout their generations forever, and presented so the light illuminates all minds without giving offense. The finishing of the heavens and the earth with all their host stands as God's decided Thus saith the Lord requiring observance of the very Sabbath He gave, the seventh day, declaring the sacredness and binding claims of the seventh day as set apart, blessed and sanctified as a day of rest. It is the Word of the living God to be read before congregations as proof that God set the seventh day apart for observance, to be presented plainly as Thus saith the Lord instead of entering into controversy with those determined to enact Sunday laws, so that the burden of responsibility rests on those who reject it and their controversy is with God and not with men.
God's chosen loyal people have the work for this time to undeceive the world, maintain His worship, and establish churches as memorials continually proclaiming the genuineness of the Eden Sabbath instituted when the heavens and the earth were finished and when all the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy. The Sabbath thus given is a sign between God and His people, an evidence of His love and kindness and an assurance that He will bless them in obedience, by which the loyal who honor God are distinguished from the disloyal who refuse. The Lord draws very nigh to His people on the day He blessed and sanctified, and God pledged to bless those who keep it. Man's observance of the Lord's day of rest now again causes joy among the angels of heaven, even while the church militant faces persecution for keeping the Sabbath of creation which God sanctified and blessed. That rest is an example of what God wants humans to do, and by the Sabbath commandment God is pointed out as above all other gods because He is the Creator of all things, so that resting on the Sabbath means looking at the work of His hands and remembering His mighty power and wonderful goodness. It belongs to a plan from the beginning that includes equal use of the mental and physical powers in useful work, and it carries eternal truth given in Scripture that can never be changed, calling for constant devotion, fear of God, and humble faithful work in His cause.