The change of the Sabbath

Preface

This pamphlet has been written with the hope that it may find access to a large number of people who desire information concerning the change of the Sabbath, — a subject which is attracting more attention at the present time than it has for ages. Frequent inquiries concerning the day are being sent to prominent theologians and scholars, and to the leading secular and religious papers, asking for light ; and the question is fast becoming a prominent one. Thousands of sermons, in the aggregate, have been preached in recent years upon this subject, nor is the agitation likely to subside. As the public mind is being stirred, there seems to be a demand for more stringent laws, both State and national, in behalf of the popular rest day ; and as we are living in an age when libraries are being searched, ruins of ancient cities are being dug up, and everything questioned to find the substratum of truth on every subject, it is certainly appropriate that the scriptural and historical evidences relative to the

Sabbath institution should be considered.

[iii]

iv PREFACE.

The questions are often asked, How was the change from the observance of the seventh to the first day of the week brought about ? On what authority does it stand ? The following pages will quite fully answer these queries, although the work does not aim to be a thorough exposition of the subject treated. Those in search of such a book are referred to the "History of the Sabbath," issued by the publishers of this pamphlet. The " History of the Sabbath " carefully canvasses the entire ground of sacred and profane history, noticing every point, and answering every question. But as many cannot take the time required to read such an exhaustive treatise, this pamphlet has been prepared, which covers the ground of the change of the Sabbath as briefly as is consistent with a clear discussion of the subject, and gives a concise outline of the steps taken in bringing about the change* It is hoped that this work will prove a fair synopsis of the subject, and answer in a satisfactory manner the question, Who changed the Sabbath ? g. I. B.

Chapter I. The Sabbath A Living Issue

THIS question is agitating the public mind throughout Christendom. It is one of the leading questions of the age, and promises to become more and more important. In past centuries it has engaged public attention more or less. Theologians have often wrestled with it, and fondly thought they had settled it ; but the revolving years still bring it to the surface. It will not down. Legislatures have considered it, and from time to time have placed the heavy hand of civil power in the scale to make the result decisive. Yet the public mind is not at rest ; the interest in the subject revives ; and it is safe to say that at the present time there is more real desire to know the whole truth upon this question than there has been at any time for a thousand years past.

The age in which w r e live is peculiar. There is little reverence in its spirit for the opinions of the hoary past. Everything is being investigated, and it is not surprising that the Sabbath question should have its share of public attention ; the nature of the subject is such that it merits consideration. The Bible

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8 THE SABBATH A LIVING ISSUE.

presents the Sabbath as the most ancient institution, excepting marriage, which man was to observe as a moral duty. Gen. 2 : 1-3. Its existence has run parallel with that of the race. Multitudes of the most intelligent and conscientious believe that its universal observance is necessary if man is to attain to his highest physical, moral, and spiritual development. The most civilized and powerful nations of the earth have even made rigorous laws to enforce a weekly rest-day upon their subjects. It comes to hundreds of millions of our race every seven days of our mortal life. It furnishes a day of worship and religious instruction to a large portion of the human family. It cannot be denied that it has furnished one of the most powerful impulses to mold our modern civilization. The importance of the subject, then, cannot be overestimated.

But the Sabbath, above all else, is a religious day. It called into being the division of time into weeks. No other cause can be found for the week, other than the appointment of a day to be observed in memory of God's work of creation. All we know of its origin we learn from Moses' record of creation in the Bible. The Gentile nations have received its benefits since their conversion from heathenism, till now it is known to earth's remotest bounds. As the Sabbath relates to God, and he appointed its rest, and made it a religious day, and all we know of its institution and moral obligation is derived from his word, the question becomes one of religious duty, — a question of conscience,

THE SABBATH A LIVING ISSUE. 9

relating primarily to human salvation, and but secondarily to man's physical and social welfare.

There can be no Sabbath institution unless some day is observed as a Sabbath. This is self-evident. Some particular day, recurring every week, must be used as a day of rest and religious observance in order to have such an institution. Since God is the author of the institution, he must, therefore, have appointed some day for its celebration. To leave any day of the seven to be observed as the Sabbath would have much the same effect as to have no Sabbath at all ; the days of the week would stand upon an equality. The essence of the institution requires the appointment of a particular day of the seven as a day of rest and worship.

Did God appoint such a day ? If so, what day was it ? Has the original appointment continued till the present time ? or has God for some important reason changed it to another day ? What day is now obligatory ? These are questions of great moment. In religious truth, upon which our salvation hinges, we want to know God's will. Human authority is not sufficient. In this age, everything which can be shaken will be shaken. We want to anchor to those things which will stand the test of the closest examination. It is an investigating age. Everything is being criticised. Our souls demand the truth. Truth will bear examination ; but it is not so with error.

In the great Sabbath agitation of the present age, every point will receive the closest

10 THE SABBATH A LIVING ISStJJtf.

scrutiny by unbelievers. Christians should therefore know whereof they affirm. We want the divine warrant for religious institutions. Human authority is but as chaff to the wheat. What has the Lord said ? should be our inquiry. " Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." " All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, . . . that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works."

We therefore propose to investigate the subject of the Sabbath with special reference to the question, What day should we observe as the Sabbath in this age of the world ? The public mind is interested in it. Thousands of children, coming to years of understanding, ask their parents why they observe the first day of the week, while the commandment requires the seventh. We want to help these parents to answer that question truly. Multitudes are perplexed upon this point ; and we hope to assist somewhat in answering it. We propose to examine the Scriptures, which should ever be of primal authority ; also to consider the statements of history bearing upon it, and thus give the ground a brief but faithful examination. If the Bible will thoroughly furnish us " unto all good works," it will enable us to settle this question correctly. Where shall we look for light upon it, if not to God's revealed truth? "To the law and to the testimony ; " if they will not afford us light, we may look in vain to man's authority.

Chapter II. The Origin Of The Sabbath

OUR Saviour says, " The Sabbath was made for man." Mark 2 : 27. The term man must here be used in its generic sense, comprehending the whole race. If the Sabbath, then, was made for mankind, it must have been made at the time when man himself was created ; hence we must go back to the creation for the institution of the Sabbath.

The first part of Moses' record of the creation, in Gen. 1 and 2, is devoted to the origin of the weekly cycle and the Sabbath institution. Here God sets before us the result of each day's work. He carefully distinguishes between the days, stating that each was composed of an " evening and a morning," — a dark part and a light part, — thus describing the twenty-four-hour day. After carefully enumerating the labor of six of these days, he declares that the work of creation is completed. What he did on the next day, the seventh of this first week of time, is stated in chap. 2 : 2, 3 : " And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made ; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work 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." Here we have the origin of the weekly cycle, the Sabbatic institution, and the distinction between the days of the week. The Bible speaks of " the

12 THE ORIGIN OF THE SABBATH

six working days" and "the Sabbath day." Eze. 46 : 1. This brief narrative in the very first record of the world's history, makes this distinction plain. God himself employed six specific days of the first week in the labor of creating, and the seventh day of that week in resting. The word " Sabbath" means rest.

Why did God choose to work just six days and rest the seventh ? He might have made the world in a moment, or he could have employed any other amount of time in doing it. He did not rest because he was weary, for he " fainteth not, neither is weary." Isa. 40 : 28. No other reason can be assigned but this : He was laying the foundation of that glorious institution which our Saviour declares was made for the race of men, the Sabbath of the Lord.

But to bring out this point still more clearly, let us notice carefully the language we have quoted from Gen. 2 : 2, 3. The first act of God on the seventh day was to rest ; it thus became God's rest day, or Sabbath. His second act concerning it was to place his blessing upon it; thus it became his "blessed" rest day. His third act was to "sanctify" it. Sanctify signifies to "set apart to a holy or religious use." — Webster. By this appointment, the seventh day of the week became the day of holy rest and religious observance for those for whom it was designed, until such appointment should be revoked. Notice how definite is the language : " God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it ; because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made." The

THE ORIGIN OF THE SABBATH. 13

blessing and sanctification of the seventh day were not therefore bestowed upon it until that particular day on which he rested was in the past. The blessing bestowed pertained to its future recurrence as it returned in the weekly cycle. Every time it returned after this blessing was placed upon it, it was to be understood by those who reverenced God that it was his blessed day, and must not be treated as the other six days were treated. It was also " sanctified," that is, it was now the day appointed for religious uses. While it was proper to use the other six days for secular work and ordinary business, the seventh day of the week, every time it returned, was only to be used for religious purposes. All this occurred, according to the inspired record, at the close of creation week.

It is sometimes objected that we have no command for the observance of the seventh-day Sabbath till the giving of the law to Israel on Mount Sinai. Such objectors fail to comprehend the record in Gen. 2 : 1-3. When God sanctified the seventh day, thus appointing it to a sacred use, he must have made known this fact to Adam and Eve, — those for whose benefit it was instituted. They stood as the representatives of the race, through whom the instructions from God were to be given. We cannot conceive how God could appoint this day to this special purpose in any other way than by informing them of it.

The Hebrew verb kadash, here rendered sanctified, is defined by Gesenius, " To pronounce holy, to sanctify, ... to institute any holy thing, to appoint." This word in

14 THE ORIGIN OF THE SABBATH

the Old Testament commonly implies a public appointment by proclamation. When the cities of refuge were set apart for that particular purpose, the record states (Josh. 20 : 7), " They appointed (Heb. sanctified, margin) Kedesh in Galilee in Mount Naphtali, and Shechem in Mount Ephraim," etc. Here we see that a public announcement was made of the fact to all Israel. In Joel 1 : 14 another instance is furnished : " Sanctify [i. e. appoint] ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders," etc. This could not be done without a public notification of the fact. When king Jehu wished to entrap the worshipers of Baal and destroy them, he made this public announcement : " Proclaim [Heb. sanctify, margin] a solemn assembly for Baal. And" they proclaimed it." 2 Kings 10 : 20. It would not have been possible to make this appointment otherwise than by making the people acquainted with the fact.

But the most remarkable instance of this use of the word is found in the record of the sanctification of Mount Sinai. Ex. 19 : 12, 23. When the Lord was about to speak the ten commandments, he sent Moses down to command the people not to touch the mount, lest they be destroyed. " And Moses said unto the Lord, The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai ; for thou chargedst us, saying, Set bounds about the mount, and sanctify it." Going back to verse 12, we learn how this was done. "And thou shalt set bounds unto the people round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves, that ye go not up into the mount, or touch the border of it." Here we see that to sanctify the mount was to tell the people that God would have them treat it as sacred to himself.

From these and many other instances of the use of the word sanctify in the Scriptures, we must understand that when God sanctified the seventh day at creation, he told Adam and Eve that it was sacred unto the Lord. The statement that " God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it " positively proves that the Lord commanded our first parents to treat the seventh day as holy time. It is a record of that fact ; for in no other way could it have been "appointed" to such a use. This fact — that God gave a commandment at the creation of the world to the representative heads of the race, to keep holy the seventh day of the week — has an important bearing upon the Sabbath question for every succeeding age.

Chapter III. The Sabbath Previous To The Giving Of The Law

The giving of the law, according to Usher's chronology, was about twenty-five centuries after creation week. It is interesting to trace the Sabbath through this long, remote period. The only written history extant covering it, is the book of Genesis, with its fifty short chapters, written by Moses. The facts presented in it are invaluable. It gives us brief glimpses of the long-lived race previous

16 THE SABBATH PREVIOUS TO SIJSTAL

to the flood, and of the rise of the most powerful nations of succeeding ages, and of the call of Abraham, with the experiences of his immediate descendants. It presents most valuable historical instruction relative to God's plan of dealing with his creatures, and the principles of his moral government. It is in no sense a book of laws, but only a very brief history of the earliest ages of antiquity.

As we have already seen, the book of Genesis commences with the origin of the weekly cycle, as brought to view in the account of creation, and the institution of the Sabbath, without which that cycle would never have existed. The division of time into days, months, and years is easily traceable to nature. The revolution of the earth on its axis, the changes of the moon, and the circuit of the earth around the sun, originate these divisions of time. But no such origin can be found for the weekly cycle. Beyond all question, it owes its existence to the act of Jehovah in setting apart the seventh day at the creation of the world. Not even a plausible conjecture has ever been found for any other origin of it. It is a well-attested historical fact that the weekly cycle existed, and the seventh day was kept sacred, by nearly all of the most ancient nations of the earth besides the Jews. There are decisive evidences which. show that the Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Arabians, Greeks, and Romans, and even the Chinese, knew of the Sabbath, and at an early period regarded it as a sacred day. We may notice this point more fully hereafter, but will introduce brief evidences of it here.

John G. Butler, a Free-will Baptist author, in his " Natural and Revealed Theology," p. 396, says, " We learn, also, from the testimony of Philo, Hesiod, Josephus, Porphyry, and others, that the division of time into weeks, and the observance of the seventh day, were common to the nations of antiquity. They would not have adopted such a custom from the Jews. Whence, then, could it have been derived but through tradition, from its original institution in the Garden of Eden ? "

The Asiatic Journal says : —

"The prime minister of the empire affirms that the Sabbath was anciently observed by the Chinese, in conformity to the directions of the king."

The Congregationalist (Boston), Nov. 15, 1882, referring to the "Creation Tablets" found by Mr. Smith on the bank of the Tigris, near Nineveh, gives' the following : —

"Mr. George Smith says in his 'Assyrian Discoveries ' (1875) : ' In the year 1869 I discovered, among other things, a curious religious calendar of the Assyrians, in which every month is divided into four weeks, and the seventh days, or Sabbaths, are marked out as days on which no work should be undertaken. . . . The calendar contains lists of work forbidden to be done on these days, which evidently correspond to the Sabbaths of the Jews/ "

Much more testimony on this point might be presented, but this is sufficient to show that the weekly cycle and the Sabbath were extensively known among these ancient nations. Brief references to the same thing in the books of Genesis and Exodus demonstrate the existence of the week and the Sabbath previous to the giving of the law.

In the history of the deluge (Gen. 7 and 8) there are several references to the weekly division of time. Chap. 7:4: " For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth." Also chap. 8 : 10, 12 : " And he stayed yet other seven days," etc. Here are three different weekly periods brought to view in this short account of the flood. It could not have been accidental that this period of seven days should be chosen three successive times. It points unmistakably to the fact that the weekly cycle was in constant use in that age of the world.

In the history of Jacob's marriage to the daughters of Laban, the week is also mentioned. Gen. 29 : 27, 28 : " Fulfill the week of this one, and we will give thee the other also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years. And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week" (Revised Version). The Sabbath is inseparably connected with the weekly division of time ; hence, if the week existed, the Sabbath must also have been known. We are forced to conclude, therefore, that these inhabitants of Chaldea were well acquainted with its sacred obligation. Notice the testimony, already referred to, of those tablets dug out of ancient ruins found in that country.

A decisive proof that the Sabbath was well known to the Israelites previous to the giving of the law, is found in Exodus 16 : 4, 5, 22-30 : " Then said the Lord unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you ; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no. And it shall come to pass, that on the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in ; and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily." Then we have an account of the falling of the manna. He continues in verses 22-30 : " And it came to pass, that on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for one man ; and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses. And he said unto them, This is that which the Lord hath said, To-morrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord ; bake that which ye will bake to-day, and seethe that ye will seethe ; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning. And they laid it up till the morning, as Moses bade ; and it did not stink, neither was there any worm therein. And Moses said, Eat that to-day ; for to-day is a Sabbath unto the Lord : to-day ye shall not find it in the field. Six days ye shall gather it ; but on the seventh day, which is the Sabbath, in it there shall be none. And it came to pass, that there w r ent out some of the people on the seventh day for to gather, and they found none. And the Lord said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws ? See, for that the Lord hath given you the Sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days ; abide ye every man in his place , let no man go out of his place on the seventh day. So the people rested on the seventh day."

From the foregoing language the following conclusions are inevitable : —

1. God had a law, of which the seventh-day Sabbath was a part, more than a month previous to proclaiming his commandments from Mount Sinai.

2. He proved his people by giving them bread from heaven, to see whether they would obey his law or not, that test coming on their observance of the Sabbath, which, therefore, must be a most important part of the law.

3. The language shows that the people had a knowledge of the Sabbath, and that many of them desired to keep it before any commandment whatever was given them as a people concerning it ; for the record of their deliverance from Egypt does not give a single hint concerning the Sabbath, previous to this point.

4. We are constrained, therefore, to conclude that when he says, " How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws ? ' ? he must refer back to the original institution of the Sabbath at creation, the knowledge of which had been preserved through the patriarchs and the general acquaintance of the ancient nations with the Sabbath.

5. The fall of the manna, which continued through the forty years of their wanderings, with its double portion on the sixth day of the week, and none upon the seventh ; its being kept from corruption on the Sabbath, while it would soon spoil on other days, attested which was the true creation Sabbath at that time, and their perfect knowledge of it.

An objection is sometimes offered upon the passage, "See, for that the Lord hath given you the Sabbath," etc., that it belonged wholly to the Israelites. But surely it must have had a previous existence or it would not have been proper to say he gave it to them. He did this in precisely the same sense that he gave himself to that people, and thus became God of Israel. The nations had gone into idolatry, or were fast doing so, rejecting alike the true God and the great memorial of his creation work, the Sabbath. He had separated from among them the descendants of Abraham, who still regarded both. From this time on, the Sabbath and the knowledge of the true God rapidly disappeared from the nations of the earth, and they became heathen ; while the Israelites remembered God and his Sabbath, and preserved the knowledge of each to be given again under more favorable auspices to the Gentile nations.

From these considerations we cannot doubt that Israel regarded the Sabbath more or less sacredly while in Egyptian bondage. Hence it is not to be supposed that the Israelites could keep it as fully while in bondage as they were able to do afterwards. But it seems unreasonable to conclude that they had lost all regard for it, or that the most pious among them gave it no respect. God says of their great progenitor, ''Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws." We are certain that Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph followed the same example, and therefore must have kept the Sabbath. The two latter were in Egypt, and no doubt the rest of their kindred followed their example, and regarded the Sabbath as much as their circumstances would permit. They looked back to these noble pa-

22 THE GIVING OF TEE LAW.

triarchs with the deepest respect. They still had a regard for the Sabbath, as we learn in Exodus 1.6, even before the giving of the law. Hence it was not to them a new institution. In this brief account it has been plainly shown that the Sabbath of the Lord was given to the human family at creation, and was well known to those who had any regard for the true God. It certainly was not a Jewish institution ; for it existed, and was commanded to be observed by the God of heaven, long ages before a Jew lived. The Jews sprung from Judah, one of the sons of Jacob ; but the Sabbath was set apart in Eden for man's benefit. It was " made for man."

Chapter IV. The Sabbath At The Giving Of The Law

We come now to that sublime event in the history of God's dealings with mankind, the proclamation of his law from Sinai. In the sixteenth chapter of Exodus we have the account of his giving his Sabbath to Israel ; in chapter nineteen we have the full statement of his giving himself to that people by a solemn covenant ; and in chapter twenty, the history of his committing his law to them. This was a wonderful honor which he conferred upon the posterity of Abraham, the friend of God. The Jews were indeed favored in this respect above all the nations of the earth. The apostle Paul inquires, "What advantage, then, hath the Jew ?" and he im-

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mediately answers, "Much every way ; chiefly because that unto them were committed the oracles of God." Rom. 3:1, 2. But while these acts honored that people, they in no way dishonored God, or the law, or the Sabbath, nor made them Jewish.

Some thirty days after the fall of the manna commenced, all Israel were camped at the base of Sinai, waiting to hear from the mouth of Jehovah the ten commandments. The mountain burned with fire, and the smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace. Thunderings and lightnings and the voice of a trumpet exceeding loud were seen and heard. The solid earth trembled, "and so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake." The voice of God was then heard proclaiming the "ten words which, not only in the Old Testament but in all revelation, are the most emphatically regarded as the synopsis of all religion and morality."

In this law he thus speaks of the Sabbath : "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work ; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God ; in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates. 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." Here we have a precept, "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy," then an expla-