Difference between revisions of "Sabbath"

<p> [[Hebrew]] "rest." [[Applied]] to the days of rest in the great feasts, but chiefly to the seventh day rest (&nbsp;Exodus 31:15; &nbsp;Exodus 16:23). Some argue from the silence concerning its observance by the patriarchs that no sabbatic ordinance was actually given before the Sinaitic law, and that &nbsp;Genesis 2:3 is not historical but anticipatory. But this verse is part of the history of creation, the very groundwork of Moses' inspired narrative. The history of the patriarchs for 2,500 years, comprised in the small compass of Genesis, necessarily omits many details which it takes for granted, as the observance of the sabbath. Indications of seven-day weeks appear in Noah's twice waiting seven days when sending forth the dove (&nbsp;Genesis 8:10; &nbsp;Genesis 8:12); also in Jacob's history (&nbsp;Genesis 29:27-28). G. Smith discovered an Assyrian calendar which divides every month into four weeks, and the seventh days are marked out as days in which no work should be done. Further, before the Sinaitic law was given the sabbath law is recognized in the double manna promised on the sixth day, that none might be gathered on the sabbath (&nbsp;Exodus 16:5; &nbsp;Exodus 16:23). </p> <p> The meaning therefore of &nbsp;Genesis 2:3 is, God having divided His creative work into six portions sanctified the seventh as that on which He rested from His creative work. The divine rest was not one of 24 hours; the divine sabbath still continues. There has been no creation since man's. After six periods of creative activity, answering to our literal days analogously, God entered on that sabbath in which His work is preservation and redemption, no longer creation. He ordained man for labour, yet graciously appointed one seventh of his time for bodily and mental rest, and for spiritual refreshment in his Maker's worship. This reason is repeated in the fourth commandment (&nbsp;Exodus 20:10-11); another reason peculiar to the Jews ''(Their [[Deliverance]] From [[Egyptian]] Bondage)'' is stated &nbsp;Deuteronomy 5:14-15; possibly the Jewish sabbath was the very day of their deliverance. All mankind are included in the privilege of the seventh day rest, though the Jews alone were commanded to keep it on Saturday. </p> <p> Besides its religious obligation, its physical and moral benefit has been recognized by statesmen and physiologists. Its merciful character appears in its extension to the ox, ass, and cattle. Needless and avoidable work was forbidden (&nbsp;Exodus 34:21; &nbsp;Exodus 35:3). But like other feasts it was to be a day of enjoyment (&nbsp;Isaiah 58:13; &nbsp;Hosea 2:11). Only the covetous and carnal were impatient of its restraints (&nbsp;Amos 8:5-6). In the sanctuary the morning and evening sacrifices were doubled, the shewbread was changed, and each of David's 24 courses of priests and [[Levites]] began duty on the Sabbath. The offerings symbolized the call to all [[Israel]] to give themselves to the Lord's service on the Sabbath more than on other days. The 12 loaves of shewbread representing the offerings of the 12 tribes symbolized the good works which they should render to Jehovah; diligence in His service receiving fresh quickening on the day of rest and holy convocation before Him. The Levites were dispersed throughout Israel to take advantage of these convocations, and in them "teach Israel God's law" (&nbsp;Deuteronomy 33:10). </p> <p> The "holy convocation" on it (&nbsp;Leviticus 23:2-3) was probably a meeting for prayer, meditation, and hearing the law in the court of the tabernacle before the altar at the hour of morning and evening sacrifice (&nbsp;Leviticus 19:30; &nbsp;Ezekiel 23:38). In later times people resorted to prophets and teachers to hear the Old Testament read and expounded, and after the captivity to synagogues (&nbsp;2 Kings 4:23; &nbsp;Luke 4:15-16; &nbsp;Acts 13:14-15; &nbsp;Acts 13:27; &nbsp;Acts 15:21). [[Philo]] (De Orac. c. 20; Vit. Mos. 3:27) and Josephus (Ant. 16:2-3; Apion, 1:20, 2:18) declare the earliest Jewish traditions state the object of the sabbath to be to furnish means for spiritual edification (&nbsp;Leviticus 10:11; &nbsp;Deuteronomy 33:10). Isaiah (&nbsp;Isaiah 1:13) condemns hypocritical keeping of sabbath. So Christ condemns the burdensome sabbath restraints multiplied by the Pharisees, violating the law of mercy and man's good for which the sabbath was instituted (&nbsp;Matthew 12:2; &nbsp;Matthew 12:10-11; &nbsp;Luke 13:14; &nbsp;Luke 14:1; &nbsp;Luke 14:5; &nbsp;John 7:22; &nbsp;Mark 2:23-28); yet inviting guests to a social meal was lawful, even in their view (&nbsp;Luke 14:5). </p> <p> Not inaction, but rest from works of neither mercy nor necessity, is the rule of the sabbath. Man's rest is to be like God's rest. His work did not cease at the close of the six days, nor has it ceased ever since (&nbsp;John 5:17; &nbsp;Isaiah 40:28; &nbsp;Psalms 95:4-5). God's rest was satisfaction in contemplating His work, so "very good," just completed in the creation of man its topstone (&nbsp;Genesis 1:31). So man's rest is in the sabbath being the dose of week day labour done in faith toward God. God orders "six days shalt thou labour," as well as "remember the sabbath" (&nbsp;Exodus 20:8-11). "Remember" marks that the sabbath was already long known to Israel, and that they only needed their "minds stirred up by way of remembrance." The fourth commandment alone of the ten begins so. The sabbath is thus a foretaste of the heavenly (sabbatism ) "keeping of sabbath" (&nbsp;Hebrews 4:9-10 margin), when believers shall rest from fatiguing "labours" (&nbsp;Revelation 14:13). The Sabbath reminds man he is made in the image of God. </p> <p> Philo calls it "the imaging forth of the first beginning." It was to the [[Israelite]] the center of religious observances, and essentially connected with the warning against idolatry (&nbsp;Leviticus 19:3-4; &nbsp;Ezekiel 20:16; &nbsp;Ezekiel 20:20). As the Old Testament Sabbath was the seal of the first creation in innocence, so the New Testament Lord's day is the seal of the new creation. The Father's rest after creation answers to Christ's after redemption's completion. The Sabbath was further a "sign" or sacramental pledge between [[Jehovah]] and His people, masters and servants alike resting, and thereby remembering the rest from Egyptian service vouchsafed by God. The weekly Sabbath, moreover, was the center of an organized system including the Sabbath year and the [[Jubilee]] year. The Sabbath ritual was not, like other feasts, distinguished by peculiar offerings, but by the doubling of the ordinary daily sacrifices. Thus it was not cut off from the week but marked as the day of days, implying the sanctification of the daily life of the Lord's people. </p> <p> &nbsp;Leviticus 23:38 expressly distinguishes "the Sabbaths of the Lord" from the other Sabbaths (&nbsp;Colossians 2:16-17), namely, that of the day of atonement and feast of tabernacles, which ended with the cessation of the Jewish ritual (&nbsp;Leviticus 23:32; &nbsp;Leviticus 23:37-39). The Decalogue was proclaimed with peculiar solemnity from Mount [[Sinai]] (&nbsp;Exodus 19:16-24); it was written on tables of stone, and deposited in the ark (representing Himself) covered by the mercy-seat on which rested the [[Shekinah]] cloud of His glory; Moses significantly states "these vows the Lord spoke, and He added no more." The Decalogue was "the covenant," and the ark containing it "the ark of the covenant;" and therefore the Decalogue sums up all moral duty. The Sabbath stands in the heart of it, surrounded by moral duties, and must therefore itself be moral. God, who knows us best. has fixed the mean between the too seldom and the too often, the exact proportion in which the day devoted to His service ought to recur, best suited to our bodily and spiritual wants. </p> <p> The prophets foretell its continuance in the Messianic age (&nbsp;Isaiah 56:6-7; &nbsp;Isaiah 58:13-14; &nbsp;Isaiah 66:23). Christ moreover says "the sabbath was made for man," i.e. not for Israel only, but for universal "man" (&nbsp;Mark 2:27-28). The typical Sabbath (&nbsp;Hebrews 4:9) must remain until the antitypical sabbatism appears. In &nbsp;Romans 14:5 the oldest manuscripts omit "he that regardeth not the day to the Lord he doth not regard it." As the month of Israel's redemption from Egypt became the beginning of months, so the day of Christ's resurrection which seals our redemption is made the first day Sabbath. The Epistle of Barnabas, [[Dionysius]] of [[Corinth]] writing to Rome A.D. 170 ''("We Spent The Lord'S Day As A [[Holy]] Day In Which We Read Your Letter")'' , and [[Clemens]] Alex., A.D. 194, mention the Lord's day Sabbath. The judgment on the Jews for violating the Sabbath was signally retributive (&nbsp;2 Chronicles 36:21). The [[Babylonians]] carried them captive "to fulfill the word of the Lord by Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her Sabbaths; for as long as she lay desolate she kept Sabbath to fulfill threescore and ten years" (&nbsp;Leviticus 26:34-36). </p> <p> There are exactly 70 years of Sabbaths in the 490 between Saul's accession, 1095 B.C., and Jehoiakim's deposition by [[Nebuchadnezzar]] 606 B.C. Even Adam in innocence needed the Sabbath amidst earthly works; much more we need it, who are fallen. The spirit of the command remains, though the letter is modified (&nbsp;Romans 13:8-10); the consecration of one day in seven is the essential thing. The choice of the first day is due to Christ's appearing on that day and to apostolical usage. &nbsp;Revelation 1:10 first mentions "the Lord's Day" . (See [[Lord]] 'S DAY; REST.) The early church met to break bread on the first day (&nbsp;Acts 20:7); it was the day for laying by of alms for the poor (&nbsp;1 Corinthians 16:2). No formal decree changed the Sabbath from the seventh to the first day; this would only have offended the Jews and weak Christians. </p> <p> At first both days were kept. But when [[Judaizing]] Christians wished to bring Christians under the bondage of the law, and the Jews became open antagonists of the church, the observance of the Jewish Sabbath was tacitly laid aside, and the Lord's day alone was kept; see &nbsp;Colossians 2:16. Moses, the law's representative, could not lead Israel into Canaan. The law leads to Christ, there its office ceases: it is Jesus, the [[Antitype]] of Joshua, who leads us into the heavenly rest (&nbsp;Hebrews 4:8-9). So legal sacrifices continued until the antitypical sacrifice superseded it. As the antitypical Sabbath rest will not be until Christ comes to usher us into it, the typical earthly Sabbath must continue until then. A lawful Sabbath day's journey (&nbsp;Acts 1:12) was reckoned from the distance between the ark and the tents, judged by that between the ark and the people in &nbsp;Joshua 3:4, to repair to the ark on the Sabbath being a duty; namely, 2,000 paces, or about six furlongs, reckoned not from each man's house but from the wall of the city. </p> <p> The Levites' suburbs extended to the same distance from their walls (&nbsp;Numbers 35:5). (See [[Gezer]] .) Ganneau thinks [[Bethphage]] marked on the E. the boundary of the sabbatic zone which on every side surrounded the city. The Mount of [[Olives]] was exactly, as the writer of Acts says, "a sabbath day's journey from Jerusalem." What point in the mountain could this be except the village of the mountain, which occupied its principal summit, and now bears its name ''('' Κefr et Τur '', I.E. "Village Of The Mount"; Bethphage)'' ? (Palestine Exploration Quarterly Statement, Apri1 1878, p. 60). Christ tells His disciples, as retaining Jewish feelings, in [[Jerusalem]] to pray that their flight might not be on the Sabbath, when they could only go 2,000 paces front the city walls (&nbsp;Matthew 24:20). &nbsp;Exodus 16:29 refers to not going from their place to gather manna on the Sabbath. (See MOUNT.) </p>

<p> Rest. God having created the world in six days, "rested" on the seventh, &nbsp;Genesis 2:2,3; that is, he ceased from producing new beings in this creation; and because he had rested on it, he "blessed" or sanctified it, and appointed it in a peculiar manner for his worship. </p> <p> We here have an account of the [[Original]] [[Institution]] of the day of rest. Like the institution of marriage, it was given to man for the whole race. Those who worshipped God seem to have kept the Sabbath from the first, and there are tokens of this in the brief sketch the Bible contains of the ages before the giving of the law at Mount Sinai. Noah sent forth the raven from the ark, and the dove thrice, at intervals of seven days, &nbsp;Genesis 8:1-22 . The account of the sending of manna in the desert proves that the Sabbath was already known and observed, &nbsp;Exodus 16:22-30 . The week was an established division of time in [[Mesopotamia]] and Arabia, &nbsp;Genesis 29:27; and traces of it have been found in many nations of antiquity, so remote from each other and of such diverse origin as to forbid the idea of their having received it from Sinai and the Hebrews. </p> <p> The REENACTMENT of the Sabbath on Mount Sinai, among the [[Commandments]] of the [[Moral]] Law, was also designed not for the Jews alone, but for all whom should receive the word of God, and ultimately for all mankind. Christ and his apostles never speak of the decalogue but as of permanent and universal obligation. "The Sabbath was made for man." The fourth commandment is as binding as the third and the fifth. [[Certain]] additions to it, with specifications and penalties, were a part of the Mosaic civil law, and are not now in force, &nbsp;Exodus 31:14 &nbsp; Numbers 15:32-36 . On the Sabbath-day, the priests and Levites, ministers of the temple, entered on their week; and those who had attended the foregoing week, went out. They placed on the golden table new loaves of showbread, and took away the old ones, &nbsp;Leviticus 24:8 . Also on this day were offered particular sacrifices of two lambs for a burnt offering, with wine and meal. The Sabbath was celebrated like the other festivals, from evening, &nbsp;Numbers 28:9,10 . </p> <p> The chief obligation of the Sabbath expressed in the law is to sanctify it, &nbsp;Exodus 20:8 &nbsp; Deuteronomy 5:12 : "Remember the Sabbath-day to sanctify it." It is sanctified by necessary works of charity, by prayers, praises, and thanksgiving, by the public and private worship of God, by the study of his word, by tranquility of mind, and by meditation on moral and religious truth in its bearing on the duties of life and the hope of immorality. The other requirement of the law is rest: "Thou shalt not do any work." The ordinary business of life is to be wholly laid aside, both for the sake of bodily and mental health, and chiefly to secure the quiet and uninterrupted employment of the sacred hours for religious purposes. The spirit of the law clearly forbids all uses of the day which are worldly, such as amusements, journeys, etc., whereby one fails to keep the day holy himself, or hinders others in doing so. </p> <p> The CHRISTIAN SABBATH is the original day of rest established in the [[Garden]] of the Eden and reenacted on Sinai, without those requirements, which were peculiar to Judaism, but with all its original moral force and with the new sanctions of Christianity. It commemorates not only the creation of the world, but a still greater event-the completion of the work of atonement by the resurrection of Christ; and as he rose from the dead on the day after the Jewish Sabbath, that day of his resurrection has been observed by Christians ever since. The change appears to have been made at once and as is generally believed under the direction of the "Lord of the Sabbath." On the same day, the first day of the week, he appeared among his assembled disciples; and on the next recurrence of the day he was again with them, and revealed himself to Thomas. From &nbsp;1 Corinthians 11:20 &nbsp; 14:23,40 , it appears that the disciples in all places were accustomed to meet statedly to worship and to celebrate the Lord's supper; and from &nbsp;1 Corinthians 16:1,2 , we learn that these meetings were on the first day of the week. Thus in &nbsp;Acts 20:6-11 , we find the Christians at [[Troas]] assembled on the first day, to partake of the supper and to receive religious instruction. John observed the day with peculiar solemnity, &nbsp;Revelation 1:10; and it had then received the name of "The Lord's day," which it has ever since retained. For a time, such of the disciples as were Jews observed the Jewish Sabbath also; but they did not require this nor the observance of any festival of the Mosaic dispensation, of Gentile converts, nor even of Jews, &nbsp;Colossians 2:16 . The early Christian fathers refer to the first day of the week as the time set apart for worship, and to the transfer of the day on account of the resurrection of the Savior. Pliny the younger, proconsul of [[Pontus]] near the close of the first century, in a letter to the emperor Trajan, remarks that the Christians were "accustomed on a stated day to meet together before daylight, and to repeat a hymn to Christ as God, and to bind themselves by a solemn bond not to commit any wickedness," etc. So well known was their custom, that the ordinary test question put by persecutors to those suspected of Christianity was "Hast thou kept the Lord's day?" to which the reply was, "I am a Christian; I cannot omit it." Justin [[Martyr]] observes that "on the Lord's day all Christians in the city or country meet together, because that is the day of our Lord's resurrection, and then we read the writings of the apostles and prophets; this being done, the person presiding makes an oration to the assembly, to exhort them to imitate and to practice the things they have heard; then we all join in prayer, and after that we celebrate the sacrament. Then they who are able and willing give what they think proper, and what is collected is laid up in the hands of the chief officer, who distributes it to orphans and widows, and other necessitous Christians, as their wants require." See &nbsp;1 Corinthians 16:2 . A very honorable conduct and worship. Would that it were more prevalent among us, with the spirit and piety of primitive Christianity! </p> <p> The commandment to observe the Sabbath is worthy of its place in the decalogue; and its observance is of fundamental importance to society, which without it would fast relapse into ignorance, vice, and ungodliness. Its very existence on earth, by the ordinance of God, proves that there remains an eternal Sabbath in heaven, of which the "blest repose" of the day of God is an earnest to those who rightly observe it, &nbsp;Hebrews 4:9 . </p> <p> "The second Sabbath after the first," &nbsp;Luke 6:1 , should rather read, "The first Sabbath after the second day of the pass-over." Of the seven days of the pass-over, the first was a Sabbath, and on the second was a festival in which the fruits of the harvest were offered to God, &nbsp;Leviticus 23:5,9 , etc. From this second day the Jews reckoned seven weeks or the first Sabbath which occurred after this second day, was called the first week or Sabbath after the second day. </p> <p> The "preparation of the Sabbath" was the Friday before; for as it was forbidden to make a fire, to bake bread, or to dress victuals, on the Sabbath-day, they provided on the Friday every thing needful for their sustenance on the Sabbath, &nbsp;Mark 15:42 &nbsp; Matthew 27:62 &nbsp; John 19:14,31,42 . </p> <p> For "a Sabbath-day's journey," see [[Journey]] . </p>

<p> This was the original name first used by the Hebrews for the Lord's day. It is indeed an Hebrew word, and signifies repose or rest; and hence Christ, "who is the rest wherewith JEHOVAH causeth the weary to rest, and who is their refreshing." (&nbsp;Isaiah 28:12) is the very Sabbath of the soul. See Christ's invitation under this character. (&nbsp;Matthew 11:28-30) It is worthy remark that Noah, a type of Christ in the ark, is so called, from Nuach, which signifies rest. Some indeed derive his name from Nacham, consolation. But in either sense, or in both, it is blessed to eye Christ in the type. Hence the psalmist saith, (&nbsp;Psalms 116:7) "Return unto thy rest, [[O]] my soul, for the Lord hath dwelt bountifully with thee." In the original it is, return to thy Noah. And surely JEHOVAH hath dealt bountifully with the souls of all his. redeemed, when like the dove returning to the ark whom she found no rest out of the ark for the sole of her foot, we return to the Lord Jesus, the only rest for the soul, and our salvation for ever. (&nbsp;Genesis 8:9) </p> <p> The Sabbath was instituted, from the first dawn of the creation; for when JEHOVAH had called into existence the several works of his almighty hand, which his sovereign will and pleasure gave being to "he is said to have rested from his works which he had made;" and reviewing with complacency what his hands had wrought, beholding their number and order in the several ranks and disposals of his design, he sanctified the day of his rest, and commanded every seventh day to be hallowed for his more immediate worship, adoration love, and praise, by all his intelligent creatures. The Apostle to the Hebrews makes a short but beautiful observation on the spiritual tendency of the Sabbath when with an eye to Jesus he represents the believing soul resting in Christ as the rest for the people of God. "For he (saith the apostle) that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his." (&nbsp;Hebrews 4:10) </p> <p> Since the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead, the name of Sabbath hath been less used, and that of the Lord's day substituted more generally in its place; and the authority for so doing is derived from the apostles. Thus John, when speaking of those revelations made to him by the Lord Jesus in the [[Isle]] of Patmos, saith that he was in the Spirit on the Lord's day. (&nbsp;Revelation 1:10) And it is no small confirmation of the Lord's approval of the first day being appointed for the ordinance of the Sabbath, that not only the Lord Jesus arose on that day from the dead, but God the Holy Ghost made his first public descent, agreeably to Christ's promise, on that day. Hence divine honour is given in the observance of the Lord's day on the first day of the week to all the persons of the GODHEAD, for creation, redemption, and sanctification. It hath been said that the Jews at the giving of the law lost the true reckoning of the seventh day. It were devoutly to be desired that believers in the Lord Jesus, in their ordinary conversation, would distinguish the Sabbath by its proper name, and call it what the apostle called it, the Lord's day. Sunday is a name without meaning, unless indeed it he connected with its derivation, and then it becomes still more improper! for if it be supposed, as some have said, that it took its rise during the time of the Saxon Heptarchy, and had reference to the sun, and therefore called Sun-day, it savours of idolatry. We know that the sun hath been in all ages the great idol of the eastern world. (See &nbsp;Deuteronomy 4:19; &nbsp;2 Kings 23:11; &nbsp;Job 31:26-28; &nbsp;Ezekiel 8:16) It is strange, therefore, that the name should be retained when the Holy [[Scriptures]] have never once mentioned such a name, and the apostle's example so sweetly recommends what ought to be so dear when we speak with reverence of the Sabbath, that we call it the Lord's day. </p> <p> We meet with several expressions connected with the Lord's day in the New Testament, such as "a Sabbath day's journey, the second Sabbath after the first." These are not explained to us in Scripture, and therefore we are left to conjecture concerning their meaning. It is said that among the Jews there was a tradition not to walk more than six Stadia, or seven hundred and fifty paces, on the Sabbath day—that is, somewhat less than one of our miles. And perhaps in allusion to this it might be that our Lord, speaking of the destruction of Jerusalem, enjoined his disciples to pray that their flight might not be in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day. (&nbsp;Matthew 24:20) </p> <p> Concerning the second Sabbath after the first, which we read of &nbsp;Luke 6:1; the meaning of it is not so clear as to determine exactly. But it hath been conjectured that the Jews particularly numbered their Sabbaths from the Passover, and that the second Sabbath was intended to mean from the Passover. But others have concluded that the second Sabbath meant the Pentecost, and the first the Passover. </p> <p> It is astonishing to behold with what veneration the ancient Jews esteemed their Sabbaths. They considered the appointment of it by the Lord so peculiar a mercy, in that it distinguished them from all others nations, that they took the greatest delight in it, calling it their spouse. It is to be feared that in modern times their descendants have lost this reverence, as well as the true knowledge of their own Scriptures. Oh, that the Lord would hasten the time when "the Deliverer shall arise out of Zion, to turn away ungodliness from Jacob?" (&nbsp;Romans 11:26; &nbsp;Hosea 3:4-5) </p>

<div> '''1: σάββατον ''' (Strong'S #4521 — Noun Neuter — sabbaton | sabbata — sab'-bat-on ) </div> <p> the latter, the plural form was transliterated from the [[Aramaic]] word, which was mistaken for a plural; hence the singular, sabbaton, was formed from it. The root means "to cease, desist" (Heb., shabath; cp. Arab., sabata, "to intercept, interrupt"); the doubled b has an intensive force, implying a complete cessation or a making to cease, probably the former. The idea is not that of relaxation or refreshment, but cessation from activity. </p> &nbsp;Exodus 31:16,17&nbsp;Exodus 20:8-11&nbsp;Matthew 12:9-13&nbsp;John 5:5-16&nbsp;Mark 1:32&nbsp;Matthew 12:1&nbsp;Mark 2:23&nbsp;Luke 6:1&nbsp;Mark 2:27&nbsp;Colossians 2:16&nbsp;Hebrews 4:4-11&nbsp;Romans 14:5&nbsp;Galatians 4:9-11&nbsp;Matthew 12:1,11&nbsp;Matthew 12:5&nbsp; Matthew 12:2&nbsp;24:20&nbsp;Mark 6:2&nbsp;Luke 6:1&nbsp; John 9:14&nbsp; Matthew 12:2&nbsp;Acts 16:13&nbsp;Matthew 28:1Late.One <div> '''2: προσάββατον ''' (Strong'S #4315 — Noun Neuter — prosabbaton — pros-ab'-bat-on ) </div> <p> signifies "the day before the sabbath" (pro, "before," and No. 1), &nbsp;Mark 15:42; some mss. have prin, "before," with sabbaton separately). </p>

<p> The first time the Sabbath is specifically mentioned in scripture is in &nbsp;Exodus 16:23 , after the manna had been given from heaven; but the Sabbath clearly had its origin in the sanctification and blessing of the seventh day after the six days of creative work. And a hebdomadal division of days apparently existed up to the flood, since it is very distinctly mentioned in connection with Noah. We are also told in &nbsp;Mark 2:27 that the Sabbath was made for man. It was an institution which expressed God's merciful consideration for man. </p> <p> The words 'rest' and 'Sabbath' in the passage in Exodus have no article, so that the sentence may be translated "To-morrow is [a] rest, [a] holy Sabbath unto the Lord." So in &nbsp;Exodus 16:25,26 there is no article: there is in &nbsp; Exodus 16:29 . The Sabbath was soon after definitely enacted in the ten commandments, &nbsp;Exodus 20:8-11 , and reference is there made to God having rested on the <i> seventh </i> day after the work of creation as the basis of the institution. </p> <p> The Sabbath had a peculiar place in relation to Israel: thus in &nbsp;Leviticus 23 , in the feasts of Jehovah, in the holy convocations, the Sabbath of Jehovah is first mentioned as showing the great intention of God. God had delivered Israel out of the slavery of Egypt, <i> therefore </i> God commanded them to keep the Sabbath. &nbsp;Deuteronomy 5:15 . The Sabbath was the sign of God's covenant with them, and it may be that the Lord in repeatedly offending the Jews by (in their view) breaking the Sabbath by acts of mercy foreshadowed the approaching dissolution of the legal covenant. &nbsp;Exodus 31:13,17; &nbsp;Ezekiel 20:12,20 . The Sabbath foreshadowed their being brought into the rest of God; but, because of the sin of those who started to go thither (who despised the promised land), God sware in His wrath that <i> they </i> should not enter into <i> His </i> rest. &nbsp; Psalm 95:11 . God has purposed to bring His people into His rest, for whom there remains therefore the keeping of a Sabbath. &nbsp;Hebrews 4:9 . </p> <p> The Sabbath was never given to the nations in the same way as to Israel, and amid all the sins enumerated against the Gentiles, we do not find Sabbath-breaking ever mentioned. Nevertheless, it appears to be a principle of God's government of the earth that man and beast should have one day in seven as a respite from labour, all needing it physically. </p> <p> The Christian's Sabbath is designated the LORD'S DAY — and is as distinct in principle from the Jewish legal Sabbath as the opening, or first day of a new week is from the close of a past one. The Lord lay <i> in </i> <i> death </i> on the Jewish Sabbath: the Christian keeps the first day of the week, the <i> resurrection day. </i> See LORD'S DAY. </p>

<p> &nbsp;Colossians 2:16 (a) The sabbath day is a shadow and a type of the perfect rest which every sinner finds in [[Christ]] [[Jesus]] when he ceases to work for his own salvation and trusts the [[Saviour]] to blot out all his sins, redeem his soul, bring forgiveness, give him eternal life, and make him a child of GOD. Immediately this friend rests in the Lord and begins to keep the true sabbath. This same thought is found also in &nbsp;Hebrews 4:9 (margin). where the rest which the Lord gives to the trusting soul is compared to the sabbath of the Old Testament. In those days Israel came to the seventh day, and then rested. In our day the Lord JESUS says, "Come unto Me, and I will give you rest." He is the true sabbath, and He is our sabbath. </p>

<p> ''''' sab´ath ''''' ( שׁבּת , <i> ''''' shabbāth ''''' </i> , שׁבּתון , <i> ''''' shabbāthōn ''''' </i> ; σάββατον , <i> ''''' sábbaton ''''' </i> , τὰ σάββατα , <i> ''''' tá ''''' </i> <i> ''''' sábbata ''''' </i> ; the root <i> ''''' shābhath ''''' </i> in Hebrew means "to desist," "cease," "rest"): </p> <p> I. Origin Of The Sabbath </p> <p> 1. The Biblical Account </p> <p> 2. Critical Theories </p> <p> II. History Of The Sabbath After Moses </p> <p> 1. In the Old Testament </p> <p> 2. In the Inter-Testamental Period </p> <p> 3. Jesus and the Sabbath </p> <p> 4. Paul and the Sabbath </p> <p> [[Literature]] </p> <p> The Sabbath was the day on which man was to leave off his secular labors and keep a day holy to Yahweh. </p> I. Origin of the Sabbath. <p> <b> 1. The Biblical Account: </b> </p> <p> The sketch of creation in &nbsp;Genesis 1:1 through 2:3 closes with an impressive account of the hallowing of the 7th day, because on it God rested from all the work which He had made creatively. The word "Sabbath" does not occur in the story; but it is recognized by critics of every school that the author (P) means to describe the Sabbath as primeval. In &nbsp; Exodus 20:8-11 (ascribed to JE) the reason assigned for keeping the 7th day as a holy Sabbath is the fact that [[Yahweh]] rested after the six days of creative activity. &nbsp; Exodus 31:17 employs a bold figure, and describes Yahweh as refreshing Himself ("catching His breath") after six days of work. The statement that God set apart the 7th day for holy purposes in honor of His own rest after six days of creative activity is boldly challenged by many modern scholars as merely the pious figment of a priestly imagination of the exile. There are so few hints of a weekly Sabbath before Moses, who is comparatively a modern character, that argumentation is almost excluded, and each student will approach the question with the bias of his whole intellectual and spiritual history. There is no distinct mention of the Sabbath in Gen, though a 7-day period is referred to several times (&nbsp; Genesis 7:4 , &nbsp;Genesis 7:10; &nbsp;Genesis 8:10 , &nbsp;Genesis 8:12; &nbsp;Genesis 29:27 f). The first express mention of the Sabbath is found in &nbsp; Exodus 16:21-30 , in connection with the giving of the manna. Yahweh taught the people in the wilderness to observe the 7th day as a Sabbath of rest by sending no manna on that day, a double supply being given on the 6th day of the week. Here we have to do with a weekly Sabbath as a day of rest from ordinary secular labor. A little later the Ten Words (Commands) were spoken by Yahweh from Sinai in the hearing of all the people, and were afterward written on the two tables of stone (Ex 20:1-17; &nbsp;Exodus 34:1-5 , &nbsp;Exodus 34:27 f). The Fourth Commandment enjoins upon Israel the observance of the 7th day of the week as a holy day on which no work shall be done by man or beast. [[Children]] and servants are to desist from all work, and even the stranger within the gates is required to keep the day holy. The reason assigned is that Yahweh rested on the 7th day and blessed it and hallowed it. There is no hint that the restrictions were meant to guard against the wrath of a jealous and angry deity. The Sabbath was meant to be a blessing to man and not a burden. After the sin in connection with the golden call Yahweh rehearses the chief duties required of Israel, and again announces the law of the Sabbath (&nbsp; Exodus 34:21 , ascribed to J). In the Levitical legislation there is frequent mention of the Sabbath (&nbsp;Exodus 31:13-16; &nbsp;Exodus 35:2 f; &nbsp; Leviticus 19:3 , &nbsp;Leviticus 19:10; &nbsp;Leviticus 23:3 , &nbsp;Leviticus 23:18 ). A willful Sabbath-breaker was put to death (&nbsp;Numbers 15:32-36 ). In the Deuteronomic legislation there is equal recognition of the importance and value of the Sabbath (&nbsp;Deuteronomy 5:12-15 ). Here the reason assigned for the observance of the Sabbath philanthropic and humanitarian: "that thy man-servant and thy maid-servant may rest as well as thou." It is thus manifest that all the Pentateuchal codes, whether proceeding from Moses alone or from many hands in widely different centuries, equally recognize the Sabbath as one of the characteristic institutions of Israel's religious and social life. If we cannot point to any observance of the weekly Sabbath prior to Moses, we can at least be sure that this was one of the institutions which he gave to Israel. From the days of Moses until now the holy Sabbath has been kept by devout Israelites. </p> <p> <b> 2. Critical Theories: </b> </p> <p> "The older theories of the origin of the Jewish Sabbath (connecting it with Egypt, with the day of Saturn, or in general with the seven planets) have now been almost entirely abandoned (see [[Astronomy]] , I, 5). The disposition at present is to regard the day as originally a lunar festival, similar to a Bablonian custom (Schrader, <i> Stud. u. Krit </i> ., 1874), the rather as the cuneiform documents appear to contain a term <i> ''''' šabattu ''''' </i> or <i> ''''' šabattum ''''' </i> , identical in form and meaning with the Hebrew word <i> ''''' šabbāthōn ''''' </i> ." Thus wrote Professor C. H. Toy in 1899 ( <i> Jbl </i> , Xviii , 190). In a syllabary (II R, 32,16a, b) <i> ''''' šabattum ''''' </i> is said to be equivalent to <i> ''''' ǔm ''''' </i> <i> ''''' nǔh̬ ''''' </i> <i> ''''' libbi ''''' </i> , the natural translation of which seemed to be "day of rest of the heart." Schrader, Sayce and others so understood the phrase, and naturally looked upon <i> ''''' šabattum ''''' </i> as equivalent to the Hebrew Sabbath. But Jensen and others have shown that the phrase should be rendered "day of the appeasement of the mind" (of an offended deity). The reference is to a day of atonement or pacification rather than a day of rest, a day in which one must be careful not to arouse the anger of the god who was supposed to preside over that particular day. Now the term <i> ''''' šabattum ''''' </i> has been found only 5 or 6 times in the Babylonian inscriptions and in none of them is it connected with the 7th day of a week. There was, however, a sort of institution among the superstitious Babylonians that has been compared with the Hebrew Sabbath. In certain months of the year (Elul, Marcheshvan) the 7th, 14th, 19th, 21st and 28th days were set down as favorable days, or unfavorable days, that is, as days in which the king, the priest and the physician must be careful not to stir up the anger of the deity. On these days the king was not to eat food prepared by fire, not to put on royal dress, not to ride in his chariot, etc. As to the 19th day, it is thought that it was included among the unlucky days because it was the 49th (7 times 7) from the 1st of the preceding month. As there were 30 days in the month, it is evident that we are not dealing with a recurring 7th day in the week, as is the case with the Hebrew Sabbath. Moreover, no proof has been adduced that the term <i> ''''' šabattum ''''' </i> was ever applied to these <i> ''''' dies ''''' </i> <i> ''''' nefasti ''''' </i> or unlucky days. Hence, the assertions of some Assyriologists with regard to the Babylonian origin of the Sabbath must be taken with several grams of salt. [[Notice]] must be taken of an ingenious and able paper by Professor M. Jastrow, which was read before the Eleventh International [[Congress]] of Orientalists in [[Paris]] in 1897, in which the learned author attempts to show that the Hebrew Sabbath was originally a day of propitiation like the Babylonian <i> ''''' šabattum ''''' </i> ( <i> Ajt </i> , II, 312-52). He argues that the restrictive measures in the Hebrew laws for the observance of the Sabbath arose from the original conception of the Sabbath as an unfavorable day, a day in which the anger of Yahweh might flash forth against men. Although Jastrow has supported his thesis with many arguments that are cogent, yet the reverent student of the Scriptures will find it difficult to resist the impression that the Old Testament writers without exception thought of the Sabbath not as an unfavorable or unlucky day but rather as a day set apart for the benefit of man. Whatever may have been the attitude of the early Hebrews toward the day which was to become a characteristic institution of Judaism in all ages and in all lands, the organs of revelation throughout the Old Testament enforce the observance of the Sabbath by arguments which lay emphasis upon its beneficent and humanitarian aspects. </p> <p> We must call attention to Meinhold's ingenious hypothesis as to the origin of the Sabbath. In 1894 [[Theophilus]] G. Pinches discovered a tablet in which the term shapattu is applied to the 15th day of the month. Meinhold argues that <i> ''''' shabattu ''''' </i> in Babylonian denotes the day of the full moon. Dr. Skinner thus describes Meinhold's theory: "He points to the close association of new-moon and Sabbath in nearly all the pre-exilic references (&nbsp; Amos 8:5; &nbsp;Hosea 2:11; &nbsp;Isaiah 1:13; &nbsp;2 Kings 4:23 f); and concludes that in early Israel, as in Babylonia, the Sabbath was the full-moon festival and nothing else. The institution of the weekly Sabbath he traces to a desire to compensate for the loss of the old lunar festivals, when these were abrogated by the Deuteronomic reformation. This innovation he attributes to Ezekiel; but steps toward it are found in the introduction of a weekly day of rest during harvest only (on the ground of &nbsp; Deuteronomy 16:8 f; compare &nbsp; Exodus 34:21 ), and in the establishment of the sabbatical year (Lev 25), which he considers to be older than the weekly Sabbath" ( <i> ICC </i> on Gen, p. 39). Dr. Skinner well says that Meinhold's theory involves great improbabilities. It is not certain that the Babylonians applied the term sabattu to the 15th day of the month because it was the day of the full moon; and it is by no means certain that the early prophets in Israel identified Sabbath with the festival of the full moon. </p> <p> The wealth of learning and ingenuity expended in the search for the origin of the Sabbath has up to the present yielded small returns. </p> II. History of the Sabbath After Moses. <p> <b> 1. In the Old Testament: </b> </p> <p> The early prophets and historians occasionally make mention of the Sabbath. It is sometimes named in connection with the festival of the new moon (&nbsp;2 Kings 4:23; &nbsp;Amos 8:5; &nbsp;Hosea 2:11; &nbsp;Isaiah 1:13; &nbsp;Ezekiel 46:3 ). The prophets found fault with the worship on the Sabbath, because it was not spiritual nor prompted by love and gratitude. The Sabbath is exalted by the great prophets who faced the crisis of the Babylonian exile as one of the most valuable institutions in Israel's life. Great promises are attached to faithful observance of the holy day, and confession is made of Israel's unfaithfulness in profaning the Sabbath (&nbsp;Jeremiah 17:21-27; &nbsp;Isaiah 56:2 , &nbsp;Isaiah 56:4; &nbsp;Isaiah 58:13; &nbsp;Ezekiel 20:12-24 ). In the [[Persian]] period Nehemiah struggled earnestly to make the people of Jerusalem observe the law of the Sabbath (&nbsp;Nehemiah 10:31; &nbsp;Nehemiah 13:15-22 ). </p> <p> <b> 2. In the Inter-Testamental Period: </b> </p> <p> With the development of the synagogue the Sabbath became a day of worship and of study of the Law, as well as a day of cessation from all secular employment. That the pious in Israel carefully observed the Sabbath is clear from the conduct of the Maccabees and their followers, who at first declined to resist the onslaught made by their enemies on the Sabbath (&nbsp;1 Maccabees 2:29-38 ); but necessity drove the faithful to defend themselves against hostile attack on the Sabbath (&nbsp;1 Maccabees 2:39-41 ). It was during the period between Ezra and the Christian era that the spirit of Jewish legalism flourished. [[Innumerable]] restrictions and rules were formulated for the conduct of life under the Law. Great principles were lost to sight in the mass of petty details. Two entire treatises of the Mishna, <i> ''''' Shabbāth ''''' </i> and <i> ''''' ‛Ērūbhı̄n ''''' </i> , are devoted to the details of Sabbath observance. The subject is touched upon in other parts of the Mishna; and in the [[Gemara]] there are extended discussions, with citations of the often divergent opinions of the rabbis. In the [[Mishna]] ( <i> ''''' Shahbāth ''''' </i> , vii. 2) there are 39 classes of prohibited actions with regard to the Sabbath, and there is much hair-splitting in working out the details. The beginnings of this elaborate definition of actions permitted and actions forbidden are to be found in the centuries immediately preceding the Christian era. The movement was at flood tide during our Lord's earthly ministry and continued for centuries afterward, in spite of His frequent and vigorous protests. </p> <p> <b> 3. Jesus and the Sabbath: </b> </p> <p> Apart from His claim to be the Messiah, there is no subject on which our Lord came into such sharp conflict with the religious leaders of the Jews as in the matter of Sabbath observance. He set Himself squarely against the current rabbinic restrictions as contrary to the spirit of the original law of the Sabbath. The rabbis seemed to think that the Sabbath was an end in itself, an institution to which the pious Israelite must subject all his personal interests; in other words, that man was made for the Sabbath: man might suffer hardship, but the institution must be preserved inviolate. Jesus, on the contrary, taught that the Sabbath was made for man's benefit. If there should arise a conflict between man's needs and the letter of the Law, man's higher interests and needs must take precedence over the law of the Sabbath (&nbsp;Matthew 12:1-14; Mk 2:23 through 3:6; &nbsp;Luke 6:1-11; also Jn 5:1-18; &nbsp;Luke 13:10-17; &nbsp;Luke 14:1-6 ). There is no reason to think that Jesus meant to discredit the Sabbath as an institution. It was His custom to attend worship in the synagogue on the Sabbath (&nbsp;Luke 4:16 ). The humane element in the rest day at the end of every week must have appealed to His sympathetic nature. It was the one precept of the Decalogue that was predominantly ceremonial, though it had distinct sociological and moral value. As an institution for the benefit of toiling men and animals, Jesus held the Sabbath in high regard. As the Messiah, He was not subject to its restrictions; He could at any moment assert His lordship over the Sabbath (&nbsp;Mark 2:28 ). The institution was not on a par with the great moral precepts, which are unchangeable. It is worthy of note that, while Jesus pushed the moral precepts of the Decalogue into the inner realm of thought and desire, thus making the requirement more difficult and the law more exacting, He fought for a more liberal and lenient interpretation of the law of the Sabbath. Rigorous sabbatarians must look elsewhere for a champion of their views. </p> <p> <b> 4. Paul and the Sabbath: </b> </p> <p> The early Christians kept the 7th day as a Sabbath, much after the fashion of other Jews. Gradually the 1st day of the week came to be recognized as the day on which the followers of Jesus would meet for worship. The resurrection of our Lord on that day made it for Christians the most joyous day of all the week. When Gentiles were admitted into the church, the question at once arose whether they should be required to keep the Law of Moses. It is the glory of Paul that he fought for and won freedom for his Gentile fellow-Christians. It is significant of the attitude of the apostles that the decrees of the Council at Jerusalem made no mention of Sabbath observance in the requirements laid upon Gentile Christians (&nbsp;Acts 15:28 f). Paul boldly contended that believers in Jesus, whether Jew or Gentile, were set free from the burdens of the Mosaic Law. Even circumcision counted for nothing, now that men were saved by believing in Jesus (&nbsp; Galatians 5:6 ). Christian liberty as proclaimed by Paul included all days and seasons. A man could observe special days or not, just as his own judgment and conscience might dictate (&nbsp;Romans 14:5 f); but in all such matters one ought to be careful not to put a stumblingblock in a brother's way (&nbsp; Romans 14:13 ff). That Paul contended for personal freedom in respect of the Sabbath is made quite clear in &nbsp; Colossians 2:16 f, where he groups together dietary laws, feast days, new moons and sabbaths. The early Christians brought over into their mode of observing the Lord's Day the best elements of the Jewish Sabbath, without its onerous restrictions.) See further [[Lord]] 'S [[Day]]; [[Ethics Of Jesus]] , I., 3., (1). </p> Literature. <p> J. A. Hessey, <i> Sunday, Its Origin, History, and Present [[Obligation]] </i> (Bampton Lectures for 1860); Zahn, <i> Geschichte des Sonntags </i> , 1878; Davis, <i> Genesis and Semitic Tradition </i> , 1894,23-35; Jastrow, "The Original Character of the Heb Sabbath," <i> Ajt </i> , II, 1898,312-52; Toy, "The Earliest Form of the Sabbath," <i> Jbl </i> , Xviii . 1899,190-94; W. Lotz, <i> Questionum de historia Sabbati libri duo </i> , 1883; Nowack, <i> Hebr. [[Arch]] </i> ., II, 1894,140 ff; Driver, <i> Hdb </i> , IV, 1902,317-23; <i> Icc </i> , on "Gen," 1911,35-39; Dillmann, <i> [[Ex]] u. Lev3 </i> , 1897,212-16; Edersheim, <i> Life and Times of Jesus the [[Messiah]] </i> , II, 1883,51-62,777-87; Broadus, <i> [[Commentary]] on Mt </i> , 256-61; <i> Eb </i> , IV, 1903,4173-80; Gunkel, <i> Gen3 </i> , 1910,114-16; Meinhold, <i> Sabbat u. Woche im Altes Testament </i> , 1905; Beer, <i> Schabbath </i> , 1908. </p> III. Seventh-Day Adventist Position <p> The views entertained by Seventh-Day [[Adventists]] concerning the nature and obligation of the Sabbath may conveniently be presented under three general divisions: (1) what the Bible says concerning the Sabbath; (2) what history says concerning the Sabbath; (3) the significance of the Sabbath. </p> <p> <b> 1. What the Bible Says Concerning the Sabbath: </b> </p> (1) Old Testament Teaching. <p> In their views concerning the institution and primal obligation of the Sabbath, Seventh-Day Adventists are in harmony with the views held by the early representatives of nearly all the evangelical denominations. The Sabbath is coeval with the finishing of creation, and the main facts connected with establishing it are recorded in &nbsp;Genesis 2:2 , &nbsp;Genesis 2:3 . The blessing here placed upon the seventh day distinguishes it from the other days of the week, and the day thus blessed was "sanctified" (King James Version, Revised Version "hallowed") and set apart for man. </p> <p> That the Sabbath thus instituted was well known throughout the Patriarchal age is clearly established both by direct evidence and by necessary inference. </p> <p> "If we had no other passage than this of &nbsp;Genesis 2:3 , there would be no difficulty in deducing from it a precept for the universal observance of a Sabbath, or seventh day, to be devoted to God as holy time by all of that race for whom the earth and all things therein were specially prepared. The first men must have known it. The words, 'He hallowed it,' can have no meaning otherwise. They would be a blank unless in reference to some who were required to keep it holy" (Lange's <i> Commentary </i> on &nbsp; Genesis 2:3 , I, 197). </p> <p> "And the day arrived when Moses went to [[Goshen]] to see his brethren, that he saw the children of Israel in their burdens and hard labor, and Moses was grieved on their account. And Moses returned to Egypt and came to the house of Pharaoh, and came before the king, and Moses bowed down before the king. And Moses said unto Pharaoh, I pray thee, my lord, I have come to seek a small request from thee, turn not away my face empty; and [[Pharaoh]] said unto him, Speak. And Moses said unto Pharaoh, Let there be given unto thy servants the children of Israel who are in Goshen, one day to rest therein from their labor. And the king answered Moses and said, Behold I have lifted up thy face in this thing to grant thy request. And Pharaoh ordered a proclamation to be issued throughout Egypt and Goshen, saying, To you, all the children of Israel, thus says the king, for six days you shall do your work and labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest, and shall not perform any work; thus shall you do in all the days, as the king and Moses the son of Bathia have commanded. And Moses rejoiced at this thing which the king had granted to him, and all the children of Israel did as Moses ordered them. For this thing was from the Lord to the children of Israel, for the Lord had begun to remember the children of Israel to save them for the sake of their fathers. And the Lord was with Moses, and his fame went throughout Egypt. And Moses became great in the eyes of all the Egyptians, and in the eyes of all the children of Israel, seeking good for his people Israel, and speaking words of peace regarding them to the king" ( <i> Book of Jashar </i> 70 41-51, published by Noah and Gould, New York, 1840). </p> <p> "Hence, you can see that the Sabbath was before the Law of Moses came, and has existed from the beginning of the world. Especially have the devout, who have preserved the true faith, met together and called upon God on this day" (Luther's Works, Xxxv , p. 330). </p> <p> "Why should God begin two thousand years after (the creation of the world) to give men a Sabbath upon the reason of His rest from the creation of it, if He had never called man to that commemoration before? And it is certain that the Sabbath was observed at the falling of the manna before the giving of the Law; and let any considering Christian judge...(1) whether the not falling of manna, or the rest of God after the creation, was like to be the original reason of the Sabbath; (2) and whether, if it had been the first, it would not have been said, Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day; for on six days the manna fell, and not on the seventh; rather than for in six days God created heaven and earth, etc., and rested the seventh day.' And it is casually added, 'Wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.' Nay, consider whether this annexed reason intimates not that the day on this ground being hallowed before, therefore it was that God sent not down the manna on that day, and that He prhibited the people from seeking it" (Richard Baxter, <i> Practical Works </i> , III, 774, edition 1707). </p> <p> That the Sabbath was known to those who came out of Egypt, even before the giving of the Law at Sinai, is shown from the experience with the manna, as recorded in &nbsp;Exodus 16:22-30 . The double portion on the sixth day, and its preservation, was the constantly recurring miracle which reminded the people of their obligation to observe the Sabbath, and that the Sabbath was a definite day, the seventh day. To the people, first wondering at this remarkable occurrence, Moses said, "This is that which the Lord hath said, To morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the Lord" (&nbsp;Exodus 16:23 , King James Version). And to some who went out to gather manna on the seventh day, the Lord administered this rebuke: "How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws?" (&nbsp;Exodus 16:28 ). All this shows that the Sabbath law was well understood, and that the failure to observe it rendered the people justly subject to Divine reproof. </p> <p> At Sinai, the Sabbath which was instituted at creation, and had been observed during the intervening centuries, was embodied in that formal statement of man's duties usually designated as the "Ten Commandments." It is treated as an institution already well known and the command is, "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy" (&nbsp;Exodus 20:8 ). In the 4th commandment the basis of the Sabbath is revealed. It is a memorial of the Creator's rest at the close of those six days in which He made "heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is." For this reason "Yahweh blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it." This blessing was not placed upon the day at Sinai, but in the beginning, when "God blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it" (&nbsp;Genesis 2:3 ). </p> <p> From the very nature of the basis of the Sabbath, as set forth in this commandment, both the institution itself and the definite day of the Sabbath are of a permanent nature. So long as it is true that God created heaven and earth, and all things therein, so long will the Sabbath remain as a memorial of that work; and so long as it is true that this creative work was completed in six days, and that God Himself rested on the seventh day, and was refreshed in the enjoyment of His completed work, so long will it be true that the memorial of that work can properly be celebrated only upon the seventh day of the week. </p> <p> During all the period from the deliverance out of Egypt to the captivity in Babylon, the people of God were distinguished from the nations about them by the worship of the only true God, and the observance of His holy day. The proper observance of the true Sabbath would preserve them from idolatry, being a constant reminder of the one God, the Creator of all things. Even when Jerusalem was suffering from the attacks of the Babylonians, God assured His people, through the prophet Jeremiah, that if they would hallow the Sabbath day, great should be their prosperity, and the city should remain forever (&nbsp;Jeremiah 17:18 ). This shows that the spiritual observance of the Sabbath was the supreme test of their right relation to God. In those prophecies of Isaiah, which deal primarily with the restoration from Babylon, remarkable promises were made to those who would observe the Sabbath, as recorded in &nbsp;Isaiah 56:1-7 . </p> (2) New Testament Teaching. <p> From the record found in the four Gospels, it is plain that the Jews during all the previous centuries had preserved a knowledge both of the Sabbath institution and of the definite day. It is equally plain that they had made the Sabbath burdensome by their own rigorous exactions concerning it. And Christ, the Lord of the Sabbath, both by example and by precept, brushed aside these traditions of men that He might reveal the Sabbath of the commandment as God gave it - a blessing and not a burden. A careful reading of the testimony of the evangelists will show that Christ taught the observance of the commandments of God, rather than the traditions of men, and that the charge of Sabbath-breaking was brought against Him for no other reason than that He refused to allow the requirements of man to change the Sabbath, blessed of God, into a merely human institution, grievous in its nature, and enforced upon the people with many and troublesome restrictions. </p> <p> All are agreed that Christ and His disciples observed the seventh-day Sabbath previous to the crucifixion. That His followers had received no intimation of any proposed change at His death, is evident from the recorded fact that on the day when He was in the tomb they rested, "on the sabbath ... according to the commandment" (&nbsp;Luke 23:56 ); and that they treated the following day, the first day of the week, the same as of old, is further evident, as upon that day they came unto the sepulcher for the purpose of anointing the body of Jesus. In the Book of Acts, which gives a brief history of the work of the disciples in proclaiming the gospel of a risen Saviour, no other Sabbath is recognized than the seventh day, and this is mentioned in the most natural way as the proper designation of a well-known institution (&nbsp;Acts 13:14 , &nbsp;Acts 13:27 , &nbsp;Acts 13:42; &nbsp;Acts 16:13; &nbsp;Acts 18:4 ). </p> <p> In our Lord's great prophecy, in which He foretold the experience of the church between the first and the second advent, He recognized the seventh-day Sabbath as an existing institution at the time of the destruction of Jerusalem (70 AD), when He instructed His disciples, "Pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on a sabbath" (&nbsp;Matthew 24:20 ). Such instruction given in these words, and at that time, would have been confusing in the extreme, had there been any such thing contemplated as the overthrow of the Sabbath law at the crucifixion, and the substitution of another day upon an entirely different basis. </p> <p> That the original Sabbath is to be observed, not only during the present order of things, but also after the restoration when, according to the vision of the revelator, a new heaven and a new earth will take the place of the heaven and the earth that now are, is clearly intimated in the words of the Lord through the prophet Isaiah: "For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith Yahweh, 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 Yahweh" (&nbsp;Isaiah 66:22 , &nbsp;Isaiah 66:23 ). </p> <p> Seventh-Day Adventists regard the effort to establish the observance of another day than the seventh by using such texts as &nbsp;John 20:19 , &nbsp;John 20:26; &nbsp;Acts 20:7; &nbsp;1 Corinthians 16:1 , &nbsp;1 Corinthians 16:2; &nbsp;Revelation 1:10 as being merely an afterthought, an effort to find warrant for an observance established upon other than Biblical authority. During the last two or three centuries there has been a movement for the restoration of the original seventh-day Sabbath, not as a Jewish, but as a Christian, institution. This work, commenced and carried forward by the Seventh-Day Baptists, has been taken up and pushed with renewed vigor by the Seventh-Day Adventists during the present generation, and the Bible teaching concerning the true Sabbath is now being presented in nearly every country, both civilized and uncivilized, on the face of the earth. </p> <p> <b> 2. What History Says About the Sabbath: </b> </p> (1) Josephus. <p> This summary of history must necessarily be brief, and it will be impossible, for lack of space, to quote authorities. From the testimony of Josephus it is clear that the Jews, as a nation, continued to observe the seventh-day Sabbath until their overthrow, when Jerusalem was captured by Titus, 70 AD. As colonies, and individuals, scattered over the face of the earth, the Jews have preserved a knowledge of the original Sabbath, and the definite day, until the present time. They constitute a living testimony for the benefit of all who desire to know the truth of this matter. </p> (2) Church History. <p> According to church history, the seventh-day Sabbath was observed by the early church, and no other day was observed as a Sabbath during the first two or three centuries (see <i> Hdb </i> , IV, 322 b). </p> <p> In the oft-repeated letter of Pliny, the Roman governor of Bithynia, to the emperor Trajan, written about 112 AD, there occurs the expression, "a certain stated day," which is usually assumed to mean Sunday. With reference to this matter W.B. Taylor, in <i> [[Historical]] [[Commentaries]] </i> , chapter i, section 47, makes the following statement: "As the Sabbath day appears to have been quite as commonly observed at this date as the sun's day (if not even more so), it is just as probable that this 'stated day' referred to by Pliny was the 7th day as that it was the 1st day; though the latter is generally taken for granted." "Sunday was distinguished as a day of joy by the circumstances that men did not fast upon it, and that they prayed standing up and not kneeling, as Christ had now been raised from the dead. The festival of Sunday, like all other festivals, was always only a human ordinance, and it was far from the intentions of the apostles to establish a divine command in this respect, far from them, and from the early apostolic church, to transfer the laws of the Sabbath to Sunday. Perhaps at the end of the 2nd century, a false application of this kind had begun to take place; for men appear by that time to have considered laboring on Sunday as a sin" (Tertullian <i> De Orat </i> ., c. 23). This quotation is taken from Rose's <i> Neander </i> , London, 1831, I, 33 f, and is the correct translation from Neander's first German edition, Hamburg, 1826, I, pt. 2, p. 339. Neander has in his 2nd edition, 1842, omitted the second sentence, in which he expressly stated that Sunday was only a human ordinance, but he has added nothing to the contrary. "The Christians in the ancient church very soon distinguished the first day of the week, Sunday; however, not as a Sabbath, but as an assembly day of the church, to study the Word of God together and to celebrate the ordinances one with another: without a shadow of doubt this took place as early as the first part of the 2nd century" ( <i> Geschichte des Sonntags </i> , 60). </p> <p> Gradually, however, the first day of the week came into prominence as an added day, but finally by civil and ecclesiastical authority as a required observance. The first legislation on this subject was the famous law of Constantine, enacted 321 AD. The acts of various councils during the 4th and 5th centuries established the observance of the first day of the week by ecclesiastical authority, and in the great apostasy which followed, the rival day obtained the ascendancy. During the centuries which followed, however, there were always witnesses for the true Sabbath, although under great persecution. And thus in various lands, the knowledge of the true Sabbath has been preserved. </p> <p> <b> 3. The Significance of the Sabbath: </b> </p> <p> In the creation of the heavens and the earth the foundation of the gospel was laid. At the close of His created work, "God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good" (&nbsp;Genesis 1:31 ). The Sabbath was both the sign and the memorial of that creative power which is able to make all things good. But man, made in the image of God, lost that image through sin. In the gospel, provision is made for the restoration of the image of God in the soul of man. The Creator is the [[Redeemer]] and redemption is the new creation. Since the Sabbath was the sign of that creative power which worked in Christ, the Word, in the making of the heaven and the earth and all things therein, so it is the sign of that same creative power working through the same eternal Word for the restoration of all things. "Wherefore if any man is in Christ, there is a new creation: the old things are passed away; behold, they are become new" (&nbsp;2 Corinthians 5:17 margin). "For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation" (&nbsp; Galatians 6:15 margin). "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God afore prepared that we should walk in them" (&nbsp; Ephesians 2:10 ). </p> <p> A concrete illustration of this gospel meaning of the Sabbath is found in the deliverance of Israel from Egypt. The same creative power which wrought in the beginning was exercised in the signs and miracles which preceded their deliverance, and in those miracles, such as the opening of the Red Sea, the giving of the manna, and the water from the rock, which attended the journeyings of the Israelites. In consequence of these manifestations of creative power in their behalf, the children of Israel were instructed to remember in their observance of the Sabbath that they were bondsmen in the land of Egypt. Israel's deliverance from Egypt is the type of every man's deliverance from sin; and the instruction to Israel concerning the Sabbath shows its true significance in the gospel of salvation from sin, and the new creation in the image of God. </p> <p> Furthermore, the seventh-day Sabbath is the sign of both the divinity and the deity of Christ. God only can create. He through whom this work is wrought must be one with God. To this the Scriptures testify: "In the beginning was the Word,... and the Word was God.... All things were made through him; and without him was not anything made that hath been made." But this same Word which was with God, and was God, "became flesh, and dwelt among us" (&nbsp;John 1:1 , &nbsp;John 1:3 , &nbsp;John 1:14 ). This is the eternal Son, "in whom we have our redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace" (&nbsp;Ephesians 1:7 ). To the Christian the Sabbath, which was the sign and memorial of that divine power which wrought through the eternal Word in the creation of the heaven and the earth, becomes the sign of the same power working through the same eternal Son to accomplish the new creation, and is thus the sign of both the divinity and the deity of Christ. </p> <p> Inasmuch as the redemptive work finds its chiefest expression in the cross of Christ, the Sabbath, which is the sign of that redemptive work, becomes the sign of the cross. </p> <p> Seventh-Day Adventists teach and practice the observance of the Sabbath, not because they believe in salvation through man's effort to keep the law of God, but because they believe in that salvation which alone can be accomplished by the creative power of God working through the eternal Son to create believers anew in Christ Jesus. </p> <p> Seventh-Day Adventists believe, and teach, that the observance of any other day than the seventh as the Sabbath is the sign of that predicted apostasy in which the man of sin would be revealed who would exalt himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped. </p> <p> Seventh-Day Adventists believe, and teach, that the observance of the true Sabbath in this generation is a part of that gospel work which is to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. </p>