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Chapter 29
The Sabbath
THE Sabbath was hallowed at the creation. As ordained for man, it had its origin when
"the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy." Job
38:7. Peace brooded over the world; for earth was in harmony with heaven. "God saw
everything that He had made, and, behold, it was very good;" and He rested in the joy
of His completed work. Gen. 1:31.
Because He had rested upon the Sabbath, "God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified
it,"--set it apart to a holy use. He gave it to Adam as a day of rest. It was a
memorial of the work of creation, and thus a sign of God's power and His love. The
Scripture says, "He hath made His wonderful works to be remembered." "The
things that are made," declare "the invisible things of Him since the creation
of the world," "even His everlasting power and divinity." Gen. 2:3; Ps.
111:4; Rom. 1:20, R. V.
All things were created by the Son of God. "In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God. . . . All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything
made that was made." John 1: 1-3. And since the Sabbath is a memorial of the work of
creation, it is a token of the love and power of Christ.
The Sabbath calls our thoughts to nature, and brings us into communion with the Creator.
In the song of the bird, the sighing of the trees, and the music of the sea, we still may
hear His voice who talked
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with Adam in Eden in the cool of the day. And as we behold His power in nature we find
comfort, for the word that created all things is that which speaks life to the soul. He
"who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." 2 Cor.
4:6.
It was this thought that awoke the song,--
"Thou, Lord, hast made me glad through Thy work;
I will triumph in the works of Thy hands.
O Lord, how great are Thy works!
And Thy thoughts are very deep."
Ps. 92:4,5.
And the Holy Spirit through the prophet Isaiah declares: "To whom then will ye liken
God? or what likeness will ye compare unto Him? . . . Have ye not known? have ye not
heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the
foundations of the earth? It is He that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the
inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and
spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in. . . . To whom then will ye liken Me, or shall I
be equal? saith the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these
things, that bringeth out their host by number: He calleth them all by names by the
greatness of His might, for that He is strong in power; not one faileth. Why sayest thou,
O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the Lord, and my judgment is passed
over from my God? Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the
Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? . . . He
giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no
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might He increaseth strength." "Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not
dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will
uphold thee with the right hand of My righteousness." "Look unto Me, and be ye
saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else." This is the
message written in nature, which the Sabbath is appointed to keep in memory. When the Lord
bade Israel hallow His Sabbaths, He said, "They shall be a sign between Me and you,
that ye may know that I am Jehovah your God." Isa. 40:18-29; 41:10; 45:22; Ezek.
20:20, R. V.
The Sabbath was embodied in the law given from Sinai; but it was not then first made known
as a day of rest. The people of Israel had a knowledge of it before they came to Sinai. On
the way thither the Sabbath was kept. When some profaned it, the Lord reproved them,
saying, "How long refuse ye to keep My commandments and My laws?" Ex. 16:28.
The Sabbath was not for Israel merely, but for the world. It had been made known to man in
Eden, and, like the other precepts of the Decalogue, it is of imperishable obligation. Of
that law of which the fourth commandment forms a part, Christ declares, "Till heaven
and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in nowise pass from the law." So long as
the heavens and the earth endure, the Sabbath will continue as a sign of the Creator's
power. And when Eden shall bloom on earth again, God's holy rest day will be honored by
all beneath the sun. "From one Sabbath to another" the inhabitants of the
glorified new earth shall go up "to worship before Me, saith the Lord." Matt.
5:18; Isa. 66:23.
No other institution which was committed to the Jews tended so fully to distinguish them
from surrounding nations as did the Sabbath. God designed that its observance should
designate them as His worshipers. It was to be a token of their separation from idolatry,
and their connection with the true God. But in order to keep the Sabbath holy, men must
themselves be holy. Through faith they must become partakers of the righteousness of
Christ. When the command was given to Israel, "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it
holy," the Lord said also to them, "Ye shall be holy men unto Me." Ex.
20:8; 22:31. Only thus could the Sabbath distinguish Israel as the worshipers of God.
As the Jews departed from God, and failed to make the righteousness of Christ their own by
faith, the Sabbath lost its significance to them. Satan was seeking to exalt himself and
to draw men away from Christ, and he worked to pervert the Sabbath, because it is the sign
of the
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power of Christ. The Jewish leaders accomplished the will of Satan by surrounding God's
rest day with burdensome requirements. In the days of Christ the Sabbath had become so
perverted that its observance reflected the character of selfish and arbitrary men rather
than the character of the loving heavenly Father. The rabbis virtually represented God as
giving laws which it was impossible for men to obey. They led the people to look upon God
as a tyrant, and to think that the observance of the Sabbath, as He required it, made men
hard-hearted and cruel. It was the work of Christ to clear away these misconceptions.
Although the rabbis followed Him with merciless hostility, He did not even appear to
conform to their requirements, but went straight forward, keeping the Sabbath according to
the law of God.
Upon one Sabbath day, as the Saviour and His disciples returned from the place of worship,
they passed through a field of ripening grain. Jesus had continued His work to a late
hour, and while passing through the fields, the disciples began to gather the heads of
grain, and to eat the kernels after rubbing them in their hands. On any other day this act
would have excited no comment, for one passing through a field of grain, an orchard, or a
vineyard, was at liberty to gather what he desired to eat. See Deut. 23:24, 25. But to do
this on the Sabbath was held to be an act of desecration. Not only was the gathering of
the grain a kind of reaping, but the rubbing of it in the hands was a kind of threshing.
Thus, in the opinion of the rabbis, there was a double offense.
The spies at once complained to Jesus, saying, "Behold, Thy disciples do that which
is not lawful to do upon the Sabbath day."
When accused of Sabbathbreaking at Bethesda, Jesus defended Himself by affirming His
Sonship to God, and declaring that He worked in harmony with the Father. Now that the
disciples are attacked, He cites
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His accusers to examples from the Old Testament, acts performed on the Sabbath by those
who were in the service of God.
The Jewish teachers prided themselves on their knowledge of the Scriptures, and in the
Saviour's answer there was an implied rebuke for their ignorance of the Sacred Writings.
"Have ye not read so much as this," He said, "what David did, when himself
was an hungered, and they which were with him; how he went into the house of God, and did
take and eat the shewbread, . . . which it is not lawful to eat but for the priests
alone?" "And He said unto them, The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for
the Sabbath." "Have ye not read in the law, how that on the Sabbath days the
priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless? But I say unto you, That in
this place is one greater than the temple." "The Son of man is Lord also of the
Sabbath." Luke 6:3, 4; Mark 2:27, 28; Matt. 12:5, 6.
If it was right for David to satisfy his hunger by eating of the bread that had been set
apart to a holy use, then it was right for the disciples to supply their need by plucking
the grain upon the sacred hours of the Sabbath. Again, the priests in the temple performed
greater labor on the Sabbath than upon other days. The same labor in secular business
would be sinful; but the work of the priests was in the service of God. They were
performing those rites that pointed to the redeeming power of Christ, and their labor was
in harmony with the object of the Sabbath. But now Christ Himself had come. The disciples,
in doing the work of Christ, were engaged in God's service, and that which was necessary
for the accomplishment of this work it was right to do on the Sabbath day.
Christ would teach His disciples and His enemies that the service of God is first of all.
The object of God's work in this world is the redemption of man; therefore that which is
necessary to be done on the Sabbath in the accomplishment of this work is in accord with
the Sabbath law. Jesus then crowned His argument by declaring Himself the "Lord of
the Sabbath,"--One above all question and above all law. This infinite Judge acquits
the disciples of blame, appealing to the very statutes they are accused of violating.
Jesus did not let the matter pass with administering a rebuke to His enemies. He declared
that in their blindness they had mistaken the object of the Sabbath. He said, "If ye
had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have
condemned the guiltless." Matt. 12:7. Their many heartless rites could not supply the
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lack of that truthful integrity and tender love which will ever characterize the true
worshiper of God.
Again Christ reiterated the truth that the sacrifices were in themselves of no value. They
were a means, and not an end. Their object was to direct men to the Saviour, and thus to
bring them into harmony with God. It is the service of love that God values. When this is
lacking, the mere round of ceremony is an offense to Him. So with the Sabbath. It was
designed to bring men into communion with God; but when the mind was absorbed with
wearisome rites, the object of the Sabbath was thwarted. Its mere outward observance was a
mockery.
Upon another Sabbath, as Jesus entered a synagogue. He saw there a man who had a withered
hand. The Pharisees watched Him, eager to see what He would do. The Saviour well knew that
in healing on the Sabbath He would be regarded as a transgressor, but He did not hesitate
to break down the wall of traditional requirements that barricaded the Sabbath. Jesus bade
the afflicted man stand forth, and then asked, "It is lawful to do good on the
Sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill?" It was a maxim among the Jews
that a failure to do good, when one had opportunity, was to do evil; to neglect to save
life was to kill. Thus Jesus met the rabbis on their own ground. "But they held their
peace. And when He had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the
hardness of their hearts, He saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he
stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other." Mark 3:4, 5.
When questioned, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath days?" Jesus answered,
"What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a
pit on the Sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out? How much then is a
man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the Sabbath days."
Matt. 12:10-12.
The spies dared not answer Christ in the presence of the multitude, for fear of involving
themselves in difficulty. They knew that He had spoken the truth. Rather than violate
their traditions, they would leave a man to suffer, while they would relieve a brute
because of the loss to the owner if it were neglected. Thus greater care was shown for a
dumb animal than for man, who is made in the image of God. This illustrates the working of
all false religions. They originate in man's desire to exalt himself above God, but they
result in degrading man
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below the brute. Every religion that wars against the sovereignty of God defrauds man of
the glory which was his at the creation, and which is to be restored to him in Christ.
Every false religion teaches its adherents to be careless of human needs, sufferings, and
rights. The gospel places a high value upon humanity as the purchase of the blood of
Christ, and it teaches a tender regard for the wants and woes of man. The Lord says,
"I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of
Ophir." Isa. 13:12.
When Jesus turned upon the Pharisees with the question whether it was lawful on the
Sabbath day to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill, He confronted them with
their own wicked purposes. They were hunting His life with bitter hatred, while He was
saving life and bringing happiness to multitudes. Was it better to slay upon the Sabbath,
as they were planning to do, than to heal the afflicted, as He had done? Was it more
righteous to have murder in the heart upon God's holy day than love to all men, which
finds expression in deeds of mercy?
In the healing of the withered hand, Jesus condemned the custom of the Jews, and left the
fourth commandment standing as God had given it. "It is lawful to do well on the
Sabbath days," He declared. By sweeping away the senseless restrictions of the Jews,
Christ honored the Sabbath, while those who complained of Him were dishonoring God's holy
day.
Those who hold that Christ abolished the law teach that He broke the Sabbath and justified
His disciples in doing the same. Thus they are really taking the same ground as did the
caviling Jews. In this they contradict the testimony of Christ Himself, who declared,
"I have kept My Father's commandments, and abide in His love." John 15:10.
Neither the Saviour nor His followers broke the law of the Sabbath. Christ was a living
representative of the law. No violation of its holy precepts was found in His life.
Looking upon a nation of witnesses who were seeking occasion to condemn Him, He could say
unchallenged, "Which of you convicteth Me of sin?" John 8:46, R. V.
The Saviour had not come to set aside what patriarchs and prophets had spoken; for He
Himself had spoken through these representative men. All the truths of God's word came
from Him. But these priceless gems had been placed in false settings. Their precious light
had been made to minister to error. God desired them to be removed from their
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settings of error and replaced in the framework of truth. This work only a divine hand
could accomplish. By its connection with error, the truth had been serving the cause of
the enemy of God and man. Christ had come to place it where it would glorify God, and work
the salvation of humanity.
"The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath," Jesus said. The
institutions that God has established are for the benefit of mankind. "All things are
for your sakes." "Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or
death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; and ye are Christ's; and
Christ is God's." 2 Cor. 4:15; 1 Cor. 3:22, 23. The law of Ten Commandments, of which
the Sabbath forms a part, God gave to His people as a blessing. "The Lord commanded
us," said Moses, "to do all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our
good always, that He might preserve us alive." Deut. 6:24. And through the psalmist
the message was given to Israel, "Serve the Lord with gladness: come before His
presence with singing. Know ye that the Lord He is God: it is He that hath made us, and
not we ourselves; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates
with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise." Ps. 100:2-4. And of all who keep
"the Sabbath from polluting it," the Lord declares, "Even them will I bring
to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer." Isa. 56:6, 7.
"Wherefore the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath." These words are full of
instruction and comfort. Because the Sabbath was made for man, it is the Lord's day. It
belongs to Christ. For "all things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything
made that was made." John 1:3. Since He made all things, He made the Sabbath. By Him
it was set apart as a memorial of the work of creation. It points to Him as both the
Creator and the Sanctifier. It declares that He who created all things in heaven and in
earth, and by whom all things hold together, is the head of the church, and that by His
power we are reconciled to God. For, speaking of Israel, He said, "I gave them My
Sabbaths, to be a sign between Me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that
sanctify them,"--make them holy. Ezek. 20:12. Then the Sabbath is a sign of Christ's
power to make us holy. And it is given to all whom Christ makes holy. As a sign of His
sanctifying power, the Sabbath is given to all who through Christ become a part of the
Israel of God.
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And the Lord says, "If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy
pleasure on My holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable;
. . . then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord." Isa. 58:13, 14. To all who
receive the Sabbath as a sign of Christ's creative and redeeming power, it will be a
delight. Seeing Christ in it, they delight themselves in Him. The Sabbath points them to
the works of creation as an evidence of His mighty power in redemption. While it calls to
mind the lost peace of Eden, it tells of peace restored through the Saviour. And every
object in nature repeats His invitation, "Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are
heavy-laden, and I will give you rest." Matt 11:28.
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