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Chapter
83
Institution of
the Sabbath
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In his mention of the
"little horn," what does the prophet say that power should think to
do?
"And he shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear
out the saints of the Most High, and think to change times and laws."
Dan. 7:25.
What does Paul say the
"man of sin" should do?
"Except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be
revealed, the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all
that is called God, or that is worshiped." 2 Thess. 2:3, 4.
NOTE. - There is only
one way by which any power could exalt itself above God. Although it might enact
numberless ceremonies, the observance of which would be demanded as strictly as
God requires His commandments to be obeyed, yet as long as the people felt
obliged to obey God also, no power could be said to be elevated above God. It
would only be equal with Him. In order, then, for this power to exalt itself
above God, it must of necessity seek to change God's law, or some portion of it,
and require obedience to his own law instead of God's.
What power has attempted
to change the law of God?
The papacy; as proved by history and the admissions of the Catholic writers
themselves, such as the following:
Question - "Have you any other way of proving that the church
has power to institute festivals of precept?"
Answer - "Had she not such power, she could not have done that in
which all modern religionists agree with her, she could not have substituted the
observance of Sunday, the first day of the week, for the observance of Saturday,
the seventh day, a change for which there is not scriptural authority." Doctrinal
Catechism (Catholic), page 174. See also chapter 90, "Change
of the Sabbath," elsewhere in this book.
What does the Sabbath
commandment require?
"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 man servant, nor thy maid servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy
stranger that is within thy gates." Ex. 20:8-10.
Why did the Lord set
apart the seventh day for man to keep?
"For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that
in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the
Sabbath day, and hallowed it." Ex. 20:11.
Did God bless the seventh
day while He was resting upon it, or when His rest on that day was past?
"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." Gen.
2:3.
What three distinct acts
were necessary to establish the Sabbath of the commandment?
God rested on it; he blessed it; he sanctified it. "Sanctify:
to make sacred or holy; to set apart to a holy or religious use." Webster.
For whom was it thus
made?
"And He said unto them, The Sabbath was made for man, and not
man for the Sabbath." Mark 2:27.
NOTE. - It was not
made for the Jews alone. The Jews derive their name from Judah, one of the
twelve sons of Jacob, from whom they are descended. The Sabbath was made more
than two thousand years before there was a Jew.
How does the Bible use
the term sanctify in other texts?
"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." Ex. 19:23. See also Joel 1:14, where it says:
"Sanctify [i.e., appoint] ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the
elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the Lord." In
all the places in the sacred text it means to appoint, or proclaim, as in Joshua
20:7; 2 Kings 10:20, 21; Zeph. 1:7, margins. So when the Sabbath was sanctified,
as the last act by which it was made for man, an appointment, or proclamation,
of the Sabbath was given.
When Israel murmured in
the wilderness, and God designed to give them manna for food, how did He say He
would prove them?
"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." Ex. 16:4.
On which day did the
people gather a double portion of the manna?
"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." Ex. 16:22.
When the rulers told
Moses of this act, what reply did he make?
"And he said unto them, This is that which the LORD hath said,
Tomorrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the LORD." Ex. 16:23.
When had God said this?
In the beginning, when God sanctified the Sabbath, thus proclaiming its
sacredness.
What did some of the
people do on the seventh day?
"And it came to pass, that there went out some of the people on the
seventh day for to gather, and they found none." Ex. 16:27.
How did God reprove their
disobedience?
"And the LORD said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep My
commandments and My laws?" Ex. 16:28.
Was breaking the Sabbath
a refusal to walk in the law of God?
"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." Ex. 16:29.
How did the Lord prove
the people (verse 4) whether they would keep His law, or not?
By the Sabbath commandment; and so the Sabbath was a part of God's law even
before it was spoken from Sinai. It is this sacred institution, which God
preserved by the miracle of the falling manna, that the papal power has thought
to subvert.
Why did God give the
Sabbath?
"And hallow My Sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between Me and you, that
ye may know that I am the Lord your God." Eze. 20:20.
NOTE.-As the Sabbath
was given that man might keep in memory the creative power of God, it can be
readily seen that a power endeavoring to exalt itself above God would first try
to cover up or remove that which called man's special attention to his Creator.
This could be done in no way so effectually as by setting aside God's memorial,
the seventh day Sabbath. To this work of the papacy Daniel had reference when he
said, he shall "think to change times and laws." Dan. 7:25.
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