The Signs of the Times, vol. 13
August 18, 1887
“The Fourth Commandment. No. 1” The Signs of the Times 13, 32, pp. 502, 503.
“REMEMBER the Sabbath-day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.” Exodus 20:8-11. SITI August 18, 1887, page 502.1
This commandment enjoins the holy observance of a day which it calls the Sabbath-day. And as Sabbath means rest, it enjoins the holy observance of the rest-day. The commandment distinctly designates the day which is to be thus observed—“The seventh day is the Sabbath.” That is to say, the commandment gives a term—“the Sabbath”—and then gives a distinct and plain definition of that term—“The seventh day is the Sabbath.” Or, in other words, if translated, Remember the rest-day. The seventh day is the rest-day. SITI August 18, 1887, page 502.2
But whose Sabbath-day, whose rest-day, is it? Is it your own rest that you are to remember? Does this commandment say to men, even in substance, Remember that you are tired, or will get tired, and you need a day of rest, and you must not fail to set apart one day in seven for your physical recuperation; therefore remember a rest-day? Is that the meaning of the commandment? Not by any manner of means. Yet that is the very idea that is now most widely prevalent, as to the meaning and purpose of this commandment. But it is difficult to conceive how it would be possible to get further from the truth without denying that the commandment has any meaning or purpose at all. It is not denied of course that man’s physical rest and his physical good are involved in the commandment; but these are entirely incidental. In the commandment there is no reference to any such consideration. A mere glance at the commandment will show that it relates to man’s duty to God and not to himself. SITI August 18, 1887, page 502.3
The seventh day is the Sabbath, the rest, not of man, but of “the Lord thy God.” It is the Sabbath-day, the rest-day of the Lord, and not of man, that is to be remembered. Man is to work six days and rest the seventh day, not because that is best for him physically, but because the Lord worked six days and rested the seventh day. It is not denied that this proportion of work to rest is the best, but it is not commanded because it is best, it is best because it is commanded. It is best, as everything else in the line of obedience to God is best, because it is in obedience to the commandment of God. Man is to keep the rest-day holy, not because it is best for society that all should agree upon one certain day, but because God made the day holy. All this is borne on the very face of the commandment itself. Notice, first, “Remember the Sabbath-day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates.” This is that part of the commandment which enjoins man’s duty. Now what is the reason for all this? Why is it that man must remember the Sabbath-day; to work six days; and to do no work on the seventh day? The commandment gives just one answer, and that is full and explicit. And here it is: “For [because] in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore [for which reason] the Lord blessed the Sabbath-day, and hallowed it.” SITI August 18, 1887, page 502.4
These are the fundamental and genuine reasons which underlie the obligations that rest upon man by the fourth commandment. And thus it is not only in the commandment but throughout the whole Bible in treating of this subject. It is the honor of God that is in view in the commandment, and not the good of man, only as the highest and best good of man is always bound up in his supremely honoring God. This is clearly revealed in another important text: “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; and shalt honor him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words; then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.” Isaiah 58:13, 15. In view of the commandment, and of this text and a number of others that might be given, it is hard to understand how that man can be, as he too often is, made the prime object in the meaning of the commandment, unless it be that in the minds of such people man occupies a larger place than does the Creator of all things. This however is to be expected now, for in these last days the leading characteristic is that “men shall be lovers of their own selves,” and of their selfish “pleasures, more than lovers of God.” SITI August 18, 1887, page 503.1
It is true that “The Sabbath was made for man,” for so said the Saviour. But it was not made for man in the sense which is made most prominent in these days. It was made for him expressly that by it he might ever keep in memory the Creator of heaven and earth and all that in them is, and that man might honor him as such; that man might know the Lord of all and honor him whom he should know. This is plainly stated: “Hallow my Sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the Lord your God.” Ezekiel 20:20. But by what means does it become a sign of the true God? Thus: “It is a sign between me and the children of Israel forever; for [because] in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.” Exodus 31:17. The Sabbath therefore is the sign of God’s creative power, and if remembered to be kept holy it will ever keep the Creator of all things in the memory of whosoever remembers it to so keep it. And if all men had ever so remembered to keep it, even after the fall, there would never have been in all the world a false god nor an idolater. SITI August 18, 1887, page 503.2
To bear in mind the fact that it is the Lord’s rest, and the Lord’s rest-day, and not man’s, that are to be remembered; in short, to bear in mind the words of the commandment, at once relieves the Sabbath question of all obscurity. But to misread the commandment, or to ignore its plain statements, is only to create obscurity and confusion. Thus, men nowadays read the first sentence of the commandment, “Remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy;” and then say that Sunday, the first day of the week, is the Sabbath, and wholly ignore all the rest of the commandment. Yet the word “ignore” does not half express the fact in the case. The truth is that to call Sunday the Sabbath is to flatly contradict the commandment of God; and to make the commandment teach the observance of Sunday as the Sabbath is to make it teach open falsehood. For— SITI August 18, 1887, page 503.3
1. Everybody knows that Sunday is the first day of the week, and the commandment of God says that “The seventh day is the Sabbath.” Therefore to call Sunday the Sabbath is to contradict the commandment of God. SITI August 18, 1887, page 503.4
2. The word “Sabbath” means rest. The phrase, “the Sabbath of the Lord,” means, the rest of the Lord. And the command to remember the Sabbath-day of the Lord, is only the command to remember the rest-day of the Lord. But to call the first day of the week the Sabbath-day of the Lord, is to call it the rest-day of the Lord, while it is not, and never was, and never can be, the rest-day of the Lord. The word of God says that he “rested the seventh day;” therefore to call the first day of the week the Sabbath-day—the rest-day—is to contradict the word of God. SITI August 18, 1887, page 503.5
3. Because God had rested the seventh day, therefore he blessed (put honor upon) the Sabbath—the rest—day and hallowed it—made it holy. It was thus that he made it the holy Sabbath-day. Now to call Sunday a holy day or the holy Sabbath-day, is to say that God rested the first day, that he blessed the first day, and that he hallowed the first day; whereas the word of God says that he rested the seventh day, that he blessed the seventh day and hallowed it. Therefore to call Sunday the Sabbath-day, the holy Sabbath-day, or the Lord’s day, is to contradict the word of God. And to make the commandment of God teach any such thing as that of the first day of the week is to make it teach falsehood. SITI August 18, 1887, page 503.6
God did not rest the first day; therefore it is not, and cannot truthfully be called, the rest or Sabbath-day. God did not bless (put honor upon) the first day; then it is not, and cannot truthfully be called, “honorable.” God did not hallow the first day; therefore it is not, and cannot truthfully be called, “holy,” nor can it possibly be kept holy. But all these God did with the seventh day. He rested the seventh day; therefore he says “the seventh day is the Sabbath.” He blessed the seventh day; therefore he calls is “holy,” and commands men to call is “holy” and remember it to keep it holy. And it is one of the strangest things imaginable how it can be that right in the face of the plain, positive statement of the word of God, men will try to pass off upon themselves and others, as the Sabbath, that which is not, and cannot by any possibility be, the Sabbath. We know, of course, that there are thousands of people keeping Sunday who have never looked into the subject attentively, and who are not intentionally breaking the commandment of God, and who, when they see what the word of God really says about the Sabbath, will readily conform to the truth of God, in the fear of the Lord. The discussion of this question is now, however, becoming so prominent and so widespread, that no one can much longer escape a decision for or against the keeping of the Sabbath of the Lord. SITI August 18, 1887, page 503.7
The seventh day is the only day that can be kept holy, because it is the only day of the week that the Lord ever made holy. As therefore it is impossible for man to keep holy what has never been made holy, and the first day of the week never having been made holy, it is impossible for any man, or even for all men together with one unanimous consent, to keep holy the Sunday. While, on the other hand, the Lord having made the seventh day holy and honorable, it is holy and honorable whether men keep it so, or regard it so, or not. If not a man on earth should keep the seventh day yet that day would be just as holy as though there was not a man who did not keep it. God made the day holy at the creation of the world, and holy it will ever remain, whatever man may do. Therefore the fourth commandment says, “Remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy,” and to not do so is to sin and make ourselves unholy. Our keeping or not keeping the Sabbath holy, does not in the least affect the character of the day; but it does most decidedly affect our own character and standing in the sight of the Holy One who made the day holy, and who commands all men to remember it to keep it holy. SITI August 18, 1887, page 503.8
“Remember the Sabbath-day, to keep it holy... The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work; ... 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.” And “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; and shalt honor him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words; then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.” Will you call the Sabbath of the Lord what he commands you to call it? Will you do as he here tells you to do? Will you “honor him” thus? Remember, thus saith the Lord, “Them that honor me I will honor, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.” SITI August 18, 1887, page 503.9
J.