So long as a seventh day of rest is observed, it matters not a bit which of the seven days it is; but it is wise to conform to general custom, for the sake of convenience and order; every day is a seventh day.
This statement of the case is worthy of consideration, for it presents a very common idea of the Sabbath question. The only thing that should concern us is to know the exact truth, and not to mistake conjecture for positive evidence. We are told that "a seventh day of rest ought to be observed, but that it makes no difference what day it is."
Query: How does anybody know that a regular rest day ought to be observed? The idea is quite prevalent among certain nations, but what gave rise to by? Let us see if we can find out.
Someone will say that reason teaches it. But no one has exceeded the ancient Greeks and Romans in acuteness of intellect or power of reasoning, yet they never had the idea of a weekly rest day. They had innumerable holidays,--festival days,--when those who were able to do so gave themselves up to amusement and revelry, but there was no thought of cessation of labor. Those who went to the greatest length in the observance of the holidays, were the ones who did little or no work, while for the laboring class there was no respite.
Such a thing as a Sabbath day is not and never has been known among what are termed heathen nations. This disposes also of the supposition that physical reasons are sufficient to account for the weekly rest day. The Chinese are diligent toilers, yet they have never learned the necessity of a weekly rest day. It is the same with other heathen peoples. So then it is a fact that by far the greater number of people on earth not only do not observe a weekly rest day, but do not recognize the existence of such a thing.
Whence, then, comes the idea of the necessity for a weekly rest day? The only answer that can be given is that it comes from the Bible. Where the Bible has no place, the weekly rest day is unknown. The fourth commandment enjoins it, and gives its origin as well. Here it is: "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shall you labor, and do all your work: But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God: in it you shall not do any work, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, your manservant, nor your maidservant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger that is within your 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)
Here is the original authority for the observance of a rest day. Whatever ideas men may have about such a day, the idea that there should be a weekly rest day at all sprang from this source, and from this alone. Now the question must arise, "Since it is to the Bible that we owe our knowledge of the fact that a weekly rest day ought to be observed, why should we not also depend solely on the Bible for our knowledge of all the particulars concerning it?"
Why should men learn from the Bible that a rest day ought to be observed, and then consult custom, or their own taste or convenience, as to how and when it shall be observed? Such a course is manifestly inconsistent in the highest degree.
The Definite Sabbath Day
Note well that in the commandment there is nothing said about "a seventh day of rest." The language is very definite. "The seventh day is the Sabbath. In six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day." (Exodus 20:10-11)
The idea of an indefinite Sabbath, regulated by custom, is utterly foreign to the Scriptures.
Just before the commandments were proclaimed from Sinai, the children of Israel were given manna for their food. (See Exodus 16) Six days in the week it fell, but on the Sabbath none was to be found. On each of the first five days only enough for the day's supply was to be gathered, and if more was gathered, and it was kept till the next day, "it bred worms and stank;" (Exodus 16:20) but on the sixth day twice the usual amount was to be gathered, and a supply laid up for the Sabbath day, in which case it did not spoil, but kept sweet. By this series of miracles, which was kept up for forty years, the Lord showed His regard for the Sabbath day; and at the same time He effectually guarded against the idea that the day of the Sabbath is to be settled by the caprice or custom of men.
The reader can see at a glance how impossible it was for any of the Israelites to get the idea that the Sabbath is an indefinite day. They might rebel against it, and disregard it, but they knew very well that the Sabbath was fixed by the Lord himself, and not left to man; custom has nothing to do with it.
After the Babylonian captivity the Jews became very strict in the outward observance of the Sabbath, even going far beyond the commandment. They often presumed to rebuke Jesus for what they termed His violation of the day. On one occasion He healed a man on the Sabbath day, and the Jews murmured. That day was the seventh day of the week. If the Sabbath is any day that man may choose, what an opportunity that was to enlighten the Jews. Did He tell them that it made no difference what day was observed, if only a seventh part of time were kept? Not at all. He simply said, "It is lawful to do well on the Sabbath days," (Matthew 12:12) thus recognizing the definite Sabbath day, but showing that He had not violated it. Christ was crucified on the day before the Sabbath; "That day was the preparation, and the Sabbath drew on. And the women also which came with Him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the sepulchre, and how His body was laid. And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment." (Luke 23:54-56) "Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared." (Luke 24:1)
This first day of the week was the day immediately following the Sabbath day, on which they rested, "according to the commandment," for the record in Mark says that "When the Sabbath was past, ... Very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre;" (Mark 16:1-2) and the record by Matthew is still more definite, saying that it was "In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week." (Matthew 28:1)
What do we learn from these texts? This: that the Sabbath day, "according to the commandment," is the day before "the first day of the week." The day before "the first day of the week" must be "the seventh day of the week," since there are but seven days in a week. Therefore we have the fact, stated by Inspiration, that the Sabbath day "according to the commandment" is the seventh day of the week.
Moreover, to make the matter more sure, we are told that even "very early in the morning the first day of the week" the Sabbath is already "past." No matter how early one rises in the morning the first day of the week, he will be too late to find the Sabbath day; it passes before the first day begins.
If one regards the Bible as of no authority, that is another matter. We have no commission to prove the truth of the Bible, for it is its own evidence; but to those who regard the Bible as the Word of God, the evidence above given, although brief, must be conclusive. The Spirit of God expressly declares that the Sabbath "according to the commandment" is the day before the first day of the week, namely, the seventh day of the week; and the words of Christ are, "It is easier for heaven and earth to pass than one little of the law to fail." (Luke 16:17)
Custom
The Bible declares that "the customs of the people are vain." (Jeremiah 10:3)
The command is, "You shall not follow a multitude to do evil." (Exodus 23:2)
Again we read: "You have ploughed wickedness, you have reaped iniquity; you have eaten the fruit of lies; because you did trust in your way, in the multitude of your mighty men." (Hosea 10:13)
The correctness of a course is not determined by the number who follow it. In the days of Noah the multitude were opposed to the truth. Noah was in what would be termed "a hopeless minority;" and if the truth of his preaching could have been settled by a popular vote, the flood would never have come. Nevertheless it did come, because the word of the Lord had said so.
When Christ was on earth, "He came unto His own, and His own received Him not." (John 1:11)
He was rejected by the church. The question was, "Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in Him?" (John 7:48)
They had not, with the exception of one or two who believed secretly, and the fact that they had not was considered sufficient evidence that He was an impostor; yet He was the Son of God, although "despised and rejected of men." (Isaiah 53:3)
There is custom, however, that we are permitted to follow, and that is the custom of Christ; for: "He that says he abides in Him, ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked." (1 John 2:6)
He left us an example, that we should follow His steps. (1 Peter 2:21) Of Him we read that after His baptism and temptation, "being full of the Holy Ghost, He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up: and, as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up for to read." (Luke 4:1,16)
Said He, "I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in His love." (John 15:10)
Reader, whose custom will you follow? the vain custom of the world, or the righteous custom of the Lord Jesus Christ?--Present Truth, June 4, 1903.