The appointment of one day in seven, to be a day set apart for the worship of God, is almost as old as the human race. At a time when ‘Sunday’ is regarded by many as a day for sport or a day for family ‘socials’, it may not seem out-of-place to suggest that there is not only another name for the day, but also that it is a day with a history and a heritage. Churches and individual Christians must bear a large measure of the blame for the ignorance so common among people with respect to the Lord’s Day. Ignorance of the law does not excuse the offender. Much blessing is lost, and great guilt is incurred when a nation forgets her ‘Sabbaths.’ The word sabbath means ‘rest,’ and when used properly it refers to the ‘day of rest’ in the revealed religion of the Bible. It is not merely a cessation from work engaged in on other days. It is a day in which we are to devote ourselves to religious duties.
The word sabbath is first mentioned in the Bible in Genesis 2v3, where we read that God ‘rested from all his works’ — the works of Creation. The institution of one day of ‘holy rest’ in seven days was evidently intended for man, because God needed no rest for Himself. ‘The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary.’ God must have had a view to man whom He had created. The first dawn seen by Adam, the first man, was the dawn of the Sabbath day. Man was created on the last day of Creation, so that his first complete day of life was to be given to God. The Sabbath was thus given to man, that he should give it to God. In this light we may more readily understand the words of the Lord Jesus — ‘The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath.’ Notice that the ‘day of rest’ was first given to Adam, the father of the human race, not to Abraham, the father of the Jews. Had it been given to Abraham first, there might be more force to the argument that it is a Jewish institution. When God first gave the day, He was giving it to the whole human race. ‘The sabbath was made for man . . .’
In Genesis Ch2v3 we are told that God ‘blessed’ and ‘sanctified’ ‘the day of rest.’ This informs us that the day should be especially devoted to the worship of God. Some will piously argue that every day is for God and that there is no need to stress the importance of one day above others. When God gave the ‘day of rest’ there was no sin in the experience of Adam, who, therefore, was more fitted for God’s service than what we are now. Nevertheless, God saw fit to give him one day in seven to be set apart from a common to a holy use. If a day of rest for spiritual matters was needed then, when man was free from sin and from toil, how much more is it needed now by a world ‘steeped to the lips in business, and drawn incessantly away from God by the enactments of the evil heart.’
As we read through the Bible we see that there were weekly intervals in the division of time. From Genesis Ch7v4, we see that God said to Noah, ‘For yet seven days and I will cause it to rain upon the earth,’ and in Ch8v10 we read that Noah ‘stayed yet another seven days.’ Further on, in Exodus Ch16v23, before the giving of the Ten Commandments, we see that the Israelites were to gather twice as much bread on the sixth day, because — ‘Tomorrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the Lord.’ Where did the division of time into weeks come from? The division into ‘day and night,’ into months, and into years, we can see in the courses of nature, but there is no explanation with respect to the ‘week.’ It has its origin in the ‘day of rest’ appointed by God. ‘It is no new religious appointment. It is the oldest sacred institution in the world; it is older than the Decalogue (The Ten Commandments), older than the Bible, and only a little younger than this earth.’
God, having delivered the Israelites from Egypt, and having already instructed them in the practical observance of the ‘day of rest’ to gather manna for two days on the day preceding, gave them the Ten Commandments. There, in the Fourth Commandment, stands man’s moral duty to ‘Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy.’ There, with other laws respecting blasphemy, murder, adultery, and theft, stands the law which requires that we devote ‘a day of rest from worldly employments to spend the time in the public and private exercises of God’s worship.’
There seems to be much misunderstanding with respect to the example and teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ in the matter. Jesus did on the day of rest things which were condemned by the Pharisees. To understand His actions and their response to what He did, we must realise that they had lost sight of the ‘weightier matters of the law’ by stressing their own additions to it. A multitude of matters had been added to what God had said. Christ came not to destroy the law, but to fulfil it. He came to show what was the true purpose of the law, and to show that there are works of necessity and of mercy, which not only may be attended to, but which ought to be done out of love and compassion.
The critic who is opposed to the Lord’s day, and to the principle of the Fourth Commandment, will say that the Commandment states ‘the seventh day,’ and he will ask why should he keep the first day of the week as a ‘day of rest’ on that authority. What God did in Creation, and what the Fourth Commandment calls for, is a sequence of six days of work and a day of rest. That is what the Christian who keeps the Sabbath on the Lord’s Day does. He observes the day of rest each seventh day, which in the rotation falls on the Lord’s Day. As to the argument that the Saturday is the proper ‘Sabbath,’ as observed by the Jews, we should note that there are historians who question the fact whether Saturday is the Sabbath of Creation, because of the long period of bondage in Egypt. We ought also to consider that the incident recorded in Joshua Ch10v13, when the ‘sun stood still,’ makes the calculation of which day is the ‘seventh in unbroken succession from Creation more complicated.’ To insist on the necessity of the seventh day from Creation is to lose the spirit of the Commandment which requires a set portion of time for God. The Jews reckoned the Sabbath from what is our Friday evening to Saturday evening. The Commandment makes no mention of such details, and in that silence the wisdom of God the Lawgiver is further seen. There is in the Commandment scope for the different customs in reckoning time from country to country. Those who insist that the Sabbath must be from sunset to sunset are either ignorant of, or choose to ignore, some of the well-known differences with respect to hours of light or darkness that exist on God’s earth. What Sabbath should there be where darkness reigns for months? The Law of God, properly understood and so applied, is applicable to every nation and every person. It is grievous that persons, calling themselves Christians, should be so blinded and so legalistic as to insist that the Christian Sabbath must be on the day which they claim is the ‘proper Jewish Sabbath.’ The Seventh Day Adventists seem to be the greatest offenders in this respect. However, for them it was not primarily because the Fourth Commandment requires this. It was the outcome of a vision which Mrs White claimed to have. The Commandment existed before her supposed vision, but she followed outwardly the practice of the Christian Church in the matter until she had her vision. In this vision she claimed to have been shown the Tablets on which the Commandments were written, and around the Fourth Commandment she saw a soft ‘halo’ of light. It was then that she called her followers to observe the Saturday as the Sabbath, following the practice of the Jews. It seems more the product of a deranged mind than of sound judgment.
The Lord Jesus, before His death, observed the Sabbath Day according to the custom of reckoning time where He lived, because He was living under the Old Testament economy. However, after His resurrection on the first day of the week, the Apostles were accustomed to meet on the first day of each week. The Lord Jesus countenanced their meeting, making Himself known to them. In the Acts of the Apostles there are references to such meetings as the Apostles had on that day. There is a remarkable prophecy in Ezekiel Ch43v27 which states that ‘it shall be, that upon the eighth day and so forward . . .’ religious worship would be offered to God. It has been properly suggested that this finds its fulfilment in the assembling together of God’s people on the ‘eighth day’ — which is the Lord’s Day. The words ‘and so forward’ refer to the practice to be continued that on that day worship is to be offered to God. God rested from the work of Creation and that day of rest was appointed the Sabbath, until the Lord Jesus, the eternal Son of God, ‘rested’ from the great work of redemption, rising from the grave on the morning of the Lord’s Day, which day has become the Christian Sabbath. What does the title ‘Lord’s Day’ mean when used in the Bible, if it does not refer to a day which is different from the other days of the week?
Most of the Epistles were addressed to people who were not Jews, and who did not, therefore, have the Jewish tradition. If the Christian is to observe the Jewish Sabbath, it is more than remarkable that the Epistles do not instruct these non-Jewish believers to observe the Jewish Sabbath. For the Apostles, and for the early Christians, the great day of the week was the Lord’s Day, because it commemorated the completion of the Saviour’s triumphant work.
Many changes have come over lands and people. In some places, where once the Lord’s Day was a day loved and respected, we now see that the Sabbath is little known and less respected. To many people ‘Sunday’ is a day for sport and for worldly pleasure. They have not heard what John Bunyan heard, as he played his sport on the Lord’s Day — ‘Will you have your sins and go to hell, or part with your sins and go to heaven?’ In many cases Churches are at fault in the matter. If they have not cancelled their evening service, it has been changed into a time for ‘song’ or for carnal entertainment. Little wonder that the people think so little of the Lord’s Day, when the preachers set such a bad example. Do you think it sufficient that you attend church service once on the Lord’s Day? Take heed lest your carelessness puts you into the category of those who hate the Sabbath of the Gospel. Do you ‘sleep away’ the hours of the Lord’s Day? Take heed lest you ‘sleep-away’ God-given opportunities and you find yourself lost forever. The Lord’s Day is a day which is intended to be rich with holy joy that comes from knowing what Christ has done by His death and resurrection. If the Lord’s Day is to be enjoyed it must be prepared for. It is not easy to turn the mind from worldly things to spiritual things. To work unnecessarily late on the Saturday night almost invariably means that the body and mind are so tired on the morning of the Lord’s Day that they become a ready reason for not worshipping God! The following quotation deserves our consideration. Referring to Saturday evening the writer says, ‘The children were early to bed, for on Sabbath morning there was no shortening of the day by undue lying in bed. If no earlier, the family were no later in rising that day. They were taught to give God honestly a day of the same length as they gave themselves . . . It was a happy day, and all the memories it left behind were happy too.’ Why should that type not be the rule, rather than the exception.
Toronto was once famous for its keeping of the Lord’s Day. At one time Scotland was counted the model in this respect, but the following quotation, written in 1883, shows that times were changing. How they have changed since! The write says, “Toronto, which is now (1883) said to surpass all other cities in the world in its Sabbath-keeping is called “a great object-lesson on the Sabbath.” The Secretary admits that Toronto is the most perfect specimen of a Sabbath-keeping city that he has seen . . . The streets are quiet except for people going to Church. The cab stands are vacant and the tram-cars do not run. Even the ferrymen can rest most of the Sabbath, the ferries being allowed to cross to the island only at certain hours for the convenience of church-goers. No passenger trains are started and there are no Sunday papers, and the Churches are full. We do not wonder that a Toronto publisher says “Our people like their Sabbath.”
Has not the picture changed since these words were first written? It must be said ‘How are the mighty fallen.’ Toronto, once famous for its Sabbaths, once named ‘Toronto the good,’ has fallen from that place of honour. Sin is in the streets, and judgments have come already. What is true of present-day Toronto is true of many other cities around the world. God’s Word and God’s Day are trampled under the feet of pleasure-seeking sinners led on by blind preachers. In love to your own soul, and for the glory of the Lord of the Sabbath, ‘Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy.’ Find and frequent a place of worship where Christ and His finished work are offered to sinners as their only hope. Then you will call the Sabbath a delight, and say with the Psalmist, ‘I joyed when to the house of God, Go up, they said to me.’ (Reprinted from ‘Faithful Witness’ for February 1978).