Review- 7th Day Sabbath Abolished?

We are continuing with our study of the paper- The Present Truth, published in 1850. 

Why are we studying this paper? As mentioned before we are truth seekers and as such we are in search of all truth. Right now, God has laid upon my heart to go through these papers whether or not it is truth standing for this time. What do I mean by that? Light can be shed on truth in time and place. We know that God shut up the book of Daniel after Daniel wrote it, yet surely logic demands that we admit people had to have read it from the time it was 'shut up' all the way to until it was no longer shut, and during that time when it was closed they most likely made a lot of suppositions as to its meaning- to them the truth of it was plain - in understanding, or not. However, once that book of prophecy was opened --the understanding of people was also opened and truth for the time came pouring forth. When we are given knowledge by God we aren't always given everything we'll need to comprehend at one time. The truth unfolds as our walk with God unfolds. The Bible will not contradict itself, but man will make a confusing mess of things if left to his own devices.  God's truth made plain that situations can be altered. Moses was to lead the children of Israel to the promised land immediately, yet because of their disobedience they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years! What I'm trying to say here, is the light of truth in the first generation of Seventh-day Adventists was their truth and now it is our truth seen alongside continued light as it was revealed. As such we have to consider the whole picture of our history as we study now. If we come face to face with contradictions, we must pray for enlightenment and search out the facts given that will reveal the history of unfolding truth. I hope this makes a little bit of sense to you, if not, please forgive me and don't let my ramblings keep you from reading these historical papers. Pray that God gives us ALL only His truth as we need to comprehend that truth.

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Vol. I.]  OSWEGO, N. Y. MARCH, 1850. [No. 7

JAMES WHITE

"Seventh-Day Sabbath abolished," by Eld. Marsh, Editor of the " advent Harbinger and Bible advocate,"

REVIEWED.

Before me is the "Harbinger and Advocate" for December 29, 1849, containing an article headed "Seventh-day Sabbath abolished," of which Eld. Marsh says—

(((" The following article, in substance, was published in our sheet over four years since and then again about two years ago, in its present form. To our knowledge, it has never been answered, and we confidently say it is unanswerable." ))))

The principal reasons given in this article for the abolition of the weekly Sabbath have been answered, and their fallacy shown in the first three numbers of the " Present Truth ;" but as Eld. Marsh has published his article the third time, and "confidently" says "it is unanswerable," I have concluded to give it a review for the benefit of those who have an ear to hear, and an honest heart open to receive the truth on this all-important question. I shall quote from Eld. Marsh's article and have it put in small type that the reader may see that I do not misstate his position :

(((" What is the signification of Sabbath? Rest: and, when connected -with day, it denotes a day of rest."))))

With this I fully agree, and by substituting the word Rest, in the place of Sabbath, the truth is' more clearly seen. "The seventh day is the Rest of the Lord thy God." Is it any where historically recorded as a fact, that God rested on the seventh day? It is. "And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made ; and HE RESTED on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.

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. ii, 2,3. That very day of the week in which God rested, "is the Rest of the Lord thy God." Then God blessed, hallowed and set apart HIS Rest-day for the good of man, and there is not one text in all the Bible to show that it was instituted, blessed and sanctified at any other time, or place but in Eden, on the last day of the first week of time. God has given but one reason for the institution of the weekly Sabbath after six days of labor, which is as follows:

"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 Rest-day, (or Sabbath day,) and hallowed it. Ex. xx, 11.

All who read the Bible may see that the Sabbatic institution, and the fourth commandment are inseparably connected with God's Rest at the close of creation. We may, therefore, appropriate the first, or any other of the six laboring days to the Lord by resting from labor, still it is not THE REST, but a rest; for "THE REST of the Lord thy God" means the Rest- that "the Lord thy God" OBSERVED. "

((("For whom was the Sabbath instituted.? The natural seed of Abraham, or Jews according to the flesh."))))

Said Jesus, "The Sabbath was made for man." Mark ii, 27. The word man, when used as it is here by our Saviour, in its broadest sense, means all mankind. Not the Jews only, but MAN, the whole race of man, the same as in the following texts: "Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble." Job xiv, 1. "Man goeth forth unto his work and to his labor until evening." Ps. civ, 23. "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man." Cor. x, 13. "Man lieth down and riseth not, till the heavens be' no more." job xiv, 12. No one will say, that man in these texts means Jews or Christians, for the whole family of Adam is included. In this sense;  " The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath."— Adam, Noah and Abraham were men, and the Sabbath was made for them as well as for Abraham's natural seed. We are men, and the Sabbath was made for us. I choose to believe Jesus.

((("The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb.

The Lord made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day."

"Keeping the Sabbath was embraced in this covenant with the children of Israel at Horeb. It was "NOT made with their fathers" [the Patriarchs], but "with US, even us, who are all of US HERE ALIVE THIS DAY." Deut 5 Verse 3. This testimony, first negative, " He made it not with our fathers," and then positive, " But with us," is conclusive. It plainly tells us for whom the Sabbath was not, and then for whom it was instituted."))))

Here Eld. Marsh uses the word Sabbath instead of covenant, which he has no right to do. It is true that it helps his argument, but it perverts the word of God. The word Sabbath is not mentioned in Deut. v, 1-5, yet the readers of the "Harbinger" are told that the "testimony" is "conclusive," and "plainly tells us for whom the Sabbath was not, and then for whom it was instituted." If the text read,—The Lord made not the Sabbath for our fathers, but for us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day--then Eld. Marsh would have some ground for his assertion: but the text would then prove too much for him, for it would prove that the Sabbath was instituted for those only with whom "the Lord talked face to face in the mount out, of the midst of the fire." Those only who were all "alive" that day. By using the words "Sabbath," "instituted" and "for," which are not in the text, as Eld. Marsh has, the text is wrested from its true meaning, and those who do not carefully search for themselves are deceived and led astray.

It is true that God, after he had brought the natural seed of Abraham out of the house of bondage, commanded them to keep the Sabbath.— The reason why God at that time reminded them of his Sabbath, and commanded them, by the mouth of Moses, to keep it, is as follows :

" And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, end that the Lord thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched-out arm ; therefore the Lord thy God commanded thee to keep the Sabbathday." Deut. v, 15.

While servants in Egypt, Israel could not keep the Sabbath ; but they had been from Egypt only thirty days when God reminded them of it, and guarded it by three standing miracles in giving the manna. See Ex. xvi, 19-30. They were then free, and the only given reason why God at that time commanded them to keep his Sabbath was because he had brought them " out thence through a mighty hand, and by a stretched-out arm ; [where they could keep it,] therefore the Lord thy God commanded thee to keep the Sabbath-day." Eld. Marsh says that the Sabbath was designed to keep in memory their deliverance from Egypt; but this is a groundless assertion ; for there is not the least intimation given that the Sabbath was instituted, sanctified and blessed, in the "wilderness of Sin" or at any other time and place, but in Eden at the close of creation. There were two annual memorials which commemorated the deliverance of Israel from Egypt; the passover and the feast of unleavened bread. Men may as well assert that these annual memorials were designed to commemorate God's rest on the seventh day of the first week of time, as to say that the weekly REST was given to commemorate the deliverance of Israel from Egypt on the fifteenth day of Abib

The fifteenth day of Abib came but once in the year, therefore that deliverance was commemorated by its annual memorial on that day. God's REST was on the seventh day of the first week of time and its memorial which is the only weekly Sabbath of the Bible, was given, and sanctified to be kept on the last day of every week since God RESTED. " Wherefore the Lord blessed the Rest-day, and hallowed it." Ex. xx, 11.— When ?  EDEN. "And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it." Gen. ii, 3.

Eld. Marsh says, "Keeping the Sabbath was embraced in this covenant with the children of Israel at Horeb." It is true that the Sabbath law was one of the ten commandments that were spoken from Mount Sinai ; but does this prove that there was no Sabbath before that time ? Certainly it does not, for - all Israel kept the Sabbath in the wilderness of Sin, thirty days before they saw the Mount from which they were spoken. Here is a nail driven in a sure place.

The children of Israel departed from Egypt on the fifteenth day of the first month, and came to the wilderness of Sin on the fifteenth day of the second month. See Ex. xvi, 1. There, in the wilderness of Sin, God gave them bread from heaven, and through Moses reminded them of his Sabbath. They then journeyed to Rephidim and from Rephidim they came to the desert of Sinai on the fifteenth day of the third month.

Mark this. The Lord said to Moses, thirty days before the covenant was made in Horeb— " How long refuse ye to keep my COMMANDMENTS and my LAWS ? See for that the Lord hath given you the Sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days." Ex. xvi, 28, 29. This positively proves that God had commandments and laws before he made the covenant in Horeb, and that the Sabbath law was one of them. God said of Abraham, "And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries : and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed : Because that Abraham obeyed my voice,, and kept my charge, my COMMANDMENTS, my STATUTES, and my LAWS." Gen. xxvi, 4, 5.

Abraham kept the Sabbath ; for we are plainly shown in Ex. xvi, 28, 29, that the Sabbath was one of God's commandments and laws. Because Abraham kept the commandments, (the Sabbath with the rest,) God made to him all these great and precious promises.

A covenant usually signifies the mutual consent of two or more. The covenant that was made in Horeb was a mutual agreement between God and His chosen people. I will first give the requirements and promises of God on the one hand and men the consent of the people on the other.

"In the third month when the children of Israel "were come to the desert of Sinai," "Moses went up unto God, and the Lord called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel,

"Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself.

"Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice, indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people ; for all the earth is mine.

"And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. THESE. ARE THE WORDS WHICH THOU SHALT SPEAK UNTO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL."

The following is the promise of the people:

" And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the Lord commanded him.

And all the people answered together, and said, ALL THAT THE LORD HATH SPOKEN WE WILL DO. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the Lord. Ex. xix, 1-8.

The Lord then told Moses to sanctify the people and to " Be ready against the third day."— And on the third day, in the morning "there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud" upon Mount Sinai, "because the Lord descended upon it in-fire," "and the whole mount quaked greatly." See Ex. xix, 16-18. Then God, by an audible voice, spake the ten commandments. See Ex. xx, 3-17. This is the covenant that God made with his people in Horeb.

" The Lord made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, -even us, who are all of us alive here this day." Deut. v, 3.

This text does not mean (as Eld. Marsh would have it) that the Lord made not the Sabbath -for our fathers, &c. neither does it mean that the Lord made not the commandments for --our fathers, for two reasons at least.

First, the text does not read so, and second, Abraham kept God's COMMANDMENTS, STATUTES and LAWS more than three hundred years before the covenant was made in Horeb, and thirty-two days before God spake the ten commandments, he said to Moses—"How long refuse ye to keep my COMMANDMENTS and my LAWS ? See for' that the Lord hath given you the Sabbath." Then as we have proof positive that God's commandments, one of which was the Sabbath law, existed before this covenant was made, it necessarily follows that the covenant made in Horeb WAS NOT the institution of the Sabbath, nor any other of the ten commandments ; but, it was the mutual agreement between God and his -people that they should obey his "voice," (when he should speak the ten commandments,) and that God should make them "a peculiar treasure," "a kingdom of priests." The Lord made not that covenant with their fathers, but with those who were all alive that day, and had heard the voice of God from the burning Mount, which they had promised to obey.

Now I think that every candid reader will admit that Deut. v, 1-15 does not "plainly tell us" what Eld. Marsh says it does;  and also that it does not afford the least evidence that the seventh day Sabbath is abolished.

TO BE CONTINUED