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#Post#: 20--------------------------------------------------
SABBATH ?
By: toolebox Date: January 20, 2024, 10:39 am
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"(Heb. verb shabbath, meaning "to rest from labour"), the day
of" rest. It is first mentioned as having been instituted in
"Paradise, when man was in innocence (Gen. 2:2). "The sabbath
was" "made for man," as a day of rest and refreshment for the
body and" of blessing to the soul. "It is next referred to in
connection with the gift of manna to the children of Israel in
the wilderness (Ex. 16:23); and "afterwards, when the law was
given from Sinai (20:11), the" "people were solemnly charged to
"remember the sabbath day, to" "keep it holy." Thus it is spoken
of as an institution already" existing. "In the Mosaic law
strict regulations were laid down regarding "its observance (Ex.
35:2, 3; Lev. 23:3; 26:34). These were" peculiar to that
dispensation. "In the subsequent history of the Jews frequent
references are "made to the sanctity of the Sabbath (Isa. 56:2,
4, 6, 7; 58:13," 14; Jer. 17:20-22; Neh. 13:19). In later times
they perverted the Sabbath by their traditions. Our Lord rescued
it from their "perversions, and recalled to them its true nature
and intent" (Matt. 12:10-13; Mark 2:27; Luke 13:10-17). "The
Sabbath, originally instituted for man at his creation, is of
permanent and universal obligation. The physical necessities of
man require a Sabbath of rest. He is so constituted that his
bodily welfare needs at least one day in seven for rest from
ordinary labour. Experience also proves that the moral and
"spiritual necessities of men also demand a Sabbath of rest. "I"
am more and more sure by experience that the reason for the
observance of the Sabbath lies deep in the everlasting
"necessities of human nature, and that as long as man is man
the" "blessedness of keeping it, not as a day of rest only, but
as a" "day of spiritual rest, will never be annulled. I
certainly do" "feel by experience the eternal obligation,
because of the" "eternal necessity, of the Sabbath. The soul
withers without it." It thrives in proportion to its observance.
The Sabbath was made for man. God made it for men in a certain
spiritual state "because they needed it. The need, therefore, is
deeply hidden in" human nature. He who can dispense with it must
be holy and "spiritual indeed. And he who, still unholy and
unspiritual," would yet dispense with it is a man that would
fain be wiser "than his Maker" (F. W. Robertson)." "The ancient
Babylonian calendar, as seen from recently recovered
"inscriptions on the bricks among the ruins of the royal
palace," was based on the division of time into weeks of seven
days. The "Sabbath is in these inscriptions designated Sabattu,
and defined" "as "a day of rest for the heart" and "a day of
completion of" "labour." "The change of the day. Originally at
creation the seventh day of the week was set apart and
consecrated as the Sabbath. The first day of the week is now
observed as the Sabbath. Has God authorized this change? There
is an obvious distinction between the Sabbath as an institution
and the particular day set apart "for its observance. The
question, therefore, as to the change of" the day in no way
affects the perpetual obligation of the "Sabbath as an
institution. Change of the day or no change, the" Sabbath
remains as a sacred institution the same. It cannot be
abrogated. "If any change of the day has been made, it must have
been by Christ or by his authority. Christ has a right to make
such a "change (Mark 2:23-28). As Creator, Christ was the
original Lord" of the Sabbath (John 1:3; Heb. 1:10). It was
originally a memorial of creation. A work vastly greater than
that of "creation has now been accomplished by him, the work of"
redemption. We would naturally expect just such a change as
would make the Sabbath a memorial of that greater work. "True,
we can give no text authorizing the change in so many words. We
have no express law declaring the change. But there are
evidences of another kind. We know for a fact that the first
"day of the week has been observed from apostolic times, and
the" "necessary conclusion is, that it was observed by the
apostles" "and their immediate disciples. This, we may be sure,
they never" would have done without the permission or the
authority of their Lord. "After his resurrection, which took
place on the first day of the "week (Matt. 28:1; Mark 16:2; Luke
24:1; John 20:1), we never" find Christ meeting with his
disciples on the seventh day. But he specially honoured the
first day by manifesting himself to "them on four separate
occasions (Matt. 28:9; Luke 24:34, 18-33;" "John 20:19-23).
Again, on the next first day of the week, Jesus" appeared to his
disciples (John 20:26). "Some have calculated that Christ's
ascension took place on the first day of the week. And there can
be no doubt that the descent of the Holy Ghost at Pentecost was
on that day (Acts 2:1). Thus Christ appears as instituting a new
day to be "observed by his people as the Sabbath, a day to be
henceforth" "known amongst them as the "Lord's day." The
observance of this" Lord's day as the Sabbath was the general
custom of the "primitive churches, and must have had apostolic
sanction (comp." "Acts 20:3-7; 1 Cor. 16:1, 2) and authority,
and so the sanction" and authority of Jesus Christ. "The words
"at her sabbaths" (Lam. 1:7, A.V.) ought probably to "be, as in
the Revised Version, "at her desolations."
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