Exodus 20, but they did not enter into it. Man has never prized the Sabbath either as a gift (Exodus 16 ), nor has he kept it as a law (Numbers 1 5 ). Exodus 16 was a temporary arrangement of which the people did not take advantage. . . . Thus Exodus 16 cannot rightly be used to indicate any help to the legalists on the supposed perpetuity of the law. The case was single, was circumscribed to one people, and applicable for a limited time, or until the giving of the law.” The Sabbath for Israel Alone In view of such Scriptures as Exodus 31:13 and Ezekiel 20:10-12, the Seventh-day Adventist cannot deny that the Sabbath was given to Israel and Israel alone, and for a specific purpose. In no way at all can these words be twisted to apply to Gentile believers: "Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your genera tions; that ye may know that I am the L ord that doth sanc tify you” (Ex. 3 1 :1 3 ); "Wherefore I caused them to go forth out of the land of Egypt, and brought them into the wilderness. And I gave them my statutes, and shewed them my judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them. Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the L ord that sanctify them” (Ezek. 2 0 :10 -12 ). But the Seventh-day Adventists get around this by claiming to be "the true Israel of God” as other sects have done from time immemorial. The whole law of Sinai was given by Moses to Israel and the particular law of the Sabbath had a glorious signi ficance for Israel alone, to remind that nation that by His call, His covenant and His miraculous works on their behalf, He had sanctified them — or set them apart — from all the nations upon earth to be His peculiar treasure through which to reveal His love and mercy to all the world. God delivered the law in its entirety to Israel. There is no distinction in the Scriptures between a so-called "moral” law and a "ceremonial” law. A ll the law ". . . was given by Moses, but grace and tmth came by Jesus Christ” (John 1 :1 7 ). The Law-Giver became the Law-Fulfiller. What about the Pope and the Sabbath? One of the "tall tales” of the Seventh-day Adventists is the claim that "the pope” changed the day of worship from Saturday to Sunday. Many have asked, "Which pope?” but to date no answer has been forthcoming. Nor will there ever be a reply since there is no historical evidence for this con tention. Often the Roman Catholic Converts Catechism, compiled by Roman Catholic Rev. Peter Geiermann, C.SS.R., is quoted by the Adventists as absolute proof that the day of worship was altered by the papacy. Dr. Rowell calls our attention to something additional written by this same author which is "conveniently” omitted by Seventh-day Adventists as he points out that:
that God gave the Sabbath to man. He alone rested. Con sidered as a day of rest (although God did not rest because He was tired — Isaiah 4 0 :2 8 ), the original Sabbath could not logically have been given to man because as yet he had not labored.” * The long period of 2,500 years from Adam to Moses is Sabbath-less. Details of the domestic lives and religious rites of the patriarchs are described in the first book of the Bible but no mention is made of a Sabbath. It is not logical to suppose that if the Sabbath were a part of their lives, it would be overlooked in the records. The only reasonable conclusion is that the Sabbath is not mentioned there because prior to Sinai, the Sabbath did not exist fo r man. Moses himself clears up the question as to whether the Sabbath was in force for man before Sinai with the words recorded in Deuteronomy 5:1-3: ". . . Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears this day, that ye may learn them, and keep, and do them. The L ord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. The Lord made not this covenant [ which included the Sabbath command ment] with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day.” The Case of Exodus 16:21-30 A favorite argument of the Seventh-day Adventist who attempts to prove that the Sabbath was given to Israel before Sinai is based upon the passage in Exodus 16 which has to do with the gathering of the manna for six days and a rest on the seventh day. Especially do the Seventh-day Adventists pounce upon verse 29: "See, for that the L ord hath given you the sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread for two days; abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.” I am indebted to Dr. Feinberg’s previously mentioned booklet for a clear and reasonable exposition of this portion of Scripture: "Carefully note, first of all, that in this passage, the Sabbath is not included as a commandment to Israel. W e do not have here the language or the terminology of commandment as in Exodus 20:8-11. Compare the wording which is clear in both cases. Secondly, mark the absence of penalty for disregard of the Sabbath in Exodus 16 and the penalty for infraction of the Sabbath in Numbers 15:32-36. Both were acts of gathering too, but no death penalty is given in Exodus 16. The Sabbath was not binding on them in this chapter. It cannot be argued that no act was per formed. Verse 28 makes it clear that they had refused the provision God had given here for rest on that day. See verses 29 and 30 also. Thirdly, note the unprecedented character of the situation in Numbers 15. They had no precedent by which to proceed, therefore they had to ask God’s mind in the matter, which was clearly given. The Sabbath is given to Israel in Exodus 16 before it is enjoined upon them in
*From the booklet, The Sabbath and the Lord's Day.
The King's Business/June 1957
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