, 1876-11-27

"NfGn NIL The New NltHh f,s gong That We
and lecciving Of the poor il yieswT' Tho i.s.
t!va1s, tho New Noun and, tho Sabbath, were
celebrated, but ,Iut for the sake Of tho
Ilencc, instead o' aImonishlnR tho pcopis IL
obscrvo the Sabbath anil the festival days, MI
the prophets previous to Josiah unanlnously
them worthless and lonthsoinc unto the Holy
God.
Whence, then, did tho Sabbath orfglnatei It
cannot lave been lorrowed from the Egyptians,
As some assume, since they knew Of no Sabbath,
and had their mnntil diy,yldcd Into weeks Of
tlons, md Into six parts with the Chi.cso and
tic Mexican people. The Baiylomlans and
Asyrians only aloptcd the division Of the tnontt.
Into weeks 81 seven days, together with the
scttters os Cha!dea, and gradually spread Il
uver Asia; and 1t 1. frotn their monuments that
we now learn the true origin, Of the Sabbath.
It was the ctosc Of each of The four different
seventh, the fourteenth, the twenty-Arst, and
the twcnty-:ighth day of each month, whlyhthev
called tho day OF stand.still, 80 suluin, land
celebrated as days Of rest, "Sab6athu." Yet far
ior Tho people, i vas rather gloomy Jay, on
which the K0yal IIgi,.prlGst was neither al
lowed to wear his official robe for lcgisiatlng,
nor to ride In Ills chariot nor to call an assembly
10 cat Cooked msat and to klndis ire nnlil' Tie
Thus, seeing tho Sabbath originally connected
with the hcathenisA muon'fcstvnl, we under.
by the earlier Of the great prophetcal writer's,
but classed among tho usaEes connected with
nature worship. Indeed, the commandment not
to kndlo any Orc ID private houses OIL the
Seventh Day and the custom of laying. new
shew.brcad upon the holy table on cacll Sabbath,
still bctnly surh au origin. Gradually, however,
tho 8abbatl,, being celebrated "a Jay oE rest
BY tllo people OF Israel, proved to bo great
blessing unto all, ANIL was, therefore, sct abovc
and legislators. Thus tho writer OF deuteronomy
In the Ton Commandments. set in place OF those
given In Exodus 1xxiv., l2-96, makes the Sab
bath a day OF deliYeranco from scryltulc unto
ancc Of Israel from the Egyptian bondage, And
iInally, when In tho BabyloRlnn exile The Sab.
bath 6ecanv day Of spiritual elevation and Of
instruction unto the people, distinguishing IL
from all other nations surrounding 1t, the day
writer's to be q sign Of rovsnnnt between Jal,oe
and 1fts pcuptc, vOiatfon OF which was thollcc-
forth threatened with cxtcrlntnation.
Still the sublime seer Of thu Exile, whose
words became 4 treasury Of comfort unto the
nations, wanted to extend the blessings Of The
Sabbath over ul lan1s. Hence We hear h!til nth
nouncc the tltuc when from new moon to now
moon and from sabbath to Sabbath all flesh
And, lns1irel by thls thought, the last composer
OF tic rcnntcucll, both In tho Dcratnguc Exo-
1us II. and In the first clnptcr Of Genesis, c1l-
twlned the Sabbath With Creation itself, not re-
lluman worker III order 10 make mn,, look up
unto God as his sublime pattern. Having thus
far, by means OF the present modern research,
pursued The origin lt the Sabbash, let me In
quire after its true Significance.
Vi all the nations Of tho past, not one except
tho Jewish N.as blessed with day OF rest uiid
recreation for the people. The Pagan festivals
were altogether days ot caroustng md rcvc,ry.
Even with tile Greek, the noblcst Of all the M
tions, they werc devoted to athletic contests
and gymnastics, and, although they excited
also contest II, higher arts aud sciences, it was
not time Of frcedoul Tor man, but morcly II
pustltnc for THO privileged aElstocracy.- The
free Greek md Rotnnn regarded work fur below
lionce he needed no day Of recreation, while
he would not grant 1t lo his slave, except, per
laps, onco 2 ycar. Likewise Pharaoh
!sno',necs ssst for lls Hebrew slaves a. mero m
whole anccnt civilization, lator, of course, was
considered degrading. ncnco tho highest of
tho llentlicn gods was conceived mot Us great
worker, but, when not disturbed by war, as
passing life clthcr III feusting or dreaming
sympathy with the slave greanlng under hiA
nustcrts yoke, nude the jewish prophets hafl
the aaObath Us a day Of redemption for the
workhIE man, aud finally labur itself WIS IDEAL
lied and attributed eyon to God, iu order tu be
hal!owed by lis rest.
In tho first instance, then, the Sabbath comes
to bless the labOrcr with rest. breaking tue
shncklcs Of toll aud care, and declaring ln free
In the eyes Of God a1d man. Il llas been
worked Just six days mars exhausted nerves
require aday Of restoration uad sweet enjoy
,neot. Neither day 0f rest chosen At ranluln
during The week, nor II sabhatl-iay ut the end
OF week OF ten days, as waa ATTEMPTED III the
time Of the F1cnuli Revolution, tullil!s thu pur-
pose Of tic regular Sabbath. When, therefore,
The hcathcns, by their intercourse with the jew
lsl people, learned 10 know the Jewish Sahbath
In lis eN.iHently humnue character, they gladly
! adopted It. III valn did Indignant patriots and
| satirical poets warn tic Roman people against
practfcfng such Jewish customs. Juscphua the
historian, and rlIln The AlcxandIun uhlloso-
phcr, challenge the Roman aus. Greek world to
| lind IN Institution meeting With rs general an
| appreciation lis does the Sabbath. And 1t Is
Must remarkable that especially slaves aud wo1n-
en- lopgcd fur such. day Of rrcrcation and
| were thereby induced to embrace Judaism. H.
deed, the Rabhts say thc Sabbath ought not 10
| tru,s,,so fru,l Coils rcll stora-house.