Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1914-02-05
THE SABBATH

) the week was called Sabbath,
4 the first day being the first Sabbath
: the second day the second Sabbat h
etc.
IN Genesis 2:2-3, the Sabbath is
) mentioned the first time as the day
OF rest. and there it is the Seventh
day. God blessed the Seventh day
and sanctified it.
There is no indication in the Bible
that Adam or his descenCaLts ke.t
the Sabbath until Goa's cho en- peo-
pie are called out of Egypt. The SAB
bath is not even mentioned ano hor
time in the book of Genesis; nor
does the passage in Gen. sis 2:2-3
have the form of command that The
people should set this day as. de as
a day Of rest.
When the people OF Israel We
! about to leave the land of Egypt,
the day of rest was 5nst&utedi; but
it is a remarkable fact that the first
/ day, as we'll as the seS enth, is set
aside for holy convo alton, lex
odus 12:15). Ard in the r1t DAY
there shall be a. holy convoc-t on;
and in the seventh cay there sh-n
be a holy conVocation, no manner o.
| MO oh hn in
that which every man must eat, that
only may be done by you.
Thus the day is me,e,y historical
day from which God chos en- people
count their history as a nation We
have no way of knowing WnetLer
other nations had a weekly holiday
of the same order that would coin
eide as to time. The Romans had
their Die Soils, and tn S happened
to be the first day of the JeTi
week. One thing seems to be in
common among the anc ents,-the
number seven was he'd salref III
popularity, no doubt, is traceable
The Israeltic Sabbath is come &c
ed with the Passoy er, and every
thing indicates that on a. certain DAY
in a certain month from which they
were to count the year, they were
called upon to CON together for a
holy convocation TIL was the
|
seventh day, they should assemble
also for a. holy purpoge On this day,
the Lord brought their armies out OF
the land of Egypt, and this state
ment follows: EEThere ore shall ye
observe this day in your congrega-
tions by an ordinance forever" eek
odus 10
That the people, while in Egypt,
were not accustomed to observe this
day of rest is evidert by the fact
that months after this command Was
given, Moses had to repeat it to
them, and still some went out on
the Sabbath day to search for Mamma
|
them that the Sabbath cay VS. set
aside for rest. At Mount Sinai the
people received the law, and then
the Lord gives the explanation that
the Sabbath day was to be kept holy,
because heaven and made were made
in six days and God rest ed on the
IUHvod,,c
The only concluslo on TIL n is TIA
God himself had kept a record of
days and now Gods chosen people
are called upon to remember the
Sabbath day; not only because be-
cause God rested on tn day, but
because they left Egypt, the lard Of
bondage, on the very same day, if
it is at all necessary that the day
of Gods rest and the dayof Exodus
should coincide
We may infer that the peorde of
Israel never lost sight of the day
even if during times of their es-
trang ements from God they did not
keep it holy.
Then there must have been a
change of the day of worship in the
beginning Of the Chr stian Era, the
Christians keeping the first day
and the Jews the seventh cay.
Why then was this change ma Se,
and when did it take place?
Christ rose on the first day, As
we have seen, tbs was also at tie
time Of the Exodus, a day Of holy
convocation. 1t is, indeed re-
markable coincident
Being the day of the resurrect on
of Christ, it must have meant m oh
to the Apostles and the first Chris
tians, and it meant more TO them as
it daWned upon them that the risen
Lord time and again revealed him
self to them on this day of the week
although they seem to haYemet ev-
cry day of the week.
Was not the day of Pentecost whe
the Holy Spirit came upon them a
Sunday?
When Paul, a former pharisee, who
would not have built a fire on
Sabbath day or walked over two
thousand steps, went to the Gent les
to preach the Go pei he found the
Jewish ceremonial law very hinder
some, ana told the converts OF the
Jews who were S ate ed in Gent lie
countries to abandon the Jewish
ceremonies. He set as de ctrcum-
cission while the church at Jerusa-
| lem still retained it. When it came