The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1920-01-24
REMEMBER THE SABBATH ID,
A Law unto Man from the Beginning
BY DR.. JAMES e. TALMAGE
OF the Council Of the Twelve, Church of Jesus Christ
~ ter-Day Saints; Salt Lake City, Utah.
NOTE For free copies of other articles of this series
request to the author.

The Church of Jesus Christ Of Lat
ter-day Saints accepts Sunday as the
Christian sabbath and 3roclaims the
sanctity OF the day. We admit with
out argument that under the Mosaic
Law the seventh day OF the week,
Saturday, was designated and OBJ
served as the Holy Day. and that the
lchange from Saturday to Sunday was
feature OF the apostolic administra-
/ ton Following the personal ministry
.of Jesus Christ Greater to us than
the question of this day or that in
the week. Is the actually Of the
weekly Sabbath, to be observed as a
day Of special and particular devotion
| to the service of the Lord.
The Sabbath was prefgured II not
definitely specified In the record of
the creation, wherein we read, fol-
lowing the account Of the six days
or periods OF creative effort: "And
God blessed the seventh day, and
sanctlfied Il; because that In, 1t he
had rested from all his work which
God created and made" (Gen. 2:3).
In the early stages OF the Exodus
the Israelites were commanded 70
lay In a double portion of mamma on
the sixth day. for the seventh was
consecrated as day of holy rest;
and this was signafiZed by the Lord $
Withholding mamma on the Sabbath
day See EGO 16:23-30. There Is no
proof that Sabbath observance by
Israel at this early date was an limo
vation and 1t may be reasonably re-
garded as recognition Of an estab-
lished order by reenactment in the
new dispensation. Later, when the
n al
on Sinai, the Sabbath law was made
rest was cited as its foundation:
Remember the sabbath day, to
keep it holy. Six days shalt thou
.labour, and do all thy work: But the
seventh day Is the sabbath OF the
Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not
do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor
thy daughter, thy manservant, nor
thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor
thy. stranger that Is within thy
gates: For in six days the Lord made
heaven and earth, the sea, and all
that in them is, and rested tho sew
enth day: wherefore the Lord blessed
the sabbath day, and halIowed it."
(Exo. 20:S-1I.
The keeping Of the Sabbath as
day of silrcease from toll and of par
ticular devotion came to be nation
al .!characreFistics .of the Israelites,
~hereby they q, were distinguished
from pagan nations; and rightly so,
for the observance Of the Holy Day
was specified as distinctive sign Of
the covenant between Jehovah and
His people. See Exc. 81 :13.
In the course of Israelitish history
successive prophets admonished and
rebuked the people, for neglect or
Proclamation h of the Sabbath. Nehe-
'mlah ascribed the, affliction of the
nation to the forfeiture of Divine
protection through Sabbath violation
(see Neh. ,13:15-22) and by the
mouth of Ezekiel the Lord reafirrned
the Significance of the Sabbath as
mark of His covenant with Israel, and
sternly upbraided those who observed
not the day. (See Eek 20:1c24).
To the detached branch Of Israel,
which, as the Book of Mormon ayers,
was transplanted to American soil,
Sabbath observance was no less an