Bible Readings for the Home Circle Part 128

Encyclopedias And Church Manuals

"Dictionary of Christian Antiquities:" "The notion of a formal subst.i.tution by apostolic authority of the Lord's day [meaning Sunday] for the Jewish Sabbath, and the transference to it, perhaps in a spiritualized form, of the Sabbatical obligation established by the promulgation of the fourth commandment, has no basis whatever, either in the Holy Scriptures or in Christian antiquity."-_Article __"__Sabbath,__"__ Smith and Cheetham._

"Cyclopedia of Biblical Theology:" "It must be confessed that there is no law in the New Testament concerning the first day."-_Article __"__Sabbath,__"__ McClintock and Strong._

Methodist Episcopal "Theological Compend," by Amos Binney: "It is true, there is no positive command for infant baptism.... Nor is there any for keeping holy the first day of the week."-_Pages 180, 181._

Protestant Episcopal "Manual of Christian Doctrine:" "Is there any command in the New Testament to change the day of weekly rest from Sat.u.r.day?-None."-_Page 127._

Protestant Episcopal "Explanation of Catechism:" "The day is now changed from the seventh to the first day; ... but as we meet with _no Scriptural direction for the change_, we may conclude it was done by the authority of the church."

6. What influence do the Bible and history show working in the church immediately after apostolic days?

"Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them." Acts 20:30.

NOTE.-"In the interval between the days of the apostles and the conversion of Constantine, the Christian commonwealth changed its aspect.... Rites and ceremonies of which neither Paul nor Peter ever heard, crept silently into use, and then claimed the rank of divine inst.i.tutions."-_Dr. W. D. Killen's (Presbyterian) __"__The Ancient Church,__"__ Preface._

7. What did Christ say of worship based upon the commandments of men?

"_In vain they do worship Me_, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." Matt. 15:9.

8. What did He say should be done with every plant not planted by G.o.d?

"Every plant, which My Heavenly Father hath not planted, _shall be rooted up_." Verse 13.

The Sabbath In History

[Ill.u.s.tration.]

Israel In Captivity. "To fulfil the word of the Lord, ... until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths." 2 Chron. 36:21.

1. When and by what acts was the Sabbath made?

"And on _the seventh day_ G.o.d ended His work which He had made; and He _rested_ on the seventh day from all His work which He had made. And G.o.d _blessed_ the seventh day, and _sanctified_ it: because that in it He had rested from all His work which G.o.d created and made." Gen. 2:2, 3.

2. What division of time is marked off by the Sabbath?

The week.

NOTES.-"One of the most striking collateral confirmations of the Mosaic history of the creation is the general adoption of the division of time into _weeks_, which extends from the Christian states of Europe to the remote sh.o.r.es of Hindustan, and has equally prevailed among the Hebrews, the Egyptians, Chinese, Greeks, Romans, and northern barbarians,-nations some of whom had little or no intercourse with others, and were not even known by name to the Hebrews."-_Horne's __"__Introduction to the Critical Study and Knowledge of the Holy Scriptures,__"__ Vol. I, page 69, edition 1841._

"Seven has been the ancient and honored number among the nations of the earth. They have measured their time by weeks from the beginning. The original of this was the Sabbath of G.o.d, as Moses has given the reasons for it in his writings."-_"__Brief Dissertation on the First Three Chapters of Genesis,__"__ by Dr.

Lyman Coleman, page 26._

Gen. 7:4, 10; 8:10, 12, show that the week was known at the time of the flood.

3. How widely recognized is the seventh-day Sabbath in the different languages of the world today?

It is very generally so recognized.

NOTE.-Some years ago the late Dr. William Mead Jones, of London, published a "Chart of the Week," showing the style of the weekly cycle and the designations of the different days of the week in one hundred and sixty different languages. This chart shows very vividly that the seven-day period, or week, was known from the most ancient times, and that in no fewer than one hundred and eight of these languages the seventh day is designated as the Sabbath, or holy day. The following is from this chart:-

English The seventh day The Sabbath Hebrew Shabbath Sabbath Greek Sabbaton Sabbath Latin Sabbatum Sabbath Arabic a.s.sabt The Sabbath Persian Shambin Sabbath Armenian Shapat Sabbath Turkish Yomessabt Day the Sabbath Abyssinian Sanbat Sabbath Russian Subbota Sabbath Polish Sobota Sabbath Hindustani Shamba Sabbath Malay Ari-Sabtu Day Sabbath Afghan Shamba Sabbath German Samstag Sabbath Prussian Sabatico Sabbath French Samedi Sabbath day Italian Sabbato Sabbath Spanish Sabado Sabbath Portuguese Sabbado Sabbath

4. What reason did G.o.d a.s.sign at Sinai for having blessed and set apart the seventh day as a day of holy rest?

"For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day." Ex. 20:11.

5. What promise did G.o.d make to Israel, through Jeremiah, if they would keep the Sabbath?

"And it shall come to pa.s.s, if ye diligently harken unto Me, saith the Lord, to bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but hallow the Sabbath day, to do no work therein; _then shall there enter into the gates of this city kings and princes sitting upon the throne of David_, riding in chariots and on horses, they, and their princes, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: and _this city shall remain forever_." Jer. 17:24, 25.

6. What did He say would happen if they did not hallow the Sabbath day?

"But _if ye will not harken unto Me to hallow the Sabbath day_, and not to bear a burden, even entering in at the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day; _then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched_." Verse 27.

7. What befell the city of Jerusalem when it was captured by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, in 588 B.C.?

"And all the vessels of the house of G.o.d ... he brought to Babylon. And _they burnt the house of G.o.d, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire_." 2 Chron. 36:18, 19.

8. Why was this done?

"To fulfil the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath." Verse 21.

NOTE.-Israel's Babylonish captivity, under Nebuchadnezzar and his sons, was seventy years long because that for 420 years, or for six times seventy years,-from the days of Solomon to Nebuchadnezzar's time,-they had largely neglected to keep the Sabbath. See Eze. 22:8, 26; Jer. 25:8-11; 17:24, 27; 2 Chron.

36:15-21. The seventy years' desolation made up for the 420 years of Sabbath desecration. So during the millennium, or the one thousand years after Christ's second advent, the whole earth will lie desolate, or keep sabbath, for one thousand years, because that for six thousand years the world's inhabitants have disregarded the Sabbath. See this period and condition pointed out in Rev. 20:1-4; Isa. 24:1-6; Jer. 4:23-27. The periods of rest and desolation of the land are divinely appointed sabbatical compensations for man's irreligion, as manifested in Sabbath desecration. They are impressive lessons on the importance of keeping the seventh-day Sabbath, and the results of breaking and disregarding it.

9. After Israel's restoration from the Babylonian captivity, what did Nehemiah say was the reason for their punishment?

"Then I contended with the n.o.bles of Judah, and said unto them, What evil thing is this that ye do, and _profane the Sabbath day? Did not your fathers thus, and did not our G.o.d bring all this evil upon us, and upon this city?_ yet ye bring more wrath upon Israel _by profaning the Sabbath_." Neh. 13:17, 18.

10. How does he speak of G.o.d's giving the Sabbath to Israel?

"Thou camest down also upon mount Sinai, and spakest with them from heaven, and _gavest them right judgments, and true laws, good statutes and commandments: and madest known unto them Thy holy Sabbath_." Neh. 9:13, 14.