THE history of the Sabbath embraces the period of 6000 years. The seventh
day is the Sabbath of the Lord. The acts which constituted it such were, first, the
example of the Creator; secondly, his placing his blessing upon the day; and
thirdly, the sanctification or divine appointment of the day to a holy use. The
Sabbath, therefore, dates from the beginning of our world's history. The first who
Sabbatized on the seventh day is God the Creator; and the first seventh day of
time is the day which he thus honored. The highest of all possible honors does,
therefore, pertain to the seventh day. Nor is this honor confined to the first
seventh day of time; for so soon as God had rested upon that day, he appointed
the seventh day to a holy use, that man might hallow it in memory of his Creator.
This divine appointment grows out of the nature and fitness of things, and
must have been made directly to Adam, for himself and wife were then the only
beings who had the days of the week to use. As it was addressed to Adam while
yet in his uprightness, it must have been given to him as the head of the human
family. The fourth commandment bases all its authority upon this original
mandate of the Creator, and must, therefore, be in substance what God
commanded to Adam and Eve as the representatives of mankind.
The patriarchs could not possibly have been ignorant of the facts and the
obligation which the fourth commandment shows to have originated in the
beginning, for Adam was present with them for a period equal to more than half
the Christian dispensation. Those, therefore, who walked with God in the
observance of his commandments did certainly hallow his Sabbath.
The observers of the seventh day must therefore include the ancient godly
patriarchs, and none will deny that they include also the prophets and the
apostles. Indeed, the entire church of God embraced within the records of
inspiration were Sabbath-keepers. To this number must be added the Son of
God.
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What a history, therefore, has the Sabbath of the Lord! It was instituted in
Paradise, honored by several miracles each week for the space of forty years