To the Editor of the Christian Observer.

I LEARN, in my retired situation, with great regret, that the hallowing of the Lord's Day is considered, by increasing numbers, even of persons not unfavourable to the cause of religion, rather as a matter of expediency, than of moral obligation. I am deeply convinced, however, that such an opinion is very injurious to the cause of true godliness; both in respect of the individuals who entertain it, and of the circle, more or less extensive, to which their influence extends. I shall therefore arrange a few thoughts both on the original institution of the Sabbath-the Sabbath, I mean, as a part of the Mosaic dispensation-and on the obligation of the Christian Sabbath, or, more properly speaking, THE LORD'S DAY.

'It is evident, even from the fourth Commandment, that the Sabbath was instituted in commemoration of the creation. "In six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath-day, and hallowed it," (Exod. xx. 11.) Now, what reason can be assigned, why this intended commemoration should never be intimated to mankind, till above two thousand five hundred years after the creation? Had the rational creatures of God no cause or reason to remember that event, during these revolving ages? Had God no worshippers all this time? Were none under obligations to worship him? Would the Sabbath be less needful, useful, or expedient, in order to the wor

CHRIST. OBSERV, No. 186.

ship of God, before the days of Moses, than it was afterwards? Or why should that at length be given to a very small portion of the human race, in which, in respect of the reason assigned for its institution, all men are equally concerned?

It has long appeared to me, that any man, not having previously formed another system from books or reasoning, on reading the words of Moses, when he had finished his most sublime narrative of God's creating the world, must conclude, that the appointment of the Sabbath was directly made on that grand occasion: and this conclusion would be the same, whether he read the passage in the original Hebrew or in our translation. "Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it; because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made." (Gen. ii. 1-3.) The institution concerns the whole human race, as much as the nation of Israel: and the reason for thus setting apart a continually returning season, as a memorial of the creation completed and rested in by the great Creator, seemed in some respects more cogent, before the entrance of sin had marred the beauty of the work, and interrupted his full acquiescence in it as "very good," than afterwards, when" it repented the Lord that he had made man, and it grieved him at his heart,” (Gen. vi. 6.) and when man's rest 2 Z

in God and his works had been by the Fall disturbed or destroyed.

But Dr. Paley (a name in many respects justly entitled to high regard) maintains, that "we hear no more of the Sabbath, or of the seventh day, as in any other manner distinguished from the other six, until the history brings us down to the sojourning of the Jews in the Wilderness. It is unaccountable," he says, that no mention of it, no occasion of even the obscurest allusion to it should occur, either in the general history of the world before the call of Abraham, which contains, we admit, only a few memoirs of its early ages, and these extremely abridged; or, which is more to be wondered at, in that of the lives of the three first patriarchs, which in many parts of the account is sufficiently circumstantial and particular." It seems here conceded, that we could not reasonably expect to hear of the Sabbath, except among the worshippers of the true God, during the ages which elapsed between Adam and Moses: and doubtless they who renounced God, and became either atheists or idolaters, whether before or after the deluge, would renounce the Sabbath also, if it really bad been instituted; nay, they would use their influence to disannul it, as the infidels on the ⚫ continent endeavoured by all means to do in our times.

But is Dr. Paley's statement, in this passage, accurate? Is he well grounded in averring, that not even the obscurest allusion is made to the seventh day, before the call of Abraham, or in the history of the three first patriarchs? The only account on which the least dependance can be placed respecting these remote ages, is contained exclusively

It is very inaccurate, though very common, to call the whole nation, at this early period, Jews,Judeans, from Judah. The name is never used in Scripture, till after the division of the nation into two

kingdoms, under Jeroboam, and seldom till after the dispersion of the Ten Tribes.

in the Book of Genesis. Yet the division of time by WEEKS, of which some traces at least may be found in other histories, and of other nations, seems to have been the remains of an original tradition, retained among the descendants of Noah, as separated into many regions before the days of Abraham.

"At

Is it then a fact, that there are no intimations, and not even the obscurest allusions made to the Sabbath, or the seventh day, in the Book of Genesis? "Yet seven days," says the Lord," and I will cause it to rain on the earth forty days and forty nights." (Gen. vii. 4.) This might be left unnoticed, except as it introduces that which follows in the next chapter. the end of forty days, Noah opened the windows of the ark which he had made, and he sent forth a raven."- "And he stayed yet other seven days, and again be sent forth the dove out of the ark."—" And be stayed yet other seven days, and sent forth the dove, which returned not again to him any more." (Gen. viii. 6-12.) Is here no intimation that the end of every seven days brought with it something peculiar and distinguishing from the end of any other period of time? May it not, nay, does it not imply, that the Sabbath was observed in the ark, at the close of the devotions of which the dove was once and again sent forth?

The word which is translated week, occurs twice in the twentyninth chapter of Genesis, (ver. 27— 29.) and is used in various parts of Scripture for a term of time containing seven days. (Deut. xvi. 9, 10. 16; Jer. v. 24; Ezek. xlv. 21; Dan. ix. 25, 26, 27.) This is at least an obscure intimation, that the division of time into weeks was known even in Laban's family: and whence should this division originate, but from the appointment of the Sabbath? Or, why should that precise term be used, which every where, after the giving of the Law, has reference to the division of

time, by the weekly return of the Sabbath, if the Sabbath had never yet been appointed or known?

If, however, no traces at all could be found in the history, of any regard to the seventh day, before the time of Moses, this would by no means prove that no appointment of the Sabbath had been made. There is not the least trace in the whole of the Old Testament, from Moses to Malachi, of the observance instituted in the Law concerning the red heifer which was to be burnt, and the ashes collected, and mixed with water, for a water of purifying the unclean. (Num. xix.) Yet who doubts whether this was ever instituted; or, indeed, whether it was generally observed? The Apostle speaks of it as an ordinance well known, and in common use. (Heb. ix. 13.) No instance, in like manner, occurs, in which several other legal appointments are mentioned, after the time of their institution, till the close of their history, so that entire silence would not prove the negative.

Again; Dr. Paley considers the mention of the Sabbath made in the history of Israel, previously to the giving of the Law from Mount Sinai, as its "first actual institution." But let the narrative be carefully examined: "It came to pass on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for one man and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses. And he said unto them, This is that which the Lord hath said, To-morrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord bake that which ye will bake to-day, and seethe that ye will seethe, and that which remaineth over lay up for to be kept until the morning. And they laid it up till the morning, as Moses bade: and it did not stink, neither was there any worm therein. And Moses said, Eat that to-day; for to-day is a Sabbath to the Lord: today ye shall not find it in the field. Six days shall ye gather it, but on the seventh day, which is the Sab

bath, in it there shall be none. And it came to pass, that there went out some of the people on the seventh day for to gather, and they found none. And the Lord said unto Moses, How long do ye refuse to keep my commandments and my laws? See, for that the Lord hath given you the Sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days: abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day. So the people rested on the seventh day." (Exod. xvi. 22-30.)

It does not appear that any order had previously been given to the people in this matter but finding a more abundant supply of manna on the sixth day, and, as it is highly probable, having been accustomed on the sixth day, to make some preparation for the seventh, when they had it in their power, they of their own accord gathered a double quantity. Had any public directions or orders been given to this effect, the rulers especially must have known it, as they would have been employed in making them known to the rest of the people. In this case, then, how could it be, that they should come to inform Moses, as if something unexpected, and, as they feared, wrong, had taken place? Again, is the answer of Moses at all like the "actual institution" of a most important ordinance, which had never before been known or thought of? Is it not evidently the pointing out to them of a previous institution, which many of them had lost sight of, or deemed not obligatory on the present occasion? Indeed, the whole is most evidently a reference to things already known, but lost sight of, or forgotten; and not the enacting of an original law, the institution of an original ordinance. A law was indeed given, but that law was, that none should go out on the seventh day" to gather manna,' and not the law of the Sabbath itself. This law and commandment

some broke, and were rebuked for it but the obligation of resting on the Sabbath-day is throughout taken for granted. If similar language were found in any act of parliament, would not it be supposed to relate to some previously existing law? Would it be regarded as an actual and most important, and entirely new act of the legislature? But if the language of Mo ses refers to any existing law, in some measure known to Israel, what law, except that in the second chapter of Genesis, can be intended?

It is highly probable that Moses wrote the Book of Genesis, while he remained with Jethro as a shepherd; and that some of the leading contents of it were before this time made known to the people.

This

In entire coincidence with this view of the whole transaction, the observance of the Sabbath is enjoined in the Decalogue, in a form entirely different from that of the other Commandments; and evidently referring to an observance before known, but which the people were prone to forget. "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 man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor the stranger that is within thy gates.' seems to refer to something more full and express on the subject, than the regulations in the sixteenth chapter which have been considered; and this idea is confirmed by the words, "the seventh day is the Sabbath," not shall be. So to Israel the seventh day is called "the Sabbath (or rest) of the Lord thy God," with evident allusion to the narration contained in the second of Genesis : "On the seventh day God ended his work which he had made, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it, because

on it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.” (Gen. ii. 2, 3.) Thus the commandment also is enforced by similar language: "for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it." The words rendered keep holy, hallowed, and sanctified, are, in the original, the same modification of the same verb, which renders the resemblance of the two passages more exact than it appears in the translation.

This commandment forms a part of the moral law, which is allowed to be of universal and permanent obligation on mankind, as far as made known to them; and is enforced by a consideration which applies equally to the whole human race. On what grounds then can it reasonably be supposed to have lost its authority under the Christian dispensation? Our Saviour, indeed, as "Lord also of the Sabbath-day," might not only explain and enforce this commandment, but also change the day of the seven which should be kept holy; for whether the seventh or the first day of the week, is merely a circumstance of the institution, and not at all essential to its substantial requirement of sanctifying one seventh part of our time, in the manner prescribed; while the very term, "Lord of the Sabbath-day," implies that the institution which should be made would be of equal obligation. In the Decalogue there is nothing ceremonial enjoined concerning the sacred day of rest; but since it was also intended, in some respects, to form a part both of the ritual and of the judicial law-the magistrates' rule in administering justice, with a special regard to the nation of Israel-we find that in other places more particular rules are given, and even the penalty of death is annexed to the violation of its external requisitions. (Exod. xxxi.

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13-17; xxxv. 2, 3; Num. xv. 32-36.) Several also of the solemn days appointed to be be strictly observed, during the sacred festivals, were called sabbaths, and were allowed by a part of the ritual law, and lost their obligation when that law, which was but "shadow of good things to come," had received its accomplishment. (Lev. xvi. 31; xxiii. 24. 32. 38; xxv. 4; Neh. x. 33; Isa. i. 13.) To these the Apostle evidently refers, when he says, "Let no man judge you in meat, and in drink, or in respect of a holy day, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath-days, which are a shadow of things to come, but the body is of Christ," (Col. ii. 16, 17.) and not exclusively, or principally, of the day of sacred rest, which had nothing typical in its original institution, except as a shadow of the blessed holy rest of heaven. (Heb. iv. 9. Gr.) The very position that the rest of heaven is the keep ing of a sabbath, (cabaliomos.) powerfully conveys the idea that the holy rest of the Sabbath was intended to be a most spiritual and heavenly part of man's religion on earth; an anticipation of heaven, and a preparation for that perfect worship, and complacency, and rest in God which will take place there indeed, the Apostle's whole argument implies this. But how will this idea consist with the Sabbath having been only a ritual appointment to Israel; a part of the temporary dispensation of Moses; losing its authori tative energy, when that ceased; and thenceforth, no more than a matter of expediency?

Indeed, where the word is used in the plural, sabbaths or sabbathdays, it generally refers to those other instituted seasons of rest, as well as to the weekly sabbaths. The fourth Commandment, as it stands in the twentieth of Exodus, is the language of JEHOVAH himself, as a Lawgiver; but as it occurs again in the fifth of Deuteronomy,

it is introduced by Moses in the character, as it were, of a preacher, and as a part of his authoritative and most earnest instructions given to a new generation of Israel, a very short time before his death. "Keep the Sabbath-day to sanctify it, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee." Having thus referred to the original commandment, of which they were already in possession, he omitted the reason given for the original institution of the Sabbath as a memorial of the creation, which belongs to all mankind; and annexed an additional reason for Israel's particular regard to that appointment, from their peculiar obligations to the Lord their God. "Remember

that thou. wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the Lord thy God brought thee out thence, through a mighty hand, and by a stretched out arm; therefore the Lord thy God commanded thee to keep the Sabbath-day." (Deut. v. 12. 15.) Other nations, having turned from God to idols, were left to "walk in their own ways;" but Israel were redeemed "that they might observe his statutes, and keep his law." (Ps. cv. 43. 45.) This, therefore, was additional to Israel; but it did not vacate the original reason, which, however neglected or disregarded, was common to them with the rest of the human race. The Lord indeed says to Ezekiel respecting Israel exclusively, "Moreover I gave them my Sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they may know that I am the Lord that sanctify them.' (Ezek. xx. 12.) This Dr. Paley thinks greatly confirms his opinion, that the first actual institution of the Sabbath was made, in respect to the manna, as was above stated. But, (not to dwell on the word being plural, and so including the other seasons called Sabbaths, as well as the weekly Sabbaths,) might not God, who, as Creator, had at first given the Sabbath as a day of sacred rest to Adam and alt

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