In pondering the problem of the validity of Sabbath-keeping in Gentile times, it is noticeable that some of our number hesitate, and even raise eyebrows, at the suggestion that the Ten Commandments are “nothing to do with us”. Yet that would appear to be the logical conclusion consistent with the apostolic assertion that the Law of Moses came to an end at the crucifixion of Jesus. And the Ten Commandments were a vital part of that Law.
Stealing and adultery, covetousness and lack of respect to parents are manifestations of sin, out of keeping with the worship of the One True God, and are absolutely condemned by the teaching of Jesus and the apostles.
These thoughts are prompted by the reading of, “The Seventh Day Sabbath: ls it still in operation?” It is a publication of the Gospel Publicity League, administered by Bro. C. H. French.
The author has had considerable experience of the Seventh Day Adventists-probably more than most of us. He makes statements about their beliefs I have never heard. As an example, a statement is chosen from page 23, and the subject, the lawyer’s question, “Master, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” The reply of Jesus is well known. Then we read, “But S.D.S. teachers would reply, No, the greatest commandment would be the fourth, Keep holy the Sabbath Day”. This remarkable statement is as inexplicable as the claim that “only the ‘ceremonial statutes terminated with the cross of Jesus, and therefore, part of the Law of Moses still continues to this day. ” ( p. 5)
This booklet of 24 pages is a carefully argued and sectionalised study of the Sabbath Day problem. Instead of the customary chapter division, there are 64 sections each with an a ,appropriate heading and listed as an index at the back. It would appear to cover every aspect of the subject-with relentless reasoning.
As an illustration of the fineness of detail we note that several sections are devoted to the time before the Flood. This is essential in view of the insistence that the keeping of the Sabbath originated long before the introduction of the Law of Moses. We are with Adam and Eve in Eden; then with Noah and his family before and after the Flood; we join the company of Abraham. The Divine counsel is definite, but no word about Sabbath keeping occurs anywhere. The author is right when he urges consideration of this aspect of the case. The first command to keep the Sabbath is recorded in Exodus 16. 23-29. The Israelites were in the wilderness at the time, but S.D.S. teachers assert that Israel kept the Sabbath during the years of bondage in Egypt. As it is pointed out, these were impossible days for keeping the Sabbath.
The initial basis of the S.D.S. case is Genesis 2. 2-3. It is claimed that this is a most important proof “of continuing law—the Sabbath Law given to all the world, not only Israel—and that it was given to man before the Fall.” Yet the only “Thou shalt not” to Adam and Eve was to refrain from partaking of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The S.D.S. idea “is entirely gratuitous”, and, in any case, the term Sabbath is not applied to the completion of His labours by God.
The constant need to be careful in reading only from Scripture what the words contain is brought to our notice by the statement that “S.D.S. teachers claim that Abraham kept the Sabbath because of the words of Genesis 26. 5, . . . Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes and my laws’.” One is prepared to believe that the moral obligations referred to above would be demanded—that would be inevitable—but a command to keep the Sabbath is entirely missing. One feels that argument is impossible in the face of Exodus 31. 1 3-1 7 and Deut. 5. 2-3.
The Sabbath is given specifically to Israel with the words, “The Lord made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day.” To all this is added that the Sabbath was to be a reminder of their hard bondage in Egypt; that it would be a memorial of the wonderful deliverance received under the hand of Moses. A memorial does not exist before an event happens!
It is so true that one lie or error begets another. As it is difficult to see any justification for the Seventh Day Adventist claim for the Sabbath, so one fails to comprehend the idea that the Millennium will be in heaven and not on earth. Now if the creation week was seen in its typical significance of 6,000 years of man’s rule and 1,000 years of God’s rule—the “rest” so anti-typically taught in the fourth chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews—then the purpose of God taught in the prophets is but an echo and a confirmation of the plan revealed from the Beginning.
In a reprint of the booklet the omission of a statement is Section 46 would be an improvement. A further instance of inconsistency on the part of the Seventh Day Adventists is given in the insistence that “the law of tithing is still binding on mankind”. The following words appear “This is another delusion of Satan, who is resurrecting a past law which went out with the Levitical priesthood”. The use of “Satan” is unnecessary especially when writing against a body of people to whom the existence of a personal Devil and Satan means so much. We know what the author means, but it is conceivable that some reading the booklet would not.
The case for the rejection of the Sabbath Day keeping in Gentile times is shown to be complete. That it ceased to exist as binding along with everything else in the Law of Moses after the crucifixion is amply proved by the facts and reasoning presented.
Review of “The Early Earth” by John Whitcomb (1972)