PHI LOS 0 P H Y . - Classic Works of Apologetics Online

:390 Scriptllre Account oj
Upon the first objection it may be rell1arkeli 1
that although in Exodus the comnlandtnent is
founded upon God's rest from the "reation, in Deuteronomy
the commandment is repeated with a ref.
erence to a different event: "Six d_J~s shalt thou
labc.ur, and do all thy work; btlt the s~venth day
is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt'
not do any ,,'ork, thou, nor thy ~on, nor thy daughter,
nor thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor
thine ox, nor. thine ass, nor any of thy cattie~ nor
the straIlger that is ,vithin thy gates; that thy man ..
servant and thy maid .. servant may rest as \vell as
thou; and 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; therefote, the Lord tllY
God comnlanded thee to keep the sabbath day.='J It
is farther observable, that God's rest from the crea·
tion is proposed, as the reason of the institution,
even \vhere the institution itself is spoken of as peculiar
to the Je\vs ;-" \Vherefore tIle chiidren of Is.
l-ael shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath
throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant:
it is a sign between me and tile children of
Israel forever; for in six days the Lord made heaven
and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and
was refreshed." The truth is, these different reasons
\vere assigrled to account for different circumstances
in the command. If a Jew inquired, why the Je'v·
ent/; day was sanctified rather than the :,ixth or eighth,
11is law told him, because God rested on the seventl}
dl.ly froln the creation. If- he asked, \\1hy was the
san1e rest indulged· to slaves, his law bid hitl1 l-en1elnher,
that he also was a slave in the land of Egypt ;
and, "that the Lord his God brought hinl out
thence." In this view, the two reasons are perfectl}~
compatible with eacll other, and \vith a third end
of the institution, it~ being a sign between God and
~hc
people of Israel; but in this view they determine
nothing concerninrr the extent of the obljga~
tion. If the reason by its proper energy had con-