HISTORY OF THE SABBATH - Friends of the Sabbath Australia

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History of the Sabbath by J.N AndrewsIt is evident that in the judgment of Novation, the ten commandments enjoined nothing thatwas not sacredly regarded by the patriarchs before Jacob went down into Egypt. It follows,therefore, that, in his opinion, the Sabbath was made, not at the fall of the Manna, but whenGod sanctified the seventh day, and that holy men from the earliest ages observed it.The Apostolical Constitutions, written about the third century, give us an understanding ofwhat was widely regarded in the third century as apostolic doctrine. They speak thus of theten commandments:"Have before thine eyes the fear of God, and always remember the tencommandments of God, - to love the one and only Lord God with all thystrength; to give no heed to idols, or any other beings, as being lifeless gods, orirrational beings or demons." 12"He gave a plain law to assist the law of nature, such a one as is pure, saving,and holy, in which his own name was inscribed, perfect, which is never to fail,13being complete in ten commands, unspotted, converting souls."This writer, like Irenaeus, believed in the identity of the decalogue with the law of nature.These testimonies show that in the writings of the early fathers are some of the strongestutterances in behalf of the perpetuity and authority of the ten commandments. Now let us hearwhat they say concerning the origin of the Sabbath at creation. The epistle ascribed toBarnabas, says:"And he says in another place,`If my sons keep the Sabbath, then will I causemy mercy to rest upon them.' The Sabbath is mentioned at the beginning of thecreation [thus]: `And God made in six days the works of his hands, and madean end on the seventh day, and rested on it, and sanctified it.' " 14Irenaeus seems plainly to connect the origin of the Sabbath with the sanctification of theseventh day:"These [things promised] are [to take place] in the times of the kingdom, thatis, upon the seventh day, which has been sanctified, in which God rested fromall his works which he created, which is the true Sabbath, in which they shallnot be engaged in any earthly occupation." 15Tertullian, likewise, refers the origin of the Sabbath to "the benediction of the Father:""But inasmuch as birth is also completed with the seventh month, I morereadily recognize in this number than in the eighth the honor of numericalagreement with the Sabbatical period; so that the month in which Gods' imageis sometimes produced in a human birth, shall in its number tally with the dayon which God's creation was completed and hallowed." 16"For even in the case before us he [Christ] fulfilled the law, while interpretingits condition; [moreover] he exhibits in a clear light the different kinds ofwork, while doing what the law excepts from the sacredness of the Sabbath,[and] while imparting to the Sabbath day itself which from the beginning hadbeen consecrated by the benediction of the Father, an additional sanctity by hisown beneficent action." 17 176
Chapter Eighteen – The Sabbath in the Record of the Early FathersOrigen, who, as we have seen, believed in a mystical Sabbath, did nevertheless fix its origin atthe sanctification of the seventh day:"For he [Celsus] knows nothing of the day of the Sabbath and rest of God,which follows the completion of the worlds creation, and which lasts duringthe duration of the world, and in which all those will keep festival with Godwho have done all their works in their six days." 18The testimony of Novation which has been given relative to the sacredness and authority ofthe decalogue plainly implies the existence of the Sabbath in the patriarchal ages, and itsobservance by those holy men of old. It was given to Israel that they mightAnd he adds,"RETURN to those virtuous manners which, although they had received themfrom their fathers, they had corrupted in Egypt.""Those ten commandments on the tables teach nothing new, but remind themof what had been obliterated." 19He did, not, therefore, believe the Sabbath to have originated at the fall of the manna, butcounted it one of those things which were practiced by their fathers before Jacob went downto Egypt.Lactantius places the origin of the Sabbath at creation:"God completed the world and this admirable work of nature in the space ofsix days (as is contained in the secrets of holy Scripture) and CONSECRATEDthe seventh day on which he had rested from his works. But this is the Sabbathday, which, in the language of the Hebrews, received its name from thenumber, whence the seventh is the legitimate and complete number." 20In a poem on Genesis written about the time of Lactantius, but by an unknown author, wehave an explicit testimony to the divine appointment of the seventh day to a holy use whileman was yet in Eden, the garden of God:"The seventh came, when GodAt his work's end did rest, DECREEING ITSACRED UNTO THE COMING AGE'S JOYS." 21The Apostolical Constitution, while teaching the present obligation of the Sabbath, plainlyindicate its origin to have been at creation:"O Lord Almighty, thou hast created the world by Christ, and hast appointedthe Sabbath in memory thereof, because that on that day thou hast made up restfrom our works, for the meditation upon thy laws." 22Such are the testimonies of the early fathers to the primeval origin of the Sabbath, and to thesacredness and perpetual obligation of the ten commandments. We now call attention to whatthey say relative to the perpetuity of the Sabbath, and to its observance in the centuries duringwhich they lived. Tertullian defines Christ's relation to the Sabbath:"He was called `Lord of the Sabbath' because he maintained the Sabbath as hisown institution." 23 177
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HISTORY OF THE SABBATHandFIRST DAY
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Chapter One - The CreationHISTORY O
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