History of the Sabbath and First Day of the Week - John N. Andrews

thee to do this thing." (Deut. 24:17, 18)
It will be seen at a glance that this precept was
not given to commemorate the deliverance of Israel
from Egyptian bondage; nor could that deliverance
give existence to the moral obligation expressed in
it. If the language in the one case proves that men
were not under obligation to keep the Sabbath
before the deliverance of Israel from Egypt, it
proves with equal conclusiveness in the other that
before that deliverance they were not under
obligation to treat with justice and mercy the
stranger, the fatherless, and the widow. And if the
Sabbath is shown in the case to be Jewish, in the
other, the statute of the great Law-giver in behalf
of the needy and the helpless must share the same
fate. It is manifest that this language is in each case
an appeal to their sense of gratitude. You were
slaves in Egypt, and God rescued you; therefore
remember others who are in distress, and oppress
them not. You were bondmen in Egypt, and God
redeemed you; therefore sanctify unto the Lord the
day which he has reserved unto himself; a most
powerful appeal to those who had hitherto persisted
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