The Pulpit Commentary — Deuteronomy — Section 107

Rnyt.hing out of hRrmony with this benign command to rest (seo Exod. xvi. 29; xxi\l, 9-13; xxxi. 13; xxxiv. 21; xxxv. 1-3; Lev, xix. 3, 30; xxxiii. 3; xxvi, 2; Numb, xv. 32-36). Of such importance to the good of the people was their rest dny, thnt if a man alfompted to turn it into a day of common work, he wns to be stoned I Severity to ~he one was a guard of mercy round all I If the people could not or would not gunrd their rest day for themselves, the great Lord who gave it would shield it for them nil I In course of time these precepts were grievously disobeyed,_either by nu entire neglect of the day, or by a merely formal observance of it (2 Chron. xxxvi. 21; Neh, ix.14 • x. 31; xiii. 15, 16; Isa. i. 13; h•i. 2; !viii. 13; Jer. xvii, 19-27; Ezck. xx. 12, 13; xxii. S, 26). Later on, when Jesus Christ came, many bad lost the spirit of the day in the Jett.er; so that the day which was given to man as a boon of mercy had come to be a chafing yoke and a grievous burden. Consequently, not even Jesus Ch1·ist was a sufficiently strict sabbat/1-kceper for the PhariseeD (Matt. xii, 1-8; Mark ii. 23-28 • iii. l-5; Luke xiii. 10-17; John v. 1-16; vii. 23, 24). Hence, Jesus in his teach~ ing respecting the sabbatb, did not divert it from, but restored it to, its original intent. The sabbath as God made it, 'l\'as restful, beautiful, and free. As rabbinical teachin<T had perverted it, it was rigid and burdensome. Men came to be on the sabbath under a bard yoke; but it was man', yoke, not God's (see in Dr. Geikie's • Life of Christ' abun<lant illustrations of this). III. NEW TESTAMENT INDICATIONS VARY IN FORM BUT ACCORD IN SPIRIT. We find in the N"ew Testament some passages which indicate some observance of the first day of the week (Juhn xx. 19-26; Acts xx. 7 j 1 Cor. xvi. 2; Rev. i. 10). It is romarkablo how few there arc of such. \Ve have no specific precept to direct us with regard to a Christian sabbath. '.l'here is nothing very clear on the matter, either in the Gospels or the Epistles. Judaism is waning; what is peculiar to it dies away; what is world- wide and for humanity, lives. We seem to see the seventh day receding from our gaze, its lustre fades and is lost in the brightness of the first day. 'fhere is a dissolving view. \\'inter is succeeded by spring. Here is something which has Christ's sanction and apostolic warrant, viz. meeting on the first day. it is the day of religious assembling, the day of" breaking bread." 'l'he God of Sinai has invested the Son of man with all power in heaven and in earth. He is the Lord of the sabbath. Memories of the great deliverance wrought by him eclipse those of the deliverance from Egypt. Wherefore, ever after, rest-day becomes "the Lord's day." Ignatius says, "Let every friend of Christ celebrate the Lord's day." Justin Martyr," On the Lord's day, all Christians iv the city and in the country assemble together, because that is the day of the Lord's resurrection." Tertullian, "The Lord's day is the holy day of the Christian Church. So ~adually, however, did the seventh-day sabbath change into the first-day rest, that we find for a while both days observed. Accordingly we find, in' The Apostolic Constitu- tion,' both days named as days for the assembling of the ()hurch; that on the sabbath and on the Sunday the slaves should rest from their labours, and attend church with the rest to hear the sermon. But as the new skin is forming under the surface, the old is getting looser and looser. Yet for a time, there are two coverings. Soon, however, the old is shuffled off, and only the new is seen. 'fhe sabbath is lost, but rest-day reappears as the Lord's day! IY. How STANDS THE REST-DAY NOW? The fourth commandment had a natural basis and a religious one. It gave a day of rest for man as man, and, as such, has never been repealed. God has never taken away the world's rest-day. It is ours still-a priceless heritage. The religious side of the Hebrew sabbath, though abolished so far as the observance of Jewish rites is concerned, was at once taken up by the Christian Church, and Christians have, as we well know, by meeting for worship on the first day, recognized the principle of a world's resl-day, and have used it for the higher purposes of the k ing<lom of heaven. And now to us the Lord's day is (1) our day of rest from earthly toil; (2) the day of hallowed calm; (3) of richest memory j ( 4) ofunited worship; (5) of mutual recognition of our common relationship to one God and Saviour; (6) of spiritual training; (7) of holiest service for the Master; (8) of noblest outlook (seo Dr. R. W. Hamilton's' Hone Sabbaticre '). V. WHAT IS OUR DUTY WITH BEG.ARD TO OUR REST-DAY? 1. As men, let us regard it e.s an inestimable boon for the right use of which we are responsible to God. We are 110 made, as to our physical constitution, that we refluire one day's rest in seven. 'l'hen Oil. V. 1-33.] THE BOOK O.F DEUTERONOMY.