for instruction. In Psalm lxxiv. 8, it is said of the heathen, " They have burned up all the synagogues of God in the land." The word here rendered " synagogues," means " assemblies," but burning up " assemblies " can only mean places of assembly ; as burning up churches, in our mode of expression, can only mean the edifices where churches or congregations are accus- tomed to assemble. What other places of assembling the Psalm- ist could refer to, if synagogues did not then exist, it is hard to understand. But admitting that synagogues were not com- mon among the Jews until after the exile, which is a very im- probable supposition, the fact that reading the Scriptures on the Sabbath was an established part of the synagogue service, goes far to prove that it was a sabbatical service long before the exile. (6.) The place of the fourth command in the decalogue ; the stress laid upon it in the Old Testament ; the way in which it is spoken of in the prophets ; and the Psalms appointed to be used on that day, as for example the ninety-second, all show that the day was set apart for religious duties from the begin- ning. (7.) This may also be argued from the whole character of the old dispensation. All its institutions were religious ; they were all intended to keep alive the knowledge of the true God, and to prepare the way for the coming of Christ. It would be entirely out oi keeping with the spirit of the Mosaic economy to assume that its most important and solemn holy day was purely secular in its design.1
It is admitted that the precepts of the decalogue bind the Church in all ages ; while the specific details contained in the books of Moses, designed to point out the way in which the duty they enjoined was then to be performed, are no longer in force. The fifth commandment still binds children to obey their par- ents ; but the Jewish law giving fathers the power of life and death over their children, is no longer in force. The seventh commandment forbids adultery, but the ordeal enjoined for the. trial of a woman suspected of that crime, is a thing of the past. The same principle applies to the interpretation of the fourth commandment. The command itself is still in force ; .the Mosaic
1 The doctrine that the Jewish sabbath was simply a day of relaxation from labour, was advanced among Protestants towards the close of the seventeenth century, by Selden, in his work Be Legibus Hebrasorum. This opinion was adopted by Vitringa in the first, book of his Observationes Sacrce. It is also advocated by Bahr in his Symb. des Mos. Cul- tus. The contrary doctrine was adopted by all the Reformers, and by the great body of Christian theologians ; and is ably sustained by Hengstenberg in his treatise Ueber ^ den Tag des Herm, pp. 29-41. This subject is discussed in the January number of the Prince- ion Review for 1831, pp. 86-134.
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338 PAKT IH. Ch. XIX. — THE LAW.
laws respecting the mode of its observance have passed away with the economy to which they belonged. It is unjust there- fore to represent the advocates of the continued obligation of the fourth commandment, as Judaizers. They are no more Juda- izers than those who hold that the* other precepts of the dec- alogue are still in force.
There are two rules by which we are to be guided in determin- ing how the Sabbath is to be observed, or in deciding what is, and what is not lawful on that holy day. The first is, the design of the commandment. What is consistent with that design is lawful ; what is inconsistent with it, is unlawful. The second rule is to be found in the precepts and example of our Lord and of his Apostles. The design of the command is to be learned from the words in which it is conveyed and from other parts of the word of God. From these sources it is plain that the design of the institution, as already remarked, was in the main twofold. First, to secure rest from all worldly cares and avocations ; to arrest for a time the current of the worldly life of men, not only lest their minds and bodies should be overworked, but also that opportunity should be afforded for other and higher interests to occupy their thoughts. And secondly, that God should be prop- erly worshipped, his word duly studied and taught, and the soul brought under the influence of the things unseen and eternal. Any man who makes the design of the Sabbath as thus revealed in Scripture his rule of conduct on that day,, can hardly fail in its due observance. The day is to be kept holy unto the Lord. In Scriptural usage to hallow or make holy is to set apart to the service of God. Thus the tabernacle, the temple, and all its utensils were made holy. In this sense the Sabbath is holy. It is to be devoted to the duties of religion, and what is inconsistent with such devotion, is contrary to the design of the institution.
It is however to be remembered that the specific object of the Christian Sabbath is the commemoration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. All the exercises of the day, there- fore, should have a special reference to Him and to his redeeming work. It is the day in which He is to be worshipped, thanked, and praised ; in which men are to be called upon to accept his offers of grace, and to rejoice in the hope of his salvation. It is therefore a day of joy. It is utterly incongruous to make it a day of gloom or fasting. In the early Church men were forbid- den to pray on their knees on that day. They were to stand erect, exulting in the accomplishment of the work of God's re- deeming love.