1. What purpose did the Lord have in creating this earth?
ANSWER: “Thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; God Himself that formed the earth and made it; . . . He hath established it, He created it not in vain, He formed it to be inhabited.” Isaiah 45:18.
2. Whom did the Lord design should have dominion over the earth that He had created?
ANSWER: “Thou madest him [man] to have dominion over the works of Thy hands; Thou hast put all things under his feet.” Psalm 8:6. Study also Genesis 1:26; Psalm 115:16.
3. Although man was created thus to have dominion over the earth, what does the apostle say of his present condition?
ANSWER: “Thou hast put all things in subjection under his [man’s] feet. For in that He put all in subjection under him, He left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him.” Hebrews 2:8.
4. Is this lost dominion to be restored?
ANSWER: “And Thou, O Tower of the flock, the Stronghold of the daughter of Zion, unto Thee shall it come, even the first dominion.” Micah 4:8.
(Note: “The first dominion” given to man in the Garden of Eden was lost through sin; but how beautifully does this prophecy set forth the Christ who is the “Tower of the flock” and “the Stronghold of the daughter of Zion,” as the one who will restore this lost dominion! In Hebrews 2:9, following the verse already quoted, the apostle goes on to say, “We see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor; that He by the grace of God should taste death for every man.”)
5. What beatific promise did the Saviour make?
ANSWER: “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.” Matthew 5:5.
6. When, according to the psalmist, will the meek receive the fulfillment of that promise?
ANSWER: “Wait on the Lord, and keep His way, and He shall exalt thee to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it.” Psalm 37:34.
7. What promise was made to Abraham?
ANSWER: “The promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.” Romans 4:13.
8. Was that promise to Abraham fulfilled through his sojourn in the land of Canaan?
ANSWER: “He gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on: yet He promised that He would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when as yet he had no child.” Acts 7:5.
“By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. By faith he sojourned in the Land of Promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: for he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose Builder and Maker is God.” Hebrews 11:8-10.
9. What happens to our present earth in the great day of the Lord?
ANSWER: “The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” 2 Peter 3:10. See also Isaiah 13:9; 24:1-6; Jeremiah 4:23-27.
10. What follows this dissolution of the earth?
ANSWER: “Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.” 2 Peter 3:13. See also Revelation 21:1-5.
11. To what promise did Peter refer?
ANSWER: “Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.” Isaiah 65:17.
12. In what words does the prophet Daniel speak of the eternal kingdom of the redeemed of God?
ANSWER: “The kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him.” Daniel 7:27.
EZEKIEL, CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
A Bible student in California desires information about Ezekiel 38.
Ezekiel 38 presents a graphic picture of the last effort of the wicked forces of this world to crush the redeemed people of God. It occurs in connection with the millennium of Revelation 20, which chapter I would urge the questioner to study carefully. If desired, literature on the topic of the millennium may be had from the publishers of this paper. In the previous chapters Ezekiel portrays the salvation of God’s people in their own land, the home of the redeemed. In this he shows the final attempt of the unrighteous at the close of the thousand years of Revelation 20 to defeat the purpose of God, after the unrighteous have been raised in the second resurrection and before their ultimate destruction. The mention of “Gog” and “Magog” in both of these chapters shows that they deal with the same events, Gog and Magog representing the forces of the ungodly under the leadership of Satan.
Since this chapter of Ezekiel treats of the time of the final punishment of the wicked at the end of the thousand years, it must be patent that “Rosh” in verses 2 and 3 cannot refer to Russia. There will be no Russia when these events take place. Again, it is very debatable whether “Rosh” ought to appear in this prophecy. The expression “prince of Rosh” appears in the American Revised margin as the “chief prince of Meshech.” This is the way the King James translates the Hebrew, and many scholars maintain that this is the correct rendering. However, even if “Rosh” is properly translated, it proves nothing as to Russia. These names, “Gog,” “Magog,” “Rosh,” “Meshech,” and “Tubal” are used because they stand for people from the North, from the standpoint of Palestine; and in Old Testament prophecy the North is the region whence came the ungodly enemies and oppressors of God’s people, Israel. Therefore, in Ezekiel’s last-day prediction of the ultimate destruction of the impenitent nations of earth, these names of people who come from the North symbolize the forces of world evil opposed to God and His redeemed at the close of the thousand years. See Isaiah 41:25; Jeremiah 1:14, 15; 4:6; 6:1, 22-26; 10:22; 25:8, 9; Ezekiel 38:14-16; 39:1, 2.
THE UNPARDONABLE SIN
Mrs. F. A. Lynn of South Dakota is concerned about the “unpardonable sin.”
A study of such scriptures as Matthew 12:31, 32; Mark 3:29; Hebrews 10:26-29; 1 John 5:16, 17 will make clear what the sin against the Holy Spirit is, and why it is the one sin that cannot be forgiven. As one well puts it, this sin commonly consists in “persistently slighting Heaven’s invitation to repent.” It is not to be regarded simply as an isolated act, but also as the external symptom of a heart so radically and finally set against God that no power that God can consistently use will ever save it. Therefore, it is the culmination of a long course of self-hardening and self-depraving. He who has committed it must be either profoundly indifferent to his own condition, or actively and bitterly hostile to God; so that anxiety or fear on account of one’s condition is evidence that it has not been committed. So long as we are concerned about our standing with God, so long are we without the commission of this sin. This ought to encourage us.
There is no forgiveness for this sin, simply because the soul committing it has ceased to be receptive of divine influences, even when those influences are exerted in the utmost strength which God has seen fit to employ in His spiritual administration. In other words, the way to return to God is closed against no one who does not close it against himself. We are left to ourselves, because we have left God. For Biblical examples of this attitude of human willfulness, refusing to do the will of God and so committing this sin, see Genesis 6:3; Hosea 4:15-17; Matthew 23:37-39; Mark 3:22-30.
This unpardonable iniquity is marked by a loss of spiritual eyesight. Just as the blind fish of the Mammoth Cave lost the power of sight because they chose darkness, so it is with us if we refuse the light of Heaven. It is marked by the loss of religious sensibility. Just as the sensitive plant loses its sensitiveness to the extent that it is frequently touched, so we lose our desire for divine things if we keep on ignoring them. This sin is also marked by spiritual hardness, inability to will and do the good. The lava of the volcano is soft and liquid and alive with power while it is in the crater. If it leaves the crater, it hardens and cannot return to the source from which it originally came. So it may be with us if we leave the Father’s love. May God help us to do His will, so that this evil state may not be ours.
As to whether suicide is the unpardonable sin, God alone can answer that question. It is conceivable that a diseased mind, a diseased body, may put one in such an irrational state that, without any sense of moral responsibility, this terrible sin and crime may be committed. Such cases Heaven may not class as unpardonable. Where deliberate, morally abandoned attitudes lead to suicide, without sense of responsibility to God or man, it is not difficult to see that God may deny pardon.
The “SIGNS” QUESTION CORNER
By William G. Wirth
Conducted by WILLIAM G. WIRTH, 5447 EL VERANO AVENUE, EAGLE ROCK, CALIFORNIA
If you have a question regarding Bible doctrine and Christian living, or on other subjects apropos to the field of the “Signs of the Times,” write out your question and send it in, preferably direct to Dr. Wirth. Anonymous questions will not be answered. Do not become impatient if your question is not answered immediately, for Dr. Wirth has scores of questions in waiting, and yours will be answered in order.
HAVE THEY SUFFERED THE WAGES OF SIN?
G. H. Lindsey of Chile has certain questions concerning man’s condition in death, also about purgatory.
The questioner is in error when he writes that the “dead” in Psalm 115:17 and Ecclesiastes 9:5, 6 “refers to those who have suffered the “wages of sin” and not to those who have gained eternal salvation.” The verse in Psalm 115, from its context, applies to the righteous. This is easily seen if the 17th and 18th verses are read together. To the righteous Jews, in contrast to the idolatrous heathen spoken of in the first part of the psalm, the psalmist is declaring that their fathers (note the suggestive “children” in the 16th verse), who enjoyed God’s blessings, are “dead,” and so cannot praise God; “but we [their children] will bless Jehovah from this time forth and forevermore.”
As to Ecclesiastes 9, the words in the 2nd verse of this chapter: “There is one event to the righteous and to the wicked,” the words in the 3rd verse: “There is one event unto all,”—show indisputably that the 5th and 6th verses apply to both the good and the bad. Hence, no stronger scripture could be used to show that in death both the godly and the ungodly are in a state of unconsciousness.
In view of the above, Luke 23:43 cannot mean that Christ expected to see the thief in paradise the day He died on the cross. That Jesus did not go to heaven that day is shown by His statement to Mary, on the day of His resurrection, three days later: “Touch Me not; for I am not yet ascended unto the Father.” John 20:17. Further, death by crucifixion was not immediate. Those executed in that way would linger on for hours before death came, and it was rarely that they died the same day. The fact that the Roman soldiers broke the legs of the two thieves crucified with Jesus shows it was most improbable that the repentant thief died on the day of the crucifixion.
What, then, is the meaning of this promise of Christ to this malefactor? That when our Lord would come the second time in His kingdom, answering the thief’s request (see Luke 23:42), this man who believed before it was too late would find his place among the redeemed. (Matthew 25:31; Daniel 7:13, 14; 2 Timothy 4:1.) There would have been no difficulty concerning this scripture had the translators put the comma in the right place. Putting the comma before “to-day,” as it appears in our English Bible, gives the idea that Christ promised entrance to paradise to the thief that day. If the reader will put the comma after “to-day,” he will get the proper understanding of the passage. In other words, what Christ said was, “Verily I say unto thee to-day, shalt thou be with Me in paradise.”
This is fully in harmony with the original Greek. It must be remembered that the original language of the New Testament was not punctuated. Letters, words, and sentences ran together without separation.
The context and evident meaning of the given scripture alone determine how the punctuation should be. Our English translators arranged the sentences, punctuations, etc., as given in our Bible; but inasmuch as this was not done by divine inspiration, it is not surprising that mistakes have been made in punctuation.
The very fact that there is no life in death for the righteous and the unrighteous removes the questioner’s “purgatory.” To have this intermediate state between this present life and the life to come in glory, there would, of course, have to be life in death and during this “purgatory” period.
EDITORIAL
By Editor
WITHOUT ANY PARALLEL
Within recent months there have been very few days when the papers have not had something to say in regard to the murders and other crimes committed by the gangsters of Chicago. But recently conditions there became so acute that a meeting of leading citizens and business men was called to see what could be done to cope with the situation. The man chosen as president of this meeting made the significant statement that “a complete breakdown of law and order” was the occasion for the conference.
But, as suggested in an editorial in one of the Western great dailies, “if the causes of the breakdown were local and peculiar to Chicago, they would not be disturbing. But unfortunately they are not. The low level of civic standards in Chicago is due to conditions that exist to some extent throughout the whole country. The difference is one of degree only.”
The writer of the editorial from which this quotation is taken goes on to deplore the way in which crime in so many localities is linked up with politics, so that the political machine is employed not to enforce law and order, but to protect the criminals in such a way that the politician may reap great financial reward as the result.
This criminal condition of our age breaks out into all kinds of rioting and disorder, and in one way or another it is world-wide, as witness the revolution and rioting in China, in India, in Europe, in South America, and elsewhere. These conditions of lawlessness and rioting are causing the stoutest hearts to tremble as they see what is prevailing and constantly growing worse and more alarming.
UNDERWOOD
After the London Conference, the Chinese naval delegation has been making a tour of Europe inspecting and studying military affairs. The delegation, headed by Minister of the Navy K. H. Tu, are here seen making an official visit to the headquarters of the Italian navy in Rome.
If we will seek an authoritative and trustworthy source, we may understand what all of this signifies, and hence what the outcome will be. The Master, in words that vibrate with the certainties of divinity, has told us, “As were the days of Noah, so shall be the coming of the Son of man.” Matthew 24:37. And the same One who uttered those words toward the close of His ministry in Judea had previously inspired Moses to tell in detail the conditions that prevailed in “the days of Noah.” The record states that “Jehovah saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. . . . And the earth was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God saw the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.” Genesis 6:5-13.
Please note with thoughtful care what this text says concerning conditions in the days of Noah. Every thought and imagination ‘was only evil continually,’ and, furthermore, “the earth was corrupt before God;” and as the consequent result of this corruption, it is stated, and again repeated and emphasized, that “the earth is filled with violence.” Corruption produced through the evil thinking and imaginations of men have the sure result of so breaking down moral standards that men throw discretion to the winds, and spread violence and bloodshed everywhere.
And let it be understood and known by every individual everywhere that no less a person than the great Christ Himself has told us that the appalling conditions of to-day, so similar to those in the earth in the days of Noah, are among the things to be seen as incontrovertible evidence that the coming of Christ is right at hand. God stood by in those days of Noah to bring that violence and sin to an end by destroying the world through a flood; and the evidences are unmistakable all through the world of the universal prevalence of that great destruction when “all the fountains of the great deep [were] broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.” Genesis 7:11.
The man is living in a fool’s paradise who does not see the parallelism.
Another prophet, in describing this time, says, “At that time shall Michael stand up, the great Prince who standeth for the children of thy people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.” Daniel 12:1.
This unprecedented time of trouble spoken of here by Daniel the prophet is due to the fact that wars and bloodshed in this time will be attended with more widespread ferocity and destruction than anything in all previous history, for the simple reason that the marvelous inventions of this time have made it possible for men to communicate their plans of rebellion with great rapidity to every corner of the earth. And then, as the dissatisfaction and discontent of criminality spread their violence into every part of the world, instruments of death and destruction to-day are far more terrible than anything known to any previous age; hence this time of trouble such as never has been since there was a nation.
We need to sense these things; we need to recognize the tremendous significance and portent of this auspicious hour. And he who is trusting in the protection of the divine Lord Himself will grasp the fact that while there is to be “a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation,” yet in the same sentence we read, “And at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.”
How assuring is this utterance! God’s people will find deliverance, and not one of them will be missing. “Every one” shall be sought out to receive the protection of the great God Himself. And how consolingly assuring is the promise and the prophecy made through another prophet as he in vision views the conditions of wickedness and violence that will prevail in this time! He affirms that “Jehovah will roar from Zion, and utter His voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but Jehovah will be a refuge unto His people, and a stronghold to the children of Israel.” Joel 3:16.
Do you know this “refuge” to be found in God? Do you know this “stronghold” of the Almighty Father?
“Come, My people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. For, behold, Jehovah cometh forth out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.” Isaiah 26:20, 21.
Three Reasons Why Sunday is Not the True Sabbath
By Willis King
Willis King
Did you ever try to account for the existence of so many days of rest? The Christians, Mohammedans, and Jews are avowed observers of Sunday, Friday, and Saturday, respectively. In view of the observance of these several days as sabbaths, I have often pondered the question, Which day is the true Sabbath? Not all of them are false; and only one of them can be true.
In this portion of the world, Friday is out of the question as the true Sabbath. None here would consider it. Likewise, this is also true in large measure of Saturday. But a small percentage of the people keep the day. Seeing, then, it is Sunday that is kept by the majority, we might at first think it to be the true Sabbath. But majorities do not establish the true day of rest.
MAJORITIES DO NOT ESTABLISH TRUTH
Now this last statement, about majorities not establishing the true day of rest, was not made to disprove the divine origin of Sunday. It may be that Sunday is the true Sabbath. The statement was made, however, to take away the divineness of majorities, to expose the day to close scrutiny, and to take away the hesitation against questioning and inspection which majorities always tend to give their practices.
Why, if it is, is Sunday the true day of rest? Is it because the majority keep it? No. Why, then, is it so? Is it not so because God appointed it? Is it not so because the prophets declared it? Is it not so because Christ, whose memorial of creation it was, kept it and perpetuated it? Why should such an important matter be decided, declared, kept, and perpetuated by any of less import than these? For remember that the Sabbath, whichever day it is, is a sign between God and those who keep it. “Verily My Sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations.” Exodus 31:13.
Upon consent that the true Sabbath should have the sanction of such as these three authorities above mentioned, let us apply these three fundamental requirements to Sunday. If Sunday is the true Sabbath, it will stand this investigation:
REQUIREMENT 1. If Sunday is the true Sabbath, is it not because God appointed it? Our answer is found in Genesis 2:2, 3: “On the seventh day God ended His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it He had rested from all His work which God created and made.” And in Exodus 20:8-11, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.”
In these two texts the seventh day is blessed, sanctified, rested upon, and hallowed by the Creator Himself as the Sabbath. But this in no way disproves Sunday as God’s Sabbath until it has been further proved that the seventh day of creation week has continued in unbroken cycles of seven until the present time.
If Sunday, in view of Genesis 2:2, 3 and Exodus 20:8-11, is the true Sabbath, then at some time since creation such a cycle has been broken to just that extent that the breaking makes the present first day of the week to coincide with creation week’s seventh day. Either this is so, or it was changed by its Author. We will discuss the possibility of the broken cycle first.
Concerning the broken cycle possibility, if it can be proved that there has come down to us since creation a perfect, unbroken cycle of seven-day weeks, then Sunday, as the Sabbath of God, as far as the Old Testament is concerned, is made void.
Let us divide the period of time from creation until now into two periods; namely, from Adam to Christ and from Christ until the present time. Concerning the first period, let us ask ourselves some questions.
IT ISN’T REASONABLE
Would God, jealous as He is, and declares Himself to be, “For I the Lord thy God am a jealous God,” have allowed to occur such an accidental abrogation of His sign between Him and His people? Was it not to avoid this result that He brought those people “out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage”? Exodus 20:2. Again, would the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who thought it not robbery to be equal with God, have made of His reputation nothing, and taken over to Himself a servant’s form and kept a sabbath that was a remnant of broken cycles of seven? Would He not rather have taught them of their mistake, and preached a new and correct Sabbath?
Neither of these checks against error had to be employed. God gave no instruction about broken cycles, neither did Christ preach a new day or keep any other.
Before taking up the second period of time, from Christ until now, as further proofPage Nineof the statement, “Neither did Christ preach a new day or keep any other,” let us suppose that Christ did preach a new day and kept another day sometime before His ascension. If He did, there is, or ought to be, a record of it somewhere in the New Testament. This will deal with the possibility of a change, which was acknowledged at the beginning of the argument.
THE NEW TESTAMENT EXAMINED
To save time in our search, let us go directly to the eight places where the first day of the week is mentioned in the New Testament. The first of these is Matthew 28:1: “In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulcher.” This text and the following ones, Mark 16:1, 2, 9, Luke 23:52-56; 24:1, John 20:1, show plainly that the seventh-day Sabbath according to the commandment was still unchanged at the time of Christ’s burial in the tomb.
Again, “Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.” John 20:19. This time above all other times would have been the ideal time for Christ to change the day of rest from Saturday to Sunday, but He did not do it. Reading on either side of the text will show this.
Another mention is in Acts 20:7: “Upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight.” This is the only one of the eight texts that speaks of a religious meeting upon the first day of the week.
According to the Bible reckoning of time, the dark part of Sunday came on what is now called Saturday night, for as we learn from the record of creation, “the evening and the morning were the first day.” Genesis 1:5. At that time, the first day of the week began at sunset, at the close of the seventh-day Sabbath, and lasted until the following sunset. This meeting, according to our calendar, was a Saturday-night meeting, which lasted until midnight.
On the other hand, when this text, which speaks of breaking bread upon the first day of the week, is studied in connection with Acts 2:46, “They, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house,” it kills the hope that in this text is written a pronouncement of Sunday sacredness. What Sunday keepers claim for Sunday alone by this text, the same author, Luke, informs us was common to every day of the week.
The last mention of the first day is in 1 Corinthians 16:1, 2: “Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye.
Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.” This was a matter of expediency, and not of Sabbaths, for Paul stated his reason for their doing this: “That there be no gatherings when I come.”
Not any of these eight texts speaks of the first day as a sacred day, but only as an ordinary day. Thus it is evident, and consistent with God Himself, that no change of the Sabbath occurred from Adam to Christ. Christ Himself once said, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.” Matthew 5:17.
WEEKLY CYCLE UNBROKEN
Now concerning the second period of time, that from Christ until now. Has the weekly cycle been broken since Christ? Not knowing of any loss or gain of time that would break this cycle, we must agree that if we can prove the contrary,—that not so much as a minute has been lost or gained since Christ,—then we may come to the conclusion that the weekly cycle as instituted in Eden has come down to us unchanged, and that the seventh day of our time coincides with the seventh day of that time.
To prove that no time has been lost or gained since Christ, and to warrant the conclusion given above, I quote the following from reports to the League of Nations Committee on Calendar Simplification. M. Anders Donner, formerly Professor of Astronomy at the University of Helsingfors, on page 51 of his report says: “The reform would break the division of the week, which has been followed for thousands of years, and therefore has been hallowed by immemorial use.”
M. Emile Picard, permanent Secretary of the Academy of Sciences (France), President of the Office of Longitudes, said in his report, page 51: “One essential point is that of the continuity of the week. The majority of the members of the Office of Longitudes considered that the reform should not be based on the breaking up of this continuity. They considered that it would be entirely undesirable to interrupt a continuity which has existed for so many centuries.”
Who should know better than these men whether or not time has been lost or gained? Their predictions of coming comets, of changes in the heavens, are accurate to the second. Eclipses come just as foretold by them. Now, how could they, with a past about the times and dates of which they were not sure, or which were false, predict to a fraction of a second future things? Does not this accuracy on their part cause us to respect the truth of their testimonies?
So, then, the proof is complete, being established by God, Jesus Christ, and astronomers. Our conclusion is warranted. There has not been lost or gained any time since creation. The cycle of the week has come down from the seventh day of creation week.
All this has been to apply the first of three requirements of a true Sabbath upon Sunday. This requirement was in the form of this question, Is it because God appointed it? This application led to the sounding out of the possibility of a broken cycle that would10
The True Sabbath
(Continued from page 9)
account for the change of the Sabbath from the seventh day to the first day of the week. The whole period was divided into two parts, with Christ as the end of the first and the beginning of the second. At the end of the discussion of the first period a conclusion was drawn which did not wholly follow from the discussion. This conclusion was, that Christ did not preach a new day or keep any other. The proof for this statement was then presented before taking up the second period of time. Thus was discussed all the possibilities for the justification of Sunday as the true Sabbath in the light of the first of three requirements. These possibilities yielded no proof.
REQUIREMENT 2. If Sunday is the true Sabbath, is it not because the prophets declared it such?
Now we will all agree that the prophets taught the word of God. Also so far we must admit that the seventh-day Sabbath was a part of God’s word. This then follows: Whatever the prophets said concerning the Sabbath was in accordance with God’s seventh-day Sabbath. This means that when Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, or any other prophet said things concerning a Sabbath, whether the prefix, seventh-day, preceded it or not, there is no room for doubt. They spoke in accordance with God’s established, unchanged seventh-day Sabbath.
REQUIREMENT 3. If Sunday is the true Sabbath, is it not because Christ kept it and perpetuated it?
The quest in verification of this has already been defeated in the discussion of the possibility of a broken cycle in the application of the first requirement to Sunday. Therein was summoned the evidence that Christ kept, taught, and perpetuated the Sabbath of the commandment.
So, then, Sunday cannot stand the test of these Sabbath requirements. God did not bless, sanctify, rest upon, and hallow Sunday. The weekly cycle has not been broken to that extent that it causes the Sunday of our time to coincide with the seventh day of creation.
