Fourth objection. Another reason which may create a doubt, that the Sabbath is a mere ceremony is, that the law which commands it making a part of the decalogue in which moral laws which are of eternal obligation are contained, it seems to be of the same nature. In answer to this last difficulty, we repeat, that the law of the Sabbath has all the characters of a ceremony, and not of a moral duty; and that the most eminent amongst the ancient fathers have entertained that opinion. Pagans also* have respected all the other articles of the Mosaic Law, and have turned into ridicule, only that concerning the Sabbath, because they considered it, as a vain ceremony; ignorant as they were of the profound wisdom which had dictated its institution. It was notwithstanding necessary that the law of the Sabbath although entirely ceremonial should be included in the decalogue, for these two reasons. Ist. Because the observation of the Sabbath forming then a part of divine worship, and being a sort of preservative against Idolatry, as God was * Senec. ap. Aug. de Civil. Cap. 6.-Juven. Satyr. 4. acknowledged in it to be the Creator of the Universe, it was but right and proper to place that law in the first table of the decalogue, which contained the duties of the Israelites towards God. 2nd. Because the decalogue is not only the compendium of moral law, but also of the ceremonial law: Now, the Sabbath itself was a compendium of this latter. This is the sentiment of Philo: "The fourth commandment said he, is nothing else but an epitome of all that which is commanded, concerning festivals, vows, sacrifices, and the religious worship, in general." The foregoing remarks are then the principal reasons respecting the origin and the nature of the Jewish Sabbath: We leave it to the impartial reader to form his judgment on that point and at any rate, we request, he would not pronounce on the subject of this discussion altogether, before he has attentively perused the whole work: For, whether the fourth commandment be entirely ceremonial or not, it is only a part of the great question we have to examine, namely: Is the Christian Sabbath to be celebrated as the Jewish Sabbath was; and, as the Ultra Sabbatarians would have it ce * Philo, de Decal. 591. lebrated? But before we come to the consideration of that important question, we must enter into those particulars which gradually lead us to it. First then let us consider the ceremonies of the Jewish Sabbath. In its common signification, the word Sabbath designates the seventh day of the week, although it has sometimes a much more extensive sense. It began, on the Friday evening, the preparatory time, at sun set, and concluded, the next day, at the same hour. What was principally to be observed, on that day, was rest and the cessation of every servile work, either with respect to men, regard to animals.* or with That absolute rest was an essential part of the solemnity of that day is proved by the reasons already alleged. But, it appears, by several passages of the New Testament, that sacred exercises, as the reading of the law, prayers and blessings, were also necessary for the sanctification of that day, although nothing of the kind be commanded by the law, nor in the whole Old Testament, except the holocaust of two lambs which were added, on the Saturday, to the morning and evening sacrifices. * Exod. xvi. 29, xxiii. 12. Jerem. xvii. 22. 27. + Numb. xxviii. 3. 10. Rest, on the contrary, is enjoined, with the utmost severity. Hence, in the style of the scripture, To profane the Sabbath is to work: To sanctify it is to rest.* Reason alone however was sufficient to prompt the Israelites to think, that, as God had reserved to himself, that day, it was to be spent in holy meditations, and a pious rest, as Philo has expressly remarked it.+ Servile works, even the most necessary, were prohibited, under pain of death, as to gather sticks, or manna, to bake bread, to kindle a fire, to sow and to reap, and even to pluck the ears of corn, to transport any thing, from one place to another, to go farther than a distance of two thousand cubits, which the scripture calls a Sabbath day's journey. The Jews had carried so far this scruple, on that subject, that they did not think it right to defend their own lives, on that day. They suffered very much for their superstition.§ Yet, there were several things about which it was permitted to be occupied on the Sabbath * Exod. xxxi. 13.-xxxv. 2. † Jos. Antig. 12. 18-14. 8. Numb. xv. 32. Exod. xxxi. 14.-xxxv. 3.-xvi. 23. 29. John v. 10. Act i. 12. Matth. xii. 1, 2. § 1 Maccab. ii. 41. day: But these could not be considered, as servile works of this class were circumcision, works of mercy, even towards animals, and a fortiori, towards men, as the Saviour made the Pharisees remark, when they cavilled at him for having cured a man on the Sabbath: and, in general, every occupation, or employment which concerned divine worship, was lawful, on the Sabbath day, as to prepare that which was necessary for sacrifices, to immolate victims, &c. Hence that maxim of the Jews, "that there was no Sabbath, in the sanctuary." Feasts, rejoicings were deemed also, as rest, essential to the Sabbath, according to Philo, Josephus, and the Thalmudists. Yet, it does not appear that those rejoicings were of divine Institution: The law itself merely says, that that day was instituted, to unbend one's self from all occupations; to take relaxation, to breathe, as the Septuaginta version has translated, to refresh nature, as the Latin one renders it. That custom, no doubt, might be innocent, if, limited to simple and pure recreations, and a reasonable cheerfulness, the Jews had not gone beyond the bounds of moderation, and sobriety, * Matth. xii. 5. John vii. 22. Luke xiii. 15.-xiv. 5. †The adherents to the Thalmud, or Book of the Jewish traditions. |