June 10, 1880

The Law and the Sabbath

EGW

The Lord charged Moses to make no covenant with the people of the land whither they should go, lest they should be ensnared thereby. But they should destroy the altars of the heathen, break their images, and cut down the groves dedicated to their idols. He then commanded, “Thou shalt worship no other God; for the Lord, whose name is jealous, is a jealous God.” God claims supreme worship as his due.ST June 10, 1880, par. 1

God promised Abraham's posterity the land of Canaan; but centuries must pass before they could enter upon their possession, “In the fourth generation, they shall come hither again, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.” The Amorites inhabiting the land of Canaan, were gradually bringing upon themselves the righteous judgments of God by their iniquity. When it was fully settled that they would not be brought under the control of God's government, and when they gave themselves up to work iniquity, bringing themselves to the most conspicuous idolatry, yet God spared them, for the full measure of guilt marking them for his vengeance, had not been reached. The iniquity of the Amorites must reach its fullness before God would send forth his mandate to destroy utterly. In the fourth generation God dispossessed them to make room for his people. Here we see the long suffering of God; he allows nations a certain probation, but there is a point where their accumulated guilt will meet its punishment. Those who would make void God's law, advance from one degree of wickedness to another. Children would inherit from their parents the wicked, rebellious spirit against God and his law, and would go to greater extent in wickedness than their fathers before them until the wrath of God breaks forth upon them. The punishment was none the less certain because long delayed. God would have us take these lessons to heart. He would have us see the principle of divine justice in his dealings, and have us understand that a record is kept of the impieties and law breaking of any people and nation with the unerring accuracy of an infinite God. Although the measure of iniquity is filling up, God still bears, he gives additional opportunities and advantages, calling to repentance and proffering pardon. Yet if they continue to refuse light, and heed not the warnings of God, his divine justice will not always bear; for these are a blot, a stain upon his universe; their iniquity will corrupt all connected with them and become wide-spread.ST June 10, 1880, par. 2

Special directions were given in regard to the observance of Sabbath: “Six days thou shalt work, but on the seventh day thou shalt rest. In earing time and in harvest thou shalt rest.” The Lord knew that Satan was continually at work to lead the Israelites to transgress the divine law, and he condescended to be very definite in his directions to his erring people, that they might not transgress his commandments for want of knowledge. In the busiest season of the year, when their fruits and grains were to be secured, they would be tempted to labor on sacred time. He would have them understand that their blessings would be increased or diminished according to their integrity of soul, or their unfaithfulness in his service.ST June 10, 1880, par. 3

God is no less particular now in regard to his Sabbath than when he made this requirement of the children of Israel. His eye is upon all his people, and over all the work of their hands. He will not pass by unnoticed those who crowd upon the Sabbath, and employ for their own use the time which belongs to him. Some may think they gain time by this course; but instead of being advantaged by robbing God of that which he has reserved to himself, they will lose. Many do not realize that the judgments which overtake them are from God. Though he may bear long with the transgressor the punishment will surely come at last.ST June 10, 1880, par. 4

Forty days and nights Moses remained in the mount, and during all this time, as at the first, he was miraculously sustained. And again the Lord “wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.” During that long time spent in communion with God, the face of Moses had reflected the glory of the divine presence; and the brightness did not cease when he descended from the mountain. Unknown to himself, his face shone with such a dazzling, unearthly light that Aaron, as well as all the people, shrank from him. On learning the cause of their terror, he covered his face with a vail, and he continued to do so when coming from such heavenly communings.ST June 10, 1880, par. 5

Those who trample upon God's authority, and show contempt for the law given in such grandeur at Sinai, virtually despise the lawgiver, the great Jehovah. The children of Israel who had transgressed the first and second commandments, were charged not to be seen anywhere near the mount, where God was to descend in glory to write the law a second time upon tables of stone, lest they should be consumed with the burning glory of his presence. And if they could not even look upon the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance, because he had been communing with his Maker, how much less can sinners look upon the Son of God when he shall appear in the clouds of heaven in the glory of his Father, surrounded by all the angelic host, to execute judgment upon all who have disregarded the commandments of God, and have trodden under foot the blood of Christ!ST June 10, 1880, par. 6

The law of God existed before man was created. The angels were governed by it. Satan fell because he transgressed the principles of God's government. After Adam and Eve were created, God made known to them his law. It was not then written, but was rehearsed to them by Jehovah.ST June 10, 1880, par. 7

The Sabbath of the fourth commandment was instituted in Eden. The principles embodied in the decalogue existed before the fall, and were suited to the condition of holy beings. After the fall, these principles were not changed, nothing was taken from the law of God, but additional precepts were given to meet man in his fallen state.ST June 10, 1880, par. 8

A system of sacrifices was then established, to keep before the fallen race that which the serpent made Eve disbelieve, that the penalty of disobedience is death. The transgression of God's law made it necessary for Christ to die as a sacrifice; for only thus could he redeem man from the penalty of the broken law, and yet maintain the honor of the divine government. The sacrificial system was designed to teach man humility, in view of his fallen condition, and to lead him to repentance toward God and faith in the promised Redeemer for pardon of past transgressions. Had the law of God never been transgressed, there would have been no death, and hence no need of additional precepts to suit man's fallen condition.ST June 10, 1880, par. 9

Adam taught his descendants the law of God, which was handed down to the faithful through successive generations. The continual transgression of its precepts called for a flood of waters upon the earth. The law was cherished by Noah and his family, who for right-doing were miraculously saved in the ark. Thus the Lord preserved to himself a people, from Adam down, in whose hearts was his law. He says of Abraham, he “obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.”ST June 10, 1880, par. 10

The Lord appeared to Abraham, and said unto him, “I am the Almighty God. Walk before me, and be thou perfect. And I will make a covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly.” “And I will establish my covenant between me and thee, and thy seed after thee, in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.”ST June 10, 1880, par. 11

He then gave to Abraham and his seed the rite of circumcision as a token that God had separated them from all nations as his peculiar treasure. By this sign they solemnly agreed to fulfill the conditions of the covenant made with Abraham, to be separate from all other nations, and to be perfect. If the descendants of Abraham had faithfully kept this covenant they would have escaped a great temptation to indulge in the sinful practices of other nations, and would not have been seduced into idolatry. By mingling with idolaters they lost to a great extent their peculiar, holy character. To punish them, the Lord brought a famine upon their land, which compelled them to go down into Egypt to preserve their lives. But because of his covenant with Abraham, God did not forsake them while they were in Egypt. He suffered them to be oppressed by the Egyptians, that they might turn to him in their distress, choose his righteous and merciful government, and obey his requirements.ST June 10, 1880, par. 12

The Lord heard the cries of his people in the land of their captivity and delivered them, that they might be free to serve him. After they had left Egypt, and the waters of the Red Sea had been divided before them, he proved them to see if they would trust in him who had taken them, a nation from another nation, by signs, temptations, and wonders. But they failed to endure the trial. They murmured against God because of difficulties in the way, and wished to return again to Egypt. To leave them without excuse, the Majesty of Heaven condescended to come down upon Sinai, enshrouded in glory, and surrounded by his angels, and in a most sublime and awful manner make known his law of ten commandments. He would not permit even his angels to teach those sacred precepts, but spoke them himself, in the hearing of all Israel. He did not, even then, trust them to the memory of a people who were prone to forget his requirements, but wrote them with his own finger upon tables of stone. He would remove from them all possibility of mingling with his holy precepts any tradition, or of confusing his requirements with the practices of men.ST June 10, 1880, par. 13