^J^t^^^i oi ^^» ^^'"^"Smt ^_ '%* PRINCETON, N. J. ^& Shelf.. ':^i.^^^- BV 110 .G7 1884 Gray, George Seaman, 1835- 1885. Eight studies of the Lord's^ With the Compliments of €l)e ^Dutl^or. •■ ;..;,:;,; EIGHT STUDIES THE LORD'S DAY CAMBRIDGE PRINTED FOR PRIVATE DISTRIBUTION Copyriglit, 1884, By nOUGUTON, MIFFLIN & CO. PEEFACE. No one who reads the " Barapton Lectures " of Dr. Hessey can fail to appreciate alike his candor and his devout spirit. And no one can escape the conviction that if Dr. Hessey is right, the Lord's Day cannot stand as an observance obligatory on Christians. In respect to its authority he himself places it on a level with the ordinance of ConjBrmation ; in respect of the character of its celebration, with Christmas Day. Yet he himself pleads for a peculiar observance of Sunday, to be en- forced by the civil power, as well as a peculiar observ- ance to be paid by believers. It cannot be that Dr. Hes- sey is either wholly right or wholly wrong. Sunday is manifestly not in every sense the Jewish Sabbath, nor in every sense its successor. That the two are in some way related, is proved by the relation of both to the contin- uous week, by the continuous use of the Decalogue in the public services of the Christian Church, and by the in- eradical confidence of believers in the underlying unity and consistency of the whole course of God's redemptive dispensation. In these Studies an attempt is made to present what has seemed to the writer, with growing clearness through many years, the just grouping of the facts. The first IV PREFA CE. principle on which these Studies are based is this : The conduct of Christians must be guided solely by the Word of God, intelligently examined, not merely as to isolated passages long or short, but also as to its teaching as a continuous developing and integral revelation. For this purpose the book must be taken as it stands, and as it has been always held by the Church, excepting, of course, such emendations of its text or translation as general Christian scholarship approves. For the cobweb criticism of those who are incessantly spinning out of their own fancies ever-varying theories of its composition and au- thorship, accordant only in the denial of that which rests at the foundation of faith, no regard is given in these pages. Of the persons whom Caiaphas summoned to testify against our Lord, it is written that their witness agreed not together. So far the professors of the so- called " higher criticism " are in the same category. No arguments presented here would affect them, nor would any others that could be framed, unless these were so smuggled into the recesses of their imaginings as to seem to their inner sight their own. These Studies are addressed to believers of ordinary intelligence and education. If the statements made rest upon Scripture, they may certify themselves thereof. If not, let the book go at once to the limbo of vanities. Very little reference is made to other authorities, and such authorities as are quoted are for the most part easy of access. In no case is their testimony essential to the argument pursued. The writer is not wholly ignorant of, and not at all indifferent to, the results of scholarship, research, and PREFACE. V discovery, in our own day. The illustrations of Scripture which they furnish are happily becoming, almost as fast as they are obtained, the common property of educated Christians. But the Christian heart rests only on "the law and the testimony." To them we appeal. The second principle on which these Studies are based in this. Christian consciousness, through the ages, has been at heart always right. It has not been able at once to analyze and define that which it has always felt. The act of definition requires a perception of that which is to be contrasted with the truth, or at least distinguished from it. First, Antichrist must appear, then the Lord will return. In this little book an effort is made to de- fine and distinguish that which believei'S all feel. So far as this book wins the acceptance of believers who patiently and devoutly study the Scripture to learn the meaning of the Lord's Day, it will be successful. Probably some errors and inadvertencies may remain undiscovered. Many points of interest and importance have been passed over, or barely glanced at, for the sake of brevity. Some of these may have been undeservedly omitted. It is not unlikely that some statements are deficient in clearness, or even in perfect accuracy, al- though this has been the writer's special aim. If with all their faults these Studies serve to direct and stimulate Christian thought to appreciate both the divine and the human side of the day of loyalty to Christ, and so his name be honored, it is enough. Perhaps some other pen may be moved more clearly and accurately to present the truth, and then the writer will be satisfied though his book should be forgotten. CONTENTS. STUDY I. THE PHENOMENA OF THE DAY, PAGE Its names distinguished 2 The Church has not yet adequately expressed her thought about the Lord's Day . . . . . . . . 2 General conditions for learning any particular path o£ duty . 2 The Lord's Day is, L, an institution . . . . . 4 The Lord's Day is, IL, a festival 9 The Lord's Day is, III., an observance associated with loyalty to God 13 The Lord's Day compared w;th other observed da,ys in two classes 14 Loyalty in first class involves citizenship — birthright — heartiness 14 Special appeal in second class 15 The Lord's Day belongs to first class, hence is associated with loyalty .......... 15 Loyalty further defined : subordination ; unchangeableness ; spontaniety 16 Loyalty characteristic of Lord's Day ; essential reason for public worship ........ . 16 Is public worship decreasing ? Effects of decrease or increase 26 Tendency to magnify loyalty to Christ as compared with dif- ferences among Christians . . . . . . . 27 Recent evidences of confraternization . . . . . 27 Unity of the Church manifested in assemblies of the Lord's Day 27 STUDY IL THE ORIGINATION OF THE LORD's DAY. The observance traced back to the Apostolic Age . . 30 General assembly for worship of Christ invariably feature of the day 31 Definition or analysis of worship 33 Till CONTENTS. Festival character of the day equally ancient . Acceptance of the name Sunday .... Three premises : silence of Scripture ; inspired guidance of Church ; explanation of Scripture Peculiarity of the Lord's Day ; weekly, not annual Significance of phrase " Lord's Day " as applied to first day of the ■week ....... Significance of phrase "Lord's Day" as occurring once only in Scripture Impression of our Lord's living manhood by his appearances Impression of our Lord's divinity by his non-appearances Some reasons for brevity in inspired narratives '* First day of the week " only note given of the time of the resurrection . Six days' interval between Resurrection Day and first day of next week ........ The first evening interview with the disciples The walk to Emmaus ...... The Lord's departure ; his majesty ; his abstention The Lord's reappearance on the next Lord's Day . Succeeding Sundays, and other appearances of the Lord Paraphrase of the Pauline list of appearances Assertions : The Lord's manifestations on 1st days probable ; and 2, not inconsistent with any Scripture ; 3. Nothing ever weakened the association of his presence with the day Pentecost Early converts; transient sojourners ; peculiar life of city Paul's injunction to the Church at Corinth Paul's Sunday at Troas . Summary of the evidence from Scripture notices . 33 33 33 34 34 34 37 38 39 39 40 40 41 44-46 47 47 48 48 50 51 52 53 54 STUDY IIL THE WEEK. The Lord's Day has been continued by the influence of the Holy Spirit, not by command . . . . . . 56 The Lord's Day connected with past history by the statement that it is first of the iceek 57 1. The week is the invariable and unbroken succession of days in sevens ......... 58 *^ George Smith's Assyrian Calendar .... 58 Nundines 59 No other time period invariable 69 CONTENTS. IX 2. The week is an arbitrary period ; meaning of arbitrary as here used ......... 62 Hy])Othesis of a lunar origin of the week . . . 62 Hypothesis tested 63 Outline of argument 63 3. The -week a sacred period; meaning defined; argument outlined 66 Historical argument ....... 66 A. The week used only by communities worshiping God 6 7 B. The week has a divine warrant . . . . . 69 C. The week has its origin and model in the example of God himself 70 t- The week is a thought of God, not an invention of man 71 4. The week is maintained by the maintenance of its sacred day 71 Conditions involved in its maintenance .... 72 •--Result of an obliteration of the religious character of Sunday ......... 72 Possibility of a substitute ...... 73 Obliteration of all days of the week probable ... 73 Meaning of Scriptural emphasis on the week ... 75 The bond between God and man 76 STUDY IV. THE PRIMEVAL SACRED DAY. History of sacred day has three parts. Its characteristics in first and last ages are the essential ones Compare Genesis with the New Testament Five days mentioned in Noah's history as boundaries of weeks ........... Months in the Noachian story ; the date of the ark's grounding A. Lunar months are a natural calendar Requisites for any other calendar B. Lunar months, Mosaic and Hebrew calendar C. Lunar months explain the Noachian story Assumed calendar of the ark .... Sacred days in this calendar .... The saci'ed days not Sabbaths in Jewish or Mosaic sense The sattred days marked so as to be recognized The sacred days marked by sacrifice .... The sacred days factors in the idea of sacrifice 78 78 79 80 87 88 93 93 95 95 95 95 95 96 CONTENTS. The sacred days, meaning of the silence of Scripture on this point The sacred day marked by re^citations of Scripture The sacred day reproduced provisionally . Why should men have kept such a day ? Significance of the primeval sacred day . 97 97 99 100 100 STUDY V. THE MOSAIC SABBATH. Design of Mosaic laws to be studied rather than execution Results of Israel's non-conformity ..... Why was this law not earlier introduced? Nation; race; ter ritory Three premises : (1.) Thoughts of God to be studied in this legislation itself ........ (2.) As adapted to Canaan only .... (3.) And to agricultural people Mosaic system dual ; sacrifice ; sacred times . Koot of all in the promise ...... Blessing was to come through sinful nation Its end and means Sabbath contrasted with sacrifice Sabbath contrasted with primeval sacred day as to rest Sabbath, token of national coherence ; national self-con sciousness ......... Sabbath designated as the sign of national loyalty . Sabbath rest compared with its employments The agricultural village "The stranger's observation of its Sabbath Abuse of the Sabbath; due observance free and uncompelled The Convocation Essential sabbatic rest as related to the Convocation Convocation in the wilderness ..... Convocation in the wilderness had traditionary effect The Levites : (1.) Theologians (2.) Not priests (3.) Administrators (4.) Pastors (5.) Dependant The Levites at the village Convocation .... The instruction of children ...... The ideal village Sabbath 103 103 104 105 106 106 106 107 107 107 108 109 111 112 112 113 114 116 116 117 117 118 119 119 121 122 122 122 123 124 CONTENTS. XI STUDY VI. THE SABBATIC SYSTEM OF ISRAEL. The promise twofold ; development of atonement and of loyalty 126 The Mosaic dispensation a trust ; routine disciplinary to pre- pare for spontaneity 127 The weekly Sabbath alone insufficient for preparatory disci- pline required 127 Members of the sabbatic system ; distinctions . . . 127 Members of the sabbatic system ; similarities . . .128 Effect of the system on agricultural villages . . . .132 I. Indefinite enlargement of their idea of the Sabbath . 132 II. Two contrasted administrations of society . . 135 III. Readjustment of social conditions .... 138 Readjustment according to law and record; birth- right and divine patent ..... 139 IV. Removal of indignities 140 Removal of ancient slavery 141 V. Divine Providence : 1st. Prerogative; 2d. Benevo- lence 142 A. Arrest of tillage 144 B. Non-accumulation of land . . . . 1 45 C. Universal sharing ...... 145 VI. National brotherhood; pursuits of sabbatic years . 146 Travel for trade, craft- work, or study . . . 147 Farmers in the larger cities 147 VII. Incompleteness and inadequacy of the system . . 149 Later Jewish Sabbath distinguished from the Mosaic 150 Meaning of text lost by disregarding illustrations . 151 Sabbatic ideas should have become perfectly famil- iar 152 Sabbatic ideas when thoroughly familiar, then sensi- bly incomplete 153 Riddles of Providence to be solved only by Christ . 154 Sacrificial system equally incomplete and inadequate 154 Prophecies of the consummation by the Coming One 155 STUDY vn. THE PERMANEKT AXD THE TRANSIENT IN THE SABBATIC SYSTEM. Influences designed to impress its preparative and transient nature 156 xii CONTENTS. Consummation as yet unconceived ; hence threefold riddle . 158 I. Territorial riddle ; Sabbath pervasive in principle but limited to territory 158 II. Administrative riddle ; inconsistent elements in reg- ulations . . . . . . . .161 Evils tolerated for sake of educational contrast must at some time be eliminated . . . . .163 III. Riddle of sacred times ; development of the idea of sacredness ........ 165 Original familiarity with God to be unlearned; Cain; the face of God . 166 Prominence of sacrifice after the flood. Intermission of sacrifice in Egypt . . . . . .168 Riddle duplicate ; embracing week succession and week plan . . . . . . . .170 Inconsistency in week succession at spring and fall festivals explainable 171 Inconsistency in week plan ; preliminary ; quality of number 172 System of sevens novel. Emi:)hasis in its progression and symmetry . . . . . . .172 Sabbaths of Unleavened Bread and Tabernacles . 1 73 Pentecost compared Avith the other festivals ; its lib- erty 183 Its reckoning (note) 183 Its enactment arbitrary; not anniversary of the law; significance in future . . . .183 Its title; finished series of Sabbaths; greater Sabbath succeeding 184 Jubilee ; most prominent observance ; repeats teach- ing of Pentecost 184 Conditions of problem illustrated by industry of blossom and fruit culture 190 Key to riddles in the Abrahamic promise . . . . 192 Indication of permanent and transient features in sabbatic system . . . . . . . . . .193 The INlosaic Sabbath, wherein Mosaic necessarily transient . 193 A. It was not universally extensible . . . .195 Inseparable from system, except by Messiah. Sepa- rate pharisaic Sabbath . . . . . .195 Physical obstacle to extension of Mosaic Sabbath . 198 B. It was not a positive, unalloyed blessing . . .201 CONTENTS. Xlll (a.) In verbal form ordinances were only restrictive . Restrictions incongruous with development of modern society ..... Negative and positive blessing compared (b.) In practical operation the ordinances were com pulsory Freedom necessary for unalloyed blessedness (c.) Mosaic Sabbath did not refer to the Seed who blesses ....... The resurrection 201 202 203 204 204 206 206 STUDY VIII. THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT. One living thought of God underlying both old and new cov- enants Illustration from tree life Vital thoughts perpetuated from sabbatic rest ; system ; sep- aration from sacrifice ........ Ancient preparation and prophecy for change from seventh to first day : — («.) Emphasis on seventh day .... (b.) Limited series of seventh days (c.) After closed series, greater Sabbath on first day (c?.) Perspective in the system .... (e.) Practical experience of brotherhood (/.) Practical experience of routine drill and training (7.) Practical experience of expression of loyalty . (h.) Practical experience of birthright The vital principle underlying possible union of man to God stated by God himself without human mediation The Decalogue unique as to I. External circumstances II. Explicitness ..... III. Universal comprehensibility IV. Treatment V. Its title, covenant, and testimony Names mutually explanatory (Ritual law on account of transgression) VI. Its correspondence with promise Church has conformed to Scripture in using Decalogue in her public services . 220 222 . 223 . 224 . 225 . 226 . 227 230 207 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 213 216 216 218 231 XIV CONTENTS. Under superintendence of the Holy Spirit, Fourth Command- ment necessarily applied to the Lord's Day Covenant and testimony endure under Christian dispensation Meaning of words " seventh day," before, under, and after the sabbatic system Meaning of words " not any work " ; two Mosaic interpreta- tions Meaning of suspension of bread-winner's efforts in both (1.) No trace of the strict observance of the patriarchal age (2.) Mosaic weekly Sabbath national (3.) No considerable part of Church ever attempted rigidity ........ (4.) Purpose of Mosaic stringency; uniformity; univer sality . (5.) " Not any work " an end or a means to an end (6.) The Convocation " holy " .... Essence of the command " keep it holy"; meaning illustrated by original sentiment; exercises; typical significance Harmony in this of Old and New Testaments The Church " keeps holy " her Sabbath more fully and more accurately than Israel could his .... A. As institution (a.) Testimony Political acknowledgment of the Lord (J.) Promise and expectation B. Festival ; perfect removal of curse Sociality ; instruction ; ease All holy activity C. Observance ; personal waiting on the Lord together and apprehending Him .... Sacrament of loyalty ..... Duty of public testimony .... Imperial experience of care for vast interests of the Church . ...... Communion with the Lord The Lord's Supper 231 240 226 227 231 232 232 232 232 229 229 229 231 231 232 232 232 234 235 237 237 238 238 240 241 241 242 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. ERRATA. Page 10, line 16. Insert comma after " come." " 14, " 15. For " all of " read " of all." « 15, " 5. For " of " read " or." " 24, " 14. For " any that " read " any think that." " 24, " 16. Omit " the " before " moral." « 25, « 22. For " little " read " tittle." " 26, " 9. For "call " read "called." " 37, " 23. For " of " read " on the." " 45, " 33. For " not dependent" read " nor dependent." " 46, " 18. For " Convention " read " Convocation." « 72, " 25. For "to" read "by." " 72, " 33. For " These " read " Three." " 73, " 10. For " pregnant " read " frequent." " 83, note. For " first. The " read " first, the." " 85, line 28. For " barleys " read " barley." " 105, note. For " Pharoah " read " Pharaoh." " 106, line 3. Insert " to " before " its." " 118, " 4. For " cloak " read " cloud." " 150, " 12. For " imposition " read " interposition. " " 170, " 24. For " Hahirath " read " Hahiroth." " 185, " 5. For " it " read " yet." " 236, " 13. " 236, " 1 7. {- For " Israel " read " Israel's." " 237, " 5. XIV CONTENTS. Under superintendence of the Holy Spirit, Fourth Command- ment necessarily applied to the Lord's Day . . .231 Covenant and testimony endure under Christian dispensation 2-10 Meaning of words " seventh day," before, under, and after the sabbatic system 226 Meaning of words " not any work " ; two Mosaic interpreta- tions 227 Meaning of suspension of bread-winner's efforts in both . 231 (1.) No trace of the strict observance of the patriarchal age 232 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. STUDY I. THE PBCEXOMEXA OF THE DAY. "But Christ is all and iu all." — Col. iii. 11. What is the first day of the week ? How is it distin- guished from other days ? How can the fundamental conceptions of it, which actually exist in all minds, be defined ? These are three forms of one question. In order to obtain a correct answer, the limitation of the question must be carefully observed. It does not refer to what ought to be. It does not touch upon doctrine or duty. It admits no argument on morals, hygiene, social economics, political progress, or religion. Neither does it refer to causes. It implies no investigation of historic or any other reasons why. It refers to the visible atti- tude of society, to the habitual conduct of individuals, to the energy of common ideas manifested by common impulses. Nothing whatever in the realm of nature marks the day. Its phenomena are human altogether. Men's actions answer to their ideas. Therefore the phenomena of human conduct seen on a large scale must answer to the underlying ideas which on a large scale dominate the human mind. Therefore the most prevalent ideas, the most fundamental conceptions of this day, must be mani- fested by phenomena of such magnitude as to be appar- 1 ,^, / J^IGIIT^ STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. enfc to 411, wliatevei' their religious or non-religious stand- point. In fine, the qrtestion in hand is one of observed fact. The correctness of the answers given may be tested by any one competent to analyze the conduct of the people at large, so as to note the particulars in which it is accordant. The first day of the week has three names. Sunday is its legal name. The legitimacy of this name does not, however, rest upon any statute. The names of the days are not prescribed by law. The law merely presumes their existence, and, by its uniform phraseology, sanctions them. Sunday may therefore be called the " proper " English name of this day. It is known to all, and it has legal warrant. But the present age pays little regard to the appropriate meaning of proper names, and never thinks of associating this one with the sun. Christians use it as well as those indifferent or averse to Christian faith. It is precisely like the names of the other six days, wholly secular, unknown to the Scriptures, un- tinged by any religious sentiment. The day is also known as the Sabbath, but this name is by no means so often used. Whether in strict propri- ety it ought to be used is debatable.^ But in fact it is extensively used and perfectly understood. Being de- rived from the Bible, it has evident religious associations. It carries with it, now at least, two suggestions ; one of duty to God, one of intermitted labor. Hence it is used almost or quite exclusively by those who have some knowledge of the Scriptures and of Christianity, and ^ '* Sabbath " is not popularly used to distinguish the sacred day of Israelites from that of Christians. Whenever the Israelite Sab- bath is intended, something in the context is needed to make that appear. Unless in some way a reference to Israel is manifested, it ■will inevitably be understood that the name Sabbath is intended to represent the first day of the week. THE PHENOMENA OF THE DAY. 3 some interest in^tbe controversies over the clay's employ- ments. The Lord's Day is a third name, essentially Christian. It comes from the New Testament. It is very seldom used by any who are not believers on the Lord Jesus Christ. Even they do not use it constantly or very frequently. Yet it is well-known both to literature and to common speech. But being the rarest of the three names, its occurrence is usually emphatic. The speaker or writer is understood as intending to imply some re- lation between this day and the claim of Christians for the supremacy of their Lord. If in any company one should mention Sunday, the use of that name would afford no hint whatever of the person's rehgious position. A devout believer, or a scof- fer, or an indifferent, or one as nearly as possible ignorant of religion, might use it, each with equal readiness. But not so if one said Sabbath. This word would necessarily suggest that the speaker, whether a friend or foe to Chris- tian faith, was not ignorant of it, nor indifferent to it. He would almost certainly have in mind some thought of a connection between this day and the belief in divine revelation and divine authority over man. If, however, one spoke of the Lord's Day, all would suppose that he who uttered this name was a believer. Indeed the natural inference would be that all were believers. For even a believer would not be apt to use this name ex- cept in addressing those of similar faith. The coexistence of these three diverse names, and the peculiarity of their use, corresponds with the coexistence and peculiar distinctiveness of three classes who have to do with the day. Those who use the third name use both the others also. Those who use the second use also the first, which is used by all. So the third class of those whose conduct in relation to this day is now to be studied 4 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. is included in the otlier two, and the second in the first. All are unicentric with lessening circles. The first class includes the whole community, whatever may be their religious or non-religious character. All call the day Sunday, whether they think of it by any other name or not. The second class includes only those who may very broadly be called the religious part of the community : those who in some sense acknowledge the God of the Bible. Among these the name Sabbath is not infre- quently used, and is sometimes bandied. The third class includes only personal adherents to the Lord Jesus Christ, w'ho alone are likely to say the Lord's Day. In each of these classes may be noticed habitual and spontaneous action in relation to this da3^ Their conduct presents, it may be said, constant phenomena, which plainly ex- press three underlying conceptions or ideas, severally dominating these three classes, and together defining the day. These three conceptions or ideas may be repre- sented by the terms Institution, Festival, Observance. I. The first day of the week is an Listitution.^ This conception underlies the conduct of the whole commu- nity. For present purposes the word may be defined as a centre or mode of activity, whose outward manifestation is apparent and recognizable ; whose permanence is in- dependent of local caprice, or of the volition of any indi- ^ An Institution is properly something instituted or set in action by consent of human society ; as distinguished from an arrangement of nature, and from the act of an individual : something having an outward form or modality, in some way visible, tangible, definable; as distinguished from an idea, and also from a custom : something endowed with energy of its own, and exercising some certain recog- nizable influence ; as distinguished from a condition or set of circum- stances, and from a memorial or achievement or record. THE PHENOMENA OF THE DAY. 5 vidual ; whose relations affect both the community as a wliole and its members ; in brief, as a fact possessing the three attributes of publicity, fixedness, and influence. That which is now to be studied is not an institution of the Church or of Christianity, but of organized society, as it is found to-day in our own and other lands. To some men a certain day may be more significant and more im- pressive than to others. The question answered by the word institution is this : to all among us, to each and every one of every character, occupation, or faith, what is the first day of the week ? To verify this answer ac- cording to the definition of Institution already given, it is asserted that all know the day ; that all yield, in some respects, to it ; and that all feel, in some respects, its in- fluence. Seven days are known to the whole community by their names. The week, as a recurring period, is also known to all. The common meaning of this word is the time from the beginning of one Sunday to the beginning of the next, though it may be figuratively applied to any period composed of seven equal times. Sunday makes the ordinary week, not Monday or Thursday or any other day. Saturday might also make the week, but in our day, and with all but a small fraction of our popula- tion, it is as insignificant in this respect as Thursday or Monday. Whatever may be the reason for counting time by weeks, or for taking Sunday as the point at which this peculiar period always begins, the fact is familiar to all. A fact thus recorded in the vocabulary of all classes could not be a transient circumstance or a novelty. It is in truth a legacy to us from an indefinite past. It has come to us and it goes on with us just as regularly as the months and years. No individual can divert or stop its current. Yet its persistence is not absolute. Unlike the arrangements of nature, any institution having begun 6 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. by human action may conceivably be ended by the same. It is therefore possible that, by oblitei'ation of human re- gard, the week might cease to be. But the changes in- volved would be radical and sweeping in the extreme. Even if it should have ceased, the influence of history and literature (not to mention religion) would so strongly favor it, that to reestablish might be easier than to sub- vert it. Meanwhile this first day of the week lies athwart every man's path, and, whatever he may wish or intend, he is compelled to adjust his steps to the social fact, or to re- move beyond all social intercourse. All the members of the community separately'-, and the community as an or- ganized whole, are somehow impelled to act so as if it were not for the influence of this institution they need not act. One takes a weekly vacation, perhaps springs to pleasure-seeking. Another reaps a weekly harvest of pleasure-seekers' cash. Another engages in religious ex- ercises. One expresses love for a weekly token of his heavenly Father's grace. Another asserts hatred for this weekly device of a faith whose suj)remacy he disowns. One considers the Sunday an occasion for pecuniary, another for physical, a third for spiritual, profit. The motives of which men are conscious may be as diverse as their Sunday conduct, but all agree in assuming and taking it for granted that Sunday is like no other day. It cannot, for example, be confounded with a social oc- casion like New Year's Day, or with a public one like Independence Day, or with any Saint's day, or with a church day like Christmas. It is not, like these, an an- niversary. It occurs fifty times more frequently, and this makes an enormous difference. Some thought of it must so often be entertained. Its approach must so often be taken into reckoning with ordinary affairs. And every- where, some things are done on this day and not on others, THE PHENOMENA OF THE DAY. 1 or are not done on this day as on others. Be it custom, be it law, be it religious feeling or anti-religious feeling, or be it aught else, something specializes this day. For everywhere in Christendom the law takes cogni- zance of this day as an institution affecting the organ- ized community. Not only does the law assume by its phraseology that the institution exists and will continue, but it also requires, permits, or forbids on this day things not required, permitted, or forbidden on other days. In different countries its provisions, of course, vary.i But ■whatever it provides, — whether that courts may not sit, whether that legislatures 'and similar bodies may not meet, whether that public offices must be wholly or partly closed, whether that banks, exchanges, or other institutions acting under authority or charter of law may not do their ordinary business with the public, whether that contracts may not be consummated, whether that payments and executions may not be enforced, whether that the exaction of any kind of common labor is for- bidden, or whatever else may be the effect of the stat- utes, — all such regulations testify, that in the eye of the hiAv, — that is, of the organic mind of the state, — this institution has a peculiar relation to the community as an organic whole. In another way many governments place themselves in peculiar relations to Sunda^^ since they appropriate 1 In France, where there is perhaps the least Sunday legislation, a law of the First Empire, now in force, requires that public offices, the Bourse, etc., shall be closed on Sundays, and that no notary may act officially. A note given on Sunday is good. Payment, however, cannot be demanded on Sunday. The law of 1814 (the first Bourbon restoration) which enjoined the closing of shops, and, during mass hours, of restaurants, and which interdicted common labor,' — after lying dormant many years, — was repealed in 1880. The present law applies also to Easter, Pentecost, Ascension, Assumption, and All- Saints' Day, and to July 14. 8 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. it to special state uses. Sometimes by regal or imperial ceremonials ; sometimes by reviews ; sometimes by open- ing reserved galleries, parks, or museums ; sometimes by grand displays, as of the fountains at Versailles ; some- times by holding elections or conscriptions, — the heads of society show that they find in this day an institution peculiarly available for official exhibitions of majesty, because peculiarly related both to the state and its citizens. It is true that at some places in Christendom (so-called) general trade seems to* go on, workshops are busy, and even banks and exchanges open their doors. It may be true that a Bourse somewhere may appoint Saturday as a weekly day of closing. But it is not true that in any such place there is no perceptible difference between Sundays and other days. It is not true that in Paris, Vienna, Hamburg, or Rome, the populace do not dis- tinguish the day. Commercial reports are not the same as on other days. The pomp of sovereignty is different. There is a discrimination as to many details of person and household. And there is the unfailing office of wor- ship before the eyes of all. Whatever may be the dis- position of individuals, tlie whole community know as a fact that on this day occurs the regular normal service. And besides this, here and there, before all eyes, even in places like those mentioned, some shops are closed, some business is suspended, some toil is dropped, in order that honor may be paid to the Christian's Lord. But if the Sunday be a holiday, — if it be a popular recreation, valued for personal or social enjoyment, — if the avenues of travel are regularly thronged, — if the places of amusement expect a weekly freshet, — all this is possible onl}" because this day is an institution, famil- iar, fixed in popular regard, and influencing all to distin- guish it from other days. THE PHENOMENA OF THE DAY. 9 II. The first day of tlie week is a festival. This word may be defined as an occasion for sociaUty, privilege, and encouragement. This conception interprets the con- duct of that part of the community which may be called its religious class, comprising all who by themselves, or by others, are considered in any sense Christians. For many practical purposes this class is dealt with as a whole. Its influence and votes and money, for instance, are sought and given as the influence, votes, and money of persons who, whether church members or pew-holders, or neither, and with infinite diversity or contrariety of ecclesiastical prepossession, avow their interest in Chris- tianity as the stay of morals. The conduct in regard to Sunday, wherein all of this class agree, evinces the ideas which rule them. The most noticeable feature of the day, in its general religious aspect, is assemblage. Wherever any degree of religious sentiment exists people are wont to gather. Their gatherings, moreover, much more than on other occasions, are apt to contain whole families. Father, mother, and children here, as seldom elsewhere in public, are seen together. Seldom, indeed, elsewhere are all ages, from the most venerable to the youngest, so inter- spersed in open concourse. Rarely, also, does any other company resemble an ordinary Sunday congregation in the variety of its constituents. Certain sorts of persons are, indeed, conspicuously absent. But such sorts do not command the respect of the public or of themselves. Every station, every occupation, every social or political or industrial interest, which is undeniably reputable, is here usually represented. And whatever portion of the better elements of society may attend, the worst elements plainly eliminate themselves. 10 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. But apart from tlie clay's public assemblies, its inher- ent sociality is peculiarly distinctive. On no other day do husbands and wives, parents and children, and all of the household, see so much of each otlier ; or do neigh- bors remain through its hours so near each other ; or do friends whose very profoundest convictions and hopes are alike act so evidently in sympathy therein with each other. Solitariness and isolation are out of harmony with the general aspect of the day. So far as it has any de- gree of religious regard, it is the most potent influence known for promoting the mutual acquaintance of all classes, from highest to humblest, from oldest to young- est, from the close circle of home to the widest of human sympathy, only excluding such as by totally excluding themselves from assemblages to which some from all other classes come confess their class disrepute. The opportunity for its characteristic sociality is secured by the day's privilege, or intermission of ordinary obliga- tions and restrictions. The privilege is partly maintained by law, but very largely by custom. The law provides for those who would enjoy the day a certain amount of protection from exaction, and even from the pressure of comjietition. No man can legally compel another to per- form common labor, to transact any kind of ordinary busi- ness, or to discharge the obligation of any contract. No man can legally gain any advantage over another by pur- suing his usual avocations while the other pauses. Cus- tom among the religious class, and wherever religious influence is strong, maintains the law in active exercise ; sometimes, however, extending and sometimes contract- ing its scope. The necessities and exigencies of the com- munity, which are distinctly beyond the intent of the law, are measured chiefly by local custom. Even the service required by these supposed necessities and exigen- cies is, in theory, rendered out of a benevolent regard for THE PHENOMENA OF THE DAY. 11 public wants, and, in practice, is almost wholly voluntary. The employ<^s of city street railways, and many others, are usually kept, on the plea of public convenience, with- out a Sunday respite ; but it is doubtful whether pecun- iary loss or disadvantage ever falls upon any of them who, on religious grounds, abstain from work on that day. For the religious class in the largest sense, the " must" of business is on this day transformed into the "may" of enjoyment. Sociality is free. If there be an inward impulse or conviction of duty, there is no tangible con- straint, even to church-going. The practice has no direct effect on material interests. Neither profit nor loss of that kind hinges on it. Most of the commingling of other days is stimulated by desire for a livelihood, or for social advantage. But the encounters of this day have no relation to bread-winning or to local aspirations. On other days the atmosphere is as full of urgenc}'^ as on this day of leisure and calm. The day does not bring wor- ries, but rather affords a breathing space from their harassing pursuit. Whatever may be the history or my- thology of a Puritan Sabbath, neither compulsion nor harshness is a featui-e of the existing institution. It is resonant with invitation, it is affluent with ease. The eagerness of other days is quieted. Relief from fatigue and exertion is afforded. Absolute cessation of all ordi- nary emplo^nnents would imply a constraint rather than a privilege, and, in fact, does not anywhere exist. The fact which does exist is a conviction that ordinary pur- suits and efforts may be suspended on this day without detriment. Whether as the effect of law, or of custom, or of religious sentiment, evidently the day is regarded as privileged. The natural result of social intercourse enjoyed under such privilege, by persons of good morals, would be re- freshment, recuperation, renewed energy at the resump- 12 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. tion of regular occupations. But the day brings a more positive experience. Among those who in the widest sense may be called Christian, it paints before every eye, it chants in every ear, it suggests to every heart, in an- swer to its deepest longing, remedy for the sum of all curses, deliverance from the sum of all pains, hope trium- phant, illimitable, life beyond inevitable death. In other festivals, contemplation of the darker side of life is usu- ally avoided. Their enjoyment consists very much in such avoidance. Contact with sorrow, vice, and igno- rance tarnishes the gloss of their festivity, and tends to destroy their coherence. But on Sundays, sorrow, vice, and ignorance are dealt with in such a ssniy that the joy and profit of the day are not marred, but increased. In- stead of forgetting, for the time, life's evils, the general Christian public, w^io as much as any class must and do meet them, expect to find, on this day, influences that help toward patience, toward righteousness, toward an understanding of themselves, their surroundings, and. their goal. Pride is said to be softened, sympathy to be evoked, resolution to be strengthened. Both intellect and emotion are exercised. The attention is directed toward ultimate truth, or the search for it. The result is a certain harmonious uplifting of the whole personal- ity, a certain access of clear-sighted, high-hearted encour- agement. So far, then, as this institution practically affects the relifjious class, it not only has the character of a festival, but is also peculiarly exempt from incongruities. Other festivals are more or less defective. Sometimes their fel- lowship is not altogether natural or harmonious. Gen- erally they are in danger of collapse if certain elements liable to appear are not carefully prevented. Frequently their cost is a sensible drain on purse, or thought, or vigor. Too often their anticipated profit proves unsatisfactory. THE PHENOMENA OF THE DAY. 13 Amusement, as such, certainly lias a real value, but it does not endow with nerve for life's struggles. A share in viewing triumphs of genius or special displays of splen- dor or power may thrill and animate, but there is usually a bill directly or indirectly to be paid afterward, and if slowly, then the more heavily. Mutual endeavor, whether in industrial pursuits, or in behalf of public interests, or in the solemn ordeal of war, weaves strong and lasting ties, whose occasional renewal is full of pleasure. But even these ties are not like those of nature or like those created by a common religious feeling. It can hardly be doubted that they would pall and weary and become at last repulsive, if celebrated on a purely social basis every week. The sociality of the Christian Sabbath, on the contrary, is developed naturally, out of the unities of blood and neighborhood and fundamental correspondence of soul. Its privilege is not hampered by the necessity of earning, or the contingency of losing, or the enticement of social ambition. Its encouragement not only refreshes the vigorous and experienced, but also animates sufferers, stimulates the feeble, emboldens the apprehensive, directs the uncertain, helps to meet every contingency of the present mixed life, and fortifies tenants of dissoluble bod- ies for their entrance into the incorporeal state. What institution known to human experience so perfectly ex- emplifies an ideal festival ? III. The first day of the week is an observance. By this word is meant (in this paper) an occasion observed in order to express obligation. This conception of the day explains that peculiar conduct wherein those coin- cide who profess themselves adherents, not merely to Christianity in some general form, but personally, to the 14 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. Christ whom the}^ call their Lord. The idea is embodied in the name Lord's Day, which they sometimes use. This name and conception belong to them alone. But the phenomena or manifest facts of their constant and unan- imous action are apparent to all. Indeed, they present perhaps the most noticeable and the most special char- acteristic of the day. The general facts of their conduct may be thus stated. Personal adherents to the Lord, believers, as they are wont to call themselves, whatever their ecclesiastical ties, and whatever their views about other uses of the day, agree as to public worship on the Lord's Day. In such worship, despite all varieties of doctrine or ritual, the Lord Jesus Christ is uniformly honored and invoked as the Divine Head and Lord of the Church and all of her members. To Him as Head and Lord profession is al- ways made of entire and absolute subjection and depen- dence, of complete identification in purpose and hope. There is no limit to the gratitude, devotion, aspiration, and confidence expressed. The essential element in this fact may be brought into distinctness by a comparison of the Lord's Day with cer- tain other days, whose observance also expresses some de- gree of obligation. These may be grouped in two classes. One class may be called civic or national observances, be- cause they are celebrated by citizens in view of their rights, privileges, and duties as such, and in relation to some event which serves as a focus for all lines of national or political thought. In this class are birthdays or coro- nation days of reigning sovereigns, our own Independence Day, and the like. In celebrating such occasions, citizens acknowledge an obligation to their government and to the person or persons in whom it is vested. They also bring to mind the potency and honor of the civic body of which they are members, and through which they, as its THE PHENOMENA OF THE DAY. 15 members, are united to its chief. Moreover, tliey profess that both obligation and membership are willingly and gladly experienced, with no limitation to their extent and supremacy. Most of all, very often they emphasize a circumstance which, without their own ability of volition, has made them citizens, and clothed them not only with the citizen's legal relations, but with the citizen's senti- ment, patriotism. It is their birthright. The substan- tial fact implied by all these actions is loyalty. The other class of observances may be described as days of special appeal. Characteristically they are either petitions or thanks for benefits. Such are our Thanks- giving Day, certain public fast days, most saints' days, and the like. These occasions usually commemorate no particular event, or if any, then one regarded as a good whose enjoyment may be prolonged, or as an evil whose harmfulness may be abated. Personal advantage, whether obtained or desired, inspires the celebration. Sometimes the favor of the person honored or worshiped is invoked. Sometimes his general benevolence is ac- knowledged. Sometimes it is felt that his influence has been specifically useful during a season past. Gratitude is honorable. Self interest is not necessarily ignoble. These observances, whether inspired by pure gratitude, by self- interest, or by mixed motives, may be proper and useful, but it will not be denied that in dignity and influence they are lower than the others. At any rate, they are contingent. They are celebrated because from time to time circumstances warrant them. The others depend on permanent facts. Loyalty rests on the citizen's birth relation to his native land. The Lord's Day evidently corresponds with the first of these classes rather than the second. It is not a day spe- cially designated as a thanksgiving to the Almighty for the benefits of the six days past ; nor a day for specially 16 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. propitiating his displeasure and invoking his good-will. So far as these things are proper on Sunday, they are proper on every other day. In no respect are they empha- sized by the return itself of the day. No class or com- munity of Christians is known to have devoted Sunday to the acknowledgment or solicitation of direct advan- tages from God's providence. Observance of this da}' is nowhere associated in men's minds with good harvests, prosperous voyages, successful industrial enterprise, or victorious campaigns, past or future. Thanks may be given for such things or their bestowment asked on this day or on any other. Nowhere is it the peculiar and characteristic feature of the day's exercises to deal with them. Any reference to them has a subordinate place unless in some emergency. On the other hand, like citizens in a national or civic celebration. Christian believers, on the Lord's Day, in their assemblies, both acknowledge before each other their individual obligation to the Person who is the su- preme Head of their body, and magnify the interests of that body, which in its full extent they call his king- dom. By all the circumstances of their assembl}', and by all the expressions of thought and feeling associated with it, testimony is given that the obligation is acknowl- edged by all, voluntarily, heartily, gladly, and without reserve or limit. Yet it is equally avowed that their bond to their Lord and to his kingdom is a permanent one, not maintained by their volition merely, but fas- tened in some way upon their natures. As citizens of political states are clothed with legal relations and en- dued with civic feeling through the circumstances of their birth, so citizens of the Lord's kingdom say that they are clothed with moral (legal and something beside legal) relations and inspired with Christian (something more than civic) loyalty through what they call their new birth. THE PHENOMENA OF THE DAY. 17 Moreover, as these civic celebrations commemorate some event of great importance to the state or to its chief, and especially an event which has inaugnratecl some grand civil epoch, or the life or reign of tlie ruler, so the Lord's Day commemorates an event which is the accredited inauguration, both of an epoch in the Chris- tian commonwealth's history and of the super-mortal life and reign of its Lord. He who had been known pre- viously as a man, and one of the humblest rank, on this day, as reported, assumed a state independent of any earthly circumstance, and above any known condition of humanity, announcing for Himself his accession to " all power in heaven and in earth," and manifested or " de- clared to be the Son of God with power." According to Christian records, some glimpses only of a higher nature had been vaguely noticed hitherto by a very few, but on this day, through the whole that had been known of Him to human perception, burst and shone the splen- dor of eternal living light. According to Christian hope and faith, an inconceivably glorious reorganization of human society under his supremacy, to be constituted of those who, like Him, after death shall have resumed cor- poreal life free from all known corporeal contingencies, is now preparing, by the development of that uniting, con- trolling, inspiring principle, the vital force of his king- dom, loyalty. Loyalty is on different sides an obligation, a disposi- tion, and an emotion. Its definition in each of these aspects so far defines the actual observance of the Lord's Day b}'- loyal believers, as their conduct and practice is manifest to all. A. The obligation of loyalty may be defined in respect of the persons whom it unites, as the duty of subordina- tion. In a strict sense it does not exist between equals. It is the proper sentiment of one who owes toward the 2 18 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LOnD'S DAY. person entitled to receive, of one subject to autbority toward the person vested with authorit}^, of the indi- vidual toward the body of which he is a member, of the citizen toward his government. When the word is tropically used concerning equals, it implies that the loyal person feels bound to subordinate personal interests to the interests of another. Thus either a husband or wife is said to be loyal to the other, when no personal indulgence, no desire of separate advantage, no default of effort and cai'e, is suffered to mar the honor and com- fort and success of the other. Loyalty and self-sacrifice, if not synonymous, are certainly homogeneous terms. Loyalty and self-seeking are certainly incongruous. L03'- alty essentially exalts and prefers another, and subordi- nates self to that other's benefit. The obligation, in respect of its extent, must be de- fined as the duty of unlimited subordination. If there be a point in the line of sacrifice (wrong-doing of course out of question) beyond which loyalty will not go, it is not loyalty. If there be a point of time at which it expects to cease, it is not loyalty. A mercenary soldier hired by a foreigner may be loyal, in the tropical sense, to his contract. But can his service be compared with that of the man who offers his own blood for his own father-land ? In the case of husband or wife or friend, how can that be called loyalty which contemplates a de- nial of wedlock or friendship ? Loyalty may be abused and destroyed by the person toward whom it has been entertained. A man ready to die for his king might be compelled by honor and duty to foi'sake a recreant and unworthy king. He might still be loyal to some One higher. But the moment he intended desertion, loyalty to that king would be dead. For loyalty may die, some- times, without dishonor, but it cannot be limited while living. Loyal meuj have abandoned property, turned THE PHENOMENA OF THE DAY. 19 away from home, sacrificed every material comfort, bealtb, limb, and life, at their country's call, and loyal men, if need be, will do the same again. For loyalty gives up all, measuring only the exigency which calls upon it. B. The disposition or quality of loyalty may be de- fined by contrast to its opposite, disloyalty. The word "traitor" seems to be charged with the detestation of mankind. The obloquy of it besmears even the man's good traits and meritorious actions. Benedict Arnold did some effective service for his country, and endured hardship therein, but his subsequent treason blackened the whole record of his life. The lack of loyalty is dis- honorable. The reverse of loyalty is detestable. There- fore loyalty itself must be counted of the highest worth and honor. There is an evident reason for this high estimation. The traitor offends not against a single per- son, or a few only, but against eveiy one. Whether by his disloyal inaction or by his disloyal activity, he so far imperils all, the persons of his countrymen, all their property, and all that they hold precious. If a crime against one person, though threatening only mod- erate injury, deserves punishment by the community, what is the desert of a crime threatening the greatest loss and 'suffering against every member of that com- munity ? For disloyalty aids the foe to military con- quest. Full conquest involves absolute subjection to the will of the conqueror, which is slavery. And although the spirit of the age will not allow the logic of war to be carried to its conclusion, the brand remains on the traitor. It is, therefore, presumed of every citizen that he is loyal. It is also presumed that his loyalty has existed as long as his life. For the disposition of loyalty relates to all that has enveloped the citizen from his birth, summed 20 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. up in native land and native language. Land and tongue, though not himself, are yet inseparable from himself. His relation to them is like the ties of blood, — invol- untary, unchangeable. As the child grows, the associa- tions and interests of land and language grow x\y>o\\ him, as plumage on a bird. Thus the citizen wears the dis- position of loyalty without thinking of getting or keep- ing it. Though he wears it, it is not a garment. It cannot be put off and on like a soldier's uniform. It cannot be manufactured by machinery, reasoning, or wit. It cannot be bought or sold. It cannot be evolved by stress of will. It cannot result from an accident. Obli- gation will not produce it. The disposition is indepen- dent of the duty. It sometimes outlives the dut}'. There is such a thing as honest and lawful transfer of alle- giance. But the loyalty of the adopted citizen cannot be precisely like the loyalty of the home-born. The immi- grant cannot take out of his heart a tenderness for his childhood's home stronger and sweeter at some times, if not at all times, than his devotion to the stranger land. Certainly we in America have evidence enough that our adopted citizens, however honestly and zealously atten- tive to civic obligations, do, in fact, preserve for the citizenship they have resigned a sj^'mpathy so strong that it is frequently incongruous with their duty to this land, sometimes quite repugnant thereto. Caelum non animam mutant qui tratis mare currunt. C. The emotion of loyalty may be defined by that which rouses it into activity, and by the end to which its energy is directed. It is the emotion kindling in the contemplation of idealized and personified citizenship, and impelling to the support and honor of that by which and in whom citizenship is so idealized and personified. It is a pleasurable emotion, attended by pride and satis- faction, even when moving to sacrifice. Citizenship (not THE PHENOMENA OF THE DAY. 21 loyalty) is a garment which may be put on and off. It answers to the disposition in being colored also by all the fellowship of language and land. It is as if all the glory of this fellowship rested on the citizen, and were fastened over his heart by the jewel of national authority. In contemplation of his fellowship in the father-land, and of the dignity, worth, and beauty of the sovereign unity which clasps together that fellowship around him, the citizen's emotion rises. It swells with the proud realiza- tion that this fellowship and sovereignty belong to him, befit him, and are his by birthright before the world. It culminates in bowing, with all its array, as a bride to her husband, before the sovereignty in which citizenship centres, by which the nation is organically constituted, while it expresses its identification with that will which represents the nation's will. Emotion is not the product of a sense of duty, and is not to be confused with habit or disposition. A disposi- tion or quality may exist and yet be dormant and un- noticeable. Emotion is in its nature transient, conscious, urgent. It lives by an impulse. It lives in the region of conscious activity. It lives as a spark struck from the grain of disposition by the impact of such an occa- sign as fixes the attention on the theme of citizenship. Such occasions may be emergencies or celebrations. But emergencies may not occur once in a lifetime, while no nation lives without national celebrations. For without recurring celebrations the emotion of loyalty might seldom, if ever, be experienced by the mass of citizens. And without the quickening received from time to time through aroused emotion, both the sense of obligation and the disposition to loyalty might easily shrivel and fade. " The day we celebrate," is the occasion that stirs assembled loyal hearts, and stimulates loyal profession, and strengthens united loyal hands for faithful duty in emergencies, come as they may. 22 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. In peaceful times, indeed, it usually happens that, while the underlying principles of loyalty may be re- ferred to at civic celebrations (and never impugned), yet attention is directed, naturally, to thoughts that inspire complacency and pleasure rather than to uncalled-for suggestion of stringent self-sacrifice or of indomitable struggle. The time does not warrant these. The Church, however, is always militant. Her avowed purpose is supremacy over all human affairs which have any relation to morals. She feels the brunt, moreover, of incessant attacks. But while she resists, sometimes sorely suffer- ing, sometimes almost cowed, or reduced to languid in- ertness here and there, her constant endeavor, at home and abroad, and wherever men dwell, is to make all sub- ject to her Lord. Therefore her assemblies, week by week, are always stirred by stud}^ of all the terms and all the phases of loyal duty, loyal character, and loyal impulse. Her members are made familiar with all the ends of their gatherings, so that their conduct in continuing to assem- ble is, beyond question, intelligent and sincere. They acknowledge the obligation of limitless subordination to their Lord, — of giving up to Him anything, and, if He require it, everything, — and of devotion to endless ages. They evince the loyal disposition, by the value they attribute to what they call their new birth or regen- eration as the fundamental warrant for a share in their fellowship, — by their sympathy with all who use their language of prayer, and who count upon a perpetual home in a land of which their Lord is undisputed sovereign, — and by their treatment of apostasy, as shown in branding a member who formally denies or dishonors their Lord, with the punishment of utter dis- fellowship. The day which assembles them, which re- vives the picture of their Lord's triumph over death, and THE PHENOMENA OF THE DAY. 23 wliicli celebrates with that their buoyant confidence in their own personal resurrection, kindles thus a glowing spark of living feeling. In its warmth and light they contemplate the tie that holds them to each other and to their Head. They realize each his own personal interest in all that concerns the Church, and in all the words and works and wishes of their Lord. With free, hearty im- pulse they bow together before Him, in whom their union is constituted, and profess their identification with his supreme authority and will. In these facts there is a sufficient (though not the only) explanation for the maintenance of public worship. Like every other community. Christians might meet oc- casionally for business, if there were no public worship. Publicity is not an essential element of Christian wor- ship. They hold it as their Lord's teaching, that worship is essentially the most private of all action, — the action of the secret spirit within, — and most appropriate to a closet in solitude, unknown to the thoughts or eyes of any except the superhuman. Incessant display of devo- tion repels Christian sensibilities. Patriotism, likewise, cannot afford to go daily shouting through the streets and swarming into forensic halls. Ordinarily loyalty may be taken for granted. It voices its avowals only when a celebration or an emergency rouses its emotion. No private citizen chooses his own occasion for this. To repudiate the day of public celebration, and use an- other day, is as plain a disregard of loyalty as repudi- ation of all celebration. And he who denies his land de- nies its lord or its government. Who repudiates his fellow-citizens, repudiates citizenship. This is true also regarding Christians, notwithstanding diversities of opin- ion among sincere believers. Some indeed insist upon varying a few hours from the time adopted by the major- ity. Some deny the relevancy of the fourth command- 24 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. ment. Some refuse to admit even apostolic authority for the institution. Some hold it a matter of public conven- ience or traditional preference, apart from dut}'. But whether it be of human or divine origination, — whether established by an emperor or preserved by tradition, — whether resting on ecclesiastical authority or on the spon- taneous choice and impulse of the faithful, — or whether indicated by the risen Loi'd, and under the oversight of the Holy Spirit, established as the successor and develop- ment of the older Sabbath, — it exists, distinct and well- known ; and is for all believers the one Lord's Day on which all approve and desire public worship for the ex- pression of loyalty to Him, If some believers do not think it obligatory to go to church, do any that church- going on this day ought to cease ? If some base the duty of church-going on the moral or other expediency, do any question the propriety of the act? Christian litera- ture abounds in appreciation of inner spiritual life and private communion with God, but neither in their own meaning, nor in the sum of their influence, do these ut- terances disparage believers' communion in worship, or the public ascription of united homage to their Lord. Suppose it were proposed that public Christian worship should hereafter be attended, not every week, but once in a month or quarter or year ; not from any necessity, as sometimes where people are few and scattered, but for the purpose of freeing so many days from that engage- ment ! The proposal would certainly be a pain and an offense to the whole body of believers. The dullness of religious services, and the tediousness of sermons, are matters of not infrequent gibing, but the gibes seldom come from the devout. There may be more or less dull- ness and tedium. Whether there be or no. Christian be- lievers by maintaining their weekly assemblies, whatever the aesthetic or literary character of the exercises, prove THE PHENOMENA OF THE DAY. 25 their abiding interest in the object for which these as- semblies meet. It is sometimes asserted that attendance on public wor- ship has diminished and is still diminishing, if not abso- lutely at least in j^roportion to the growth of population. So much interest has been taken in this matter, that great journals have several times taken a census of the congre- gations in various cities, and usually with fair complete- ness and accuracy. If the practice is continued, a com- parison of many reports, taken in different places and at successive intervals in each place, will at length furnish much important information. But so far as relates to the interest of church members in church-going, the reports thus far obtained show almost nothing. They do not even attempt to state the number of members included in the census taken, although that may be fairly presumed to be somewhat less than the whole attendance. If it had been obtained, it might have suggested an estimate of the number absent on account of ordinary contingen- cies. On the essential question, whether more or fewer church members attend than formerly, in proportion to their whole number, these reports have thus far not a lit- tle of evidence to offer. But there is available evidence in statistics of church membership, church buildings, and church contributions. Increasing membership naturally implies increasing attendance. If accompanied by the multiplication, enlargement, and improvement of church edifices, it is absurd to suppose that church attendance may be decreasing. The yearly outlay in this country for maintaining, repairing, lighting, warming, and furnish- ing counts by millions, without including clerical salaries. This enormous expense is borne by millions of uncom- pelled contributors, for the express and preeminent pur- pose of enabling themselves and others comfortably to assemble on the first day of each week in the capacity 26 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. of persons owing supreme allegiance to Jesus Christ as Lord. It is not credible that these millions would con- tinue to pay while ceasing to use. It is impossible that their voluntary outlay should increase, while their inter- est declined. The reverse is also true.^ But whether attendance is increasing or decreasing, it is clear that a decrease would indicate a lessening of Christian loyalty. It might or might not mean that fewer persons " professed and call themselves Christians," but it would certainly imply less inclination to make sac- rifices for the Christ. It might or might not indicate a pi'evalent decadence from orthodoxy, or from what is generally understood now by the phrase " evangelical doctrine ; " but it would certainly betoken the likelihood of general apathy toward religious subjects and enter- prises. It might or might not be a sign of moral laxity ; but it would be positive evidence that their Lord was less thought of, and less honored, by his nominal followers. Let a decline in public worship be pi-oven, and no argu- ment would be needed to satisfy any one that private worship had at least proportionally declined. It would be clear enough that the coherence of the Church was weakening, that the force which had bound Ciiristians together was relaxing, that disintegration was beginning, to prepare for dissolution. But instead of disintegration, an impulse to larger com- 1 It would be intcrestinfi; to compare the average Sunday attend- ance of church members with the attendance of members of other societies, charitable and industrial, at their regular meetings. What proportion of the shareholders in banks, railways, and other corpo- rations are found at even annual meetings ? How much care and solicitation is required to secure regularly a quorum of directors or trustees of financial institutions ? How many subscribers to char- itable and social organizations come to their regular meetings V Perhaps, if the question could be fn'ly studied, the Church might after all appear in the leading place. THE PHENOMENA OF THE DAY. 27 bination has been felt widely and deeply. An inter-de- nominational polity has grown np, corresponding fairly to the development in the political sphere of international law. A strong desire for more inclusive fellowship and cooperation has become visible in the action of many of the great organized ecclesiastical bodies. There has been a Pan-Anglican movement, likewise a Pan-Presbyterian. International councils of Methodists, Independents, and others have been summoned. OflBcial delegates have represented their constituents in these union movements. The Evangelical Alliance is a manifest result of the same tendency ; and likewise the generally acknowledged duty of " comity " in missionary and other administration. The same strong tendency is manifest among the indi- viduals of the membership, apart from any official action, and likewise apart from any merely benevolent or only semi-religious interest. Thus the great Bible societies have been sustained. More recently, the plan for identi- cal Bible study in Sunday-schools has attained an enor- mous extension. The " Week of Prayer " is observed in all parts. " Unions " for simultaneous special religious exercises have obtained, sometimes, tens of thousands of participants from diverse sects and from far separate places. These are notable religious phenomena in our age, and there are inferences to be drawn from them which cannot be avoided. They do not imply indifference to doctrine or feebleness of denominational energy. They do indi- cate, however, that the general Christian mind is con- vinced of a fundamental affinity between all who are loyal to Christ, and that the Christian imagination is capti- vated by this idea. The limited Christian fellowship ex- perienced (chiefi}^ on the Lord's Day) evidently suggests to millions of believers a vision of a religious community, numerous, various, widespread beyond precise definition. 28 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. Its multiform unity is not so easil}' grasped by keen and trained intellects. All nationalities and languages, all conditions and varieties of mankind, are represented in it. All manner of minds, all schools of philosophy, all equi- pages of logic are symbolized. All kinds of organization are displayed, simple and complex ; some slowly builded during ages of struggle and fortitude ; some deliberately constructed in milder times, after an approved and more or less symmetric model; some the development of vague impulse and crude judgment; some yet inchoate with only a rudimentary cohesiveness. They show many degrees in evangelistic activity, in intellectual apprehen- sion of spiritual truth, in moral consistency. Some are more or less confused. Some are more or less weighted with prejudice. Some are more or less slow to shake off " the former lusts of their ignorance." But all profess unreserved loyalty to Jesus Christ the Lord, and in this profession only they find their absolutely universal bond. For, under whatever peculiarities of manners or doctrines beating, the heart of a brother is by this sincere profes- sion revealed and recognized. There is, in fact, a univer- sal confidence resting upon statements in the Bible re- garded by all as of divine authority", that whatever imperfections, errors, or inadvertencies may mark a true believer or a body of such, these blemishes may and will be removed under superintendence of the Holy Spirit, through deeper personal experience, wider acquaintance with mankind, and closer study of the Scriptures ; and further, that of their removal in due time the exhibition of true loyalty is itself a guaranty. Thus, in our age as never since the apostolic, have the great mass of believers realized that in loyalty to their one Lord stands the unity of their brotherhood, and the one indefeasible evidence of a part in it. But of all the phe- nomena which exhibit the loyalty and the affinity of Chris- THE PHENOMENA OF THE DAY. 29 tians, what compares in significance or in sweep of influ- ence with that institution which every week begins to bear the Lord's name in tlie far-off Pacific, awakens be- lievers in Japan, in Australasia, in China, and on through every meridian in Asia, in Europe, in Africa, and in America, away to the island kingdom of Hawaii and be- yond ; until it ceases in the sea where it began, — calling the whole Christian host of every nation and language and race, under the whole circuit of the sun, to that day's common united worship of Jesus the Lord ! What ubiq- uitous consent like this has the world ever known ? In what other associated action do all divisions of man par- ticipate ? After all her centuries, what has Christianity now or ever to show in evidence, not of her wise charity, nor of her consistent morality, nor of her triumphant civilization, — but of that which is her supreme charac- teristic, — of that which surpasses, includes, guarantees all these others, — of her loyal devotion to her Lord — so public, so impressive, so convincing, as the world-round worshiping assemblies of the Lord's Day ? STUDY II. THE ORIGINATION OF THE LORD"s DAY. " The First Day of the Week." — Matt, xxviii. 1 ; Mark xvi. 2, 9 ; Luke xxiv. 1 ; John xx. 1, 19. As Christians now assemble on the Lord's Day to worship their Lord by professing their loyalty to Him, so have they always assembled. The observance is traced clearly back to the days of the apostles. During the whole period of the Church's existence, tlie first day of each week has been the occasion for substantially the same manner and spirit of celebration. There have been, indeed, in various ages and places, additional days for worship. For a long time the seventh day Avas kept as sacred. Saints' days and festival days have sometimes been more prominent. But along with all others — far more than any other — the Lord's Day has been main- tained in honor, not of saints nor of the absolute Deity, but of Jesus Christ the Lord. References to the Lord's Day in literature begin with the writings of men who Pliny, Epist. wcre bom before all of the apostles were dead. Lib. X. 97. Xhus Pliiy, the heathen governor, in his well- known letter to Trajan, declared that the Christians con- just.Mart. fesscd to meeting on a stated day to praise Jp.°9°7f 98""' Christ. Justin, the Christian martyr, wrote Londoli,i722. ^1^,^^.^ Qj^ ^jjg ^^^ called Sunday, they held their assemblies for reading the Scrijjtures, prayer to Christ, alms-giving, and the Lord's Supper. These men wrote not far from a century after the resurrection. All that TEE ORIGINATION OF THE LORD'S DAY. 31 remains from tlie earliest Christian authors confirms their statements. However it may have varied in other respects, the Lord's Day has, therefore, come down through the Chris- tian ages unchanged in this one feature of the general assembly for the worship of the Lord Jesus Christ. This worship, moreover, has always retained the ele- ments mentioned in those earliest times, — praise to Christ as God, prayer, reading of apostolic writings with those of the Hebrew canon, alms-giving, addresses didac- tic or hortatory, and the Lord's Supper. The festival character of the day has also continued the same. Before Pliny or Justin, a writer called Barnabas de- g Bamabas Glared that Christians celebrate this day " for ^pist. §15.' enjoyment " (ets eicfipoavvrjv^.^ The " fathers " indeed laid stress upon this. They insisted that it was wrong to fast or to give way to any sorrow on that day. Ter- Tertuinan, tullian writes, " Sunday we indulge in glad- -'^p"^' ^ ^^- ness. ^ As the influence of Christianity spread, the general society of the Roman Empire, even so much of it as remained heathen, shared more and more in the Chris- tian method of counting time. The week became grad- ually familiar. The peculiar series of planetary names, whose equivalents we still employ, had been widely known for ages. In ancient China, it is said, gaiiiy, as- the zodiac was divided into twenty-eight parts, d'ienn^'ouc' bearing this series of names four times re- ^"^^'P'"'- peated. Thus the old Chinese year, it might be said, was divided into four zodiacal weeks. Among the Greeks the first seven days of each month seem to have 1 All) Kol &yofi(v T^v 7]^4pav tV oyZ6-r\v ^Is ivcppoavvf\v. Barnabas, Epist. § 15. ^ -(3Eque si diem solis laetitise indulgemus, alia longc ratione quam de religione solis, etc Tertull. Ap. 16. 32 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. borne the same series of names as sacred to those seven deities of their Pantheon who were associated 7 contra with thesc heavenlv bodies: namely, Apollo, Thebes, 806. . ^ . t^- a -v r tt Artemis or JDiana, Ares or Mars, Hermes or Mei'cury, Zeus or Jupiter, Aphrodite or Venus, and Saturn. According to Dio Cassius, the Romans learned the names of tlie week days from the Egyptians.'^ It seems probable that in ancient Chaldea the names of these orbs or deities were given to the seven days of a week. The character of this week is not clearly ascertained, but it was not the week as we know it. It is, how- ever, almost certain that although this series of names was known so widely, it was never in popular use until Christian times. Believers readily accepted Sunday for the title of the first day of the week, since it suggested their Lord as the " Sun of Righteousness." Since early Christianity seems to have gained the trading and ar- tisan classes much more than the learned, political, or agricultural, and thus to have brought its habits and practices into contact with the details of social life, hea- thendom, drifting involuntarily along with its current of time-reckoning, found the series of seven names to fit as never before. Under Constantine, the legal establish- ment of Sunday as a day of vacation and as a substitute * According to Dio (Hist. Rome, xxxvii. 18, 19) the Egj-ptians divided the hours into sevens, allotting to each a planetary deity : 1, Saturn; 2, Jupiter; 3, Mars; 4, Sun; 5, Venus; 6, Mercury; 7, Moon. The planet assigned to the first hour of the day named the day. And as 3 X 7 -}- 3 = 24, the first hour of the next day and the next day would be named by the planet fourth in this series from that naming the previous day. Suppose 1st hour 1st day = Saturn, — 1st hour 2d day (1 + 24 = 3 X 7 + 4 = ) Sun, — 1st hour 3d day (1 + 24 + 24 = 7 X ' =:) INIoon, etc. Some ingenious Egyptian palmed off this invention on Dio. The names of the days are as old as the earliest Assyrian records, of which the cunning priest who contrived this scheme of hours to fit the days doubtless knew nothinor. THE ORIGINATION OF THE LORD'S DAY. 33 for the Nundine was apparently acceptable to all par- ties. Thus it appears, that, as an institution with which society and government are concerned, as a festival win- ning a certain appreciation from unbelievers as well as the faithful, as the observance by which his true followers have testified in assembly their united loyalty to their Lord, — the Lord's Day has been from the first essen- tially what it is now. Overlooking therefore all the in- tervening centuries, whatever their developments of doc- trine or practice, we turn to the New Testament to examine, as carefully as possible, its testimony concerning the origination of the day. For these studies, three premises will be accepted by all Christian readers : — 1st. The silence as well as the utterance of Scripture must be regarded as designed or inspired. 2d. The Holy Spirit, by whose authority the Scripture speaks, has also guided the community of true believers towards that development of doctrine and practice which in essence corresponds with the intent of his Word. 3d. But the silence and the utterance of Scripture are explained by other voices and by the general voice of all Scripture, and by the results of the Holy Spirit's work developed in history ; all these being in full accord, and mutual support. Taking up the New Testament in the light of these principles, the fact becomes significant, that in it there is so little concerning this day. Tliere is indeed less than concerning baptism and the Lord's Supper. There is no account of a formal institution. There is no distinct command for maintenance. Yet the fact of the day's existence and endurance shows that there must have been something recorded or unrecorded in the commands or the circumstances or the inheritance of the Early Church, 34 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. which not only gave the day its momentum, but also made it so much more than a memorial. It would have been natural, that is, it would have been in perfect con- formity with the general custom of mankind, historically exemjjlified a thousand times, if an annual celebi'ation of the resurrection had been instituted. Our Easter is not only a grateful and appropriate festival. It is so thor- oughly consistent with the habits of all sorts of people, of all places and times, that its observance might have been expected. But contrary to all human experience, Easter, as a Christian festival in honor of the resurrec- tion, is not heard of for centuries. Probably the Pass- over season reminded the Church rather of the Lord's suffering. But whatever causes may have been imme- diate, the divine Providence, overruling, did in fact pro- vide that, before an annual festival, the natural, appro- priate, customary, and entirely human memorial of the resurrection should be adopted, — the weekly day, pe- culiar, and unlike any human memorial, should be es- tablished in the church's thought and heart, not so much as a memorial, but much more as a reiteration of living loyalty. Outside the history of our religion there was nothing to suggest or explain it. The phrase, " Lord's Day," occurs but once in the Scriptures. This phrase is short, apt, complete. ' ' ' It expressed conveniently and accurately the familiar thought of the Churclj. The peculiar relation of this institution to the risen Saviour, as a celebration of his assumption of majesty, including his subjugation of nature as well as of nature's destroyer, — answered to a peculiar homage and allegiance insured to him by this unique day. Thus, the two words of this short Scripture phrase imply a comparison of his day with the Mosaic Sabbath, and of his Lordship with that of Him who or- dained the seventh day as a sign to Israel. The com- THE ORIGINATION OF THE LORD'S DAY. oD parison is with these alone. No deity of the heathen, no leader of men, has ever been honored with such a day. The followers of Mohammed have never professed to keep their Friday as the prophet's day. It is avowedly a con- tinuation of that institution of a weekly day of worship, recorded in the Bible, whose authority the Koran ac- knowledges. Therefore Islam has never worshiped Mo- hammed on its Friday, It asserts the worship of God alone. But the Church on her Lord's Day has always worshiped her Lord Jesus Christ. She worshiped Him as in the highest sense even in essential deity one with Him whom Moses called Jehovah : yet also as in a certain sense distinct from Him whom He, Jesus him- self, called Father. So, appearing side by side with the older Sabbath, — facing it, each the head of the series forward and backward of the weeks, absorbing the older day in itself, as the highest exponent of that one week of identical age-long succession, — the Lord's Day set forth the continuity of that one religion handed down from patriarchs and prophets, and completely embodied in the person of our Lord. Yet, as in its name distinguished from the day of God, Jehovah, and in its position ad- vanced to the beginning of the week, it set forth a con- trast between faith in God, who — in however many ways He had come near to man, and by however many material types and words and disciplinary providences He had manifested a relation between himself and man — was not of us or like us : and faith in Him, who, however divine in essence, was man also, and man first of all to human perception : the faith which made religion, the tie between God and man, the simplest, dearest, first. In these two woi'ds, " Lord's Day," the mysteries of the Incarnation and of the Trinity are hidden. In them " the Lord " is distinguished from God the Father, as clearly as the seventh day from the first. But in mark- 86 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. ing the honor paid to our Lord of a weekly day of hom- age, an honor which humanity in all the ages has never paid to any less than Deity, these words express his one- ness with the Eternal God, just as the light of Saturday's and of Sunday's sun is the one Light which has not ceased to encircle the world. The single occurrence of this phrase may be compared with the rarity of the word Christian in the New Testa- ment, This word is found three times. But an apostle 1 Pet. 4:6. uscs it ouly ouce. Lithe other instances it is Actfiii:26; in the mouths of unbelievers. Thus, as for the first phrase, apostolic authority is given. But it cannot be without purpose that such authority is given only once. We must infer that while these names are good, suitable, and approved of the Holy Ghost, the stress of doctrine or practice must not be laid upon them alone, but their meaning rather must be gathered from all the rest of the Sacred Word. Experience has proved that the name Christian may imply very much or very little. It was pregnant enough before one of Nero's or of Diocletian's prastors. In some quarters now it seems to differ from heathen only as if it described one more va- cant of regard for God. The expressiveness of the phrase Lord's Day has varied quite as much. To English or German eai's it is still full of solemn significance. But to the Frenchman ^ or Spaniai-d or Italian, it is as color- less as the name Sunday among us. It has simply taken the place of our Sunday among the names of the days. In fine the use of this phrase by an apostle once is inspired testimony to the character of the day, as an institution compared or contrasted with the Mosaic Sab- bath, but devoted to our Lord, — the single occurrence of the phrase is a warning not to lay undue weight upon ^ Frencli, Dimanche ; Italian, Dominica; Spanish, Domingo; all are forms of the Latin Dominica (sc. Dies) = the Lord's Day. THE ORIGINATION OF THE LORD'S DAY. 37 the name alone, but to seek elsewhere the divine pur- pose which is the living spirit within the body of the institution so named. Papists of southeastern Europe call it always the Lord's Day, but they pay scant homage to the Lord. Evangelical believers commonly call it Sunday, but they delight to celebrate it by united wor- ship to their Lord alone. From the name, therefore, the mind turns to that supreme moment in our Lord's career which gives the name its force. Paul wrote to the Romans that He was " declared to be the Son of God with power ... by the resurrection from the dead." The " power " of this declaration or " determination " (margin A. V., R. V.) could not have been felt at once in its full extent. The impression made upon the apostles, who were staggering under the strain of faith, and the wrench of hope, and the horrible shame of the cruci- fixion day, can be compared with nothing but the im- pression we shall receive when we shall have realized our own resurrection. The effect was not produced at one moment, nor by the one circumstance that their Lord who had died reappeared living. Doubtless if the ap- pearance of resurrection day could have sufficed for human nature, our Lord would not have deferred his ascension for foi'ty days. We must believe that all his acts during those forty days were intended and adapted to deepen and to perfect in its proportions the impres- sion received on the resurrection day. Its reality was first thoroughly fastened in their consciousness. Luke (in the Acts) states that He showed his return to life by many infallible proofs, specifying his repeated appear- ances, and his discourses on such occasions. John notes his obtaining personal recognition from individuals, his benediction on the assembly, his eating with them, his miracle of the draught of fish, and " many other signs." 38 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. Matthew, Mark, and Luke (in the gospel) simply record how He was recognized, and how He proved his material and bodily identity by eating and by showing his wounds. Plainly, the utmost care was taken to convince his fol- lowers that He was the very man Jesus who had died on the cross, — the very body and soul and manhood, not an appearance nor a disembodied spirit, or aught but his own absolute self. Plainly, too, this fact was with the utmost difficulty comprehended, and very slowly realized by them. Plainly, however, they did at last become per- fectly certain of the fact. After that they professed themselves witnesses preeminentl}'' of his resurrection in very body of flesh and bones. They built their gospel on that fact. But even these very brief narratives show that some- thing more needed to be effected, and at last was effected. For alongside of our Lord's manifestations must be set his disappearances. He did not remain with his dis- ciples. He showed himself for a time and then vanished. Only a very few times thus must He have showed hira- 1 Cor. 15: ^®^^* Paul mentious five. He was not giving ^""" a catalogue, and omits some elsewhere men- tioned, but could not have mentioned these five in such a connection if there had been many more. His argument is that there had been interviews enough, and with suf- ficiently diverse persons and classes, to establish the fact, and the capacity of the witnesses to certify it without the possibility of being mistaken. It is taken for granted that He was seen on not many of the forty days. He did not live with his followers as formerly. He visited them. With one exception, there is, however, nothing by which to estimate the interval between these visits. The narratives are all so framed as to countenance no ritualistic use of such occasions. If it had been declared that on the first day of each week, and then only, the THE ORIGINATION OF THE LORD'S DAY. 39 Lord had appeared, a tradition might easily have gone down that on such days only was He to be worshiped or expected to bless or save. What might have come out of such an idea during the thousand years of super- stition, — the dark ages, — no one need conjecture. But the Church has never known this error. There has never been a day when believers have felt that their Lord was inaccessible. This freedom has been in no small measure preserved to us by the silence of the evangelists. Nor has it been without the restraint of an overruling Provi- dence, that the usurping hierarchy did not make Sunday their special care, but rather obscured it by the introduc- tion of other festivals and observances. Some of these other days were the signs of homage to the hierarchy and of subjection to superstition. The Lord's Day re- mained through all these centuries, so far as it retained any religious significance, a day for profession of faith in Jesus the Lord, and of homage to Him personally. That it should become the special day of general public homage to Him, and remain at the same time, though special not exclusive, and though consecrated yet divested of any perfunctory dignity, hallowed for the purpose of worship- ing the Lord, by no means hallowed for the purpose of accomplishing any ritual, — the silence and omission of Scripture with the continued discipline of the Spirit provided. Since it did become at once the central fact externally of the church's organic life, — that is, the occasion when the church's activity as a church be- came visible in her act of general worship, — it might be expected that the one exception to the silence of the Scripture would afford, when duly weighed, the explana- tion of so momentous a fact otherwise not explained. All the evangelists state that our Lord's resurrection took place on the first day of the week. No other note of time seems to have occurred to them. Fifteen or 40 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. twenty years must have passed before the first gospel appeared, — more than fifty before tlie last was written. The writers were mature in experience and in acquaint- ance with the growing church. And they were inspired. But apparently they felt no interest concerning the year or the month or the day of the month. It must be that the church of their age was equally indifferent to these matters. The week was the one period in the church's mind. There must have been something in the nature of the week as a historical institution, and as an inherit- ance of the apostles and of the Church, to account for this. But John, in the latest gospel, shows how our Lord, by his own acts, sanctioned the week and the weekly Lord's Day. Yet this information is given inci- dentally, as though the week ought of itself to be a suffi- cient explanation of its own continuance. In the twentieth chapter of this gospel John relates certain particulars of the resurrection morning and of our Lord's entry at the disciples' evening gathering. Then, in order as it would seem to illustrate in the case of Thomas what care our Lord took to satisfy all doubts as to his bodily identity, something is recorded of another gathering at which He appeared on the next Sunday. In the twentj'-first chapter John proceeds : " After these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Galilee." Having described the recognition, John adds (verse 14) : " This is now the third time that Jesus showed himself to his disciples after that He was risen from the dead." Thus we learn that the risen Jesus appeared first on his resurrection day, the second time on the next Sunday, and the third time, after an unknown interval, at the lake-side. For six whole days between the rising day and its octave He was absent. John 20: Was this a slight matter to the timid company 19.26. ^Ijq received Him in their retreat behind closed THE ORIGINATION OF THE LORD'S DAY. 41 doors ! Will it be supposed that their emotions were calm and their reasoning cool at that first reunion. One week before they had stood upon a pinnacle of triumph. They had followed their Lord while He was welcomed with acclamations to Jerusalem as the heir of David and King of Israel. Half a week before they had been lifted to a loftier height, in spiritual exaltation, as they lis- tened with their own ears to that sublime and tender discourse on the passover evening. Then with startling suddenness they had seen the "King of Israel" a help- less prey. They had seen their teacher and friend mocked by authority and outraged in his person. They had seen their Lord, their Christ, hung between wretched thieves and dead upon a gibbet. It does not seem possi- ble to exaggerate the strain which they endured. It did not cease when the pierced body was laid in Joseph's tomb. It did not cease through the Sabbath quietude. It did not cease when the first dawn of the next week called them to various errands of duty. Luke i,„]5e24: has drawn a vivid sketch of their state in the ^^■^'^• episode of the walk to Emmaus. They could not utterly despair, yet they could not conceive of anything in which hope could be embodied. They had, indeed, seen every force of nature, and of the supernatural, so far as they knew either, subject to his bare word. The dead three times at least had been roused to the resumption of life by his voice. In their very hearts they had trusted " that it had been He that should have redeemed ,,„,„, Luke 24 : 21. Israel." But their confidence seems to have been built on his physical and perhaps on his psychical power. He was " mit^hty in deed and word „. ,„ ^ & J _ Luke 24: 19. before God and all the people." Such might ought to have overcome the heathen and the gentile. But it did not. It seemed to vanish at the touch of Roman hands, as Samson's at the touch of Delilah's 42 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. shears. It was drowned in abject shame. The shame, perhaps, was as potent as tlie horror to unman them. Yet after all He had preserved his dignity to the end. He had yielded but He had not been overcome. Every word and act was full of the old authority. Sanhedrim, king, and governor had felt his rebuke but had not seen Him quail. The appealing wretch hanging beside Hira had been comforted. The soldiers who pierced his hands had heard Him invoke divine compassion on their igno- rance. The Roman officer in charge of the execution had been self-compelled to acknowledge Him as the Son of God. And then the words were recalled in which He himself had foretold them of this suffering and death and of a third day on which He should rise. Mark 9:9.^ . "^ They questioned much what this rising should mean. It could not be like the recall of Jairus' daughter, or of the young Nainite, or of Lazarus. With these this recall was only an astonishing incident. It was of very much more importance than a recovery from critical sick- ness. But it was like that in relation to the other inci- dents of their lives. On the other hand, our Lord's rising was to be a climax. Both in the written proj)he- cies and in his own words there w^ere power and glory and victory, and the full majesty of the Messianic Do- minion, certainly to come. This rising must, therefore, precede them, — in some way introduce them. And on this very day it was said that the tomb was empty and He alive. But no such demonstrations as might an- nounce the assumption of his kingdom had been made. No clang of angelic shouts and trumpets had shaken the world. The sun shone as quietly as on other days, and the city went on as usual with all its affairs. The Ro- man yoke had not been loosened a whit from their necks. Thus the state of mind in which Cleopas and his com- panion found themselves was not unlike that which be- THE ORIGINATION OF THE LORD'S DAY. 43 lievers often now experience when bereaved of some one very near and beloved. They may know facts which prove that death to be a blessing. They may know and believe the promises of God. They may have had pre- cious communion with their Saviour in fellowship with the departed. They may have full expectation of the future life and its reunion for both the dead and them- selves. All these things may be in their minds neither forgotten nor unheeded, and yet the one supreme fact of death may so engross their feelings with its shock and bitterness that all other considerations seem intangible. The mind perceives but cannot attend to them. Be- lievers sorrow not as others but they sorrow wholly. So Cleopas and his friend, though not in utter despair, were sad. From many little touches in the narrative it is evident that the state of mind of the two was that of all. Their intellectual faculties were in a measure stunned, paralyzed. When they all gathered at their evening meal three of the brethren present, one of these an apostle, testified to personal interviews with the Risen One. Perhaps Mary also was there to tell her stor3\ Yet when Jesus entered suddenly they were all crazed with terror and could think of nothing but a ghost ; so that He upbraided them with their unbelief and Luke24:3s ; hardness of heart. Even then He had to con- Marki6:i4.' vince them by physical evidence that He was truly flesh and blood. Then were they indeed glad, but ^^^^ 20:20- not yet with a rational joy. Since, therefore, ^"■^^24:^1. it was so difficult to rouse them to the simple external fact of the resurrection, — a fact on which they knew the fulfillment of prophecy turned, a fact of which He him- self had again and again instructed them, a fact witnesses to which had come forward among their own company with explicit testimony impossible to gainsay, a fact which the sight of his torn hands, the sound of his voice, and 44 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. his eating of their food, in addition to all that they other- wise knew, attested in every way possible for the access of knowledge to men, — how could the deeper meanings and wider results of his rising come into their minds at all. As the evangelists intimate, it was necessary to meet them again and again in order to fasten this one conviction upon all. The gathering on a mountain in Galilee, whether of the five hundred or only of the eleven, must have been at least the fourth in- Matt. 28 : 17. . ^, , ■ • 11 terview. let even at this time we are told some doubted. Another impression was to be made. And, at length, it was worked out into clear and durable relief. While they learned his human identity, they were also learning his majesty. When He left the company that evening, what a whirl of glad emotion was thrilling every breast ! But, He had not been wont to hold himself aloof from them. Were they startled by this unusual withdrawal ? Or were they so absorbed in grasping his return, that they were little affected by his act of departing? Or was there a greater awe in his presence than they had ever felt be- fore ? However it was, He went from them in the night. Most grateful and refreshing must have been the sleep that night brought. Enough had happened to exhaust their active powers. There might well be given them a period of quiet and contemplation longer than the night. So morning came — day and again night passed. Day after day was vacant until six days had gone. Where was their Lord ? He did not come to them. They could not find Him. All the particulars of that first day were naturally recounted. Every word and gesture was re- called and commented on. Mary, Peter, Cleopas and his friend, severally repeated, doubtless more than once, every THE ORIGINATION OF THE LORD'S DAY. 45 circumstance of their conversations with Him. Well-re- membered portions of his former discourses were surely cited, and wonderingly compared with passages from the prophets, the psalms, and the law, which might in the least bear upon this great event. But where was He now? Was there not, possibly, after all, some mistake. They all had been intensely wrought up. Grief, shame, hope, joy, all the diverse winds of human passion had swept over them in a tornado whirl. Might not their over- strained souls have seen a phantasm created by them- selves ? Could they assure each other of their several sanity? Could they attest the active consciousness of each other, if they persisted in declaring that they had seen Him ? Had they just seen Him, just once, and for one hour ? If it were indeed really He, was this then all ? Had He appeared for the moment to leave them entirely ? Some had not seen Him. Would He not come again to convince them ? He had spoken sometimes of being with them always. When would He come again. If He were really and truly alive from the dead. He must. He will come back to them. They are his disciples. They are his friends. They are his chosen employes. They love Him. They believe in Him. They are ready to serve Him. He will return to them if he is a living man. Is it possible to exaggerate the effect of this blank space of time, in fixing and defining the impressions re- ceived through his visits ? Each day his majesty rises and towers like a stately wall before their minds. How clear, perhaps painfully clear, it becomes to them that they can see only a little of his purposes and prepara- tions. If He is living, then He is occupied with affairs far above their grasp. The wisdom to plan and the force to execute are not theirs, not dependent upon them. Their isolation and weakness, apart from Him, become drearily sensible. Thus by degrees, with hard but neces- 46 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. sary discipline, the truth is pressed upon their attention and made familiar to their thought, that He is indepen- dent of them, while they depend on Him ; that He lias charge of affairs vaguely great, the Kingdom of God and and the Kingdom of Israel, while they are helplessly and unwittingly . waiting for Him ; that He who is greater than death must be greater than the necessities of com- mon life ; that He so near, so far, so close, so lofty, so incomprehensible in his self-existence must partake of the very being of the self-existent God. The third day of that week came round. They may have counted that there were only about forty hours from the spear-thrust on Golgotha to the meeting with Peter, — only about fifty hours to the benediction in their as- sembly. But now another forty and fifty hours have passed and He does not show himself. The monotonous vacancy continues. On the fifth day of his absence there is a Holy Convention in the temple, but He does not at- tend. On the sixth day, the regular Sabbath arrives. Will He honor this day by his presence ? He does not come. It is as vacant as the rest. The risen Lord will not distinguish it. The disciples still cannot find Him ! The strain is kept upon them until perhaps they can bear it no longer, until at least the perfect moment comes that shall fix the day and the interval forever and stamp his title on the weeks. Certainly this was not one moment too soon. It can- not be a mistake to regard this six days' abstention as an ordeal of constantly increasing severity to the disciples. All their hopes, all their longings, which grew so much vaster than their hopes, rested on a few circumstances which Thomas and others denied, and which the rest hardly dared affirm. If this were all they should see of their risen Lord what would it all avail ? Where was his expected glory ? Where was the promised kingdom ? THE ORIGINATION OF THE LORD'S DAY. 47 Where was their own personal hope of a place in that kingdom. Every clay's blank inaction mocked their hope and tended to unsettle their confidence in the verity of the resurrection itself. The few hours, or, it may be, the hour. He had spent with them, grew dimmer to the rea- son, and became more and more like a dream or a hallu- cination. Hope and longing sickened — starved. But the ordeal was not prolonged one moment be- yond the perfect interval. On the octave of the resur- rection day, the Lord revisited them. His familiar voice gave the salutation " Peace." By bodily, physical proof, He again convinced doubters and confirmed believers. And this second appearance, on the eighth day of the new era, must have wrought on his followers some new impressions. They would now feel that his absence im- plied his return ; that, as he returned on the resurrec- tion octave, they might expect Him again on the next octave ; that his act in thus emphasizing the week, in view of its traditional meaning and august associations, harmonized with that divine majesty which they in greater awe now reverenced in Him ; and that the first day of the week, which had its own types and analogues in the law, was chosen by Him as the first step of his progress toward his full regnal habilitation. This first step from Sunday to Sunday, making the week his measure as it had been his Father's measure, may well have helped ^ , ,^^ „^ Thomas to raise that adoring cry, " My Lord and My God." Four more Sundays passed before the ascension. Did our Lord appear on any or all of them ? The Scriptures are silent. We do not know. He did appear ^^^^ ^^ again at least four times : once to five apostles ; i-i*^ ^^ once to five hundred disciples, beside the apos- ^^^^^ ^7. ties ; once to James ; and once to all the apos- I'j-,^^ ^^ . ^ ties. Paul, in mentioning this last interview icor. i5:7. 48 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. with all the apostles, may have referred to the ascension, which, of course, did not occur on a Sunda}^ On the other hand, the meeting with the live hundred noted by Paul, and the meeting with the eleven in Galilee, recorded by Matthew, may have been two separate oc- casions. Nowhere is it stated how many times the Lord showed himself. In Paul's list the lake-side inter- view is omitted. There may have been others, nowhere recorded. While plainly intimating that his appear- ances were few, the records show that He may have appeared on every Sunday. Some reasons have been al- ready advanced which may account for the silence of the Scriptures on this point. Special studies of the week and of the law may illuminate this silence ; and mani- festly, in the establishment of the Lord's Day as an in- stitution, at a time when the developing church was di- rectly influenced by the actual words and bodily presence of the Lord, there is proof tliat He allowed his disciples to get no impression incongruous with its observance. The resurrection day, the resurrection week, and the resurrection octave, — the first succeeding Lord's Day, — began a series, which, in fact, has shown enduring vi- tality. The disciples would naturally expect to see their Lord again one week after the second meeting. They Matt. 28 : ° . . . *^ 10. had been instructed to go into Galilee. On John 21: 1. , . „ ... . , ° , ,0111 this familiar ground, perhaps, when the Sabbath was over at sunset, the five may have felt called to pro- vide for the general wants by betaking themselves to their old occupation. They toiled all night without suc- cess. Sunday morning dawned. The Lord had twice visited them in the late afternoon at the meal which closed the day. They thought only of seeing Him at the same time of the day, and when a voice on the shore called to them out of the morning's gray, they did not THE ORIGINATION OF THE LORD'S DAY. 49 recognize it. But He had special treatment for some or all of these five, and so He met them unexpectedly. He may or He may not have met the full company as usual later in the day. There is no reason to suppose He did not, because the nari-atives imply that his appearances were not many. It must be noted that the passage in the fifteenth chapter of First Corinthians, while specific as to persons, is entirely vague as to time.^ In the Greek, the verb is always in the aorist or indefinite tense. If Paul had in his mind the thought of three classes of in- terviews, — one with individuals, one with the apostolic college, one with the whole believing brotherhood, and wished to state, as evidence of the resurrection, that during forty days Jesus held these three classes of in- terviews, — his language would properly answer to that thought. It may be paraphrased thus : " He showed himself to Peter first, and then to James individually. Then, too, He met the apostles from time to time. Then, too. He was seen (once or oftener) by the whole body of disciples, numbering more than five hundred. Finally He was with all the apostles at an interview, or series of interviews, closed by his ascension from their midst." All these considerations may be said to warrant the following assertions : — 1. The conduct of our Lord after the resurrection would naturally lead his disciples to expect that he would con- tinue to visit them on the first day of each week. 2. There is nothing in the Scripture inconsistent with or unfavorable to the belief that He did so visit them. ^ The i^Ta and eireira, like our " then," may indicate succession in time or in thought. By Peter unquestionably, He was seen first, and by Paul last abnormally, after the forty days had passed. It is scarcely possible that the other interviews are named in order of occurrence. If this were so, it seems incredible that the mountain of Matthew and the lake-side of John could have been omitted. 4 60 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. 3. Whether or not He did see them every Sunda}', the return of each Sunday continued to be in some way as- sociated with Him, and nothing was permitted to occur that should weaken this association. There is recorded one later event which must have been second only to the resurrection in its importance both as an epoch in the Church's history, and as an im- pulse to the perpetual observance of the Lord's Day. Pentecost had a peculiar character among Jewish anni- versaries. Moreover, its peculiarities seem to find their antitype in the Lord's Day of the Church. But the dis- cussion of them belongs to another study. It is doubted by some, whether the seven weeks were to be counted from the Sabbath which fell in the passover week, or from the first day of unleavened bread which was treated ' ' as a Sabbath. But this year the first day of unleavened bread was a Sabbath, and the Pentecost cer- tainly fell on the first day of the week. On this day, full of traditional solemnity, and the seventh Sunday since the resurrection, the besrinnins of the oc- Acts 1 : 15. ... ^ . tave week, the disciples in Jerusalem, in num- ber one hundred and twenty men and women, met " with one accord." They did not gather for the cele- bration of the festival, for the public services were at the temple, and the family feasts would not be sjDread until the late afternoon. Their " one accord " was " for prayer and supplication. The striking Greek word homothumad6n ^ Qofxo6vixaS6v') means, witli the same heart-impulse. In every one of their hearts the same fact, or experience, stirred them at the same time, in the same direction. We are not authorized to presume that it was such a meeting as occurred every day. The 1 There is another dfxodvtiaSSv in Acts i. 14. It is a coincidence that tlierc was also another Lord's Day after the Ascension and be- fore Pentecost. THE ORIGINATION OF THE LORD'S DAY. 51 circumstances which, after this, obliged and enabled them to devote every day to evangelization, did not j^et exist. Doubtless they had to provide their living by daily work. That some unrecorded monition from Heaven, or charge left them by their Lord, induced them to hold this meeting, is not impossible, nor is it in the least prob- able. The known fact sufficiently accounts for every- thing. It was that day of the week on which He had risen, and on which He had revisited them after a whole week's absence. Moreover, this was the seventh return of that same first day of the week so marked by Him. To their Jewish minds there was a deep significance in this reduplication, aud uot improbably a vague appre- hension of correspondences between the law and tradi- tion of this unique observance of their nation and their own circumstances as a body. Such facts in both mind and heart could not fail to impel them to the general gathering of this day. And so this general assembly on the seventh return of the Lord's Day experienced the formal inauguration of the church's career, by Him who has been ever since her special Director therein. He, the church's Teacher and Inspirer, b}^ thus taking this seven- fold Lord's Day for the day of his manifestation, sealed to the Church that custom of observing it, which the action of the Lord had, established. Probably the Lord's Day would have been more prom- inent among the incidents related of the Early Church if Jerusalem had been an ordinary city. For if the early converts had been largely resident merchants and arti- sans, they might not have been able to maintain daily assembling and evangelizing. In that case, the weekly congregation would necessarily have become nwre con- spicuous. But in fact Jerusalem could have had scarcely any trade beyond its own supplies. It seems to have lived, like some other capitals and bournes of pilgrimage, 52 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. off its visitors. The early converts belonged to all parts of the Roman empire and beyond it. Such persons, dur- ing their stay, would be led, by their fervor, to throng the daily assembly. Resident believers would have more lei- sure than citizens of busy connnercial marts could com- mand, and would warmly join with their relatives and guests. The apostles, aware that very many of the new adherents could remain with them for only a short time, would use every precious moment for fellowship and in- struction. Thus the narrative seems to imply that, so far as religious meetings were concerned, the Lord's Day could hardly have been distinguished from other days, since every day was full. But when the Church had spread to other points, devoid of the extraordinary char, acter of Jerusalem society, the references to the Lord's Day are such as coincide precisely with the ideal which the Church in all ages has preserved. On his second missionary journey Paul planted a church in Corinth. A year or two later, while in Ephe- sus, he wrote the first epistle to that church. Three of 1 Cor. 16- it^ members had visited him, and pi'obably had •^'' asked for instruction, among other matters, on the method of collecting the church's benevolent of- ferings. Paul directed them to make their contribution 1 Cor. 16 : weekly on the first day of the week. There is •^'^' a possible ambiguity in the words " lay by him in store." This " store " may be an aggregate in each man's own hands, or a common store in the hands of the ofiicers of the church. But if each man kept his own, the elders or the apostles must needs collect when the sum was to be sent off. This would be directly against Paul's provision, " that there be no gatherings," that no collec- tions be made (R. V.), " when I come." The practical disadvantages of asking men to keep their gifts until called for, instead of receiving them when offered, are so THE ORIGINATION OF THE LORD'S DAY. bo evident, tliat one need not doubt whether a clear-headed man like tlie great apostle could make such a blunder in Galatia and repeat it in Corinth. There is no reasonable doubt that in this passage a regular general assembly of the Church is taken for granted, and that the collection is recommended as a regular feature of that assembly.^ On the return from the third tour Paul came to Troas. The vessel in which he sailed from Philippi* had lagged five days on the way, arriving at last on the second day of the week, our Monday. Paul had stimulating recollections of Troas. It was probably an important church centre just then, since seven of the apostle's companions were sent there in advance. When Paul met the whole Church there in its assembly, he was so moved that he preached until midnight, and then, after tlie accident to Eutychus, continued the services connected with " the breaking of bread " until day dawned. It lies certainly on the face of the narrative, that Paul " abode there seven days " in order to attend their full meeting on Sunda}"-, having lost the previous Sunday's meeting by being detained two or three days longer than Actsi6:ii, usual on the voyage. So here we find the ^^■ Lord's Day the occasion when the Church once in seven days comes together in general assembly, with preaching, and with sacramental breaking of bread. In the various books of the New Testament, a number of passages refer to the meetings of Christians, but only those already discussed connect these meetings explicitly with the Lord's Day. It would seem as if the Divine Inspirer of the Scriptures had permitted only these few ^ The passage 2 Cor. ix. 6 indicates that Paul expected the repre- sentatives of the Church, apparently the brethren to whom he had spoken personally about it, namely, Stephanus, Fortunatus, and Achaiciis (1 Cor. xvi. 17), themselves to hold the church's bounty all ready in their own hands. 54 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. glimpses to appear in this part of the Sacred Canon, in order that at the proper time men might see that while the day miglit in them be traced to a distinct source, the true conception of its character was to be drawn from a larger view. These glimpses are sufficient, but no more than sufficient. They present before us the first week of the new era, showing how our Lord emphasized the first day of the week, not only by his resurrection and his visit to his disciples, but also by his abstention from them until tlie next first day. Tiien the seventh return of the first day is presented, showing by visible manifes- tation the entry of the Divine Being upon a new disci- pline of mankind through the Church. Then, after about twenty years, a view is presented of a European church holding its regular assemblies on the first day of the week, and, by apostolic direction, regularly gathering the alms of its members on that day. After perhaps another year, there is a view of a church in Asia Minor likewise assembling regularly on the first day of the week for preaching and the Eucharistic Supper, while an apostle, whose tardy vessel brought him into their harbor just too late for one of these meetings, tarried a week, though " pressed for time," in order to attend the next. Five and twenty years, perhaps, later, a scene ap- pears in whose foreground is an aged apostle, the last survivor of the original college, refreshing his solitude at Patmos, by lofty communings with Heaven on the Lord's Day. Li the distance is a circle of churches to whom the divine messages and the Apocalypse are being transmitted, who also have learned the expressiveness of this short title for the first day of the week, and under- stand the appropriateness to the Lord's Day of peculiar religious privileges and enjoyments in the special and ' spiritual " worship of the Lord. THE ORIGINATION OF THE LORD'S DAY. 55 Within the next half century, Pliny and Justin — heathen and Christian, persecutor and martyr — wrote, with many others, their testimony to the observance of the Lord's Day by Christians in general, — and the sec- ular history of the day begins. STUDY III. TELE "SVEEK. "And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it." — Gex. ii. 3. The five glimpses of the Apostolic Lord's Day are pre- sented in the New Testament incidentally. If the obser- vance had ceased with that generation, and had never been known to secular history, no one probably, in this age, would be able from the New Testament notices alone to conceive of it. But it has not ceased. Those few no- tices are to be read with the illustrations which eighteen centuries of Christian faith have placed beside them. The experiences of the true Church, in which these illus- trations consist, are the discipline of the Holy Spirit, and thei-efore fitted to explain his word. Since He has led the Church to maintain the Lord's Day as a loyal festival with assemblies for worshiping the Lord, He must also have controlled its establishment. These few notices, therefore, give us glimpses of his early leading. By its homogeneity the history of the day proves that it is, and from the first has been, under his superintendence. The mind indeed seeks for some word of direct institu- tion, of explicit authorization. But since none is found, it must be that none was needed. If it was not directly instituted or explicitly authorized, it must have grown out from something already existing, something already en- dowed with prerogative. May there not be some older institution, some larger ordinance, some permanent, pre- cise, acknowledged fact, unnoticed, perhaps, because its THE WEEK. 57 magnitude and grandeur are so familiar, — which yet may be the foundation of the Lord's Day, resting deep down on the bedrock of primeval humanity ? One thing is certain : Christianity inherited all the past relations between God and believing men. There is a unity in the development of that which, in the largest sense, we call the True Church. The New Testament emphatically declares that it is one wdth the Ech 2 : 20 old. The foundation is by prophets and apos- tles, coordinate. The law and the prophets witness to the righteousness which is b}^ faith of Him, who j^^^^ g.oj said that He came to fulfil them. Christians jj^^t 5.17 are the legal children of Abraham. They are not a totally new and distinct product of divine grace, but are "grafted" into the old stock. Rom. 11 : From the day of the first promise, given in ■^''-*- Eden, the same spiritual sap which now nourishes it has flowed in every age, through substantially the same ma- turing body of the faithful. With the more ancient history, every one of the evan- gelists has connected the Lord's Day by the statement so carefully recorded, that the Lord rose on the first day of the week. This is the only statement which can be said to bear directly, and not merely incideirtally, upon the origination of the Lord's Day. Evidently the Spirit of Wisdom has restrained other utterances. But He has caused this statement to be reiterated five times, — six times indeed, if the last paragraph of Mark is re- ceived. The Church took up the succession of the weeks just as it had come down the ages. She still maintains it perfect and unbroken. Evidently both evangelists and apostles expected that the week would continue. Per- haps they could not explain the reason, yet they plainly felt that its significance and prestige ought to insure its persistence. 58 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. What then is the week ? First of all it must be dis- tinguished from a week. A week is a period of seven successive days. Tropically it may mean any period composed of seven equal successive times, a week of weeks, or of months, or of years. It is used also (rarely) for small divisions of the month, whether of seven days or not. But the week is the regular series of a particu- lar set of seven days. There is a fixed beginning and ending for each member of this series. It is therefore comparable with the succession of the months and years. It is defined in four particulars by its contrast with those periods. I. The succession of the weeks is invariable and un- broken. No other time period larger than the day in common use has been without occasional hiatus, variation, or adjustment. Such modifications are required in order that any recurring number of days should coincide with recurring lunar or solar phases. Neither a month nor a year can be broken into weeks without a remainder. In- deed, neither the lunation nor the solar year consists of an integral number of days. They cannot therefore be accurately divided into equal parts consisting of days. We do not attempt to have our months and years corre- spond precisely with the time of sun and moon. They vary, but their inequality is known, and so far conve- nient. Accuracy with them would bring intolerable an- noyance. But the week recurs with invariable accuracy. This characteristic of the week distinguishes it from not only months and years, but also smaller time meas- ure. Mr. George Smith, about a score of years ago, found among the Assyrian remains in the British Mu- seum a calendar of ancient Nineveh. In it the months were lunations, and consequently of twenty -nine and thirty days alternately. The seventh, fourteenth, twenty- first, and twenty-eighth days of each month were noted as THE WEEK. 59 vacant days on which no business should be done. Here certainly were weeks. But they were not invariable weeks like ours. One out of every four consisted of eight or nine days instead of seven. The series was broken off and begun anew every month. The week known to us and to the Scriptures is independent of the months. If its beginning or end should coincide with the beginning or end of a month, that is accidental. The week is never stretched or compressed for any purpose. Its succession has never been known to be broken or modified. 1 The Nundine of the Romans was a time division, widely known and long in use. The word (Latin nun- dinum^ means a period of nine days. These nine days consisted of two market days, with seven daj^s interven- ing. According to our English idiom, we should say that the nundine consisted of eight days, every eighth day being the market day. These nundines ran on, without regard to the months, in regular succession. But the series never went through a whole year. There was a sentiment, it is said, that the market should not be held on any day sacred to a religious festival. Therefore, at the beginning of each year, a certain college of priests were charged to examine the calendar. After ascertain- ing when the festivals would occur, they would select such a starting-point for the nundines as would carry the markets clear of any interference. The space between the last nundine of one year and the first of the follow- ing year would, therefore, be longer or shorter, according to circumstances. The series never continued from year to 3'ear. Unlike the week, it had no invariable, un- broken, independent succession, but was contingent upon other features of the year. ^ Assyrian Discoveries, by George Smith, Ep. Conon. Chal. Gen. etc.; Lenormant, Beginnings of History, p. 414, Am. ed. 60 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. Some nations have had ten-day periods, and some, also, five-day periods, in more or less use. But such periods were, strictly, subdivisions of the month. They were subject to modification whenever the month was varied. Their series was never invariable and unbroken. In- deed, it does not appear that it was ever used or regarded as a series. There is, then, so far as the history of man is yet known, no record of any time period believed to be invariable, other than the week. No other like pe- riod seems ever to have been intended for regular suc- cession or adapted to such use. No men thought of pre- serving such a sequence as a matter of importance, much less as a matter of duty, except men to whom the God of the Bible was known. For thousands of years this se- quence has been perfectly maintained. There are good reasons for believing that its integrity has continued from the remotest age. But no other time period, or system of time periods in actual use, has continued through any considerable recurrence, without variation. One in four of our years is varied. Our months differ still more. Uncertainty concernincr the length and succession of years is a great obstacle to the study of ancient chronol- ogy. The lunar calendar, which the Mohammedan world still follows, begins each month and each year with a new moon. Its months, therefore, have twenty-nine and thirty days alternately. But once in seventeen months another day must be inserted, in order to keep the first of the month in accord with the first of the moon. Then the series of twenty-nines and thirties is broken off, two thirties come together, and a new series of twenty-nines and thirties is begun. These facts invest the week with venerable and singu- lar dignity. Of all the time periods, large or small, into which men have been wont to group their days, this one alone has come down from inscrutable antiquity, with no THE WEEK. 61 variation or the slightest irregularity. Lunations,^ years, centuries, and all the cycles of cosmic time, go on, it is true, with unswerving precision. But man's perception of the termini of these periods is necessarily imperfect. The rotation of his planetary home does not coincide with the grander rounds marked by the bodies in his sky. The conditions of his activity are, in many ways, controlled by the phases of sun and moon. But in reck- oning time he has never been able to count his months or years from the moment when the solar or lunar course is completed. Each year is distinct, each month is indi- vidualized, but the exact boundaries of each are confused and imperceptible. A day that is the ordinary alterna- tion of darkness and light is fixed ^ in nature as the world's time unit. Months and years, even now, are thought of as rather vaguely containing about so many days. For many social and business purposes a theoret- ical month of thirty and year of three hundred sixty days are still used. But the day is never conceived as the exact fraction of a month or year. It is, therefore, true that the week is the largest multiple of the day which 1 A lunation consists of 29 days, 12 hours, 44 min., 2 -^^ sec, or decimally, 29.53058872 days. Hence, 17 lunations = very nearly 502 days (502.02000824) = 9 X 30 -f- 8 X 29. If the first month have 29 days, the second 30 days, and so on, then the 17th must have 30 as well as the 16th. Then the 18th month of 29 days and the 19th of 30 days may begin a new series of 17 months. ' The idea of regular and invariable succession belongs to the ■whole day, including night. In high latitudes, as daylight grows longer or shorter, darkness correspondingly grows shorter or longer, so that no difference in the length of the whole alternation is noticed. The time for beginning our legal day, midnight, is, of course, arbi- trarily fixed for convenience. The poinilar mind is just beginning to entertain ideas of an international, intercontinental, and even terrene datum for the conventional or legal day. Observe that the feeblest minded races are perfectly able to grasp the idea of a seven- day period. 62 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. mankind have ever been able to use. This dignity of the week unquestionably must have been very deeply im- pressed on the early disciples. The precision in measur- ing time, to which all in this day ai'e accustomed, could not have been comprehended by Peter and his associates. To them the count of years and the progress of months was far more vague than to us, who carry watches and read daily journals. To them, therefore, even more than to us, the week must have been the standard and the ideal of an invariable period and of unfluctuating recur- rence. II. In the second place, the week is an arbitrary pe- riod — the only entirely arbitrary period known to human use. By this phrase, " arbitrary period," is meant a measure of time dependent upon no natural phenomena, and brought into use or kept in use by authority alone. The precise legal termini of all time measures are, of course, arbitrary ; but all the other time measures are related to visible facts. Thus the length of our j^ear is marked by the sun. The law merely ordains a starting- point, and provides that the legal year shall not vary a whole day from the natural. The months in use are an approximation to an aliquot division of the j'^ear. Their number represents the fact that there are twelve luna- tions in every solar year. Their irregularities are due to the" adjustments by which, in the course of ages, the sur- plus of eleven days over the twelve full lunations has been distributed among them. Among the JMoslems the lunation is the basis of their calendar. Instead of stretch- ing their months to fill out the year, as we do, they shorten their year to twelve lunar months. But neither our months nor their year are arbitrary in the same sense as the week. Every calendar is, of course, dependent upon law, or upon custom which carries the authority of law. In regard to months and years, however, the law THE WEEK. 63 simply fixes, for public convenience, the termini of pe- riods, which nature compels us to observe with vague boundaries. The week corresponds with no time mark in the sky. Neither sun, nor moon, nor any star sug- gests it or approximates to it. Science finds some traces, not altogether decisive, of hebdomadal periodicity, in both the normal and the diseased functions of physical life. But these could not possibly have suggested the week. At the very utmost they could show, if proved to exist, only that the week, though disconnected, is not inharmo- nious with nature. Here, again, the distinction must be drawn between a week, that is, merely a group of seven days, without regular recurrence, and the ever on-rolling week of the ages. It might be granted, — since, whether true or not, it does not concern this study, — that there may be facts in nature capable of suggesting a special significance in the number seven as applied to time. No doubt seven prominent celestial bodies were very early distinguished. Perhaps, also, the seven chords of music. If no other than an occasional week were known, and no better rea- son could be found for the existence of that, its suirsfes- tion might provisionally be referred to them. But since the week can be traced farther back than astronomy or music, such conjectures are of little weight. And they have no relation, in any case, to the week in its grand continuity. Absolutely nothing has been found in the physical world to show why any body of men should preserve from generation to generation, and from age to age, the invariable and unbroken succession of the weeks. It is true that some writers have endeavored to find the origin of the week in the moon's phases. Thei-e is, however, no historical basis for such a theory. Half a lunar month is very nearly fifteen, not fourteen days. A 64 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. very large part, if not all of the ancient heathen world, divided their month by counting five, ten, or fifteen days from its beginning. The people who had weeks in com- mon use, as divisions of the lunar month, are yet to be heard of. Their records have not been discovered. The Ninevite calendar of Mr. Smith is no exception. In this calendar the 7th, 14th, 21st, and 28th were noted as holi- days or sacred days. The first division of each month, therefore, began on the 29th of the preceding month. But it is not credible that a lunation would have been so divided as to make its first quarter begin while the old moon was still visible in the morning sky, one or two days before the new crescent appeared. If a subdivision of the lunar month had been intended, the first quarter would have begun with the new moon. The days noted would, in that case, have been the 1st, 8th, 15th, and 22d, or more probably the 1st, 8th, 16th, and 23d. Among all nations the new moon has been the most striking and impressive of lunar phases. This calendar ignored the new moon in order to embody the tradition of a sacred seventh day. This at least is the only reason- able explanation of it warranted by our present knowl- edge. It is as if the men who used this calendar, hav- ing come to adore the moon and other celestial bodies as divinities in place of the One only Creator and Lord, distorted the week series into a conformity with the lunations, and yet so vividly remembered the religious associations of the seventh day that they set their de- graded monthly imitation of it above the day of the new moon. But whatever argument for the antiquity of the Sabbath may be drawn from this calendar, it cer- tainly bears testimony against the theory that the week originated in observation of the moon. That theory, however, is most easily tested by a consideration of the facts or actions which it implies. Let it then be sup- THE WEEK. 65 posed, that away back in some primeval age a man of influence, impressed by the phenomena of the moon's quartering, resolves that his community shall begin to count time by what he deems the period of that quarter- ing, namely, seven days. Having secured the assent of his tribe, he selects a certain day for the inauguration of the new system. This day may be the next new moon. All are carefully instructed to begin on the same day. Having now introduced the series of weeks out of regard to the moon's changes, chief and people straight- way abandon all reference to the moon, and keep up this count by sevens without the slightest further attention to the phenomena which suggested it. Moreover, the originator of this hebdomadal calendar provides means for maintaining a correct count, and for pi-eventing any indi- vidual from adding or losing a day. For this purpose it is ordained that the first or last day of each week, one of its boundaries, shall be a market day, or a day of wor- ship, or in some other way publicly distinguished ; or, the calendar is put in charge of a body of priests or elders or other officials. All are so captivated with this plan that successors are trained, who continue it indefi- nitely. By the theory, the only motive for all this ex- penditui'e of energy, ingenuity, and persistence, is the observation of the moon's quartering, which observation is utterly disregarded from the moment when its weekly celebration is begun ! However ridiculous this theory, it supposes what is, after all, wholly an arbitrary introduction of the week. The authority of some one is presumed as the originat- ing and maintaining power. But for that authority the supposed series of weeks would have been broken up and dissipated by the first return of a new moon. Since, therefore, the physical world has nothing by which to impress such a series of periods on the attention of men, 6 66 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. — nothing that can mark the regular beginning or end- ing of any members of such a series, nothing which would enable men to recover their true order and se- quence if these sliould ever be lost, — and since the series does exist, and has come down to ns from the dim per- spective of an unmeasured antiquity, seemingly without variation or intermission, there is no escape from the conclusion that the week was instituted by personal au- thority. It has not come from the physical, yet it is. Therefore it must have come from the spiritual, from the will. It is, the refore,in the sense already defined, an arbitrary period. Whether its author was Moses or some One earlier than Moses, he was One whose prerog- ative is plainly certified by it. Whatever may have been the date of its establishment, it was as distinct in its origin, as in its inflexible regularity, from all the other combinations of days used by man to measure duration. Months and years are independent of human notice. They had their course before man existed. They go on whether men regard them or not. But the week is wholly dependent on man's will. If men cease to ob- serve it, it has ceased to exist. III. The week, therefore, and it only, is a religious period. It is the token or sign of a certain relation between those who observe it and the authority which has instituted it. This may be asserted either as a log- ical deduction from what has been already advanced, or as a summary of the historical facts. The logical chain may be stated tlius : The week series exists. But it has no relation to natural phenomena. Therefore its exist- ence must be due to an arbitrary act of some personal will. But it could not exist as a continuous series, unless observed and counted by communities and through gen- erations. Therefore the arbitrary act whicli established it must have been intended to influence communities and THE WEEK. 67 generations. Therefore, also, these must have accepted that act and submitted to its influence. But the im- position of an arbitrary act of some one upon a com- munity, and its acceptance by the community, constitute a tie between the one imposing and the body accepting. Therefore the use and practice of that which is so im- posed betokens and manifests the relation of authority and loyal t3^ But the expression of a tie between the community of mankind and a supreme authority is the root idea of the word religion. Therefore the week ex- presses a religious authority and a religious loyalty. Or- ganized human society counts time by weeks because it recognizes the supreme ^ authority of God. The corresponding argument from history may be summed up in three statements : — A. The week has been used by no communities ex- cept such as have professed to worshijD the one supreme God. B. The week has a divine warrant for its use, in that it was required by the command that Israel should ob- serve the Sabbath ; and also, in that its continuance was sanctioned by the Divine Head and the inspired founders of the Christian Church. C. The week has its origin and model in the example of God himself, who, in his earliest communication to man, represented himself as beginning the count of mun- dane time with the week. A. Concerning the first of these statements it should be noted that Islam, which continues our week, professes to worship our God. Polytheism, however, which knows 1 It is said that the queue was imposed on the Chinese by the first Mantcliu dynasty as a test of loyalty in applicants for literary de- grees or for office. Its use is still therefore a symbol or manifesta- tion of national loyalty to their emperors, though possibly few may think of its signi6cance in these days. 68 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. nothing of our week in its unvarying succession, has some knowledge of an occasional week. Traces of such a week are said to be found among nations so far apart as the Chinese and the Peruvians. They ai'e compar- atively luimerous from the Ganges to the Nile. They usually, perhaps always, appear in some religious con- nection, as though some dim, vague, yet persistent tradi- tion maintained in all minds an association between divine affairs and the period of seven days. But the chance week of heathendom does not specially concern us now. The important fact involved in the present statement is this : The week now known to the world, wherever either Christian or Moslem influence is felt, is the result wholly of the spread of Christianity. The converts adopted it as one of the institutions or concom- itants of their faith. It was nowhere in use at the Chris- tian era, except among the Jews. The Roman Empire was fortified against it, by its system of nundines, which did not yield until the empire itself submitted to Christ. A heathen historian, Dio Cassius, in the last century of the struggle between the two worships, declared that the Romans learned the week from the Egyptians, and that the peculiar order of the seven names for its days was ingeniously deduced from the Pythagorean cosmology. But we now know that the same names in the same strange order were recorded a thousand years before Py- thagoras. Moreover, the Egyptians, whatever dubious tradition their priest guild may have preserved, had as a people no recurring week of which to tell the Romans. Extant literature abundantly proves, that both learned something of it first from Judaism, and were forced to adopt it, by the increasing domination of Christianity. And ever since, as nation after nation has accepted Chris- tianity, each has taken with it the Christian week. It will be the sign of national submission to the cross, when the people of China and Japan shall use it familiarly. THE WEEK. 69 B. According to the second statement, a certain divine warrant for the use of the week stands in the history. This warrant stands in every particular now. For the Christian week is identical with the JMosaic. It is not merely like it. It is not a successor to it. It is precisely and exactly the same series. God ordained our present week for his people redeemed from bondage. The risen Lord observed our present week when He withheld him- self, after the resurrection, until that week had closed. It does not matter, as to this point, whether the series began at Sinai or before. Nor would it affect this his- torical argument if the week had been a natural period like the month and the year. If the Almighty had chosen to take a certain period, which men had learned from nature to observe occasionally, and if He had chosen to command, for a special duty, the regular observance of that period, then it would have become a sign of his prerogative, just as the rainbow is now a sign of his promise. Much more emphatically, therefore, does the week represent his august authority, since there is noth- ing to which its conception can be referred, except his own charge. And, even more than this, as if to rivet the impression that the week was clothed with a divine sanc- tion of a different kind from that of all other divisions of time, God, in the statutes prescribed for Israel, grouped months and years in weeks, and reduplicated weeks of weeks and weeks of years, so that, all religious times must go by sevens, and also, that the observance of the sevens would be the most distinct ^ outward token of loy- alty to Him. And, however the letter of some of these statutes may have been limited by the land of Israel, their spirit affects all men who are loyal to God. For they clearly set forth the intent of God, that his prerog- ative should be manifested in the observance of septimal ^ "Most distinct," because no heathen ever had the Uke. 70 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. time, arranged according to a fixed and arbitrary scheme, independent of nature, resting on his will alone. Our present week, being the identical week of Moses' age, ex- pi'esses now, as then, that acknowledgment of God's su- premacy, and of human loyalty, which in a general sense we call religion. It may be said that, for communities to count by weeks, is, for them to wear the uniform of theism. C. According to the third statement, the week has its historic origin and model in the example of God, who, in revealing the creation, represents himself as beginning our world's count of time with the week. This state- ment has no relation to science. Whatever, during the creative processes, may have been the lapse of time, as compared with measures now familiar to us, — whatever may have been the limits, the interspaces, the distinctive features of the creative periods, as geology, if it were perfected, could describe them, — the fact remains that God has chosen to represent the whole as framed in a week of seven days. Again, at whatever point of time, during the existence of our race, the present week se- ries began, — whether in the sunshine of Eden, or__ after the fall, or at the exodus from Goshen, — the fact remains that God has referred to his creative week as its model. So far as history speaks at all on this subject, it un- equivocally pronounces the week no invention of man, but a thought of God. As the spiritual world is beside the material, coexistent, therefore consistent, yet indepen- dent ; as the Church is beside the secular organism of society, the state, alike in the demand for and acceptance of individual allegiance, yet so distinct that allegiance to each is independent of the other ; as the functions of re- ligion, the acts of associated and of individual worship, are beside the other duties and activities of life, the one coloring, supporting, directing the other, yet each having THE WEEK. 71 an independent purpose ; so is the week athwart the roll of all secular times, which are measured by the material works of God. It is not incongruous with them, yet not in the least dependent ; not hindering or confusing, but rather helping men in their use, yet not allied in the least, — a distinct, separate time succession, dependent for its norm, not on any or all the works of God, but on his simple word. IV. The successive week, like no other time measure, is maintained by the institution of a sacred day to mark its boundary. This sacred day defines the week. It brings before all minds the week's end and beginning. It marks the transition from an old to a new week. No community would be able to keep the reckoning, without the help of some circumstance which should bring the fact of a week's conclusion plainly and unavoidably to general notice. Perhaps, if there were sufficient induce- ment, a body of officials or a college of priests might be able to keep such a reckoning by methods of their own, without any popular observance. It is possible (and no more) that this may have been done in Egypt. The difficulties would be very great. Any one who has lost count of the days in some foreign city destitute of those familiar signs which usher in the week at home, can realize this. After some time at sea, or in forest, or desert, away from human intercourse, or when tied to the monotony of a sick-bed, it becomes no easy task to keep np with the day of the month, or sometimes to re- member which month is passing, much less to tally the week days all alike. It might be possible to maintain the succession of weeks for a time, by the institution of a mai-ket on the first or last day of each. But that would be carried on only so long as its advantages were felt. There could be no restraint upon a change of day, if that should seem (- EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. desirable. If war, pestilence, or any other cause pre- vented for a time the regular market, the series of weeks would be broken off and probably forgotten. But there is no record of such an institution. We, in fact, know the week only as it is marked by a religious day. It is the plant of which that day is the blossom. It is the husk of which that day is the kernel. It is the setting of which that day is the gem. It is the man of which that day ^ is the face and head. Yet the week is not wholly incidental to the institution of a sacred day. One distinct purpose of the day is the preservation of the week series intact. For it is not any one day in seven that may be treated as sacred. Xothing more, it is true, than that is necessarily implied in the command to keep boly the seventh day. But the history of our religion shows that, in fact, the sacred day has always been a mark or boundary of the unchanging week. Since divine superintendence has always been over the faithful, we must believe that this principle, always main- tained, expresses the divine will. Both the period as such and the day as such are religious or sacred in the sense before defined ; namely, as signs of a relation be- tween God and a community of men, because alike used onh' by communities who acknowledge God, alike sanc- tioned to Him, alike originating in his own representa- tion of his creative work. Therefore the week cannot exist without the day, or the day stand without the week. Each implies the other. Each supports the other. It may, however, be necessary to entertain the ques- tion, whether, if it were possible to obliterate entirely the religious character of Sundaj', so that no one should in any way be reminded of God by its return, the week might not still continue in popular use. Those influences tending to maintain it may be now discerned. These 1 George Herbert, Sunday. THE WEEK. V3 are religious doty, familiar custom, and convenience. Of course if the religious character of Sunday should van- ish, there would be no religious impulse for counting the weeks. But this might be kept up for the sake of custom and convenience, if a secular holiday could be established after the elimination of the holy day. There would certainly be some in England and America, if not elsewhere, who would advocate, on grounds of public expediency wholly apart from religious considerations, a legal holiday as pregnant as the present Sunday. But it would, of course, be necessary to create this holiday by statute. Moreover, to protect those for whose benefit it is intended, employers (other than those whose business is presumably indispensable) must be compelled to sus- pend work. Whenever such a law should be proposed, it is absolutely certain that it would be vehemently opposed bv two classes. One would urge, reasonably enough from their point cf view, that to enact a weekly holiday would be substantially to reinstate the discarded sacred day ; and so they would plead for a day unmistakably distinct, the eighth or tenth day, or some particular day or days of the month. To them the week could not be other than a reminder of God. It should go with his day. Another class, larger probably and more influential, would argue, in the interest of commerce and industry, against frequent holidays. They would show that a day of pleasure-seeking and dissipation unfitted men for the next day's work. The restraints of religion having been removed, the proposed holiday would infallibly (judging from experience) be much more a day of reckless in- dulgence and debauchery than the worst-kept Sunday is now. As, therefore, the proposed day would really in- volve the loss of two or three days of profitable work, the business class would strenuously endeavor to have it occur only once in two or three weeks, or after a longer 74 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. interval. It is as certain as any deduction from experi- ence can be, that this opposition to a weekly holiday would prevail. Those who favored it could not prove, on humanitarian grounds, that precisely one day in seven was needed for relaxation rather tlian one day in eight, or ten, or tl^irt3^ Physicians and scientific men would express widely different opinions. The result would be, at best, a compromise. The proposed holiday, if en- acted, would be fixed on certain days of the month, and bear no reference to the week at all. Probably it would be shifted about from time to time by successive legisla- tures, sometimes more, sometimes less frequent, some- times threatening to disappear. True religion, or false religion, or the most shadowy superstition, can maintain an indefinite number of holidays. In some lanJs so many are now enforced in this way as to be a serious drain upon production, and a stubborn hindrance to all improvement. But commerce is an enemy of all holi- days. They are incongruous with its life. It always opposes their establishment. It always encroaches upon them. They are not profitable. It may be true that, in the long run, more wealth can be gained in six days, fol- lowed by a regular Sabbath spent religiously, than in un- interrupted devotion to business. But herein is involved the consideration of physical, mental, and moral benefits accruing from the religious observance. Take those away, and business men will never believe that six days can be more profitable than seven. The great body of wage-earners will believe it just as little. Then when once a generation should have grown up in utter igno- rance of any religious association with the week, it is difficult to see how custom or convenience could keep it in familiar use. Custom could preserve nothing but the series of seven day-names. Every day is now dis- tinguished in two ways. One is sufficient. For com- THE WEEK. 75 niercial and legal purposes one only is commonlj^ used. The merchant and the lawyer write July 1st. The newspaper and familiar letters may be dated Tuesday, July 1st. In conversation probably the day would be more frequently mentioned as Tuesday than as July 1st. And there is a reason for this. Sunday is a fact which influences our lives in a thousand ways. Every day of the week is involuntarily and unintentionally regarded in reference to its distance from that. The significance of Friday is ^ that it is two days, of Thursday, that it is three days, before Sunday. Let Sunday be made pre- cisely like Thursday or Friday, and those names would become meaningless. What possible difference could it make whether the day were called Thursday or Friday, if Saturday, Sunday, and Monday are to follow with nothing to distinguish between them. Remembering the week name of the day would become more and more difficult from the lack of points for comparison. And the recollection would serve no practical end. To note the day of the month is sufficient for all uses and require- ments, when there is no reference either to the religious character of Sunday, or to those features which it has derived, directly or indirectly, from that character. It is as certain as any forecast of human affairs can be that in no long time, under such conditions, the names of the week days would fade out of popular knowledge, and live among the learned, like the names of Greek or Hebrew months. When thoroughly examined, the perfect consistency of the Scriptures, and the exact correlation of all their parts, become the better understood. It cannot be that among the very brief records permitted by the Spirit of Wisdom to reach us concerning the most important event ^ For example, the Germans call Wednesday "Mittwoch," or " Midweek," instead of Wodenstag, the old name. 76 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. in all history, a statement repeated five times should be accounted trivial, or even of secondary moment. He by whom apostles as well as prophets spake has thus em- phasized the fact that the resurrection of our Loi-d is in some preeminently significant way related to the week. When the nature of the week is comprehended, the reason for this emphasis begins to appear. The week has been, through the ages as now, the sign of a relation between God and man. It is a witness, not — like months and years — to the material, but to the spiritual. It tells not of sun, moon, and stars, which are seen, but of a Spirit unseen. It exists, not in accordance with con- ditions and circumstances inherent in nature, but by the arbitrament of a Supreme Will, communicated to loyal dependents. It is fitted for human use, kept in its regular unvarying succession before human notice, and maintained as the assurance of divine regard for man, by the institution of a sacred day which marks its boun- dary and illuminates the transition from one week to the next. The emphasis, then, of the fivefold gospel statement is on this circumstance, that our Lord's resur- rection day is the boundary, the defining day of a new week, — identical with the old, yet transfigured in this new moi-ning's light. So, then, all the significance of that day, which seals to man his one great all-compre- hending divinely-centred hope, is blended with the sig- nificance of that period which, through the ages, has assured a bond between God and man, — when the transcendent day of days is described as the first day of the week. STUDY IV. THE PRIMEVAL SACRED DAY. " The Lord said unto Noah . . . The Lord shut him in." — Gen. vii. 1, 16. Unlike the unvarying monotony of the week the his- tory of its sacred day is a development. This development has three distinct stages, the second of which corresponds with the national^ career of Israel. In this second or central stage the day appears as one member of a system of observances, closely related in their manner, and all defined and enforced by special statutes. Since this sys- tem of statutes and observances was not known in the earlier pre-Israelite age, and since it has been in abeyance during the later or post-Israelite age, it is evident that the essential and universal and perpetual features or char- acteristics of the sacred day must be independent of that system. The nation ^ of Israel, and its national laws, lived only about fifteen hundred years. That which char- acterized the sacred day during the thousands of years preceding and succeeding Israel's age must be its core and heart and life, not that which was known and pre- scribed only during the comparatively brief space inter- mediate. Yet, since the statutes pertaining to this inter- mediate stage — even those clearly evanescent — are all ^ By "nation" ("national") is meant here a people organized and localized, that is having a government and territory of tlieir own, as distinguished from the race, those sprung from one root (radix). The organized and localized nation of Israel has vanished. The race still endures. 78 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. divine in their origin and authority, expressing God's thought ; and since all the works, all the plans, and all the arrangements of Him who is perfect wisdom, must be harmonious and cooperative, therefore, all that is limited to this central stage, as its peculiar characteristic, must be the development and illustration and enforce- ment of something which, before and after, as well as all through that time, continued to be the real, unvarying, and deepest principle of the observance. Through all the long ages humanity has grown stronger and wiser. The divine plans have been unfolded and explained as the human capacity to understand them and act upon them has grown. It is not, therefore, in debate whether the nineteenth Christian century — the heir of all the Christian and of all the Israelitish ages — mayor may not have a larger interest in this sacred day than any antediluvian. But, on the other hand, it is no less be- yond controversy that those interests in the day which we share with the antediluvians must be, as the earliest, so the most enduring, therefore the most profoundly and essentially vital, — the most human of all. The Book of Genesis, in its relation to the sacred sev- enth day, presents some remarkable parallels to the New Testament in its treatment of the Lord's Day. The Lord's Day is so styled in the New Testament once ; the seventh day, in Genesis once. The event to which the Lord's Day refers is clearly described in the New Tes- tament ; the event to which the seventh day refers is equally clear in Genesis. The action of our Lord, in observing the week by his abstention and in glorifying its boundary day by his manifestation, answers to the action of the Creator who obsei-ves the week in the de- velopment of his Kosmos, and crowns the seventh day with his personal benediction. Li the New Testament there is no formal command to observe the Lord's Day ; THE PRIMEVAL SACRED DAY. 79 in Genesis, no formal command to observe tlie seventh day. But as the observance of the Lord's Day, after the close of the New Testament canon, throws light upon the few alhisions in tlie text, so the observance j.^ ^g. 22- of the seventh day, after the close of Genesis ^"• and before the enactments at Sinai, throws light upon the earlier records. Nevertheless, alike in the New Tes- tament and in Genesis, the facts of the actual observance of the sacred days are stated incidentally, not directly, as though the author of Holy Writ intended that their meaning should be yielded up to those of later times, pre- pared by the discipline of the ages to use it. On their earliest readers (or reciters) the impression which induced them to maintain their sacred day was made by some- thing more than this bare record. There is a minor correspondence in the circumstance that the first day of the week is five ^ times mentioned in the New Testament as the resurrection day, and five days in Genesis are mentioned as the boundaries of hu- man weeks. No circumstance is trivial in these stories. That fivefold repetition in the gospels certifies the adop- tion of the Aveek by Christianity. Those five days in Genesis certify the maintenance of the week in all the primeval age. They occur on the border between an- cient and most ancient time in the history of the flood. "And the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou Gen. 7: 1. and all thy house into the ark. . . . For yet Gen. 7:4. seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth. . . . And it came to pass, after seven days, that the Gen. 7: 10. waters of the flood were upon the earth. In Gen. 7: 11. 1 There are six notices of the resurrection on the first day of the •week if the last verses of Mark are accepted. There are also six days in Genesis if the flight of the raven occurred a week before the first flight of the dove from the ark, as suggested by the words '^^ other seven days." 80 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up. . . . Gen. 7: 13. In the self-same day entered Noah . . . into the Gen. 7:16. ark; . . . and the Lord shut him in." The command to enter came seven days before the shutting in. Two days therefore are fixed here, the tenth and the seventeenth of the second month, each the boundary of a week. When the flood had largely abated, Noah sent out „ „ a dove which soon returned weary. After a Gen. 8 : 8, 9. , , i i • i Gen. 8: 10, wcek he again sent out the dove, which again "■ returned, but this time bringing a sproutlet of Gen. 8: 12. welcome grccn. Yet again, after another week, he let go the dove, to see her no more. Here are three days, each the boundary of a week. Before sending out the dove Noah had dispatched a raven. Whether this was immediately before and on the same day, or whether it was seven days before, is not certain. The words " other seven days," in Hebrew as in English, may imply a previous week's interval. The raven went forth on the fortieth day after the first of the tenth month. Counting the tenth month as of twenty-nine days and including its first day in the forty, the day of the raven would be the eleventh of the next month. If the dove was let go first, after a week, then its days were the eighteenth and twenty-fifth of the eleventh month, and the second of the twelfth. These are all counted as lunar months. Were they lunar months ? Some have thought that they were all to be taken as of thirty days each. This opinion is based upon the mention of the ark's grounding " in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month," just five months after the flood began ; and upon the statement in the same connection, THE PRIMEVAL SACRED DAY. 81 that " the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days ; " and " after the end of the hundred Gen. 7: 24. and fifty days the waters were abated." It has Qen. s: 3. been assumed that the five months and the hundred and fifty days were the same period. But the narrative does not warrant this assumption, and is forced into an un- natural if not absurd interpretation by accepting it. And if the assumption were accepted it would prove that the months in question did not consist of thirty days each. There is a radical difference in character between the two series of events to which the five months and the hundred and fifty days are respectively referred. The " shuttino; in " the ark was a definite circumstance un- erringly associated with a definite day. The resting upon Ararat was an equally definite circumstance, equally fixed in its association with a definite day. Each involved an impact, a sensible physical efifect, at a certain precise moment. Each necessarily evoked the liveliest interest and the most particular notice of Noah and his party. There could be no uncertainty or misconception here. But there could be no precise statement of the time during which the waters prevailed. Who could fix the height which was to be taken as the level of their prev- alence ? Who could ascertain when that level was sur- passed and when it was regained on the ebb ? Such a statement as we have here, if made by a modern engi- neer provided with all his instruments of precision, would be taken as an indefinite round number, and would be so intended by him. The inmates of the ark had appar- ently very little outlook before the removal of its cover- ing. They saw when the hill-tops had disappeared, and noticed when they had emerged again. But they could have had no view of the general surface. They sent out the birds to gather information of that. They knew 82 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. probably that t^ey must be fifteen cubits above the land ^ „ n. when their vessel, thirty cubits high, was float- Gen. 7: 20. , . •' ° ing. But in the nature of things they did not and could not fix the moment or the day when the wa- ters began or ceased " to prevail." The time of their prevalence is properly expressed by a round number. Moreover, the identification of these hundred and fifty days with the five months involves the absurdity of sup- posing that the flood rose to a vast height over the whole region on the very day when it began to rain. For if this identification be true, then the time of prevalence ceased when the waters were still about twenty feet deep on the height where the ark rested, and of course very much deeper over the plain. And since, on this the- cr}'^, the prevalence began on the first day of the flood, the waters must have risen immediately to a correspond- ing height. But to suppose that, wath less than one whole day of rain, the inundation was so great as to float the ark and to prevail twenty feet deep over the coun- try, seems to be pressing the miraculous equally be- yond the limits of the record and of sound common sense. To meet all the requirements of the verbal state- ments in the narrative with perfect consistency, w^e have only to understand that, after the forty days' rain, the general submergence continued for a long period, stated in round numbers as one hundred and fifty days, during which the ark, however, rested on some higli point. But if it were believed that the deluge reached its height instantaneousl}', so that the time when it prevailed could be said to be ended as the ark grounded, then the necessary conclusion must be, that the five months did not consist of thirty days each. For it is certain, accord- ing to the Hebrew idiom, and according to oriental ideas and the general practice of antiquity, that if these hun- dred and fifty days are to be taken precisely, then we THE PRIMEVAL SACRED DAY. 83 must count the starting-point,^ the seventeenth clay of the second month, as the first of tliem, leaving only a hundred and forty-nine days to the five months. Leaving then this theory to shift for itself, it is time to notice three facts, disconnected and independent of each other, which present good evidence that the Noa- chian calendar must have been made of lunar months, al- ternating twenty-nine and thirty days. The first fact is, that such is the natural calendar. The firmanent is nature's clock-face. The sun and moon are the hands upon the dial. They serve men who are without almanacs and without science. They regulate themselves. On this celestial clock-face the moon is the minute-hand, whose movements are most rapid and most noticeable. The new moon begins each month. Men soon learn by experience precisely when to look for it. Though the heavens be covered with clouds, and the crescent there- fore hidden, yet count is made from the last quartering or other circumstance w^ith little room for error. And the first clear night corrects any error that may occur. The beginning of the year in Mesopotamia would doubt- less be at the new moon first and. after (or nearest to) the autumnal equinox, the beginning of the rainy season. Every third year would have thirteen new moons. But there would be no need to count the lunations so as to allot the intercalary one to its proper place. Probably the beginning of the rains would be the sign observed in practice, rather than the sun's course. If, therefore, when the rains began twelve new moons had appeared, that year would have twelve months. But if the thirteenth moon appeared before the rains, then there would be thirteen months. We know that on the average this would occur every third year. Thus there would be a ^ Gen. 7: 10 has " after seven days," of whicli seven the lOtli day of the 2d month was the first. The day after the eighth. 84 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. variation in the length of one year out of three. With us also the years vary ; one out of four being longer by a day. But though the variation in the natural is so much greater than in our own highly artificial calendar of the years, it matters nothing for simple peoples, for agricul- tural and pastoral lives, and for all the demands of loosely organized society, or of rudimentary bartering trade. If, by any chance, some one should begin the month a day too soon or the year a month too soon, the error would infallibly be corrected at the next new moon or new year. No minute computation of rent, or of interest, or official tenure, would be thought of by such folk, and no matter of weight and concern to them would be affected by an error if it were made. Probably it was never made. On the other hand, an artificial calendar cannot exist, except under the two conditions that a demand for it is felt and that means for providing it are available. That is, the i^eople must be supposed to have reached such a stage of civilization and of commerce that the variation in the years, by the natural calendar, has become sensibly inconvenient. They must have transactions in the na- ture of rents or business credits involving close calcula- tion of the time for settlement. Or they must have a central authority which, for some purpose connected with its religious ritual, or for some administrative end, such as taxation or conscription, desires that its years should begin always with the same phase of the sun, and so be as nearly as possible equal. Moreover, there must be such progress in astronomy and mathematics that a tol- erably correct solar year has been calculated ; and there must be so much governmental vigor that the new calen- dar is made known and enforced throughout the commu- nity. For the new calendar is artificial. It may fairly cor- respond to the sun's course, but for this purpose it must disregard the moon. There is no new sun, like the new THE PRIMEVAL SACRED DAY. 85 moon, to mark an initial day ; therefore the day of this artificial new year must be fixed arbitrarily. And since for the year's sake the moons are more or less disre- garded, the day of each month's beginning must also be fixed by law and enforced by the state. Our own calen- dar is so fixed now, as that of every advanced nation has always been. We have no evidence that these conditions existed in Noah's day. No trace appears of any organ- ization such as could fairly be called a state. It is doubt- ful whether there was the skill, as yet, to contrive and adjust an artificial calendar if it were wanted. It is ex- ceedingly improbable that there could be such a social development as would care for any other than nature's calendar marked on the sky for every man, and indepen- dent of the attention or the will of any man. There is a second fact. This natural calendar is that of the Mosaic legislation and of the Hebrew nation, compare! Every month for them began with a new moon, fo^wuh Ps. Their year began with the new moon of the ^^ • '^^■ autumnal equinox. Thus the Sabbatic years and the Ju- bilee were proclaimed at the time of the nation- ^ . Lev. 25 : 9. al atonement. Iheir months, however, were counted from the new moon, about the time of the vernal equinox, when the Passover opened the grand yearly ritual. But it is not to be supposed that there was any scientific determination of equinoxes. If the spring were sufficiently advanced so that some ripe barleys would be found within a fortnight in the warm Jordan valley, then the new moon would open the first month. If the spring were late, this would be the inter- calary month, the double Adar. If there were any room for doubt, the high priest could decide, and the travel- ing Levites speedily disseminate the notice. But it is dif- ficult to see how any doubt could arise. Certainly we have no indication of any confusion. Probably they kept 86 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. up the fixed custom of repeating their Adar, the twelfth month, every third year. The Israelites did not learn this calendar in Egypt. There, in Moses' time, the year in common use probably consisted of twelve months having thirty days each, with five intercalary days. Perhaps the Hebrews, while they were Egyptian subjects, were compelled to conform to this calendar. If so, they still kept note of the sun and moon, and fell back to the older habit the moment they contemplated escape. No trace of the Egyptian year ap- pears in the history. The great Lawgiver of Israel incor- porated the story of Noah in his books, that it might be read by Israel and Israel's posterit3% But to these noth- ing could have been suggested by the word month, except the moon's time, with which they were familiar. This is what Moses certainly meant when he wrote " month " elsewhere. Can it be believed that in this story he used the word, without notice, in a different sense, so as at once to be inconsistent with himself and infallibly to mis- lead his people? There is a third fact. This natural, Mosaic, Israelitish calendar, when applied to the incidents of the narrative, reveals an adequate reason for the specification of the different dates. It shows that the divine communications and interpositions, and the significant acts of Noah as a man of faith, all took place on the same sacred day of regular and successive weeks. This fact is exhibited by the following table : — THE PRIMEVAL SACRED DAY. 87 ASSUMED CALENDAI I OF THE ARK STOR Y. Year of Noah, 600. Month. Sacred Day. I. (30 days) 5 12 19 26 II. (29 days) 3 10 Notice to embark, chap. 7 : 4. 17 Shut in, chap. 7 : 11. "] .c ;;^ 24 ^ ^r III. (30 days) 2 '7^ T! 9 S't- 16 23 III. mo. 27 day. J ^o 30 IV. (29 days) 7 14 21 28 V. (30 days) 6 13 20 27 VI. (29 days) 4 11 18 • 25 VII. (30 days) 3 10 17 Grounding of ark, chap. 8 : 4. 24 VIII. (29 days) 1 8 15 22 29 IX. (30 days) 7 14 21 28 First mountain tops, -\-Zl X. (29 days) 5 12 19 26 chap. 8 : 5. (M OO 'rt 6 II d.?' 3 XI. (30 days) 4 -^ ^ ° 11 Raven, chap. 8:7. O -h" II "S 18 Dove 1st, chap. 8: 8. 1 25 Dove 2d, chap. 8 : 10. EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. Month. Sacred Day. XII. (29 days) 2 9 16 23 Dove 3d, chap. 8: 12. Year of Noah, 601. ! I- (30 days) 1 8 15 22 29 Uncovering, cliap. 8: 13, II. (29 days) 6 13 20 27 Exit and sacrifice, chap. From the day of shutting in to the day of exit, 52 weeks. Preva- lence of waters, 150 days indefinite time. Chaps. 7: 24; 8 : 3. In this calendar the first month has been taken as of thirty days and the second of twenty-nine days. The order might have been reversed, for there is no rule in nature that the second new moon of each year shall appear thirty days rather than twenty-nine days after the first. It is not to be supposed that Noah"s family counted the days. At least they have never told us how many they counted. Our science has told us that there would ordinarily be this alternation. When we find that by taking the first month at thirty days all the events of the story fit into their proper places, we cannot doubt that our hypothesis is true. On the tenth of month second Noah received a divine communication. The occasion was solemn. It was the announcement of the immediate approach of dire calam- ity. Yet the imminent storm of retribution was pierced with the golden light of an explicit and benign prom- ise. It was like the gospel-preaching of the acceptable year and the day of vengeance. Was not the Is 61 • 2 . day when God spake this word to Noah a sacred day? THE PRIMEVAL SACRED DAY. 89 Seven days later there was another divine intervention still more solemn. What kind of human beings would those eight be if, in the dusk and closing gloom of that awful day, in their strange habitation and stranger com- panionship, they did not thrill with overwhelming emotion when, — buried from the living world of men, ushered upon a momentous voyage through the unknown, and aware that they must not expect to return to those whom they were leaving, — the Lord shut them in ! Was not this, too, a sacred day ? If now the succession of sev- enth days is noted, the twenty-first after the flood began is found to be that day when, after five months of weary heaving on the waters, the great structure at last grounded. This circumstance, if part of the experience of an ordinary shipwreck, would have been no more than an interesting incident. But this ark history is no ordi- nary human experience. Leaving out any typical or symbolic character, it is the record of a man of faith who, in obedience to God and in reliance on the promise of God, intrusted himself and his family to the care of God, under conditions in which he himself was able neither to exercise any influence over the direction of affairs, nor even to know day by day their state. He was " shut in " the ark. He was helpless in the ark. He knew not the developments outside the ark, and could not hope to learn. He knew when the rain fell and when the sun shone. The monotone of the wash against his vessel's sides doubtless became tediously familiar. But whither the ark was going, what sign there might be of release, or whether by any means a better course might be taken so as to hasten the release, — he could not tell. He was solely in the care of God. Under these conditions the touch of the ark upon a shoulder of Ararat was a ratification of the promise. It evinced the Lord's protection through the past five stormy months. 90 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. It assui'ed the validity of his word to carry them safely through and out of the trial. The quivering of the mighty ark as it met the solid hill awoke in eight hearts an answering flutter of hope, a thrill of courage. The solid ground was the solid covenant of God beneath them. Is it not fit that the day, fraught with this expe- rience of the divine interposition, should appear in the list of sacred days ? The next incident recorded was the discovery of bare hill-tops on the first day of the tenth month. This was gratefully recorded. But it was not a personal experi- ence like the last. It did not come home to their very selves like the shock which told them, perhaps while offering worship, that they were actually resting no more on water but on safe unmoving land. This first sight of land was not an act or word of God with respect to them, nor of theirs with respect to God. It did not, in fact, occur on a sacred day but three days after. The fortieth day, including this or the thirty-nlntk day after this, was the sixteenth sacred day after the grounding, the thirty-seventh after the shutting in. Nine new moons had appeared in their turns. Four had shone since the grounding. During nearly four months the eight had known that they were safe. They were on land. But they were in prison, though prisoners of hope. How intense was their craving for some intelligence of the lost world, for some news of the shore invisible to them, if yet there was a shore outside their walls. At last an experiment was made. A raven was allowed to fly away, and afterward a dove. The man of exemplary faith and patience sent them out. But the creatures in the ark had been put, by the Lord, under his care. Did he then recklessly expose to destruction one of the crea- tui'es intrusted to him? After nine months of patient submissive waiting did his curiosity and impatience tempt THE PRIMEVAL SACRED DAY. 91 him to overstep the bounds of duty ? Or did he ask and receive permission from the Owner and Source of all the lives in his charge? The day chosen for this act was the same day of the week whose association with divine revelation and interposition had been already noted. Did he not ask and receive divine permission on this sacred day ? The first essay resulted in nothing. The patriarch ■waited for the next sacred day. He waited again for the next, and if the raven went out a week before the other he waited yet again. The repetition of Noah's act after each sacred interval plainly lifts the act to the level of faith. There is an evident relation between the act and the day. For not only did he wait seven days, or, as we would say, until the seventh day after each essay, but much more, he waited for the return of that one day of the seven which all through this story is the hallowed day. The patience of the patriarch was farther tested. From the twig brought by the dove he learned that verdure was springing up. Yet he made no effort to catch a sight of it. He had reason to believe that both the dove and the raven had found their customary home and food. He might reasonably expect that there was also a resting- place and food for man. But he waited four weeks until this same sacred day had returned the fourth time. Then on no other day than this he removed the roofing and saw the land. Did he break away from his magnificent patience and willfully remove the ark's covering ? Or did he take this day for another act of faith in obedience to a divine permission or command ? He is not por- trayed as a man of perfect character. But this narrative limns a serenity and simplicity of faith which stands as clear as a statue in marble. The mind which cannot see on this day, preceded and followed by weeks of immov- 92 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. able calm, the act of reverent confiding obedience, surely has no conception of the ideal attitude of a child of God. Whatever moved Noah, he uncovered the ark on the sacred day. For the first time he saw the landscape. Apparently the surface was dry. But there was no haste. He did not act upon what he saw, but upon what he was bidden. For eight more long weeks lie did not appropriate the promise, thougli it lay before his eyes, and at his feet. His patience had its perfect work. It was truly sublime. At last came the divine command " Go forth." The twenty-seventh day of the second month of the second year of the flood was precisely fifty-two weeks after the embarkation. On that same day of the week on which the Lord had commanded liis servant to enter, and after- ward had shut him in ; and, still later, had guided his un- wieldy vessel to a favorable spot on the supporting hill, — He now released him. And this man, who had en- tered the ark on such a day, had once and again sent out a winged messenger on such a day, and on such a day had unroofed the ark, — now, on this same day of the week, went out at God's word and offered a grateful sac- rifice. The facts speak for themselves. Here we find the week and the sacred day of the week in actual succes- sion. The narrative may not be given in order to record circumstances relating to the week and its sacred day. But there they are, the web of which the story is woven. Why then did not the writer plainly designate each of these sacred says as a Sabbath ? The answer cannot be uncertain. They were not Sabbaths, in the sense that word carried after Moses' day. They were not Sabbaths in respect to the obligation of rest. Nor were they Sab- baths in respect of association with a system of obser- vances. At Sinai the cessation of work was made prom- THE PRIMEVAL SACRED DAY. 93 inent. The labor of unroofing the ark would have seemed a sin to pious Jews, if it had been done on the Sabbath. Priests and Levites, of course, did much work on that day about the sacred precincts. But the analogy between their work and Noah's is not plain. There is, however, no duplicity in the Scriptures. The special emphasis put upon rest, as a mark or feature of Israel's Sabbath, was not felt in the time of Noah. Neither could the patri- arch have comprehended the series of related Sabbaths and Sabbatisms, introduced under jMoses to illustrate the seventh day. But it does not follow that, because rest- ing was not made the marked characteristic of the early sacred day, therefore no cessation or diminution of labor was customary. Likewise it does not follow that, be- cause the impressive Sabbatic System was not in exist- ence, therefore no definable religious significance attached to the day. It was not Mosaic. It was not Jewish. But it was sacred. Through fifteen Israelitish centuries, the meaning of Israel's Sabbath was taught by an extended course of ob- ject lessons. Can we now exclude these lessons from our imaginations, in order to discover, if possible, what ideas were before Israel's time the possession of believing men, and therefore our inheritance ? In order to assist in this, the observance has been called simply the sacred day. Three questions now arise. The first is : In what was this day observed ; or, how could it have been distin- guished from other days? The second is: What was the object or intention of those who observed the day ? The last is : What did this day mean or suggest to those who observed it ? Taking up the first question, how was the day observed or distinguished, we are certified at the outset that in some way it was distinguished. Here is the record of its regular succession. The facts are stated incidentally, but 94 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. so much the more unequivocall3\ If these days had been observed only while Noah was in the ark, or if he had then begun to observe them, it is inconceivable that such a fact should not be stated. They are men- tioned incidentally, because taken for granted. They are taken for granted, because to the minds of Noah's fam- ily, from some of whom the story must have been derived, the succession of these sacred days was a perfectly famil- iar matter, as familiar as the succession of months and years, like that succession continuing from an indefinite past, and, as little as that, to be accounted for or ex- plained. But it is incredible, impossible, that Noah, or others of his age, could keep the tally of these days by computation, unless there was something to distinguish each as it came. A featureless sacred day would be a coi-pse turned to mould. And the narrative certifies that the features of the day were religious. That is, the cir- cumstances which distinguished the day did so by bring- ing to men's attention the tie between themselves and See study Grod. This is neccssarily inferred from the na- ■^"" ture of the week, and confirmed by the story of the ark. For in this story the sacred days are all marked by one of two sets of actions. On the one hand are divine communications and interpositions. On the other hand is seen a man executing specific commands of God, and appealing to Him. So far then as any details concerning it appear on the face of the record, this is the day when the loyal among men were made sensible of the favora- ble regard of God, and when they expressed their loyalty by appropriate acts of obedience and hope. Whatever may be the meaning of the statement that in the time of Enos men began " to call on the name of the Lord," it is plain that the actual fact of ap- peal was not unfamiliar. Without it the mission of the birds is incomprehensible. To presume that Noah sent THE PRIMEVAL SACRED DAY. 95 them out in willful, reckless curiosity, and by chance, or superstitiously, on the sacred day, — or to suppose that he so acted in any other mood than that of reverent, fil- ial appeal to the Providence of One known and trusted, — is to misread not merely the religious feeling, but also the human sense of the story. The details of daily life in the ark were exceptional. So the experiences of these sacred days were exceptional. Never before or after in their lives could any of the eight voyagers have received just such tokens of God's regard, or have been able to obey Him or appeal to Him by just such acts. We have just one glimpse of a sacred day on the land, and just one record of an act which, from its nature, might ordinarily distinguish every sacred day. On that day when Noah left the ark, the fifty-second sacred day after the flood began, he " builded an altar to the Lord," and " offered burnt-offerings on the altar." But this was not the first sacrifice, as it was not the first sacred day. It is, however, the only passage in which the sacrifice is actually associated with such a day. This association proves that the offering and the day were suitable each to the other ; and God's accept- ance is affirmed. But the force of this associa- tion will be more strongly felt when the origin and the factors of sacrifice are considered. Sacrifice is the slay- ing of a living creature for the purpose of affecting God. When inanimate substances are laid on the altar, it is properly an offering or gift (in the Hebrew " minchah "), not a sacrifice. But since in any case the offerer devotes to God something which might be kept for himself, both acts are called in Genesis " offerings." In the ^ ... o _ Gen. 4 : 3-5. Epistle to the Hebrews both are called sacri- fices. But in the Book of Leviticus they are clearly distinguished. The offering of Abel was in the proper sense a sacrifice. As such it was accepted of 96 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. God. As such, moreover, it was an act of faith. But if Abel was not in some way taught by God him- Ileb. 11: 4. . J O J self to do this act, then the statement that it was an act of faith would be nonsense. If he did not have a divine warrant, then he simply presumed or guessed that a living victim, slaughtered, would please the Creator better than an offering of fruits. To sup- pose that one guess of Abel's rather than another guess of Cain's could be specially accepted of God, and quoted in later Scripture after many thousand years as an act of faith, is to trifle with the Word of God. It is taken for granted in the Book of Genesis that sacrifice was ordained of God. Now the idea of a sacrifice contains these four factors : the time, the place, the person, the victim. When, there- fore, sacrifice was ordained, it was ordained in terms cor- respondhig to these four factors. That is, men were taught authoritatively when, where, by whom, and of what God ordained the offering. There is some evidence indicating that each one of these factors was definitely fixed. It is repugnant to the whole tenor of this history, and of Scripture, to believe that any of them were left free to chance or to caprice. In regard to the victim it is certain that instruction was given. For Abel's choice of a victim met the divine approval, and therefore he must have been provided with capacity to know what God would approve. In regard to the persons who should sacrifice, there is a suggestion of some personal privilege existing by divine warrant, when Melchizedek is entitled " priest of the most high God." Since Abel sacrificed as an act of faith, he sacri- ficed as an appointed priest. It is not improbable that he was divinely appointed the priest for his father's fam- ily. Certainly he was authorized to take the office, and took it " by faith." In regard to place, doubtless an THE PRIMEVAL SACRED DAY. 97 altar of rongli stones or lieaped-up earth was prescribed. There was, moreover, one locality where some visible display of the divine majesty, during 25; Deiit! ' all the centuries before the flood, barring the entrance to Eden, may have been accessible for this ser- vice. In regard to time, the margin of our Bible tells us that Abel's offering was made "at the end of daj's." If such offerings continued to be made, we may safely infer that each was likewise made " at the end of days " appointed. In the only case in which the precise time of a sacrifice is noted it took place on the sacred day. The first sacrifice noted took place " at the end of days." We are forced to believe that if that sacrifice was repeated it was always at the end of set periods, corresponding to "the end of days." Bat such periods ivere kept, and the day at the end of each ivas marked by something. What was this something if not a sacrifice ? It is possible that here may be found a reason for the silence of the Book of Genesis concerning the name of the sacred day. It is possible that the sacrifice was so prominent a feature of the day as to stand in the general thought for the day. In the Israelitish age sacrifice was disconnected with the Sabbath, and the feature of sus- pended work became its characteristic. If in the patri- archal age it was preeminently the day for a sacrifice, but afterwards the day specially dissociated with sacri- fice, then the patriarchal stories which mention sacrifices but do not describe the sacred day by any other charac- teristic, though they show incidentally that it was main- tained in regular sequence, and somehow distinguished religiously, would be precisely accurate. More than that : Granting these premises, then the statements of Genesis would present the facts accurately not only as viewed contemporaneously, but also when minutely stud- 98 EIGHT STUDIES OE THE LORD'S DAY. ied in later times. And, granting these same premises, it is difficult to see in what other form the precise facts could be accurately recorded for all time. Another mark or feature of the sacred day is suggested by the transmission of these histories. How did Moses obtain them ? Either he learned them directly through revelation from God ; or, having received them in the ordinary way, the divine guidance merely availed to ena- ble him to record so much of them in such language as God approved. But, on the one hand, if he had learned these things by direct revelation, he certainly would have put that fact on record. No oi>€ could be more careful than he to bring forward the divine authority. His one Num. 20: f^^^li^^i's to do SO was indeed accounted a grave ''~^^- offense. If these most ancient stories had come to him in that way, he would assuredly have prepared them with, " The Lord spake unto Moses," or, " Thus saitli the Lord." On the other hand, the archaic lan- guage of these stories, and their simplicity of thought, plainly imply that they are fragments much older than the narrative of Moses' own times. And if these were ancient stories in Moses' day, reaching him not by reve- lation but by ordinary human means, something is inev- itabl}' to be inferred w'hich bears upon the present ques- tion. It is not important whether they were written or not. If written they wei'e read, if oral they were told over and over, again and again, down all through the long vista. The fact that they were not forgotten is proof that they were not unreiterated.^ Moreover, they were not corrupted. They did not swell with childish ^ In this age it might be supposed that a document long buried and forgotten might be discovered and proven authentic history. But it is preposterous to suppose that Moses or anybody in his age could have accepted such a document without a divine warrant which would necessarily have been added to this text. Of course there is an argument from the existence of Mesopotamian records not brought forward because not needed. THE PRIMEVAL SACRED DAY. 99 details. They did not ran into any morass of contradic- tions. Tiiey did not become foul witli any taint of poly- theism or idolatry or deification of sun, moon, or stars. Wlien they are compared with any other primeval tradi- tions which have reached us, we must conclude not only that they were reiterated, but also that they were re- iterated in circumstances which kept men in mind of their own tie to the one only God. The solemn sacrifice ordinarily occurring every seventh day would afford such circumstances. If their rehearsal was through these ages a feature of the sacrificial day to those who continued loyal to their Creator, then the preservation of these stories is accounted for, and not otherwise can it with our present knowledge be explained. It may not be amiss, therefore, to attempt a provisional delineation of what the sacred day may have been in the actual customs of the patriarchs. The sketch may be taken for what the reader thinks it is worth. It is pre- sumed that the typical occupation Avas pastoral. Of course there was some agriculture and some handicraft, but, relatively, little. Society was organized, among the faithful at least, by families. If there were any germs of civil life, they seem to have developed in the line rather of Cain than of Seth. The loyal line from Abel to Jacob were apparently occupied with their flocks and herds, other work being subordinate and transient. When the sacred day came round, tillage and handiwork doubtless stopped, not by an}'^ law, but from interest and employment in the day's special functions. Care of the animals necessarily went on ; but all who could possibly be spared from this duty would spontaneously gather with their chief in some central part of the village or encampment. Here would be piled up the earth or stones serving for an altar. Here all would be busy in preparation. Wood and water must be supplied. Thin cakes ofi coarse flour and other food must be made ready. 100 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. The victim must be chosen, slain, dressed, and properly severed. At length the offering would be made. As the flames rose from the altar, solemn though simple prayer would be addressed to God. Perhaps also, now Jude 14: ^^ later, words of prophecy or of exhortation 2^pet. 2:5. would be heard. Possibl}^, on some grand oc- casion, a divine monition might in some way be given to some ministrant. Meanwhile the altar would not have received the whole of the victim. Part of the sacrifice would have been cooked for the sacrificial feast, of which all would partake. This might be the only occa- sion when flesh would ordinarily be eaten. It would, in that case, be a feast to which full justice would be done. When all had been fed, the patriarch, or some one at his bidding, would rise and rehearse the sacred stories that had been handed down : the creation, the sin, the exile, the murder, the divided families, and much, perhaps, be- side that which has been pi'eserved to us. Such a day would be full of enjoyment from dawn to dusk. There would be no compulsion, but only a privilege, in partici- pation. No conception of being debarred from work and forced to rest could be formed in any mind. The assem- blage, the sacrifice, the calling upon God, the feast, the rehearsal, — these would be the only circumstances to mark the day upon men's thoughts. Why should they maintain such a sacred day ? This is the second question. Whatever their observance was, why should they have it, not at any time they pleased, but every seventh day, keeping count of the weeks ? There can be only one answer. The weeks rested on nothing but divine prescription. Their observance by the patri- archs could have implied nothing less than an acknowl- edgment of the bond between themselves and God. It was the patriarch's profession of loyalty. But can any typical meaning be found in such an ob- servance of such a day ? This is the third question. THE PRIMEVAL SACRED DAY. 101 What, if anything, did it mean to tliese worshipers? What did it teach them? Wliat conceptions of God's character and of his purposes did it tend to form in them ? The great lesson of the antedikivian age was clearly punishment. Whatever may have been the material elements of the flaming sword at the gate of Eden, it flashed, plainly enough, wrath tigainst disobedience to God. Punishment was the burden of Enoch's jude, 14, prophetic utterances, and of Noah's. It found 2Pet. 2:5. its climax in the flood. It therefore must have obc^rent,^'^i been the first conception of the meaning of sac- ^'^'' ^' ^^' rifice. The idea of deliverance from retribution by a substitute was hardly learned after ages had passed. To Cain and to Abel alike it may have seemed merely that God's just wrath required the offering of that which was valuable for human use. The heathen (with some ex- ceptions ^) have never got beyond this idea. And if this were all that sacrifice meant, it is difficult to understand why Cain's offering should not be as acceptable as his brother's. It was Abel's obedient faith that slew a liv- ing creature. It was not that he knew why the living creature was required rather than the inanimate, but that he believed the word of God, and obeyed Hira. In due time, as soon as men were ready and able to receive it, the doctrine of substitution was fully set forth. But already, and from the first, certain associations with the sacrifice would evidently develop the ideas of God's be- nevolence and of human fellowship. The feast was, of course, a material rather than a spiritual blessing. But tliey would feel that it was a real blessing from Him whose wrath and judgment were so dreadful. They would also feel that this blessing was a bond of union among all who sat as it were at God's table. And they ^ A few, like Socrates, seem to have grasped the idea of substitu tion, and with it to have shown something like a vital faith. 102 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. would feel that the blessing and the fellowship were real- ized through the victim and the altar fire. Logically, the idea of punishment awaiting the apos- tate involved the complementaiy idea of favor to the faithful. But we cannot suppose that logical inferences would be drawn out by primeval simplicity. Its imag- ination must have been limited by the field of its experi- ence. Thei'efore the more would a weekly recital of di- vine interpositions and promises crystallize into broad conceptions of God's relations to them, present and fu- ture. We do not know how much more there was to repeat beside the fragments which introduce our Scrip- tures. But these recitals would have made them familiar with many ideas beside God's anger against sin. He would be felt to be interested in all human affairs and in all individual conduct. And, vague as the first promise seems to us, it would assuredly form in their imaginations a Hero to come to them, of them, and a victorious conflict with the author of evil. Thus the earliest, perhaps un- written, Scriptures would teach men at once to look up- ward and to look forward to God. Unconsciously, grad- ually, slowly, but surely, the sacrifice and the stories, the object lessons repeated every seventh day, would enable men to formulate these elementary religious ideas : The Fatherhood of God ; the brotherhood of the faithful ; the sacrifice 1 as the medium of both; the benevolence of the divine providence ; and the Coming Hero, Victor over the evil one, who had brought in death. 1 The sacrificial feast was a traditional practice in all parts of the world. It was an essential element of the Passover, which was at once a link between the Aaronic and the earlier sacrifices, and also the complete and re])i'esentative sacrifice of the Aaronic system. In that system all the other sacrifices explained or analyzed the Pass- over. Our Lord, to whom all the sacrifices referred, was preemi- nently the paschal Lamb. The fellowship of the sacrificial feast has thus been preserved, not only through the Jewish Passover, but on- ward through the Lord's Supper of the Church. STUDY V. THE MOSAIC SABBATH. " A delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable." — Is. Iviii. 13. The value of the national customs and fundamental laws of any people can be fairly judged, in most cases, by the moral development which that people, after the lapse of a considerable time, have attained. But the judgment is fair, so far only as these customs and laws have been operative. It cannot be rigorously applied to such as have been wholly or partially in abeyance, and perhaps known only or chiefly by books and tradition. On this general basis, how^ever, an instructive comparison of moral results might be drawn, between the fifteen hundred years of Israel from Moses to the Herods and the slightly shorter period of Rome from her foundation to her fall. But the true estimate of Israel's constitution must be based upon what it was plainly designed to effect. It did not have a proper trial. It was never for any long time full}' observed. Indeed it does not certainly ap- pear that it was ever enforced in all its details or in all its principles. Probably its details were most accurately carried out during the latter years of Joshua or in the reign of Solomon. Doubtless its principles were most practically expounded by the great prophets in the time of Hezekiah and his immediate successors. But the law, in its entirety, could not be observed during periods of internal commotion, or after the division into two king- doms, or under foreign domination. On the other hand, 104 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. however, if tlie law bad not been willfully neglected 2Chron. 36: fi^'st, the Calamities, which subsequently made Jeremiah ^^^ tliorougli woi'king impracticable, would not 34:13,14. liave occuiTed. For these calamities had been threatened as a punishment of disobedience, and com- plete exemption from them had been promised as a re- ward of faithfulness. National (and not merely individ- ual) disobedience began in fact before the settlement of the nation in their own territory gave opportunity for putting their whole system in operation. In order to re- j)air the moral damage caused by national transgression, and to fill up the educational void caused by national neglect, a long series of special agents, such as judges and prophets, were raised up. In the long run, the di- vine purpose was wisely and successfully worked out, de- spite Israel's unfaithfulness, which wrecked their national career. But the law cannot be made wholly responsible for the nation's final condition, either in respect to their conceptions of religious truths or to their general morals. The law had, indeed, a great influence. But so also had the institution of royalty, and their intercourse with foreign nations, and especially the grand array of the prophets. What the law alone would have done for the people, had it been kept, must be learned from itself. Moreover, in view of the unity of both the whole divine revelation and also of the whole divine plan of redemp- tion, this law, tlie organizing instrument of the nation, the introduction to the entire development of the organic body of the Church, must be expected to contain the germ and nucleus of every later revelation, and of every later experience or function of God's people. The law, that is the Mosaic system, could not be es»- tablished before Moses' day, because it was a national system, and required the existence of a nation to receive it. National existence, again, implies two things : a race and a territory. Therefore, in the unfolding of divine THE MOSAIC SABBATH. 105 providence, these two things were provided. During four centuries, by natural descent, and by accretion,^ a race sprung up who were bound together by ancestral tradi- tions, and peculiarly separated from other families of men. During theee centuries, also, there was preserved the expectation of a certain territory, assured to them for an inheritance, through a repeated promise of God to their ancestors. They had been taught to think of Canaan as their land, generations before they entered it. They were kept in tutelage in Egypt during their national minority. But the land was theirs by the divine decree, and when they reached the full age of national indepen- dence they were authorized and bidden to take possession of their own. Thus it was their land of promise. He gave them the land, who had chosen and fostered their race. So He gave them the legislation which He adapted to their race and to their land. No other race had a part in it. It could not be extended over other lands. The soil, the climate, the distances, the terrain of Palestine were involved in Israel's constitution. The genealogical relations of the nation's clans were by it inseparably joined to the various districts of the land. And this whole body of law contemplated a nation of farmers. These preliminary statements may be summed up thus : The thoughts or designs of God in the Mosaic legislation must be learned from the legislation itself, according to the record of it sanctioned by inspiration, 1 " Accretion." Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob each in turn possessed a large retinue. See Gen. xiv. 14, xx. 14, xxvi. 14, 19, xxx. 43, xxxviii. 12. Abraham's three hundred and eighteen fighting men implied a camp of fifteen hundred or more. Jacob and his male de- scendants numbered, on entering Egypt, seventy souls. But the ■whole number of their tribe as it may properly be called, even 'hen must have been thousands. Many joined them at the Exodus. See Ex. xiii. 38. See also an article in the N. Y. Observer of October 5, 1882, entitled " Pharoah and Joseph." 106 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. and not according to the practices of an nnfaitliful peo- ple. And the legishition must be regarded as adapted to the territory of Canaan only, and its inhabitants as chiefly engaged in agriculture. Sufficient illustrations of these statements will appear in the progress of these studies. The Mosaic religions system of institutions was dual. On one side it proposed an elaborate scheme of sacrifices. On the other side was an equally elaborate schedule of sacred times. The original sacrifice, and the original sacred day, which perhaps was known onl}'^ as the time of sacrifice, were eidarged, and as it were illuminated, so as to present all the details of their symbolic meaning and all the varieties of their practical effect on the con- duct of life. Thus the whole sj^stem while a starting- point was also a development. The organic individuality of the Church began there in the same sense that the organic individuality of a fruit begins in a blossom. But the blossom grows as a part of the tree. Botanists say that it consists of specialized leaves. In the inchoate period blossom and leaves are indistinguishable. They all appear only as leaves. In the period of development they manifest their difference of form and of function. When the function of the leaf is fulfilled its form vanishes. But the function of the blossom has no end, and though its form ma}"^ change to that of the fruit its life is per- sistent. The Scriptures compare the kingdom of God to this tree life. The root of all, the active beginning of the whole economy of redemption, of the whole plan of God's mercy to man, is a promise. It has been all through, and is still in this day, the administration of a promise. Hence the mental and spiritual attitude toward God, of devout men in all ages, is properly described as " faith." This promise is twofold, like the main tap root and the fibrous roots of the plant. " He will come " THE MOSAIC SABBATH. 107 is tlie one root of all. The first promise relates to what He will do and suffer. The second spreads out to all nations. The original promise, however, involved a dual conception, first of suffering^ b}^ a typical man, and then of an expected time when this man should conquer by his suffering. Very likely the first men thought of crea- tion 2 and of punitive death as the only noticeable asser- tions of divine majesty. But however vague and general were their ideas at the first, the germs of all were con- tained in them. Step by step all would be learned. At length the posterity of Adam would be able to think of atonement and to hope for eternal life in the City of God. In the idea of punishment for sin, so forcibly impressed on the primeval ages, was logically involved the idea of blessing for faithfulness. In the promise to Abraham the blessing with its completeness through the coming one was exclusively mentioned. Thus the earlier promise to Eve was rounded out to full logical symmetry. The utterance of the second promise was the starting-point of the Hebrew nation, as the appearance of that promised seed was the nation's terminus and goal. This promise was repeated with the utmost emphasis to Isaac and to Jacob, and is recorded five times in the book of ^p^ 12 : 3 ; Genesis. It furnished the key to the Mosaic \f:^2i^\\ law. For, as the Apostle Paul argues to the ^® • •^*- 1 " Suffering." Both the seed and the serpent would be bruised, but the serpent Avas not of our race like the seed. '^ " Creation." The creative week represented a tinie'when God's will was the only energy throughout all nature. The old sacred day referred to that time until men could be educated to think of the coming day when God's will shall again be supreme. As we shall see, it provided for that education. Meanwhile it is strangely for- gotten sometimes that the old Sabbath should be taken as referring not so much to the material as to the spiritual aspect of creation ; that is, not so much to the generation of the Kosmos as to the har- monious supremacy of the will of God. 108 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. Galatians, the law, which was also of God, could not be out of harmony with the promise of God. It was designed to effect the fulfillment of that promise. But the nation chosen to be its instrument, though holy as compared with the heathen, were yet transgressors. Being what they were, the prob- lem was to effect through them the blessing to all nations. This problem contained two members, the end and the means. That is, it was necessary to develop in the minds of men proper ideas of what the state of blessedness should be, and at the same time to place before them and around them the means and influences by which they might become capable and fit for that state. Hence the duality of the law. The state of recon- ciliation to God was symbolized by its Sabbatic system ; ^ the means of reconciliation by its sacrificial system.^ The sapling now became a tree. It had been able heretofore to produce leaves only. Potential blossoms indeed they were as well as leaves, but the blossoms were not indi- vidually manifest. Now they are distinguished forever, and can never again, even by the ignorant, be confounded. So the sacrifice, in which the primeval sacred day seems to have been blended, was now forever separated. The duality became manifest. The two systems were made entirely independent of each other. They met in very few points. In many respects they were strongly contrasted. Sacrifice was an act. The Sabbath was a state. Sacrifice 1 By " Sabbatic system " is meant bere the whole legishition con- cerning the observance of various periods called Sabbaths. By " sacrificial system " is meant the whole legislation relating to sacri- fices, priesthood, tabernacle, etc., dealt with here only incidentally. By " symbolize " is meant to set forth as an object lesson, or a type, intended through actual and continued experience to develop either certain spiritual ideas not originally entertained in the consciousness, or, at !east, to develop the capacity for comprehending such ideas when presented. THE MOSAIC SABBATH. 109 involved suffering. The Sabbath was unconnected with suffering. Sacrifice was related to the ordinary circum- stances of life. It answered to its occupations, its con- tingencies, its joj'-, its contrition, its pomp. The heathen also had it. It belonged to this world of sin. The Sab- bath was no part of ordinary life. It was not the product of any of its experiences. The heathen and the apostate had never any part in it. In no feature did it suggest sin or penalty. It was expressly designated the sign of union between God and men. But the great festivals of spring and autumn were fixed with no regard for the occurrence of a Sabbath. Pentecost came on the day after. No sacrifices were peculiar to the Sabbath. No special manifestations or revelations from God were as- signed to it. The Urim and Thummim answered no more readily than on other days. The sin-offering, or burnt-offering, or peace-offering of individual piety had no encouragement on this day. Apparently they were inhibited by the Sabbatic regulations. Perhaps the most effectual means of all for depriving the Sabbath of all association with sacrifice was the prohibition of all sacri- fices in any other place than the tabernacle pre- pg,,^ ^i ■. cincts. Thus the great mass of the people, if ^'■'^'• the nation were perfectly obedient, could see a sacrifice only three times a year during their attendance at the festivals. They could never slay the victim with their own hands at their own homes. But to their own homes, bringing rest for their own hands, the Sabbaths came, vacant of any dependence on the bloody rite. At the festivals, moreover, the appointed offerings went on in due routine, no matter when in their course the Sabbath occurred. Its arrival may have restrained private offer- ings, but did not in any way affect those that were public. There was one exception only, and it empha- sized this rule. For the one lamb which was sacrificed 110 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAT. every morning and every afternoon, tvs^o lambs ^ were offered each morning, and the same each afternoon of the Sabbath. By all this contrast there was set before Israel this truth, a grand truth for that age, that the state of blessedness promised was entirely distinct from the means by which Abraham's Seed should achieve it for men. While thus on the one hand so sharply separated ^ from the sacrifice, on the other hand the Sabbath received two new features, the enforced rest and the connected Sab- batic times. As already noticed, it is not to be presumed that there was no cessation of labor on the patriarchal day. There certainly was not such a cessation as marked the Mosaic Sabbath. The difference lay in the enforce- ment of rest, and this enforcement had two sides. It was a function of the civic or national avithorit}^, and it was appointed as the sign of national or public loyalty to God. Such a Sabbath could not exist until the nation had become self-maintaining. For herein the nation was treated as an organic unit. It stood, in respect of this ordinance, between God and the individual. It enforced universal cessation of labor, as God's agent. And then as the commonwealth, the agent of each citizen, it pre- sented their separate and yet united homage to God. 1 " Two lambs," Num. xxviii. 9, 10. The seventh month was cor- respondhigly distinguished. The first day of each month had a special monthly offering of two bullocks, one ram, seven lambs, with flour, etc. On the first day of the seventh month this was nearly- doubled, one bullock, one ram, and seven lambs being added. See Num. xxviii. 11-15, and xxix. 1-6. 2 " Separated." Probably the blending, in the first age, of the two institutions, the sacred day and sacrifice, was the means em- ployed for evolving the idea of sacredness as attached to each. The sacrifice was kept from becoming a mere feast, much less an orgy, as often among the heathen (1 Cor. x. 7). The time of worship was kept from iudifterent desultoriness, likely to issue in godless desue- tude. THE MOSAIC SABBATH. Ill He -wlio broke the Sabbatli not only disobeyed God, but also defied bis nation and outlawed himself Ex. 31 : 14. from citizenship. The renegade was executed, not by the hands of priests or Levites, nor on their sen- tence, tut by the whole congregation of the Num.15: laity. Therefore the Sabbath became a visible ^'^'^^ token of national coherence. From that day onward it distinguished the Israelite from all other men, and united him to all of his own community. No other nation kept it. No Jew could keep it secretly. None could fail by it to make known his race and his faith, and to discover liis loyal fellows. No means could be more efficient to produce a national self-consciousness. Everything else pertaining to their national administration corresponded to something which the heathen had as well as they. Sacrifices, priesthood, oracles of some kind, were found everywhere. Even cir- cumcision ^ may have been quite widely known. They shared blood and language with other tribes. But their Sabbath, the weekly day of rest enforced by public au- thority, was their very own. Nothing like it, nothing to compare with it, was to be found anywhere else. It embodied their national separateness and their national unity. Moreover, it supplied the lack of that personal chieftainship about which nations usually crystallized. Returning so frequently, with its rigid absoluteness and its grave sanctions, it brought the executive authority of their Divine King to their perceptions more impressively and more continuously than the rule of an ordinary king could be brought home to his subjects. The circum- stance that the Divine King was unseen was of very slight importance. In ancient as in modern times, kings ^ Circumcision was a personal rather than a national rite. It was made the sign and seal of the covenant before the nation was organ- ized. 112 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. have been known to the most of their subjects by their trappings ratlier than by their persons. If a messenger from the monarch, or an officer of the hiw armed with a writ of the chief magistrate, should hiy his hand upon a citizen every weelv of his hfe, what a vivid sense that citizen might gain of the authority of his monarch or magistrate. How vivid then the impression of a Su- preme Ruler, when, every week, the activity of a whole nation was arrested by his command ! The designation of the Sabbath as the sign of national loyalty to God was made during the stay of Moses on Ex. 31: 12- Sinai, immediately after the uttering of the Dec- ^'' alogue. " Verily my Sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you, throughout your generations : that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you." ..." Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for- ever." To this passage there is a reference Ezek. 20 : 12. , ^ . . . , f ° , ^ , by Jiizekiel. " Moreover, also, 1 gave them my Sabbaths to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them." Thus the Sabbath expressed clearly the two ideas of God's personal government and of national loy- alty. But the study of the day's features must certainly demonstrate that they were adapted to make these two ideas, not unconscious or latent beliefs merely, but most familiar and energizing thoughts. The circumstance dwelt upon in the phraseology of the legislation is rest from ordinary toil. "What employ- ments were contemplated appears only incidentally. They form no part of the commandment. It is not un- usual to find in the Scrijjture history, that first the bare negative side of some truth is given, and afterward its THE MOSAIC SABBATH. 113 complement, the positive side, is set forth with full illus- trations. Thus almost the whole Decalogue consists of mere restrictions. The Sermon on the Mount and other New Testament teachings give positive applications. So the promise to Eve was a blank prophecy of braising. The promise to Abraham revealed its logical complement, — the coming blessing. So the Fourth Commandment enacts only rest. The New Testament enjoins, not the rest, but its employments, — the assembly, the com- munion with our risen Lord, the Scripture exposition, the exhortation, the hymns, the alms, the breaking of bread. Down to the captivity Israel continued to be agricul- tural. But the land was full not of farm-houses but of villages and hamlets. There is no indication of scattered residences each in the midst of the owners' fields. For certain purposes, especially for preserving outlying fields from ravage, a tower or shelter of some kind was often built, so that some one might keep guard when the crop was exposed to danger. But the farmer's home was then, as it has always been, and, throughout the same region, is now, in the village. The typical Mosaic Sab- bath was therefore the Sabbath of a farming village. The work suspended was chiefly farm work, ploughing, sowing, harvesting, wine-making, and the like. The care of animals could not be omitted, however, and there is no injunction bearing on purely pastoral employments. Those whose place it was to watch over the herds would be obliged to leave their homes as usual with their charges. But of course only the smallest number requi- site would be dispatched on this duty. For all the rest, the Sabbath was preeminently the social day. Daring other days the cultivators were scattered over their fields. Sometimes the women of the household worked with them. If not, they were busy enough with household work and the endless spinning and weaving, each in her 114 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. own cottnge. The Sabbath brought leisure to them all. No fires were allowed for cooking. Hence sira- Ex. 35 : 3. , i <• j- • . pie meals of fruit and bread required very lit- tle of the housewife's time. Thus every facility was afforded for social intercourse both of families and of neighbors. And because they were a village of farmers, this would be at once peculiarly precious and jDeculiarly easy. If the population had consisted chiefly of artisans, whose occupations threw them largely together every day, and seldom carried them away from the village centre, the social opportunities of the Sabbath would not have been so valuable. These opportunities could not, on the other hand, have been freely enjoyed, if the peo- ple had been scattered in isolated farmsteads. In that case, moreover, it would not have been so easy for the civil authorities to enforce the Sabbath law. But in the village, Sabbath eve brought all the farmers' households together, and Sabbath dawn found them all together, prepared to avail themselves of social privileges of which the working days had been destitute. An observing stranger visiting in Israel's land, and finding himself, on Sabbath morning, in one of these vil- lages, would never have thought of the closing of shops or mills, or the silence of industry's usual hum. The Phoenician peddler might be missed from his seat under the village oak ; the blacksmith's forge might be quiet beside his door. The peddler, perhaps, came to stay but a day or two, and the blacksmith swung his hammer only in the intervals of his work in his own corn-fields. Such incidents, insignificant in themselves, would not be in any way characteristic of the Sabbath. What the visitor would notice would be the unusual number of people in the street and about the house doors ; the leisurely con- verse of parents with children, and of neighbors with neighbors, in groups ever dissolving and reforming ; the THE MOSAIC SABBATH. 115 cheerful vivacity of youths and servants ; the complete solitude of the surrounding fields compared with the throngs in the village. . e . . . If this day were given up to idleness, it would be mor- ally certain that (men being what they are the world over) it would be degraded to folly, revelry, and license, making it a nuisance and a curse rather than a joy and a blessing. Sometimes it was so degraded.^ But when the right use was made of it, every hour was elevating and profitable. In regard to the use of the day, a very important principle may be discerned, which accounts for the form of the statute. Its restriction was maintained by the sword of the magistrate. The state provided for every one freedom ^ in the proper use of the day, and (an equally important matter) it compelled every one to abstain from anything that could possibly hinder the proper use of the day by another, whether a dependant or not. But it did not compel the proper use. That was left to conscience and to the general influence of a public sentiment of loyalty. No precise and explicit rules are given, and of course no penalty for disobedi- ence. Nevertheless, the will of God was plainly mani- fest through certain arrangements, which, though not all verbally associated with the Sabbath, did, in the nature of the case, find on it their special opportunity, and give to it all of its positive features. One of these arrangements was the convocation. The ^ The bearing of the first chapter of Isaiah is against outrageous licentiousness coexistent with a nominal observance of the Sabbaths and other festivals. Compare Ezek. xxii. and xxiii., where the same charge is made, the Sabbath being specifically referred to in xxii. 8, 16, 24, 26 ; xxiii. 38. Idolatrous festivals were always apt to take this character. Compare 1 Cor. x. 7. ^ Cases of necessity, as the feeding of the flocks, were of course excepted, and so were deeds of mercy. See Matt. xii. 11 ; Luke 116 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. law for holding it on the Sabbath is recorded in the Lev. 23: twentj-tliivd chapter of Leviticus. "And the ^"^" Lord spake unto Moses, saying : ' Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, concerning the feasts of the Lord which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts. Six daj^s shall work be done, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of rest, an holy convocation ; ye shall do no work therein ; it is the Sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings.' " In the remainder of the chapter other seasons of convocation were appointed, being seven in all. At three ^ of these all the men of the nation would be expected to attend, but they were not absolutely required to do so. At a fourth, that of the first day of unleavened bread, a large part, certainly, of those who assembled to eat the Pass- over in the previous afternoon ought to be found. Some might start early in the morning for their homes, but many would remain through all the ceremonies of the week, and attend the convocation on the closing day. The two other annual convocations occurred on the first and tenth days of the seventh month, the festival of Lev. 23: truuipets and the Day of Atonement. On both ^*' ^'' these days the people were at their homes. All the days for which convocations were appointed were described as Sabbaths. But they were not all alike. On 1 Three times in the year every male must appear before tlie tab- ernacle, or the place which God would choose (Deut. xvi. IG), each one bringing a gift {Ex. xxiii. 15; xxxiv. 20). Pentecost lasted one day. So also the Passover. It seems that it was permitted to spend the days of unleavened bread at home, if they chose (Ex. xii. 20). But the feast of Tabernacles lasted eight days (Lev. xxiii. 34-3G). On Pentecost, therefore, and the first and eighth days of the feast of Tabernacles, every male would be at the place where the tabernacle stood, and would naturally attend the convocation. On the first and last days of unleavened bread many would attend, but a large 2>art would be at home. THE MOSAIC SABBATH. 117 the Day of Atonement no work whatever was albnved ; apparently not even a fire could be kindled. It was to be kept as strictly as the seventh day of the week. 1,6^.33: The law for the otlier six days was different. ^'"^^" Only " servile work," ^ that is farm work, was forbidden. At Pentecost there was a special injunction for the hospi- table entertainment of all the dependent and unprovided classes, involving the not little labor of getting ready a feast as bountiful as the family could afford. Deut. 16: Thus it would seem that the application of the ^^' ^^" name Sabbath to these seven days was not suggested by the absolute suspension of all work, for that was true only of one. The name^ is evidentl}^ suggested by these two facts : the stoppage of the bread-winners' ordinary business, and the general assembly. Evidently these two facts are related. They are the complements of each other. Business was stopped that the assembly might be attended. The assembly, on the other hand, became possible because men were at leisure to attend it. In the wilderness there seems to have been one place of gathering for the whole body of adult Israelites, both men and women. It was appointed that God should meet them at the door of the tabernacle. It is ex. 29: 42, mentioned that at various times ^ they did as- semble there. The hour * for meeting seems to have been ^ Note the permission to prepare food on tlie first and seventli days of unleavened bread (Ex. xii.: 16) This was enlarged to feasting at Pentecost and Tabernacles. 2 "Convocation," " do no work," associated in every case. See Ex. xii. 16; Lev. xxiii. 3, 7, 8, 21, 24, 25, 27, 35, 36; Num. xxviii. 18, 25, 26; xxix. 1, 7, 12, 35. 8 "Various times." Lev. viii. 3, 4, Aaron's consecration. Num. X. 3, at the call of the trumpets. Num. xxi. 19, with Korah. Num. XXV. 6, repenting for the Baal Peor sin. Ex. xxxviii. the women (margin, " assembling by troops "). * "The hour." Ex. xxix. 42, 43, couples the assembly with the sacrifice. See 1 Kings xviii. 29, 36; Ps. cxli. 2. 118 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. that of the morning or evening sacrifice. So hirge a num- ber as might assemble there could not organize for common participation in the exercises according to modern fashions. But they could all see the symbolic cloak above and the smoke of the altar below. Doubtless each tribe and subdivision of a tribe would gather around its chief or elder, and so a fair organization would be effected. But it is impossible to conceive of voluble Semites as all silent throughout the time of meeting. Much of the ceremo- nial was addressed to their eyes. But Moses and Aaron also spoke to them. A sentence or two^ was probably ut- tered, and immediatel}'^ i-epeated verbatim by those near- est the speaker, then taken up by others, and so passed on to the most distant ears. After a pause for the first wave of repetition to subside, another sentence or two would be spoken, and in turn repeated during the succeeding pause. Thus every word of the speaker might be carried to every person in an assembly of any size, even though numbered by hundreds of thousands. But it is not neces- sary to suppose that nothing was done except listening to Moses or Aaron's words and repeating them. There were the old narratives preserved already by incessant recitation through many centuries. Perhaps the great leader had already edited (as we may say) the inspired selection which constitutes now the first book ascribed to him. If that were so, yet very few copies could have been made. The new selection, like the original mass, must have been dependent, not on the eyes, but on the mouths and ears of the people, for its survival. There also were all the laws and statutes ordained through Moses himself. ■i * The writer heard this process described as one familiar to Orien- tals at a meeting in the chapel of the Y. M. C. A. of New York, by Dr. William Thomson, a missionary's son, born in Syria, who was giving a series of lectures there, about the year 1877. This refer- ence is from memory only. See Ex. xxiv. 1-8. THE MOSAIC SABBATH. 119 It was commanded that the people should be taught these thoroughly. May we not, then, believe that in every tribelet or hundred some one was emploj'^ed, during the hour of convocation, in reciting before each small section of the great gathering these things which God designed to have fixed in the people's memories, accurately ? ^ But the full working of the law could not be had in the wilderness. It contemplated the settled life of the villages in the promised land. The farmer folk of these villages would, however, be largely guided, as to the ex- ercises of the Sabbath convocation, by the traditionary customs which descended all the way from that wilder- ness. Though the village had no altar, yet the gather- ing would naturally form at that hour when the morning lamb was offered "before the Lord." The same recita- tions would also be given. But the meeting might seem narrow in the absence of the great national brotherhood, and tame in the void of the national ritual. Therefore, an institution was inaugurated in the desert, not enter- ing, however, upon full activity till afterward, which rep- resented well to these villages both the grand brotherhood and the grand ritual of the nation as a whole. This was the institution of the Levites. They had no inher- itance or place among the tribes, but they stood in place of the first-born of every tribe. They were not priests, but in everything except the mediatorial office the}^ stood on God's behalf before the people.^ Unquestionably there is a certain analogy between the Levite as he may be seen in the Pentateuch and a mod- ern Christian minister. But the differences are also con- ^ " Accurately." See Deut. iv. 2. Compare Rev. xxii. 18, 19, and note on page 123. This does not imply that Ezra or others> at various times, under divine authority, may not have reedited Moses' work, and have added some verses here and there. ' See Deut. xxvii. 14. 120 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. siderahle, notably as to the development of tlie function of preaching and of active propagandist service.^ The resemblances, and also the relation of the Levites to the exercises of the Sabbath and to the convocation, may best be shown by a little review of certain characteristics of their order. First. They formed a class who might properly be termed learned in theology. It was their business to un- derstand all that was revealed concerning man and God, whether as a system of true philosophy, a scheme of mor- als, a religious history, a bod}^ of law, or the details of ritual. They were, therefore, to be the expounders of these matters, and the instructors of the people.^ In later times they had no monopoly of the prophetic office, though from Samuel down many of them held it. But the prophets came in great measure to make up for the subversion of the law. If the law had been faithfully observed, Levite and prophet might possibly have been synonymous. Niim 16:9 Sccond. They were not priests. Their ex- iO;i8:i-<. elusion from the mediatorial office was very Num. 3:12 emphatic. They were, however, representa- 39-ui. tives of the people, standing for the heads or heirs of every famil}^ Thus the}'^ were allied to the older ^ The " ixaOrjTevtTarf k.t.a." of Miitt. xxviii. 19 would hardly apply to tliem. Israel was regarded as already professing faith. The Levite was not expected to win over idolaters as any jiart of his oflicial duty. 2 Both priests and Levites were to be the instructors of the peo- ple, but practically, of course, the duty must, for the most part, fall upon the Levites as the more numerous. It would naturally fall into their hands also on account of their familiarity with all the minutiae of the ritual, and on account of their dispersion among all the people. In Deut. xxvii. 9 the priests and also the Levites are mentioned to- gether with Moses as expounders and enforcers of the law. But the Levites ajipear as the active agents in verse 14. In other passages their activity is implied. See, also, the blessing Deut. xxxiii. 10. THE MOSAIC SABBATH. 121 priesthood, sncli as Melchizedek's, and such as Christians share, not with their suffering Saviour, but with their risen Lord. Third. They were particularly charged with caring for the support and maintenance both of the ritual ^ and of the legal administration. Under the monarchy, at least in pious reigns, they seem to have furnished the officers of the central authority in all non-military affairs. The Mosaic constitution, however, did not apparently contemplate their being invested with executive author- ity. It was rather implied that they would act as coun- selors, amici cu7'ice, so to say, of the elders,^ who would administer each village almost independently. Fourth. The income of both priests and Levites w^as to be drawn chiefly from agricultural tithes. These the Levites were to collect or receive. But there was no or- dinance authorizing distraint. Reliance was placed on personal influence, and on faithfulness to the duty of keep- ing the people in mind of their loyal obligation to God their Sovereign, and of the particulars of his requirements. Fifth. The Levites were warmly recommended to the cordial, generous, and hospitable regard of their lay breth. ren. They ministered to them as well as to God.^ ,„ ^ •^ . Deut. 10 : 8. Hence the people were reminded that not only 1 The law of the tithes (Num. xviii. 24) implied that the Levites should collect them. Thus they might easily become an official class. The business of collecting tithes would furnish a sufficient reason for their general distribution over the land, which the law evidently contemplates. Deut. xii. 12, 18. The Levite, who at other times was " within their gates," must be treated, when at the feasts, as part of their company. 2 In the case of homicide by unknown hands, the elders were held respont.ible, and were required to purge themselves before the priests. Deut. xxi. 1-5. 8 The Levites were probably not authorized to give the benedic- tion of Num. vi. 24-26. 122 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. had these Levites no hmded possession, but there was a claim, both as God's appointees and as the people's rep- resentatives, upon popular support. The thirty-five villages allotted the Levites sufficed, of course, for only a part of the tribe, perhaps for those past service. Members of all the tribal families would be there, and the adjacent fields would be tilled by the youths and old men, assisted by the women. The able- bodied men, between the ages of thirty and fift}'^, would alternate between duty at the tabernacle (or temple) and tours through the country, or perhaps a short resi- dence at various points. Their families might remain in their family village, or follow their wanderings, or live in some district where the Levite might have a local charge when not wanted at the sanctuary. In these tours or sojourns the Levite would look after the tithes, correct any deviation from the law, and give information on any point where light was wanted. He would appear as a plain Israelite, not a priest but a brother, in virtue of his tribal substitution for the first-born ; and yet, by the dignity of his divine calling and appointment, his associa- tion with the sacred order of priests, his familiarity with all the typical solemnities of the sanctuary, his learning in all that was given to men by the word and authority of God, he would inspire that respect and confidence which the very word of God impressively and repeatedly bespoke for him. In the farming village such a Levite would usually be found as a guest, abiding for a longer or shorter time. At the hour of morning sacrifice the villagers would nat- urally gather about him, as the convocation gathered for- merly before the door of the tabernacle, in front of the great altar. Under his leadership some choral might be intoned as he liad been taught to sing it with the trained choir of his tribe at the sanctuary. Then some prayers THE MOSAIC SABBATH. 123 might be offered, having plain reference to the sacrifice which they all knew to be smoking on the distant altar they could not see. To these prayers all the people would say, Amen.^ Then might occur, what is still so congenial to an Oriental gathering, a recitation, some portions of the law, — some of the ancient narratives embodied in the sacred books ; possibly traditions and histories ^ other than those sealed by divine authority might furnish the matter of the rehearsal. Perhaps some villager, perhaps a youth, perhaps more than one, might be in turn the spokesman, the Levite attesting his accu- racy ^ or correcting any error. After the recitation there might be some simple comment or instruction by the Levite, assisted it may be by the village elders. This would take the form of question and answer, or of pithy sentences repeated by the audience. If a priest were present, the concourse might be dismissed with the stately blessing ending the sixth chapter of Numbers. Though probabl}^ not authorized to use this form, the Levite also was to bless in the name of the Lord. There is not a word explicitly connecting the instruc- tion of children with the exercises of the Sabbath. Yet there is at least some reason for believing that this was one of the arrangements which were designed andffcdapted ^ "Amen." See Dent, xxvii. 15-26, and Ps. cvi. 48. ^ Tlie Book of Jasher, Iddo, etc. ? * " Accuracy." In the beginning of the Sabbath year, at the feast of Tabernacles, the whole law was to be read publicly from the au- thentic manuscript preserved at the sanctuary. This would insure the correction of any error that might have crept in. Deut. xxxi. 10, 13. The frequent repetition enjoined Deut. vi. 6-9, might pro- duce considerable variations. At the Sabbath services these would be discovered, and the septennial reading would settle any doubt. For a people without printing, no better way to keep the whole pop- ulation acquahited with the very Word of God in purity could be devised. 124 EIGHT STUDIES OE THE LORD'S DAY. to give character to the (lay. The association of parents and children, and the tenderness of Jewish fathers, in con- trast with the prevalent manners of all heathendom, have often been commented on. All this grew out of their religious training and hojjes.^ In the mass, it varied as their piety. Allusions are found to the parents' habit of answering their children's questions about i-eligious acts and memorials ; and they were charged to give full and clear explanations. Such questions ^ would inevitably be suggested by the Sabbath and its regular incidents. The explanation required would lead to a complete history of God's dealings with their ancestors in pursuance of his promise. The rehearsals at the convocation would fur- ther stimulate such inquiries. In accordance with east- ern fashions the youth would be expected to memorize, verbatim, these very narratives and laws so as to be able, each in due course, to take part in the recitations. A strict injunction was laid on parents to teach their chil- dren these things.^ The leisure of the Sabbath brought with it an opportunity, and such an opportunity is al- ways one side of a duty. The convocation is always styled " holy." The gather- ing was clothed with reverence and awe. Its business, its. spirit, its whole purpose, was humble acknowledgment of the nation's sovereign God. It was the prominent fea- ture of the village Sabbath. The central figure was, of course, the Levite. But none would be busier, none would ^ What an apostasy, when an Israelite could sacrifice his child to Moloch ! 2 " Questions." See Ex. xii, 26, 27 ; Deut. vi. 20-25 ; xxxii. 7 ; Josh. iv. 6, 7. Too much must not be built on these passages; but they must not be robbed, on the other hand, of their testimony to common habits. See, also, Ps. xliv. 1 ; Ixxviii. 3, 8 " Teach them diligently." Deut. vi. 7. Note the Sabbatic ring of the echoing passages. Ps. xxxiv. 11 ; Prov. i. 8; iv. 1; v. 1, 7; viii. 32, etc. Note, also, the reference to delinquence in Malachi iv. 6. THE MOSAIC SABBATH. 1-0 more heartily enjoy its sunny hours, than the children and youth, to whom the mysteries of their religion were then unfolded, and those who led their studies. The back- ground of the picture was universal genial sociality. The gladsomeness of all was heightened by the communal as- semblage ; by the participation of servants, children, and mothers ; by the presence of one familiar with the capitol, connected with the national government, and yet not far above their own rank. But the social glow, favored by the day's leisure, was yet restrained from any approach to license by the solemnity of the convocation, by the official dignity and influence of the visiting Levite, and by the occupation of explaining or memorizing what we may call the Scriptures. Thus, while this was a day of leisure and of rest, it may well have been full of employ- ment. Every hour had some business with God, or for God. Thus every mind became accustomed to feel his personal superintendence and government. The whole Sabbath spoke of Him, of his authority, of his favor, especially of his promises ; and so of his personal interest in each and all of them. His majesty arrested plough and sickle and press. His minister presided at the reci- tation of his acts and words. His praise was sung by the villnge choir, his benevolence was reflected in social fel- lowship and household relaxation. His promises contin- ually stimulated to some contemplation of their national destiny, and would, in time, suggest some dim compari- son between the future day of blessing to all nations and the present day of blessing to all the little vilhige world. And so his covenant, like a banner, waved over the Sab- bath land. STUDY VI. THE SABBATIC SYSTEM OF ISEAEL. " Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ." — Gal. iii. 24. The promise to Abraham and tlie promise given to Adam and Eve ^ make . together one complete whole. Nothing more conld be made known except as to greater minuteness of details until the time of fulfillment arrived. This, like the promise, is in two parts separated by mil- lenniums of time. The heel of the woman's seed was bruised on Calvary. The head of his enemy is not yet crushed.^ The day of blessing to all nations began to dawn when the " Dayspring from on high visited us." It is not yet the perfect day of the world's complete blessedness. The administration of the promise is still continuing. The means and the end of the promise, the process of atonement, anff the development of lo3'al devo- tion, are included still in that administration. In the process of atonement the divine wrath against sin was first manifested, then the character and mission of the Sin-Bearer, lastly the work of the Sin-Remover, the Sanctifying Spirit. By similar steps the development of loyalty began with the simple idea of obedience ; then, by degrees, reached the consciousness of a trust to hold ; * The first promise was in form addressed to the serpent. But it was uttered for the benefit of the human race whose progenitors lis- tened to it. 2 "Not jet." 1 Cor. xv. 25; Heb. ii. 8; Rev. xix. 11; xx. 15. THE SABBATIC SYSTEM OF ISRAEL. 127 and in this last age has been rousing in Christian minds the perception of a mission to execute. Not all at once, but in the course of ages, the prophets, who represented the religious intelligence of Israel, learned the fact, that not unto themselves, but unto another dispensation were they ministering. This fact was a fact from iPet. i:io- the first. Gravitation existed as truly before ^^' as after men learned to think of it as such. We, at least in our own day, know each of these things as a fact ; and in the light of this knowledge we must study the other facts before us. The Mosaic system, as a whole, and in all its great departments, was prepai'ative. It was not intended to endure. It bore within itself the evidence of its own transitoriness. Israel was allowed scarcely any initiative. He w^as confined to routine. The utmost precision in following that routine was his merit. That routine was his sacred trust. Yet it was more than dead routine. It was a divine education. It provided the germs of all those moral or mental states and operations which are involved in man's first becom- ing reconciled to God,i and then living as a lo^^al citi- zen of God's kingdom. It provided, also, for the grad- ual, and at length the complete, development of those germs. It contemplated the time when men, having be- come in their veiy hearts at one with God, and having become used to all the habits and ideas ciu-rent in the commonwealth of the godly, might be emancipated from the trammels of its statutory drill, and ushered into the exercise of free spontaneity as citizens of that common- wealth. The coming One who should introduce this new era was distinctly set forth, as the antitype of the law- giver who had established the routine. The weekly Sabbath alone was not sufficient to give 1 Including in this phrase also the reconciliation of God to man, i. e. the whole atonement. 128 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. the due preparation for tbcit future citizenship. It did give that which must lie at the foundation of any real preparation for citizenship, — a strong sense of nation- ality. But in the development of the national Sabbath out of the simple sacred day of patriarchal times, there was involved one contingency of evil. With the perpet- ual recurrence of the Sabbath the consciousness of na- tionality must become very vivid. At length the idea of the nation might become so vivid as to bedim the idea of its sovereign God. If loyalty were all that the Sab- bath signified, then loyalty to the nation might take the place of loyalty to God. God was unseen ; so also the nation was an unseen abstraction. But it was God's ex- ecutive, and by its office-bearers stood between the peo- ple and God. It might absorb all their loyalty, if loyalty was all they had. The name of God might then be on the people's lips ; but the desire to do his will because it was his would not be in their hearts. The Sabbath would then become nothing more than a national pecul- iarity, — a Jewish distinction. It would serve no pur- pose, but to advertise the Jew as one separate from all other men. Just this did actually come to pass. But it came to pass only because the sabbatic legislation, as a whole, was not faithfully enforced ; because the sabbatic system was not suffered to work out, in a proper wa}', the proper results of its routine. That system was more or less disregarded when it might have been executed. When the day of fanatic legalism came, its execution was no longer possible. So the Sabbath became barren. It was leading to no goal. The ideas and feelings which ought to have been a part of it were replaced by a nar- row and selfish formalism, through the greater or less neglect of those provisions which would have given it a larger meaning. The feeling of Jewishness enveloped it like a husk. THE SABBATIC SYSTEM OF ISRAEL. 129 The sabbatic system consisted of five members. These five may be regarded as two groups, one of three and one of two members. The three members of the first group were the sacred day, the sacred month, and the sacred year, — each the last of a series of seven days, months, and years, respectively. The two members of the second group were a sacred day and a sacred year, immediately succeeding seven series of seven days and seven series of seven years respectively, and, therefore, each constituting the first in a new series of seven. The first three closed a week. The latter two began it. The centre of this system was, of course, the seventh day of the week. It existed before any of the others. It was enjoined upon Israel before any of them. It stood upon a different foundation and with a loftier dignity; for it bad a place not only in primeval tradition, but also in tlie solemn magnificence of the uttered Decalogue. While the title of Sabbath is variously applied, no other day, no other sabbatic period, is ever confused with tJie Sabbath. The seventh month of each year ^ was distinguished by the most solemn of the national acts of worship, the Day of Atonement, and by the most joyous of the national festivals, the Week of Tabernacles. It was further dis- tinguished by twice as many Sabbaths ^ as an ordinary ^ It is not necessary to refer the intelligent reader to all the spe- cific passages for the provisions of the law concerning the various sabbatic seasons. A careful perusal of the four Mosaic books is absolutely indispensable and sufficient. The principal passages are Ex. xii., xvi., xxxi., xxxiv. ; Lev. xxiii., xxv. ; Num. xxviii., xxix. ; Deut. xii., xv., xvi. ^ Of course there would sometimes be five weekly Sabbaths, and sometimes one or more of the additional Sabbaths would coincide with a weekly Sabbath. The distinction between Shabbath and Shabbathon is of no consequence in this study. It is noticed in the next Study in a note on the Pentecost. 9 130 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. month, — the first, tenth, fifteenth, and twenty-second being so liept in addition to the foiu' seventh days of the week which would ordinaril}^ fall within it. So the weekly Sabbath was dignified by the offering of twice as many lambs as were sacrificed at the morning and evening of other days. This seventh month was still further dis- tinguished by the dignity of its opening or representative day, which was a special Sabbath, and by the beginning of the sabbatic and jubilee years which it witnessed. The seventh year was distinguished by cessation of agricultural work, and also by the release of debts and of Hebrew slaves.^ At the feast of Tabernacles, which occurred at its beginning, the whole law, including prob- ably all the Mosaic writings, was to be read in public. The original manuscript, or copies made in the precincts of the sanctuary, must have been used for this reading. Perfect accuracy would thus be insured both to the copies read and to the oral tradition, since thousands of trained ears would be quick to catch the smallest dis- crepancy. Thus, while the sabbatic month normally contained twice as many Sabbaths as any other month, the sab- batic year was one whole Sabbath. While the seventh month represented, more than any other, the unity of national action in the expression of loyalty, not only to its political Head, but also (in the Day of Atonement) to its moral Governor, the Judge of hearts and of consciences, — the seventh year represented this national action as even more energetically expressing the loyalty of the peo- ple, in their conforming to peculiar social conditions im- posed by that political Head and that moral Director for the whole year. The restrictions which bound each in- dividual increased. But the privileges and advantages, for which these universal restrictions furnished an oppor- 1 Ex, xxiii. 10, 11; Lev. xxv. 2-7 ; Deut. xv. 1-18; xxxi. 10-13. THE SABBATIC SYSTEM OF ISRAEL. 131 tunity, increased much more. These privileges and ad- vantages were exemphfied, in the highest degree, by the two other members of the system : the I%ntecost and the Jubilee. These two were distinguished by their relation to the week. They preserved its integrity and its suc- cession, and yet presented in it a different plan and order, giving that prominence to its beginning which was in other cases given to its close. Pentecost, moreover, was distinguished as the only one of the great festivals which depended at all on the count of weeks for its date. It was, therefore, the only one connected with the sabbatic system. It was also the only one exclusively associated with the land of promise, having in it no reminiscence of Egypt, like the Passover ; and no formal memory of the wilderness, like the Tabernacles. The Jubilee was also distinguished by its peculiar relation to the land, intro- ducing, as it did, the climax of the land law; the resto- ration of ancestral estates to the heirs of those who first received them, at the hands of Joshua, as a direct fief of the Lord God their Sovereign. These five members of the sabbatic system were bound together by three circumstances which applied to them all. They were called Sabbaths,^ they were constituted by the succession of sevens, and they were marked by the cessation of agriculture. Thus the system, as a whole, served to create and develop ideas and feelings, associa- tions and expectations, which, while centering in the weekly Sabbath, spread from it to form a sabbatic ideal, a conception of a something which was not the actual Sabbath of ordinary experience, and yet was seen in it, as in a picture would be seen the reduced image of some- thing larger and more distant. ^ The seventli month was not called a Sabbath in the Scripture, and in strictness it was not, as a whole, in the same sense as the sev- enth year, yet the dignity it received warrants for it a place in the system.* In some Jewish writings it is called the sabbatic month. 132 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LOIiD'S DAY. In order to study what sort of an ideal tins system was intended to create and develop, we must consider its working in the experience of a village of farmers, one of the typical villages of Israel's home in Canaan. From the specific provisions of the law as recorded, we must judge what its effect would be on such villagers through the repetitions of many centuries. We need not over- look all the truths taught in the elaborate system of sacri- fices, neither can we study them now. We wish to ask what would these village farmers learn, — unconsciously, involuntarily, incidentally learn, — to think, to feel, to say, to do, to plan for, to expect through the continued recurrence not only of weekly Sabbaths but also of seventh months and sabbatic years and Pentecosts and Jubilees, if each and all were kept as God commanded. Certain answers to such questions lie on the surface, and may be perceived as soon as the attention is fairly directed to them. Such only can be considered here. For it may not be right to rest an argument concerning a matter so dear as the Lord's Day to every believer, on anj^ state- ment which a believer of ordinary intelligence cannot verify for himself from the Word of God. I. Indefinite enlargement of the idea of the Sabbath. The first effect to be noticed in this typical village life is, indefinite enlargement of the popular idea of the mag- nitude of the Sabbath. In our own time Sunday has always to be taken somehow into account. Whatever may be men's views, feelings, prejudices, there it is right in the way. Willingly or unwillingh^, consciously or unconsciously, religiously or irreligiously, all must pay some regard to it. But how much more were these Hebrew farmers to think, to plan, and to do about it ! The weekly day of abstention from labor was only a beginning. Beside that, the farmer must look forward to special annual suspensions of his farm work. And, THE SABBATIC SYSTEM OF ISRAEL. 133 still more, lie must keep in mind the septennial omission of all tillatre, and the doubled intermission of the Jubilee, as well as its revision of the holdings of the land. The iiitrinsic character of each one of these intermissions, and the relation, of each to the programme of husbandry was such, that the farmer was compelled to look forward to each, to prepare for each, and to hold all before his mind as concerns of indefinitely increasing importance to him- self and his. Thus Pentecost laid its hand on the mid- summer. The Passover and the Tabernacles called the farmer away from home at times sufficiently favorable to such excursions. After the sowing is done, and again after the harvest is gathered, farming folk, in all lands, have been wont to celebrate holiday. But these He- brews, when they left their yellowing barley for the passover journey, had to think of the second journey seven weeks later in raid-harvest. It was taken out of their busiest time in the wheat -fields, and must be planned for. So, at the close of harvest, the farmers were not free to work steadily at their ingathering up to the appointed day for the festival of the booths. Two extra days, in the beginning of this important month, must be given up to religious use. And one extra day is added to the week of the feast. All summer through, the re- strictions, as well as the privileges, of the seventh month must likewise be planned for. Then the seventh month must necessarily bi'ing sharply to mind the sabbatic year, which always began in that month. The celebration of the first day of this month (the feast of Trumpets) may have been specially in- tended to direct the villagers' attention to the coming year of release and benevolence. This day, like Pen- tecost, seems to have closed ^ with a feast. Probably ^ It is not impossible that in some cases tliese feasts may liave been called (popularly) sacrifices, though not ofiered on an altar. Both 134 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. sheep or beeves, provided by the elders, would be roasted or boiled. The villagers, sitting round the coals, might regale themselves, as thoughtless of grease as of plates or forks. Some would carry steaming joints to their cottages. The elders and dignitaries would be served under cover,^ and with a slight inclination toward dain- tiness. Thus would be conveyed a hint of the good time coming to all. Likewise the feast of weeks, Pentecost, another day not only for worship, but also for liberal hospitality, would hardly fail to suggest the Jubilee which crowned the seven weeks of years. Bat the sabbatic 3'ear and the Jubilee were not merely suggested by the seventh month and the fiftieth day. They were forced upon every one's attention. The whole of their tillage must be planned with reference to the seventh year when the ground would lie fallow. And every bargain in the vil- lage, every sale and purchase, every loan, every lease, every obligation or acquisition of service, building and repairing, all losses and gains ; indeed, every business transaction involved a reference^ to the coming 3'ear of sabbatic release, or the still grander year of Jubilee re- vision. Both these periods, moreover, would occupy the imagination rather than the memory of most. An old man would not always have more than one Jubilee to re- ideas, the altar and the social partaking, are included in the com- plete idea of a sacrifice ; bnt that word may have been applied where only the social partaking was realized. For example, in 1 Sam. ix. there is no hint of an aJtar. On the contrary, the cook is mentioned, v. 23. In all probability the "sacrifice " was simply a village feast, perhaps the very feast of Trumjiets. See also Prov. vii. 14 ; xvii. 1. 1 Parlor. 1 Sam. ix. 22. The tenement was evidently on the "high place," vv. 12-14, 19, 25. 2 "Involved a reference." Just as from 18G3-1877 every business transaction in America involved some reference to the premium on gold coin. THE SABBATIC SYSTEM OF ISRAEL. 135 member. Those in middle life would have known only two or three sabbatic years daring their manhood. Be- fore the great part of our villagers these periods would loom up as grand expectations, projected out of the shadowy future and full of majesty, because they irre- sistibly affected the welfare of all. And the classes who would be most deeply interested in the advent of these periods would be those whose imaginations would be most excitable. They would be not the experienced, the suc- cessful, the self-satisfied and self-sufficient ; but the young, the unfortunate, the poor, the bondmen, the humbler, and also the more numerous part of the village society. To all such how large in importance these jaeriods would be. As they approach, how impressive the preparation ! How careful the calculation ! How exciting the expec- tation ! Some, it is true, might be as reluctant as others were longing. But none could be unmoved and indif- ferent. And so there was borne upon the mind, ever}' weekly Sabbath, some hint or foreshadowing of a larger Sab- bath. j\Ien were taught to look forward to weeks, months, and years by sevens. This was not on account of any imaginary convenience in counting by sevens, as we count by tens, for no nation counted that way ; but it was because every seven led up to something solemn, instructive, and beneficent ; and every seven times seven to something yet more solemn, instructive, and benefi- cent. The future always held before their imagination not merely a great event, but also the inauguration of a great period. Through the skillfully prepared perspective of enlarffino; intervals and more and more absorbinsj con- ditions, the great coming period towered in the distance, and every weekly Sabbath was the gateway. II. Two contrasted administrations of society. The larger sabbatic periods gave scope for the administration 136 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. of certain principles whose effect could not have been made perceptible on the scale of a day. These prin- ciples, associated with the sabbatic system and so with the Sabbatli, were in sharp contrast with those wliich regulate the ordinary social activity of mankind. In regard to the latter, mankind have not changed since history began. Their ideal of social activity may be expressed in three words: get. hold, enjoy. Their motto is, Mine for myself. Three tliousand years ago this was as much the rule in Israel's land as it is in this nine- teenth century of America and Europe. There have been, in all ages, exceptional examples of unselfishness, but the rule of social life has not changed. Only our age has obtained from evangelical Christianity some con- ception of a regime of perfect unselfishness, of unerring justice, cooperating with complete benevolence. We be- lievers look for such a rSgime to come. It is distinctly before our hope and symbolized to us on every Lord's Day. In his sabbatic system the Hebrew had this same conception set before him as an object lesson. The study was made for him as simple as any child could need. He was not expected to philosophize about the release of slaves, the canceling of debts, the restoration of houses and lands, the common sharing of corn and fruit. But if he kept the law he could not help becoming, at length, familiar enough with the results of God's interference. He would see not merely days but years, and not merely single years but years in regular recurrence and redupli- cation, forcibly taken away from the influence of those ordinary motives which inspire men to work and trade, and which move the social machinery, — forcibly put under the operation of rules which, as laws of any land, were otherwise utterly unknown. The world has never seen institutions like these. No lawgiver ever proposed the like. Neither Plato nor More suggest them. Cen- rilE SABBATIC SYSTEM OF ISRAEL. 137 turies before our villagers could express such a feeling in the vaguest language, they would feel that here was a picture, a type, a suggestion of what the uncliallenged government of men by God, under his covenant of grace, would be. It was indeed justice with benevolence be- tween man and man. No oppression, no outwitting ! The covetous restrained ! The keen and ambitious turned aside ! The drudge awakened to meditation, and the stupid aroused to hope ! The fallen lifted up to es- say a new starting ! The unfortunate restored to earlier comfort ! The whole population made free to consume the fruit of the land wherever it grew, not as the reward of toil, but as God's free unearned gift ! At last they would surely be able to read this legend over all the land : " Ye and your possessions are not your own." Doubtless, not every one would be pleased with such experiments in social science. The more vigorous and intelligent, as well as the more greedy, might prefer the usual ways of men uncontravened. The humbler and less capable might profit more than others by the divine ordinances ; and the good experienced could not be un- alloyed or completely satisfactory. The actual blessed- ness in store for the world's enjoyment when the king- dom of our Lord shall become supreme could not be experienced in these Israelitisli villagers. They had to learn that there was such a kingdom. They had to realize that the administration of God's realm differed broadly from the ordinary. The suspension of tillage by a whole nation at once would not fail to make an im- pression on every mind. The peculiarity and strange- ness of this was heightened by the provisions concerning (^ebts, slaves, and land. Perhaps nothing brought home to all the sense of living under a different and unusual administration more powerfully than the permission for any and every one to consume freely the fruit of any 138 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. and all lands alike without ownership and without labor, coupled with an interdict against storing one grain away. It was not communisin. It was brotherhood in the en- joyment of a Father's bounty. III. Readjustment of social conditions. While the Is- raelite would thus be learning to perceive that there was a sharp contrast between the kingdom of God and ordi- nary human society, he would also be gradually learning to notice some distinct features of that kingdom. Prob- ably the first one of these features distinctly seen would be a revision and readjustment of men's relations to each other. Nothing can be more discordant with the theory that men are all of one blood, than tlie fact that, through- out all history, one set of men are found so lifted up by pride above other men. The order of national history, in this respect, has usually begun with war, migration, or some other social convulsion, which has brought certain families into superior position and authority. Tlien has followed a greater and greater exaltation of the ruling class, a deeper and deeper depression of the masses. Fi- nally, a new convulsion throws elements to the top more or less different, and the process is repeated. Only in most recent times has society undertaken to make life easier to the lowlier. Yet the Christian Church has al- ways been consistent. Her first leaders were men of humble position. In all times she has received and blessed the humble, and welcomed them to any of her offices, even the highest. And at last not only the Church, but our whole age, is beginning to understand that superior social position is very unstable. Even in this life it is no longer a great surprise when Lazarus comes up and Dives goes down. And our moral sense appreciates the moral necessity of great readjustments in the hereafter. But there is a wide gulf between that readjustment which the ancient Israelite learned to count THE SABBATIC SYSTEM OF ISRAEL. 139 upon, as iiuleed the modern believer still counts upon it, and the readjustment whose possibility now bewitclies men's minds and whose eager pursuit sometimes threat- ens to shake the foundations of the social fabric. Men covet what is not their own. There are very manj', very glittering prizes which they may lawfully try to make their own. There is also a very widespread desire among men to gain their ends by any means, not scru- pling about lawfulness, but only looking for a safe oppor- tunity. Men revolt against what seems to them ine- quality. They sometimes revolt not only against the organization of society, but against reason, religion, and humanity itself. They would degi'ade society to a bestial herding. They deny the brotherhood of men, for that means the ruling Fatherhood of God and the subjection of all the brotherhood, as his common children, to Him. Very differently was the Israelite, by this sabbatic legis- lation, taught to feel. He had a possession which was indelible, inalienable, — a perfect entail. It corresponded exactly to the rank of nobility in the most aristocratic kingdoms. It was his birthright. What he was to get was his very own by the patent of God himself. Noth- ing whatever could deprive him of his rights. They were in his blood. Consequently the readjustment, which took place at the appointed intervals, was always according to law, and therefore in due and known order. Every villager would understand who should come into possession of each house or farm, who would escape the burden of debt, who would be set free from bondage. The genealogies ^ were everywhere kept. Probably ^ The very numerous genealogies introduced into the inspired text are sufficient evidence of the habit of keeping them everywhere. There are a multitude of expressions, such as " the house of their fathers" (Josh. xxii. 14), "family of his father's tribe" (Num. xxxvi. 6, 12), which imply the same. 140 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. written statements of important contracts were likewise preserved. The direct interest of every member of the village community would insure a fairly accurate tradi- tion, which would be a check upon the elders who held the written documents. Thus the Israelite would learn to expect a readjustment completely free from disturb- ance or confusion, completely gauged by rule and record, completely warranted by the ancestral blood in each man's veins, — and yet a readjustment which no social force, influence, or feeling ever has carried out or even ordained, — which stood by this ordinance of God alone, and whose certainty and imminence would be assured by the return of every Sabbath. IV. Removal of indignities. As Israel would gradu- ally become able to see that readjustment was according to the mind of God, he would also begin to see that, since certain results were always promoted in every readjust- ment, these results must be particularly pleasing to God, and particularly appropriate to society under divine ad- ministration. Thus the sabbatic system was adapted to teach the nation that dishonor of men by men was ab- horrent to God, and that the blessing of the Promise in- cluded the removal of indignities. All that was possible in this direction was done, and all that was done led in this one direction. It would not have been rational to' forbid absolutely any surrender of land, or any market- ing of personal service, or any incurring of debt which might lead to loss of land or freedom. But neither folly nor misfortune were allowed to effect permanent abject- ness. The sabbatic year was the year of the Lord's re- lease. It released those who were pressed down below the condition of free manhood. In order to comprehend the exti'aordinary character of these provisions, we must compare them, not with the ideas now prevalent, but with those of antiquity. Chris- THE SABBATIC SYSTEM OF ISRAEL. 141 tianity has not only inherited from Moses these very ideas, but through the teaching of her Lord and the leading of his Spirit, she has developed them. She has ever cried, " Honor all men.*' She has taught men at last that slavery is unnatural. All those hiws which in our day deal mercifully with the debtor and tlie pauper as well as v^ith the bondman are the re- sult of her influence, and in perfect harmony with her original teachings. They are also in perfect harmony with the sabbatic legislation. Here the Israelite was ena- bled to realize that the administration of the kingdom of God included the uplifting of man, and was the anti- dote for any dishonor that might come upon him. If slavery has been truly called " the open sore " of this modern world, it was the universal lepros}^ of the ancient. It was a contingency which might possibly befall any and every man. Debt easily led to it. Land- less poverty drove men to it. War battened on it. One may read ancient history and easily overlook it amid the circumstances of the rise and fall of cities and empires, and the varied interest of political and social struggles. But the fact was that slavery was a universal bog, sick- ening and unstable, on which the whole of ancient society was built. Any man and any family and any neighbor- hood might sink in it. Men and families and communi- ties did incessantly sink in it, and its foulness poisoned all who remained above. A battle, a bad harvest, or sickness, an error, a fault, inability to pay taxes, or even sheer force and fraud, might seize any one. The whole of ancient thought Vv^as pervaded with a sort of tragic melancholy. Black Fate, whom their heathen imagina- tion had put in place of God, had suspended over every man not only death but ruin worse than death ; and that not only for himself but also for his wife and chil- dren with him, — a descent to the domination of cruelty, 142 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. lust, and exile, to the condition of a beast and the esti- mation of a thing. From the throne he might go down to the depths of this abyss. In every community that achieved any degree of civilization the great majority were slaves. Ten to one freeman as at Athens seems to have been no unusual proportion. Incredible numbers of human chattels accumulated in Egypt, Assyria, and Rome, and other great monarcliies. The mind loathes the contemplation of the festering horrors of their condi- tion. The Israelite alone was debarred by his constitu- tion from admitting perpetual slavery. ^ It is a rather favorite dogma of social science that men are spurred to use their best powers in the struggle for a livelihood by the sense of possible defeat, and that a provision against possible defeat tends to unmanliness. But our age, instructed by Christianity, has interposed in a thousand ways to prevent utter defeat. The bankrupt may start again. The ignorant may have free educa- tion. For all classes of the helpless and suffering and destitute society provides a measure of relief, as an obli- gation which is due from the community as a whole to its weaker members. Precisely this Israel did for the Israelites at the command of her Sovereign, and as a symbol of her sovereign's beneficent rule when the Prom- ise should be fulfilled. V. Divine Providence. It is true in a certain sense that a man is the architect of his own fortune, for a man's real fortune, i. e., the sum of real enjoyment ob- tained by him in life, is regulated by his own voluntary choices and actions. But a man's true fortune, in this sense, is inward. It is independent of his external con- ditions. The Scriptures of both Testaments everywhere teach that the external conditions depend upon the sov- ^ The exception recorded Ex. xxi. 5, 6, ■whereby an individual might make his own slavery perpetual, did not involve his children. THE SABBATIC SYSTEM OF ISRAEL. 143 ereign will of God. In our day believers realize this fact largely, if not chiefly, through experience of calam- ity. The age, through its wonderful achievements and no less through the wonderful development of present comfort and possible elevation among the masses, has fostered the opinion that any desired success is possible to a man. In the day of sorrow he realizes the fact that he is not master of his own outward and material for- tune, that the external conditions of greatest value to his personal happiness are not subject to his will or depend- ent on his choices or actions. The ideal which Chris- tianity holds concerning success in life is expressed in words uttered by the Lord, " Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out ^^ .^ , . , of the mouth of God." This great lesson of Providence was most carefully taught Israel by the sabbatic legislation. The most careless and the most stupid could not fail to learn that he did not depend wholly on the land he tilled for bread. There were two parts to the lesson. On the one hand he had, forced upon his attention the fact, that he was only a tenant, and not the owner of the land. On the other hand, he was compelled to notice the bounty of the owner and landlord, which was always larger according to his straits. As Israel was strictly agricultural originally, the sab- batic legislation naturally bore upon land. But more than this, all in it that was peculiarly JNIosaic, and there- fore extraneous to the sacred day of earlier times, was explicitly addressed to farm life. Thus in the Fourth Commandment rest is ordained for animals that do farm work, but flocks are not mentioned. Again, the only work suspended, except on the weekly Sabbath and the Day of Atonement, was farm work, called in our version " servile work." And again, the restoration of land in 144 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. the 3'ear of Jubilee applied only to fields, and to houses in unwalled villages, that is, to farmers' dwellings and lands. The double lesson of his own tenancy and of his land- lord's bounty was impressed through long continued and reiterated experience of three different sorts, all three the product of this sabbatic agricultural legislation. First, of course, in impressiveness was the frequent arrest of tillage. This was so arranged as to make the arbitrary authority of God peculiarly sensible. The tra- ditions of the old sacred day would naturally harmonize with its development into a day of complete rest, when agriculture replaced pastoral life. Unquestionably the exigency of tlie day would be felt as the jjressure of arbi- trary power, but it would be not so much in the char- acter of the day as in the stringency with which rest was enforced. So, too, in regard to the sabbatic year, it would seem not unnatural that land should have its rest. It is not uncommon now in Europe for agricultural leases to stipulate that in certain years the ground should lie fallow. Such a clause would make the landlord's pve- rogative felt, and yet W'Ould be so completely warranted by general opinion that it could not seem oppressive. Only when the whole estate was to lie fallow at once, or still more, in the case of Israel, the whole territory of the nation, would the weight of that prerogative seem heavy. As before, it was a matter not of essential character, but of degree. It has been noticed that the spring and autumn festivals required a journey to the seat of the tabernacle at times specially convenient to the farmer. Passover came about the end of seeding. Tabernacles about the end of harvesting. But in midsummer, in the midst of wheat-cutting, right athwart the husbandman's busiest season, came Pentecost. And so in the seventh month, when every effort would be made to finish the THE SABBATIC SYSTEM OF ISRAEL. 145 harvest before the fifteenth, two extra clays of intermis- sion were imposed. Then, above all, every seventh fal- low year was followed by another, and then the man to ■whom Jubilee gave an estate was compelled to acknowl- edge his sovereign's prerogative by waiting a whole year, after the land was pronounced his, before entering into individual possession. Were not all these provisions adapted to produce in the popular mind a profound sense of the grasp with which God, their Landlord, held his land? A second sort of experience, of an entirely different kind, would be more slowly realized. It would be impos- sible, under the working of this legislation, for any man to become rich in land. It is true that the original allot- ments were not all equal. The divine prerogative was exerted in apportioning them. But whatever a man might get, the jubilee year stript him of all but his pi'oper share of tliat which his ancestor had received. Great fortunes were thus discouraged. The law of the landlord forbade any one man to accumulate many farms. If the rich young man, who came to our Lord boasting of his faithfulness to the law, had in- -^^^^^ -^q . herited or retained his "great possessions" ■^'~^^' through non-observance of the jubilee statute, the Lord's answer may well have sent him away downcast. The Lord's land was for all his people. No one was to have more than his proper share, in order that no one might be without. And, therefore, while the prerogative was so strenuously maintained, the bountiful kindness of God toward his whole people was bound up with it. A third sort of experience, quite different, would impress the same lesson, perhaps yet more distinctly, on the common mind. For in the regular and ap- pointed sabbatic succession, not only were the fields fallow and the farmers turned to other pursuits, but the 10 146 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. whole population — the poor, the stranger, the just emancipated slave — were all free to all that the untilled ground would produce. This privilege was not i,l! ^\- ' limited to the chance growth of the corn-fields. 25 : 2-7. . ° Grapes and olives, whose crops might be only a little diminished by the abeyance of tillage, were specially mentioned. Like everything else, they were free to all. There was only one restriction. No one should harvest anything.^ No grain could be stacked away. No olives could be pressed into oil, no grapes into wine. Nothing should be laid up. But for immediate wants, every one was absolutely free to take what he could find. All stood on a perfect equality. Pie who called himself the owner had no better right than the one whom he yesterday called his bondman ; no better right than the peddling Canaanite who was hawking his wares thi-ough the village, or the runawa}^ slave from Egypt or Damascus, who had there sought an asylum. By the Lord's command, and under the landlord's prerogative, every acre of his land, both pasture and tilth, witli every ear of corn and nut and berry on it, was free to all his people and to all who were under his people's protection, not only the stranger, but their domestic beasts. As the Aveeks of years rolled on to weeks of jubilees and weeks of centuries, would not such experiences cre- ate at length, in the mind of Israel, and develop into clear outline that double conception, on the one side, of God's prerogative, on the other side, of his benevolence, which we call Providence ? VI. National brotherhood. To this nation of farmers, in every seventh year, farming was interdicted. What could they do during these years? They would hardly 1 By comparing Lev. xxv. 2-7 with Ex. xxiii. 10, 11, it will be seen that the prohibition in Leviticus is only against storing up. Verses 6 and 7 show that immediate consumption was permitted. THE SABBATIC SYSTEM OF ISRAEL. 147 idle their time away in the villages. Women's work was not suspended during the Sabbath of the fields. Milk and butter and cheese would still be made, beside the or- dinary work of the cottage homes. The women would not spare their reproach and scorn if their husbands found nothing to do and did nothing the whole year long. And it is not likely that they could afford it. Nor can it be believed that the sharp acquisitive instincts of their race would not lead them to employ this year for profit. Three pursuits would be open to each one, — trade, handicraft, stud3^ Each of these pursuits would lead to travel. Now travel, for its own sake, is a very recent invention ; but travel for the sake of trafficking, or of finding employment, or of gaining information, is older than Moses. So, whichever way the farmer should turn his steps this year, he would see more of men and places, he would see more men and more places, than usual. The mere agriculturist is isolated. He knows, proverbially, little of the larger affairs of men. He is proverbially ready to magnify the importance of every- thing in his personal environment, and to belittle all else. But by the sabbatic system the Hebrew farmer was trained to extend his sj'mpathies and to enlarge his experience of men. The village Sabbath, as has been noticed, had a very powerful influence to keep active and to develop his social character. The ter-annual journey to the national sanctuary, and the commingling there with crowds of fellow-worshipers, would still further strengthen and widen the sense of civic intercommunity. But in all these gatherings he would be only a farmer who had left his farm for the moment, and would, as soon as possible, return to it. How much more would be ef- fected by the years which completely broke up the isola- tion of husbandry, even the modified isolation of Israel- itish husbandry, and drove the farmer into continuous 148 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. intercourse with men. For, wliatever the occupations of these sabbatic years might be, they would not scatter men over outlying fields, but would draw them together to bazaars and streets and schools. The exigencies of trade, craft, or study would lead men to seek one an- other, to approach non-acquaintances, to join novel associ- ations. Had the law been faithfully observed, this would doubtless have been the favorite year for public works and for national market fairs. It should be remarked, also, that when numbers of men leave agriculture, for any reason, their tendency always is not to the smaller villages and towns, but to the larger.^ There would be no less a tendency of these Hebrew farmers to flock into the largest towns, whei*e the greatest amount and great- est variety of occupations might be found. Most of the villagers would be in such a large town, or would be traveling about during a good part of the year. Mod- ern pleasure travel certainly broadens men's views, al- though it does not always seem to increase the sense of fellowship with men of other lands and tongues ; and, moreover, not many of the tourists are farmers. But the Israelite villager's year of busy dealing with men of his own blood and tongue and faith, — a year too short to de- velop the hardness of the regular trader, yet long enough to sharpen the blunted sympathies of the regular farmer, — must make him less of a villager and more of an Isra- elite. Instead of holdin"; his village and his fellow-villa- gers for all his world, or of giving to the national shrine alone a share of his village pride, he would learn that everywhere his countrymen were Israelites too; he would 1 Note the flocking of negroes into the cities after emancipation in the Southern States. Also the growth of lar^e towns as compared with agricultural villages in P^nglantl, and in a less degree, on the Continent. These villages, however, were very unlike those of Is- rael. THE SABBATIC SYSTEM OF ISRAEL. 149 have acquaintances in all parts of the land; lie would Lave national interests and national sympathies, embrac- ing every citizert, and he would feel himself a member of a national brotherhood. Every item of the sabbatic legislation tended in the same direction. Whatever illustrated the sovereignty of God illustrated also the communion of God's people. As in every other case, the practical experience was adapted to bring out the mental conception, as the experience was repeated again and again. Thus, starting from the weekly Sabbath, and on through all the series, Israel had before him an object lesson of unity and fellowship, — a lesson of wliat, under God's covenant, human brother- hood might be among the citizens of the kingdom of God. VII. Incompleteness. Upon the typical village life, which has been under contemplation, one more effect was certain to be produced by age-long experience of the sab- batic system. That system was adapted and intended to educate Israel to a perception of his essential incomplete- ness and transientness, and to prepare him for the devel- opment of another sacred day as different as his Mosaic institutions were different from those of the patriarchs. It is indeed strange that the nation, instead of realizing this, became fanatic in their zeal for the preservation of their Sabbath as it was. Though they looked for a Mes- siah who should inaugurate a new administration, they never seemed to imagine that either the Sabbath or the sacrifice could be changed by Him. Nor can we realize that a change was intended from the first, unless we turn away our regard from that idea of the Sabbath which represents the hard narrow bigotry of the pharisaic age, and which evidently aroused the antipathy of our Lord. The apple blossom is beautiful and fragrant. When the apple is ripe, a few shriveled and unsightly fragments of 1-50 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. tissue represent the blossom. They also represent the pharisaic sabbath so far as it was pharisaic. Its vice was that it refused to accept the whole of GotVs teaching. It rejected the ripe fruit, but it carefully saved the wretched shreds of dead petals,^ tricked them out with a fantastic setting, and made of them a sort of charm, as if their Sabbath (not the Mosaic) were the central point of Judaism, the covenant of God's assured favor. Their Sabbath was not the Mosaic,^ because they separated it from the sabbatic system ; making much of the one, they slighted the other. Under the circumstances, this was natural, and, except by divine imposition, unavoidable. But they were responsible for those circumstances in which they had placed themselves by their own act. Israel had ceased to be an agricultural people. The greater part of the nation were settled in foreign lands where their own land laws could not be enforced, and where their sabbatic system in its integrity could not operate. This change was a part of the punishment of the nation by the Babylonian Captivit}^ In a notable passage, in which the author of the Book of Chronicles refers to the threats recorded in Leviticus,^ it is asserted that neglect of the sabbatical years was one of the chief sins punished by the exile. After the return from Bab- ylon the old legislation was revived as far as possible. There is evidence that the sabbatic years were sometimes observed. Probably some occasional effort was made to enforce the Jubilee. But the system, as a whole, never ^ "Dead petals," that is, forms without spirit. See Study VII., page 190, — the letter of the law observed with no comprehension of its meaning, no interest in its intended result; and therefore, as in- evitably happens, miscomprehended, misobserved, misapiilied. 2 " Not the Mosaic ; " that is, it did not have the influence on them, or the character in their eyes, which was intended by Moses. s Compare 2 Chron. xxxvi. 21 with Lev. xxvi. 34, 35. See, also, Jer. xxxiv. 13, 1-k. THE SABBATIC SYSTEM OF ISRAEL. 151 agiiiii existed in its entii'ety and vigor. The nation did not choose to veoccupy their own land. Asia and Egypt were ahke under Persian rule, and every Jew in them was made free to return. They did not choose to do so. Hence the dispersion could not keep the law, for they were not in their own land. And for this reason, as well as on account of foreign suzerainty, it was not possible to restore family estates ^ according to the old patents. Else Joseph and Mary would not have been housed in a stable at Bethlehem, for by the law they should have had some of the fields which had once been tilled by Boaz and Jesse. Sometimes well-disposed foreign rulers, like Alexander, remitted taxes in the seventh year, and thus favored the law. While the Maccabees ruled, the non-tillage of that year may have been enforced in districts under their rule. But there were only a few intervals in all the five hundred years after the return, when the rulers had the power and will to enforce it anywhere; and then these rulers could not enforce it over all the land. Moreover the nation largely turned away from farming to pursuits not affected by the sabbatic law. Inevitably, therefore, that system dwindled in the popular estimation until the Sabbath alone became noticeable. But God had ordained to teach them what the Sabbath meant through that system. They disregarded the illustrations and lost the full meaning of the text. What they expressed by their own part of the observance, loyalty, remained clear enough.^ But what God expressed in his command they failed to see understandingly, because they did not look in the direction He bade them. ^ Probably the young ruler who was so anxious to be " perfect," Matt. xix. 21,* could not have found the rightful owners of. his lands if he had sought them. But if the land was not lawfully his, he could not lawfully keep it. Let the poor have the benefit. ^ " Clear enough," as loyalty, yet, as has been shown, loyalty to the nation rather than loyalty to God himself. 152 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. These considevations seem necessarj^ in order to make it clear why the Jews of onr Lord's day did not and could not see in the Sabbath what they ought to have seen, what was really there as God ordained it, and what w^as the centre and seed ^ of the whole. It was a pro- found lesson to set before simple farmers. But there was a millennium and a half for the study hour, and each step was simple enough for a child. There was the promise of blessing to all nations. Age after age would bring into view a picture of the condition of blessedness in more and more distinctness of form and coloring. At length every sabbath would suggest the details, as we have studied them, of the rule of God over loyal citizens in that day of perfect blessing : human brotherhood un- der the divine covenant ; a divine cure for the festering sores of society I'emoving every dishonor ; a revision and readjustment of social conditions by divine authority and with divine skillfulness ; a divine administration of society under principles of government in sharp contrast to those that have prevailed ; a large future approaching, in which this divine sovereignty will be manifested, ex- ercised, and acknowledged ; it might well take ages to spell out all these things from the sabbath alphabet. But, whether Israel learned them or not, the Spirit of God who set the object lessons before Israel has at length made these conceptions of the coming kingdom of our Lord sufficiently familiar to us, the later heirs of Abra- ham. We are the witnesses to ourselves of the other part of the object lesson, the share of "all nations" in the blessing. If Israel had been faithful, doubtless their development or absorption into the larger dispensation ^ " Centre and seed." The most important thing in the Sabbath, its very centre, was that whicli God taught men or revealed to men by it. And this divine thouglit in it related to the Promise, and ike a seed waited a future development. THE SABBATIC SYSTEM OF ISRAEL. 153 would have been peaceful, voluntary, and full of honor. If they had been faithful, even these plain rustics would have seen in due time that a change was inevitable, would have become prepared for it, and would have desired it. For as the ages went by, and the actions and habits caused by the sabbatic sj'stem, together with the details of the system itself, became so familiar as no longer to require an effort of the mind to attend to them, or an effort of the will to perform them, and therefore the mind could embody the experiences connected with the system in such abstract conceptions as we have studied, making these conceptions continually more and more definite and distinct, then would it become plain even to those farmer folk, that others than Israelites must learn to worship their God without inhabiting their land or becoming part of their nation ; that the fellowship of the Promise could not be limited to a tribe or a province ; that the bounty and the prerogative of the Almighty were not to be restricted to Hebrew land ; that the rights He exercised over that land would certainly one day be enforced on the same principles over land now heathen, for all the earth was his ; that He, who intervened to remedy the dishonor of men, would surely one day ob- literate and prevent every trace of degradation and cor- ruption ; that the revision and readjustment could not always be confined to farmers, but must one day embrace all classes of men ; that it could not be possible for two diverse and contrasted administrations of society to con- tinue always side by side; that at length the principles of the divine administration must cover not one year in seven but every year ; and yet that this must be some- how in the spirit and not in the letter, for the letter car- ried out every year would extinguish agriculture and take away man's bread ; and that some strange inexplic- able significance attached to the fact, that when the high- 154 EIGHT STUDIES OF TTIE LOHD'S DAY. est point in the system was readied, when the climax ar- rived, which could arrive but once within the ordinary limits of active life, the crown rested not on the closing year of the seventh year week, but on the first of a new year week, so that while the weeks rolled on in uninter- rupted sevens the highest dignity was strangely diverted from the seventh to the first ! There are many riddles of Providence which cannot be solved, except as the Lion of Judah, the Lamb of God, opens, one by one, the ideals of his book. This is one. No Israelite could possibly have imagined a way in which the necessary changes could be accomplished. No Christian of this day can comprehend how the great development would have been effected, if Israel had been joerfectly faithful to his trust. But the truth stands before every one who candidly and thoroughly studies their practical working, that the Mosaic institutions did themselves contemplate and teach such a development for themselves, — a development in which their external forms, their very blossom, must die. Under their nor- mal working these farmers could not have failed in due time to expect and to desire the fruit more than the blossom. The two great systems of sacrifice and sabbatisra were in this respect perfectly accordant. The sacrificial system as well as the other testified distinctly to its own incompleteness. The greatest pains were taken in it to impress these truths, that God in this ritual did not pun- ish man but sin ; that men could not placate his wrath as Cain and the heathen had alwaj's essayed, but that He would dispense mercy and favor of his own Sovereign free will ; and yet, that He required an exhibition of the punishment of sin by perfect innocence submitting to death, and an exhibition of intercession in the station of greatest dignity and purity. But the system which THE SABBATIC SYSTEM OF ISRAEL. 155 showed all this ^ was workable only in a small nation and a small territory. When the nation shonld increase to many millions, and enlarge its border " from the Eu- phrates to the uttermost sea," the system must pg„(. i^. break down. It was not a human possibility that ^'^' the sacrifices, according to the strict ritual, by the hands of the qualified priesthood, at the one single prescribed locality, could have been duly offered by and for such vast numbers as might come from so extensive a district. ^ At some point of time, the nation, if they had been faithful, would have perceived that this could not continue, and would have asked with reverent curiosity for the divine solution of the problem. The utterances of the prophets do not belong to this subject, but there was many a word in the books of Moses himself referring to the consummation. Especially was then that statement never forgotten that a j^j^^ ^. Prophet should one day arise like unto him, that ^^' is, an organizer of a new divine administration. " Him shall ye hear," was the great leader's parting word. Judali had a tribal promise of royal preeminence, but it pointed to that advent of a different, yet an organically 1 A modern Israelite mii;lit travel from New York to Jerusalem in less time than a subject of King David would have needed to go from Ourfa to the same city. It would indeed be quite as easy now for all the Jews in the world to keep the law literally (supposing Jerusalem given up to them), as it ever could have been for the population of the largest territory held by ancient Israel, namely, from the Eu- phrates on the north to the Egyptian border. 2 It seems probable that the enormous number of 250,000 passover lambs were slain in the last age of Judaism. But in order to accom- plish so much, a certain amount of accommodation as to the ritual seems to have been admitted. But the limit of possible accommoda- tion must have been approached while the limit of faithful ritual was already past. See Josephus, Wars of the Jews, vi. 9. In the wil- derness some 20,000 lambs must have been required, — a large work certainly. 156 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. derived Ruler, " till Sliiloh come." Moreover there was the great promise to Abraham, the Magna Charta of the nation, the very point of its origin, first given to the patriarch when he was " called " to leave Chaldea. It was thrice uttered by the Almighty in Abraham's time. It was repeated to Isaac and again to Jacob. No Israel- ite who remembered that Abraham was his father could possibly forget that a Seed of Abraham must Gal. 3 : 16. J o come to inaugurate the blessing. It is possible (though a disputed and uncertain point) that the cove- nant name of God himself conveyed to the minds of the ancient Hebrews an intimation of his purpose to appear in some way in alliance with the very flesh and blood of humanity. That may or may not be true. It is true that there was a solemn refrain, echoing alike from the Adamic and Abrahamic promises, caught up in the dying blessings of Jacob and of Moses, and repeated like the subtle motive of a fugue through all cadences of the statutes for sacrifices, festivals, and Sabbaths, — He will come — the Seed, the Shiloh, the Prophet will come. He will gather all nations to fellowship with Israel. Israel shall spread his blessedness over all lands. He will re- move every curse, and govern the world in righteousness and love. He will provide a sacrifice suited in cluiracter and occasion for all the earth and all the nations. And He will renew the Sabbath so that the land law shall be- come earth law, and the sign of the covenant with a petty tribe shall become the sign of the loyalty of all nations. STUDY VII. THE PERMANENT AND THE TRANSIENT IN THE SAB- BATIC SYSTEM. "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath." — Mark ii. 27. Three circumstances of the greatest importance com- bined, as has been seen, for the education of Israel up to clear consciousness of this fact, that his system was pre- parative only, and must eventually pass into some larger development as yet unknowable. The first of these cir- cumstances was the form of the grand Abrahamic Prom- ise. It included " all nations." Israel was one only among them all. The second was the character of the legislation. It was limited by the land of Canaan and its agriculture, and therefore was inadequate to the Prom- ise. The third was the expectation of a person to appear in the future for the harmonizing of these incongruities and for the perfection of all that was incomplete. Not only was tliere ijrimd facie an incongruity between the promise and the law, but there was in the law itself a series of paradoxes. Certain principles were plainly in- volved in its provisions, and yet these same principles were traversed in their details by certain other condi- tions which restrained their full development. We have now in our hands the key to this paradox. He of whom Moses prophesied has come. The development has taken place. Tile principles formerly taught as object lessons are now familiar theses in the every-day thought of the 158 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. Church. So much of the old system has fallen away that we are in dangler of overlookins: the lamer and better part which has become our own inheritance. We are in danger, indeed, of forgetting that what we have is thus inherited. It has been our own so long, and has become associated in our times with so mucli greater than its ancient glory, that it is hard for us to realize that it was ever the possession of another before us. Let not, how- ever, this language confuse the thought. Of our great, our divine inheritance, we have as yet received 23; coL i! only a foretaste. When our Lord's kingdom is established we shall have a share in it with Him. Our inheritance from Israel consists of ideas, hopes, expectations concerning life in the kingdom of God. It ought not, therefore, to be hard for us to un- derstand, both how Israel was given the rudiments of these ideas, hopes, expectations, and how also their de- velopment was necessarily to him a riddle. A further analysis of this riddle ought to enable us to see, in the terms of its jDaradoxes, the prophecy of our privileges, for it turned on the extension of the blessing, that is, of the kingdom or rule of God. In three directions this sabbatic system exhibited the extending unlimited character of that blessing, and yet by its own provisions stopped short of the expansion which it signified and promised. Thus the riddle or paradox may be considered with reference to extension in territory, to extension in time, and to ex- tension in the application of social principles. I. The territorial riddle. Attention has been already given ^ to the very important fact, that so marked a con- trast was made by the Mosaic legislation between the sacrificial and the sabbatic systems. Perhaps the differ- ence which would first impress itself upon an Israelite ^ 1 See Study V., pp. 108-110. 2 The sacrifice consisted (see Study IV., pp. 101, 102, and note THE PERMANENT AND THE TRANSIENT. 159 would be the limitation of the one compared with the unlimited extension of the other. For the sacrifice was central, restricted, mediatorial. It was allowed in only- one single specified place, with precise, numer- peut. i2: ous, and invariable rites, and the intervention of ^^'^'*" a personage of peculiar non-assumable, non-transferable dignity. But the Sabbath touched every place. It was as pervasive as the light of its sun. It knew no pre- scribed rites or forms of worship. ^ It was not dependent upon jjriest, or Levite, or chief, or any other official repre- sentative. It was the unincumbered, direct expression of a man's personal allegiance to the covenant God. Thus it spread over all the land. But why not over all the earth ? " All nations " were included in the Prom- ise. The sacrifice, it is true, could not in its Mosaic arrangements be adapted to " all nations." But when the sacrifice should be perfected,^ why could not then "all nations" make public profession of allegiance to God, in every land, far and near, to the very ends of the earth, by keeping the Sabbath, the pervasive, non-ritual, personal covenant Sabbath ? s. ].; also note to Study VI., page 133) of two parts, the expiation by the death of the victim and the social meal in which all partook of that which was "offered" by their chief. Some of the Aaronie sacrifices could not be shared by the people, just as some of our Lord's experiences are beyond us. But the typical saci'ifice for atonement and for praise was so shared. When the antitype of all sacrifice was offered in the person of our Lord, the sacrificial meal was continued by his special enactment. "This is my body" (Matt. xxvi. 26; Mark xiv. 22; Luke xxii. 19; 1 Cor. xi. 24). Thus the restriction was eliminated from the sacrifice, and the Lord's Supper became associated with the Lord's Day very much as the old sacrifice may have been a feature of the sacred day of the ages before ]\Ioses. ^ See Study V., pp. 115, seq. "No prescribed rites or forms of worship.'' Xothing was explicitly prescribed by statute. 2 See Study VL, pp. 154, 155, sacrifice perfected. Also note , page 15^. 160 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. But under the Mosaic legislation such an universal observance of the Mosaic Sabbath was impossible. The regulations'^ for the weekly Sabbath could not be enforced in all lands or under all types of civilization. The in- junction against lighting a fire, even for the purpose of preparing food, could have been intended only for a land where neither comfort nor health would be endangered by it, and where fruit and other uncooked food made a large part of the people's meals. It would be utterly preposterous to think of applying these regulations to the complex interdependence of a nineteenth century com- monwealth. It is of no consequence if it could be con- ■ ceived that here and there a single family observed this law, though it is doubtful whether in our busy cities one family, either Christian or Hebrew, does observe it. The Mosaic Sabbath was to be observed by the community, and enforced by the authority of the community on every individual. It could not have been intended for commu- nities like ours. It was adapted only to the farming villages of Israel. Some part of its flavor must be lost in passing even to their nearest neighbors. There were the pastoral tribes behind them on the east. It would scarcely touch the lives of Ishmaelites or Midianites at all. There were the trading Sidonians at their elbows on the northwest, and the artisan Philistines face to face with them on the west. But the social joy and privilege of these men, if they should adopt the Sabbath, could never be so great in it, because they were not, like the farmers of Israel, alone each man in his fiekls during the rest of the week. Even in Israel's own territory it did not work evenly. The- pastoral tribes across the Jordan had slight experience of it. The routine of their 1 " Regulations," see Ex. xvi, 22-30. Verse 29, " Let no man go out of" his place." " Kindle no fire," Ex. xxxv. 3. Death penalty, Ex. xxxv. 2; Num. xv. 32-3G. THE PERMANENT AND THE TRANSIENT. 101 lives could have varied very little when the Sabbath came round. The day with them must have been even more colorless than with the patriarchs. For the pastoral Israelites had no sacrifice and no sacrificial feast such as emphasized the patriarchal day. But beyond all this stands the fact that the Sabbath was, by the Mosaic legislation, made part of its sabbatic system, and that system was not extensible ^ beyond Is- rael's own land. Thus, while the ideal of the Sabbath involved universal extension, the law of the Sabbath was Hebrew law, Palestine law, farm law. It had wings for widest flight, but it was caged. II. The riddle of social administration.^ Israel was taught by the sabbatic system to contrast the ordinary administration of society with the administration of prin- ciples ordained by God. The administration of these di- vinely ordained social principles was extended over a whole year, in order that their influence might become thoroughly perceptible. Then the year for this peculiar social administration was made the seventh, and thus linked to the weekly Sabbath, in order that its teaching might become a part of the Sabbath idea which was to be developed. Thus was afforded a glimpse of society ruled and permeated by benevolence. But just as surely as the Israelite became able to think of this ideal, he must see tliat it was not finished. These principles were not carried out to their full results. The statute was not consistent with its fundamental principles or adequate to their scope. It presented them in illustrations. It did not attempt to work them out through the whole national life. It was impossible, indeed, to go further, under the circumstances, than the law went, for no administrative statute could be framed which would apply infallible jus- ^ " Th.at system not extensible." As shown in the previous Study. 2 " Social administration." See Study VI. pp. 136, seq. » 11 162 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. tice and benevolence to every case. Tlius it is possible that tlie jubilee restoration of land might, once in a while, bring some worthy family down from a very prominent to a very humble position among the villagers, and corre- spondingly exalt some one of little worth. The release of debt might at some time profit a knave, and sorel}' dis- tress one who had shown him charity. Some slave might be set free to be a nuisance to the whole neighborhood nntil his necessities drove him back to disciplinary bond- age. The general benevolence of the law was perfectly manifest ; but evil-minded men might now and then turn even its benevolence into injur3^ It could force men to a course of conduct whose general character was admira- ble, but it could not make every man practice that con- duct from the heart. Therefore, in practical life, dis- crepancies must now and then occur. Moreover, these social principles did not work equally among all citizens and in every part of the land. Es- tates were restored only in farm lands and unwalled vil- lages. Were the palaces of their princes to be excluded from the ordinances of God's special administration? Only farm work ceased on the seventh year. Were the suc- cessors of Bezaleel and Aholiab, upon whom God poured his Spirit in the wilderness, because they were artisans, to have no interest in the year long Sabbath ? Moreover, we can feel, if the Israelite could not, that the legislation came far short of its ideal of human dig- nity. It did, indeed, lift Israel to a pinnacle in social privilege above other ancient nations. It is difficult for us to conceive how hard life was to most men in that day. We may take all the several harshnesses that we think of as attaching to the lot of a Russian monjik, an Indian ryot, or a Chinese coolie, and add them together, and they will not equal the harshness of life to the mass of the people of ancient Assyria or Egypt. And this when \\q THE PERMANENT AND THE TRA^' STENT. 163 do not take into account tlie awful abyss of slavery whicli yawned beside every man's daily pathway, ready to en- gulf not only his own unwary feet, but his wife and chil- dren with him. By contrast, Israel was exalted heaven high. That dread abyss did indeed yawn all over his land, but it was not so deep. Beside there were ladders and pathways by which every man and woman and child might escape it. Israel might or might not think that anything further was necessar3^ But we must ask why, since it was so plain that God's special time of interven- tion abhorred slavery, abhorred uncharitableness, ab- horred every custom and incident which degraded man- hood and vitiated self-respect, why was this rule extended over a year or two only out of every seven ? Why was not every dishonor to manhood abolished for all time ? Why were men set free to be shackled again, lifted up to be let fall again ? The answer is indeed read}- . More than this was as yet impossible. For it was an essential part of the sj^stem that the two s'orts of social administra- tion should be set in contrast. By contrast alone could the character of each be realized. The time must come when men shall feel it their duty to try not only to al- leviate, but also to remove and to prevent, the shame of their brethren.^ But not in Moses' time. The Mosaic statute, in order to accomplish its work, necessarily lim- ited itself. But the thought of God which was the liv- ing germ in it, when, by means of contrast with the com- mon thought of man concerning what we now call ethics, this divine thought or germ had grown up in human con- sciousness to be a distinct, permanent, active factor in man's thinking, must then develop its essential hostility * The direct lessons of punishment were not yet ended. Wrath, even to extermination, was appointed against some of the abomina- ble barbarians of Canaan, and Israel was commissioned to be the ex- ecutioner, and then to possess the goods of the dead criminals. 164 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. to the old common human thought, and chiira for itself exclusive control over human conduct. So far as the mind can now conceive, and so far as history explains human nature, men could learn what was God's thought by seeing it in contrast with the ordinary, and in no other way. The Mosaic dispensation provided such a contrast. But these two thoughts, or these two principles of social administration, are mutually inconsistent. A man who loves God, when he learns what God's thought or princi- ple is, and understands it, will abhor its opposite. If the nation had been faithful, and had thus learned God's thought, then, with love and loyalty to God in its heart, it would have abhorred such a condition of society as was opposed to and contrasted with God's thought. Chris- tians now have this feeling, not indeed exclusively, but clearly and dominantly. We do abhor — all believers, without exception, but in varying intensity, do abhor — a condition of society where justice is not combined with mercy and enterprise with benevolence, personal upright- ness with active sympathy, and where the common broth- erhood of man is not recognized along with the authority of God, the common Father. To us, the social atmos- phere of states Avithout Christianity is everywhere now repulsive; and that of ancient heathen states would have been utterly loathsome. The reason is simply that we have been taught the better and nobler ; the divine thought, and its existence in us, is aversion to the other. This was Israel's lesson. He should have learned it. If he had learned it, he would have come to feel that the continuance of the two administrations side by side was impossible. He could not have imagined how the change should be made; but as surely as God maintains his truth through the ages, Israel would have come to long for the perfect reign of the social principles derived from God, and to look for the change which would inaugurate their THE PERMANENT AND THE TRANSIENT. 165 supremac)^ over eveiy condition and occupation of men, over every foot of land or ripple of the sea, over every day and liour of every successive year. And for this end the letter of the Mosaic institutions must somewhere give way that their spirit may live unconstrained. III. The riddle of sacred times. The idea of a sa- cred time regularly recurring may have been very slowly brought into men's consciousness. But it is certain that long before ]\Ioses' birth such an idea existed. It is also certain that in this idea the sacred time was the seventh day of the week. The sacredness, however, may have been very vague, perhaps meaning little more than the sign of a bond between God and man. In order to obtain a distinct perception of the contents of these two thoughts, it may be well to look at them separately. 1st. There is evidence, both from Scripture and else- where, that in the ante-Mosaic age the last of seven days was regarded as in some sense sacred. In the Scripture we have (a) the statement that after the creation God sanctified the seventh day ; (6) the record of sacred days in the ark narrative ; and (c) the reference to the Sab- bath by Moses, and its observance by Israel before the Decalogue was uttered. Outside of Scripture a great va- riety of historical testimony proves that even among idol- aters there was an extensive tradition of a sacredness in some sense pertaining to the last of seven days. 2d. The sacredness attributed to this day must be stripped of all but its simplest elements, as must, indeed, all ideas attributed to the primeval age. Truth is, of course, the same in all ages, and all special truths likewise. But men very slowly learn to present before their minds ideas or abstract conceptions of truth. They act accord- ing to truths which they do not think of, and could not understand. Thus a child who has never studied arith- 1G6 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. metic muy practice in his piny, unconsciously, a variety of arithmetical processes. He may add, subtract, multi- ply, and divide. Yet that child will learn to understand these processes and to make them his tools, for the re- sponsible work of maturity, only by protracted and labo- rious study. Thus the primeval sacred day served, as we have seen, for the exercise of various religious emotions. But though men truly felt these things it does not follow that they thought about them, or would have understood if some one had spoken of them. Cannot a baby love before it learns to say " I love? " The learning to ex- press what the soul feels is the hardest and the longest study pursued by man. So in the earliest days men felt divine love and human fellowship in faith and gratitude, and the hope of an Advent and of an overthrow of evil. We think of all this and call it heaven. The Christian child of our day possesses a throng of authorized and re- vealed ideas concerning the blessed future. But when Enoch " walked with God " in exalted and blissful play of holy emotion, and when he preached of his coming in judgment, did his thoughts busy themselves at all with heaven ? What a less than childish must have been then his conception of it ? Suppose an archangel could have shown him what John has described in the seventh, twenty-first, and twenty-second chapters of the Apoca- lypse, — the kingdom, the city, the bride, the martyrs, the sealed ones, the redeemed host, the songs, the rain- bow, the elders, and, above all, the Lamb ! Needless to say that these things would be as incomprehensible to him as the working of steam and electricity. Besides it is possible that in the earliest age there was something to unlearn as well as much to learn. It has been renuirked that the first lesson set before man in the broad page of history was punishment. The separation from God was a hard lesson. It seems likely that it was TtlE PERMANENT AND THE TRANSIENT. 107 not till after the catastrophe at Babel that men accepted the fact that they must propitiate God.^ Not only the inspired story, but all ethnic tradition as well, breathes of an original familiarity between the Creator and his created image. It must have been handed down with peculiar emphasis, in order to make so very durable an impression on the mass of common human ideas. Man had, therefore, to learn that the approach to the presence of God was, for sinners, a privilege ; and, except as God graciously provided, an unattainable privilege. Thus Cain seems to have no sense that bis bloody hands ought to debar him from that Presence, but cries out, appar- ently, against his exclusion as an undeserved and per- haps an unintended addition to his punishment. He could not have been hurt by any spiritual experience of the aversion of God's face from his soul. An apostate could have no such experience. If he had ever had the spiritual vision of God, he would have been a child of God, and his sin, like David's, would have brought him back humbled and repentant to his Father's feet begging forgiveness. If he was the malefactor he has been deemed by all the ages, it does not seem possible that he could have referred to anything else than the aw- ful symbols or beings at the gate of Eden as God's face. He could then have little association of sacredness with that spot. Sacred, as used in these pages, has been de- fined " relating to the bond between God and men." But there could be no conception of this bond until there was some perception of the separation which made occasion for such a bond. Currents of liquid mixing freely need no bond. Beings who are consciously apart, and no others, can perceive the bond which unites them. ^ This seems to have been the meaning of Cain's sacrifice. The heathen have never got beyond this idea, to offer the sacrifice of obe- dience and devotion. 168 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. Now, it is no business of onrs to ask wlietlier the sev- enth day would have been kept, and for what end, if man had not fallen. We can plainly see, and it is all that coucerns this Study, how fallen man needed to perceive two things. First, the fact that he was cut off, separated, radically repelled, by God, his maker ; and second, that certain things w^ere signs of his maker's surviving re- gard. Every word concerning the gateway of Eden sug- gests repulsion. Man was " driven " out and a flaming sword was brandished after him. Yet he found an at- traction somehow or at some times in the presence of that terror, and clung to it. At what times, then, might man approach this Presence ? The record says, " in proc- ess of time," or, as in the margin, " after days." This " time," or " day," was either stated and regular or ir- regular and optional with man, which latter alternative is contrary to the whole tenor of Scripture. But the family of Adam knew that God had sanctified the sev- enth day ; for the story of Genesis i. must have been handed down from them. And thei*e we find his descend- ants in the tenth generation, born before the flood had carried away the barriers of Eden, noting and enjoying that seventh day which God had blessed at the first. Now, something possessing irresistible impressiv^ness, and not a slightly or moderately striking circumstance, must have served to keep worshipers in mind of the true count of the sacred days during the fifteen hundred years before the ark. For the effect produced, not only in preserving the tale of these days down to the flood, but also in establishing a tradition which endured for a thou- sand years after the flood, spreading like a circling ripple on a lake bosom, so that a trace at least of its undulation can be found among the furthest and darkest nooks of heathenism, — for this great effect which was produced, it would not be too great a producing cause if we believe THE PERMANENT AND THE TRANSIENT. 169 tlint, clowji to the flood, access to tluit Presence where the cherubim stood was permitted only on the sacred sev- enth day. It cannot be positively asserted that all this is true. But wdiether true or not, does it not represent the utmost that can be thought of as originally shaping the idea of sacredness in connection with that day? If this was not the fact, then the fact was something less potent and im- pressive, though sufficient for its purpose. The utmost, therefore, which, before Moses' day, could have consti- tuted man's idea of sacredness, specially as applied to time, was this, namely: that on certain days God's re- pulsion toward him was so far modified as to permit the manifestation of certain outward signs of his regard, and thus men could address Him, or await such manifesta- tions from Him, with a certain sense of privilege on these days. After the flood, whatever local or visible manifestation from God was associated with the day ceased. But the fellowship of the sacrificial feasts and the interest of the rehearsal of sacred tradition may well have become estab- lished as its outward features. Then, as time went on, it would be but natural if the idea of sacredness should cen- tre rather in the sacrifice and the story than in the day, so that men should think the day sacred, if saci'ed at all, be- cause the sacrifice took place on it,^ — rather tlian regard the sacrifice as peculiarly appropriate to men, peculiarly acceptable to God, and therefore peculiarly sacred, signi- fying and sealing as no other meal could do a bond with God, because offered and eaten on this day. ^ Just as the Lord's Supper is more appropriate and more sacred on the Lord's Day, ordinarily. Noah's sacrifice seems to liave been offered on the day of leaving the ark, wliicli was a sacred day. This is the only occasion when a sacrifice on the sacred day is recorded. But it is enough, for the whole narrative shows such patience in waiting 170 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. But when the tribe of Israel was reduced to bond- age in Eg3^pt, sacrifice seems to have been interdicted. Moses asked permission to take a three days' journey into the desert in order to oflPer it, on account of the Egyp- tian prejudice.^ Thus, for a century at least, there may Lave been absolutely nothing to mark the sacred ness of the returning sacred day, except a possible gathering for prayer and for recital of old narratives. While such gatherings may have survived here and there, it is scarcely a question that if the count by weeks was pre- served at all, it was barely preserved. The account in Exodus xvi. of the first Sabbath after the manna fall be- gan, implies that the idea of a sacred seventh day was not at all strange to the people, though it might be known only as one of their ancestral traditions. Per- haps, also, they were surprised that God did not mark the day for them by a double share of his gift rather than by withholding it. So Moses was obliged to ex- plain this new feature. What was done on previous Sabbaths is not stated. At least four must have passed. If the manna began to fall on the day of starting from Elim, the fifteenth of month two, then the host may have rested at Elim on the fourteenth. In that case the first Sabbath may have been spent at Pi Hahirath, on the sixteenth of the first month. And each seventh day might have been utilized for general assemblies, to whom Moses would have weighty and lengthened instructions to give. for divine authority to act, and such explicit obedience, that we must believe this act, also, authorized. Probably every reader is aware that the dynasty under whom Joseph flourished were foreign con- querors of E;4ypt, barely tolerant of the national polytliLUsui, appar- ently inclined to the worship of one God. These so-called shepherd kings were expelled by a native sovereign, who may have been the great-grandfather of the Pharaoh of the Exodus. Any commentary will atibrd an account of all this. 1 Exodus v. 1, 3, compared with viii. 26. THE PERMANENT AND THE TRANSIENT. 171 In all this provisional sketch the effort has been to pre- sent every circumstance which could have made up the sacredness of the pre -Mosaic sacred day. The sketch may or may not be accurate ; if it is not accurate, it must contain too much. There was not more sacredness per- ceived than is here described. There may have been less. Turning now to the Mosaic legislation, it will be seen, first, that very much was added to the ideas hitherto ex- isting ; and tlien, that this addition was itself a pi-oblem ; and finally, that, since it differed from the original idea, and contained factors incongruous with each other, there must be j^et another development in order to demonstrate the underlying harmony of all the earlier arrangements, and to manifest the activity of the gracious Spirit of God superintending in all things pertaining to the bond with men. Although the traditional association of sacrifice and sacred time could not have been forgotten, the desuetude of sacrifice had lasted long enough to facilitate its com- plete separation from the Sabbath. The day, however, was not to be left bare, featureless, and devoid of inter- est. The various influences allied to the convocation, to- gether with the leisure enforced by the state, would suf- fice to mark the place of tlie day among all the institu- tions of society. The associated sabbatic times were so arranged as to develop and illustrate a great system of ideas concerning the promised blessedness. And with all this, the ordinal of time, in itself insignificant, and through the ages past attracting only incidental attention, ^ " Incidental attention." In several passages in Genesis the num- ber seven occurs in words attributed to God or dreams inspired by Him, but Avith a very faint association of sacredness, as in the judg- ment of Cain (iv, 15), and Pharaoh's dream of the kine and ears (xli- 18-30). Yet the preservation of these numbers shows that they were impressed deeply. Lamech's reference to Cain (iv. 24) is still stronger evidence that the precise number mentioned had fixed itself in men's 172 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. was made tlie index of so much repetition and redupli- cation that attention was necessarily fastened upon it, and a large part of tlie sacredness increasingly attributed to the Sabbath was unavoidably, perhaps intentionally, transferred to it. Thus sacred time came to mean sev- enth time, and the ideas sacred and seventh were bound together, so that whatever time was numbered by sevens seemed to have some religious significance, and whatever had such significance seemed to fit somehow into that number. Not only in the law, but also in all the inspired writings published through Israel, this general statement is iUustrated. It was distinctl}'^ and unmistakably set forth that God's time in dealing with men under his cov- enant went by sevens.^ But now in these very Mosaic institutions by which such intense emphasis was put upon the sacredness of minds. There is a larger sense of sacredness, that is, a larger sense of immediate relation to God, in the use of this number for an oath by Abraham and Isaac (xxi. 28-31; xxvi. 26-33). The literal meaning of the word for oath is the sevenfold word. The tliought of Abime- lech and his friends would be accurateb'^ represented in English thus : " Let there be now a word seven times repeated betwixt us." The latent premise would be that God specially noticed the number seven, and the inference that He would be specially offended at the breach of a sevenfold promise. ^ " By sevens." It is certainly unnecessary, and rather savoring of superstition, to attribute religious significance to every mention of seven or its multiples. For instance, the notices of Ahab's seventy sons (2 Kings x. 1) ; of Ahasuerus' seventh year (Eslh. ii. IG) ; of Athaliah's (2 Kings xi. 1) ; of Jehu's (2 Kings xii. 1); and of the seventh of the captivity (Ezek. xx. 1); of the seventy sons of Gid- eon (Judges viii. 30, seq.) ; of the seventy kings mutilated by Adoni- bezek (Judges i. 7) ; of the seventy bullocks brought forward by various persons for the people's thank-offering under Hezekiah (2 Chron. xxix. 32); of Solomon's seventy thousand porters (1 Kings v. 15) ; and of his seven hundred wives (1 Kings xi. 3) ; with many others, are simply statements of fact, the number seven in them hav- ing no more sacredness than six or eight in other passages. THE PERMANENT AND THE TRANSIENT. 173 sevens in time reckoning, there was embodied a strange paradox, a marked incongruity, elements wliicli seemed to contradict each other's significance, the riddle of sa- cred time. This riddle was twofold. There was, first, a seeming inconsistency in the succession of weeks; and, second, a seeming inconsistency in the ordinal of the week's peculiar significance. The steady, solemn march of the weeks, never hasten- ing, never tarrying, regarding neither sun nor moon, re- iterated the unchanging covenant of God with his people. From the remotest age their step was unbroken, and now in this age of special instruction God had made them still more significant of his authority by obliging the people to count the years as well as the days by them. And then when all this was so strenuously pressed upon the people, an anomalous week was appointed for each of the seasons of special religious observance. The great spring and fall festivals, the feast of Unleavened Bread, and the feast of Tabernacles, lasted each for one week. But instead of conforming to the sacred week, — the week which God had established and maintained and en- larged to the measure of years, as the sjmibol of man's loyalty, — these festivals had each a peculiar week of its own. They followed the moons ^ and not the Sabbaths, — the ordinary calendar of all men, and not the special and divinely appointed calendar of God's loyal people. But the solution of this first part of the riddle is very clear in the light of our day, and might have been dis- covered in the older age. For it is plain that this was a part of that separation between the sacrificial and sab- batic systems, by which the distinction between the means and the end of the promise was made patent. ^ *' Followed the moons." Each began with the full moon, the fifteenth day of the first and seventh months resjiectively. See Lev. xxiii. 6, 30, etc. 174 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. Passover and Tabernacles were perpetual living pictures of redemption and providence, of the escape from Egypt and the leading through the wilderness, of the blood which stayed judgment and of the bread which came down from heaven, of the evil leaven wliich grew and spread in all earthly relations, and of the transient enjoy- ment of all earthly possessions. Thus, these two festi- vals belonged to that great and complicated ritual by which were set forth the atonement for sinful men and the conditions of their reconciliation to God. They do not, therefore, have to do it with the Sabbath ideals of life, as not going toivards, but m, God's kingdom. More- over, as spring and fall festivals, they had something in common with the heathen all over the world, and there- fore were distinct from the Sabbath, the like of which the heathen never knew. But the second part of the riddle belonged to the Sab- bath system alone. It turned upon the plan of the week. It showed on the one side a week ending with the sacred day, and on the other side a week beginning with the sacred day. On the first week plan, in which the seventh was the chief, was laid great stress, by plac- ing beside the ordinary week the week of months, and the week of years each with its seventh peculiarl}' sa- cred. On the second week plan even greater emphasis was put, by making its first day the point of greatest dignity and of profoundest significance, the climax and crown of the whole system, the entrance to a week whose end is not defined in relation to it, and the suc- cessor of a completed series of weeks on the first plan. In order to obtain a just comparison of these diverse week plans, two ])reliniinai'y facts must be stated. One is the utter insignificance of the number seven as a num- ber merely. Number is a ratio, that is a form of com- parison. It is certain that, with many persons of all THE PERMANENT AND THE TRANSIENT. 175 ages, it is impossible to conceive of abstract number. They cannot think of seven or of seventy without think- ing of seven or seventy things of some sort. Children always begin thus. But there is nothing in nature and there is nothing in the Bible to suggest that seven has any sacredness of its own. Three, five, ten, twelve, and other numbers might claim something of the same dis- tinction if there were anything in it but a superstition incapable of definition, and analytically unthinkable. If there is any sacred suggestion in seven, it is not at all in the abstract number or ratio, but in the siiG:o:estion of certain things associated with that number or ratio.^ The other fact to be noticed in this place, as already in another connection, is the entire newness of the Mosaic system of sevens. The simple seven in connection with the week was well known. Traces of it are found the world over. But the system of sevens was not heard of before Moses. There is not a previous hint of it in the Bible ; there is not a previous trace of it in history. It was an innovation. In this new system there was a remarkable symmetry and a remarkable progression. All the three natural units of time, the day, the month, and the year were grouped in sevens, and to correspond with the seventh day, the seventh month, and the seventh year was made the sacred member of each group. Then the group of seven days and the group of seven years were each car- ried to its quadrate, a week of weeks of days, and a week of weeks of years. In all this progression, sevens by sevens, until seven times seven was reached, the seventh of every group was sacred.^ ^ There may be a traditional sacredness when the facts originally suggested are lost. It then becomes superstitious. Such are all heathen traditions concerning seven and other numbers. 2 There are a great number of minor correspondences to this syni- 176 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. It is obvious that the effect of tins symmetry and pro- gression of sacred sevenths was to fix attention upon that ordinal. This could not be a chance effect. Certainly the God of Israel must have designed to fix the people's attention upon the seventh. Certainly He must have designed, to fix in their minds the fact that their Sabbath v^^as not merely one day in seven, but the seventh day of the seven. But He who through Moses so strongly emphasized and so variously illustrated the place of tlie Sabbath at tlie end of the week, by Moses also placed a gi^eater Sabbath and a more significant day at the week's beginning. In the two discrepant weeks already noticed their seventh days were not specially prominent. In the week of Un- leavened Bread,! the first day and the seventh were equally sacred, and each a Sabbath. In the Tabernacle ^ week the seventh day was ignored. Its first day was its Sabbath, and the octave of that day was made another Sabbath instead of the seventh. These feasts, it is true, formed no part of the sabbatic system. Their weeks were not members of the week series of the ages. But they were associated with the grand solemnities which the individuals of the nation celebrated, as also they in- dividually kept the Sabbath. And it would be strange if at some time pious worshipers did not wonder why these so solemn weeks should not only be separate from metry in various details of the ritual -which it is impossible to con- sider in this treatise and which are not necessary to its argument. 1 "Unleavened bread." See Lev. xxiii. 7, 8; Num. xxviii. 18, 25. Also John xix. 31, " That Sabbath-day was an high day." 2 « Tabernacles." See Lev. xxiii. 35, 36, 39; Num. xxix. 12, 35. Zeeh. xiv. 19, certainly suggests that the feast of Tabernacles signi- fies something larger than Judaism, something which warrants for it — spiritually, if not literally — a place in the universal Messianic kingdom. Its first and eighth day Sabbaths are in harmony with this. THE PERMANENT AND THE TRANSIENT. Ill the -week series, but also have a different sacred day. And why in one of these peculiar weeks were the first and seventh days made of equal dignity, while in the other the first day alone was sacred. These circumstances are not trifling or accidental. The variations were introduced for a purpose. But as they do not wholly belong to the sabbatic system, it is not necessary to inquire into their purpose. They would be of no consequence to this present Study, and would not have been mentioned, except as they correspond with similar variations in the most prominent places of the system itself. These occur in the day of Pentecost and the year of Jubilee. The three annual festivals were made equally binding on Israel, were always treated with equal dignity in the Scriptures, and seem to have held always an equal place in popular esteem. But the second was specially distin- guished from the first and last. They had their own dis- tinctive proper names.^ This had none. They were the 1 Passover and feast of Unleavened Bread were both proper names. Unleavened Bread and Tabernacles were pi'oper names of the two feasts. These names were descriptive, appropriate, author- ized, and exclusive. Pentecost may be regarded now as a proper name of the second feast, and is so used in this Study ; but when it was vernacular, it simply meant "fiftieth," and might be applied to any fiftieth day. Sabbath is a proper name ; so are Sunday, Mon- day, etc. But first day, seventh day, etc., are not proper names. In Ex. xxiii. IG, it is called " the feast of harvest, the first-fruits of thy labors, which thou hast sown in thy field," contrasted with the feast of ingathering, etc. This is a description not of the feast but of the season in which it occurred, when the last of the first-fruits were being gathered. It is only a general description. The statute first-fruits were offered seven weeks before. The statute harvest was four months later. There was no interdict on gathering any first-fruits before this time. But before the Unleavened Bread began the taking of a single stalk or berry was pi-ohibited. Finally, as the phrase " feast of harvest," etc., is not used again, it could not have 12 178 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. appointed memorials ^ of very grand events in the na- tion's history. To this none were referred. They were solemnized with peculiar restrictions. ^ Tq this none been intended for a name. At the early period when these -words were used, only general statements concerning tlie three festivals ■were made. In Num. xxviii. 26, it is described as a day of first-fruits, but not the day when the very _;?/'S<-fruits were offered, — " The day of the first-fruits, when ye bring a new meat-offering unto the Lord, after your weeks be out." It is inaccurate and it is unwarranted to take a few words out of these long descriptions, for names. They would be pseudonyms. In Ex. xxxiv. 22, it is called " the feast of weeks of the first-fruits of wheat harvest," and in Deut. xvi. 10, the "feast of weeKs " simply. "Weeks," like "Pentecost" or "Fiftieth," could not be taken in the vernacular for a proper name. It is com- mon and convenient for Americans to speak of the Fourth of July. The proper name of that anniversary is Independence Day. The proper names of men and things sometimes go so long unused as to be forgotten. Indeed, both men and things may never receive a proper name. A description or a title is a different thing. 1 " ]\Iemorials." Of deliverance out of the destruction of all first- born in Egypt, see Ex. xii. 25-27. The name Feast of the Passover often stood for both the Passover proper and the seven days suc- ceeding, as Deut. xvi. i. But " the days of unleavened bread " cele- brated especially the escape from Egypt, as see Deut. xvi. 3. The death of the first-born was really the release of the Israelites and the beginning of the Exodus. Thus there was no error in speaking of the Passover and the Unleavened Bread as practically one observ- ance, celebrating one event, although in it, nevertheless, the sacri- fice might be distinguished from the feast, as in Num. xxviii. 16, 17. Compare verse 16 with Ex. xii. 27. Of God's watch and care in the wilderness. Lev. xxiii. 43. 2 " Restrictions." In the one case from ordinary food, and in the other from ordinary habitations. At Pentecost leavened broad was offered. It was not, of course, burned on the altar, but solemnly waved before it and then given to the priests. Lev. xxiii. 17, 20. In Deut. xvi. 11, 14, Pentecost and Tabernacles are each the oc- casion for an exhortation to unbounded hospitality. As the enter- tainment which might be spread over seven days at Tabernacles was concentrated into one day at Pentecost, this latter would probably call out the most extensive feast which could be provided. Doubt- THE PERMANENT AND THE TRANSIENT. 179 such were applied. It was described by a reference to the time of its celebration. It was enacted arbitrarily by the divine prerogative, without the assignment of any reason or occasion for its institution. At it no one was restrained from his ordinary habitation,^ as during the Tabernacles; or from his ordinary food, as during the week of unleavened bread following the Passover. Its contrast with the latter was very strongly marked by the presentation of leavened loaves to be waved before the Lord with the sacrificial lambs ^ of the peace-offering. The peculiar liberty of the midsummer festival was made still more prominent by comparison with the weekly Sabbath. For the weekly Sabbath presented the type of all the restrictions of the law. It barred the people from the whole round of their ordinary occupations. It forbade alike hand-work and hearth-fire. That another so difi'erent Sabbath should immediately follow it served and must have been intended to call attention to the dif- ference. In two particulars they were alike. On both days the great national industry of agriculture was wholly suspended. On both days a convocation was held Avith all its various exercises and adjuncts. But on the feast day the restraint of the Sabbath was dissolved. Any work appropriate and useful for the ends of the day was lawful. Especially lawful, and indeed especially less the cooking would be done in the city, and thus greater conven- ience be afforded. Note that only "servile work," or farm work, was prohibited at Pentecost. ^ " Habitation " and " food." See Lev. xxiii. 17. It is notice- able, at least, though not necessary to our argument, that the leav- ened loaves are prescribed as an offering from the homes of the land. The word in the Hebrew is Moshab, meaning permanent dwelling, the opposite of a temporary abode, such as the booths. It is difficult to avoid the thought that it was used in part to heighten this contrast. 2 " The sacrificial lambs," Lev. xxiii. 19, 20. These were the peace- offering, and, with the bread, went to the priest's support, Lev. iii. 180 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. prescribed, was the preparation of a hospitable meal. Hospitality was equally enjoined for the autumn festival. But since the entertainment which, at that season, con- tinued for a week, was on this occasion concentrated into one day, it is probable that the feast provided would on this day be as abundant as each family could afford. In any case, while the one day would be filled with calm refreshment, instructions, and promises, the next day ^ 1 " The next day." I have assumed here, as elsewhere, that Pen- tecost was appointed to succeed a weekly Sabbath. If that were not true, then the contrast with the weekly Sabbath would be less evident, because the two would only occasionally occur together. In regard to this question the practice of the Jews in our Lord's time is not conclusive evidence, though valuable. But it seems that they had fallen into some uncertainty about it, and it is said that the custom of observing a whole week instead of one day was due to this uncertainty. The nation had neglected the accurate observance of the sabbatic system, and had failed to learn the meaning of its parts. The question turns on the words of Lev. xxiii. 11, " the morrow after the Sabbath." Did "the Sabbath" here mean the weekly Sabbath, occurring during the seven days of unleavened bread? Or did it mean the first day of unleavened bread, which was a day of convocation and of rest from farm work, and called in our version a Sabbath, though in Hebrew a slightly different word is used, " Sab- bathon." The assumption that the latter is the fact is without any scriptu- ral support. There is not one word in its favor in the Bible. It is directly contradicted by the use of the word Sabbath, which is never applied to the first day of unleavened bread. This is not accidental; for in this very chapter the discrimination between the two words Sabbath and Sabbathon is carefully maintained. Here, indeed, as elsewhere, the seventh day of the week is called some- times Sabbath Sabbathon, or "Sabbath of rest" (A. V.), as well as Sabbath. (Ex. xxxi. 15; xxxv. 2; Lev. xxiii. 3. The same words trans])osed, Ex. xv. 23.) But it is not called " Sabbathon," nor are any of the other days of convocation called Sabbaths, except the Day of Atonement. Thus in Lev. xxiii. 24, the feast of Trumpets is called " Sabbathon." Again in verse 39 the first and eighth days of Tabernacles are each called a Sabbathon. But in verse 32 (Lev. THE PERMANENT AND THE TRANSIENT. 181 would bring no less refreshment and promise with the addition of positive material enjoyment. JNIoreover, the xvi. 31 ; xxiii. 32) the Day of Atonement is called Sabbath and Sab- bath Sabbathon, and the reason for using these names is given in verses 27-32. The Day of Atonement was to be kept precisely like the seventh day of the week. (In Lev. xxv. 4, the seventh year is called "a Sabbath of rest unto the land.^' Not as in the other cases "unto you." The distinction is plain enough.) The other days, namely, the first and seventh of unleavened bread, the feast of Weeks, the feast of Trumpets, and the first and eighth of Taber- nacles, were not to be so kept. Therefore they were not so called. They are Sabbathons. The assumption that Sabbath in verses 11 and 15 means Sabbathon is one that no reasonable student of Scripture ought to tolerate for a moment. If the whole nation of the Jews in our Lord's time thought differently, that fact would not cancel or contradict a plain statement of the written Word. They had dis- obeyed their law for fifteen hundred years, and their later usages are in no point whatever to be taken as explanations of their law with- out more or less reserve. As to tlie sabbatic system of their law, they had completely gone astray. Their eyes were blinded to the meaning of the Sabbath day, and more than in any other part of their institutions were their conceptions about it, both i-itual and spiritual, incorrect. But there is no proof that they did not understand this passage properly. The most that can be asserted is that a doubt or question may have existed among them. The possibility, or even the cer- tainty, that there was some doubt among these later Jews should not affect our reception of a clear biblical statement. We can under- stand the bearing and signification of all parts of their system as they did not and could not. One more consideration will suffice for argument. In Leviticus xxiii. 15 it is said that from "the morrow after the Sabbath . . . seven Sabbaths shall be complete," " sheba, sab- bathoth tmimoth." This word, tmimoth, is well rendered by our word complete. It expresses not merely external completion of the specified time, but also complete observance. {Perfectce atque inie- gne.) If, then, " the morrow after the Sabbath " is supposed to mean *' the morrow after the Sabbathon," of course the " seven Sab- baths " to be completed must be seven weeks. That is, we must understand that Sabbath here is put for week, " Sliabbath " for 182 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. contrast between these two days was tlie contrast be- tween the Mosaic and the more ancient sacred day. Pentecost was the one day in the year which the whole nation were allowed and commanded to observe as Noah and Abraham ma}-^ have observed their seventh day. It was the one day whose two features were the convoca- tion and the sacrificial meal. Taking the Sabbath pre- ceding with it, the former must have seemed compara- tively bare. Human nature must have looked forward with great eagerness to the enjoyment of the succeeding day. The first must have seemed imperfect and expec- " Sheba." This would be of no consequence if the weeks were nor- mal weeks, ending with a Sabbath. But in the supposed case they are not. The Sabbathon, the first day of unleavened bread, niinht occur on any day of the week. If that is the true starting- point, then these seven weeks following would each end on the same day> whichever of the seven it might be. Let any one acquainted with Hebrew ask how a series of such abnoi-mal weeks could possibly be described as *' Shabbathoth t'minioth," completed Sabbaths? It was perfectly natural that the name of the seventh day, which marked and made the week, should be put for the week as we find it in the New Testament. But that it should be put for any group of seven days to which the Sabbath day has no special relation is an assumption which no one has a right to make. There is no evidence of such usage. The word sheba is always used in such cases as in Gen. xxix. 27, 28. For plain readers of the Scriptures there can be no question about the meaning of this passage. And such may be assured that the Hebrew, even more distinctly than the English, fixes the day for Pentecost on the first day of the week. There would never have been a question on this subject, it may safely be asserted, if it were not so common for scholars and com- mentators, though true believers, to try to fit the Scripture to all the scraps that have come down from the ancient world to us, instead rather of trying every uninspired statement, whether of Jew or Gen- tile, by the infallible word of Inspiration, and holding the unin- spired carefully at no more than its proper value. The argument of this " Study " will not be without force even to those who hold to the view opposed in this note. THE PERMANENT AND THE TRANSIENT. 183 tant as compared with the freedom and material enjoy- ment of the second. If this peculiarity of Pentecost, its liberty, its sim- plicity, its naturalness, its homeliness one may say, was so strongly brought to view by its contrast with its two coordinate festivals, and with the weekly Sabbath, a second peculiarity was even more marked and striking. For, while not a single historic reason for its institution is mentioned, and while it was enacted on the bare au- thority of God, in a sense in which neither of the other festivals, nor even the weekly Sabbath, was ordained, there was an event of the grandest majesty which it might have commemorated, whose anniversary was prob- abl}^ identical with it, — which, nevertheless, is not asso- ciated with it in a single Scripture sentence. The fact is and always has been surprising, and without the New Testament it would be inexplainable. The Passover was based on an historic event, the great escape from bond- age, and from the angel of death. Tabernacles also was based on historic fact, the long abode in temporary habi- tations and the supply of food and water through imme- diate divine intervention. The Sabbath also was based upon recorded events, — the cessation of the creative ac- tivity after six successive periods of exercise. Pentecost, on the contrary, was enacted arbitrarily. No reason for it was given. No event is said to be brought to remem- brance by it. No purpose within the range of the teach- ing of the Pentateuch can be assigned to it. And yet this day was probably the very day on which God spake the ten words from Sinai. It fell in the third month,^ on a day between the sixth and the twelfth. In Exodus xix. 1, it is stated that on this third month, and appar- ^ " In tbe third month, on a day between the sixth and twelfth," i. e., fifty days after some day from the fifteenth to twenty-first of Nisan, the first month. 184 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. ently on the first day of the month,i the Israelites or their vanguard reached Sinai. The proclamation of the law seems to have occurred not many days Liter. Tlie narrative is perfectly harmonious with the supposition that the august transaction took place somewhere be- tween the sixth day and the twelfth day, that is, at the time on which Pentecost was afterward appointed. But we do not know this. The record shows that the law was proclaimed at or about this time. It necessarily suggests the possibility of a coincidence in time. It neither asserts nor denies it. Whatever might be the fact it was suppi-essed from the record. The suppression could not be accidental. But there may be one sufficient explanation. It may be that although Pentecost neces- sarily suggested the anniversary of the day of the law, Israel was not allowed to refer it to that day, because it was held, as it were, in reserve, to be associated in the future with a greater day. Transcendent as was that day when the ten words, born of the Spirit of God, en- tered the ears of a tribe, secluded and separated from their kind by the reverberating mountains, as they were afterwards to be kept separate by the ordinances pub- lished among those mountains, — it may be, that in the estimation of Heaven that first day was trauscended by another Avhen the Spirit of God put his energ}^ into hu- man hearts, and spoke his words through human lips, not merel}' into human ears, but into human hearts of all races, climes, and tongues. If this be so, the occasion for this festival was not mentioned, because it was fifteen centuries deep in the future ; and silence was observed 1 " First dfiy of the month." The precise force of the expression translated " the same day " is uncertain. Possibly it may mean, "on that day of the month on which they started," i. e., the four- teenth. But the general impression seems to be that it means the first day of the month. THE PERMANENT AND THE TRANSIENT. 185 concerning the day of Sinai, so evidently suggested by tlie time of tlie year, because the future day, while so closely and intimately related to that Sinai day in the association of fire and blast with the inauguration of a new dispensation, it surpassed that other, not indeed in material splendor and impressiveness, but in spiritual power. And if this be so, then tlie freedom of the festi- val, so strongly contrasted with the restraints of the other festivals and of the Sabbath, was to be a type of the freedom, the spontaneity of religious life, the all-embrac- ing joyfulness and enjoyment of that coming day, which in later Scripture the prophets described with glowing ■words, "After those days, saith the Lord, T Jer.3i:33; will put my law in their inward parts, and I'o, 2b;36: 26 27 • Ps. write it in their hearts." 40:8'. And if all this be so, then the same explanation throws light on the descriptive title which served as the name of this nameless festival. Was it not to be expected that, at some time, Israel would begin to ask why this mysterious and peculiar festival was called *' the feast of weeks " or " the feast of the fiftieth day ? " There could be only one answer. This title served to fix attention upon the series of weeks just closed, and especially upon the fact that this was a full and complete series, a week of weeks, a week of Sabbaths, each week crowned by the Sabbath at its close. Plainly this insti- tution, ordained of God, more arbitrarily ordained than either of the other feasts, was adapted to fix in the peo- ple's mind the idea of a full and complete and finished series of Sabbaths. It would be easy and natural to think of the Sabbaths going on indefinitel3^ Here, on the contrary, is a picture of a complete but limited suc- cession. This picture is embodied in one of the three equally solemn anniversaries appointed by God himself, and in that one of the three which, while it suggested 18G EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. the day when God more than at any other time^ mani- fested his personal presence, seemed to have its signifi- cance reserved, as if it were not so much the memorial of a past, as the forecast of a future greater manifesta- tion of that personal contact with men. But why did not this complete series of Sabbaths lead up to a greater Sabbath ? Why was the festival which crowned the week of Sabbaths a different Sabbath ? Either day serves to divide tlie weeks and to preserve their series unbroken, and no day of the seven except the seventh or the first would serve. But the seventh day Avas made the pecul- iar seal^ of the national institutions ordained by God. Why, then, along with the picture of a limited and com- pleted series of these Sabbaths, was the other picture drawn of a greater and more highly honored Sabbath succeeding the completed series, and occupying the boun- dary day of the week, coordinate in the week series with the other, but set above it symbolically? There is noth- ing in the Pentateuch by which we can suppose that Israel would ever be able to solve this riddle. The most that can be assumed is, that the presentation of tliese pictures everj'- year would, at length, cause the people to notice the riddle in them and to desire and look for its solution. Once in an ordinary lifetime the same riddle was to be presented ^ on a larger scale in the year of Jubilee. Here was the most prominent religious observance ever recorded or described. Every nation has had its saci'i- ^ " More than at any other time." Because, by his words, a per- son not seen may give a perfect impression of his personal presence in a degree that is not possible through the exhibition of energy not visibly traced to the person. 2 " The seal." See Ex. xxxi. 12-1 7. 8 " Was to be presented." It has been doubted whether the Jubi- lee was ever observed. Joshua died, aged one hundred and ten, about twenty-five years after the allotment of the land, when he was THE PERMANENT AND THE TRANSIENT. 187 fices, its ritual, and its festivals. But no other nation ever maintained a festival like the Sabbath. Many agricul- tural nations have been wont to let their land lie fallow after so many years' tillage. But no other nation kept their whole arable land fallow the same year. Nothing like the sabbatic year was known elsewhere. Now it is true that no institution given to Israel surpassed the weekly Sabbath in its dignit}'^ as a symbol,^ or in its in- fluence for education and devotion. But certainly the year long Sabbath would impress the popular mind more deeply than that which lasted only a day. Both to the national imao-ination and to the view of foreig-ners it was a larger fact. It presented the Sabbath magnified.^ And it must not be overlooked, that to great numbers it brought material consequences of the highest personal importance, — the release from debt and from bondage. Moreover, in regard to purely religious duties, in one ver}-^ weighty particular it presented the standard and norm. The chief feature of tlie weekly Sabbath was the convocation. The most striking feature of the convoca- tions must have been the recitations of the law and of the sacred stories. Certainly if these statutes had been eighty-five (45 -)- 40). Conip. Jo&b. xxiv. 29 with xiv. 7, 10. If the first Jubilee came round twenty-five years after his death, there was already a great declension. If it was counted from the giving of the law, then it would have occurred about five years after the allotment. In this case it was doubtless duly observed. The post exilic Jubilee, of which there is some rather dubious trace, could have been only a very partial observance, a mere shadow of the statute at the best. 1 " Surpassed in its dignity as a symbol." This is to be asserted with reverent care, that it be not misunderstood. The whole sacrificial system was typical of the atonement of our Lord. He was the aiiti- typic Lamb slain from the beginning of the redemption of the world. But in order to be the Redeemer He humbled himself. Sacrifice sym- bolizes his humiliation. Surely the Sabbath, which is the symbol of his exaltation and reign over his people, can have no inferior dignity. 2 See Study VI., page 135. 188 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. faithfully observed, all devout Israelites would have looked forward with special interest to the opening of the Sab- bath year, when the official reading ^ of the Scripture at the feast of Tabernacles, from a standard copy kept in the sacred precincts, would have tested the accuracy of the exercises of all the Sabbaths. But since the sabbatic year was so remarkable, so prominent, what a profound impres- sion would have been made by the doubling of this year ! And since the whole body of the Mosaic institutions rested upon the agriculture of Israel's land, what a grave inter- est would have attached to tbe period when every man's title to his farm was subjected to revision ? And among a nation of farmers, what institution could have compared, in material importance, with the absolute and universal cessation of tillage through a second year ? Evidently this institution was designed to be the apex of the sab- batic system. As something which should seize their im- agination, as something which should affect their material interest, as something embodying and teaching most pre- cious religious truth, it was preeminent. It reflected measureless dignity upon the weekly Sabbath, whose transient brevity held in perspective so great a period of corresponding character. It prolonged the administration of the divine ideas in human affairs. It carried the re- adjustment of social conditions not only in the personal sphere, assuring freedom from bondage, nor yet only fur- ther in the inter-social sphere, giving release from debt, but also beyond all this to the very limit of men's funda- mental relation to the state, confirming to each man his birthright ^ in its soil. In this readjustment it not only delivered every Israelite from the dishonor of debt and 1 " Official reading." Deut. xxxi. 9-13. See also page 130. 2 " Birlluigbt." See pages 138-140 of Study VI., specially page 139. THE PERMANENT AND THE TRANSIENT. 189 of slavery but from the helplessness of pauperism. ^ It barred the possibility of a proletariat, the curse and ter- ror of every state at this day. It brought home to every citizen the active divine authority not only over personal conditions and obligations but also over the land itself. And it united this extreme assertion of the divine pre- rogative with a very remarkable experience ^ of the di- vine bounty, and a coordinate experience of their ow^n brotherhood ^ under God's Fatherhood. But the position of this most sacred * year, the most prominent, the most critical, the most pregnant member of the sabbatic sys- tem, is a paradox. Every week closed with its seventh a sacred day. In every year the seventh was a sacred month. Every week of years closed with its seventh a sacred year. And now the climax of the system is made not the closing seventh of the week but the first of a week. The lesson of Pentecost is repeated, and by the repetition confirmed. On the very largest scale within 1 " From pauperism." By giving every man a portion of the ara- ble land. 2 " Remarkable experience." See Lev. xxv. 20-22. In the wil- derness a double supply of manna was given every sixth day, so that the observance of the Sabbath brought no lack of food. If the sab- batic years had been observed, this promise would have been liter- ally fulfilled. The sabbatic years and the Jubilees would have been years of plenty. Moreover it is to be inferred that the spontaneous product would be large ; as verse 6, " The sabbath of the land shall be meat for you." The prohibition in verses 4, 5, relates to acts of owner- ship. No man should take away anything as his own. In Ex. xxiii. 11, permissFon is given for every one to enjoy the fruit of the earth in common. See Study VI., page 137, and especially page 145. 8 " Brotherhood." See Study VI., pages 137 and 148. * " ]\Iost sacred," as signifying and sealing on the largest scale the bond between God and his people. " Most critical," as bring- ing with it the crisis or determining point of the most important con- ditions of social life. " Most pregnant," as holding and developing the profoundest lessons of truth to be brought eventually to the fa- miliar actjuaintance of the people. 190 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. the measure of human life, there is shown as in the feast of Weeks, a picture of the series of weeks marked by the sacred seventh as a completed, definite closed series, fol- lowed by new arrangement wherein greater, indeed the greatest, dignity rests not on the seventh but on the first, while the succession of the weeks is unbroken. The reader must not forget the essential condition under which this instruction, like all divine instruction, must be given to man. Our minds must first become thoroughly familiar with the details of the objects or ideas presented, and then, but not till then, can they advance to a consid- eration of the underlying relations of those objects or ideas. It may be reverently but fearlessly asserted, that it was not intended, as it was not possible without a mir- acle, to impress the lessons of the sabbatic system on the people immediately. They were commanded to obey. Obedience is the coi'ner-stone of education. Israel's edu- cation was to continue through centuries. By obedience, he would have been educated to perceive the problems which his own law presented. Seeing them, he would have looked for their solution. The more devout and loyal he might be, the more anxiously would he long for that solution, as believers now long that the incompre- hensible problem of sin and suffering may be solved. But not until the new Prophet and Lawgiver should appear could the solution be found. We have the key. Before the Christ came no mortal could unlock the mystery. It can be imagined that in some country the industry of extracting perfumes from blossoms was practiced in all the orchards. The workmen for years and for genera- tions had gathered and treated all the blossoms of all the fruit-trees known to them, and had never seen the fruit formed on any one. By lifelong attention to this work they became perfectly familiar with all the minutiie of blossom sti'ucture. Any of them could describe each and THE PERMANENT AND THE TRANSIENT. 191 every part to its smallest feature more accurately than the most learned botanists of other lands. They clearly understood that each blossom was an organism, and its parts related to one another. They had long since dis- covered the adaptation of certain parts for the production of results having appreciable value, such as color, fra- grance, and flavor. They had perceived a certain coor- dination in these results. Tlie^^ had also perceived a certain harmony in the combination of the structural parts, and especially the very evident arithmetical sym- metry in the numerical coefficients of these parts. But they had also noticed some strange exceptions to this harmony and symmetry. The bitter pollen, for example, was in strange contrast to the general sweetness. And then the number five, so often repeated in other parts, so characteristic of the whole structure of the tree, was re- placed b}' an unconformable number for the pistils. The workmen never could learn or guess the use of these ex- ceptional parts. But those among them who knew that the blossom (and the whole tree) was the creation of In- finite Wisdom, felt sure that the peculiarities of pollen and pistils must have some sufficient reason, though they could not imagine one. Then it may be further supposed that, after centuries of dealing exclusively with blossoms, some commercial crisis turned the attention of all these workmen exclu- sively to the fruit. To their astonishment they saw it develop and mature into something fair, savory, and nu- tritious, more grateful and useful to man than the blos- som had been. They began to prepare it in various ways, and in their work they gradually became aware of its organic structure and of its organic relation to the blossom. They saw that in respect to color and fra- grance and flavor it preserved the subtle harmonies of the blossom. They discovered in its centre and core the 192 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. characteristic number five. They also learned — and ifc surprised and pleased them most of all — that the pollen and the pistils, those exceptional parts of the blossom, whose pecidiarities they could not account for, were the parts most directly related to the fruit. Israel worked for ages with the blossom. It was his business to become familiar with every smallest item, every jot and tittle of its organism. He could not know what the fruit would be. He could not conceive of the fruit, and therefore was not explicitly told how it would differ from the blossom. He was told, however, that somehow and at some time a blessing to all nations was to come, and that it was to come somehow through and by and out of this blossom. Then, when he came to know thoroughly all the several parts and organs of the blossom, and found that some were exceptional, and that their peculiarities contributed no appreciable component to the functions of the blossom as a blossom merely, fur- nishing no harmonious constituent to its color or flavor or fragrance, and vai'ying from its radical number, and yet too prominent to be put down as accidents, he might have said : " This blossom is not the perfect counterpart of the promise. In some respects it is a contrast. Some- how it must be changed in order to correspond with that promise. These organic parts, which seem out of pro- portion and harmony in the blossom as it is, must be placed there to serve in some way that which is to be. The seventh of the week and the first of the week must have their connection explained by some event yet in the future." But the riddle would stand unsolved. To us, the principles involved in this solution have been made very clear by the Apostle Paul. •^ "^ ^ Gal. 3: 17. " And this I say, that the covenant tliat was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul." THE PERMANENT AND THE TRANSIENT. 193 That is, whatever in the law was inconsistent with the promise or inadequate to its scope, must be changed. The fact that anything in the hiw was inconsistent or inadequate is perfect proof that the Allwise put it tliere for a temporary purpose, with a view to an ultimate modification. Therefore, also, the terms of the promise enable us certainly to distinguish the conditions under which any part of the law must be maintained or modified. I. Whatever should last must be extensible. It must be capable of blessing all nations and all the families of the earth. II. Whatever should last must be a positive and unal- loyed blessing. III. AVhatever should last must be directly related to that Promised Seed throug-h whom the blessing must come. By the application of these principles certain features of the sabbatic system, established under Moses, may con- fidently be pronounced permanent and sure to continue on through the Sabbath of the New Dispensation. Among these are : — I. Decentralization. That new Sabbath must be an institution which men can observe in any place and under any conditions, — alone, but " in the Spirit," like John at Patmos, — or, breaking bread with the whole congregation, like Paul at Acts 20:7.; Troas. II. Sociality. It must be observed by customs which bring believers together as believers, by families and communities or congregations, and by customs which ef- face all hindrances to such assemblage and communion. III. Covenant. Its observance must carry on its face the profession of attachment to the covenant by which God's personal acceptance is promised, and the public 13 194 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. avowal of loyalty to our Lord, the Seed of Abraham and the Author of tlie world-wide blessing. Certain other features of that old system must, under application of the same rules, be pronounced transitional. The ideas which they present concerning God's administration of his plan of redemption cannot be altered one jot or tittle. But the forms must perish in order to preserve those ideas, as the petals must die for the sake of the fruit. Among these are : — I. All that relates to land divisions and titles and till- age, and hence is limited to Palestine. II. All that relates to civil jurisdiction over acts of personal homage to God. No national organization can stand, henceforth, between the individual soul and God.^ III. All that relates to sabbatic numeration ; that is, all the parts and features of the system which give sacredness to the seventh successive period of time, whether day, month, or year. The week is not in question. It is taken for granted, and nowhere ordained by Moses. It existed before his day, and has, in fact, outlived the system which he intro- duced. That system was only an episode in the history of the week. But, as shown in a previous Stud}^, the week depends upon a sacred day for its boundar}^ and count.^ If the seventh day ceases to be a Sabbath, the first day onl}^ can take its place as a boundary and start- ing-point. The inconsistency and inadequacy of the Mosaic sev- ^ Study III., page 73. 2 So far as the national entity is concerned, our Lord is himself the antitype of Israel. Thus Matt. ii. 15, or Hosea xi. 1, " Out of Egypt have I called my Son." Compare, also, the pi-ophecies of Isaiah concerning the " Servant of the Lord," where the nation and the Messiah are blended. Under the Mosaic constitution the na- tional authority was, in many respects, a mediator. Now there is none but Christ. THE PERMANENT AND THE TRANSIENT. 195 entli day Sabbath^ as a permanent institution may be examined by the application of the tbree principles al- ready stated : — A. It could not be extended as -wide as the Promise. B. It could not be experienced as a positive, unalloyed blessing. C. It could not express the relation of those blessed among all nations to the Promised Seed who redeems them. A. The Mosaic Sabbath was not extensible. Of course the sabbatic system could not be extended. It was essentially local and limited. Therefore the ques- tion rises whether the Mosaic Sabbath could be pre- served apart from that system, and there is a further question whether, if isolated from its system, it could be extended to all nations. The possibility of separating the Sabbath from the rest of the sabbatic system seems to be established by the fact that the Sabbath existed before that system was promulgated. But that ancient Sabbath was not the Mosaic.^ It was not divested of the sacrifice, and it was not maintained by civil authority, and it was not observed by the cessation of ALL labor, whether in cottage, tent, or field ; although, as a day of assembly and sacrifice, — a festival day as well as a religious day, — it was a day ^ The " Mosaic Sabbath." This phrase is only used for distinc- tion. It was ordained by God, not by Moses. Under Moses, by the command ot" God, the emphasis was hiid upon the seventh day. That emphasis, therefore, had to be eliminated for the new disj^en- sation. But it was impossible to remove that emphasis, under the circumstances, except by changing the day. Hence, in referring to the Israelitish Sabbath, the terms "Mosaic" and "seventh day Sabbath " may be used interchangeably. * Noah sacrificed on this day, and unroofed the ark on this day. Apparently, also, he completed his embarkation on this day. The uses of the day made it a day of rest, not a statute. 196 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LOBD'S DAY. of rest. Above all, that early Sabbath did not have the lai'ge illustration which the Mosaic system contained, and it did not receive that emphasis as the seventh day which, by the enforcement of so many sevenths and reduplica- tions of sevenths, that system laid upon the Sabbath of Israel. It is certain, therefore, that a Sabbath might remain after the sabbatic system had disappeared, but it is not certain that it could remain as the INlosaic Sabbath. But how could the Mosaic system be abolished ? Only by the act of that Lawgiver whom Moses foretold. If, then. He should take the Sabbath out of its system, and ordain that all the features and characteristics given to it by Moses should remain, except the observance of the associated sabbatic times, then it would stand by his word. But without his word it could not stand. It could not be necessary for Him to enact that some Sab- bath, some sacred day in the week, should remain. Such an institution, being older than Moses, was independent of Moses, and needed, if anything at all, no more than evidence that He observed it. This evidence our Lord gave in coming to his disciples on the resurrection day, and then, next, on the next first day. He did not ordain that any of those characteristics which made the Sabbath INlosaic should be preserved. Therefore they must share in the development of the whole system. Since in fact He did not sejiarate it, no other might or could. Moreover, there is an historical example showing what the Mosaic Sabbath, divorced from the system to which God married it, would become. In the last period of the Jewish polity the Sabbath was, to a very great extent, isolated. The larger part of the nation lived in foreign lands. INIuch of their own land was not in their own hands. The nation, as a whole, was no longer agricul- tural. Both in the Israel at home and the greater Israel THE PERMANENT AND THE TRANSIENT. 197 abroad tliere was very little and very imperfect practical experience of anything but the Sabbath. The great body of tlie nation could in no way be affected by the sabbatic year or Jubilee, if they should try to keep them ; neither could they have occasion, except for the form's sake, to count the weeks to Pentecost, or the months to the feast of Trumpets. To craftsmen and traders living in every city of Europe, Asia, and Africa, these observances, for- mei'ly engrossing realities to the farmers in Palestine, were only an exhibition or a legend. The seventh day of the week alone remained as a practical reality. This was as much a reality as the rest was a dream. It marked them as a peculiar people among all their neigh- bors. It brought them ridicule and persecution. Their whole law seemed concentrated in it, both in the eyes of the heathen and of themselves. The result was a Sabbath whose peculiarities, as limned here and there in the New Testament, are often repulsive. It has not the expression, the aroma, of the Pentateuch. With its isolation, or because of its isolation, it lost both attractiveness and spiritual force. The import of various New Testament references may be gathered into a few particulars. It had become to the Jews an oj!?ms operatum, a duty to be done for form's sake, independent of morality or faitli.^ " Keeping the Sabbath " was not inconsistent in their eyes with cruelty and deceit. It is difficult to de- tect any moral quality in it, except what is associated with the synagogue. It had become destitute of religious significance as well as of religious influence. It did not seem in any way to suggest the kingdom of God. Doubtless, if a Pharisee had heard it explained as an image and foretaste of God's administration of the social organization of his people in ^ In general. There were exceptions, of course ; possibly many. 198 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. its perfect development, he would liave stared in bewil- derment. And, final]}^ it Lad become the expression of loyalty to the nation rather than of personal devotion to God. There was pithy suggestiveness in the phraseology nsed in describing the friendly centurion by the elders of Ca- pernaum: "He loveth our nation and hath built ns a sjMiagogue." This was not a cliance or singular wording. The nation had come to stand between men and God. God was indeed their nation's God, but they belonged to God only because they belonged to the nation. This was the historical outcome of the Mosaic Sabbath isolated from the ordinances with which God encircled it ; an ob- servance lacking moral force, lacking spiritual instruc- tiveness, lacking personal communion with God. Still the question remains, whether, if in any way it had been possible to preserve the Mosaic Sabbath apart from its system, that Sabbath could not have been adapted to the new conditions? If Israel had been faithful up to the advent of the Messiah, might not their Sabbath in that case have endured unchanged ? Might not those prophecies of a change which were embodied in institu- tions like the Pentecost and the Jubilee have been de- ferred, say, until Messiah's second coming ? Might not the superintending Spirit of God have preserved the Church both from losing the spiritual power and instruc- tiveness which the associated observances gave to the Sabbath, and equally from attempting to replant those observances in lands where they could not live and where God did not sow them ? To these questions, so far as they relate to moral possibilities, the only answer must be, that in fact God has not preserved that Sabbath. Further, no one can know. But a physical obstacle to universal expansion of the seventh day, the Mosaic Sabbath, is insuperable. Its THE PERMANENT AND THE TRANSIENT. 199 time was defined by the statute. It was the seventh day in the land of Israel. It began and ended with the sun- set. The fact that it was the strictly defined day of a small territory forbade that it should be the day of all the earth. For that service a day was required that should be free from the limitations of a local statute, free to be adapted to the circumstances of man in all nations. When the blessing of the Promise should be carried to tribes in the far north, where the sun dur- ino; some summer nicrhts never sets and during some winter days never rises, how could the faithful there keep the JNIosaic day ? ^ Or suppose that the blessing of the Promise had spread eastward, and all the nations had with it received the Judean Seventh, and that it had passed beyond Asia, and from island to island of the sea, until it had reached America, so that over more than a hemisphere eastward from Jerusalem one day was kept ! As the observance spread always eastward, the Sabbath would begin earlier in each newly gained region, until in America it might be sixteen hours in advance of Jerusalem. The even fall then beginning in America would mark the opening of the Sabbath all the way across that continent, and across the Pacific, and across broad Asia, until after six- teen hours its shadow veiled Mount Zion. All this would be one Sabbath day. And now suppose that the blessing and the Sabbath were carried in the opposite direction, that the nations in Europe and Africa received it, and that a tide of emigra- tion carried whole nations of these believers across the Atlantic, bringincj the same Sabbath with them. Then the sunset which beoan the Sabbath in America, and ^ The legal beginning and ending of a day is described as " at even " in Ex. xii. 18. In the passage refening to the paschal lamb, the expression is literally "between the evenings." -00 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. after some sixteen hours brought it to Jerusalem, and then for about eight hours more carried it onwards over Europe and the Athmtic, would bring it back to its start- ing-point, and henceforth the dwellers in America might have two Sabbaths in succession, each the identical day of Judea. And this confusion could not be avoided. For the day of the world ^ is as unending as the sunshine which jDasses round and round it. The local day only is limited to twenty-four hours. To tie down the whole world to the local day of a minute district would be to harass the devotion of all nations with incessant per- plexities and contradictions. Perhaps when knowledge advanced men would insist upon keeping the identical hours, and might telegraph round the world the Jerusa- lem sunset, so that at that precise minute the Sabbath of the world might begin its dead and senseless literalism. No ; for all nations a Sabbath was needed adjustable to the conditions of men in all lands. The exercise of rev- erent common sense in its adjustment must not be ham- pered b}^ uncertainties, nor by scruples arising from the etymology, the usage, or the translation of a word. In our age Christian common sense has drawn a line in the western Pacific,^ and agreed that every day shall be counted as beginning and ending at that line. Under the Mosaic Sabbath such an agreement would not be lawful. The exercise of discretion^ was forbidden. Ac- ^ Those who insist upon a literal use of the word " day " in Gen- esis i. should remember that in that sense it could be applied only to the world-day, which is age-long, beginning when no light falls on this planet, and ending when by any cause the light is again withdrawn from it. 2 In point of fact the line is not straight. In the main it is the 180 meridian of Greenwich. But there are defiections. 8 No discretion. See Deut. xxvii. 26, as quoted Gal. iii. 10. Also, Ex. XXV. 40 quoted Heb. viii. 5. It is true that the later Jews allowed themselves discretion in many things, but it was not lawful. THE PERMANENT AND THE TRANSIENT. 201 curate obedience was required. And with exact obedi- ence to the statute, the Mosaic Sabbath could not become the Sabbath for all nations enjoying the blessings of the Promise. B. The Mosaic Sabbath, as peculiarly Mosaic, was not a positive and unalloyed blessing. The day did indeed bring blessings with it. But through the ages before Moses it had brought these blessings: the consciousness of reconciliation with God through sacrifice ; of hope through meditation, on the story of his dealing with man and on the words of his promise; of fellowship in the tie of religion that bound them to Him, with all others who prayed to Him, — masters and servants, young and old, all together on a day that brought relaxation and social enjoyment sanctified by worship. In the changes intro- duced by the Mosaic statutes there were also great bless- ings. They were real blessings, but they did not equal the measure of the promise. They were not positive in their form, and they were not unalloyed in their prac- tical working. Like the law, as a whole they . . . . , Qeb. 10 : 1. were only disciplinary and preparative, — " the shadows of good things to come." The form of all the new regulations was restrictive. The key-note in all their parts was, " refrain," " thou shall not." The day, indeed, was not empty. It had useful and enjoyable employments.-^ But these were rather instituted than commanded. Cessation of labor in field, bazaar, and kitchen, — this was the specific command. This was the feature of the day on the face The circumstances which forced them to modify their conformity were the result and punishment of voluntaiy disrobed ience. It is to-day an experience common enough that one wliohas viohxted duty, when able to perform it, soon finds himself entangled in circum- stances which render it impossible to perform it faithfully if he would. 1 Study v., page 115. 202 EIGHT STUDIES UF THE LORD'S DAY. of the statute. This was the one feature of the clay which the zealots of the age of degenevacy magnified. They did not, indeed, neglect the convocation and other adjuncts of the day. In no period could the true and faithful have overlooked these. The Pharisees thought it behooved every one to attend the synagogue and read or listen to the Scriptures. Probabl}^ they would have blamed, certainly they would have despised, a neglecter of these duties. But it is doubtful whether the greatest neglect of the synagogue would have stirred them to serious anger, or led to any prosecution of the offender. Matt. 12: 14 ; ^^^'^"' however, our Lord on the Sabbath Mark 3: 6. ]jealed a withered arm, the Pharisees were roused to bitterest malignity. And the common mob, when they learned that He had bidden the restored paralytic carry his pallet on the Sabbath from Bethesda to his home, tried to wreak their fury on Hira at once. The restriction of the Sabbath had been broken through, as they deemed, and in their eyes the whole Sabbath consisted of this restriction. Verbally and literally they were right. But they could not see that the restriction was enacted in order to secure for every one, even the humblest, a share in the day's privileges. This object was not stated, because it was one of the things to be learned by use. Because it was not stated they disre- garded it, and asserted, practically, that the restriction was for its own petty sake alone. Thus they really set the Sabbath in comparison with the forbidden fruit of Eden, with the restriction of that tree by which man fell, instead of the fruit of that other tree of Calvary by whose free gift man rose to life. If, then, the INlosaic day should have gone down into the Christian centuries instead of the Lord's Day, it would have been as a restriction. And since it would have been isolated from its coordinate system, and re- garded as a thing apart, separated from all else in the THE PERMANENT AND THE TRANSIENT. 203 law, it would have been only a restriction. And this restriction could not have been applied to " all nations." Those exposed to the rigors of a northern winter would have found it an infliction rather than a blessing if it exposed them to the rigors of fireless ^ chill. Some proc- esses in the arts cannot be suspended on one day in seven. Police duty cannot be intermitted, neither can the labor of providing gas, and lighting up a modern city. There is very much in the complex activity of modern civilization which cannot be pressed down to rigid compliance with the Mosaic law. Civilization would be set at variance with the divine law, or else hampered and distorted, and no man would think of that law as a positive blessing. But suppose the doctrine of necessity and mercy were brought forward, and, on that ground, the day were released from restriction to any extent which anybody might think appropriate. Even then, if anything were left of the old Sabbath law, whatever was left would remain a mere restriction as before. The old Sabbath might be in danger of perishing at the demands of mod- ern society, but if it survived its character, as found in the old statutes, could not be changed. But if the conditions of modern life could be changed so that all the nations could share in sabbatic rest, ac- cording to the Mosaic law, that would not suffice for the promised blessing. Rest, indeed, is not an unmeaning word. In its place it is a real and a great good. The sabbatic rest brought great advantages to the people of Israel. So evident now are the benefits to an^^ common- wealth of a weekly day of rest that political economists plead for the civil Sabbath, so-called, on purely secular grounds. But rest is one thing. Positive blessedness is another and a very different thing. Perfect blessedness ^ " Fireless." See Ex. xxxv. 3, compared with Ex. xii. 16. 204 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. needs no rest^ for it knows no exhaustion. The blessinsr of the Promise must be something wliich sliall not only relieve the \ve;uy from the pressure of toil, but fill tlieir souls with refreshment and stimulating hope ; something which shall not merely represent the covenant of God, but surround the soul with palpable and irresistible manifestations of his unmeasured love ; something which shall not only suggest the " beauty of holiness," the order and benevolence of God's rule, but in its historic occa- sion, in its associations, in what is breathed in its air, shall bring to the soul the seal and assurance and fore- taste of the Avhole sura of good that man may hope to receive from God. While thus on the one hand the form of the ordinances which commanded sabbath rest failed to guarantee posi- tive blessedness, so on the other hand the practical oper- ation of these ordinances, being wholly in the sphere of obligation, could not afford an experience of unalloyed blessedness. Perfect love casteth out fear. Perfect loy- alty scorns compulsion. The old Sabbath was enforced by the sword. It was discipline, drill, dictation. It might be love and loyalty also, but it could not be love and loyalty alone. In this it was inadequate to repre- sent the blessedness of the Promise. As surely as a new dispensation must come, so must a new Sabbath come with it. Moses did not prophesy directly of that new dispensa- tion. He spoke only of the advent of the New Law- giver to whom the people should liearken. He left them to learn by degrees from the practical woi'king of their institutions, and from comparing them with their an- cestral Promise, that a great change must occur when jer. 31: t^^^t Lawgiver should appear. In later daj^s pp"m,il?.) Jeremiah described the new dispensation. His Ueb. 8: 8-12. ■words are quoted in the Epistle to the Hebrews, 1 " No rest." Kev. iv. 8; vii. 15. THE PERMANENT AND THE TRANSIENT. 205 and accurately express the spirit of the new covenant. The law of God shall be written by Hira in his people's hearts. He will inspire his Church with the desire to please Him. That Church shall be a willing witness to the world for Hira. She will not merely testify to the abstract worth of morality by her consistent scrupulous- ness. She will aim at the purest living to please Him. She will not merely exemplif}' what all men, even in- fidels and heathen, approve, the beauty of compassion, nnselfishness, benevolence. She will imitate his tran- scendent charity, yet not for abstract charity's sake, but to please Him. And above all else she will witness to the world and call the world to witness, that He is more than holy and compassionate. He is the Lord, — the Lord of all, and her Lord. This should have been Israel's testimony expressed in keeping his Sabbath, for that was appointed to be the public profession of loyalty to his covenant God. But it was also a civic regulation, a strictly defined statute, an ordinance maintained by the sword. Whether it came from the heart or not, obedience was enforced under the supreme penalty. The covenant was put on them, not freely taken by them. The husbandman thrust the seeds of heart religion into the unsoliciting, if not reluctant, soil. Under the new covenant they sprang up in vigor- ous, spontaneous growth. Before a new campaign the soldiers of ancient Rome marched into the Forum to take again their military oath. But it was no matter of choice with them. It was death to refuse. So with the Israel- ite. He had no choice. God imposed on him the statute. Not so with the Church. Her Lord left her so that she must show to the world what she has made evi- dent to this day, that she kept his day because she could not help it ; because she loved Him ; because she chose, and could not help choosing, to show her loyalty to Him. * 206 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. C. Finally, the Mosaic Sabbath expressed no relation between those blessed among " all nations " and the promised " Seed " who blessed thera. The seventh day received under Moses new and marked characteristics. These changes were authorized by God, but were intro- duced, nevertheless, by Moses, so that the day is named with propriety after him. It is the Mosaic Sabbath. Could the Son, in whose Father's house Moses was but a servant, — could the Prophet, to whom Moses himself referred Israel, take for his day one that was character- ized by his predecessor and inferior? Could the fulfill- ment of the promise, before which the Mosaic legislation, according to its own principles, shriveled and fell like pet- als from the swelling fruit, — could that realized promise be symbolized by a day which already symbolized the de- funct statute ? How that former day pales in the effulgence of the resurrection morning ! Where, in all that is known of the histor}^ of man, where in all that is known of God, is there an event at once so great in its own elements, so important as a manifestation of the Divine to man, so transcendent in its relation to man's happiness and hope ! How could it be possible that Christ's redeemed should live in slavery to the day He spent in the tomb and neglect the day of his rising I That would have proved them less than men as well as less than Christians. That some for a time should have carried the old chain was not strange. But they carried it as a chain which they did not love but did not quite dare to drop. Their joy, their hope, their heart, was in tiie next day, the first day, the Lord's Day, which they and all the Church kept from the Resurrection. The seventh day, whatever it repre- sented, gradually faded and was forgotten. The day of the Lord's rising was the one day for the hopes of man. It and no other could possibly be the Lord's Day. STUDY VIIT. THE FOURTH C0MMA:SDMENT. " The word of the Lord endureth forever." — 1 Pet. i. 2.5 ; Isaiah xl. 8. Moses died. For fifteeen centuries bis laws were par- tially and defectively observed. But over all tbe way- wardness of tbe cbosen race brooded tbe Provi- Aets4:2S. dence of God, to accomplisb wbatsoever bis band and bis counsel determined before. Of all tbose laws not a jot or a tittle was lost. In tbe fullness of time came tbe Promised Seed, tbe antitypic Lawgiver, tbe Messiab, Cbrist, anointed witb tbe Spirit, tbrougb wbom He establisbed tbe new covenant in tbe bearts of bis peo- ple. Tbe object lessons of tbe old discipline became tbe intuitive principles and perceptions of tbe new vocation. All tbose specifications of statute, forms of ritual, func- tions of duty, about to vanisb like fading petals, left be- hind tbem ripening fruit in which, their vitality survived. Not only was tbe fruit organically derived from tbe blos- som ; its life was identical witb tbe life of tbe blossom. That life was tbe thought of God ; and this thought was given to man in definite words from Sinai. In tbe fore- going Studies, tbe preparation for tbe Christian sacred day, and the prophecy, obscure then, but evident now, of its relation to tbe older day, of its place in the week, and of its practical featui'es, have been examined as they appear in the Mosaic legislation. A leaf, as such, serves only the ends of leaf structure, ripens and dies a leaf. By the power of God modifications are wrought in tbe 208 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. leaf and it becomes a petal. By the same power other petals are grouped around it and a blossom is formed. By the same power other modifications of the leaf be- come stamens, pistils, and other parts of the blossom. By the same power fruit is prepared and prophesied through the blossom organism, and when the fruit develops the blossom dies. But the fruit matures along with the original leaves, the iinchanged expression of the life of the tree, the medium by which the bond is formed be- tween the earth-bound roots where the sap is elaborated and the air and the sunlight of heaven thi-ougli whicli it receives power to bear fruit. The perennial week, defined and constituted by its sacred da}^, is God's appointed clothing for the many-branched tree of human faith. While jNloses was the gardener, the modifications were introduced by which plain leaves became a blossom, and the old sacred day became the Mosaic Sabbath with its sabbatic system. Then in due time came the garden- er's Lord ; in his day the fruit appeared. Then the blos- soms withered. The Mosaic modifications disappeared. Only the perennial week remained, like leafage embos- oming the Lord's fruit, — the Lord'.s Day. The rest or- dained under Moses now ceased to be enforced by the state's authority. The great s^^stem of associated Sab- baths arranged under him now ceased to be regarded. The divorce then effected between the Sabbath and the Sacrifice ^ was now annulled, and their everlasting marriage proclaimed. But the vitality, the Divine thought inspiring each one of the Mosaic innovations, survived and passed on to their fruit. Tiie sabbath rest provided for the Sabbatic convocation out of which grew the synagogue. Its fruit is the social worship of the Lord's Day. The sabbatic system provided for an ex- 1 The sacrificial feast has a place in the Lord's kingdom. See Rev. xix. t). THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT. 209 perience of the ideal administration of society under di- vine rule, as contrasted with all godless administrations.^ Its fruit is tliat fundamental conception of what Christian society ought to be which is now the common property of all believers and ^ of many unbelievers. The sab- batic separation from sacrifice provided for a clear percep- tion of the distinction between the means of reconcilia- tion to God and the state of reconciliation and blessedness under his holy sway. Its fruit is the grateful remem- brance of our Lord's sacrifice pervading all the believers' joy fulness, and finding most tender, most spiritual expres- sion on the Lord's Day in the sacrificial meal instituted by our Lord, wherein we partake of his sacrifice, in the Lord's Supper. But the Lord's Day is t\\Q first day of the week and the original ^ sacred day was the seventh day of the week. So there was a threefold preparation and prophecy in the Mosaic statutes, in order that men, though they could not foresee the change, might realize, after the Lord came, that God had purposed and proposed to make the first day the greater day, and its period the grandest age. The first item of the threefold preparation was the lay- ing a great emphasis on the seventh day. The seventh month and the seventh year echoed and reechoed that emphasis. Instead of being known as the day when ac- cess to the dread locality of the visible symbols of Deity, the so - called face of God, was permitted, — or, as the day on which his special dealings with man might be ex- pected, whether by direct communication of his will, or by gracious interposition of his power, or by authorizing some action in his name, — or, as the day for the sacri- 1 This fruit has been very slow to ripen, but it is mellow at last. 2 The fruit of the sabbatic year was free to every one, even to strangers and foreigners in the land. Lev. xxv. 6. 8 "Original." Gen ii. 3. 210 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. fice with its concomitants, — now it was to be known, apart from all such adjuncts, simply as the seventh day of the week. And since it was no longer to be the special day of privileged address to God, nor the special day of God's manifestation, nor the day for sacrifice, a feature en- tirely subordinate previously was now made preeminent. This was the rest winch gave the day the title of Sab- bath. Previously the exercises of the day, whatever they were, involved more or less suspension of ordinary busi- ness. Now, these exercises having been all abandoned, and the old occasions for suspending labor having ceased, the rest was dignified in being enforced both by a divine command and a civil law. Thus an opportunity was afforded for the convocation to develop, until it should in its turn become the great feature of the da}^ to which the sabbatic rest would be subordinate and merely instru- mental. The second part of the Mosaic preparation for the first day of the week, as the Lord's Day, consisted in the ex- hibitioii of the series of seventh days as a limited, closed, completed series. Once in every year, and once on the largest possible scale within every full lifetime, the seven- fold repetition of the seventh day was most solemnly em- phasized as the end of the series. This emphasis was heightened by repi'esenting the series as beginning with the anniversary of the nation's birth, the Passover. All the peculiarities of their national Sabbatha were intro- duced immediately after that great event. Sacrifice had Ex. 5:1-3- 'dready been forced into desuetude. INIoses did ^ ■ ^' • not allow it to be reestablished. He asked per- mission of Pharaoh to go into the wilderness in order to offer it, but we read of no altar-smoke until the separate sacrificial system, distinct from the Sabbath, had been or- dained. We do find, however, that at the earliest oppor- tunity and before the plain in front of Sinai was reached, THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT. 211 he did enforce the sabbatic rest. Thus every year the IsraeUte was reminded that the series of seventh days, begun at the beginning of his nation, was to run on for a fixed and certain period and stop. The object lesson thus given was on the scale of days, and it was repeated on the scale of years. They, like the days, were to be measured by weeks, and each seventh in order was to be a Sabbath. But they did not run in indefinite continu- ance. They were counted in definite closed series, all of the same length. The Israelite might not be able to fore- see what could explain this riddle. But the Christian should not fail to thank his Heavenly Father for this evi- dence of the unity of his plans. The third part of this preparation and prophecy set before Israel, but less perhaps for himself than for us, was the representation of the inauguration of a new pe- riod, after the closed sei-ies of seventh days, by a greater Sabbath on the first day of the succeeding week. All the men of the nation were strenuously commanded to attend the feast of Weeks. As the feast fell on the first day of the week, all were obliged to be in attendance on the sixth day of the previous week, so as to rest over the Sabbath. Thus the whole nation were brought together every year to observe the last of the closed series of seventh days Sabbaths, and a contrasted Sabbath on the first day of the week succeeding it. Both Sabbaths were arbitrarily ordained by the fiat of God, not suggested or occasioned by any event in the history of the people. But the Sabbath of the limited period was coupled with the revealed statement of God's originating Fatherhood. The first day Sabbath opening the week after the limited period pointed to some event in the future. All refer- ence in it to the giving of the ten Sinaitic words was suppressed, though the time corresponded. It was al- lowed to be known only as a token of the completion of 212 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. the full series of the Mosaic seven days, evidently signi- fying, that when that dispensation was really completed, its antitype would be found in a divine manifestation greater than that of Sinai, — the day of a better cove- nant. But while, on the one hand, Pentecost was thus the greater Sabbath, as being more completely and abso- lutely a personal command of God than the weekly Sab- bath, standing simply upon his word of arbitrary author- ity, without any reason or occasion for it being unfolded from his omniscient wisdom and made known as yet to men, — so, on the other hand, in the practical experience of men it was the greater day. It was the festival day. For it the tribes had gathered at the sanctuary. The previous Sabbath found them there simply because it preceded the festival. On that Sabbath every one looked forward to the festival. The festival day also was a Sabbath. But it was a Sabbath without the restriction of the seventh day. Both Sabbaths were celebrated by convocations. But the festival Sabbath added to the convocation the sacrificial feast. The perspective in the sabbatic system also entered into this part of the preparation. There was a continual enlargement in his view as the Israelite looked upon his Sabbaths. Step by step they grew, until, instead of reaching from week to week, the largest step touched the land but once in a lifetime. When upon the scale of years, as upon the scale of days, the series of seventh day Sabbaths appeared as finished, closed, and limited, then the greatest Sabbath of all, the greatest institution of all, opened the new series on the first day of the new week. In the practical features of the sabbatic system, — the ordinary experience of men under it as a part of their na- tional constitution, — there was a similar preparation and prophecy in regard to the practical experience of the THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT. 213 Lord's cliscijjles on the Lord's Day. That practical expe- rience under the old system may be described in a con- densed form as an experience in regard to land, an expe- rience in regard to prescribed repetition and routine, and an experience as to direct profession of loyalty to God. The whole system rested upon the limited national territory and bore upon its tillage. But its practical ef- fect was to foster the strongest feeling of national brotherhood. It eliminated from the farmer's life the narrowness, the local bigotry, the stolidity which isola- tion is wont to produce. One day in seven was secured to every village for social intercourse. To the humblest slave, as much as to the village elders, that day was ab- solutely free and genial. The ter-annual journeys to the festivals added something, though perhaps not much, since the village parties would be apt to keep together all through the trip. But the sabbatic year broke up the farmer's seclusion altogether. In other lands the peasantry were never loosened from the soil except for military sei-vice or for slavery. The military service was an alternation of privation and debauch. Slavery filled the great cities of antiquity with monuments that amaze even the nineteenth century. But it raised those monu- ments out of a weltering mass of human misery, bestial- ity, and blood so horrible that this nineteenth century loathes to consider it. The Israelite went out among his brethren a free man. He was even released from debt. His labor was available for all the industries of city life, or for any great national undertaking. But it was free labor. He naturally sought the larger cities and towns, where the greatest variety of occupation could be found. There, in bazaars and streets and schools, he might be- come much more than a farmer, a villager, or even a tribesman, — an Israelite. All his Sabbath law was land law, and as land law it fostered the sense of common brotherhood, joint tenants in their Father's land. 214 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. As the old Sabbath law was limited to the Israelite ter- ritory, so its brotherhood was limited to the Israelite na- tion. Bat as the certificate of God's will concerning his children it reached to all who might become his children even by adoption. Tlierefore, when the old land-bound Sabbath passed into the world-wide Lord's Day, it girdled the earth with universal brotherhood in the Lord. In whatever strange land, of whatever strange tongue, the believer now joins in that day's w^orshiping assembly, the sense of brotherhood glows within him. Over all the world, from the western skirts of the Pacific around with the sun to its starting-point, that day, dotting the whole globe with gatherings in the name of our Lord, busied alike in prayer and praise and promise in his name, makes a testimony to the unity and brotherhood of Christian faith which no man, without willfulness, can gainsay. A second practical experience, under the old sabbatic system, was incessant repetition and routine. It was in many respects a drill. It was educational. It was an apprenticeship. The people w^ere exercised so as to be- come perfectly versed and familiar with all its details. But, although there was a certain immediate benefit in all this exercise, the aim was something vastly more. Routine and repetition are useful so long as thej^ are pi*e- parative, and no longer. There is an unflagging interest in the drill so long as facility is being acquired. After that the drill becomes a dead, tedious monotony. Edu- cation and training must necessarily precede discretion. When the fitness for free and responsible volition is ac- quired, the education and training are ended. Plainly enough to our retrospect, the education and training and drill under the old dispensation were designed to fit be- lieving men for voluntary action under the new. The proper expectations had to be awakened ; the proper as- THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT. 215 sociations had to be fonned ; the proper sense of respon- sibility had to be established. The law compelled faith- ful Israelites to practice that which should cause them to associate the Sabbath with God's ideal administration of society ; to expect that administration, organized on an unlimited scale, and continuing for an unmeasured time in the future; to expect with it the subjection of all men to God's law, the entire renovation of society, and the removal of every indignity, taint, and curse from God's people, and to feel themselves allied, and more than allied, — combined with all other members of his people in the execution of his plans. But they had no initiative, no propaganda. The whole of their polity was a trust, which they were simply to preserve. It was a lesson which they were not to go beyond, but to learn thoroughly, word by word and thought by thought. But their successors were to carry forward a great enterprise. Much of its conduct was left to their discretion. They were emancipated from the routine to test their training in a great struggle. Confident that the kingdom of their Lord would be triumphant, and knowing what that king- dom meant for man, they were put under responsibility, each one in connection with every other one, with every division of the Church, and with the whole Church, to take an intelligent, energetic, personal, and cooperative part in the achievement of that kingdom. A third practical experience under the old system was the direct profession of loyalty to God. For this the weekly Sabbath was made the seal.^ But all through the system the authority of God was directly felt and di- rectly acknowledged. That authority rested in so many points upon both the tillage and the tenure of land, that no one, it would seem, could possibly obey the law as a ^ Lack of personal presence of royalty supplied by Sabbath, Study v., page 111. 216 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. matter of custom and routine without having brought home to himself a vivid sense of God's personal prerog- ative. And yet obedience was perfunctory^ and external. No one could escape the pressure of the demand for alle- giance. Willingness or unwillingness was not considered. The drafted conscript, who refuses to take the military- oath, is punished like the traitor of the battle-field. The volunteer stands on a higher plane. He is doubly conse- crated, not only by the soldier's sacrament, but also by his own free-will devotion. The old system did not pro- vide for volunteers. Every one was called. He who did not respond, who did not testify his loyalty by the due sabbatic observance, was condemned to death. Doing it ever so grudgingly, he was accepted if he did it strictly. Grudgingly or heartily, do it he must, or the very sub- stance of the altar of sacrifice turned against him in an avalanche of avenging stones. And yet in every part of the system birthright was exalted. Israel was not a slave. He was God's Gal. 4 : 1. son. If he was subjected like a servant to strict discipline, it was because he was immature. He was a child. As such he could not comprehend the Father's plans and purposes, and therefore he could not share them. When the age of discipline was passed, when the capacity to share in the Father's confidence was attained, then the son's duty would have been cari- ca,tured if he had rendered no more than blind obedience, if he did not render voluntary and instinctive coopera- tion.i God required from his people what they were capable of giving Him : in the earlier time, strict and John 4: 23, Painstaking obcdieuce ; in the after age, obedi- ^^' ence in spirit and in truth. So the new day became, in a far higher sense than the old, a seal of loy- al'^^v Without one recorded word of specific command " Cooperation." 1 Cor. iii. 9 ; 2 Cor. vi. 1. THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT. 217 for its observance, — without one item of prescribed ritual for its exercises, — without one term of definition for its limits, — it was the free spontaneous homage of a loyalty that went beyond obedience, that clothed obedience with intelligent cooperation, and crowned devotion with an- ticipation of a triumph. The Church felt in her heart what was due to her Lord. She had inherited from her mother in Judea the preparation for his day and its prophecy. When her Lord, by his resurrection, by his manifestation and abstention, and by the descent of the Holy Spirit, according to his promise, signified his as- sumption of the first day of the week for his day, the Church at once and forever adopted it. As she did not wait for command, so likewise she did not stop to reason out analogies. Through the teaching of her Lord, and of the holy Spirit whom He sent, she received the truth in her heart, and acted upon it. She did not immedi- ately grasp it with her intellect. To that end the Spirit was to lead her through the ages. But what she did not at once fully understand, she distinctly felt. Without, perhaps, any thought of a comparison, she set the Lord's Day beside the old Sabbath, so much as was left of it. Beside the constrained and distorted ^ profession, on that day, of a loyalty that was in nature servile and in prac- tice a homage to Judaism rather than to God, — was set on this day the free, intuitive outburst of a loyalty that by its nature, and by all the circumstances of its mani- festation, came, and could come only from the heart, and that was addressed without division or deviation to the risen Redeemer, the divine Lord. The vitality of the day which had sealed the old covenant passed over into the day which sealed the new. That vital principle, that thought of God which un- derlay the possibility of union between God and man, 1 " Distorted." See Study VIL, pp. 196-198. 218 EIGHT STUDIES OF THE LORD'S DAY. was not given to the world by any human mediation. Not even to Moses was this office confided : " God spake all these words." It is plain enough that there is a wide difference be- tween the Decalogue and the whole bod}^ of Mosaic legis- lation. The Decalogue is unique. There is nothing like it in the history of man. Nothing that can be compai'ed to it has ever been imagined by man. The external cir- cumstances, that which we may call the framing of the Decalogue, were themselves unique. Such were the phys- ical isolation of the whole nation from all other peoples, as they were gathered into the large yet limited amphi- theatre, walled by towering granite, facing Sinai ; the un- exampled display of natural phenomena,^ such as in their ordinary occurrence have always appalled the human mind ; the three days' preparation, special, personal, pro- longed ; and the utterance of words which it strained human endurance to hear, as they rose above the trum- peting of the whirlwind, out of the central invisibility whose burning "2 retinue overwhelmed all consciousness of mortal potency, and excluded all impressions except that of the presence and personal address of God. The explicitness of these words was no less unique. ^ J'robably the elders (priests as yet) established a patrol round the base of the mountain, perhaps with something like a fence or barrier. The thick darkness seems to liave enveloped the congre- gation, while the mountain glowed and quivered with flame, and the dense smoke above it shut out the liglit of day. The inspii-ed state- ments hardly warrant the assumption of volcanic action, or the ex- perience of an earthquake shock on the plain where the people stood. They saw the mountain shake, but that appearance was rather an incident to the fact that it was enveloped in flame. Ex. xix. 10-25 ; XX. 18, 19 ; Deut. iv. 11, 12, 15 ; v. 4, 5, 22-26; Heb. xii. 18-21. 2 "Burning." Comp. Ps. civ. 4; Ileb. i. 7; Acts vii. 53. Also " seraph," aliunde, Heb. ii. 2, cannot refer to the Decalogue, but only to God's use of messengers to report and rehearse his mes- sa