A Modest Plea for the Lords Day, Chapter 3
CHAP. III. That God hath no where required of Chriſtians, the obſervation of the Seventh day. The fourth Commandment, though it requires a Seventh day, and ſuch ſeventh day as is of Gods appointment, yet it doth no more require the Seventh, than the firſt day of the Week.
THere can be no pretence for a further Obedience to the command of God in the obſervation of the ſeventh day in orde… from the Creation, than in the obſervatio… of the firſt, but from the letter of the fourth Commandment, as to which it is thus far agreed betwixt us and our Brethren.
1. That it is in the power of God only to make a day holy. No man can lay mens Conſciences under an obligation, that it ſhall be ſin for them not to labour on this or that day, or not to ſpend ſuch a day in publick and private dutyes of Divine Worſhip, but by Authority from God.
2. That the fourth Commandment is morall and perpetuall, not ceremonial and temporary either in whole, or in part.
3. That the ſence of it is plain, and literal, not myſtical only.
4. That as it requireth ſome ſolemn time to be ſet apart for the Worſhip of God, ſo expreſſely,
1. A whole Day.
2. One whole Day of Seven.
3. Such a Day as God hath inſtituted.
So that we are far nearer agreement with our Brethren of this perſwaſion, than with Heylin, Primroſe, &c. and the reſt of that party, who will have the Commandment ceremonial either in whole or in part (and ſo loſe us one of the ten Commandments) or …hoſe who overſtraining two or three Allegorical expreſſions in Origen and Epiphanius, would make the ſenſe myſticall, Chriſt to be the Sabbath, and the Precept only to require the Sanctification of the Name of Chriſt, (a modern dream juſtifiable by no Reaſon, Scripture, nor Authority.) We are agreed with our Brethren, That the fourth commandment is a Precept requiring the ſanctification of a ſeventh part of our time unto the Lord for ever, and ſuch a ſeventh part as we ſhall find his direction for.
But that the fourth commandement doth primarily require the ſanctification of the ſeventh day in order from the Creation, is that in which alone we differ from our Brethren. Let us therefore without paſſion, candidly conſult the Precept, and ſee what there is in it, which can juſtifie our Brethrens zeal in this caſe. The Precept runs thus.
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, ſix dayes thou ſhalt labour, and do all thy work, but the Seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God, in it thou ſhalt not do any work, thou, nor thy ſon, nor thy daughter, nor thy man-ſervant, nor thy maid-ſervant, nor thy Cattel, nor thy ſtranger, that is within thy gate… For in ſix dayes the Lord made Heaven … Earth, the Sea, and all that in them is, a… reſted the ſeventh day. Wherefore the Lord bl… ſed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.
It (poſſibly) is ſome diſadvantage in th… controverſie, that moſt of our Brethren a… not skilled in the Hebrew language, in whi… this Precept was Originally wrote. The… lay much ſtreſs upon the word Sabbat… and the particle the, beyond what indee… the letter of the Precept will bear: It ma… not therefore be amiſs to let our Brethre… know theſe two things by way of promiſe,
1. That the term Sabbath in the Hebre… ſignifieth no more than Reſt, and a day o… ſabbath is no more than a day of reſt. Tha… the term Sabbath ſignifies no more than reſt is evident to him that either attends the derivation of the word, or the uſage of the ſame word in many Scriptures. Lev. 25.6. where it is applyed to the years of Jubilee, Lev. 26.43. 2 Chron. 36.21. Iſa. 30.7. It is uſed to ſignifie a reſt from ſtrife, Prov. 20.3. and that reſt from labour which a wounded man hath, Exod. 21.19. it is uſed to expreſs the reſting place of Thorns laid up to be burned, 2 Sam. 23.7. Now becauſe thoſe dayes, which it pleaſed God to ſet apart for himſelf, were dayes in which he did require a ceſſation from labour to that end, that they might better attend Religious dutyes, theſe dayes were called Sabbaths, and that as well before the giving of the Law upon Sinai, Exod. 16.25, 26, 29. as after in innumerable Texts. So as the word is indifferently uſed, to ſignifie the weekly Sabbath as thoſe other holy dayes which God appointed the Jews twice in Holy Writt, we find the word (with a little alteration) doubled, Exod. 16.23.35.2. we tranſlate it a Sabbath of Reſt. In the Hebrew it is but the doubling of the ſame word or words, or of a word from the ſame root, and of the ſame ſignificancy, A reſt of reſt, ſignifying it was not to be a bare ceſſation from labour, but an holy, religious reſt. So as the fourth Commandement is no more than Keep holy a day of Reſt. And becauſe God had inſtituted but one ſuch day in the revolution of a Week, therefore by an uſual figure the word doth ſometimes ſignifie a week, as Lev. 23.15.25.8. and ſo in the New Teſtament. But that uſage of the word in this caſe w… have nothing as yet to do with.
2. A ſecond thing which our Brethre… ſhould know, and obſerve, is, That thoſ… little particles a and the are Engliſh particles, not found in the Hebrew, but put … by tranſlation, to make up the ſenſe according to our way of ſpeaking, the Hebre… hath no more than Remember to keep holy d… of Reſt, or day of Sabbath; and it is indifferent whether (according to our Engliſ… way of ſpeaking) we put in a or the; no… can any argument on either ſide be fetche… from thoſe ſupplyes to the Text.
Theſe things being premiſed, we ſay That there are three things or four whic… the Fourth Commandement requireth o… us.
1. That we ſhould keep ſome ſolemn time, … a time of holy Reſt unto the Lord.
2. That it ſhould be one day of ſeven, a ſeventh part of our time.
3. That it ſhould be an intire day.
4. That it ſhould be ſuch an intire day of ſeven as God hath appointed.
But that this day ſhould be the ſevent… day in order from the Creation, we ſay falleth not (at leaſt primarily under the Fourth Commandment) I ſay primarily not, ſecondarily it doth, as that was the day which God had appointed to the Jews: Now we ſay,
1. That this is not a ſingularity, but divers divine Precepts, both of thoſe which were temporary to the Jews, and of thoſe which are of perpetual concernment, have juſt ſuch an interpretation allowed even by our Brethren, and by all judicious Chriſtians. God commanded, Deut. 12.5.11. You ſhall offer all your ſacrifices; only in the place which the Lord your God ſhall chooſe. I would ask our brethren whether this Precept did not oblige them; to offer their Sacrifices in the Tabernacle while that laſted, and in the Temple afterwards when God had choſen that, and in Ezra's Temple when that was builded. You ſhall remember ſaith God to keep holy a Sabbath day, one day in ſeven for an holy reſt, ſuch a one, as God ſhall chooſe for a Sabbath, why muſt this be the ſeventh from the Creation only, and not that only till God ſhould chooſe another, which done, the Commandment as much obligeth to that. We ſay in the ſecond Commandment God requires of us, obſervance of the Acts of Inſtituted Worſhip, which with the Jews quite differed from ours. Yet the command, obliged both them to ſacrifice, an… us to preach, hear, receive the Lords Supper… How ſo? The Commandment only require… of us in the generall to worſhip God, according to his will. The fifth Commandment, requires us to Honour the King, whe… it was given, the Jews were bound to honour Moſes their chief Magiſtrate at tha… time, and many years after, they were bound to honour Ahaz, Hezekiah, and all in force… of the ſame Precept. God requires by th… Fourth Commandment, that his People in all Ages ſhould keep holy to him a Sabbath day. He expounds himſelf thus: One day in ſeven, in which we ſhall not labour (h… any bodily labour,) and ſuch a day as … ſhould appoint. You will ſay then, how did the Jews know, or how ſhall we know what to keep? We anſwer, the Jew… knew by a Law given them of the ſame Age (with that for Sacrifices) many hundreds of years before the Law given at Sinai, and by a temporary Law often repeated, and quite of another kind from the Fourth Commandment; which day muſt hold ſtill if we can neither find it expired nor repealed nor another ſubſtituted in the room of it; bu… if we can find any ſuch ſacred Record. The Fourth Commandment is not deſtroyed but eſtabliſhed. That required a Sabbath, a day, one of ſeven, ſuch day as God had, or ſhould appoint. We plead only for a new appointment of the particular day to the New Earth, the New World which God made by the ſending of his Son into the world; in the mean while the Fourth Commandement doth neither require this, nor that day otherwiſe than as that day was at that time by another Law by God ſet apart. Let us hear what our Brethren object.
1. Some of them have obſerved an emphatical note in the Hebrew, as much as that Sabbath. Remember to keep holy the day of that Sabbath.
Anſw. We yield it, that the affix Π is indeed ſometimes emphatical, but hundreds of places are to be ſhewed where it is not, ſo as no argument of force can be drawn from it.
2. But we may grant it ſo: it is not that day, but the day of that Sabbath, if the note of Emphaſis had been to the word ſignifying day, it had been far more to our Brethrens purpoſe. But what is it to our Brethrens purpoſe that it is the day of that reſt, or that Sabbath? We will grant them that it is no ordinary reſt, but a ſpecial emphatical reſt, a ſpiritual, holy, religious reſt, which God requireth; not a meer ceſſation from labour, but a reſt of reſts as God ſometimes calls it, an holy reſt, in which we muſ… not think our own thoughts.
2. But (ſay our Brethren) you grant th… God requires by the Fourth Commandement … ſeventh day, how can it be a ſeventh? if it … a firſt day, can the firſt be the ſeventh.
Anſw. All this runs upon the forme… miſtake, that the fourth Commandeme… requireth the ſeventh in order from the Creation, which we have denyed; it require no more than ſuch ſeventh Day as God ha… or ſhould appoint. Suppoſe ſeven pieces o… Silver on a Table before us, either the one or other of the outermoſt pieces may be the ſeventh accordingly as we begin to count. We muſt ſuppoſe the ſeven dayes of the Week ſo to lye before the great Lord o… our time; ſurely that is the ſeventh whic… God will appoint and make ſo.
Suppoſe that any one of us ſhould ſe… to our neighbour our crop of Corn, with a reſervation to our ſelves of a ſeventh part according to the proportion of our Acres and we ſhould ſay to them: Remember I have reſerved the ſeventh part to my ſelf, ſix parts I have ſold you, but a ſeventh is mine, you ſhall not meddle with it. Muſt this ſeventh upon ſuch a demiſe, needs be this or that Cloſe, ſurely no; but ſuch a ſeventh, as either (according to our bargain) we ſhall chooſe, or our Farmer ſhall ſet out. This is the caſe, all our time was Gods, he hath freely given us ſix parts and reſerved a ſeventh, ſuch a ſeventh, as he ſhall appoint to himſelf. Hath not God a liberty at his pleaſure to ſet out a ſeventh to us.
3. But (ſay our Brethren) it muſt needs be the ſeventh in order from the Creation, for that was the day which God reſted, which is brought in the Commandement as an argument to urge upon us the ſanctification of the Sabbath.
Anſ. 1. That our great Creators reſting from his work of creation, is brought as an argument to induce us to the obſervation of the Sabbath we freely grant, but we ſay not as an argument for the particular day, but for the ſame proportion of time. God reſted one day in ſeven, therefore you muſt alſo ſo reſt. It is impoſſible we ſhould reſt that day in which God reſted, that day vaniſhed, and returned no more: Our Brethren therefore can plead only for the ſeventh in the weekly Revolution, and why not fo… a ſeventh in Number only, not in Order.
2. But we may freely grant our Brethren that that argument held for the ſeventh i… order ſo far as it could be, without any damage to our cauſe. The Precept is on… thing, the argument is another.
It doth not at all follow, that becauſe th… force of the Precept is perpetual, therefor… the force of every argument ſhould be ſ… alſo. One argument brought hath a perpetual force, Gods allowing us ſix dayes ſ… our own imployment: what if the other ha… a temporary force, a force only for tha… time, during which the Sabbath then inſtituted was to continue? There is nothing more ordinary in Holy Writ, than to annex arguments of an univerſal, eternal force to Precepts, that were to expire; and arguments of a temporary particular vertue to Precepts that obliged for ever. How often do we find this as an Argument affixed t… the Ceremonial, and Judicial Laws, confeſſed by all to oblige only the Jewes, For … am the Lord thy God? To give but one inſtance, Lev. 22, 29, 30. The Precept relates …o a ſacrifice of Thanksgiving; it injoyned them to eat it all the ſame day, to leave none of …t till the morning, for ſaith God, I am the Lord, God is all our Lord, yet we are not …ll bound to that Sacrifice, or the rites rela…ting to it.
On the other ſide: The Argument affixed to the firſt Commandement is, I am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the Land of Egypt, out of the houſe of bondage. The command, in the next words, Thou ſhalt have no other Gods but me, concerns us as well as the Jews, but the argument from the deliverance from Egypt and the houſe of bondage literally only concern'd them. So here; The Precept, Remember to keep holy the Sabbath Day; with the direction, and firſt argument, in thoſe words, Six dayes ſhalt thou …abo…, and do all that thou haſt to doe, but …he ſeventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God, &c. concerns all:
But the other Argument, in thoſe words,
For in ſix dayes the Lord made Heaven and Earth, the Sea, and all that in them is, and …eſted the ſeventh day, wherefore the Lord bleſſed the ſeventh day and hallowed it. We ſay, only concerned the proportion of time: not inforcing the ſame day in order: or if it did, had but a temporary force (that day being then under divine inſtitution) and there being a need of that argument to quicken the Jews to obſerve it, for thoſe many years it was (confeſſedly) to continue after the giving of the Law in Sinai.
Nor indeed was it poſſible for all the World, or for the Jews in ſucceſſive times to keep the juſt ſeventh part of time from the Creation, in a ſtrict computation; thoſe who know any thing, know how this computation was interrupted in Joſhuah and Hezekiahs time, and what a difference there is betwixt dayes in ſeveral climates and quarters of the World; making it a thing impoſſible, either for all people (and the Precept concerns all) or for the Jewiſh people (afterwards diſperſed over all the world) to keep the punctual ſeventh day in order from the Creation, according to a weekly revolution. I conclude therefore, that there is no pretence from the fourth Commandment, for any to urge that we more glorifie God by obeying his will in the obſervation of the laſt than of the firſt day of the week, yea it will anon appear, we leſs obey God. The fourth Commandement only requiring one intire day of ſeven, and ſuch a one as God had or ſhould appoint. If we prove God hath appointed another, the fourth Commandment ſtands good, and we are rebellious againſt God if we inſiſt on the old Sabbath, and neglect what God hath more lately appointed.