The Practical Sabbatarian, Chapter 24
CHAP. XXIV. A Collation and Compariſon of the Jewiſh with the Chriſtian Sabbath.
OUr Meditation on the morning of Gods holy day, having Exod. 16. 23. Exod. 35. 2. Rev. 1. 10.paſſed through the ſeveral ends of the Sabbath, it may a little look back, and compare the Jews ſeventh day, and the Chriſtians firſt day together, their Sabbath, and our Lords day, and much delight will flow from both to refreſh our meditations: And here we may compare the legal and the Evangelical Sabbath, both in their agreements, and in their differences; for when they do not ſound the ſame tune, yet they yield the ſame and ſweet harmony.
The Jewiſh and the Chriſtian Sabbath agree in this, they are both the ſeventh part of the week; though the duties Dies ſeptimus non propter numerum ſeptenarium, aut utiquam propter ipſius qualitatem, ſed quoniam ſa…tae erat quieti conſecratus à domino, ideò que pro ſancto habendus eſt, & ſanctis actibus, & meditationibus ſanctiſicondus. Muſc.of our Sabbath be of a ſweeter taſt, yet they are not of a longer duration. The foreign Jom of the Hebrews, is as long as the foreign, Hemera of the Chriſtians the Lords day is a day and no more, and ſo was the Jews Seventh day; both contain the ſpace of twenty four hours. Indeed the quarrel is not concerning the tale, but concerning the trading of the hours of our Sabbath; the time is the ſame both under the Law, and in Goſpel times; but as God complained of the Jews for their Sabbath pollution, Exod. 20. 13. ſo may he complain of Chriſtians too for their Sabbath-prophanation. The controverſie did never riſe from the length of the day, but the feud ariſes from the abuſe of the day, when that time which is deſtinated to holy ſervice, is proſtituted to ſecular toyle, or ſinfull practice. How many among us Chriſtians have curtailed Gods holy day, have impt it, and ſhortned that golden ſeaſon by an untimely throwing off holy dayes, and ſetting to ſports and paſtimes thoſe panders of Mal. 4. 2.luſt and vanity? They have chaſed away the Sun of Righteouſneſs from our Horizon too ſoon, and have made a difference between the Jewiſh Sabbath and ours, which God never made, (viz.) they have made our Sabbath ſhorter then theirs. The Lord by his Apoſtles in the New Teſtament Exod. 31. 13. Lev. 19. 30.hath altered the day from the ſeventh to the firſt, but never the time from a longer to a ſhorter duration. Surely much guilt and blame-worthineſs muſt fall upon them, who Nehem. 9. 18.ſhut up the Church doors, and the Sabbath together, and Sanciri denuò et commendari obſervationem Sabbati, omnes vident. Riv.when the publick is over, then all is over, as if the ſervice of Chriſt was ſo cheap, and ſo inconſiderable, as it could not run parallel with the ſacrifices of the Law, which were both morning and evening on the Sabbath, the intervals Numb. 28. 9, 10.being likewiſe ſpent in holy and divine worſhip; for ſo expreſly runs the Command. The ſeventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord, Deut. 5. 14. not ſome few houts, but the whole day. The Lord in Lev. 19. 3. eſpouſeth the fourth and the fifth Commandments together, as if they were both one fleſh: Ye ſhall fear every man his Mother and his Father, and keep my Sabbaths; I am the Lord your God. God unites theſe precepts, as if they were equally natural; and it was as great a crime to pollute Gods Sabbath, as to offer affronts to our natural parents; the greater then is their crime who mangle Gods Sabbath, and tear away a great part of it, to fling it to their luſts or their lazineſs.
The Jewiſh Sabbath and the Chriſtian agree in this; both commemorate ſome renowned benefit. The Jews in Sabbatum Moſaicum inſtitutum fuit; ut perpetuum memoriale articuli de Creatione extaret, et ut monumentum eſſet liberationis ex ſervitute Aegypti, et gratiarum actionis deo debitae pro quiete a laboribus quos in Aegypto ſuſtinuerat graviſſimostheir Sabbath obſervation preſerve the memory of two illuſtrious benefits; the one recorded in the promulgation of the fourth Commandment, Exod. 20. 11. the other mentioned in the repetition of the ſame Command, Deut. 5. 15. The firſt the benefit of the Creation, being of a greater extent concerned all mankind; but the Jews were more eſpecially entruſted with the memorial of that glorious work; and therefore the Lord did engrave it in the body of the fourth Commandment, alledging his progreſs in the work of Creation, as the reaſon of that precept; that as he did work ſix dayes in making the world, and reſted the ſeventh, ſo man ſhould work ſix dayes, and reſt the ſeventh, conſecrating that weekly ſequeſtration to the honour and ſervice of the Creator. The ſecond benefit which the Jews commemorate in the obſervation of their Sabbath, is their miraculous deliverance Ger. de leg. Dei.from Aegyptian bondage; that ſeaſonable reſcue was embroydered with a pile of miracles, and therefore the Lord Deut. 5. 15.brings it in with an ergo, in Deut. 5. 15. as an authenticall ground and reaſon for the Jews weekly obſervation of the ſeventh day, to the glory, and in the worſhip of their Omnipotent Deliverer. It is very obſervable, how frequently the Tot… Aegyptum comparat piſtrino aut ſimili loco, in quo mancipia conſtringeb intur, et ad difficilia & dura ſervitia cogebantur. Riv.Scriptures mention this great Deliverance; in Exod. 13. 3. it is uſhered in with a memento; and the day of its performance hath a Selah put upon it. Aegypt is called a houſe of bondage, Deut. 5. 6. where there was no furniture to garniſh it, but ſtrokes and ſlavery. In another place of Scripture, Mic. 6. 4. It is called a houſe of ſervants, where toyle and ſweat was the badge of every Inhabitant. Rivet compares Aegypt (when the Iſraelites were enſlaved there) to Joſeph's Priſon, Gen. 39. 20. To Jeremiah's Dungeon, Jer. 37. 16. To Samſon's Hold, Judg. 16. 21. where he ground Inculcanda erant liberis dei beneficia, et dandam eſſe operam ut ea memoriâ retinerent.at the Mill. Now the ſharpneſs of the ſervitude ſet off the ſweetneſs of the delivery, a delivery ſo great, that it muſt be part of the Catechiſme, which the Jews muſt teach their Children, Exod. 13. 14. one of the Principles of their Religion; this providential mercy muſt become doctrinal inſtruction. No wonder then if the Jews muſt therefore obſerve their Sabbath, to preſerve freſh the memory of ſo great ſalvation; and which is obſervable, The Lord mentions this ſtupendous deliverance, Mic. 6. 4. almoſt eight hundred years after the accompliſhment, as of a ſtory to be wrote in Marble; nor is it to be overpaſſed, that this freedom from Aegyptian bondage, is both the uſher to, and part of the Decalogue, the Preface to the Ten Commandments, and a peculiar reaſon in the fourth. And we Chriſtians in the obſervation In honorem illius diei, quo Chriſtus àmortuis reſurrexit; Apoſtoli in locum Sabbati Judaici, diem Sabbato proximam cultui divino deputarunt. Ger.of our Sabbath, eye a great, nay, the greateſt benefit, (viz.) the moſt ineſtimable, the moſt inexplicable, the moſt inconceivable reſurrection of Chriſt; that triumphant work, that firſt ſtep of Chriſts exaltation, did firſt breath into our Sabbath the breath of life. When the Sun of Righteouſneſs did riſe, it made our Sabbath, Day, nay, a day of life and ſalvation, or as the Pſalmiſt, Pſal. 118. 23, 24. a marvellous day, a day not more beſet with mercy, then wonder. By riſing Chriſt freed us from more then Aegyptian bondage, and therefore ſheds a greater glory on our Sabbath, Surrexit Chriſtus manè primá Sabbati, manifeſtè docens, ſc. nos à morte animae reſuſcitatos, in lucem perpetuae ſelicitatis perducturum. Bid.then either the light of the Creation, or the glory of a temporal deliverance could caſt upon the Sabbath of the Jews. Venerable Bede obſerves, Chriſt roſe in the morning of the firſt day of the week, to raiſe us from the death of the ſoul, and to bring us to the light of perpetual happineſs. Our ſouls benighted by darkneſs, by the appearing of the true morning ſtar, Rev. 22. 16. are lead out of this darkneſs into his marvellous light, 1 Pet. 2. 9. and being fettered before, are looſned, and enfranchiſed into the glorious liberty of the Sons 1 Pet. 2. 9. Rom. 8. 21.of God, Rom. 8. 21. The rich and rare benefit which we commemorate on our Sabbath, is Chriſts riſing from the grave, when he conquered death, pinnion'd Satan, locked Necte natus eſt Chriſtus, nocte captus, et ſole obtenebrato mortuus eſt; ſed illuceſcent die reſurrexit, ut oſtenderet, quòd glorioſâ ſuâ reſurrectione, &c.up the gates of Hell, perfumed the grave, and became the powerfull cauſe, and great exemplar of our reſurrection. I cannot let ſlip the Elegance of a learned man, who takes notice, That Chriſt was born in the night, apprehended in the night, died when the Sun was darkned, and wrapt up in Cypreſs and Sables, but roſe at day break, when the light began to appear, to intimate, that the dark ſhadows of our ſins were put to flight by his glorious reſurrection, and eternal light of righteouſneſs did compaſs us as with a garment.
The Jewiſh Sabbath, and the Chriſtian agree in this; That holineſs to the Lord is written upon the breaſt-plate of Exod. 28. 36.both; both muſt be inviolably and ſpiritually obſerved to God. Purity and ſanctification, is the beauty and comlineſs, the end and anſwer of b…h. There was a time when the Jews were ſo exact in the obſervation of the Sabbath, Ex Rabbinis refertur, quod in die Sabbati, non licet pomum admovere carboni, aut vinum ſuper ſinapi pulverem mittere, aut allium quod edere velit, decorticare, &c. Munſter.that they ſcrewed up the pag …oo high, and the ſtring broke into ſuperſtition; their own Ra…bins aver, that to put an Apple to the fire, to take a Flea which was skipping from one part of the body to another, to peele Garlick to eat, to climb a tree to break down a bough, &c. was reputed amongſt them altogether unlawfull; nay, ſuch minute trifles which the learned man gravely aſſerts, are more fooliſh then the toyes and jeſts of Sicily. Indeed theſe over-zealous Rabbins thinking to make the Sabbath more ſpecious, made it more ridiculous, and put black ſpots upon it, inſtead of making it more beautifull; yet thus much we may learn, that the over-plus of Ceremonies implied their exact obſervation; and their niceneſs and ſuperſtition did ſtrongly imply, there was much religious devotion, as the guilding of the frame, ſpeaks the choiceneſs of the picture: However we may confidently conclude, that the Jewiſh Sabbath was encompaſſed with a hedge of thorns, that neither ſecular labour, nor ſenſual pleaſure, nor ſinfull practice was to break in to prophane Ter paenam capitalem infligendam violatoribus Sabbatum exprimit deus per Moſen. Riv.it; And God was very zealous of his Sabbath, that it might not be polluted, when the tranſgreſſour was to be puniſhed with no leſs penalty then death, Exod. 31. 14, 15. And which is obſervable, not riot, but work on the Sabbath, not luſt, but ſweat was puniſhable with the loſs of life. Nay, God did ſee the leaſt wrinkles in the face of the Sabbath, Nec eſt quod quis de ſupplici… gravitate conqueri debuerit, quia contemptus dei nunquam poteſt nimis gravi ſupplicio vindicari. Riv.and took notice of the leaſt defilements if it was but the gathering of a few ſticks, Num. 15. 32. And this example was in terrorem, for greater dread and terrour to others: And Rivet animadverts, That eternal death in the Scripture mentioned is threatned to obſtinate ſinners. But to ſlide down to Goſpel times, Holineſs doth not leſs become the Chriſtian Sabbath; we may hear by the thunder, and ſee by the lightning of Gods judgements upon Sabbath breakers, how jealous God is ſtill of his own day; the change of the day from the ſeventh to the firſt opens no gap to looſeneſs, gives no diſpenſation to ſin or ſenſuality: The day is changed, but the bonds are not broken; our tie is as ſtrong as that of the Jews, to the ſtrict and holy obſervation of Gods bleſſed Sabbath. If the Sabbath was to be kept holy in the times of the Law, much more in Goſpel-times. The fourth Commandment binds us as forcibly as them, and it is our Obſtinatis autem, ut in omnibus peccatis eternam mortem fuiſſe denunciatam, non inficias imus. Riv.glaſſe as well as their directory, our chain as well as their bond, it is ſtill Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day, Exod. 20. 8. whether it be the ſeventh day, or the firſt. Goſpel light may make ſin more ſhameful, not more venial, more hateful, and not more excuſable. And if Sabbath-pollution was matter of complaint heretofore in legal times, Ezek. Ezek. 20. 13.20. 13. To act the ſame ſin under Goſpel-grace is a more prodigious crime. Purity certainly is the decency of the Lords day. The love of Chriſt in riſing for our juſtification, Rom. 8. 34. ſhould in no wiſe make us more wanton, but Rom. 8. 34.more obedient.
And as the Jewiſh Sabbath agrees with the Chriſtian in many particulars, ſo in ſeveral things we may diſcern a difference.
Firſt, They differ in this: There was a multitude of appendices and impoſitions which did clog the Jewiſh Sabbath, Exod. 16. 22, 27. Exod. 35. 3. Numb. 15. 32. Exod. 16. 29. Acts 1. 12.all which are taken off from the Chriſtian, to make the yoak more eaſie and lightſome to the bearer. The Jews on their Sabbath were not to gather Manna, nor to pick a few ſticks, or to kindle a fire; nay, they were not to ſtir out of their places; And in after times they were only indulged to travel a Sabbath days journy, which ſome learned Expoſitors Buxtorf. lib. 3. p. 100.confine to a mile, and others ſtretch it out only to two. Thus God was pleaſed to pinnion and ſtreighten the Jews Sabbath with a multitude of burdenſome circumſtances, and Communio noſtra eſt cum Patre, & Filie ejus; In Patre, & in Chriſto, ſunt omnia vera & Caeleſtia bona, Zanch.a failure in any one of them was very prejudicial to the offendor. But Chriſt riſing from the dead, did not only looſen the bonds of the grave, but of the Sabbath too: Thoſe circumſtances which did load the Sabbath of the Jews, are now like knots plained off, like darker ſhades which are now blown away: And the Lords day is freed from thoſe fruitleſs ceremonies, and is wholly to be ſpent in ſweet communion with the Father and his Son Jeſus Chriſt, John 1. John 1. 1, 3.1. 3. Our Chriſtian Sabbath hath not its fetters on, but holy liberty is its character and Shibboleth; Our ſtages are not laid how far we ſhall go on the Sabbath, if pure Ordinances are our errand. Holy Chriſtians went many miles to hear heavenly Mr. Hilderſham, and it was not reputed their crime, but their zeal. We may on the Sabbath Numb. 15. 36.alleviate winters cold with ſeaſonable fires, and God will not judicially turn our ſticks which were to warm us into ſtones, to bruiſe and deſtory us: we may gather up Manna, even ſpiritual Manna, and it will not be our fault, but John 6. 32.our happy frugality; our Sabbath is the Souls feaſting day, Exceſſus in epulis cum naturâ pugnat. Convivium enim … vitâ, non à morte nomen habet. Chemnit.and our proviſions are no leſs then true bread from heaven. We Chriſtians are not denyed on our Sabbath the moderate furniture of our Tables; Chriſt himſelf feaſted with the Phariſees on the Sabbath day, Luke 14. 1, 7. Our greateſt care in this caſe is, that our tables be our ſupport, and not our ſnare. To wind up then this particular; Our Chriſtian Sabbath, though it hath leſs ceremony, it hath more ſubſtance; Pſal. 69. 22.though it hath fewer leaves, it hath more fruit, and though it is unhinged from legal obſervances, it is more enrich'd with ſpiritual Ordinances. It is a good obſervation of Learned Andrews, That God impoſed upon the Jews Biſhop Andrews.not to kindle a fire, or to dreſs meat on the Sabbath, this was meerly ceremonial, and only belonged to them. Therefore our Saviour ſweetens our Sabbath in removing thoſe burdens which were the ſervile badge of the Jewiſh pedagogy.
The Jewiſh and the Chriſtian Sabbath differ in this; upon the Jewiſh Sabbath there were carnal ſacrifices offered Clariùs imperfectionem eorum, deſcribit, cum dicit, Dona, & victimas illas, non poſſe perfi…ere conſcientias: Dona vocat Oblationes rerum inanimatarum, foreign victimas mactatas oblationes rerum animatarum. Par.as well as ſpiritual ſervices performed: On the morning of their Sabbath, there was offered two Lambs of the firſt year without ſpot, two tenth deals of flower for a meat offering, mingled with Oil, and the drink offering thereof; and this is the burnt offering of every Sabbath, beſides the continual burnt offering, Numb. 28. 9, 10. There was likewiſe on the ſame morning burning of Incenſe, Exod. 30. 7. So in the Afternoon both ſacrifices and burning of Incenſe, Exod. 29. 38. And to this alludes the Pſalmiſt, Pſal. 141. 2. So that much of the Jews Sabbath was ſpent in the offering of theſe legal ſacrifices, which the Apoſtle calls carnal Ordinances, Heb. 9. 10. And which Alapide mentions as fleſhly rites, fit only for abolition, to make way for more ſweet Chriſtus correcturus erat ritus illos legales, et carnales, iiſ que bolitis, eorum loco ſpiritualem Dei cultum erat inducturus, ut adoraremus deum, et ſpiritu, et veritate. Alap. Muſcul. in quartum praeceptum.and ſpiritual Inſtitutions. Pareus ſuperadds, and calls them imperfect oblations, the groſſer victims of a people kept in the dark. Theſe ſhadowy offerings were only the Jewiſh Alphabet, to teach them how to ſpell the meaning of better oblations to come; And therefore Muſculus calls the Jews Sabbath, A legal, a corporal, an elementary, a ſhadowy, a pedagogical Sabbath.
But the Chriſtian Sabbath knows no ſtone Altar, no fleſhly ſacrifice, no ſpilling of the bloud of Lambs, no making a ſmoak with Incenſe and Perfumes: Theſe exterior varniſhes and Types are a broken cloud to us which wholly diſappears. We on our Sabbath have no Altar but Chriſt, no Incenſe but his merit, no ſlaying of Lambs, but of that Heb 13. 10. Rev. 8. 3, 4. Rev. 13. 8. Jam. 5. 16. Heb. 9. 14.Lamb without ſpot, which was ſlain from the foundation of the world; we offer no burnt ſacrifice on a Sabbath, but a heart flaming with zeal; nor do we bring any tenth deals of flower, but thoſe mean ſervices of our ſouls, which if we Altare noſtrum Chriſtus eſt, qui pro nobis immolatu… fuit, qui eſt & ſacrificium, ſacerdos, et etiam Altare.had better, we ſhould offer them to our dear Jehovah; nor do we mingle any Oil with our offerings, but only the acting of our graces in our holy performances. The ſacrifices of a Chriſtian upon the Lord… day are of a more refined nature, then the carnal ſacrifices of the Jews upon their Sabbath: The bending of the knee, the lifting up of the hands, the compoſing of the countenance, the weeping of the eye, are the offering up of his body as a reaſonable ſacrifice, Rom. 12. 1. The acting of faith upon the word, the diſpenſing Phil. 2. 17.charity to the poor, the pouring out of prayers in Eph. 5. 2.holy addreſſes, the rendring of thankſgiving for receiving Heb. 13. 15.mercies, are the ſacrifices of his ſoul, they are his ſpiritual 1 Pet. 2. 5.oblations which he offers to God on his own day. The Chriſtians ſervices on the Sabbath are ſo far ſweet, as they are ſoul-ſervices, and they have ſo much acceptation as they have of the heart.
The Jewiſh, and the Chriſtian Sabbath differ in the duration: The Jewiſh Sabbath ended in the times of the Goſpel, but the Chriſtian endures till the day of judgment, when time ſhall be no more. The Sabbath of the Jews was buryed in the grave of Chriſt, and their its honour was laid in the Mat. 17. 2, 3, 4, 5.duſt: But the Lords day ſhall ſtay till the Lords ſecond coming, and then it ſhall not be buryed, but transfigured into an Eternal Sabbatiſm, when all the Saints ſhall ſay, It is Heb 4 9.good to be here, and Moſes and Elijah ſhall be our eternal Companions. Our Sabbath is not ſo ſhort-liv'd as that of the Jews, but at the great day of account with the living Mar. 2. 28.Saints, it ſhall be caught up to meet the Lords of it in the 1 Theſ. 4. 17.air, and ſo ſhall it be ever with the Lord: as a little to allude to that of the Apoſtle, 1 Theſ. 4. 17. And in this regard, the Chriſtian Sabbath much outvies the Jews ſeventh day. Duration and continuance ſets a higher price on every thing which is valuable; The Temple exceeds the Tabernacle, John 14. 2.not only for the coſtlineſs, but for the continuance of it. Our poſſeſſions above Chriſt calls Manſions, not only for their excellency, but likewiſe for their permanency. The Omnis homo eſt advena noſcendo, incola vivendo, quia compellitur migrare moriendo. Sed in domo caeleſti non ſolum erimus, ſed manebimus, unde coelum vocatur civitas manens. Aug.Body of a man which is his inferiour part is called a Taberbernacle of clay, 2 Cor. 5. 1. which is ſoon taken down: But the ſoul which is mans better part is a piece of eternity, and when diſunited from the body, it takes its flight unto an eternal condition and eſtate. The proſpect of a fair Landskip pleaſes us not ſo well, becauſe it is tranſient; but it is a pleaſant thing to behold the Sun, Eccl. 11. 7. becauſe it will not meet with its laſt ſetting till the conſummation of the world. Gold it ſelf is deſpicable, becauſe corruptible, 1 Pet. 1. 18. Duration is the excellency of every good thing, that which makes grace it ſelf look ſo lovely and beautiful, it is becauſe it cannot faint away, it is as immortal as the foreign. Iſid. Peluſ.ſoul it enricheth; this ſets off its comelineſs, it cannot loſe its beauty, Cant. 8. 7. But to return to our Chriſtian Sabbath: It therefore differs from, and hath the preheminence over the Sabbath of the Jews, becauſe it walks over its grave, and will ſurvive till all Goſpel Inſtitutions ſhall ceaſe, and our weekly Jubilees ſhall be turned into eternal triumph.