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In the conclusion, therefore, that the sabbath was instituted at the close of the creation, and enjoined upon all the posterity of the protoplastic pair, established as it is by evidence so satisfac tory, the devout believers in Revelation are bound to acquiesce. No cavils, which profane

foreigner also observes, "Nullibi dicitur, quæ hac die ommittenda, et quæ agenda sint, quod arguit, hæc consuetudine nota fuisse." Jahn, Archæologia Biblica, § 346.

But to all these arguments, it may be replied, that the promulgation of the Decalogue from Mount Sinai was subsequent to the giving of manna for the sustenance of the Israelites in the wilderness, when the sabbath was commanded to be observed; (Exod. xvi.) and the phraseology of the fourth commandment may have reference to that transaction. When indeed it is proved that the sabbath was not instituted in the wilderness, the reference, if any, must be to its primæval institution: but still such reference in the fourth commandment to a prior observali tion of the sabbath, cannot, in itself, prove the antiquity and universality of the original institution. Supposing this esta blished, the reference no doubt may be to it; but allowing the fact of such reference, it would be unfair to conclude that it must be to the institution of the sabbath in Genesis, as it may be to a subsequent institution in the wilderness.

To Bishop Horsley's reasoning it may also be objected, that the Hebrew preterite tense is too indefinite to be a safe ground for his conclusion; and to the observation of Jahn, that the omission he speaks of may have been owing to some other cause than the one assigned. If the " quæ ommittenda et agenda" were not specified for some other reason, as is certainly very pos* sible, it will not follow that they were previously customary and well known.

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ingenuity may delight to invent, should be allowed for a moment to shake a conviction resting upon the sound interpretation of the sacred Scriptures. Having discovered that the primeval sanctification of the sabbath is declared in the very commencement of the volume of inspiration, it is our duty to retain, in the confidence of humble piety, a truth which, like every other revealed in the book of life, is of vast importance. Highly interesting must it be to those who, bursting the shackles which enchain them to the world, are awakened to a deep sense of religion, to be assured of the divine origin of an institution so adapted to promote the happiness and spiritual good of man. At the origination of the present order of things, while the human race were yet in their pristine purity, and in the enjoyment of newly-bestowed existence, the sabbath was enjoined; it was to be observed in perpetual generations as the memorial of the celestial wisdom and benignity in creation; and the command will be gratefully obeyed by all who consult the sacred repose of their souls, till they attain the beatified rest in heaven, of which the sabbath on earth is a typical representation.

Though the sanctity of the sabbath remounts to the very infancy of the world, the inquiry remains, whether any alteration has been made in it by divine authority in the successive revelations

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vouchsafed to man.

From the patriarchal ages,

then, we must descend to those of the Levitical dispensation. The sabbath was undoubtedly adopted by the Hebrew legislator, modified by certain regulations and ceremonies which distinguished its observance under the theocratic government. Was it to be abrogated with the essential ordinances of Judaism? Or, was there any thing accompanying it which marked it out as designed to survive the dissolution of that polity? These are questions in the solution of which Christians are deeply interested. But before entering upon this investigation it will be proper to inquire into the peculiarities of the Jewish sabbath, not only because these may have made some difference in the nature of the institution, but also because to these our Saviour and his apostles in what they deliver concerning it may be supposed to have had some reference. In the next chapter, therefore, it is proposed to examine the constitution of the sabbath under the Mosaic dispensation, and afterwards to inquire whether it was designed to be abrogated with, or to survive the extinction of the Jewish polity.

CHAPTER III.

OF THE SABBATICAL INSTITUTION UNDER THE MOSAIC

DISPENSATION.

SECT. I.

Of the Jewish Sabbath.

THE word "sabbath" has an extensive signification in the inspired writings, being applied to all the festivals, or times of sacred rest, ordained under the Mosaic dispensation; in particular, to the feast of unleavened bread", to the annual day of atonement on the tenth of the month Tizri, and to the feast of trumpets which was celebrated on the first day of the seventh month. It also denotes the sabbatical year, which was kept among the Hebrews by allowing the land to rest every seventh year without cultivation; and in

Exod. xxxi. 13. Levit. xix. 3, 30.-xxvi. 2. Isaiah i. 13. Ezek. xx. 12, 13.

Levit. xxiii. 15.

• Ibid. 32.

Ibid. 24.

• Levit. xxv. 2, 4. xxvi. 34.

the New Testament it is sometimes used for a week; but it most commonly denotes the seventh day, which was consecrated to Jehovah under the Jewish economy; in which acceptation it is used in the present section, though in other parts of this inquiry it is applied, for the sake of convenience, in a larger sense to denote the septenary rest, whether under the Patriarchal, Jewish, or Christian dispensations.

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The sanctity of the sabbath, as we have seen, remounts to the beginning of the world, yet in considering it as adopted by the Jewish legislator, it is not very material what period may be assigned for the original command. Whether it was instituted immediately upon the first production of all things, or subsequently to the Exode at Marah, or on the occasion of raining manna, or at the giving of the law on Mount Sinai, it makes little difference with respect to the object; of this section, the design of which is to describe it as forming a part of the peculiar law of Moses.; It was undoubtedly a festival under the Mosaic polity, and it is now proposed to investigate the, time of its celebration, the peculiar services and ceremonies with which it was accompanied, and the object of its appointment.

Matt. xxviii. 1. Luke xviii. 12.-xxiv. 1. John xx. 1, 19. Acts xx. 7. 1 Cor. xvi. 2. in the Greek text..

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