“Ceremony. Outward rite; external form in religion.”—Webster.
“An outward form or rite in religion; anything or observance held sacred.”—International Encyclopedic Dictionary.
This is exactly what the observance of the Sabbath was in Jewish worship. The day in itself was not holy. One twenty-four hours of time is no better than another, unless made so. In the nature of days there is no difference; there is nothing in one that makes it differ from another. All nature continues the same. Then, the only way in which one day can become holy is by divine appointment.
Moral obligations are not made, or do not become so by mere appointment. They exist in their very nature. Murder, idolatry, blasphemy, stealing, adultery, etc., are morally wrong. Had God given no special command against these things, they would have been wrong in their nature. But it would never have been wrong to work on the seventh day unless God had given a commandment to rest in it. The day in itself was not holy, any more than the other days. God made it holy. He “sanctified it” (Gen. 2:3); he “hallowed it” (Exod. 20:11). This act of the Lord made the day holy. But did it make it holy for all time and eternity? I mean this: Did God’s appointment, his sanctification of that particular day, set it apart as being holy forever? If so, then every other day and thing made holy by God’s appointment would remain so forever.
Other days were made just as holy as the seventh day. In Leviticus 23 are the feasts of the Lord, which were all “holy convocations.” These were the ceremonial seasons. The first of these feasts on the list is the weekly seventh-day Sabbath. Verses 1-3. It is spoken of as a “rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein.” Next comes the Lord’s Passover. Verses 5-8: “In the first day ye shall have an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.” Next the feast of harvest (vss. 10-14). After this the feast of Pentecost (vss. 15-21). It also was “a holy convocation,” and the Jews were forbidden to work on that day (vs. 21). In fact, a careful reading of the entire chapter shows that all those special feast-days were holy days. They were made so by God’s appointment.
The Day of Atonement was just as holy as the weekly Sabbath. “There shall be a Day of Atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you;…and whatsoever soul it be that doeth any work in that same day, the same soul will I destroy from among his people. Ye shall do no manner of work:…It shall be unto you a Sabbath of rest” (vss. 27-32).
The Day of Atonement, was a holy sabbath day—so holy that it was death to work on it; yet all those holy days have ceased to be such, and are now common working-days. Adventists admit that those holy days—made so by God’s appointment—were ceremonial and nailed to the cross. They do not attempt to keep them. But the seventh day was exactly like these—made holy by God’s appointment. Hence it was ceremonial, and was nailed to the cross. I quote from Canright:
“So, then, holiness can be put upon a day, taken from it, or changed to another day. It is not necessarily a permanent, unchangeable affair. Let Sabbatarians meditate here awhile. More still: A day once appointed, and made a holy sabbath-day by God himself, may cease to be such and become even hateful to God. Thus: Isa. 1:13, 14, ‘The new moons and sabbaths, the calling of the assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them.’ All these holy days God himself had appointed. Is it any proof, then, that a particular day is holy now because it was once holy? None whatever.
“Notice also how many other things were made holy by God’s appointment. Under the law we read of ‘the holy temple,’ ‘the holy hill,’ ‘the holy ark,’ ‘the holy instruments,’ ‘the holy vessels,’ ‘the holy water,’ ‘the holy perfume,’ ‘the holy altar,’ ‘the holy veil,’ ‘the holy linen coat,’ ‘the holy ointment,’ ‘the holy nation,’ ‘the holy Sabbath,’ etc. Those pertained to the worship and service of God In his holy temple [tabernacle], which was ‘only a shadow,’ ‘figure,’ or ‘type of the true temple’—the ‘spiritual house’ of Christ, ‘his body, the church.’ While they stood as types they were ‘holy,’ and no longer. They had no inherent holiness, but were made holy by the command of God. (Law and Gospel, p. 43, by S. C. Adam.)
“Like all these holy things, the seventh day had no holiness in itself. It had to be ‘made’ so (Mark 2:27). The sanctity of the day did not rest upon the nature of the day itself, but, like a hundred other hallowed things, simply upon God’s appointment, which may be altered any time at his will.”
No man could murder, blaspheme, commit adultery, steal, etc., for years and be a Christian. Why? Because these things are morally wrong. But the most zealous Saturday-keepers admit that such men as Luther, Wesley, Bunyan, and thousands of others, who never kept the seventh day (some of whom wrote against its observance), were highly eminent Christian men. Adventists’ literature says so. They readily admit that there are many Christians who do not keep Saturday. How is this? A moment’s reflection here ought to convince them that the keeping of the Sabbath as enjoined in the law was ceremonial in its nature.
All chapters posted from The Sabbath and the Lord’s Day.
The Sabbath and the Lord’s Day. By H. M. Riggle, 1922. Life Assurance Ministries, Inc.
- The Sabbath and the Lord’s Day - October 2, 2021
- 27. Sunday-Keeping is Not the Mark of the Beast - July 8, 2020
- 26. The Pope and the Sabbath - July 2, 2020