164 OBLIGATION OF THE SABBATII. 



" The serenth day" dctermined by the maiuia, rroportion, and succession. 



universally recognized hc/ore the giving of the Decalogue at 

 Sinai. But tliis is coming on to my ground, and abandoning 

 his own. To avoid this, will my friend say, the seventh day 

 was determined by the giving of the manna? This I under- 

 stand him to do, in these words : " ' Saturday is the seventh 

 day/ says God, by the manna.'' (p. 89.) But this, again, is 

 abandoning his original position, and coming over to mine. 

 On this very ground I had said (jt. 59), " the connection [of 

 the seventh day of the Decalogue with Saturday'] was tixed by 

 statute, only for that people" — meaning by " statute/' what 

 God said to Moses at the giving of the manna. (Exodus xvi. 

 5, 15, 16, 22 — 31.) See, particularly, verse 26th, where the 

 statute of designation is clear as the sun ; and that, too, long 

 hr/ore the giving of the Decalogue. " Then, most certainly, 

 the statute itself was ' only for that people.' " So says W. B. 

 T. (p. 89), and I am most happy to agree with him. Why 

 should I not be, when ne^ømes over completely to my 

 ground ? Would that in all points we could meet as perfectly 

 as in this ! 



It follows, from this concession, that the designation of the 

 particular day of the week, from a given point of reckoning, is 

 no part of the Fourth Commandment. The projwrtion of our 

 days to be kept holy to the Lord is alone specified. Six days 

 being allotted to our ordinary labor (beginning at any point it 

 pleases God at any time to designate by proper evidence) 

 every seventh in succession is required, by the Fourth Com- 

 mandment, to be set apart to Him as the sole Creator of the 

 heavens and the earth. All the terms and reasons of this 

 Law are universal ; as much so as in any other commandment 

 of the Decalogue. ^' The seventh day" of the Decalogue — as 

 far as it is defined by the Decalogue itself — is the seventh in 

 succession — no other — no less — no more. ^' Every word of 

 God is pure. Add thou not uuto His words, lest He reprove 

 thce, and thou .be found a liar/' is a warning that should 

 pierce every conscicnce to the quick. 



