*Gen. 2:3-"And I, God, blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it, because that in it I had rested from all my work, which I, had created and made."

TO TEST ISRAEL'S OBEDIENCE

(Given after the Exodus and before the Law)

Exod. 15:25; 16:4-"There he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them. . . . Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no."

Exod. 16:25, 26-"And Moses said, Eat that to-day, for to-day is a sabbath unto the Lord; to-day ye shall not find it in the field. Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the sabbath, in it there shall be none."

A COVENANT AND SIGN FOR ISRAEL

Exod. 31:13, 16, 17-"Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep; for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you. . . . Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed."

Ezek. 20:12-"Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them."

A MEMORIAL OF ISRAEL'S DELIVERANCE

Deut. 5:15-"And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the Lord thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched-out arm; therefore the Lord thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath day."

ONE OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

Exod. 20:8-10-"Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, 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, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle nor thy stranger that is within thy gates."

Deut. 5:12-14-"Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee. Six days thou shalt labor, 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."

THE COVENANT MADE WITH ISRAEL ONLY

Exod. 34:27, 28-"After the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel. . . . And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments."

Deut. 5:2, 3-"The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. The Lord made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day."

SIX DAYS OF WORK, THEN A DAY OF REST

Exod. 23:12-"Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest."

Lev. 23:3, 4-"Six days shall work be done; but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, a holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein; it is the sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings."

MUST STAY HOME WITHOUT FIRE ON SABBATH

Exod. 16:29-"Abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day."

Exod. 35:3-"Ye shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations upon the sabbath day."

Lev. 23:31-"Ye shall do no manner of work; it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings."

Num. 15:32, 35-"They found a man that gathered sticks upon the sabbath day. . . And the Lord said unto Moses, The man shall be surely put to death."

Neh. 13:19-"I commanded that the gates should be shut, and charged that they should not be opened till after the sabbath; and some of my servants set I at the gates that there should no burden be brought in on the sabbath day."

Jer. 17:21, 22-"Thus saith the Lord: Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem; neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the sabbath day, neither do ye any work."

BLESSINGS PROMISED IN THE OBSERVANCE OF IT

Isa. 56:6, 7-"Every one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant, even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer."

Isa. 58:13, 14-"If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable; and shalt honor him not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words; then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it."

Jer. 17:24, 25-"And it shall come to pass, if ye diligently hearken unto me, saith the Lord, to bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the sabbath day, but hallow the sabbath day, to do no work therein; then shall there enter into the gates of this city kings and princes sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they, and their princes, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and this city shall remain for ever."

OTHER SABBATHS ALSO COMMANDED

Lev. 23:24, 25-"In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation. Ye shall do no servile work therein."

Lev. 23:27, 32-"On the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: . . . It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls."

Lev. 23:39-"Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto the Lord seven days: on the first day shall be a sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a sabbath."

Ezek. 20:12-"I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them."

PENALTY FOR BREAKING SABBATH

Jer. 17:27-"But if ye will not hearken unto me to hallow the sabbath day, . . . then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched."

Ezek. 20:21-"They polluted my sabbaths; then I said, I would pour out my fury upon them."

Exod. 31:14, 15-"Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you. Every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death; for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord; whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death."

Exod. 35:2-"Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be to you a holy day, a sabbath of rest to the Lord; whosoever doeth work therein shall be put to death."

INSTANCES OF TRANSGRESSION

Num. 15:32, 36-"And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks upon the sabbath day. . . . And all the congregation brought him without the camp and stoned him with stones, and he died, as the Lord commanded Moses."

Neh. 13:15, 16-"In those days saw I in Judah some treading winepresses on the sabbath, and bringing in sheaves, and lading asses; as also wine, grapes, and figs, and all manner of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the sabbath day; and I testified against them in the day wherein they sold victuals."

SABBATH TAUGHT IN THE BOOK OF MORMON

Jarom 1:10, 11-"The people of Nephi had waxed strong in the land; they observed to keep . . . the sabbath-day holy unto the Lord."

Mosiah 9:56, 58-"And he commanded them that they should observe the sabbath day, and keep it holy. . . . And there was one day in every week that was set apart that they should gather themselves together to teach the people and to worship the Lord their God."

Mosiah 7:116- 118.

CHRIST'S TEACHING CONCERNING SABBATH

*Mark 2:21, 22, 25, 26-"And it came to pass, that he went through the cornfields on the sabbath day; and his disciples began, as they went, to pluck the ears of corn. And the Pharisees said unto him, Behold, why do thy disciples on the sabbath day that which is not lawful? . . . And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath. Wherefore the sabbath was given unto man for a day of rest; and also that man should glorify God, and not that man should not eat" (23, 24, 27).

Luke 6:5-"And he said unto them, That the Son of Man is Lord also of the sabbath."

*Matt. 12:1-6; *Luke 6:1-4.

WORKS OF NECESSITY AND CHARITY ALLOWED

Matt. 12:8-10-"And, behold there was a man which had a withered hand. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath days? that they might accuse him. And he said unto them What man shall there be among you that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it and lift it out? How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the Sabbath day" (10-12).

*Luke 13:15-"The Lord then said unto him O hypocrite! Doth not each one of you on the sabbath, loose an ox or an ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering?"

*Luke 6:5-10; John 7:22, 23.

D. and C. 119:7-"On this day they should refrain from unnecessary work; nevertheless, nothing should be permitted to go to waste on that day; nor should necessary work be neglected."

SUNDAY, THE LORD'S DAY

ACTS 20:7-"And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight."

I Cor. 16:2-"Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come."

*Heb. 4:4-9-"For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day the seventh on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works. And in this place again, If they harden not their hearts they shall enter into my rest. Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief; again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To-day, after so long a time; as it is said, To-day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God."

NOTE. The statement of Hebrews 4:8 that "another day" of rest was afterward spoken of, refers to another sabbath day rest, as shown by the preceding verses. This new sabbath appears to be meant in the term "first day of the week," as found in Matthew 28:1; Mark 16:9; Luke 24:1, and John 20:1, 19, of the King James Version. This is shown in the fact that in all five of these texts the Greek word for "week" is sabbaton, which literally means "sabbath," and is translated "sabbath" in more than fifty New Testament texts, including Matthew 12:1, 2, 8; Mark 1:21; 6:2; Luke 6:6; John 5: 9, and Colossians 2:16. This new first sabbath day was beyond question the day called Sunday, the day on which Jesus rose from the tomb. Professor Crossan, university instructor in Greek, and other Greek scholars state that the five texts first above cited literally mean "the first day of sabbaths" "the first sabbath day" or their equivalent. Thus do the Gospel historians point out the first sabbath day of the christian dispensation, which John (Revelation 1:10) called the Lord's day. It commemorates the triumph of the resurrection, the hope of immortality, and the promise of redemption through Christ.

Young also translates Matthew 28:1 to read: "On the eve of the Sabbath at the dawn before the first of the Sabbath came Mary," literally "the first Sabbath."

Rev. 1:10-"I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as a trumpet."

D. and C. 59:2, 3 (Revelation given on Sunday, August 7, 1831)-"And that thou mayest more fully keep thyself unspotted from the world, thou shalt go to the house of prayer and offer up thy sacraments upon my holy day; for verily this is a day appointed unto you to rest from your labors, and to pay thy devotions unto the Most High. . . Remember that on this the Lord's day, thou shalt offer thine oblations, and thy sacraments unto the Most High, confessing thy sins unto thy brethren, and before the Lord. And on this day thou shalt do none other thing, only let thy food be prepared with singleness of heart."

D. and C. 68:4-"And the inhabitants of Zion shall also observe the sabbath day to keep it holy."

D. and C. 190:7; 119:5, 6, 7.

SUNDAY, THE SABBATH OF CHRISTIANS

Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, who lived in the days of the apostles themselves, warned early disciples:

"It is absurd to name Jesus Christ, and to Judaize. For the Christian religion did not embrace the Jewish, but the Jewish the Christian"-Epistle to the Magnesians, 3:11.

He also states (3:3) that they were not observing the Jewish sabbath, "but keeping the Lord's day" as his disciples.

Barnabas also states that Jewish sabbaths "are not acceptable," and declares:

"For which cause we observe the eight day with gladness, in which Jesus rose from the dead."-Epistle of Barnabas, 13:10

Justin Martyr, early in the second century, bears similar testimony and says:

"But Sunday is the day on which we hold our common assembly, because it is the first day on which God, when he changed the darkness and matter, made the world; and Jesus Christ our Saviour, on the same day, rose from the dead"-"First Apology," page 52, Oxford Edition.

Mosheim's Ecclesiastical History states of Sunday as the Lord's Day:

"For that this day was set apart for religious worship by the apostles themselves, and that, after the example of the church at Jerusalem, it was generally observed, we have unexceptionable testimony."-Book I, Century 1, Part 2, chapter IV, Section 4.

Even the Ebionite heretics, who still clung to Jewish sabbath and other rites, kept the Christian sabbath also, says Eusebius the historian:

"But on the other hand, they also celebrate the Lord's days very much like us, in commemoration of his resurrection."-Ecclesiastical History, Book III, chapter 27 (Cruse edition, page 102).

That the Emperor Constantine did not originate the keeping of Sunday, but only emphasized its sacredness, is shown by Mosheim:

"The first day of the week (on which Christians were accustomed to meet for the worship of God), Constantine required by a special law, to be observed more sacredly than before."-Book II, Century IV, Part II, chapter IV, Section 5.

However it explains this special law as follows:

"Constantine, in the year 321, required the inhabitants of cities and all mechanics to suspend their business on the Lord's day; but he allowed such as resided in the country, full liberty to pursue their agriculture, because it was supposed necessary for them to sow their fields, and prop their vines when the weather and the season best suited."-Footnote 9.

THE NEW COVENANT

The fact that Christians are not under the old Jewish covenant, of which the sabbath was a part (Exodus 34:27, 28) and was given solely to ancient Israel to commemorate their deliverance from Egypt (Deuteronomy 5:2, 3, 15); but are under the New Covenant of Christ with its memorial day on which he rose from the dead (Galatians 3:24, 25; 5:21-30; Hebrews 8:7, 8, 13), explains why the early Christians kept the immortal day and rejected that of the early Jews in his Ecclesiastical History, Mosheim states of the first century:

"The Christians of this century assembled for the worship of God and for their advancement in piety, on the first day of the week, the day on which Christ reassumed his life; for that this day was set apart for religious worship by the apostles themselves, and that, after the example of the church at Jerusalem, it was generally observed, we have unexceptionable testimony."-Part II, chapter IV, Section 4.

Some of the testimony above referred to comes not only from the apostles, but also from men who were their associates. Ignatius, born about A.D. 40, and who was, says Chrysostom, instructed by the apostles themselves, declares:

"Wherefore if they who were brought up in these ancient laws came nevertheless to the newness of hope; no longer observing sabbaths, but keeping the Lord's day, in which also our life is sprung up by him, and through his death, whom yet some deny: (By which mystery we have been brought to believe, and therefore wait that we may be found the disciples of Jesus Christ, our only master.) How shall we be able to live different from him; whose disciples the very prophets themselves being, did by the spirit expect him as their master."-The Genuine Epistles of The Apostolic Fathers (translated by William, Lord Archbishop of Canterbury, Hartford, 1834 Edition), to the Magnesians, 3:3-5.

The witness of Barnabas, in the same work, agrees with Ignatius, and says of the new moons, sabbaths, and feasts:

"These things therefore hath God abolished, that the new law of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is without yoke of any such necessity, might have the spiritual offering of men themselves."-Epistle of Barnabas, 2:8.

Justin Martyr, in his Dialogue written about A.D. 150, explicitly declares to Trypho the Jew:

"Our hope is, however, not through Moses, nor through the Law, or there would be no difference between you and ourselves; but I have read that there should hereafter be a final law, and a covenant more mighty than all others, which every one who hopes for the inheritance of God should henceforth observe. The law given at Horeb has become obsolete, and was for you Jews only, but the one of which I speak is for all men alike. A new law passed upon a law abrogates that which is old, and in like manner does a subsequent covenant annul a former one. An everlasting and perfect law, and a faithful covenant, is given to us, even Christ, after which there shall be no other law, or ordinance, or command."-The Works of S. Justin the Martyr, Oxford Edition, page 84.

The foregoing agrees with the historian, Eusebius. Of those before Abraham, and of Christians, he affirms:

"They did not, therefore, regard circumcision, nor observe the Sabbath, neither do we; neither do we abstain from certain foods, nor regard other injunctions, which Moses subsequently delivered to be observed in types and symbols, because such things as these do not belong to Christians."-Ecclesiastical History, Book 1, chapter 4.

The Epistle of Barnabas, already mentioned, says of God's rejection of the Jewish Sabbaths:

"Consider what he means by it; the sabbaths, says he, which ye now keep, are not acceptable unto me, but those which I have made; when, resting from all things, I shall begin the eighth day, that is, the beginning of the other world. For which cause we observe the eighth day with gladness, in which Jesus rose from the dead, and having manifested himself to his disciples, ascended into heaven."-General Epistle 13:9, 10.

Mosheim's History, Century II, says of views on celebrating Easter.

"Now the greater part of the Christians deemed it wrong to consecrate any other day than the Lord's day in remembrance of Christ's resurrection."-Part II, chapter IV, Section 10.

Schaff's History of the Christian Church dates it back to apostolic times:

"The first day was already in the Apostolic age honorably designated as the Lord's day."-Page 478.

Historically we may note first a day of rest, Gen. 2:3. Second, the Jews' Sabbath. Third, the Lord's day, Rev. 1:10. (This is confirmed by the above. Heb. 4:3) Our observance of the Lord's day is commanded today (D. and C. 59:2, 3; 119:7).