Adventist Sabbath Argument #3
The Sabbath was known to the Hebrews before the giving of the law from Sinai (i.e. Exodus 16), therefore the Sabbath was known in Genesis and observed by the Patriarchs.
My Response:
Please forgive me if my statement of the "typical" Adventist argument comes across rather simplistic. There are a few things I would like to point out with this assertion:
The relevant passages in Exodus 16 are as follows:
"And it came to pass, that on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for one man: and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses. And he said unto them, This is that which the LORD hath said, To morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the LORD: bake that which ye will bake to day, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning." Exo. 16:22-23
"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." Exo. 16:25-26
"And it came to pass, that there went out some of the people on the seventh day for to gather, and they found none. And the LORD said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws? See, for that the LORD hath given you the sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days; abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day. So the people rested on the seventh day." Exo. 16:27-30
I believe it is worth bringing out that the phrases,
"And he said unto them, This is that which the LORD hath said, To morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the LORD...
And Moses said, Eat that to day; for to day is a sabbath unto the LORD...
Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the sabbath, in it there shall be none...
See, for that the LORD hath given you the sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days; abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day. So the people rested on the seventh day",
found in the foregoing passages implies that this is the very first time the Hebrews had ever heard of a seventh-day Sabbath. After all, why would the Israelites need to be told that "to morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the LORD" if they and their fore-fathers already knew about the seventh-day Sabbath from the days of Genesis? The language here seems to express a "newness" to the Israelite's experience regarding the seventh-day Sabbath, rather than a simple remembrance of a past custom. Furthermore, none of these passages indicate in the slightest that the seventh-day Sabbath was known prior to Exodus 16.
Also, consider that the phrase, "See, for that the LORD hath given you the sabbath" from verse 29 implies what Exodus 31 teaches, saying,
"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...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..." verses 13, 16, and 17.
This language seems to imply that God's directive was not only for the people of Israel specifically, but that the observance began with them as a people, and was particular to the covenant made with Israel.
Another passage of Scripture that should be taken into account regarding the origin of the seventh-day Sabbath observance is Nehemiah 9:9-14,
"And didst see the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, and heardest their cry by the Red sea; And shewedst signs and wonders upon Pharaoh, and on all his servants, and on all the people of his land: for thou knewest that they dealt proudly against them. So didst thou get thee a name, as it is this day. And thou didst divide the sea before them, so that they went through the midst of the sea on the dry land; and their persecutors thou threwest into the deeps, as a stone into the mighty waters. Moreover thou leddest them in the day by a cloudy pillar; and in the night by a pillar of fire, to give them light in the way wherein they should go. Thou camest down also upon mount Sinai, and spakest with them from heaven, and gavest them right judgments, and true laws, good statutes and commandments: And madest known unto them thy holy sabbath, and commandedst them precepts, statutes, and laws, by the hand of Moses thy servant:"
Notice that the passage states that God "madest known" to the Israelites the Sabbath "by the hand of Moses". If the Patriarchs of Genesis, the Hebrew's and Moses' fathers, had really known of the seventh-day Sabbath prior to Moses, why then would Holy Scripture inform us that the Sabbath was not made known until the time of Moses? This is not an opinion, but rather inspiration in Holy Scripture.
I realise that this has already been mentioned, but I think it is worth mentioning again. No where in Genesis are we told that any Patriarch observed the seventh-day Sabbath. This is important, because as sola scripturists, Adventists are bound by what the Bible says, and not by what it does not say. To assert that the Patriarchs of Genesis observed the Sabbath is to deny the principle of sola scriptura, "the Bible and the Bible only". That means that opinions and assumptions cannot be made the basis of doctrine, only what is plainly written in the text. The Bible makes very clear that the Sabbath was for Israel only to observe as a mandatory requirement as part of their covenant with God. Gentiles are no where mentioned in Scripture, whether Old or New Testament, as being "required" to observe the seventh-day Sabbath or any other ritualistic observance from the Sinai covenant. To assert otherwise would be a violation of the sola scriptura principle as well as placing an undue burden upon the Gentiles that the Apostles were not even willing to do (i.e. Acts 15:28-29).
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