Chapter 29—The Sabbath
“It is a sign between Me and you;...that ye may know that I am the
Lord.”
The value of the Sabbath as a means of education is beyond es-
timate. Whatever of ours God claims from us, He returns again,
enriched, transfigured, with His own glory. The tithe that He claimed
from Israel was devoted to preserving among men, in its glorious
beauty, the pattern of His temple in the heavens, the token of His
presence on the earth. So the portion of our time which He claims
is given again to us, bearing His name and seal. “It is a sign,” He
says, “between Me and you; ... that ye may know that I am the Lord;”
because “in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and
all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord
blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.”
Exodus 31:13
;
20:11
. The
Sabbath is a sign of creative and redeeming power; it points to God as
the source of life and knowledge; it recalls man’s primeval glory, and
thus witnesses to God’s purpose to re-create us in His own image.
The Sabbath and the family were alike instituted in Eden, and
in God’s purpose they are indissolubly linked together. On this day
more than on any other, it is possible for us to live the life of Eden.
It was God’s plan for the members of the family to be associated in
work and study, in worship and recreation, the father as priest of his
[251]
household, and both father and mother as teachers and companions of
their children. But the results of sin, having changed the conditions
of life, to a great degree prevent this association. Often the father
hardly sees the faces of his children throughout the week. He is almost
wholly deprived of opportunity for companionship or instruction. But
God’s love has set a limit to the demands of toil. Over the Sabbath
He places His merciful hand. In His own day He preserves for the
family opportunity for communion with Him, with nature, and with
one another.
191