to be cleaving to Christ, and did not really cleave to him. Let us make sure that we cleave to him. "They went out from us, but they were not of us, for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us, but they went out that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us."

Just as when one vessel makes shipwreck, every wary Captain is made tenfold more vigilant than before, examines to see that all his timbers are sure, his cordage and his anchors strong, so let every falling away of those who seemed to be like minded, make us look more anxiously to our own souls, that all our moorings are secure, and our anchor indeed within the veil. When others are offended and walk no more with Jesus, may we hear the gentle voice of the Saviour saying to us, "Will ye also go away?" And may our inmost heart reply, "Lord, to whom shall we go?"

3. Let us learn the awful vengeance of God upon apostasy. It is written of such men, They bring upon themselves swift destruction." Of Judas we are told that when he saw that Jesus was condemned, he "went and hanged himself;" and "falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out." Of Ananias and Sapphira, who were arrested on the way to the crime of apostasy, we are told that they fell down at the apostles' feet, and yielded up the ghost. Of Sabat, the apostate Arabian, we have seen that he was tied up in a sack and cast into the sea.

And O! if God's judgments upon them be so dreadful, even in this life, who can imagine the doom that waits them in the world beyond the grave, when " fearfulness shall surprise the hypocrites." These are "wandering stars to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever."

HEBREW GLEANINGS.

BY THE REV. ROBERT SIMPSON, A. M.,
Minister of Kintore.
No. I.

THE SABBATH.

THE Sabbath forms a prominent and very remarkable feature in the system of Hebrew institutions; and several ancient Pagan historians advert to it, as one of their national peculiarities. Ever since the promulgation of the ten commandments at Mount Sinai, that is, during a period of about 3300 years, the seventh day has been observed by the Israelites, as a stated season of holy rest and religious worship. Its sacredness, in virtue of a divine appointment, was guarded by the most solemn sanctions. At no subsequent time has the outward observance of it been wholly intermitted by that interesting people. In the best and purest days of Israel's history, its weekly return was hailed with delight; and the profanation of it was looked upon and punished as an aggravated crime.

But while the solemn publication of the decalogue evidently gave a more definite form to the ordinance of the Sabbath, and imposed new obligations to keep it holy, does not the fourth commandment itself contain sufficient proof, that its origin belonged to an earlier period? The terms by which that commandment is introduced, "Remember the Sabbath-day," plainly shew, that it was not then proposed or mentioned for the first time. The casual previous notice of it, in connection with the gathering of the manna, does not explain this marked reference to a former announcement and recognition of its sanctity. And the concluding sentence of the same commandment distinctly assigns a special reason for the consecration of the seventh day, carrying us back to the creation of the world, as the occasion of its original appointment to a sacred use. "For 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." The notion of some writers, that what is said concerning the Sabbath, in the second chapter of Genesis, ought to be understood by way of anticipation, is exceedingly unsatisfactory, and wholly inconsistent with the usual plainness of Scripture language; while the opposite and commonly received opinion is supported by Jewish writers generally, and especially, by the authority of Josephus, whose words are: "God rested on the seventh day, and ceased from his labours. This is the reason that we do no work upon that day, but give it the name of Sabbath, which, in the Hebrew, betokens rest."

Specious doubts, however, have been started on the subject, grounded chiefly on the silence of the Scriptures. To these doubts it might almost be enough to reply, that even the entire absence of all reference to the Sabbath, during the period in question, would not conclusively prove that it was neither known nor observed by the patriarchs who flourished before and after the flood. For allowing to the argument its greatest possible weight, surely it could never subvert the positive evidence already adduced, namely, the solemn institution by the Creator when he rested from his work on the seventh day, and the explicit reference to that institution in the decalogue. But is it the case, that no allusion to the Sabbath can be found in the sacred narrative, from the creation to the giving of the law? To some of the ablest biblical critics it has appeared highly probable, that "the end of days," spoken of as the time when Cain and Abel brought their respective offerings to the Lord, is to be understood as denoting the termination of the week; though others, of equal ability it must be admitted, have suggested, that the yearly ingathering of the fruits of the earth may be there meant. Again, it has been thought that an allusion to the religious observances of the Sabbath may be discovered in the beginning of the book of Job, which confessedly belongs to the patriarchal times, where it is stated, that "the sons of God," a form of expression peculiar to primeval antiquity, "presented themselves before the Lord." Far greater weight, however, seems to be due, on this point, to the fact, that the division of time into portions of seven days obtained as early as the deluge. "And he (Noah) stayed yet other seven days, and again sent forth the dove out of the ark: and the dove came in to him in the evening, and lo, in her mouth, was an olive leave plucked off. So Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth. And he stayed yet other seven days, and sent forth the dove, which returned not again to him any more." Why seven rather than any other number of days? unless we suppose that the mode of reckoning by weeks was then observed. And if this supposition be correct, the prac tice, doubtless, had its origin in the example of the divine procedure at the creation, there being no process in nature to suggest it, as in the case of day and night, and the revolution of the seasons. The quarters of the moon would neither be an exact nor an obvious guide in the matter. The same circumstance appears to have influenced the conduct of Laban, though, perhaps, more indirectly, when he said, "Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also, for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven years. And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week; and he gave him Rachel, his daughter, to wife also." The term week here, according to the best authorities, is to be interpreted, not as indicat-. ing the seven additional years of Jacob's servitude, but as having reference solely to the seven days of the customary marriage festival. And to the naturally recurring question, Why seven days? the same answer only can be returned. Do not these facts clearly involve an acquaintance with the Sabbath? For would it not imply something very wonderful, to suppose the men of

these ages to have retained the knowledge of the division of time into such periods, and yet to have lost all remembrance of the seventh day's rest.

66

66

It has, moreover, been maintained by various authors well conversant with antiquity, that traces, however faint, of the original institution of the Sabbath, are discernible in the writings of several ancient heathens. The seventh day is certainly spoken of by some of them as being distinguished from other days. One calls it the illustrious light of the sun; and another styles it sacred or holy. Josephus, in his answer to Apion, hints at the same fact, but appears to refer it to a more recent source. Nay, such is the reputation," says that historian, we have had a long time in the world for our piety and good government, that there is hardly any nation, either Greek or barbarian, that does not live in some sort of conformity to our example, either in the observation of our seventh day's Sabbath, the use of lamps, the celebration of fasts, abstinence from such and such certain meats." May not the conformity here alleged, however, have had its origin, as to some points, in traditional remains of a primeval revelation? It is, indeed, highly improbable, that Pagans, who affected to despise the Hebrews, would have directly adopted their rites and institutions. And if any nation of remote antiquity can be supposed to have possessed from tradition a knowledge of the Sabbath, the Egyptians, above all others, were likely to be acquainted with it. And if so, one obvious reply would be furnished to the insidious question, Did their Egyptian taskmasters allow the Hebrews to rest from their labours on the Sabbath? Should the opposite ground be taken, that no such institution existed in Egypt, a ready answer may yet be given. To say nothing of the immunities granted to the Israelites on their settlement in the land of Ham, might not a sense of their own interest, founded upon the beneficial effects of the weekly repose on the health of their slaves, or the yearnings of humanity, have, for a time at least, reasonably enough induced their oppressors to yield their acquiescence? But, even should the negative view be insisted on, namely, that it was a part of the cruel policy pursued towards the oppressed race, altogether to deny them any periodical respite from their arduous toil, still no real difficulty stands in the way. If the children of Israel acted from constraint in the matter, no proof can hence be derived that they had forgotten the God of their fathers, or ceased to regard the Sabbath as holy. May not rather the deprivation of its sacred exercises and observances, to which they were subjected, have constituted no inconsiderable part of the grievances under which they groaned, and from the intolerable pressure of which they so earnestly cried to God for deliverance? Of this we are certain, that the plea urged by Moses, when he petitioned Pharaoh to let the people go, expressly was, that they might observe, without restraint, the rites of their religion in the wilderness.

The alleged discrepancy between Exod. xx. 11, and Deut. v. 15, is merely apparent. In these two passages, the observance of the Sabbath is enforced by two different but perfectly consistent motives; the one drawn from the original consecration of the seventh day, the other from the occasion on which the institution was publicly and solemnly revived after a period of greater or less neglect of it.

The rest of the Sabbath, when observed most strictly, according to its original intention, was prepared for with seriousness and care. A portion of the preceding day was set apart for the purpose, and called the preparation. In accordance with the general method of computing time in use among the Hebrews, the seventh day began at sunset the previous night, and it lasted twenty-four hours. "From evening to evening shall ye celebrate the Sabbath." It was entirely devoted to religious purposes, though works of necessity and mercy

were not forbidden. Prayer, meditation, and the reading and study of the sacred writings, formed the principal employment. A burnt-offering of two lambs was added to the daily sacrifice; the shew-bread was also changed. The work of creation was called to grateful remembrance, and the Omnipotent Creator reverently adored. Thanksgivings were devoutly offered up for all blessings received. National mercies were solemnly commemorated, and, in particular, the deliverance from Egyptian bondage; while from the recollection of that deliverance, and from other motives to benevolence, feelings of charity and goodwill were cherished and exemplified. In such exercises, especially in their "holy convocations" or public assemblies, the pious Israelites engaged with devout fervour, and derived from them the greatest delight. "This is the day," exclaimed David exultingly, "this is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." In order that their minds might be entirely disentangled from secular affairs, all work was suspended, and a moderate abstinence observed till sunset, after which it seems to have been customary to partake, with temperate and social freedom, of choice viands, and to exercise hospitality. Even travelling was limited to the small distance of two thousand cubits, or something less than a mile-the extent of the Sabbath-day's journey. The rigour with which a total cessation from worldly pursuits of business or of pleasure was enforced, has often been animadverted on as extreme and unnecessary. And the punishment of death, inflicted for disobedience, was, doubtless, severe in the last degree. This penalty, however, is not awarded in the fourth commandment; and we have no reason to think that any, except the most flagrant and impious breaches of the Sabbath, were visited with its infliction. But in considering these circumstances, with the view either to praise or blame, it ought always to be carefully remembered that the situation of the Israelites, as a chosen people, was very peculiar. Every act of resistance to the divine authority on their part, implied direct audacious rebellion against the Most High, as their King, as well as their God; and being committed in the face of the most signfal manifestations of his visible miraculous interposition, became highly aggravated. The great object of their scparation from the other kindreds of mankind, was to preserve alive on the earth the knowledge and worship of the true God, so as to prepare the way for the Gospel dispensation. All the means employed for these ends, therefore, must have been vastly important. And since the prevalence of idolatry was so inveterate and extensive around them, and their proneness to fall into it so strong, the most rigorous checks were, humanly speaking, absolutely requisite.

As general corruption, however, grew up and spread among the ancient Hebrews, the neglect and desecration of the Sabbath ensued. They began to account it, as well as other parts of divine service, a weariness, saying in their hearts, "When will it be gone, that we may buy and sell and get gain,—that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit?" But it happened in this, as in many points of their religious declension, that the judgment of God, in the captivity, at length produced a salutary change. They never, after that calami. tous event, relapsed into grossly idolatrous practices; neither did they, in general, again fail to manifest external respect for the Sabbath. That great national catastrophe was sent upon them, in part, as the punishment of their former remissness in reference to the duties of the seventh day; and the awful miseries they endured under it, and in consequence of it, had the proper effect, though not immediately, as we learn from Nehemiah's grievous complaint, yet eventually, to the extent, at least, of outward reformation.

But while they henceforth clung, with immoveable

stedfastness, to the form of the institution, they seem still, in too many cases, to have misunderstood or disregarded its holy design. In this, as in numberless other instances, we may see, exhibited in their conduct, the tendency there is in human nature to rest in the mere formal observance of a religious ordinance, and to lose sight of the important moral object it was intended to promote. Spiritual homage, proceeding from a lowly and submissive frame of mind, is a far costlier sacrifice to flesh and blood than any amount of bodily service; and the unrenewed heart would always gladly compound for the deficiency of the one by the abundance of the other. Under the strongest operation of this bias the Jews of later ages appear to have acted. They sought to render the burden of their ceremonial observances, in every branch, altogether intolerable. They racked invention to multiply minute directions for the scrupulous keeping, rather than the godly sanctification, of the Sabbath. But these generally referred to points of the most frivolous description. It was enjoined to avoid walking upon grass so as to bruise it, because that partook of the nature of threshing, according to the ancient oriental process of treading out the corn. It was forbidden to kill even a troublesome insect, because such an act was a species of hunting. Such unmeaning and absurd prohibitions, when attended to, would often unavoidably interfere with the discharge of duties of the highest importance, in a religious and moral point of

view.

This pharisaical tendency to strain at a gnat and swallow a camel had reached an almost incredible pitch in the days of our Lord. His disciples were censured for plucking the ears of corn on the seventh day, though suffering from hunger, on the ground that by so doing they virtually engaged in the operation of reaping. And Christ himself, when he mercifully healed the sick on the Sabbath, was condemned under the pretext, so precise was their code of rules, that the diseases he cured were chronic and not acute, that is, of a long standing and lingering, not of a severely painful or suddenly fatal kind. Our Saviour, on all these occasions, expressed his marked disapprobation of such trifling and preposterous distinctions. He reminded the Jews of what had taken place in a purer age of their Church. He directed their attention to an incident in the history of David, which, viewed in a strict light, implied a much greater violation of the divine commandment than the act of his followers, and yet was vindicated on the same plea of necessity. He also referred them to some of the more servile functions of the priestly office, which were regularly performed in the temple on the Sabbath-day. In reference to this subject, he charged their rulers and teachers with hypocrisy. He accused them of making void the law by their traditions. But in all his remarks he chiefly inculcated the great principle, "that mercy is better than sacrifice.'

The same important truth is incidentally taught, though the lesson be somewhat quaintly expressed, in the following tale from Hurwitz's Collection: "Rabbi Tan-chum was once asked whether it was allowable to extinguish a candle on the Sabbath, in case it incommoded a sick person? What a question you ask!' replied the Rabbi, True you call a burning candle a light, so is the soul of man; nay, it is called a heavenly light. Is it not better to extinguish an earthly light, than a heavenly light?"" Whatever else might have been implied in this rabbinical illustration, it surely teaches, even from Jewish lips, "That the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath."

The strictness with which the Jews observed the rest of the Sabbath frequently operated to their disadvantage when engaged in war; and on many occasions did their regard for its sanctity expose them to disasters which might otherwise have been avoided. In some cases they declined even to defend themselves against the at

tacks of their enemies, on the Sabbath-day. A memorable instance of this is recorded in the first book of the Maccabees. "Now, when it was told the king's servants, and the host that was at Jerusalem, in the city of David, that certain men who had broken the king's commandment," (the impious mandate of the cruel and profane Antiochus,)-" were gone down into the secret places in the wilderness, they pursued after them, a great number, and having overtaken them, they camped against them, and made war against them on the Sabbath-day. And they said unto them, let that which ye have done hitherto suffice; come forth and do according to the commandment of the king, and you shall live. But they said, we will not come forth, neither will we do the king's commandment, to profane the Sabbath-day. So then they gave them battle with all speed. Howbeit they answered them not, neither cast they a stone at them, nor stopped the places where they lay hid; but said, let us die all in our innocency: heaven and earth shall testify for us, that you put us to death wrongfully. So they rose up against them in battle on the Sabbath, and they slew them with their wives and children, and their cattle, to the number of a thousand people.' The adversaries of the Jews having thus taken such fatal advantage of their sacred regard for the Sabbath, the practice was henceforth changed, and the law so explained as to admit of selfdefence on the seventh day; but it was still considered unlawful to attempt any act that had the least appearance of aggressive warfare.

In concluding these cursory remarks, we shall briefly advert to three points intimately connected with the subject; the changes of the day of rest and religious worship among Christians; the vast importance of the Sabbath, and its typical import.

1. Some have contended that, though the Sabbath was not a new institution, yet as a new computation of time was adopted by the Israelites when they left Egypt, an alteration of the day took place; that is to say, the Sabbath of Eden and the seventh day, which the Hebrews were commanded at Sinai to keep holy, were not the same. And in order that some use might be made of this theory, which has been plausibly defended, it is alleged that the first day of the week, as observed by the Christian Church, is more likely than any other to coincide with the Sabbath of paradise. The dedication of that day to the sun, by some of the ancient heathens, which is no doubt a very remarkable fact, has been adduced in the shape of a proof. And the circumstance that, in many instances, the rites of the Hebrews seem to have been purposely varied from those of the idolatrous nations, by which they were surrounded, might also be made available, more especially, as the Sabbath was said to be a sign between God and his chosen people. Upon such arguments, however, we here place but little stress. Much better reasons can be assigned for the change. He who is "Lord also of the Sabbath" had power to alter the day of its observance. His inspired apostles certainly changed it with his evident sanction. All things connected with the Sabbath that had peculiar reference to the ancient economy ceased to be in force when that dispensation closed, and yet the spirit of the institution is in nowise essentially affected by the alteration. And surely the first day of the week, the day on which our Saviour burst the barriers of the tomb, ought to be peculiarly sacred in the eyes of his believing followers; because on it his divine mission received its most convincing seal, the happy result of his atonement was signally manifested to the world by his rising again for our justi fication, and a gracious pledge was thus given of our resurrection.

2. So obvious is the beneficial tendency of a Sabba tical rest, considered merely in reference to the interests of this life, that the institution of it might well be