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God’s Special Sign, December 3
I am the Lord your God; walk in my statutes, and keep my
judgments, and do them; and hallow my sabbaths; and they shall be
a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the Lord
your God.
Ezekiel 20:19, 20
.
The Sabbath was given to all mankind to commemorate the work of
Creation. The great Jehovah, when He had laid the foundations of the
earth, when he had dressed the whole world in its garb of beauty, and
created all the wonders of the land and the sea, instituted the Sabbath
day and made it holy. When the morning stars sang together, and all the
sons of God shouted for joy, the Sabbath was set apart as God’s memorial.
God sanctified and blessed the day in which he had rested from all His
wondrous work....
As the tree of knowledge was placed in the midst of the Garden of
Eden, so the Sabbath command is placed in the midst of the Decalogue.
In regard to the fruit of the tree of knowledge, the restriction was made,
“Ye shall not eat of it, ... lest ye die.”
Genesis 3:3
. Of the Sabbath God
said, Ye shall not defile it, but keep it holy. “Remember the sabbath day,
to keep it holy.”
Exodus 20:8
. As the tree of knowledge was the test of
Adam’s obedience, so the fourth command is the test that God has given
to prove the loyalty of all His people.
The Sabbath is a token between God and His people. It is a holy day,
given by the Creator to man as a day upon which to rest, and reflect upon
sacred things. God designed it to be observed through every age as a
perpetual covenant. It was to be regarded as a peculiar treasure, a trust to
be carefully cherished.
As we observe the Sabbath let us remember that it is the sign which
heaven has given to man that he is accepted in the Beloved; that if he
is obedient, he may enter the city of God, and partake of the fruit of the
tree of life. As we refrain from labor on the seventh day, we testify to
the world that we are on God’s side, and are striving to live in perfect
conformity to His commandments. Thus we recognize as our sovereign
the God who made the world in six days and rested on the seventh.
The Sabbath is the clasp which unites God and His people.
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