Chapter V: Never Applied To the Gentiles

Coming now to the second part of the diagram (p. 144), I emphatically deny that there is any place in the Bible to show that God ever commanded the Gentile nations to keep the sabbath day, even during the Mosaic dispensation. Seventh Day Adventists are obligated to furnish the text which says that he did so, but they cannot furnish it. In fact, there are plenty of Scriptures to show that this ceremonial institution was not in force among the Gentiles.

Speaking of the sabbath, God said, “It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever ...” (Ex. 31:17). If the other nations had been observing the seventh day sabbath also, it could not have been a sign between God and the Jews. Down in the country where I was reared each farmer had a certain mark which he used to distinguish his livestock in the woods from that of others. For instance, one fellow split his hogs’ ears at two places. That was his mark, but if every other farmer used the same mark, it would cease to be a sign of the stock which belonged to that particular man. If every ranchman in the West used the same brand for his cattle, it would not be a sign of that which belonged to any one in particular. _Yet the sabbath was a sign between God and the children of Israel._ Therefore, it was peculiar to that law which applied to them, and was not a part of any other law given by Jehovah to any other people or at any other time.

The sabbath was a memorial to an event peculiar to the Jewish family. “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” (Deut. 5:15). The Gentiles were never delivered from Egyptian bondage and, therefore, could not observe the sabbath in memory of any such event. This Scripture not only proves that the Gentiles were not commanded to observe the sabbath, but also that the Jews themselves did not keep it _until after_ they were delivered from Egypt. If a stranger desired to become identified with the Jewish nation and religion he was _permitted_ to do so by submitting to the Jewish law, including the sabbath regulation (Isa. 56:3-7). In this event he ceased to be a Gentile religiously, but became a Jew instead. If the sabbath had been a universal practice, it would not have been necessary for a proselyte to _begin_ observing it when he submitted to the Jewish religion. What has been said proves conclusively that the sabbath was purely a _Jewish_ institution. I most urgently request that those who advocate the observance of the Jewish sabbath show us at least one verse of Scripture in which God ever commanded the Gentiles to do so. This they _cannot_ do. Hence, the second pillar essential to the support of their theory is completely lacking.