What does Ellen White write about...
Adventistische Schriften über: "The origin of the Sabbath before the emergence of Judaism"
Answer
The Sabbath does not originate in Judaism or in the Sinai desert, but already in the creation week in Eden. It was instituted by God as a memorial of His creation, even before sin entered the world or a Jewish people existed.
Historical reports show that the Sabbath was observed by the patriarchs since the beginning of time and the Israelites were already reminded of its holiness in the wilderness of Sin—thirty days before the legislation at Sinai. Thus the Sabbath command is a divine memorial for all people and not a purely Jewish institution.
The Sabbath as a memorial of creation
»The Sabbath stands as a memorial for this great work [the creation]. Its observance is an act of grateful acknowledgment by its intelligent creatures that He is their Creator and that they owe everything to Him... The seventh day, as sanctified by God in Eden, was not Jewish but divine; it was not the memorial of Israel's escape from Egypt, but the rest of the Creator.«
Observance before the legislation at Sinai
»God's REST was on the seventh day of the first week of time, and His memorial, which is the only weekly Sabbath in the Bible, was given and sanctified to be observed on every last day of each week, since God RESTED... It is true that the Sabbath law was one of the Ten Commandments spoken from Mount Sinai; but does this prove that there was no Sabbath before that time? Certainly not, for all of Israel kept the Sabbath in the wilderness of Sin, thirty days before they saw the mountain from which the [commandments] were spoken.«
The continuity since Eden
»The Sabbath institution, which had its origin in Eden, is as old as the world itself. It was observed by all patriarchs from creation onward... When the law was proclaimed at Sinai, the first words of the fourth command were: “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy” – which shows that the Sabbath was not newly instituted then; we are referred back to creation for its origin.«
Proof by the priority over circumcision
»The argument [of Jesus] is based on the fact that his act of healing did not violate the Sabbath any more than the act of circumcision on the Sabbath. But if circumcision, which was ordained at the time of Abraham, had been older than the Sabbath – which it certainly would have been if the Sabbath originated in the wilderness of Sin – there would be an inconsistency in the implication... The language therefore implies that the Sabbath was older than circumcision; in other words, older than the days of Abraham.«
- Sabbath in the creation week Eden
- Difference between the Jewish Sabbath and the Lord's Sabbath
- Obedience of the patriarchs before Moses
Original Sources (English)
Stephan Krol
Founder of EGW Vision
Why I built EGW Vision
Hello, I am Stephan Krol. I started this Ellen White website to make the writings of Ellen G. White and the Adventist pioneers easier to access for everyone.
EGW Vision helps you find topics, statements, and quotes faster, especially when many original sources are not yet fully available in your language. The tool searches semantically, groups relevant content by topic, and presents matching results as clearly as possible in your language.
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