The Change of the Sabbath

TEXT: "The LORD is well pleased for his righteousness' sake; he will magnify the law, and make it honourable." Isa. 42:21.

"And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time." Dan. 7:25.

THE first of these prophecies relates to the work of Christ; the second relates to that of Antichrist. Each of these works pertains to the law of God. No one will dispute that the first of these prophecies predicts what Christ will do to the law of his Father. That Antichrist is the agent presented in the second prophecy, all are agreed. The nature of the work here attributed to him shows conclusively that the laws which he should think to change are those of God. It is a part of his work against the Most High. 1. He shall speak great words against the Most High. 2. He shall wear out the saints of the Most High. 3. He shall think to change times and laws. And the prophecy adds "They shall be given into his hands" for a certain period of time.

The nature of the work of this wicked power as here represented by Daniel, clearly determines whose are the times and laws which he shall think to change. It is a part of his warfare against the cause of God. He blasphemes the name of God, he wears out his saints, and he thinks to change his law. And this is rendered yet more evident by the form of expression used. It does not say, "He shall change times and laws." He actually performs the work in the matter of blasphemy and of persecution. But when we come to the changing of the law, it is said, "He shall THINK" to do it. How evident that he could not do this in reality. He could blaspheme God; he could wear out his saints; but he could not change the law of God. He thinks himself able to do this, which is, indeed, the very language of the Douay Bible. How expressive, therefore, is this language of the Holy Spirit. He shall think to do it. Were these the laws of men, there would be no propriety in saying, "He shall think to change" them; for he could change them in reality, and to his heart's content. And, indeed, there would be no propriety in introducing the laws of men into such a connection. It is the warfare of Antichrist against the name, and saints, and laws, of the God of Heaven that is the theme of this prophecy.

This great Antichrist is the papal power. Of this there can be no just doubt. The four beasts of Daniel 7, are in that chapter explained to be the four great kingdoms that have successively ruled the whole world. The ten horns of this fourth beast are the ten kingdoms into which the fourth empire is divided. The little horn arises in the midst of these ten kingdoms, a different power from these, ruled by a priest-king, and warring against the cause of God. Paul, in 2 Thess. 2, presents us this great monster of iniquity as that "man of sin," and as "that wicked," "whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and destroy with the brightness of his coming." He tells us, moreover, that the mystery of iniquity had, even in his time, begun to manifest itself, but that it was restrained by the existing hindrances, i. e., by the pagan government that then controlled the world. Several hundred years of apostasy and rebellion against God were necessary to develop and mature this "man of sin," before he was able to fill the place assigned to him in the prophecy of Daniel. Many acts of rebellion against God, and of wicked and blasphemous conduct toward his law, may, therefore, justly be expected of this great apostasy long before it reaches the place where it can stand up in the midst of the ten kingdoms of the fourth empire, in fulfillment of Daniel's prophecy, to war against God, his law, and his saints.

Here are the actors in these two prophecies—Christ and Antichrist. Their character is not more unlike than is their work. One shall magnify the law and make it honorable; the other shall think himself able to change it. One shall act in perfect subjection to its precepts; the other shall deem himself superior to the law, and able to change it to suit his own purpose. The work of Christ has no connection with that of Antichrist. The work of changing the law of God is wrought alone by Antichrist. In this work the Son of God has no part.

It is the work of Christ to magnify the law and make it honorable. Our Lord did this when he testified that not one jot or one tittle should pass from it till heaven and earth should pass away. He did it when he taught that those who do and teach the commandments should be highly esteemed in the kingdom of heaven, and those who break them and teach men so should not be thus esteemed. Matt. 5:17-19. He magnified the law when he showed that it extends even to the intents of the heart. Matt. 5:21, 22, 27, 28. He also magnified the law when he founded the golden rule upon it. Matt. 7:12. In like manner he did this when he made the keeping of the commandments the condition of entering eternal life. Matt. 19:17. He did it when he taught that any worship which makes void God's commandments is vain in his sight. Matt. 15:1-9. He did not only magnify the law by such teaching as all this; he did it by his acts. He kept the law of God in every particular. 1 John 3:4, 5. And well he might, for this law was written upon his heart. Ps. 40:8, 10. And yet, by something greater than all this did he honor the law of God. He took the sins of men upon himself, and let the law of God strike him down in the place of the sinner. And by this act he attested his sense of the absolute perfection of the law, and that it was unchangeable and eternal.

Such was the work of Christ toward the law of the Father. There is no fellowship between him and the man of sin, and no connection between the work of the one, and that of the other respecting the law of God. Whatever, therefore, is done by way of striking down the law of God, or changing it, pertains solely to Antichrist, and not in any degree, or in any sense, to the Son of God. The following propositions are worthy of the attention of all thoughtful persons:—

1. It was no part of the work of Christ to change the law of God.

2. It was his express mission to magnify the law of his Father.

3. The record given in the New Testament shows not one trace of changing the commandments of God on the part of the Saviour.

4. But it does show that by his doctrine, his obedience, and his death, he did in the highest degree magnify the moral law.

5. The change of God's law is the work of Antichrist alone; and with that change Christ has no connection.

6. The apostasy which produced this Antichrist began, according to Paul's testimony, in the days of the apostles.

7. We may, therefore, expect to find early traces of the grand heresy which distinguishes Antichrist; viz., the doctrine of the change of the law of God, or of its repeal.

8. In the beginning, the work of apostasy pertained to efforts to change or set aside the second and the fourth commandments as ceremonial; but when the power of Antichrist had reached its greatest height, he was declared to be able to change even virtues into vices, and vices into virtues.