of the Week which before was Blessed and Sanctified when the Creation upon the six days was finished which Seventh day was the end of the days of the Week So as Cain as bad as he was and Abel who obtained witness that he was righteous Heb. 11. 4. both as I think kept the Sabbath Cain outwardly but Abel no doubt by that witness of his Righteousness in an Holy Spiritual and Heavenly manner to whose offering the Lord had respect Gen. 4. 4. but to Cain's offering he had not respect And if the Seventh day then ended the Week as it now does and if none can tell us of any other end of days at that time I may thence infer these offerings were at least very probably if not certainly upon the Seventh-day-Sabbath and are a good Evidence for it And the Righteousness ascribed to Abel Heb. 11. 4. surely does import his Obedience to all Gods Wills then revealed whereof the Seventh day was eminently one and Abel's sacrificing the Firstlings of his Flock was another Gen. 4. 4. Which Offerings were Types of Christ and proper for the Sabbath-day which Abel offered unto God by Faith and was a more excellent Sacrifice then Cain's by which Abel obtained witness that he was Righteous God testifying of his Gifts and by it he being dead and yet speaketh Heb. 11. 4. I think he yet speaketh to us to be Righteous as he was and to observe the Seventh day And that Abel was a Person obedient unto God in all things we have the Testimony of Christ who calls him Righteous Abel Matth. 23. 35. A fourth Evidence is from Gen. 5. 22. Enoch walked with God three hundred years And ver 24. and Enoch walked with God and he was not for God took him Enquiry p. 23. Which Enoch was a Prophet and Jude 14. 15. Prophesied the Lords coming to execute Judgment upon all and to convince all that were ungodly Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all Corrupt or all no Worshippers thrice mentioned in the 15 ver 'T is true those who do not Worship God or do not Worship him aright are highly blameable but the true Signification of the Greek word being from Alpha privative and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to Worship the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 does tell us who they were whom Enoch reproved that is such as did not Worship God at all or not according to his appointments and does imply that Enoch did Worship God aright or else how could Enoch convince others if himself did not keep the Blessed and Sanctified Day and whether the word in Jude 14. 15. do not imply also that the rest of the then degenerated Posterity of Adam whom Enoch reproved did neglect the Blessed Day seems as I conceive very probable And these are Evidences for the Seventh-day-Sabbath before the Flood At present I pass by Gen. 13. 2 3 4 5 6 9 10. Jashebeth because by the Points it may be from the verb Jashab he dwelt Evidences that after the Flood the Sabbath was kept before the Law at Sinai Gen. 26. 2 4. Enquiry p. 23. 24. the Lord appeares to Isaac and promises that in his seed all the nations of the earth should be blessed ver 5. Because that Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge my commandments my statutes and my laws Blessing the Nations in his Seed includes a promise of Christ upon Abraham's Obedience How Abraham came to know all the Commandments Statutes and Laws I know not certainly It may be they being implanted in Adam who was created in Gods own Image Gen. 1. 26 27. were taught down along from Adam in gracious Families from Father to Son and so to Abraham And it may be also by special Revelation but this is certain that Abraham knew these how else could he keep or obey them and 't is certain he obeyed the Lords voice and kept his Commandments and his Laws and one eminent Voice and Law of God was Gen. 2. 2 3. and God blessed the seventh day and Sanctified it And Abraham kept my Commandments Gen. 26. 5. and in Exod 16. 27 28. how long refuse ye to keep my commandments the same Hebrew word with that Gen. 26. 5. and the Command which Israel brake Exod. 16. 27 28. Was that some of them upon the Seventh-day-Sabbath went out to gather Manna which they ought not to have done and so the Command which they brake it seems was one of those which Abraham kept And Gen. 26. 5. Abraham kept my Laws and in Exod. 16. 4. The Lord to Moses I will rain bread from heaven for you and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day that I may prove them whether they will walk in my Law or no and Exod. 16 27 28. when some brake the Sabbath and went out to gather Manna on the seventh Day the Lord says to Moses How long refuse ye to keep my laws it is the same Hebrew word with that Gen. 26. 5. where the Lord says Abraham kept his Laws and the Doctor does neither offer nor pretend that Abraham brake the Sabbath Now if the Law broken by the Israelites Exod. 16. 4 28. were the Seventh-day-Sabbath as it certainly was then 't is very likely one of the Laws of God kept by Abraham Gen. 26. 5. tho the Sabbath be not particularly there named was the Seventh-day-Sabbath which the Israelites brake Exod. 16. for we have the same Hebrew word for both so that it does appear by Gen. 26. 5. That Abraham obeyed the Lords voice and kept his commandments and his laws and I see no good colour to doubt it And he that says Abraham kept not the Sabbath when God says Abraham kept his Commands and his Laws may as well deny that Abraham kept any other of the Commands or Laws of God a Sixth is from Exod. 5. 5. In Exod. 3. 18. the Lord to Moses Say to the King of Egypt the Lord God of the Hebrews hath met with us and now let us go we beseech thee three days journey into the Wilderness that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God which they could not freely do in Aegypt Exod. 8. 26. Now Horeb as Geographers observe was without hinderances about three days Journey from Aegypt concerning which Mountain God foretold Moses Exod. 3. 12. When thou hast brought forth the people out of Aegypt ye shall serve God upon this mountain Upon which Mountain the Law for the Sabbath was reinforced Exod. 20. 8. And in Exod. 4. 21 23. The Lord to Moses say unto Pharaoh thus saith the Lord Israel is my Son and I say unto thee let my Son go that he may serve me And Exod. 4. 29 30 31. When Aaron had spoken to the Israelites all the words which the Lord had spoken to Moses the people believed and when they heard that the Lord had visited the Children of Israel and that he had looked upon their Affliction then they bowed their Heads and worshipped and it were
not hard to say 't is probable that Aarons preaching to them all the words the Lord had spoken and their worshipping was upon the Sabbath day as will further appear in Exod. 5. 4 5 8 14 17 19. In Exod. 5. 1. Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh Thus saith the Lord God of Israel let my people go that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness and 't is not over hard to imagine what that Feast was which by comparing Exod. 14. where the Aegyptians were drowned Exod. 15. 1 22 23. where is Moses's song and the murmuring at Morah and Exod. 16. 1 23. it s likely was the Feast of the Sabbath Exod. 5. 2. Pharaoh said Who is the Lord that I should obey his voice to let Israel go and ver 3. Moses and Aaron said the God of the Hebrews bath met with us let us go we pray thee and sacrifice unto the Lord our God and ver 4. the King said unto them Wherefore do ye Moses and Aaron let the people or make them to cease from their work get you to your burdens and Exod 5. 5. Pharaoh said behold the people of the land now are many and you make them rest from their burdens You make them rest Heb. Vehishbattem which as I take it is in the conjugation Hiphil praeterit tense second Person plural number from the root Shabath he kept Sabbath and signifies and yemake them to keep sabbath from their burdens the very same root in Gen. 2. 2. God sabatized rested or kept Sabbath on the seventh Day from all his Work which he had made and from the same root Gen. 2. 3. and God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made So as Pharaoh charges Moses and Aaron as making the Israelites to cease from their Work and as making of them to keep Sabbath from their Burdens And when the Word of God is so plain and full and certain and that by the Mouth of Pharaoh an enemy that Moses and Aaron did make the Israelites cease from their Work ver 4. and did make them keep Sabbath ver 5. For the Doctor to say against such a plain Word beside what was said before of Abel Abraham c. as he does p. 7. And I think sometimes afterward to the like effect that we have not the least mention of the Sabbath from Gen. 2. 3. 'till after Israels coming out of Aegypt may excuse my so long insisting on these Scriptures So we have here in Exod. 5. 5. express mention of the Israelites ceasing from their work and keeping the Sabbath and the Taskmasters exacting their daily Tasks every day Exod. 5. 13 14. shews this which are evidences for keeping the Sabbath before they came out of Aegypt and Exod. 5. 17. Pharaoh upbraids them as idle therefore ye say let us go to do Sacrifice to the Lord. And the Sacrifices though they were to be offered every day yet as a Feast-day were offered on the Sabbath And Exod. 8. 1 8 25 26 27 28. and Exod. 9. 1 13. and Exod. 10. 3 7 8 9 11 22 24 25. are agreeable to Exod. 3. 4. 5. and Exod. 12. 12 13. After the Plague upon the first Born Pharaoh to Moses and Aaron rise up get you forth and go and serve the Lord as ye have said also take your Flocks and your Heards as ye have said and be gone and bless me also And that excellent History does shew how the Lord delivered his people out of Pharaoh's hand and all his strugling to hinder the Service of God and to debar them of the liberty to offer Spiritual Sacrifices unto him did all contribute to make the Deliverance more compleat from that oppressing Bondage sedately to serve God and keep his Sabbaths as in Exod. 16. 23. where they had a Feast of Bread from Heaven ver 4. and I think ver 13. of Quails also besides their Flocks and Heards Exod. 12. 12 13. Another proof that Moses and Aaron and the Israelites had the knowledge of the Seventh-day-Sabbath and did observe it and that before the Law at Sainai is from Exod. 16. As to the Doctor 's Opinion of a new Institution of another Sabbath Exod. 15. 23 25. at Marah I answer that upon their murmuring there because the Waters were bitter which were there cured by a Tree which the Lord shewed Moses he made a Statute and an Ordinance and there he proved them ver 25. 26. said If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of Jehovah thy God and wilt do that which is right in his sight and wilt give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes I will put none of these diseases upon thee which I have brought upon the Aegyptians for I am the Lord that healeth thee which seems expresly the Statute and Ordinances before mentioned which Statute and Ordinance confirms the Lords Commandments and all his Statutes but alters none of them so that the conceit of a new Sabbath day here instituted without any word from God is a meer conjecture by learned Mr. Chafie as afterward and what that Statute and Ordinance was the Doctor says p. 4. We cannot tell which I think is enough to set aside all new Epocha here And Exod. 15. 27. from Marah they came to Elim where they encamped by other Waters And Exod. 16. 1. They journyed from Elim to the Wilderness of Sin and there they murmured again for want of Bread and Exod. 16. 2 3. the Lord to Moses I will rain bread from heaven for you and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day ver 4. And the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily ver 5. And at even the quails came up ver 13. And every man gathered the Manna every morning ver 4. 21. which was every Day of the Week except the seventh Day ver 22. So the Lord there reckons the days the sixth Day and the seventh Day after the same manner as at the first Gen. 1. and Gen. 2. And this as it seems was not at Elim nor at Marah but at another place and time viz. in the Wilderness of Sin which is between Elim and Synai Exod. 16. 1. But that the Lord there altered the way of numbring the days or instituted a new Sabbath day no such thing is there that I can find but reckons the sixth and seventh days which supposes the 1 2 3 4 and 5 to make up the Week in the same manner as Gen. 1. and Gen. 2. to which seventh Day as Exod. 5. 5. the Israelites in Aegypt were no strangers And the Sabbath ver 23. is here called the Holy Sabbath that is the Sabbath hallowed or sanctified by the Lord Gen. 2. 3. and the Sabbath is four times called the seventh Day from ver 26. to 30. But not a word
sets at Jerusalem and when the Sun sets at Japan then the Seventh day begins at Japan 11 of March 1694 5. And from Japan to pass over the other Meridian and Rest of the Land in Asia to Jerusalem again about seven Hours And so from Jerusalem as the Sun goeth round the Earth to Jerusalem again are 24 Hours that is from the Sun-setting at Jerusalem the 11th of March 169â— â— to the Sun-setting at Jerusalem the 12th of March 169â— are 17 Hours from Jerusalem to Japan and 7 Hours from Japan to Jerusalem and 17 and 7 are 24 Hours the Evening and the Morning which make up the Day Which Scheme does as I weakly can travel round the World and if it be right in the main may answer some Doubts about the Days in this case And if I mistake I think I do not wilfully mistake in which account I had no help from Globes and so I have no great assurance but that there may be mistakes and I am content to be corrected by the Learned Doctor who excels in Astronomy in Geography and I think in most other Learning Or any other Ingenious Unprejudiced and Skilful who may find mistakes in the Degrees of Longitude and in the Hours or Minutes which however I think may not hurt the Opinion built upon it that the difference in the time of the Sun setting in any of and all those places and so of all other places in the Earth the 11 of March 1692 3. makes no alteration in the beginning or ending of the Sabbath day supposing as before that day with the rest of the Days of the Week did begin at the Creation and does still begin and end about the time of the Sun setting and suppose also that beginning and ending never altered since the Creation to this day And if this be so it seems demonstrable that every Day of the Week began every where in the Evening and to the Seventh day also round the World as the Sun did set The Doctor 's other expedient he would have me begin my Week on Monday and then Sunday will be the Seventh day I suppose he means if I can tell seven But if the Doctor please to begin the Week as God begins it Gen. 1. 5. and if he reckon on v. 8. 13 19 23 31 as God does he will find Gen. 2. 2 3. the Seventh day to be the Sabbath and as it seems to me to begin in the Evening And in lieu of his two Expedients I will with his Favour advise him and others two things 1st Upon the Fourth Command Exod. 20. 8 9. To take heed how they assume a liberty to alter any Command of God or any jot or tittle thereof because of Mat. 5. 18 19. Rev. 22. 18 19 c. 2dly Upon the Second Command Whatever be the manner of Worship in the place where he or they live unless they be sure that for Matter and Manner it be according to Christs Institutions That they beware how they take it as they there find it which though it may be a probable means of worldly Advantages yet I have some doubt it is no sound Rule to Worship by because the Lord thy God is a jealous God visiting iniquity c. and shewing mercy to those who love him and keep his commandments Exod. 20. 4 5 6. Deut. 5. 8 9 10 c. And upon the whole I think not A but the Seventh-day-Sabbath was observed by the Lord Gen. 2. 2 3. and afterward by the Patriarchs by Moses and by the Israelites in Aegypt and in the Wilderness of Sin where they had Mannah and at Mount Synai and at Mount Zion in Jerusalem and to the end of the Old Testament to whom the Lord made known his sabbath Neh. 9. 13 14. his Sabbaths as before and to whom he gave them as a sign and as an everlasting covenant and that not A but The Sabbath was observed perfectly and constantly by Christ during his life which I think proves it not forgotten nor altered to his time and that not A but The Sabbath was observed by his Disciples inspired by the Holy Spirit after his Resurrection and Ascension which also proves it not forgotten nor altered then And as their losing the Knowledge which was the Seventh day is not in the Word that I know so the certain Seventh day was preserved by all Nations Worshipping the Sun on Sunday Mr. Chafie p. 20 c. and all the Israelites before Christ and all the Jews since that we can read or hear of and some Christians still keep not A but The Seventh day and many Christians keep the first day other Christians keep both Seventh and First day as in the Enquiry and the early and long Controversies about what Days to keep the Passover on and the Histories Counsels Centuries and our own Records Ancient and Modern as in the Enquiry seem plainly to prove that the Seventh day was never altered from Christs time to this day nor from the Creation to Christs time and that the Seventh day in England is the same Seventh day varying the Hours and Minutes as before which was observed by Christ which was made perpetual by Christ which was observed at Mount Zion which was given at Synai and which was blest and made holy at the Creation Gen. 2. And here I might also observe that the Doctor neither denys nor answers the Authorities in the Enquiry for observing the Sabbath 400 and 700 years c. after Christ and for the changing the Seventh day to the First day by Rome c. not the clear Evidence for the first bringing in the First day into Scotland by a Counsel there above 1200 years after Christ nor that of the King and Nobles of England here to like purpose Enquiry p. 106. to 114 c. Nor that how all our Antient and Modern Records in England to this day call the Seventh day of the Week the Sabbath day Enquiry p. 117. to which the Doctor says nothing nor to that of the many Provinces and one Empire still observing the Seventh day Enq. p. 119. 120. And all put together I think may sufficiently disprove the uncertainty which is the Seventh day which the Doctor so often would leave doubtful against himself and may prove that our Seventh day of the Week is the true Seventh day blessed and made holy at the creation And I insist that Christs Command to keep Holy the Seventh day not being altered nor repealed but with all the rest confirmed and made perpetual by him still binds as all the rest of the Commands do I have passed by divers Expressions in the Doctor 's Book but have not that I know declined any thing that required as I think further Reply and what he objects again and again I often think it enough to answer to but once And if I do not fully repeat his Objections or Words at large it is to make this Reply as short as I can and the Reader