after they came out of Egypt must begin their week whereby in count of their week-days and so also of their seventh Sacred day they differed from all other Nations in Chap. 8 9 10. and what weeks be and the difference between a week and the week and between a seventh day of the week and the seventh day of the week which last is the Lords day or Sabbath of the Lord in Chap. 11 12. And also the Antiquity of weeks and the answer unto the main Objection thereto in Chapters 13 14. Fourthly I have shewed that Sunday was of Old the seventh day of the week with the Gentiles and most probably was the seventh day of the week also with the Patriarchs before the Flood and hath continued with Christians their seventh day of the week even unto this present day and doubtless ever will to the Worlds end in Chap. 15. Christian Reader my hearty desire is that thou and all other the Obedient Servants of Jesus Christ be rightly informed concerning our observation of the Sabbath-day Haply thou didst before the reading hereof hold that this fourth Commandment is a branch of the Moral Law that it is agreeable to the Law of nature to have a day in seven to be for Gods Worship that Sunday is our Christian Sabbath as Saturday was the Jews Sabbath and that as God wrought six days and rested the seventh and Consecrated the seventh day unto Holiness and Rest even so all Gods Obedient People should not be slothful but diligent in their callings on the six work-days and rest on the Sunday according to Gods example and keep it Holy If this was thine Opinion thou wert in the right and didst hold nothing in all these but what Godly and Learned men and the Servants of Jesus Christ did generally teach in former time the People of God here in England as may plainly appear to thee if thou readest only that Homily which is for the time and place of Gods Worship But since that subtile heads have been imployed to the subverting hereof and bringing in a dangerous errour opening a flood-gate to all licentiousness on the Lords Sabbath they have publickly Taught and Published to the World that the seventh day commanded to bept holy is none other but the day of Gods rest They would bring People in hand that the Jews Sabbath was the very seventh day from the Creation and none other but that to be the seventh day of the week with any People and so Sunday to be with us the first day of the week To this end I suppose they would have the name of our Sabbath-day which the Jews called in their Tongue The first day of the Sabbath to be Translated as it is in our Bibles not The Lords day or Sunday by which names Christians whose Ancestors were Gentiles ever called it but The first day of the week that so People may conceive hereby though a new name doth not alter the nature of the thing that Sunday with us is not in order the seventh day of the week viz. the day following the six days of labour but the day going before the six days of labour with us and therefore not the Sabbath-day here commanded for the rooting out of which errour and confirming all in the Truth concerning the Lords day I have sent abroad this little Tract If now by thy serious perusal hereof thou art the more encouraged to render the Lord his due Honour in the heedful observation of the Lords day which with us is Sunday not for customs sake because thy fore-fathers and the Church of God ever observed the same since theti me of the Apostles nor for that the Magistrates have commanded us to keep this day Holy Nor for that the seventh-day-Sabbath is abolished and this to be a new Sabbath instituted but for that God in this his Law which is perpetual and unalterable hath commanded thee and all People expresly to keep holy the seventh day give God the glory and lift up a Prayer unto him for me a poor sinner T. C. The Synopsis or Abridgment of the whole Tract In this fourth Commandment there be two parts viz. 1. The duty commanded in which we be to know What day the Sabbath of the Lord is concerning which know 1. What kind of day the Sabbath-day is therein note There be four kinds of days which we shall meet with in the Holy Scripture which are these viz. the Artificial day 1. Vniversal day 2. Horizontal day 3. Meridional day 4. They differ every one from the other The Artificial day differeth from all other 5. The Vniversal day differeth from all other 5. Horizontal and Meridional days differ one from the other 6. Which of these four kinds of days is the Lords Sabbath 7. 2. What day the Sabbath-day is to be in respect of order and tale wherein note 1. The Sabbath-day is the seventh day of the week that is the day following the six known days of labour 8. 2. The cause why the Jews had Saturday for their Sabbath was to take them off from the Assyrian Idolatries concerning which note that 1. The Assyrian Idolatries were their Worshipping the Sun and the other Planets all called the Host of Heaven And also their Worshipping Belus called Baal 9. 2. From their example all nations as well as Israel worshipped the Sun 9. 3. Among many means God used to take the Jews off from Worshipping the Sun one was that instead of Sunday they must have Saturday their seventh day Sacred 10. 3. The vain opinion of some who think that the Sabbath that is the seventh day of the week must be the day of Gods Rest 11. 4. What a week is and what the week is and that the seventh day of the week is the Sabbath Also why many of the Antient Writers called the Jews Sabbath the day of Gods Rest sith they knew that it could not be that very day 12. 5. Weeks proved to be from all Antiquity 13. 6. Week-days had their names from the Planets as they were the Heathen Gods and not from their supposed hourly Government 14. 7. Sunday was the Gentiles seventh day of the week sacred to the Sun and most probably was the seventh day sacred with the Patriarchs before Noahs flood Also that Christians did not neither ought to have chosen any other than the Sunday for their seventh Sacred day although it had been much abused before to Idolatry 15. What it is to keep Holy and Sanctifie the Sabbath-day 16. 2. The Lords special provision to bring all People to a heedful keeping the duty commanded set out in sundry particulars 17. Christian Reader THis following Treatise published forty years ago by the Reverend Author Mr. Thomas Chafie then Minister of Nutshelling being now become rare as not easie to be met with as indeed it was before for the peculiarity of the notion pursued in it these Book-sellers have by a new Impression recover'd it out of the obscurity wherein time
had almost buried it And we reckon their performance herein very Commendable and capable of turning to publick good The discourse it self aptly serving a twofold design partly to shew the continuing Obligation upon Christians from the fourth Commandment to keep a weekly seventh day Holy to God partly to shew their no-Obligation to keep the same day which the Jews kept and do keep The former how much it tends to preserve and propagate serious Religion experience hath shewn and hath imprest upon England a laudable Character compared with the greater Latitude in this respect of divers Forreign Countries both in principle and practice even where the Reformed Religion hath obtained And for the latter it is of no little concernment to exempt some pious minds from scruple that seem sollicitous whether they ought not to return to the observation of the Jewish Sabbath For which there can be no pretence till it can be clearly shewn that the particular seventh day which the Jews were enjoyned to observe Exod. 16. was as to it's beginning and ending the very same day on which God himself rested from his Work of the Creation And that the fourth Commandment was intended to confine them and Christians in all places whatsoever to those same limits of time as Hallowed and Sacred which are things simply impossible ever to be shewn or indeed that any day can by just computation for all People and parts of the World be found to come nearer those first limits than the day which Christians do now keep Vnto which purposes we reckon what is very considerable is said in this Book And that the publishing of it anew is in this enquiring Age very seasonable as it may occasion not only a further search into the grounds here laid but also a further improvement of them William Bates John Howe THE Seventh-Day SABBATH EXOD. XX. 8 9 10 11. Remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy Six days shalt thou labour and c. CHAP. I. The Division of the Text. The Artificial Day THE Lord God who made Heaven and Earth and all for the good of man made man for his own Honour in his own Image and to bear his Image in the World to his Glory done by the due observation of the Moral Law whereof this fourth Commandment is a part in which God maketh known unto man the special time and day which he hath destinated unto his Worship commanding man to sanctifie the same and keep it Holy to the Lord. In this Text are these two parts First The duty commanded which is to keep holy the Sabbath-day Secondly The care and provision had by the Lord for mans heedful keeping and observing the same in all the other words and branches of this Commandment I will first treat of the duty commanded and in it for our better observing the Sabbath-day we are to know First What the Sabbath-day is that is here commanded to be sanctified Secondly What it is to sanctifie the same or to keep it holy Touching the former of these we are to know First What kind of day the Sabbath is to be Secondly What day it is to be in order or tale Concerning the former of these There be four kinds of days which we shall meet with in Holy Scripture 1. The Artificial day 2. The Universal day 3. The Horizontal day 4. The Meridional day These terms or appellations I confess are not common but the use of them is needful for the better distinguishing them one from the other whereby it may the better appear which of these kinds of days the Sabbath-day ought to be And now I will 1. Shew what every of them is 2. How they differ the one from the other 3. VVhich of these kinds of days man is to observe and keep for his Sabbath Of the Artificial day The Artificial day as it is generally taken is the whole time between Sun-rising and Sun-setting with any People This kind of day was especially in use with the Jews They divided this day always into twelve equal parts which they called hours which hours were ever proportionable to the day In Summer-time the longer their day was the longer were their hours and at VVinter when their day was not ten of our hours yet was it twelve of theirs Of this kind of day mention is made in divers places of Sacred Scripture John 11.9 Psal 104.23 Mat. 20.2 3 6. And the hours thereof are now called Jews hours (a) Horae Judaicae And Antique hours (b) Horae Anquae for that not only the Jews but other Nations also did anciently so divide the day into twelve such hours Thus was their Dial divided into twelve hour lines whereof the fifth Persius (c) Pers Sat. 3. Quinta dum linea tangitur umbra will have to note out the fifth hour with them which is about ten of the Clock with us Martial (d) Mart. li. 4. Epigr. 8. Prima solutantes atque aloera continet hora c. also in twelve verses distinguishes the twelve hours of the day then in use in the like manner CHAP. II. The Universal day The days of the Creation Why Moses set the Evening before the Morning THE Universal day is that which is one and the same day in all places through the whole Universe as well in respect of its beginning as of its duration and ending It is not one day at one part of the Earth and another day at another part but when it beginneth or endeth any where it beginneth or endeth every where at the same time This kind of Day cannot properly be said to begin either in the East or in the VVest or at Sun-rising or at Sun-setting or at Mid-night or at Noon as other kind of days do For there is neither East nor VVest nor Sun-rising nor Sun-setting or at Midnight nor Noon in respect of the VVorld though in respect of the parts of the World all and every of these may be said to be yet so as what is East or morning to one part is West or Sun-setting to another part and midnight to one part is mid-day to another part but neither of them properly can be so said to be the whole World Such kind of days were those which Moses spake of in the first of Genesis Gen. 1.5 8 13 19 23 31. And of which mention is made in this text and elsewhere Exod. 20.11 and 31.17 Acts 2.20 Rev. 6.17 2 Pet. 2.9 and 3.7 10. Joel 2.31 In six days the Lord made Heaven and Earth c. and rested the seventh day That these days which some do term and fitly enough may be called The days of the Creation were such Universal days I will endeavour to clear by giving instances in every of them which Moses spake of in rehearsing the Works of the Creation The first of those seven days was such an Universal day when it began any where it began every where no where then was it no day nor any other than
may I say for the day you have lost you lost it not all at one time but by little and little every degree that you went Westward you pieced your day and made it the three hundred and sixtieth part of a day longer than it was but therewithal you losed the three hundred and sixtieth part of your day in tale you must look to lose one way if you gain another way In your travel of the whole round which is three hundred and sixty degrees you gained a whole day in the length of your days but you have lost thereby a whole day in tale For tell me when it was Sunday at your coming home what day was it then with you Indeed quoth John it was but Saturday with us and I wondered much why we in the count of the days of our Week came still to a day short of what they counted here But I pray tell me what counsel you will give me in the Case between me and my Brother Why quoth Ployden be ruled by me and fear not make one Voyage more and go back the same way that you came and you shall certainly find again the day which you lost and then come to me and I will warrant your Case Though now I approve not Ploydens Judgment in every point yet I say what he told John of the lengthning of his days and losing a day in tale at his return whereby he had not lived so many Week-days as his brother Johannes had by a day is very true whether he counted the Week by Horizontal or by Meridional days But yet John lived as many Universal days as did his Brother and losed not one hour or minute of an hour in the Universal day it could neither be lengthned or shortned by continual travel When the Sun came to that Meridian in which it was when it began the fifth sixth or seventh day at the first Creation then did the Universal day end and the next began both with John and with his Brother though they were half the Compass of the Earth distant from each other 2. Week-days whether they be Horizontal or Meridional cannot be the same in all places much less can their parts or hours be the same But the Universal day is not only the same day in all places but every part or hour of that day is without any variation the same every where The last day in which Christ shall come to judge the World which must needs be on two week days with People if it be on Sunday with some it will be on Saturday or Monday with some others and on different times also of the week-day if it shall be at mid-night with some not only mid-night of security Mat. 25.6 13 24 39 50. but in respect of the week-day it will be at noon with some others c. Yet will it be one and the same Universal day therefore every where in Holy Scripture that time is called a day John 6.39 40 54.11.24 Acts 2.20 Mat. 10.15 not days It shall not be on one day here and on another day elsewhere but on one and the same day It will be a general day of Judgment not only in respect of all conditions of men but also of all places they shall be gathered from the four Winds Mar. 13.27 from all quarters of the World Yea his coming shall then be not only on one and the same Universal or general day but on one and the same hour of that day in respect of all People In an hour of that day the Trumpet shall sound Mat. 24.31 1 Thes 4.16 then all in all places shall hear the Voice thereof at that same moment even at the twinkling of an eye 1 Cor. 15.52 In vain shall the Plea of any be alledging that it is Tuesday then with some People and it is but Monday with us O let us tarry till Tuseday too or that it is but one of the Clock with us and it is three or more with others and therefore too soon for them No for their account of the day will not serve the turn All shall find that hour to be a general hour of a general or Universal day that is not sooner in one place than in another CHAP. VI. The difference between Horizontal and Meridional days THere is not a little difference between the Meridional and the Horizontal day as may appear by what hath been before said First They differ in length and duration for the Meridional day whereby the Jews counted the days of their Months and we the days of our Weeks and Months is in time four and twenty hours without any sensible difference But the Horizontal day by which the Jews count the days of their weeks from Sun-setting to Sun-setting or from Sun-rising to Sun-rising by which some other have counted the days of their week is sometimes in some places near five and twenty hours and at some other time in the same places it will be but about three and twenty hours in length When I say the Horizontal day is the time between Sun-setting and Sun-setting or between Sun-rising and Sun-rising I mean so in all places in and between the temperate Zones and not in places near either of the Poles where it is continual day-light for many days together From Sun-setting to Sun-setting in those places cannot properly be termed a day having in it many revolutions of the Sun never was it in use with any People to mete out unto them their Week Month Year or Age. Men living in such places measure out their weeks and months by Meridional days as we do Neither is there any mention made of such days any where in Sacred Scripture and it is of such kind of days as are there mentioned which I promised to speak of See chap. 1. Secondly they differ much in respect of their beginning and ending Here in York and other places of England there is sometimes five sometimes eight and never so little as three hours difference between their beginnings and the like between their endings Whence it must follow that every of the week-days with the Jews consisted partly of two days of their month and that every day of the month with them consisted partly of two of their week-days the days of their month being Meridional and their days of the week Horizontal days as I said before The knowledge hereof is very useful for the reconciling divers places and resolving divers doubts in the Sacred Scripture about the Jews customs in observing their feasts as for instance if it be demanded 1. Whether the Israelites ate the Passover in Egypt and came out of Egypt from Rameses on one and the same day Sith it is said that on the fourteenth day at Even they ate the Passover Exod. 12.8 but it was the next day being the morrow after viz. the fifteenth day when they came from Rameses Numb 33.3 Or whether our Saviour Christ ate the Passover with his Disciples and after that suffered Death
the first day of the Creation All the Art and indeavour of man is not sufficient to find out whether the first day of Creation was Sunday or Saturday or Monday c. and therefore not whether the day of Gods Rest was Thursday Friday or Saturday Let it yet be further granted that it was Sunday on which the first day of the Creation began and therefore the day of Gods Rest must then have its beginning on Saturday No man can for all that tell within eleven hours at what time of the Sunday the first day of the Creation or at what time of the Saturday the day of Gods Rest began either here or in Virginia or in Rome Jerusalem Paradise or in any other place whatsoever whether it was at Sun-rising Sun-setting noon or at the hour of one or two c. in the forenoon or afternoon Wherefore if by the seventh here commanded had been meant an Universal day it must be then that seventh Universal day on which God Rested the which cannot be observed by men because they cannot tell on what day of their week nor about what time of their day they should begin the observation thereof Secondly an Universal day such as was the day of Gods Rest cannot be observed of all the People of God Though it should be granted what is of some believed that the day of God's Rest began in Paradise on Saturday and at the rising of the Sun there yet all Gods People cannot observe that very day For 1. The earth being Global and the true longitude of the place where Paradise was being unknown no man can tell when to begin that day in the place where he liveth We know when it is Saturday in some places it is then Sunday or Friday in some other places We know that when Christ Rose from the Grave it was then Sunday at Jerusalem in the fore-noon and we know that it was then Saturday in Virginia in the afternoon but no man can knowingly say that the day of Gods Rest beginneth on the Saturday in the forenoon with him though it be granted that it so began in Paradise 2. Though the day of Gods Rest or any other Universal day be made known unto men at what time and on what day it began in Paradise and the very place where Paradise was made known also Yet all Gods People could not possibly keep that very day of Gods Rest By reason of the diversity of Longitudes of the Places wherein they may Live they cannot keep all of them one and the same day This hath been proved unto us fully and plainly even by the opposers of the Sabbath Dr. Heylin hath even demonstrated the same that men could not possibly have kept one and the same day for their Sabbath had it been commanded (a) Heyl part 1. pag. 45 46 47 48. And further sheweth that the Jews themselves kept not the very day of Gods Rest (b) Page 125. though they had one day in seven set apart for Holy Rest and meditation Mr. Ironside also (c) Irons chap. 18. pag. 164. from the diversity of Meridians proveth that one and the same day cannot be Universally kept and therefore never commanded the whole Church One and the same day could not possibly be observed a Sabbath by all the Jews in the East-parts and West-parts too of Judea and in Babylon and in Rome by reason of their diversity of Longitudes And if it be supposed to be but two or three degrees difference of Longitude yet will that difference make the days as truly to differ from being the same as will an hundred and three though it will not make them so much to differ The like argument hath Doctor Francis White late Bishop of Ely (d) Dr. Francis White in his Treat of the Sabb. pag. 175. and divers others Wherefore sith the Universal day such as was the day of Gods Rest cannot be possibly kept by all Gods People no more than any other set particular day can it is not the day here commanded by the Lord. The Sabbath-day here commanded to be kept Holy is such a kind of day as may be known kept and observed by men wheresoever they inhabit though in many and divers Longitudes of the Earth Such as might have been kept in the Wilderness where the Law was delivered and in the East and West-parts of Canaan and in Babylon Rome Spain and in all other habitable places and therefore ought to be either an Horizontal or else a Meridional day In all places of the World none other but Horizontal or Meridional days are now or at any other time heretofore have been in use with men for measuring out unto them their seven days or week and such as are their six days of the week for Labour such ought the seventh day even the day for Holy Rest to be also The Sabbath-day with the Jews was an Horizontal day but then such were the other days of their week also and what Nation soever have their week to consist of Horizontal days ought to have their Sabbath-day to be so also In the North of Russia and of the King of Denmarks and Queen of Swedens Countreys where the Sun maketh many Revolutions at some seasons of the year between his rising and setting men cannot count their week by Horizontal days but they do and have counted their weeks by Meridional days And so do all Christians generally of what Longitude or Latitude of the Earth soever they are mete out their weeks by Meridional days then such ought their seventh day of their week to be also CHAP. VIII What day the Sabbath is to be in order or tale NOw is to be shewn what day in tale is to be the Lords day or Sabbath of the Lord and this the Law-giver himself hath plainly pointed out unto us in this Law to be the day following the six days of labour so that none need to say the knowledge hereof is hidden from us Who shall ascend for us into Heaven and bring the knowledge thereof to us that we may know it and observe it But it is clearly demonstrated unto us by the Lord God so that he that worketh with the Spade may know the same as well as he that handleth the Pen. Six days shalt thou labour and c. but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God The seventh day that is the day following the six known days of labour is none of ours it is the Lords day We may not make the Sabbath-day to be the sixth day for then we should shew our selves unthankful in not receiving the Lords own bountiful allowance nor the eighth day for then we should encroach on the Lords right and not be contented with his Liberal allowance of six days for our selves reserving only the seventh for himself much less ought we to make it the fifth or the ninth or tenth or any other than the seventh day Our weeks are not to consist
the Saturday and the third Sanctifieth the Sunday a he would not call Sunday our Sabbath (c) Heyl. part 1. page 48. as he doth Friday the Turks Sabbath Then that upon the Saturday the Turk begins his journey VVestward and the Christian Eastward so as both of them compassing the VVorld do meet again in the same place the Jew continuing where they left him It will fall out that the Turk by going VVestward having lost a day and the Christian going Eastward having got a day one and the self same day will be a Friday to the Turk a Saturday to the Jew and a Sunday to the Christian Sith then one and the same day came to be a Friday a Saturday and a Sunday unto these three by their Travel there must be three several Planets to govern the first hour of that day or else the Planets must by little and little have gotten and lost a whole course of governing as the Travellers did by little and little gain and lose a whole day by their Travel both which will shew this hourly rule of the Planets to be both vain and feigned Touching the latter that week-days had not their names from the supposed hourly rule of the Planets may from these reasons be gathered First This hourly rule doth flow from the names of the week-days and not the week-day names from it Men must first know by what Planets name the day is called before they can tell what Planet must govern the first hour thereof For suppose the two Travellers before-said the Christian and the Turk had met at any place before they had ended their journey it must be as Dr. Heylin hath demonstrated the like a Sunday then with the Turk (c) Heyl par 1. p. 46 47 48. when it was but Saturday with the Christian then at their meeting Now let the most skilful of Astrologer be demanded what day it should be unto them both either Saturday or Sunday whether the Sun or Saturn ruled the first hour thereof He will answer as the Chaldees did Nebuchadnezzar There is not a man upon the earth that can shew this matter Dan. 2.10 Yea though the place where those Travellers met were made known also yet would the question remain unresolvable unless there be some line or other supposed where the Planets should begin their Government and from whence the Calculation is to be made But in that supposal there is no certainty Now if the said Travellers agree together to have that day of their meeting to be Sunday then any Astrologer will readily tell them that the Sun was he that ruled the first hour thereof or if they make it Saturday then Saturn was he First therefore the week-days must be known before men can know the said planetary Rule and Government I would not have any conceive that by the Planetary Rule and Government I should mean here that Government and Lordship which the Planets are of old said to have in their own Home and Houses it is the hourly Rule of the Planets mentioned in the beginning of this Chapter that I mean I confess my self to be but little skill'd in the one but this he that hath but the use of a pair of Globes may demonstrate to be false and to have no truth in it 2. The Germans had weeks and called the week-days by the names of their Gods whom they adored which were the seven Planets and this long before they came to have any knowledge of this hourly Rule of the Planets which Henricus Hassianus got in Paris and then after taught the same in Vienna and that not yet four hundred years since The Doctor saith That the Grecians had not weeks till Eudoxus had taught them this excellency in Astrology which he brought from Egypt a little before he might with as much truth have said that the Germans had not weeks till Henricus Hassianus had taught this knowledge in Astrology which he brought from Paris a little before There is the same reason in them both but this is known to be far from truth If any say that the Germans had learnt to have weeks and to call the days of the week by the names of the Planets since the said hourly Rule was found out and that either from the Romans or Grecians or from some other Nation with whom they lived before they came to inhabit in Germany as the French the English the Dutch and other People in America have weeeks and call the week-days by the same names those Nations did with whom their Ancestors lived before they came into America My answer is they are much mistaken for Germany was a very Antient Kingdom as Theodore Bibliander and Verstegan also do acquaint us Twisco who before he died was a King and the first King of the Germans was born long before there was a Monarchy of the Romans Grecians or Persians either He was antienter than Abrahams father Bibliander thus writeth of him Tuisco quem aliqui putant c. Tuisco whom some think to be Aschenaz the Nephew of Noah erected the Kingdom of Sarmatia and from whom the Dutch-men are called Teutshen Tacitus holdeth him to be the Son of Terra or Arezia Noahs wife (a) Theod Bibl. Mannus who was Twisco his Son and the second King of the Germans was born not twenty years after Abraham and Wigwoner their third King was born before Abraham went out of Ur a Town of the Chaldees and therefore according to Bibliander before the Egyptians had learnt Astrology For it seems the Egyptians as well as other Nations severing themselves from Noahs Posterity remaining about Chaldea Assyria and other parts of Shinar busied themselves so about their new Plantation in Egypt that they neglected and forgot Astrology till Abraham came out of Chaldea and went down into Egypt where as Josephus saith he taught Astronomy unto them being ignorant thereof before (b) Joseph Antiq Jud. l. 1. c. 15 16. See chap. 9. The Germans were a Nation and a Kingdom before Eudoxus knew what a Planet was Verstegan also tells us that the Saxons had in Antient times the seven Planets for their Gods whom they called Son Mone Tuisco c. and also called the days of the week by the names of those their Gods before ever they had any Commerce with the Grecians or Romans either 3. Week-days bear the names of the Planets not from the said late invented hourly Rule supposed to be given them by God when he Created them but as they were the Heathens Gods and were orderly Worshipped and Adored by them Thus the day we call Sunday was by the Heathen anciently called the day of the Sun because of all the Planets who were held to be the Lords and Governours of the World he was that Lord and Governour which had special Worship done unto him on that day and for that his Worship began with that days beginning even at the Sun-rising for at that time did the Heathen begin their
and Captain Cavendise and their companies who Travelled round the Earth with them either out of tenderness of Conscience or else out of obstinacy continued to keep that Sunday Sacred which fell to them by course and true tale of the days succeeding each other they must needs have had their Sunday on our Munday and our Sunday would be their Saturday When it was holy day with them it would be working day with us and holy day with us when they would work So Tacitus said of the Jews Profana illic quae apud nos sacra rursum concessa quae nobis illicita (a) Corn. Tacit. Diurnal li. 21. Now how unquiet may any one imagine should those Travellers have lived among us as long as our Sunday was a week-day with them Would not every Ballad-maker have had them in their Rimes Would they not have been a by-word with all and every Apparator would be ready with a Citation for them And can we conceive that Christians at first should find more favour from the Heathen for their wilfulness which was less excuseable 2. Most Christians then were either Servants or of the poorer sort of People and the Gentiles most probably would not give their servants liberty to cease from working on any other set day constantly except on their Sunday 3. Had they changed their seventh day from their Sunday to another day there must have followed an unsufferable confusion in the count of the week-days with whom they lived as for example had Sir Francis Drake and his company observed at his return the weeks which by his exact account fell to them by course and not have changed them and made them the same with our weeks there would have followed a miserable confusion even in their own families The third day of the week with some must have been the fourth with others of the same family And never a day would have been the same with them all The like would it have been with the Christians and Gentiles with whom they lived if they had changed their seventh standing day for Gods Worship which was Sunday for another 4. Because had they assayed such a change it would have been a Testimony against them of slighting the Glorious Resurrection of our Lord and Saviour The Sun of Righteousness Mal. 4.2 who on the Sunday most Triumphantly Rose from the Dead for the Justification of all his People 5. It would have been but labour in vain for them to have assayed the same they could never have brought it to pass For 1. They had no authoritative specification of any set day either by Jesus Christ or by his Apostles on which they ought to keep the Lords day Had there so been St. Paul would never have prest the indifferency of days as he did Rom 14.1 2 Col. 2.16 nor would he himself have with the believing Jews kept the Saturday Acts 13.14 42.17 2 18.4 and with the Christians by Christians I mean the Gentiles converted to Christ have kept the Sunday Acts 20.7 1 Cor. 16.2 neither would the believing Jews have remained so obstinate but would have kept that day for their Sabbath which was so pointed out unto them if there had been such Whereas they for the generality of them would never be withdrawn to keep any other than their Saturday for their Sabbath hundreds of years after the Apostles days 2. They had no coercive Power to draw refusers to the observation of any other day for the Lords day had they been so disposed to have set any other 3. Christians were not all of one City or of one Countrey or of one Nation Tongue or Government It would have been even a miracle to have gotten all Christians in all parts of the World to have observed one and the same day for the Lords day with them all which should be chosen not by a general meeting or by a general consent but by some of them only had they chosen any other than the day of the Sun which they were generally before their Conversion accustomed to keep The People of Israel were but one Nation all of one Tongue and severed from all other People and also had Moses their Captain-General yet Moses should never have withdrawn them from their old accustomed day to the observation of the Saturday-Sabbath different from the custom of all other Nations had not the Lord God miraculously in the fall of Quails and Manna Exod. 16.12 16 22 23 26. shewed that it was his good pleasure so to have it when he assigned unto them their six days for their labour and so pointing out to them the Saturday being the seventh from their first gathering Quails and Manna to be the day of Holy Rest unto the Lord. Sylvester the first Pope of that name when out of his hatred to the memory of the Heathen Gods he would have changed but the names of the week-days decreed them to be called by the names of Feriae as hath been before shewed though he was of great Authority and Command and highly beloved of the People yet he could not prevail herein but with very few except Schollars the vulgar People in their common talk called their week days as they did before by the names of the Planets and so have they continued to call them even to this day The Jews are now a weak People yet there is not a Prince or Power on earth able to withdraw them from their Superstitious Custom of keeping the Saturday Sacred yea the believing Jews as was shewed in the Apostles time and in many years after could not be won by any means that the Christians might use to give over their Saturday-Sabbath and for Unities sake to keep the Lords day on the Sunday except a very few of them who better knew and acknowledged their liberty by Christ How impossible may we then think it to be for any to bring to pass that all Christians in all quarters of the World should leave off their observing the Sunday Sacred and have another day instead thereof In vain therefore would it have been for poor Christians at first to have assayed the same These reasons if there were no more may suffice to shew that although all days be in themselves indifferent yet Christians should not have well done had they endeavoured to have changed their seventh Sacred day from Sunday to any other week-day no not to Thursday though it was the day of Christ his glorious Ascension nor to Friday though it was the day in which Christ paid our Ransom but better to retain the same day as they did and which the Church of Christ hath since that kept even to this present time and by Gods Grace will so do unto the end CHAP. XVI The Sabbath-day is to be sanctified Works of Piety Government and of Nature only are to be done on the Sabbath-day c. the necessary helps thereunto THere hath been before shewed that the Sabbath day in this Law commanded to be kept holy
A Brief TRACT ON THE FOURTH Commandment Wherein is Discover'd The CAUSE of all our CONTROVERSIES ABOUT THE Sabbath-DAY And the means of reconciling them More particularly is shewed 1. That the seventh day from the Creation which was the day of Gods Rest was not the seventh day which God in this Law commanded his People to keep Holy neither was it such a kind of day as was the Jews Sabbath-day 2. That the seventh day in this Law commanded to be kept holy is the seventh day of the week viz. the day following the six days of labour with all People 3. That Sunday is with Christians as truly the Sabbath-day as was Saturday with the Jews Recommended by the Reverend Dr. Bates and Mr. John How LONDON Printed for Tho. Parkhurst at the Bible and Three Crowns in Cheapside near Mercers Chappel and for Jon. Robinson at the Golden-Lyoâ— in St. Pauls Church-Yard 1692. TO THE READER Courteous Reader I Believe thou art not ignorant of the many dissensions contentions that have been among the People of God about the Sabbath-day Some stood for the old Sabbath so called by some meaning the Jews Sabbath-day Some for a new Sabbath so called by some meaning the day of Christs Resurrection And some for no Sabbath but what Magistrates do appoint No small Controversies have been between all these about the Sabbath-day as I believe thou knowest But the ground and cause of all such their Controversies and how for Peace and Agreement sake it may be removed and taken away I suppose thou dost not know both which I will discover unto thee The ground of such their differences is a misunderstanding of these words of the Commandment Six days shalt thou labour and do all thy work but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God in it thou shalt do no manner of work By the six days must be meant either the six days of Gods work or the six days of work with men either the six first days at the Creation in which God wrought and made all things or else the six work-days of the week in use with men where they live So also the seventh day must relate to the six days of Gods work or else to the six days of mens labour it must be the seventh day from the beginning of the Creation or the seventh day from mens beginning their six week-days of labour It must either be the day of Gods Rest which immediately followed the six days of his work or the day of rest with men which immediately follows their six days of work where they live They between whom the said dissensions have been and are have and do hold generally that the seventh day must and doth relate to the six days of Gods labour and not of mans It must be they all think the very day of Gods Rest the seventh day from the Creation Thus they all thought that the Jews Sabbath-day which was from Fridays Sun-setting to Saturdays Sun-setting was the precise day of Gods Rest and every of their other six days of the week to be the very same with the six days of the Creation whether they lived in Judea in Babylon in Spain in Ophyr or in any other place it maketh no matter think they Though Sunday with Christians be the day immediately following their six days of labour and on which they having laboured six days do then rest from their labour according unto Gods example Yet at no hand will they yield Sunday to be the seventh day and Sabbath of the Lord Sunday they hold to be the first day of the week and the very same with the first day of the Creation with Christians where-ever they live From this common errour sprouted out various opinions which set them all at Variance 1. The Jews and such as adhere to their superstition do will still plead for the Saturday-Sabbath the Saturday they believe to be the day of Gods Rest the day he Blessed and Sanctified they cannot conceit well of a new Sabbath they know not whence it is Though an Angel should come from Heaven and tell them that Christ the Son of God came into the World and hath taken away their Sabbath and hath established another contrary to what God the Father Instituted So that whereas before they had the seventh day for a day of rest Christ Instituted that seventh day to be a work day That whereas God the Father Blessed and Sanctified the seventh day Christ took off the â—lessing from it and gave it to the first day That whereas God the Father appointed his People to work before they did rest Christ appointed them to rest before they did work That whereas before they were to work and do all that they had to do in six days and rest on the seventh day according to Gods example Now they must rest on the first day and work the six days after which is contrary to Gods example I say if an Angel from Heaven should come and teach them thus they would not believe him 2. Some there be and they not a few Godly Precious and tender-hearted Christians who knowing that the Church of God hath ever since our Saviours Ascension observed the Sunday for their Sabbath and that not against but with the Approbation of the Apostles of Christ do slight the Seventh-day Sabbath and are tooth and nail for the first day of the week so they count Sunday to be neither can they count it otherwise as long as they hold the Jews Sabbath to be the seventh day from the Creation believing that the Apostles of Christ by the appointment of our Saviour changed the old Sabbath so they call the Seventh-day Sabbath to the Sabbath of the first day of the week so that now the Church of God is to rest before they labour and unto not from their labour 3. Some again knowing that the Jews Saturday Sabbath was Ceremonial and abrogated do thence hold and maintain the Seventh day Sabbath to be abrogated also and for that they know not any other Sabbath day appointed by Divine Authority instead thereof do inferr that Christians now in time of the Gospel are to have and keep no Sabbath-day at all Thus kind Reader I have shewed thee the ground and cause of these various and different Opinions about the Sabbath-day Whence have issued most if not all the Controversies which are now on foot between them The only mean to stop all future Controversies and briâ—g all sides to accord in one truth about the Sabbath day is to take away and wipe off from their minds the aforesaid errour which occasioned all their differences For as long as they or any side of them hold that the seventh day which God Blessed and Sanctified and commanded to be observed by all his People doth relate to the six days of Gods work and not of mans that is as long as they hold the seventh day here commanded to be the very day of Gods Rest the
the first day The first things God made were day and night or light and darkness They were neither of them in time before the other but were both Coëtaneous There was in nature before though not in time a mixed or confused darkness which Moses called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gen. 1.2 which Arias Montanus correcting Pagnin translateth and calleth it Caligo it was neither perfect day nor perfect night But when God had thence formed the light and made it to shine out of the darkness 2 Cor. 4.6 and had divided the light from the darkness so as that they should never be both in one Hemisphere but succeed in order each other which is called Gods Covenant of the day and of the night Jer. 33.20 God then called that light so divided Day and that darkness so divided called by Moses Emphatically 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God called night Gen. 1.4 5. the full Revolution of both which was the first day in this division of the light and darkness or day and night though the night was before the day in one Hemisphere and the day before the night in the other yet in respect of the whole Universe neither of them was before the other in time When the first day began somewhere when it was night at the same time that first day began some otherwhere when it was day-light every where did the first day begin at the same time The second day and the third day in like manner were Universal days When God stretched out the firmament on the second day it was every where then the second day On the next day also wheresoever God the Universal Worker did his work throughout the whole round in gathering together the Waters making the Seas and dry Land there every where was it the third day And after that every where was it the same third day where God made the Earth to bring forth Grass and Herbs and fruit-trees Gen. 1.11 12 13. no where was it then either the second or fourth day The fourth day in which the Sun Moon and Stars were made was an Universal day When it was the fourth day any where it was the fourth every where It is not revealed in what part of the fourth day those lights of Heaven were made but most certain is it that when the Sun first appeared to the World on that day it was over some part of the Earth at that time making it to be noon there and in all places in that Hemisphere which were in the same Meridian with the Sun And that in many places ninety degrees East from thence it was Sun-setting and in as many places ninety degrees West from thence it was then at the same time Sun-rising Also that in the other Hemisphere to which the Moon or Stars appeared it was then night and mid-night there in those places that were in the same Meridian with the Sun So that although on that fourth day Sun-setting was before Sun-rising in some places and Sun-rising before Sun-setting in some other places and in some places noon was before either of the other and in some other places mid-night was before them all yet in respect of the whole Earth not one of them was on that fourth day before the other But at the Suns first appearing and shining over half the Earth it was at that very instant the fourth day as well where it was Sun setting or Sun-rising as where it was noon and likewise it was then the fourth day also in the other part of the Earth to which the Moon or Stars first appeared For neither the Sun Moon or Stars appeared to any place on the third day which was the day before they were made and the fifth day was not then begun The like I say for the fifth day and for the sixth day when God made Fish and Foul on the fifth day or when he made Adam the last of his Creatures on the sixth day it was then after Sun-setting in some places and before Sun-rising in some other places and it was then noon in some places and mid-night in some other places yet all on the same day The like I say also for the seventh day the day of Gods rest When God rested from all his Works that he had made it was no where then the sixth day but every where the seventh day The day of Gods rest began in some places at Sun-rising in some places at Sun-setting and in some at noon and in other some at mid-night in the same day For so was it on the fourth day when the Sun first appeared and so when it was half ended and so likewise when it was fully ended and therefore so was it when the fifth sixth or seventh day began or ended It is not revealed and therefore no man can know what or where in the Earth those places are where it was Sun-rising or Sun-setting or noon or mid-night either when the Sun first shined forth to the World or when half of that fourth day was ended or when it was fully ended and therefore no man can tell nor possibly can any find out whether here in England or in any other particular place or Countrey it was Sun-setting or Sun-rising noon or mid-night day-light or night when the fifth sixth or seventh day the day of Gods Rest began and yet at the beginning of that seventh day it was either of these somewhere or other Quest But some may say why then did Moses rehearsing every of the six days Works of the Creation set the evening before the morning so if the evening was not before the morning Answ I answer Moses naming the evening in order before the morning in the first of Genesis Gen. 1.5.8 13 19 23 31. doth not thereby make either of them to be in time before the other one he was to name first and the reasons why he named the evening before the morning may be these First For that after the Israelites deliverance out of Egypt and I suppose this History to be written after that their Year their Months and the days of their Week were all changed in respect of their beginnings and endings so that whereas they began their days with the morning thenceforth they constantly began their Week-days with the evening See chap. 3. as I shall shew more at large in the next Chapter If Moses now should have set the morning before the evening he might have seemed to dislike this their new custom of beginning their days of the Week with the evening for which he had direction from the Lord God Secondly Or else it may be for that they who were best skill'd in dividing and distinguishing of time as were Astronomers such as doubtless Moses was who was Learned in all the Wisdom of the Egyptians Acts 7.22 began the day at noon making the evening that is all the time from noon to midnight to be the former part of the day and the evening that is all the time from mid-night to noon
one whereof they called the Morning and the other the Evening Gen. 29.23 Eccles 11.6 1 Sam. 17.16 Jer. 6.4 though an act was done before day yet did they count it to be done in the morning Gen. 31.55 Laban rose early in the night according to the Vulgar Translation which in ours is early in the morning The like is said of Moses Exod. 34.4 Mary Magdalen coming to the Sepulchre was before day 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is the darkness or night yet in being John 20.1 notwithstanding that time was counted to be in the morning and the time of our Saviours Resurrection was before that yet was it in the morning This kind of day that is the Meridional day is and ever hath been in common use with all Christians who do and have counted the day as their Heathen Ancestors did before them after mid-night reckoning one two three and so to twelve of the Clock in the morning and the like in the afternoon for the evening So we at this time do begin the day from mid-night making the morning to be the former part of the day and the evening the latter part So did the Egyptians who were for dividing and observing of time excellent and so did the Romans and accordingly so did Christians begin the day from mid-night Aegyptii Sacerdotes Romani à media nocte in alteram mediam noctem numerabant diem qua consuetudo adhuc in Ecclesia Romana permansit saith Clavius (a) Clav. in Sphaerae Jo. de sacro Bos ubi de officiis Meridian In like manner did the Jews begin the day with them in their ordinary and common account of time making the morning to be the former part of the day though the Jews from their coming out of Egypt began all their sacred days or Sabbaths from the time of the setting of the Sun See chap. 3. and also the days serving to meet out to them their sacred days Exod. 13.6 7. Lev. 23.5 6. Ex. 12.18 19. Deut. 16.4 all which were Sabbatical days and called by the Jews The first day of the Sabbath the second day of the Sabbath c. for thus they called the days of their Week or Sabbath Yet otherwise commonly and generally they continued to count their day to begin with the morning as before Never did they begin any day of their Month but with the morning making the evening to be the latter part of the day As for instance the day before their coming out of Rameses was the fourteenth day of Abib Num. 33.3 Ex. 12.6.18 In that night that is in the night of that fourteenth day they did eat the Passover Exod. 12.8 and in that night before the morrow they burned what of the Passover they eat not Exod. 12.10 and not one after that till mid-night was past and the morrow come was to go out of the door of his house Exod. 12.22 At mid-night all the first born in Egypt were slain Exod. 2.29 But the next day that is after mid-night Pharaoh and the Egyptians urged them while it was night to rise and haste away Insomuch that the Israelites took their dough before it was leavened and so in haste went from Rameses Exod. 12.30.31 32 33 34 37. Whence it is evident that the evening in which they ate the Passover and were not to stir out of doors till the morning was part of the fourteenth day and that the time after mid-night in which they were urged to haste away and in which they went abroad out of doors to provide their Cattle to consult about their Journey and their going from Rameses was on the fifteenth day They ate the Passover on the fourteenth and took their journey on the fifteenth day Numb 33.3 Secondly The flesh of the Peace-offering was to be eaten on the same day it was offered and might not be eaten after the whole evening was fully past The same may appear also if the offering had been a vow Lev 7.15 16 17 18. Thirdly The day in which Jesus Christ ate the Passover with his Disciples was the fourteenth day of the month on the same day Christs Disciples asked him where they should provide and prepare for him to eat the Passover and on the same day Peter denyed his Master and the Cock crew Mar. 14.30 Luke 22.34 I say the Question demanded of Christ by his Disciples the killing the Paschal Lamb the eating the Passover Peters denying his Master and the Cocks crowing were all done on one and the same day of the month though the eating the Passover Peters denial and the Cocks crowing were done in the evening in the latter part of that fourteenth day The Astronomers especially and some others in Antient times began the Meridional day at noon John of Holifax telleth us that the Arabians began their day at noon and giveth this reason for it Because when the Sun was made and appeared to the World it was then in a Meridian (a) Jo de sacr Bosc in libello de Computo Ecclesiastico In the day so beginning at noon they had the same parts of the day viz. morning and evening only they made the evening to be the former part And it is more probable than otherwise that when the Sun was made and first appeared to the World it was then in the same Meridian that Paradise was of making it then to be noon there At that time doth the Sun shew it self with the greatest light Deut. 28 29. Job 11.17.5.14 Psal 37. Isa 59.10 Amos 8.9 lustre strength and glory making it to be Sun-rising ninety degrees from it West-ward and Sun-setting ninety degrees from it Eastward and day-light in all places in either side Now I see no reason and I think no man can give any to the contrary but that the Sun should rather thus appear in its glory to Paradise first than unto Spain Judea America or to any other place whatsoever And then if so Moses had good reason even from hence to set the evening before the morning See ch 2. And then it is likely that God made the living Creature after his kind and Adam also in the afternoon and that in the night following I mean when it was night in Paradise though it was then day in some other places the deep sleep fell on Adam when God made the Woman and that she was brought unto him in the morning The naming of the Creatures may be after this for ought we know to the contrary yet all before the next evening that is before the next day beginning at noon there But if any will contend that unless there be better proofs given than probabilities we should not conceive the days of the Creation either the fourth sixth or seventh to begin in Paradise rather at noon than at mid-night Sun-rising or at Sun-setting Yet sure it is more than probable thâ—â— Moses would have the evening to begin at noon What else could he mean by the two Evenings which he in
the Sabbath day here in this Law Commanded to be kept Holy whereas they differ as doth the species from its Genus And from hence he inferreth that it wholly resteth in the power of the Church and Magistrates to appoint the time for Gods publick Worship His words are these The observation of that Sabbath which is pretended to have been Commanded Adam in Paradise is abrogated by Christ as he is the Messias even that day on which God Rested and which he Sanctified (a) Iron pa. 12. The Letter of the Law of Moses being wholly Ceremonial it must be that the determinate time of Cessation from VVorks together with the manner in regard of the strictness thereof is wholly left to the power and wisdom of the Church and Magistrate (b) pag. 225. Now if any reasonable man will weigh these tenets of Mr. Ironside he may plainly perceive that they and every of them do flow from the supposal of the Earths plainness If this be true so must the other and if false then so must all and every of the other be false also they all either stand or fall together and so will their contraries also issuing from the Earths roundness For Let it be granted that the Earth is plain all these following will be true and not otherwise 1. There is but one Horizon to all Nations and places 2. The Sun was in the Horizon at his rising when on the fourth day of the Creation he first appeared and began his course for that day 3 The rising of the Sun in the Horizon was the first period of the fourth day and of the seventh day the day of Gods Rest 4. Men who can tell exactly when it is Sun-rising with them may tell to a minute when the day of Gods Rest doth begin with them in any place 5. Every week-day is the same day in all places all having the same Sun-rising 6. The seventh day even the day of Gods Rest is the seventh day of the week with all People as well in Dublin Salisbury Jerusalem Virginia Japan as in all other places all having the same Horizon Though the day of the coming of the Son of Man in Glory be unknown and likewise the hour whether at midnight or at the Cock-crowing or at the day-dawning yet if it shall be on the Saturday with some it shall be on the Saturday with all and if it be at midnight with some it shall be at mid-night with all or if at the Cock-crowing or at the day-dawning with some then so shall it be with all 7. As the seventh day from the Creation even the day of Gods Rest is the Saturday that is the seventh day of the week with all People so be all the six days of the Creation the same with the six days of the week with all People 8. The seventh day which God blessed and sanctified and commanded in this Law to be kept Holy was the very day of Gods Rest which after God had inverted the day turning morning into evening came to be the same day with the Jews Sabbath where ever they dwelt and began at Sun-setting in all places wherever the Jews abode as in Arabia Jerusalem Babylon Room Spain Ophyr and in all other places where the Jews had never any abiding place for all places having one and the same Horizon must have their day to be one and the same and to begin at one and the same time 9. The Jews had not rested on the seventh day according to Gods example had they not rested on that very seventh day on which God Rested 10. The Jews Sabbath day being the day of Gods Rest and the day which God appointed by this Law to be kept Holy is wholly abolished and abrogated by the coming of the Messias and no other day is commanded by the Lord instead thereof therefore it now resteth in the power of the Church and Magistrates to appoint what day they please for Gods publick Worship If the Earth be plain all and every one of the ten before-going are true but if round they must be all false Let it be granted that the Earth is round all these following will be true and not otherwise 1. Every Nation and place have a several Horizon differing from other 2. The Sun when he first appeared was directly over some part of the Earth or other and shone most gloriously on half the Earth making it to be noon then in the place under him and in all places of the same Meridian The Sun cannot properly be said to be then in the Horizon unless it be meant to some particular place or other as in the Horizon to London c. 3. The first period of the fourth day and so of the day of Gods Rest was noon in some places and one two three c. of the Clock in the afternoon in some and eight nine ten c. of the Clock in the forenoon in some other places 4. The wisest man on Earth cannot tell either at York or at Rome or at any other place the just time when the day of Gods rest did or doth begin within eleven hours of our day 5. As People are distant in place so have they different Horizons and as their Horizons differ so do their week-days from being the very same 6. The day of Gods Rest which is the seventh day from the Creation is the same Universal day with all People but it cannot be the same day of the week with all People If the day of Gods Rest be Saturday with some it must needs be Friday or Sunday with some other People So likewise the time of Christs coming to Judge the World if it be on the Saturday with some it will not be on the Saturday with all but on the Sunday or Friday with some others also if it be at mid-night with some it shall be at Cock-crowing with other some and at day dawning with some others but it will not be at midnight with all nor at Cock-crowing nor at day-dawning with all 7. As the day of Gods Rest cannot be the Saturday nor the seventh day of the week with all People so cannot the six days of the Creation be the same with the six days of the week with all People 8. The seventh day which God Blessed and Sanctified and Commanded in this Law to be kept holy was not the day of Gods Rest For this cannot any where be known when it beginneth or endeth and if it should be known yet all Gods People in all places could not keep the same though they had never fallen by Adam And whether there was or was not an inversion of the day made as aforesaid yet the day of Gods Rest could not be the same day with the Jews Sabbath for this they did or might keep from Sun-setting to Sun-setting in Arabia Jerusalem Babylon Rome Spain Ophyr and in all other places of their abode but the day of Gods Rest they did not nor possibly could
the seventh day Every day of a week is a seventh day but only the boundary thereof is the seventh day of that week In like manner there is much difference between the seventh day of a week and the seventh day of the week The seventh day from the birth of a Child is the seventh day of a week and the boundary thereof then was the Child a week Old The last day of the week of unleavened-bread was the seventh day of a week and so was the seventh day appointed to the Priest in the case of Leprosie as before was shewed but it was not the seventh day of the week of the week whose boundary is Sacred and Commanded to be kept Holy This week is the week 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it hath some excellency in it which other weeks have not and that in respect of its Use Constancy and Universality First It is more excellent than other weeks in regard of its excellent use which is to measure out to men what days are common and what are Sacred which are their six days in which they may work which is the Lords day in which they may not work according to the Lords own standard held out unto us in this Law Six days shalt thou labour c. But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God c. God by this Law tyeth no Nation to a set hour or time when to begin their week nor by what names they should call the days of their week But he tyeth all Nations that at what time sâ—ever they begin the week they work not on the seventh day but Sanctifie it It is the Lords All other weeks are for use inferiour to this Other weeks may for to shew the just time for payments of monies weekly or monthly billeting of Souldiers taking of journeys and for a thousand other reckonings in Civil affairs but all inferiour in use unto this Secondly Other weeks are more inconstant than this they vary in one and the same place or else continue but a short time The weeks of Sweet Bread varied every year with the Jews like as their Passover did which never fell on the same week-day two years together but were as unconstant as the Moon Weeks for payments of moneys billeting Souldiers c. are of short continuance Of those that do use them seldom or never do all of the same City or Town begin them at the same time Whereas weeks in use for pointing out the seventh day Sacred are constant Thirdly Other weeks are not generally in use with all All do not billet by the week nor pay nor receive wages by the week neither do men generally make their reckonings and Accounts by weeks But weeks for measuring out the six days of labour and the seventh day Sacred have been in use with all People and Nations of any note and fame not only with Christians and Jews but also with Turks and Heathen Nations Though the week was not the same with them all and therefore their seventh day Sacred could not be the same with all yet all had seven days to the week and all had the seventh day of their week Sacred The Turks seventh Sacred day with them called Algama is on our Friday because on that day Mahumet fled from Mecha to Jethrib (a) Twiss page 119. The Jews kept their seventh Sacred day on our Saturday beginning the same on Friday at the setting of the Sun because at that time the Israelites first began their six days of gathering Quails and sustenance as may appear in Exod. 16. And because at that time of the day their deliverance out of Egypt was assured and Sealed unto them Deut. 6.6 and also for the Lord Commanded them to do so Lev. 23.32 And Christians keep their seventh day Sacred on the Sunday beginning the same with the morning chiefly for that our Lord and Saviour at Jerusalem made his glorious Resurrection on the Sunday morning The Gentiles also had the Sunday for their seventh Sacred day though they kept it Sacred in honour of the Sun of which I shall say more anon See chap. 15. In these respects this week may truly be said to be more excellent than all other and the boundary thereof to be not only the seventh day of a week but the seventh day of the week CHAP. XIII The Antiquity of Weeks proved THE Antiquity of weeks may be gathered First From that it hath been the general practice of most Nations to have just seven days to the week and every particular day of the week to bear the name of the same Heathenish God or Planet with them all even with those Nations between whom there was no commerce or traffick and were unknown the one to the other How can it be conceived that many Nations should have neither more nor less than seven days to the week and to have the day of the Sun to be Sunday with them all and the day of the Moon to be Monday with all and so every week-day to be the same with them all except with the Jews and Turks who only as far as I can read of altered their week the Jew beginning the same on the Sunday and the Turk on the Saturday for the reasons before given had not their Ancestors before ever they were dispersed far from the Land of Shinar and Assyria under the Assyrian Monarchy in the time the Planets were held the Gods of the World so counted the week and called every week-day by the name of the same Planet as now generally we do They who shall be alive in America three hundred years hence and see there so many Notions of different Tongues and all to have just seven days to the week and all to have Sunday for their seventh Sacred day and call every of their other week-days alike will they not say or conceive that this could never have so happened had not their Ancestors in Europe observed weeks and had just so many days to the week and call every day of the week by the same names before ever they removed thence and were dispersed into so many and various Plantations in America The like may we well conceive of the Antient Saxons Romans Egyptians and other Antient Nations that it could never so have happened that every of them should have weeks and just seven days to the week and every week-day to be called by the name of the same Planet with them all had not their Ancestors under the Assyrian Monarchs who first set up the Idolatry of Worshipping the Planets observed seven days to the week and called the week-days by the same names of the Planets before they came to be Planted abroad in several Nations Secondly Adam at first had no other measure to mete out his Age and time but days and weeks These be had from the Lords Standard who having wrought six days and rested the seventh did Sanctifie the seventh day Adam knew all Creatures at the first sight