DISCOURSE 1. 531 1 Tim. ii. 12, 13. Mat. xix. 5. and yet all these things seem to be moral and perpetual : And then why may not the sabbath be so too, which being hard to be found out by the light of reason, was revealed and prescribed to man in the same manner as these ? In short, a set time for divine worship seems to be a natural duty, or a moral law : That it should be one day in seven, is re- vealed and positive, yet in some sense moral and perpetual also : And that it should be the seventhday, from the beginning of God's creation, is merely positive, and therefore not perpetual, but changeable as will better appear afterward. 1V. as It is very probable that the pious patriarchs, in the beginning of the world, actually kept this seventh day, though there be no very plain and particular account of it, in so brief a history as that of Moses." Let us observe, that the reasons of it are perpetual, viz. a remembrance of the creating work of God in six days, and his rest on the seventh ; the necessary rest timt belongs to our bodies, our servants, and our cattle ; as well as the necessity of the worship of God at certain seasons ; all whichare contained in the fourth commandment, wherewe are required to keep the sabbath holy. It may be doubted, indeed, whether all the patriarchs, in their pastoral manner of life, could, conveniently keep a sabbath, by meeting in large public assemblies: But as each master of a family was a priest to his ownhouse, so it is most likely they worshipped God in large families assembled on that day in an eminent manner, and their neighbours might attend, though the bible be silent or obscure as to auy notices of it. I say, obscure notices, because though there be no plain and evident examples of keeping the sabbath by the patriarchs: yet how many things are there of plain moral duty toward God and man, which the holy pa- triarchs without doubt practised, of which there is not the least hint in scripture ? Must we conclude then they never prac- tised them ? Bút, there are some texts which have been supposed by critics, to give hints of this practice. Some have thought that in Gen. iv. 3. " the end of the days" when Cain and Abel offered their several offerings, was the end of the week, which was the first, and perhaps the only regular and exact division of time then known in the world, besides day and night. They suppose also, that in Job i. 6. the day when the sons of God cane to pre- sent themselves before the Lord, was the sabbath, when pious families came to meet and worship God ; for they are calledsons of God ; Gen. vi. 2. And there is reason to suppose that Noah, that just and holy man, might observe the sabbath in the ark, andon the sabbath sendout thedove, hoping on that day, to find rest or relief from his tiresome, wandering voyage and imprison- L12
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