534 THE SABBATH PERPETUAL, &C. Ex. xvi. 23, 26. The Lord bath said, to-morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the Lord. Six days shall ye gather it, but on the seventh day, which is the sabbath, there shall be none. The notion of a sabbath seems to be mentioned here not as a new thing, or a thing utterly unknown, though the particular seventh day might be unknown and forgotten. Let it be observed here, that in the appointment of the sab- bath to the Jews, a day of rest seems to be the prime endof the institution ; rest from labour seems to be the most obvious ori- ginal design of it; this appears from the very name sabbath, which is aheLrew word and signifies rest. It appears also front the frequent repetition of the law of the sabbath peculiarly as a day of rest, both in the books of Moses and the writings of the prophets. See the words of the fourth commandment : Ex. xx. 8, 9, 10, 11. Remember the sabbath-day to keep it holy : Six days shalt thou labour and do all thy work, but the seventh, day is the sabbathof the Lord thy God: In it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man servant, nor thy maid servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thygates ; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day, where- fore the Lord blessed the seventh-day, and hallowed at. Ex. xxiii 12. Six days shalt thou do all thy work, and on the seventh day thou shaltrest; that thy ox and thy ass may rest, and the sots of thy handmaid, and the stranger may be refreshed. And Ex. xxxi. 15. The seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord; whosoever doth any work ose the sabbath-day, shall surely be put so death. And in the lvi. and lix. chapters of Isa. Pro- mises of mercy are made to those who keep the sabbath from polluting it, anddo not their own pleasure on the holy day of' God. The Jews were sent into captivity for neglecting and profaning the sabbath-day ; Neh. xiii. 17, 18. And therefore in the His- tory of Nehemiah's Reformation, after the return of the Jews from captivity in Babylon, you find frequent mention of his care, that theymight rest from the labours of the week, and thus keep the sabbath ; Neh. xüi. 16, 16, 19, 21. The reason which is mentioned Ex. xx. 11. for the insti- tution of the sabbath, is, because God rested from his work of creation on the seventh dare. 'This was written on the tables of stone, and pronouncedon mount Sinai. And in Dent. v. 14,15. Moses gives another reason, viz. because Israel was then deli- vered out of bondage, and rested from Egyptian slavery. The Lord thy God brought thee out witlz a mighty hand, there- fore the Lord thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath- day. Thus it appears, that rest as a memorial of God's resting from his works of creation, and of Israel's rest and ratease from bondage, were the grand points kept in their view
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