ight?

III.

THE SOCIAL AND ETHICAL BASIS OF THE SABBATH LAW.

The institution of the Sabbath in different countries apparently
has a long and complex history. Many explanations have been given
of its origin, aside from the direct divine command. The simplest
and most satisfactory is probably that it was originally connected
with the worship of the moon. There are many indications in Hebrew
history that the early ancestors of the Israelites were moon
worshippers. To-day as in the distant past the inhabitants of the
deserts from whence came the forefathers of the Hebrews make their
journeys under the clear, cool light of the moon, avoiding the hot,
piercing rays of the mid-day sun. The moon with its marvelous
transformations is unquestionably the most striking and
awe-inspiring object in the heavens. It is not strange, therefore,
that many primitive peoples and especially the nomadic desert
dwellers worshipped it as the supreme embodiment of beauty and
power.

In China feast days once a month were doubtless connected with the
phases of the moon. Among the American Indians time was reckoned
by numbers of moons. The custom of observing as sacred the four
days, which marked the transition from one quarter of the moon to
another, was also widespread. In the Hebrew religion the feast of
the New Moon was closely identified with that of the Sabbath. The
Hebrew month was also the lunar month of approximately twenty-eight
days. The new moon, therefore, marked the beginning of the month
and each succeeding Sabbath a new phase of the moon. The fourth
commandment seems, therefore, like the others to have a basis in
nature, and also, as we shall note, a social reason. Would a
commandment be truly divine if it did not have a natural and
reasonable basis? By the ancients rest from labor was regarded as
one of the essential elements in the sacred day. The prophet Amos
denounced the merchants of Northern Israel because they were
constantly saying,

When shall the new moon pass that we may sell grain,
And the Sabbath that we may open the corn?

In its earlier ceremonial interpretation, to abstain from all labor
on the Sabbath was clearly regarded as a primary obligation. Like
fasting, it is probably regarded as an offering due to Jehovah.
The word "holy" in the Hebrew means set apart, distinct. The
Sabbath, therefore, was to differ from the other days of the week.
The great ethical prophets of the Assyrian