CRITICAL AND PRACTICAL THOUGHTS ON THE LAW AND SABBATH

“The law is made for the profane.” 1 Timothy 1:9.RFOS 69.2

This is what the great apostle taught Timothy. In the previous verse he says, “We know that the law is good.” He is speaking of the law of ten commandments as a condemning rule, as the means of reproving men of sin. Among the lawless characters that the law, as such, is made for, he mentions the profane. But who are profane persons?-Those who profane or treat with irreverence sacred things, among which is the holy Sabbath. Therefore, the sin of Sabbath-breaking is clearly condemned by this passage unless it can be shown that God has removed his sanctification from it. This he has never done. The text before us should silence those who, with an air of triumph, ask why the sin of Sabbath-breaking is not condemned in the New Testament. Besides this, the law of ten commandments, which is acknowledged and enforced in the New Testament (Matthew 5:17-19; 19:17, etc.), as strongly condemns this sin as it did when Jehovah proclaimed it with a voice that shook the earth; and the example of Christ and the primitive church in keeping the Sabbath, is no slight reproof to those who presumptuously profane God’s holy day. Luke 4:16; 23:56.RFOS 69.3

The original word, bebelos, from which the word profane in this text is translated, is derived from belos, which signifies a threshold. As a threshold is open and accessible to all, and is polluted by being passed over, so the Sabbath is made common and trodden under foot by those who profane it. How proper, then, it is for the prophet Isaiah, while setting forth the necessity of a Sabbath reform, to encourage the people to turn away their foot from the Sabbath, from doing their pleasure on God’s holy day! Isaiah 58:12, 13. The Greek verb signifying to profane, which corresponds with the term under examination, occurs only twice in the Greek Testament. In one instance it is used with reference to the temple (Acts 24:6); and in the other, with reference to the Sabbath. Matthew 12:5. The enemies of Christ accused him of profaning the Sabbath; but in a masterly manner be exonerated himself from the unjust charge.RFOS 70.1