A message for all Sabbath breakers.....Owned!!

[guibox]

So you live a secular life for most of the week and a godly life on one day? If you think this is what the bible means, guibox, then you are sadly mistaken. You understand none of Christ's words about being in the world, not of the world. You don't have a clue what that means, and neither do the Jews.

It is clear that you are not capable of spiritual discernment. Therefore, none of your arguments are credible. They come from human wisdom, not spiritual wisdom, just like the Jews. In addition, you undermine the holiness of the Sabbath by seeing it as simply a day of the week. You're not ready for milk, much less solid food.

Yes, Heidi...whatever.

It is you who are stuck on the 'ungodly' works thing not me. Having the seventh day sabbath doesn't mean being a sinner all week to be a Christian on the Sabbath. You don't have a clue what the Sabbath was about and missed it in my posts, obviously.

Unfortunately, it is this attitude that permeates even Sunday keepers. People think being a Christian means going to church once a week. This is not what Sabbath is about.

 

[Servant_2000]

Herein lies you sabbath keepers greatest problem: if God works by His spoken Word to create, and if He ceased His creative spoken Word and held a sabbath rigidly so that He Himself would not work on any sabbath, then there is one day out of the week God cannot save or do the work of a new creation in the lives and souls of those who are lost. The Word of God would be silent on that day. No soul could be saved on that day. Is this true?

No. And herein lies your problem. The Sabbath is not merely a 'cessation from work'. Christ came to do away with the legalistic 'no works' aspect of the Sabbath. Rather, we see that the Sabbath is a memorial of not only creation but redemption!

"I am the Lord God that has saved you, wherefore, honor the Sabbath day"

On a cosmic scale, we see that Christ came to save us from our sins. Only God could forgive sins. By Christ's very act of saving us, He shows us who He really is. He proved this through the Sabbath just as He did to the Israelites. He came to heal the people and exposed the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. "It is lawful to do good on the Sabbath". By healing people physically, emotionally and spiritually on the Sabbath, Christ was showing its true meaning and that it was wrapped up in Christ's greater work of salvation.

[quote="servant_2000":2c585]Even among you sabbath keepers you do not believe this. What I have seen for over 35 years among many congregations is that the creative power of God has been at work seven days a week with no regard to an alleged sabbath. You Sabbath keepers have no answer for this. Look what Jesus said:

"And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day. But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work" (John 5:16-17).

Did Jesus say He had worked a miracle by the power of God on the sabbath day? Jesus called performing miracles "work". Even you sabbath keepers who believe in a miracle working God will summon Him to do work on the sabbath as you call upon the name of Jesus for the miracles of salvation and healing. Can a sabbath keeper even work as Jesus worked, when this was forbidden under the Law?

Now you are being legalistic like the Pharisees. It is lawful to do good on the Sabbath. Acts of service, charity, healing and love are all of what the Sabbath is about. This is where the Pharisees missed the mark and made the Sabbath a legalistic burden.

The Sabbath is a time, (set aside by God and cemented by divine example, not merely a command), where we take a break from our secular lives to reflect on who God is (our Creator and Redeemer). It is a time when we abstain from our works so God may fully work in us. Even Calvin understood this, though he applied the sanctity of the Sabbath commandment to Sunday.[/quote:2c585]

There has been a lot of tap-dancing about you sabbath-keepers not staying home on the sabbath day inside your homes. The Pharisees had reinterpreted the law of the sabbath. Instead of staying inside the home and resting, they allowed a person to go a sabbath day's journey. The distance of a sabbath day's journey is argued by many. Like most sabbath-keepers claim you are at liberty to go where ever you want what ever the distance, not being bound by the man-made traditions of the Pharisees. These are willingly refusing to abide by the original law of the sabbath to stay inside one's home all day and travel no where. You have in fact created a man-made law of your own which is far more liberal than that created by the Pharisees.

In the days of Jesus, the Pharisees had created all sorts of exemptions for certain work on the sabbath day. If a lamb fell into a pit it could be pulled out and this would not be considered work (Matthew 12:11); they could lead an ox or an ass from their stall and take them to water and put them back in their stalls (Luke 13:15); circumcisions were practiced on the sabbath day (John 7:22); the bankers and the money changers could set up business in the temple; and animal sacrifices could be sold on the sabbath day. The Pharisee Bet-Dins would determine each case of accusation against someone. The basic man-made rule was that if a work was a good work (sympathy or benevolent) it was acceptable. If it was something by which a person profited it was illegal. Do you modern sabbath-keepers have Bet-Dins to issue punishment for sabbath breakers in your groups? No, you do not. It is a day of alleged solemnity but it is a day during which you break the law of the sabbath by not enforcing it. Like the Pharisees, you pick and choose upon whom you want to issue your damnations and judgments and it is never against the sabbath breakers among yourselves.

I've said before, you want to enforce sabbath keeping? Practice what you preach...start obeying Exodus 16:29.

Guibox when you point your finger at someone you will always have 3 fingers pointing right back at you....just keep tap dancing around the truth, you might fall someday and land on it...and you might know it.

You get no second chance to keep the sabbath law. There is no pardon under the law. If you break the sabbath you deserve instant death. There is no reprieve. You cannot hire a lawyer. The man caught picking up sticks to build a fire had broken two parts of the sabbath law.
1.) He went out of his house; and
2.) he worked to gather sticks. All Israel stoned him to death (Numbers 15:32-36).

You are guilty of breaking the sabbath. You cannot get a pardon under the law. You deserve to die. Who will kill you and dispatch you on to an eternal hell lost? He that is without sin can cast the first stone! Now we come to the great and notable Lord Jesus Messiah. He who took our place on Calvary and died in our place. He took upon Himself all of our sins and the punishment of them. He took the death penalty of those who broke the sabbath and those guilty of all other sins under the law. To the Gentiles without the law, He died for our ungodliness and our abominations that although identified in the law, were not identified by law for the obedience of the Gentiles. He took upon Jim our damnation and our judgment of being lost and without hope under the Law since the Law was salvation only to the Jews. To fulfill the second half of what was sworn to Abraham, Jesus stretched forth His hands upon the Cross and died for the whole world.

Anyone who goes back under the law of the sabbath and takes their sins and the punishment of death down from the nail-scared hands of Jesus, has denied Him and counted the blood of His cross an unholy thing and have crucified to themselves the Son of God afresh. They place themselves among the group of Jews that day who said: "away with him" and would not have His blood to atone for their sins of death, choosing rather to claim some security in Moses and keeping the law.

Anyone who has the revelation of Calvary could never be a law-keeper, a sabbath day observer, or a follower of Moses. The law is the way of death for sin. And since Jesus took our place for the death penalties of the law, those who look to Jesus by faith will be glad the law was ended at Calvary. For all the Israel under the law stands guilty of death before God:

"Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God" (Romans 3:19).

If the law is to be enforced then there is no one who can survive tomorrow except for the infants who would die for lack of someone to provide their daily needs. The whole world is guilty of death and thus Jesus died for the whole world that the judgment of the law might fall upon Him and we could go free, ...the just for the unjust (1 Peter 3:18). Anyone who dares to keep the law takes down from the nail-scared hands of Jesus the sin and guilt of their transgressions. These are not saved as yet by grace through faith, they remain under the law and the curse without salvation.

Absolutely no one keeps the sabbath law today anywhere in the world. You just pretend to do so, and claim to do so. But upon close examination I have found that they are all guilty of death. Since there is no forgiveness under the law for a single act of breaking the law; since there is no mercy; since there is no saving grace, you damn yourselves from the Lord Jesus and the benefits of Calvary claiming to be under the law anyway. In your ignorance mercy awaits for you at Calvary but you must give up the law of sin and death to receive it. If Jesus comes and law-keepers are still trying to observe the law as works for righteousness and salvation, then you lack of faith in Jesus for their pardon and full salvation will cause you to be lost. Absolutely no one practicing the law for salvation will be save when Jesus comes. It is Acts 2:38 and grace through faith or hell, take your pick.

 

[Jay T]

On a cosmic scale, we see that Christ came to save us from our sins.

And INCREDIBLY....the Christian world won't let HIM !!!!

 

[Servant_2000]

[quote="servant_2000":fd51d]On a cosmic scale, we see that Christ came to save us from our sins.

And INCREDIBLY....the Christian world won't let HIM !!!![/quote:fd51d]

Romans 1:16
I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile

 

[Servant_2000]

[quote="servant_2000":7fea0]On a cosmic scale, we see that Christ came to save us from our sins.

And INCREDIBLY....the Christian world won't let HIM !!!![/quote:7fea0]

More incredibly, as for the Christian world, we are not our own, we have no choice, we were bought at a price.. 1 Corinthians 6:20 1 Corinthians 7:23

 

[Jay T]

[quote="Jay T":212fe][quote="servant_2000":212fe]On a cosmic scale, we see that Christ came to save us from our sins.

And INCREDIBLY....the Christian world won't let HIM !!!![/quote:212fe]

Romans 1:16
I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile[/quote:212fe]As I said...INCREDIBLE.....as the majority of the Christian world today knows not...what salvation is.

So many say...."I believe in Jesus Christ"....then refuse, to obey, what He says to do ?!?

 

[Heidi]

So you live a secular life for most of the week and a godly life on one day? If you think this is what the bible means, guibox, then you are sadly mistaken. You understand none of Christ's words about being in the world, not of the world. You don't have a clue what that means, and neither do the Jews.

It is clear that you are not capable of spiritual discernment. Therefore, none of your arguments are credible. They come from human wisdom, not spiritual wisdom, just like the Jews. In addition, you undermine the holiness of the Sabbath by seeing it as simply a day of the week. You're not ready for milk, much less solid food.

Yes, Heidi...whatever.

It is you who are stuck on the 'ungodly' works thing not me. Having the seventh day sabbath doesn't mean being a sinner all week to be a Christian on the Sabbath. You don't have a clue what the Sabbath was about and missed it in my posts, obviously.

Unfortunately, it is this attitude that permeates even Sunday keepers. People think being a Christian means going to church once a week. This is not what Sabbath is about.

That's what you think the Sabbath is, guibox. Just a day of the week, which is why it's so important for you to get the right day. I'm sorry for you.

 

[Servant_2000]

[quote="servant_2000":ef68a][quote="Jay T":ef68a][quote="servant_2000":ef68a]On a cosmic scale, we see that Christ came to save us from our sins.

And INCREDIBLY....the Christian world won't let HIM !!!![/quote:ef68a]

Romans 1:16
I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile[/quote:ef68a]As I said...INCREDIBLE.....as the majority of the Christian world today knows not...what salvation is.

So many say...."I believe in Jesus Christ"....then refuse, to obey, what He says to do ?!?[/quote:ef68a]

Try this with what you just said..

Exodus 16:29 See, for that the LORD hath given you the sabbath, therefore He giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days; abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.

No one can go out of their house on the Sabbath day, are you obeying what He says NOT TO DO?

 

[guibox]

Try this with what you just said..

Exodus 16:29 See, for that the LORD hath given you the sabbath, therefore He giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days; abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.

No one can go out of their house on the Sabbath day, are you obeying what He says NOT TO DO?

You know. It amazes how legalistic you are to completely ignore the stated context of the verse to make it say what you want.

First of all, Moses is making this command.
Second if you actually looked at the context you would see that the whole thing about not leaving was to pick manna. Moses was saying that God would provide enough manna on Friday that they would not need to go out and pick it on Sabbath. You are making this verse say more than it is.

I would like you to show me biblical proof (even in the Pharisaical NT times) that such command was ever followed? As a matter of fact, we see the exact opposite: there was no such command as many people including the Pharisees were out of their house on the Sabbath.

Amazing that the Pharisees condemned Jesus in the synagogue for healing on the Sabbath. What were they doing out of their house? What were the people doing at the synagogue? Pretty strange for such a legalistic culture to ignore so obvious a command..

servant2000, it's okay to admit your error. You don't have the monopoly on biblical interpretation.

 

[Jay T]

That's what you think the Sabbath is, guibox. Just a day of the week, which is why it's so important for you to get the right day. I'm sorry for you.

Christ said......"REMEMBER the Sabbath day...to keep it holy"

Luke 6:46 "And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say ?"

 

[Jay T]

Your response is of course, purposely vague. Again, why are we to honor God's day of rest more than the other 6 days he miraculously created the word? Why is it more important? :-?

You think it maybe, because God said so ?

I mean after all....of all the days of the week.....God said to 'REMEMBER' how many days ?
Exodus 20:8 "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy".

20:9 "Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work"

20:10 "But the seventh day [is] the sabbath of the LORD thy God: [in it] thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that [is] within thy gates:
20:11 For [in] six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them [is], and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it".

And then, did He mention how long it would last ?

Psalms 111:7 "The works of his hands [are] verity and judgment; all his commandments [are] sure.
111:8 They stand fast for ever and ever, [and are] done in truth and uprightness".

 

[SputnikBoy]

I don't know whether or not this has been addressed, but do you all not realize the significance of the seven-day weekly cycle? We know where a day comes from (a completed revolution of the earth on its axis relative to the sun); where a month comes from (the period of time taken by the moon to return to the same longitude after one complete revolution around the earth); where a year comes from (the earth's completed orbit around the sun) ...but, where does the seven-day week come from?

Well, it comes from no where else but the Bible. Even atheists acknowledge a seven-day weekly cycle. Furthermore, why did God take even six days to complete His work? I mean, He surely could have 'zapped' everything into existence immediately if He'd care to. But He didn't. He chose to spread out the act of Creation over six days. And then, we're told, God rested on the seventh-day.

Not only that. God also blessed and sanctified that day. Why? Did He set that day aside and bestow on it this honor specifically for the Jewish nation some 500 years before the first Jew even came into existence? Did the pre-Jew have commandments that they were required to keep? Did they know about 'thou shall not kill, thou shall not commit adultery', etc? I think so. Why do you think God planned it this way, Heidi?

 

[Servant_2000]

Your response is of course, purposely vague. Again, why are we to honor God's day of rest more than the other 6 days he miraculously created the word? Why is it more important? :-?

You think it maybe, because God said so ?

I mean after all....of all the days of the week.....God said to 'REMEMBER' how many days ?
Exodus 20:8 "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy".

20:9 "Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work"

20:10 "But the seventh day [is] the sabbath of the LORD thy God: [in it] thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that [is] within thy gates:
20:11 For [in] six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them [is], and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it".

And then, did He mention how long it would last ?

Psalms 111:7 "The works of his hands [are] verity and judgment; all his commandments [are] sure.
111:8 They stand fast for ever and ever, [and are] done in truth and uprightness".

"The Lord our God made a covenant with us at Horeb. The Lord did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, with all those of us alive here today" (Deut 5:2-3).

The sabbath was given as a rest from Egyptian bondage. They were to remember that they were slaves to a pagan king who had no honor for the Israelites or their God (Deuteronomy 5:14-15). It is simple to see that the sabbath or the covenant of the law received at Mount Sinai had not been given to Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob, or any of the other patriarchs back to Adam.

God knows ancient history even if we do not. To say the law as given on Sinai was already practiced by the fathers before the law, is to make God a liar. God said the law had not been GIVEN to the patriarchs and law-keepers say it was: WHO DO WE BELIEVE GOD OR MAN?

Exodus 16:29 We have God giving the Sabbath to Moses and Moses gave it to the Israelites as if they DID NOT KNOW it.

 

[guibox]

"The Lord our God made a covenant with us at Horeb. The Lord did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, with all those of us alive here today" (Deut 5:2-3).

The sabbath was given as a rest from Egyptian bondage. They were to remember that they were slaves to a pagan king who had no honor for the Israelites or their God (Deuteronomy 5:14-15). It is simple to see that the sabbath or the covenant of the law received at Mount Sinai had not been given to Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob, or any of the other patriarchs back to Adam.

God knows ancient history even if we do not. To say the law as given on Sinai was already practiced by the fathers before the law, is to make God a liar. God said the law had not been GIVEN to the patriarchs and law-keepers say it was: WHO DO WE BELIEVE GOD OR MAN?

Exodus 16:29 We have God giving the Sabbath to Moses and Moses gave it to the Israelites as if they DID NOT KNOW it.

Interesting interpretation, servant. However you are again confusing the terms of the covenant with the covenant itself. To make this verse say that because the covenant was not made with the fathers, they never observed the Sabbath is ludicrous.

You neglect to mention that this would also mean that the patriarchs didn't observe the other commandments of 'not having any gods before Yahweh, 'not making a graven image', 'not stealing', 'killing' or 'committing adultery', as all of these (the 10 commandments) are mentioned in the covenant of Deuteronomy 5.

Are you willing to say this or are you going to make more excuses?

You also neglect the greater Messianic purpose of the Sabbath in its redemptive meaning. As the Sabbath was a sign of God's redemption of His people in the Old Israel, so it is with the New Israel. We are Abraham's seed and the Sabbath is a reminder of creation (that has never changed, nor been for a specific amount of people) and of Christ's redemptive work for us.

 

[Scott]

Good points servant_2000, Exodus 16:23 also points out that the Sabbath was not a familiar event among the Israelites. So to say the Sabbath has been kept since creation is completely fabricated because its not backed up by God's Word. Secondly, the beginning of the Sabbath which began with Moses is also consistent with the fact that Jesus never mentioned the Sabbath when inquired about which commandments one should keep. It could have easily been commanded prior and after the OC but it was not. Its best to not assume what the Bible does not say.

But if one takes a second to think about this issue, a Sabbath that's not commanded in the NC completely collapses the mark of the beast doctrine found in SDA. A wise man will eventually stop justifying the false prophecies and errored doctrine controversies and face up to the truth.

 

[Heidi]

Your response is of course, purposely vague. Again, why are we to honor God's day of rest more than the other 6 days he miraculously created the word? Why is it more important? :-?

You think it maybe, because God said so ?

I mean after all....of all the days of the week.....God said to 'REMEMBER' how many days ?
Exodus 20:8 "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy".

20:9 "Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work"

20:10 "But the seventh day [is] the sabbath of the LORD thy God: [in it] thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that [is] within thy gates:
20:11 For [in] six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them [is], and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it".

And then, did He mention how long it would last ?

Psalms 111:7 "The works of his hands [are] verity and judgment; all his commandments [are] sure.
111:8 They stand fast for ever and ever, [and are] done in truth and uprightness".

Yes, he did mention how long it would last. Hebrews 4:3, "And yet his work has been finished since the creation of the world." The seventh day was the day God rested from all his work forever. And Hebrews 4:10 tells us; "for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his."

It clearly says that we are to rest from our own work, just as God rests from his which is forever.

You are still under the old covenant, Jay, T. which is works not grace. That's why you interpret the Sabbath as a day of the week and "work" as physical labor instead of earning our way to heaven, which can't be done. That is also how the Jews still interpret the Sabbath because they are not under grace but under works.

 

[Jay T]

[You are still under the old covenant, Jay, T. which is works not grace. That's why you interpret the Sabbath as a day of the week and "work" as physical labor instead of earning our way to heaven, which can't be done. That is also how the Jews still interpret the Sabbath because they are not under grace but under works.

Adam and Eve, at their creation, had a knowledge of the law of God; they were acquainted with its claims upon them; its precepts were written upon their hearts.
When man fell by transgression the law was not changed, but a remedial system was established to bring him back to obedience. The promise of a Saviour was given, and sacrificial offerings pointing forward to the death of Christ as the great sin offering were established.
But had the law of God never been transgressed, there would have been no death, and no need of a Saviour; consequently there would have been no need of sacrifices.


Adam taught his descendants the law of God, and it was handed down from father to son through successive generations. But notwithstanding the gracious provision for man's redemption, there were few who accepted it and rendered obedience. By transgression the world became so vile that it was necessary to cleanse it by the Flood from its corruption. The law was preserved by Noah and his family, and Noah taught his descendants the Ten Commandments. As men again departed from God, the Lord chose Abraham, of whom He declared, "Abraham obeyed My voice, and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws." Genesis 26:5. To him was given the rite of circumcision, which was a sign that those who received it were devoted to the service of God--a pledge that they would remain separate from idolatry, and would obey the law of God. The failure of Abraham's descendants to keep this pledge, as shown in their disposition to form alliances with the heathen and adopt their practices, was the cause of their sojourn and bondage in Egypt. But in their intercourse with idolaters, and their forced submission to the Egyptians, the divine precepts became still further corrupted with the vile and cruel teachings of heathenism. Therefore when the Lord brought them forth from Egypt, He came down upon Sinai, enshrouded in glory and surrounded by His angels, and in awful majesty spoke His law in the hearing of all the people.

He did not even then trust His precepts to the memory of a people who were prone to forget His requirements, but wrote them upon tables of stone. He would remove from Israel all possibility of mingling heathen traditions with His holy precepts, or of confounding His requirements with human ordinances or customs. But He did not stop with giving them the precepts of the Decalogue. The people had shown themselves so easily led astray that He would leave no door of temptation unguarded. Moses was commanded to write, as God should bid him, judgments and laws giving minute instruction as to what was required. These directions relating to the duty of the people to God, to one another, and to the stranger were only the principles of the Ten Commandments amplified and given in a specific manner, that none need err. They were designed to guard the sacredness of the ten precepts engraved on the tables of stone.

If man had kept the law of God, as given to Adam after his fall, preserved by Noah, and observed by Abraham, there would have been no necessity for the ordinance of circumcision. And if the descendants of Abraham had kept the covenant, of which circumcision was a sign, they would never have been seduced into idolatry, nor would it have been necessary for them to suffer a life of bondage in Egypt; they would have kept God's law in mind, and there would have been no necessity for it to be proclaimed from Sinai or engraved upon the tables of stone. And had the people practiced the principles of the Ten Commandments, there would have been no need of the additional directions given to Moses.

The sacrificial system, committed to Adam, was also perverted by his descendants. Superstition, idolatry, cruelty, and licentiousness corrupted the simple and significant service that God had appointed. Through long intercourse with idolaters the people of Israel had mingled many heathen customs with their worship; therefore the Lord gave them at Sinai definite instruction concerning the sacrificial service. After the completion of the tabernacle He communicated with Moses from the cloud of glory above the mercy seat, and gave him full directions concerning the system of offerings and the forms of worship to be maintained in the sanctuary. The ceremonial law was thus given to Moses, and by him written in a book. But the law of Ten Commandments spoken from Sinai had been written by God Himself on the tables of stone, and was sacredly preserved in the ark.

There are many who try to blend these two systems, using the texts that speak of the ceremonial law to prove that the moral law has been abolished; but this is a perversion of the Scriptures. The distinction between the two systems is broad and clear. The ceremonial system was made up of symbols pointing to Christ, to His sacrifice and His priesthood. This ritual law, with its sacrifices and ordinances, was to be performed by the Hebrews until type met antitype in the death of Christ, the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. Then all the sacrificial offerings were to cease. It is this law that Christ "took . . . out of the way, nailing it to His cross." Colossians 2:14. But concerning the law of Ten Commandments the psalmist declares, "Forever, O Lord, Thy word is settled in heaven." Psalm 119:89. And Christ Himself says, "Think not that I am come to destroy the law. . . . Verily I say unto you"--making the assertion as emphatic as possible--"Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." Matthew 5:17, 18. Here He teaches, not merely what the claims of God's law had been, and were then, but that these claims should hold as long as the heavens and the earth remain. The law of God is as immutable as His throne. It will maintain its claims upon mankind in all ages.

Concerning the law proclaimed from Sinai, Nehemiah says, "Thou camest down also upon Mount Sinai, and spakest with them from heaven, and gavest them right judgments, and true laws, good statutes and commandments." Nehemiah 9:13. And Paul, "the apostle to the Gentiles," declares, "The law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good." Romans 7:12. This can be no other than the Decalogue; for it is the law that says, "Thou shalt not covet." Verse 7.

While the Saviour's death brought to an end the law of types and shadows, it did not in the least detract from the obligation of the moral law. On the contrary, the very fact that it was necessary for Christ to die in order to atone for the transgression of that law, proves it to be immutable.

Those who claim that Christ came to abrogate the law of God and to do away with the Old Testament, speak of the Jewish age as one of darkness, and represent the religion of the Hebrews as consisting of mere forms and ceremonies. But this is an error. All through the pages of sacred history, where the dealings of God with His chosen people are recorded, there are burning traces of the great I AM. Never has He given to the sons of men more open manifestations of His power and glory than when He alone was acknowledged as Israel's ruler, and gave the law to His people. Here was a scepter swayed by no human hand; and the stately goings forth of Israel's invisible King were unspeakably grand and awful.

In all these revelations of the divine presence the glory of God was manifested through Christ. Not alone at the Saviour's advent, but through all the ages after the Fall and the promise of redemption, "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself." 2 Corinthians 5:19. Christ was the foundation and center of the sacrificial system in both the patriarchal and the Jewish age. Since the sin of our first parents there has been no direct communication between God and man. The Father has given the world into the hands of Christ, that through His mediatorial work He may redeem man and vindicate the authority and holiness of the law of God. All the communion between heaven and the fallen race has been through Christ. It was the Son of God that gave to our first parents the promise of redemption. It was He who revealed Himself to the patriarchs. Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses understood the gospel. They looked for salvation through man's Substitute and Surety. These holy men of old held communion with the Saviour who was to come to our world in human flesh; and some of them talked with Christ and heavenly angels face to face.

Christ was not only the leader of the Hebrews in the wilderness--the Angel in whom was the name of Jehovah, and who, veiled in the cloudy pillar, went before the host--but it was He who gave the law to Israel.
Amid the awful glory of Sinai, Christ declared in the hearing of all the people the ten precepts of His Father's law. It was He who gave to Moses the law engraved upon the tables of stone.

It was Christ that spoke to His people through the prophets. The apostle Peter, writing to the Christian church, says that the prophets "prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow." 1 Peter 1:10, 11. It is the voice of Christ that speaks to us through the Old Testament. "The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." Revelation 19:10.

In His teachings while personally among men Jesus directed the minds of the people to the Old Testament. He said to the Jews, "Ye search the Scriptures, because ye think that in them ye have eternal life; and these are they which bear witness of Me." John 5:39, R.V. At this time the books of the Old Testament were the only part of the Bible in existence. Again the Son of God declared, "They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them." And He added, "If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead." Luke 16:29, 31.

The ceremonial law was given by Christ. Even after it was no longer to be observed, Paul presented it before the Jews in its true position and value, showing its place in the plan of redemption and its relation to the work of Christ; and the great apostle pronounces this law glorious, worthy of its divine Originator. The solemn service of the sanctuary typified the grand truths that were to be revealed through successive generations. The cloud of incense ascending with the prayers of Israel represents His righteousness that alone can make the sinner's prayer acceptable to God; the bleeding victim on the altar of sacrifice testified of a Redeemer to come; and from the holy of holies the visible token of the divine Presence shone forth. Thus through age after age of darkness and apostasy faith was kept alive in the hearts of men until the time came for the advent of the promised Messiah.

Jesus was the light of His people--the Light of the world--before He came to earth in the form of humanity. The first gleam of light that pierced the gloom in which sin had wrapped the world, came from Christ. And from Him has come every ray of heaven's brightness that has fallen upon the inhabitants of the earth. In the plan of redemption Christ is the Alpha and the Omega--the First and the Last.

Since the Saviour shed His blood for the remission of sins, and ascended to heaven "to appear in the presence of God for us" (Hebrews 9:24), light has been streaming from the cross of Calvary and from the holy places of the sanctuary above. But the clearer light granted us should not cause us to despise that which in earlier times was received through the types pointing to the coming Saviour. The gospel of Christ sheds light upon the Jewish economy and gives significance to the ceremonial law. As new truths are revealed, and that which has been known from the beginning is brought into clearer light, the character and purposes of God are made manifest in His dealings with His chosen people. Every additional ray of light that we receive gives us a clearer understanding of the plan of redemption, which is the working out of the divine will in the salvation of man. We see new beauty and force in the inspired word, and we study its pages with a deeper and more absorbing interest.

The opinion is held by many that God placed a separating wall between the Hebrews and the outside world; that His care and love, withdrawn to a great extent from the rest of mankind, were centered upon Israel. But God did not design that His people should build up a wall of partition between themselves and their fellow men. The heart of Infinite Love was reaching out toward all the inhabitants of the earth. Though they had rejected Him, He was constantly seeking to reveal Himself to them and make them partakers of His love and grace. His blessing was granted to the chosen people, that they might bless others.


God called Abraham, and prospered and honored him; and the patriarch's fidelity was a light to the people in all the countries of his sojourn. Abraham did not shut himself away from the people around him. He maintained friendly relations with the kings of the surrounding nations, by some of whom he was treated with great respect; and his integrity and unselfishness, his valor and benevolence, were representing the character of God. In Mesopotamia, in Canaan, in Egypt, and even to the inhabitants of Sodom, the God of heaven was revealed through His representative.

So to the people of Egypt and of all the nations connected with that powerful kingdom, God manifested Himself through Joseph. Why did the Lord choose to exalt Joseph so highly among the Egyptians? He might have provided some other way for the accomplishment of His purposes toward the children of Jacob; but He desired to make Joseph a light, and He placed him in the palace of the king, that the heavenly illumination might extend far and near. By his wisdom and justice, by the purity and benevolence of his daily life, by his devotion to the interests of the people--and that people a nation of idolaters--Joseph was a representative of Christ. In their benefactor, to whom all Egypt turned with gratitude and praise, that heathen people were to behold the love of their Creator and Redeemer. So in Moses also God placed a light beside the throne of the earth's greatest kingdom, that all who would, might learn of the true and living God. And all this light was given to the Egyptians before the hand of God was stretched out over them in judgments.

In the deliverance of Israel from Egypt a knowledge of the power of God spread far and wide. The warlike people of the stronghold of Jericho trembled. "As soon as we had heard these things," said Rahab, "our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for Jehovah your God, He is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath." Joshua 2:11. Centuries after the exodus the priests of the Philistines reminded their people of the plagues of Egypt, and warned them against resisting the God of Israel.

God called Israel, and blessed and exalted them, not that by obedience to His law they alone might receive His favor and become the exclusive recipients of His blessings, but in order to reveal Himself through them to all the inhabitants of the earth. It was for the accomplishment of this very purpose that He commanded them to keep themselves distinct from the idolatrous nations around them.

Idolatry and all the sins that followed in its train were abhorrent to God, and He commanded His people not to mingle with other nations, to "do after their works," and forget God. He forbade their marriage with idolaters, lest their hearts should be led away from Him. It was just as necessary then as it is now that God's people should be pure, "unspotted from the world." They must keep themselves free from its spirit, because it is opposed to truth and righteousness. But God did not intend that His people, in self-righteous exclusiveness, should shut themselves away from the world, so that they could have no influence upon it.

Like their Master, the followers of Christ in every age were to be the light of the world. The Saviour said, "A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house"--that is, in the world. And He adds, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." Matthew 5:14-16. This is just what Enoch, and Noah, Abraham, Joseph, and Moses did. It is just what God designed that His people Israel should do.

It was their own evil heart of unbelief, controlled by Satan, that led them to hide their light, instead of shedding it upon surrounding peoples; it was that same bigoted spirit that caused them either to follow the iniquitous practices of the heathen or to shut themselves away in proud exclusiveness, as if God's love and care were over them alone.

As the Bible presents two laws, one changeless and eternal, the other provisional and temporary, so there are two covenants. The covenant of grace was first made with man in Eden, when after the Fall there was given a divine promise that the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent's head. To all men this covenant offered pardon and the assisting grace of God for future obedience through faith in Christ. It also promised them eternal life on condition of fidelity to God's law. Thus the patriarchs received the hope of salvation.

This same covenant was renewed to Abraham in the promise, "In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." Genesis 22:18. This promise pointed to Christ. So Abraham understood it (see Galatians 3:8, 16), and he trusted in Christ for the forgiveness of sins. It was this faith that was accounted unto him for righteousness. The covenant with Abraham also maintained the authority of God's law. The Lord appeared unto Abraham, and said, "I am the Almighty God; walk before Me, and be thou perfect." Genesis 17:1. The testimony of God concerning His faithful servant was, "Abraham obeyed My voice, and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws." Genesis 26:5. And the Lord declared to him, "I will establish My covenant between Me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee and to thy seed after thee." Genesis 17:7.

Though this covenant was made with Adam and renewed to Abraham, it could not be ratified until the death of Christ. It had existed by the promise of God since the first intimation of redemption had been given; it had been accepted by faith; yet when ratified by Christ, it is called a new covenant. The law of God was the basis of this covenant, which was simply an arrangement for bringing men again into harmony with the divine will, placing them where they could obey God's law.

Another compact--called in Scripture the "old" covenant--was formed between God and Israel at Sinai, and was then ratified by the blood of a sacrifice. The Abrahamic covenant was ratified by the blood of Christ, and it is called the "second," or "new," covenant, because the blood by which it was sealed was shed after the blood of the first covenant. That the new covenant was valid in the days of Abraham is evident from the fact that it was then confirmed both by the promise and by the oath of God--the "two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie." Hebrews 6:18.

But if the Abrahamic covenant contained the promise of redemption, why was another covenant formed at Sinai? In their bondage the people had to a great extent lost the knowledge of God and of the principles of the Abrahamic covenant. In delivering them from Egypt, God sought to reveal to them His power and His mercy, that they might be led to love and trust Him. He brought them down to the Red Sea--where, pursued by the Egyptians, escape seemed impossible--that they might realize their utter helplessness, their need of divine aid; and then He wrought deliverance for them. Thus they were filled with love and gratitude to God and with confidence in His power to help them. He had bound them to Himself as their deliverer from temporal bondage.

But there was a still greater truth to be impressed upon their minds. Living in the midst of idolatry and corruption, they had no true conception of the holiness of God, of the exceeding sinfulness of their own hearts, their utter inability, in themselves, to render obedience to God's law, and their need of a Saviour. All this they must be taught.

God brought them to Sinai; He manifested His glory; He gave them His law, with the promise of great blessings on condition of obedience: "If ye will obey My voice indeed, and keep My covenant, then . . . ye shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation." Exodus 19:5, 6. The people did not realize the sinfulness of their own hearts, and that without Christ it was impossible for them to keep God's law; and they readily entered into covenant with God. Feeling that they were able to establish their own righteousness, they declared, "All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient." Exodus 24:7. They had witnessed the proclamation of the law in awful majesty, and had trembled with terror before the mount; and yet only a few weeks passed before they broke their covenant with God, and bowed down to worship a graven image. They could not hope for the favor of God through a covenant which they had broken; and now, seeing their sinfulness and their need of pardon, they were brought to feel their need of the Saviour revealed in the Abrahamic covenant and shadowed forth in the sacrificial offerings. Now by faith and love they were bound to God as their deliverer from the bondage of sin. Now they were prepared to appreciate the blessings of the new covenant.

The terms of the "old covenant" were, Obey and live: "If a man do, he shall even live in them" (Ezekiel 20:11; Leviticus 18:5); but "cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them." Deuteronomy 27:26. The "new covenant" was established upon "better promises"--the promise of forgiveness of sins and of the grace of God to renew the heart and bring it into harmony with the principles of God's law. "This shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts. . . . I will forgive their iniquity, and will remember their sin no more." Jeremiah 31:33, 34.

The same law that was engraved upon the tables of stone is written by the Holy Spirit upon the tables of the heart. Instead of going about to establish our own righteousness we accept the righteousness of Christ. His blood atones for our sins. His obedience is accepted for us. Then the heart renewed by the Holy Spirit will bring forth "the fruits of the Spirit." Through the grace of Christ we shall live in obedience to the law of God written upon our hearts. Having the Spirit of Christ, we shall walk even as He walked. Through the prophet He declared of Himself, "I delight to do Thy will, O My God: yea, Thy law is within My heart." Psalm 40:8. And when among men He said, "The Father hath not left Me alone; for I do always those things that please Him." John 8:29.

The apostle Paul clearly presents the relation between faith and the law under the new covenant. He says: "Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." "Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law." "For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh"--it could not justify man, because in his sinful nature he could not keep the law--"God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." Romans 5:1, 3:31, 8:3, 4.

God's work is the same in all time, although there are different degrees of development and different manifestations of His power, to meet the wants of men in the different ages. Beginning with the first gospel promise, and coming down through the patriarchal and Jewish ages, and even to the present time, there has been a gradual unfolding of the purposes of God in the plan of redemption. The Saviour typified in the rites and ceremonies of the Jewish law is the very same that is revealed in the gospel. The clouds that enveloped His divine form have rolled back; the mists and shades have disappeared; and Jesus, the world's Redeemer, stands revealed. He who proclaimed the law from Sinai, and delivered to Moses the precepts of the ritual law, is the same that spoke the Sermon on the Mount.

The great principles of love to God, which He set forth as the foundation of the law and the prophets, are only a reiteration of what He had spoken through Moses to the Hebrew people: "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might." Deuteronomy 6:4, 5. "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." Leviticus 19:18.

The teacher is the same in both dispensations.
God's claims are the same.
The principles of His government are the same.
For all proceed from Him "with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." James 1:17.






(Patriarchs and Prophets, Chapter 32, by E. G. White)

 

[cj]

Wow..... Oh Lord, show us how to speak so that You might have a way to begin to break down this high-tower of wickedness as seen in the writing above.

Our Lord, the Lamb that was slain from the foundation of the world.

Meaning this, God's law was fulfilled before man even fell.

Now, if we'd only believe Him.


In love,
cj

 

[Heidi]

Jay T. is saying that we are still under the law and not under grace. Well, sorry, but the Jews are still under the law and so are those who have not been born again of the Holy spirit. They, therefore, are at the mercy of the Law. I'm under grace. Thanks be to God! :angel:

 

[Soma-Sight]

I don't know whether or not this has been addressed, but do you all not realize the significance of the seven-day weekly cycle? We know where a day comes from (a completed revolution of the earth on its axis relative to the sun); where a month comes from (the period of time taken by the moon to return to the same longitude after one complete revolution around the earth); where a year comes from (the earth's completed orbit around the sun) ...but, where does the seven-day week come from?

Well, it comes from no where else but the Bible. Even atheists acknowledge a seven-day weekly cycle. Furthermore, why did God take even six days to complete His work? I mean, He surely could have 'zapped' everything into existence immediately if He'd care to. But He didn't. He chose to spread out the act of Creation over six days. And then, we're told, God rested on the seventh-day.

Not only that. God also blessed and sanctified that day. Why? Did He set that day aside and bestow on it this honor specifically for the Jewish nation some 500 years before the first Jew even came into existence? Did the pre-Jew have commandments that they were required to keep? Did they know about 'thou shall not kill, thou shall not commit adultery', etc? I think so. Why do you think God planned it this way, Heidi?

Thats an excellent point and I see no Sunday activists are stepping up to the plate on this one....

:bday: