JohnDB
Member
Since we have a current person running for the White House I thought it good to bring this subject up.
The SDA (brought into existence by Laurie White) teaches that the Sabbath Day is Saturday and that if we go to church on a regular basis it needs to be that day...
While they aren't wrong in attending that day of the week it isn't exactly what God had in mind when issuing that Commandment.
Lets look at the order of the commandments (decalogue).
The commandment right in front of it was all about God's name...
The commandment right after it is about obeying your parents. (more on this later)
Both of these came before the commandment about murder...as these are more important than not murdering people.
So what could be so special as to remembering God's name and what day of the week you could go to church or obeying your parents have to do with anything...and these commandments were capitol in justice as well. You violated these and you got removed permanently from the world.
But to understand these concepts you have to understand the Ancient Near East mindset of the Jews.
First off to abuse or misuse God's name is to try to change God's identity to those around you. OK...then if you believe in Holiness you understand that you have just set off a ton of dynamite while you are sitting on top of the pile...not a good idea to begin with. You don't mess with things that are holy. It will kill you without the proper respect shown or ignorance of it's power can inadvertently destroy you...either way it is not a good idea.
Then Children need to obey their parents. Now most of us are adults who now recognize that we had flawed parents. They were sinful but loved us. Although the world is filled with parents who did a lousy job of showing that love to their children too. They abuse and anger their children to no end. The Bible tells of Israelites who sacrificed their own children's virginity to worthless gods of their own making. Again more abuse...but if you crossed them you were to be killed? Again not what a truly loving God would have in mind.
Hebrew is a metaphoric language with so many idioms of speech it was hard to understand even if you did know the words. So what was God saying with these commandments that everyone had to follow?
First off Abraham was God's Friend. God came to Abraham's house to eat a meal. (which was tantamount to having a lifelong peace treaty with all of Abraham's household...and it was God's lifetime that was considered...not Abraham's as he was the one hosting the meal.)
So when it comes to understanding Hebrew there isn't any word for Grandfather...or even forefather. Only the word "Father" exists in that language...the same goes for "Mother". So when God told the Israelites to honor their Father and Mother He was referencing Abraham and Sarah. Be their kids...and remember YOUR heritage and who to be like. IOW remember your identity...
Now we come to the Commandment in the middle of these two majorly important Commandments all about the Sabbath Day.
Now notice that it is singular...not plural. There doesn't exist a singular meaning a plural in the Hebrew Language to begin with. (Look at Galatians 3:16 for further evidence of this) That is one of the oddities of Hebrew. A part of speech that didn't exist that we have in ours. (They usually have parts of speech that we don't in ours...but I'm digressing)
That means that God had in mind ONE DAY...a singular Day. And in this particular instance this "Day: was actually one single day and not a period of time. (usually the case)
Now Sabbath also means "cease" or to stop.
People weren't to do any work (with exceptions) on that particular day of the week or face dire consequences.
Now we, the Westernized Cultures, think of worship as something we attend or go and do for a set amount of time. We go to worship services, we worship for a period of time in our houses with song or prayers or bible study. The Ancient Jews didn't. Their whole lives were dedicated to worshipping God. From the clothes they wore to the food they ate to the holidays they observed and even the things they said were all governed by their worship of God.
God existed in time and in order to have a proper worship of God you must stretch the worship of God over a significant portion of it. So everyone was to behave as Abraham and Sarah did over the Eons and in that you could be recognized as being one of Abraham's children. you could have a peace treaty with God as such. You were a member of Abraham's household as you conduct your life as he would want you to.
Also since God was Holy Holy Holy you, as an average individual, couldn't have a personal relationship with Him. You had to gain access to God through others which were leaders in your family, community or city...or Nation. (The Priests and elders) You couldn't just pick up a Torah and begin reading it to someone who was unfamiliar with it and explain it all...you didn't have the right or the standing to do such. After all this was Holy Holy Holy stuff to repeat God's words to someone else. And not being given the right to do so would get you killed.
So...
ON the Day that Jesus paid for our Sins He also instituted a New Covenant with us all. He did it with His blood. Those in the past showed faith in the Messiah to come by taking that one day a week off. Those with no faith were removed from the gene pool. Even Jesus took the Nazarite vows (an abbreviated form of them) when facing his crucifixion...according to Jewish tradition. (yeah...its kinda odd that they who don't believe in Jesus would provide that tidbit)
And the word "remember" isn't exactly meaning to "recall" something to mind. It is a call to action...not a recalling to memory. God doesn't forget...ever so when you hear "remember your people" it isn't God forgot it is asking God to act on their behalf.
So what God was saying was that the Old Covenant was to stop and the New Covenant was to be introduced and that we now have Direct Access to God because of Jesus...and that the showing of faith in a messiah to come by going to church on Saturday wasn't going to work any longer because the Messiah has come.
The Old Testament...and especially the Torah is all about Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of Man, the Seed of the Woman, Abraham's Seed, the Seed of David, The Only Lord of the Sabbath to come...and I am so glad He did.
and He did it on The Sabbath Day, otherwise called Today...as in Today if you hear my voice do not harden your hearts....
The SDA (brought into existence by Laurie White) teaches that the Sabbath Day is Saturday and that if we go to church on a regular basis it needs to be that day...
While they aren't wrong in attending that day of the week it isn't exactly what God had in mind when issuing that Commandment.
Lets look at the order of the commandments (decalogue).
The commandment right in front of it was all about God's name...
The commandment right after it is about obeying your parents. (more on this later)
Both of these came before the commandment about murder...as these are more important than not murdering people.
So what could be so special as to remembering God's name and what day of the week you could go to church or obeying your parents have to do with anything...and these commandments were capitol in justice as well. You violated these and you got removed permanently from the world.
But to understand these concepts you have to understand the Ancient Near East mindset of the Jews.
First off to abuse or misuse God's name is to try to change God's identity to those around you. OK...then if you believe in Holiness you understand that you have just set off a ton of dynamite while you are sitting on top of the pile...not a good idea to begin with. You don't mess with things that are holy. It will kill you without the proper respect shown or ignorance of it's power can inadvertently destroy you...either way it is not a good idea.
Then Children need to obey their parents. Now most of us are adults who now recognize that we had flawed parents. They were sinful but loved us. Although the world is filled with parents who did a lousy job of showing that love to their children too. They abuse and anger their children to no end. The Bible tells of Israelites who sacrificed their own children's virginity to worthless gods of their own making. Again more abuse...but if you crossed them you were to be killed? Again not what a truly loving God would have in mind.
Hebrew is a metaphoric language with so many idioms of speech it was hard to understand even if you did know the words. So what was God saying with these commandments that everyone had to follow?
First off Abraham was God's Friend. God came to Abraham's house to eat a meal. (which was tantamount to having a lifelong peace treaty with all of Abraham's household...and it was God's lifetime that was considered...not Abraham's as he was the one hosting the meal.)
So when it comes to understanding Hebrew there isn't any word for Grandfather...or even forefather. Only the word "Father" exists in that language...the same goes for "Mother". So when God told the Israelites to honor their Father and Mother He was referencing Abraham and Sarah. Be their kids...and remember YOUR heritage and who to be like. IOW remember your identity...
Now we come to the Commandment in the middle of these two majorly important Commandments all about the Sabbath Day.
Now notice that it is singular...not plural. There doesn't exist a singular meaning a plural in the Hebrew Language to begin with. (Look at Galatians 3:16 for further evidence of this) That is one of the oddities of Hebrew. A part of speech that didn't exist that we have in ours. (They usually have parts of speech that we don't in ours...but I'm digressing)
That means that God had in mind ONE DAY...a singular Day. And in this particular instance this "Day: was actually one single day and not a period of time. (usually the case)
Now Sabbath also means "cease" or to stop.
People weren't to do any work (with exceptions) on that particular day of the week or face dire consequences.
Now we, the Westernized Cultures, think of worship as something we attend or go and do for a set amount of time. We go to worship services, we worship for a period of time in our houses with song or prayers or bible study. The Ancient Jews didn't. Their whole lives were dedicated to worshipping God. From the clothes they wore to the food they ate to the holidays they observed and even the things they said were all governed by their worship of God.
God existed in time and in order to have a proper worship of God you must stretch the worship of God over a significant portion of it. So everyone was to behave as Abraham and Sarah did over the Eons and in that you could be recognized as being one of Abraham's children. you could have a peace treaty with God as such. You were a member of Abraham's household as you conduct your life as he would want you to.
Also since God was Holy Holy Holy you, as an average individual, couldn't have a personal relationship with Him. You had to gain access to God through others which were leaders in your family, community or city...or Nation. (The Priests and elders) You couldn't just pick up a Torah and begin reading it to someone who was unfamiliar with it and explain it all...you didn't have the right or the standing to do such. After all this was Holy Holy Holy stuff to repeat God's words to someone else. And not being given the right to do so would get you killed.
So...
ON the Day that Jesus paid for our Sins He also instituted a New Covenant with us all. He did it with His blood. Those in the past showed faith in the Messiah to come by taking that one day a week off. Those with no faith were removed from the gene pool. Even Jesus took the Nazarite vows (an abbreviated form of them) when facing his crucifixion...according to Jewish tradition. (yeah...its kinda odd that they who don't believe in Jesus would provide that tidbit)
And the word "remember" isn't exactly meaning to "recall" something to mind. It is a call to action...not a recalling to memory. God doesn't forget...ever so when you hear "remember your people" it isn't God forgot it is asking God to act on their behalf.
So what God was saying was that the Old Covenant was to stop and the New Covenant was to be introduced and that we now have Direct Access to God because of Jesus...and that the showing of faith in a messiah to come by going to church on Saturday wasn't going to work any longer because the Messiah has come.
The Old Testament...and especially the Torah is all about Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of Man, the Seed of the Woman, Abraham's Seed, the Seed of David, The Only Lord of the Sabbath to come...and I am so glad He did.
and He did it on The Sabbath Day, otherwise called Today...as in Today if you hear my voice do not harden your hearts....
