The Sabbath of the Law

VIEW:413 DATA:2020-03-20

" L . Reminds you the Sabbath day to keep it holy Six labor days, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, neither your servant, nor your handmaid, nor your animal, nor your foreigner who is inside your doors, because in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and everything in them, and on the seventh day he rested; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and kept it holy. " Success. 20: 8-11.

If a person who had not known the Ten Commandments before met repeatedly face to face with them, he would be immediately surprised by their character of reasonableness and common sense. When reading the commandment: "Thou shalt not steal", I would agree that it is a good commandment. The same would think of the other commandments: "Thou shalt not kill", and "Thou shalt not commit adultery". I would undoubtedly note that most nations have similar laws and consider them necessary and good. You cannot find fault with the law of God.

However, one thing could perplex you. Why should the seventh day be considered holy? He could see the reason for the other commandments, but the Sabbath commandment would seem arbitrary. From the point of view of health, every fifth or sixth day, or every eighth or tenth day, would serve equally well. And whatever it is, why choose the seventh day of the week, rather than just a seventh part of the time? The other commandments are reasonable, she would think, but the Sabbath commandment is of a different nature. It is not based on nature or human relationships; but it is an arbitrary decree, without sufficient reason to be obeyed or imposed.

The author once entertained a conversation with a certain person in which the arguments mentioned were presented. He was a cultured person. The conversation was directed to the law of God, and especially to the Sabbath commandment.

The argument presented was more or less the following:

"I appreciate your church's contribution to order and legality. At a time like this, when crime and iniquity prevail, we should expect churches to rigidly defend justice. I am sorry to note that some churches are not doing this. the law of God, and this can only reflect on civil matters. If one can impunity to abstract from the law of God, it is easy to assume an identical attitude towards civil law. I am therefore glad that you are preaching the law as well as the gospel. Both are necessary.

"There is, however, one thing that I believe you are mistaken. You keep the seventh day, and you believe that God requires it of you. As long as I honor your belief and think you are sincere, I think you are mistaken. I have devoted myself to the matter, and I believe that the will and purpose of God can be fulfilled just as well by keeping the first day of the week as the last, and it would be much easier for you, and your influence would increase. Although personally I believe it does not matter that if you observe one day or another, or no day, I honor those who dedicate a day to God. But I believe that you are mistaken in believing that you must observe the seventh day. God does not require this of you. one day out of seven.

"The Sabbath commandment is different from the others. It is distinguished by the fact that it is not based on the nature of man, like the other commandments. If a group of men who had never heard of the Ten Commandments had to live together, it would not be long in to draw up a series of laws for their own government. Pagan nations and savage tribes have rules against theft, murder and adultery. I believe that these primitive peoples drew up, after some time, a code of laws in accordance with the Decalogue. "but I cannot see how they would ever produce a Sabbath law. There is nothing in nature to guide them in such a company. This proves, I believe, my argument that the Sabbath law is not based on natural law, it is not based on in the nature of man, like the other commandments,and men have a different relationship to that command from that which they have with others.

I believe that the other commandments are in force, but not the Sabbath ".

We answer this more or less as follows:

"Without admitting the truth of all arguments, let us admit that the Sabbath commandment rests on a basis different from that of the rest of the commandments, and that man, without the help of revelation, could never come to believe in the rest of the seventh day.

"That the Sabbath commandment occupies a unique place in the law of God is, we believe, recognized by most of those who have studied the issue. It is the only commandment that deals with time. It has the particularity of declaring certain things right, if done in a definitive time, and the same things, if done in another time. It creates good and evil by definition, with no perceptible reason based on nature. This differs from the other commandments.

"It was this commandment that God chose in ancient times to serve as a commandment of proof. Before the law was publicly proclaimed at Sinai â₠"the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron in the desert; and the children of Israel said to them, I wish we died at the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we were sitting by the pots of meat, when we ate bread until we were full! Why have you taken us out into this desert, to starve the whole multitude? "Ex. 16: 2, 3. The situation was critical. Action was needed." Then the Lord said to Moses, "Behold, I will make you it rains bread from heaven, and the people will go out and reap the portion for each day, so that I can see whether they walk in My law or not. "

“The gathering and preparing the bread that God had sent from heaven proved to Israel, 'so that I can see whether he walks in My law or not.” Each day, they were to collect enough manna for the day's needs, but on the sixth day they would have to collect double quantity, in order to have them for the Sabbath. Although the manna was usually not kept more than a day, on the sixth day the God miraculously preserved him from corruption. they reaped double bread. "Vers. 22. ⠀‚ "And he said to them, This is what the Lord has said:

Tomorrow is rest, the Lord's holy Sabbath; whatever you want to cook in the oven, cook it, and whatever you want to cook in water, cook it in water; and whatever is left, guard for you until tomorrow. And they kept it until tomorrow, as Moses had commanded; and it didn't smell bad, nor was there any animal in it. Then Moses said, "Eat it today, because today is the Sabbath of the Lord; today you will not find it in the field. You will collect it six days, but the seventh day is the Sabbath; there will not be in him ". Verses 23-26.

"Some of the people were not satisfied, however, ⠀‚ "They went out to harvest, but they did not find it. Then the Lord said to Moses, How long will you refuse to keep My commandments and My laws? See, since the Lord has given you the Sabbath, therefore He on the sixth day gives you bread for two days; let everyone stay in his place, that no one should leave his place on the seventh day. So the people rested on the seventh day ". Vers. 27-30.

"Among all the commandments, God chose the fourth as the test commandment. He wanted to see whether the people would walk in His law or not, and told him to collect enough manna for their needs, double portion on the sixth day, and nothing on the seventh. That was the test. Disobeying, not only broke the Sabbath, but the whole law. "How long will you refuse to keep My commandments and My laws?" asked God. He didn't ask, "Why? that you don't keep the Sabbath? "The question was wider than that. It involved the whole law. Sabbath keeping was the proof. If they kept that day, they were obedient. If they violated it, they violated the whole law.

"It is to this experience and to others, later, that Ezekiel refers when he quotes God saying, in the desert: â₠"I also gave them My Sabbaths, to serve as a sign between Me and them: so that they would know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them. "Ezek. 20:12. It is declared there that the Sabbath of God is a sign of sanctification. In verse 20, the Sabbath of the Lord is called ⠀‚ "a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am the Lord your God. "In the first quoted verse, the Sabbath is called a sign of sanctification; in the second, a sign that God is the Lord our God. In both it is called a sign.

"It is interesting to note the circumstances under which these statements are made. The elders of Israel came to inquire of the Lord, but He categorically stated that he did not want to be consulted by them. Ezek. 20: 3. when they listened! Why communicate with them if they refused to do what they were told? They were just like their parents, God said. Parents were not obedient, neither did their children show any inclination to listen. When Ezekiel he wishes to intercede for them, the Lord commands him to tell them clearly where they have been missing.⠀ "Let them know the abominations of their parents," says the Lord. Vers. 4. This is what Ezekiel proceeds to do, reminding them of the difficulty that the Lord had in taking Israel out of Egypt into the Promised Land,and to get those people to keep His commandments, especially the fourth.

"They were still in Egypt, when God commanded them to set aside all idols. They did not. However, God took them out of Egypt and led them into the desert, where He proclaimed His law. In that law He highlights the Sabbath, saying His sign of sanctification and accentuating His desire to be sanctified. ⠀ ˜But the house of Israel rebelled; ... and they profaned My Sabbaths greatly; and I said that I would pour My fury upon them in the desert, to consume them ", Verse 13. God, however, decides not to consume them. On the other hand, he thinks that he could not ⠀‚ "let them enter the land that had them given, ... because ... they profaned My Sabbaths ". Verses 15 and 16.

"God admonishes them: ⠀‚ "Do not walk in the statutes of your parents, nor keep your judgments, nor be defiled by your idols. I am the Lord your God; walk in My statutes, and keep My judgments, and execute them. And sanctify My Sabbaths, and they will serve as a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am the Lord your God ". Vers. 18-20. But, ⠀ ¦" the children rebelled; ... they profaned My Sabbaths. ; therefore I said that I would pour My wrath upon them, to fulfill My wrath against them in the wilderness, "Verse 21. God resolves to scatter them ⠀‚ between the nations, and to pour them out over the lands; because they did not execute My judgments, and rejected My statutes, and profaned My Sabbaths, and their eyes went after their fathers' idols ". Verses 23 and 24.

"Twice the claim is made that the children of Israel have" rebelled; ... they have profaned My Sabbaths. " them from entering the land of Israel Vers. 38. The relationship between the ⠀ ˜the rebels⠀ ™ and those who desecrate the Sabbath seems quite intimate.

"No one can read this chapter reverently without coming to the conclusion that God attaches great importance to the Sabbath, which is a test, a sign, chosen from among the other commandments as a test of obedience." , ⠀ ˜If you walk in My law or not.⠀ ™ Sabbath keeping is the proof. It is the sign of sanctification. The sign that ⠀ œI am the Lord your God.

"Why would God have chosen exactly the Sabbath commandment as evidence, in preference to any of the other commandments? Admitting the fact that the Sabbath rests only on a ⠀‚ "says the Lord," ipso facto is given special preeminence The other commandments are based not only on a decree from God, but also on the nature of man, part of the elementary or natural law, one commandment is chosen from the others, to stand as evidence, as a sign, that the person who obeys he is in harmony with the whole law.

"it is as if God reasoned like this about the other nine commandments: I gave you My law. I wrote it in your heart. It is engraved on every fiber of your being. They instinctively know what is right and what is not His own conscience. testifies to the veracity of My law, but one thing is necessary, the law is so clear, it is so evident to all that these basic commandments are necessary for existence, peace and life, men to accept them as of divine origin. There will be those who claim that the nine commandments are so essential and evident that, even without help from divine direction, men would themselves be able to make a law comparable to Mine. that, through experience, they have come to the conclusion that it is not appropriate to steal, lie or kill,and drew up appropriate laws on these issues, not being those laws of divine origin, but the result of human experience, and definitely integrated into the race.

They will confidently point to tribes and races that for centuries have been isolated from civilization, having, however, rules that cover many points of the law. This will claim to be a proof that man, unaware of divine power, is capable of reproducing My law. They will claim that it is not the law of divine origin, that men are only following a law that their own experience teaches them to be for the good of humanity.

"The Lord continues: I will take, as for My law, a providence that is not based on elementary or natural law; that has no correspondence in nature; that it will be a definite order, and for which you will not be able to find any reason beyond My order. For the other commandments, men see a reason. The commandments speak to their good being. For that commandment, but there will be no other reason than My word. If they obeyed, they will obey Me. "They will reject Me. I will make that command a test, a sign. I will make it a way to prove whether or not they keep My law. I will make it a sign that I am the Lord."

"I will make the Sabbath and I will tell you to observe it. There is nothing in the world to indicate a day of rest. If you keep the Sabbath commandment, it will be because I command it. I will make it a test. It will prove whether you walk in My law or No. The Sabbath will be My sign, My proof of obedience. The seventh day, not a day out of seven. Whoever watches it will obey Me. Anyone who rejects it rejects not only the Sabbath, but the whole law. that, rejecting the seventh day, they reject Me. Keeping the seventh day Sabbath is the sign that they accept Me as their God.

"As time goes by, men will emerge who claim to be religious, but in reality trust their own understanding. Many of them will reject the record of divine creation, replacing it with their own theories about the existence of things. While they were not present in the act of creation, when My word called beings into existence, they will presumptuously pontificate on the way in which it was done, rejecting My testimony in fact.

Some of them will positively reject Me. Others will pretend to believe in Me, but if there is a disharmony between My word and its conclusions, they will reject My word to stick to their own theories. Rejecting the account of creation, they will naturally reject the commemorative monument of creation, the Sabbath. They will not accept that which does not fall within the limits of their reasoning. Their own way of thinking is for them the ultimate authority. I will give you proof that will show whether you believe in Me or not. I will prove them, to see if they really walk in My law or not. If you accept My sign, My proof, My Sabbath, in that act you will recognize an Intelligence higher than yours. If you reject My Sabbath, you will reject Me, My word. My law. I'll do the test on Saturday.

"Men will understand the challenge. They will not be able to escape it. They will clearly see that, by accepting the Sabbath, they will have to accept My word by faith, and not by their own reasoning. Sabbath keeping rests on faith alone. can men discover by following only the methods of their reasoning, on the basis of human experience or investigation. If they accept the Sabbath, they will do so by virtue of their faith in Me.

"The evil one, My adversary, will make every effort to destroy the faith of My people. He will try to falsify My work. He will advocate a day of spurious rest, making it more convenient and popular than the day I chose at the time of creation. And he will be successful with a large number of people, who will accept him, and not me. He will attack My day of rest, calling the people to his pavilion. The people will have a question before them with all their It will be a matter of My Sabbath and My word on the one hand, and My adversary's counterfeit Sabbath on the other. I have My sign. He has his. Each of the men will have to choose the flag under which he wishes to place up.

"Knowing the end from the beginning, I deliberately chose the Sabbath as proof, in order to see whether men will walk in My law or not. That is why I put it at the center of the law. This also explains why I chose not to relate it to the law. natural law.

It stands out absolutely alone, resting solely on My word. I made it the commandment of proof. is My sign ".

We do not want to claim that God did all of the reasoning suggested there. He knows all things. For good and sufficient reasons He gave the Sabbath as a sign, as evidence. We believe we can distinguish some reasons for this. It is up to us to place ourselves wholeheartedly on God's side on this important issue.

The Sabbath commandment is closely related to the atonement. Regarding the transgression of the law, it was the blood sprinkled in the sanctuary ritual. It was when someone did "against some of the Lord's commandments, what should not be done", that he lacked atonement. Lev. 4:27. Does transgression of the Sabbath commandment constitute "what not to do" against a commandment? Numbers 15 contains a lesson.

The Lord speaking to Israel, says: "When you come to make mistakes, and do not do all these commandments, which the Lord spoke to Moses, ... then the whole congregation of the children of Israel will be forgiven, and more to a foreigner than a pilgrim in the among them, because all the people came by mistake ". Num. 15: 22-26.

Any sin that Israel or the foreigner ignorantly committed, should be forgiven. "For the native of the children of Israel, and for the foreigner who among them wanders, the same law will be yours for whoever does this by mistake". Vers. 29.

If someone sinned voluntarily, they were treated differently. "The soul that does something with the raised hand, whether of natural or foreigners, injures the Lord: and such a soul will be cut off from the midst of his people, because he has despised the word of the Lord, and annulled His commandment: it will be totally cut off that soul, your iniquity will be on it ". Vers. 30 and 31.

The following is an illustration of what it means to sin "with your hand raised" ("affectionately", says Trad. Bras.): A man was found collecting firewood on Saturday. The leaders did not know what to do, so "they put him on guard; because it was not yet declared what should be done". Vers. 34.

The Lord did not leave them in suspension for long. "And the Lord said to Moses, The man will surely die; the whole congregation with stones will stone him out of the camp. to Moses ". Vers. 35 and 36.

God had proclaimed His commandments to Israel. He had ordered them to remember the Sabbath day. He had announced that this was the test he had instituted, to show whether or not they would walk in His law. There was no excuse. When the man went out to wood on Saturday, he was not in ignorance. He was rebellious. "He despised the word of the Lord". He violated the commandments. There was only one law for him. He had sinned "the raised hand".

It is one thing for men to think only of changing the Sabbath day. It is another thing for them to touch the eternal law of God, which is the basis of His throne in heaven. These commandments are the basis and reason for atonement. A copy of them was kept in the sacred ark, in the most holy part of the earthly sanctuary. No one but the high priest could enter the most holy. The law was the very foundation of God's throne and government. When a man touched the ark on one occasion, he was struck. I Chron. 13: 9, 10. What would not have happened if you had put your hand inside the ark, trying to change God's writing on the tablets! However, men, impiously, consider this a possibility! They forget the sanctity of God and the law, not to mention the impossibility of changing what was set in stone, and that by the very finger of God!

Could it be that the law, which is the basis of the atonement and which required the Lord's death, has been changed? If the Sabbath commandment was changed, were others also changed? Did Christ die for one thing in the Old Testament and for another in the New? Did God demand the death penalty for voluntary transgression of the Sabbath commandment the day before Christ expired on the cross, and not the next day? Or is there a "neutral" zone in terms of the death sentence? There may be differences of opinion among Christians on many things. However, can there be them as to the need for atonement? is Christ still our High Priest?

If so, what does He do atonement for? Is the law still under the mercy seat in the ark?

Without the law, the atonement makes a farce, the incarnation of Christ a pious fable, His death a deviation from justice, Gethsemane a tragedy. Whether the law "or any of the commandments" can be transgressed with impunity; whether the law has been abolished or its precepts changed; if the law, given by God Himself, is no longer the norm in judgment, then the death of Christ becomes unnecessary, the Father Himself is no longer the personification of justice and goodness, and Christ can no longer escape the charge of being complicit in an error. All Christians cry out against such a doctrine! Once the law is destroyed, the atonement is unnecessary, it is dispensed with Christ. Let the facts always remain in all spirits: Christ lived for us, suffered, died and rose again. We had sinned, broken the law, and were sentenced to death. Christ saved us, not through the abolition of the law "because in this case he would not have to die", but by death for us, thus establishing the law for ever. He now presents the merits of His blood for us in the heavenly sanctuary. he is our Advocate, our Security, our High Priest. He's the same yesterday, today and forever. By faith in Him we are saved.