Friday: Further Thought – The “Change” of the Law
Further Thought: The same dragon, Satan, who made war against God in heaven (Rev. 12:7) is the one who makes war with God’s people on earth, those who “keep the commandments of God” (Rev. 12:17; see also (Rev. 13:2, Rev. 13:4). In fact, Satan himself becomes an object of worship, too (Rev. 13:4).
Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com
So the war against God, which Satan started in heaven, he seeks to continue on earth. And central to his attack on God is his attack on God’s law.
“In the fourth commandment, God is revealed as the Creator of the heavens and the earth, and is thereby distinguished from all false gods. It was as a memorial of the work of creation that the seventh day was sanctified as a rest day for man. It was designed to keep the living God ever before the minds of men as the source of being and the object of reverence and worship. Satan strives to turn men from their allegiance to God, and from rendering obedience to His law; therefore he directs his efforts especially against that commandment which points to God as the Creator”. — Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, pages 53, 54.
We worship the Lord because He is the Creator of “the heavens and the earth”, and the seventh-day Sabbath is the foundational sign of His creatorship, a sign that goes back to the Creation week itself (see Gen. 2:1-3). No wonder that in his attack on God’s authority, Satan goes after the premier, fundamental sign of that authority: the seventh-day Sabbath.
In the last days, God will have upon the earth people who will stay firm and steadfast in their allegiance to Him, an allegiance manifested in their obedience to His commandments — all of them, including the only one that specifically points to the Lord as the Creator, who alone is worthy of our worship.
Discussion Questions:
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Sabbath points me to a Creator who has created me in His image.
Satan points to evolution and says you don't matter.
You are an accident in the chain of evolution.
Christ is saying, I love you and gave myself for you.
I have shaped you and made you, you're mine.
Satan is saying you have come from dust and you will become dust
Christ is saying, you're my image and I will restore you to that image.
Sabbath is a weekly reminder which reminds me I am a created being dependent on God.
Sabbath is not for people in bondage.
God did not give the Sabbath rest while the Israelites were living in Egypt.
Why?
You cannot serve God being a slave to another.
The moment the Israelites made it across the Red Sea even before the commandments were given, they began celebrating the Sabbath.
Do not limit the Sabbath to Ten Commandments
Sabbath is much more than that. Every redemptive act of God depicted in the sanctuary services were always celebrated as a Sabbath day.
Sabbath past, present and future will always point to Christ.
Revelation 5:12
“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
To receive power and riches and wisdom,
And strength and honor and glory and blessing!”
Amen, Amen, Amen
Dear Newbegin:
You have shared some very uplifting ideas but please be careful about what is said about the Sabbath.
The Sabbath was instituted at the end of the Creation Week and was definitely in effect when they were in bondage. Was it forgotten? Perhaps. But it was there to be kept. It was there to uplift them.
They could have kept the Sabbath in Egypt. God would have helped them just as Daniel and his three friends were helped. Whether in slavery or freedom people can take their stand for Jesus.
You mentioned: Do not limit the sabbath to Ten Commandments. Maybe you are referring to the words. Yes, we can go beyond the words to try to grasp what God wants our attitudes to be as well.
The Sabbath is for people in slavery, in addictions, in any difficulties.
May we all be blessed from this week's study.
Do not limit the sabbath to Ten Commandments explained
Genesis 2 & Exodus 16
The Sabbath rest is mentioned before the Ten Commandments
Earl, I absolutely agree with you God could have given the Sabbath in Egypt. He waited to deliver the Israelites from Egypt.
Since He waited so long, He could have waited until Exodus 20 for the Sabbath command but He didn't.
Hebrews 4 interestingly Paul takes us back God's rest in creation.
Why?
Sabbath greater than all the Ten Commandments.
It is the seal of God.
It is the sign of our relationship.
Revelation 7:3
3 “Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.”
I strongly believe this would be the Sabbath an outward sign of the inward transformation.
It points to my very existence is on God.
Like Job we would say and worship only the living God.
Satan will not and cannot endorse that kind of relationship.
Sabbath always will point to the finished work of God.
My rest will always represent I am a child of God therefore I rest In Him regardless of how I feel.
Having said that, I don't want anyone to say, I am saying other commands are of less value.
Sabbath points us to true worship.
When I post I am trying to limit my words. I hope this helps.
May God bless us as we journey in this pilgrimage.
What is it that makes for a really great shareable Sabbath experience?
If on Sabbath, through a deed of love, kindness or through a word of truth, God opens a brother or sister’s heart, a sabbath observer, to believe and surrender to God, entering into God’s rest (like Lydia in Acts 16:13-15) , the church body and all heaven rejoice. To me that’s the sabbath experience: deliverance from spiritual enslavement to sin, from the Rom 7 experience. Christ gave signs of it by delivering physically bound worshippers of their burdens, physical rest from their burdens on the Sabbath.
Would the Sabbath exist before the Creation? God has always existed, thus His Law must be eternal too...
We need time, not Him... we chose the finite things at Eden, while naively thinking there was a shortcut to real Knowledge... we have a problem in accepting what is simple, so we complicate things, and try to explain what is already perfect!
God and His precepts are perfect, timeless!
We are locked in time, not Him...
There is a super consistency in His acts, because He never changes!
We only need The Change! And the change for us is Christ!
God's Law - based on His character of self-renouncing love - has existed from eternity. It is as eternal as He is, which is beyond our understanding.
However, the Ten Commandments are but one expression of that Law, adapted to human need at that time. Jesus expressed it another way, in just two precepts: “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’" (Matt 22:37-39)
I believe that too many have misunderstood God and His Law because they identified it only with these (misunderstood) ten precepts. If the Law is, indeed, a transcript of God's character, we can simplify it even further and say that the "Law" is the principle of loving like Jesus loved. After all, John told us that "God is love." (1 John 4:8) And, indeed, Christ did simplify the Law by giving a "new commandment" which could not have been given before His living demonstration. He gave it as only one precept, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another." (John 13:34)
The weekly Sabbath is introduced with the end of the creation of this world in such a way as to memorialize this creation. In fact, the fourth commandment gives the creation of this planet as the basis for Sabbath keeping. There is nothing in it to suggest that it existed in this form before the creation narrated in Genesis.
The way I see it, I'd rather not speculate beyond what the Bible has revealed, because there's a very good chance to get it wrong and perhaps damage someone's understanding of God
Super thanks, Inge... if Christ gave us a "new commandment" does that mean He abolished what was given before? Would God contradict Himself at any point? We know the worship of God will continue forever at the New Earth... indeed, there is no need to speculate beyond what the Bible has revealed...
Nice comment Newbegin Devaraj.Nice preparation day to you all and a blessed Sabbath ahead!
How do we know our face is dirty?
We look in the mirror.
Likewise the commandments identify sin in us. 'sin is the transgression of the LAW"
If there is no law for what did Christ died? Walter Veith explains this blasphemy very clearly to demonstrate how iniquitios and illogical it is.
Remember that the verse says Rev 12:17 "....on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus."...preaching and teaching the Everlasting Gospel is as important as teaching the Law....sometimes we Seventh Day Adventist Christians forget about that fact....the sinner needs mercy, grace and love as much and more than being taught the Law....i would opine that the Christian's work is to teach about the Everlasting Gospel of Lord Jesus Christ and let the Holy Spirit convict the sinner about the Law.
How can you deal with the common argument that keeping the seventh-day Sabbath is an attempt at salvation by works? If that argument is valid, then not stealing, not killing, not raping would also be seeking salvation by works.
THAT,is a good point!
Sure we are not saved by works... we are saved by the Grace of God which is Jesus... but works have to be the result of a life of communion with Jesus... if we say we love Jesus we will keep His Commandments... it is just natural... God's Word is a mirror, as someone has stated above... do we want to see our real self? look at the Bible... we need parameters, not God... but we are also free to follow whatever parameters we want... would that save me? would that be a result of a life of love? God is love and all His Laws are based on that... none can convict us of that but the Spirit of Love!
The mark of the beast is on those who do not keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. We are making a choice each day and the ultimate choice will be not being able to buy or sell if we are not worshiping on Sunday. You made a statement that the challenges of the mark of the beast has not happened. I believe we are and have been challenged regarding the Sabbath with regards to working or not working on that day. People are losing their jobs, and are not being hired by refusing to work on the Sabbath. There are people in other countries who cannot worship on the Sabbath without persecution.
Thanks for those wonderful comments have a happy sabbath day
Does not Sabbath be every 7th revolution of the earth. Do all the other worlds that have been created have the same number of "hours" per day or revolution of the world? Will all the other worlds sync with our earth? All flesh is to come worship every Sabbath before God's throne that will eventually be here on this earth.
While we in our earth-bound existence often think of synchronisation in temporal terms, it is probably best to think of this issue in non-temporal terms. Synchronised hearts and minds is probably a better idea. As a physicist, I have spent a lot of time studying how time may be perceived in a big universe and recognise that earth-centric ideas of time are limited. Rather than speculate, I look forward to how God will “synchronise” us when we are no longer limited by the time-space continuum.
There is a comment on Friday that Satan and his angels fought in heaven, Revelation 12:7, and that Satan is still making war against us. There is no victory for Satan in this war. For what reason then? God knows as well as Satan the final outcome. An answer to this finite reasoning might be to take as many with Satan as possible. The text in Ephesians 6:10-18, is a help in this battle. May God help us gain the victory.