DLV - Elpis Israel Revised. Pgs. 19-23. Post # 12 After these things are revealed to Ezekiel, he is commanded to show the people the description of the temple that will be “a house of prayer for all nations,” with the ordinances, forms, and laws in force concerning it. The Lord God then declares “the ordinances of the altar in the day they make it” when the Levites of the seed of Zadok will approach Him. The “cleansing of the altar” and consecration of the priests is then carried out by the offerings of seven days. “When the week is over, the priests will begin offering the burnt-offerings and fellowship-offerings of the people on the altar. Then I will be pleased with you all.” (Ezek. 43:27) Thus, the Lords day, the day of his resurrection from his seventh-day incarceration in the tomb, becomes the Sabbath day of the future age that will be hallowed by the priests of Israel and observed by all nations as a day of holy assembly during which they will rejoice and do no manner of servile work at all. This change of the Sabbath from the seventh to the eighth (or first) day of the week is the full development and establishment of the observance of the Lords day by Yeshuas disciples since the times of the Apostles. Though Constantine was not a Christian himself, he paid homage to the Truth as far as compelling the world to respect the day on which Christ rose from the dead. Hence, in 328 AD, he ordained that the day must be kept religiously. Unfortunately, a Judaizing clergy changed it into a sabbatical observance according to the Mosaic law concerning the seventh day. This is the origin of the Sabbatarianism that so ludicrously, yet mischievously, illustrates the Blue Laws of Connecticut (under which a woman was forbidden to kiss her child on the Sabbath) the zeal of the Agnews and Plumptres of the House of Commons, and the rhapsodies of the “pious” of the present. These well-meaning people, whose zeal outruns their knowledge, seem to be unaware that Christ and his apostles did not enact a civil and ecclesiastical code for the nations when they preached the Gospel of the Kingdom. Their object was not to give them laws and constitutions, but to separate a special people from the nations who would afterward rule them justly in the fear of the Lord when the dispensation of the fulness of times was introduced. (Acts 15:14; 1 Cor. 6:2; 2 Sam. 23:3-4 and Titus 2:11) To be able to do this, these separated ones were required to be “holy, blameless, and responsible before God.” (Col. 1:22-23; 1 Thes. 2:19 and 3:13) To bring this about they were told that during their probation they would be “renewed in the spirit of their minds and put on the new man that is created in righteousness and true holiness after Gods image.” As for “those without” who have no love of the Truth in order to be saved, God was going to “send them a strong delusion so they would believe a lie” as a punishment. (2 Thes. 2:10-12) They are left to govern themselves by their own laws until the time arrives for Christ to take away their dominion and assume sovereignty over them with his comrades, “the people of the saints.” If they want to impose yokes of bondage on themselves obligating them to keep the first day of the week according to the Mosaic law of the seventh day they are at liberty to do so. But they are entitled to no recompense from God for this act of “voluntary humility” since He has not required it of them. The rewards due for observing a Judaized Lords day voluntarily inflicted upon themselves, or the pains and penalties to which they may be entitled for “profaning” it are such, and only such, as result from the will and pleasure of the unenlightened lawgivers of the nations. It is wise to decree a stoppage of labor and toil for man and beast during one day in seven, but it shows a flagrant misunderstanding of the Scriptures and a blatant superstition to proclaim perdition to human souls in flaming brimstone if they do not keep it according to the Mosaic law of the seventh day. All that needs to be said in conclusion is if it is necessary to keep Sunday as the Jews were required to keep Saturday by the law of Moses, then those who make so much ado about Sabbath-breaking are equally as guilty as those they denounce as unholy and profane. “Those who offend in one point are guilty of the whole.” Even if they do not keep their shops open, or stroll through parks and fields, or take excursions, or go to places of public entertainment and amusement on the Lords day, they light fires in their dwellings and meeting houses, entertain friends at comfortable warm dinners, drive to church in splendid carriages, annoy the sick and distract the sober-minded with noisy bells, bury the dead, speak their own words. Thus, they are still violating the Divine law that says: “You must not do any work, not you, your manservant or maidservant, or your cattle” and “you must not speak your own words.” This would certainly put to silence nearly all the preachers of the day whose “sermons” are composed by themselves and are clearly their own thoughts and words, This is beyond dispute. It is not only ridiculous, but downright Pharisee-like, to make a fuss about breaking the Sabbath. Let the zealots “first cast the beam out of their own eyes so they can see clearly enough to cast out the mote from the eyes of others.” If they wish to “keep the day to the Lord,” let them believe and obey the Gospel of the Kingdom in Yeshuas name and “continue steadfastly in the Apostles doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers” (Acts 2:42) on the Lords day and cease from the works of sinful flesh (Gal. 5:19) every other day of the week. If they do, without doubt they will “delight in the Lord, ride upon the high places of Earth, and feed with the heritage of Jacob in the Kingdom of God” as the mouth of the Lord has promised. Below are all the things covered to this point . . . The six creation-days were each as long as the seventh, whose duration is indicated by the Mosaic law. As a result, the geological notion that there were six various periods lasting many centuries falls to the ground as a mere conceit of infidel philosophy. Yahweh Elohim ended His work on the seventh day “and was refreshed” by the songs of the Morning Stars and the joyous shouts of the Sons of God. To celebrate His rest, He constituted it holy and a day of blessing. Hence, it was a commemoration of the past and “a shadow of things to come.” The seventh day was observed by Adam and Eve as a day of delight before they became sinners. The immediate cause of their joyousness on the day of rest is not testified. It is certain it was not a burdensome day, for sin had not yet marred their enjoyments. It was probably because of the gracious interviews granted them by Yahweh Elohim on that day and the revelations He gave them concerning the things contained in the blessing pronounced on it when He “blessed and sanctified it.” There is no record or hint of the existence of a punishment for not observing the seventh day from the time of its sanctification until the raining down of bread from heaven for the Israelites in the wilderness after leaving Egypt. The observance of the seventh day by absolute rest from every kind of work and pleasure-taking, accompanied by a special sacrifice on the brazen altar of the temple and spiritual delight in its blessedness, was the Mosaic celebration ordered for the Israelites and their dependents in Palestine. It was enforced on them alone. Citizens of the commonwealth of Israel who profaned it were punished by death from stoning. Israel was especially commanded to remember the seventh day and keep it as it was appointed by the law because God, in creating their world, brought them out of Egypt and rested from the work of its creation when He gave them a temporary and typical rest under Joshua in the land of Canaan. For an Israelite to remember the seventh day and keep it holy spiritually and ceremonially so he might obtain the blessing it shadowed, he must have had an Abrahamic faith in the promised blessing and have ceased or rested from the works of “sinful flesh.” (Rom. 4:12, 18-22) Read the whole chapter diligently for the maximum benefit. The blessing promised to Israelites who were Abrahams seed by faith as well as fleshly descent for a spiritual observance of the seventh day (and which, until the “the handwriting” or Mosaic law was blotted out and nailed to the cross, could not be spiritually observed and ceremonially profaned) was that they would “delight in the Lord, ride upon the high places of the Earth, and feed with the heritage of Jacob their father” when the time to fulfill the promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob arrived. The blessing pronounced on a national observance of the seventh day was the uninterrupted continuance of the throne of David and great national prosperity. Its desecration was to be punished by the breaking up of the commonwealth of Israel and the desolation of their country. The Mosaic observance of the seventh day was appointed as “a sign” between God and the twelve tribes of Israel. It was a holy day to them to be observed perpetually throughout their generations, the forty-two generations from Abraham to Christ. (Mt. 1:17 and Col. 1:26).
Posted on: Sun, 07 Sep 2014 10:46:29 +0000
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