From, DALE RATZLAFF AND VERLE STREIFLING lifeassuranceministries.org/proclamation/2010/4/undividedlaw.html /// One Law. Scripture nowhere speaks of two separate laws, neither are the words moral law or ceremonial law found anywhere in the Bible. There are many Scriptures that confirm the law given to Israel was one law:9 One law shall be for the native born and for the stranger (Ex. 12:49). There is one law for them (Lev. 7:7). One law and one manner shall be for you and the stranger (Num. 15:16). You shall have one manner of Law (Num. 15:29). You shall have one ordinance for both the stranger and… (Num. 9:14). One ordinance shall be both for you…and the stranger… (Num. 15:15). This is the ordinance of the law… (Num. 19:2; 31:21). That the law as a whole is one law is also evident in Deuteronomy where Moses recites the entire law for the second generation of the Children of Israel before they went into Canaan. Note that in the following references from Deuteronomy where the word law is used, it is always singular (italics ours): Moses began to declare this law (Deut. 1:5). And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day? (Deut. 4:8). Now this is the law which Moses set before the sons of Israel: these are the testimonies and the statutes and the ordinances which Moses spoke to the sons of Israel (Deut. 4:44-45). Notice that this law includes testimonies, statutes and ordinances. Combined they constitute one law. Moses recites the Ten Commandments with a different version of the Sabbath commandment (Deut. 5:6-21). After Moses recited the Ten Commandments, he recited another 25 chapters-worth of statutes and precepts of the covenant. Then Deuteronomy 31:9 records, he wrote out this law (Deut. 31:9). Take this book of the law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God (Deut. 31:26). Moses commanded us a law (Deut. 33:4). They shall teach Jacob thy judgments, and Israel thy law (Deut. 33:10). We can clearly see that the Book of the Law is Gods law, and this one law includes the Decalogue and many other precepts, chapter after chapter. Yet all of these commands are called one law and [Gods] law—and even the law of Moses(Neh. 8:1; 1 Ki. 2:3) throughout the Old Testament. In fact, 187 times it is spoken of as the law, this law, my law, and thy law, and every time it is singular. Moreover, neither the Old nor the New Testaments ever refer to the Decalogue as separate or distinct from the whole law in the Book of the Law. There is one law given by God, and Moses mediated that law to Israel. Law and Ordinance are often used interchangeably The words ordinance and the law are interchangeable—a fact commonly accepted and taught by the Seventh-day Adventists. When most Adventist evangelists present Daniel 7:25, He shall think to change times and laws, in their prophecy seminars, they immediately cite Isaiah 24:5 for added support: because they transgressed the laws and changed the ordinance. Using the theology of Ellen White,10 they claim that the word laws in the Daniel passage refers to the Ten Commandments. Simultaneously, they interpret the word ordinances in the Isaiah excerpt to refer also to the 10 Commandments, thus claiming that Rome would change the Decalogue which they say is represented by Daniels use of laws and by Isaiahs use of ordinance. This argument, however, contradicts their attempt to separate ordinance from the Ten Commandments in other contexts. For example, where Ephesians 2:15 states that Christ abolished in His flesh the enmity, which is the law of commandments contained in ordinances, most sabbatarians insist that Paul refers to the so called ceremonial law and not to the Ten Commandments. They cant have it both ways. Ordinance and law are often interchangeable words for the same thing: the Mosaic law of God which contains the Ten Commandments as well as the 603 other laws that defined Israels culture and worship. It is disingenuous to use Adventisms traditional argument for Daniel and Isaiah while also claiming Ephesians 2:15 does not refer to the Decalogue. The spoken Law and the written Law have equal authority The Adventist Bible doctrines book mentioned above seeks to contrast the character of Gods law with the character of Moses law. By showing that God spoke His law and Moses wrote his law, the author seeks to prove that the law of Moses is of lesser authority and longevity. This division of the law denies that what Moses wrote by divine inspiration was God speaking through His servants the prophets. Thus, what Moses commanded Israel, whether spoken or written, was still Gods command, and what he wrote was God speaking through Moses. In every way the words Moses spoke were equal with the commands God spoke from Sinai and wrote on tables of stone. In fact, Scripture confirms that God commanded the words Moses and other prophets wrote. Nowhere is the weight of authority different for the 10 Commandments than for the rest of the law, or even for any other of the words God gave His prophets: Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb (Mal. 4:4). The Word of the LORD…He spoke by the hand of Abijah the prophet (1 Ki. 14:18). …to offer burnt offerings unto the LORD on the altar of burnt offerings…written in the Law of the LORD, which He commanded Israel (1 Chron. 16:40). Found written in the Law, which the LORD commanded by Moses (Neh. 8:14). The burnt offerings for the morning and evening burnt offerings for the Sabbaths, the New Moons, feasts, as it is written in the Law of the LORD (2 Chron. 31:3). In fact, on numerous occasions God commands by the hand of Moses.11 The Law of Moses was the Law of God We have already shown that the Law of God and the Law of Moses are really two different names for the same law. As 2 Chronicles 31:3 and 8:13 demonstrate, the burnt offerings for the Sabbath, new moons, and feasts were written in the law of the Lord and in the law (commandment) of Moses—two names for the same law. The New Testament also equates the law of Moses and the law of the Lord. In Luke 2:22-24, 39 Mary and Joseph took Jesus to the temple for circumcision and sacrifices at the time prescribed in the law of Moses, and they did everything according to the law of the Lord. Moreover, Hebrews 10:28 states that death was the consequence for breaking the law of Moses, and in Numbers 35:30 and Deuteronomy 17:2-6 we see that the author of Hebrews refers to the consequence for breaking the Ten Commandments. Again, Moses law is actually the Law of God. This equation is sustained by many other Scriptures as well: Keep and do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses (Josh. 23:6). …written in the book of the law of Moses (Josh. 8:31). …the Book of the Law the LORD (2 Chron. 17:9). …as written in the Law of Moses (2 Chron. 23:18). …as written in the Law of the LORD (2 Chron. 31:3). This Ezra…was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which the LORD God of Israel had given (Ezra 7:6). Ezra the Priest, a scribe of the law of God of heaven (Ezra 7:12). …bring the book of the law of Moses, which God commanded (Neh. 8:1). …he read in the book of the law of God…( Neh. 8:18). …read in the Book of the law of the LORD (Neh. 9:3—same book as in 8:1). Highest Moral Laws not found in the Decalogue.... //// end quote from DALE RATZLAFF AND VERLE STREIFLING
Posted on: Sun, 25 Jan 2015 04:40:41 +0000