I have just completed and published two new articles and a new book. These are in the public domain and can be read online or downloaded free in .pdf format.
The True Gospel and the Ezekiel Warning is a full length book of seven chapters that shows how to prove that God inspired the Bible, what the true gospel really is, and what Bible prophecy predicts for the United States and the English-speaking nations of the world in the near future. It also discusses several matters of Bible doctrine in detail.
Here is a list of what is covered in each of seven chapters:
Chapter 1 - The United States and Britain in prophecy.
This chapter shows how to identify prophecies that pertain particularly to the English speaking people today. This chapter also gives proof that God exists and that He has inspired the Bible.
Chapter 2 - What is the True Gospel?
This chapter explains from the Bible what the true gospel is and how Bible teachings differ from mainstream, traditional Christian doctrines.
Chapter 3 - Is Observance of the Weekly Sabbath and Annual Feast Days Required?
What does the Bible really teach about the weekly Sabbath and annual holy days and feasts given in the Old Testament? Are these days only part of the Old Covenant and obsolete, or should they be kept today? This chapter explains the answer from the Bible.
Chapter 4 - The Name of God
Is God's name "Jehovah"? Is "God" a name or a title only? Is Jesus Christ God and has He existed forever, or was He created? Is God more than one person? Is it correct to use "Lord" as God's name? These are some of the questions that will be answered in this chapter from the Bible.
Chapter 5 - How to Know a Prophet
Seventh Day Adventists regard Helen White as a prophet. Mormons believe Joseph Smith was a prophet and that the Book of Mormon is inspired by God. Bible prophecy predicts both true and false prophets to appear between now and the return of Christ. It is important to know therefore how to tell if a man is a true prophet of God, or not. This short chapter covers the basics of the signs of a true prophet and what to look for in evaluating if a man or woman is a true prophet of God.
Chapter 6 - The Theory of Evolution and the Creation of Species.
This chapter shows that the physical evidence in fossils and genetics is entirely consistent with a literal understanding of Genesis. It also proves that evolution is a faith and that the scientific method itself prevents science from proving that evolution occurred. It also shows from the Bible how God views our materialistic society, a society that is dominated more and more atheistic evolution.
Chapter 7 - The Ezekiel Warning
The Ezekiel warning is a warning of punishment upon the United States, Britain, Canada, Australia, and other nations for our sins. This chapter shows where to find that warning in the Bible, what our sins are, and what the punishment will be like.
I have also published a new site on the Creation of Species. This article discusses the evolution vs. creation controversy and suggests a new way the Bible account in Genesis may be reconciled with the physical evidence of fossils and genetics.
The United States and the World in Bible Prophecy is a article dedicated entirely to showing what Bible prophecy predicts for the United States and the world in the years just ahead.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Global Warming and Prophecy
There is a great emphasis on global warming in the news, in politics, and in the media at large. It is certainly a biblical principle that mankind should care for the environment (Genesis 2:15, Genesis 1:27-28, Revelation 11:17-18). Yet this current emphasis on global warming can obscure a more important issue and a greater danger to the United States and other nations.
It seems that every time there is any kind of weather disaster, whether it be a hurricane, drought, flooding, tornadoes, extreme heat, or extreme cold, there are many who try to tie this to global warming. People are being conditioned to blame every weather disaster on man's pumping of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere through the burning of fossil fuels for energy.
Yet the Bible does predict disasters to come, including weather disasters, but not necessarily due to global warming. The disasters that are coming are punishments for our sins, such as murder, adultery, idolatry, stealing, lying, Sabbath breaking, and every other violation of the Ten Commandments.
And this is the issue that the emphasis on global warming obscures.
The United States is declining in morality at a breathtaking pace. Americans only fifty years ago would be shocked to see what our society has become today. Abortions since Roe vs. Wade total in the tens of millions. Immorality is commonplace. Lying is expected. Few people keep God's Sabbath. People have made an idol out of pleasure, and that idol is one they serve more than God. Few people take the time to seriously seek God by studying the Bible to know His will. There is injustice and oppression of the poor.
The Bible shows that God does intervene to protect or punish His people. There are rewards for obedience and punishments for disobedience. This is shown by the history of Israel and God's promises of blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience (Deuteronomy 11:13-15, 26-28, Deuteronomy 28:1-14, 15-67). Notice especially Deuteronomy 28:23-24: "And your heavens which are over your head shall be bronze, and the earth which is under you shall be iron. The Lord will change the rain of your land to powder and dust; from the heaven it shall come down on you until you are destroyed."
Drought and weather disasters are among the ways God punishes His people for their sins. And these things are written as examples for our learning (1 Corinthians 10:6).
Yet some of the very people who are most zealous about the cause of global warming are very lax when it comes to upholding moral standards and obedience to the Ten Commandments of God who is able to bless us with good weather or withhold that blessing to punish us for our sins.
If we do not repent as a nation and if our sins continue, a time will come when God will punish us for our sins with drought so serious that it can bring about food shortages and even famine.
Yet the public is being conditioned to blame weather disasters on global warming, not on our sins such as abortion and the open disrespect for God in the media and entertainment industry.
We are dependent on God for good weather but we are also dependent on His protection in an increasingly dangerous world.
I have studied the history of World War II, and I am convinced there were many times when God intervened to help the United States and the British nations to survive and win the war. Had we lost that war it is unlikely we would have the freedom of religion we have today.
But our morality has declined, and we are not using our freedoms responsibly. We are being more and more anti-God in our culture. And unless we turn around as a nation, God will not continue to protect us from our enemies indefinitely.
I talk about this topic in more detail in chapters one and three of my book Preaching the Gospel (see link in right panel of this blog).
It seems that every time there is any kind of weather disaster, whether it be a hurricane, drought, flooding, tornadoes, extreme heat, or extreme cold, there are many who try to tie this to global warming. People are being conditioned to blame every weather disaster on man's pumping of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere through the burning of fossil fuels for energy.
Yet the Bible does predict disasters to come, including weather disasters, but not necessarily due to global warming. The disasters that are coming are punishments for our sins, such as murder, adultery, idolatry, stealing, lying, Sabbath breaking, and every other violation of the Ten Commandments.
And this is the issue that the emphasis on global warming obscures.
The United States is declining in morality at a breathtaking pace. Americans only fifty years ago would be shocked to see what our society has become today. Abortions since Roe vs. Wade total in the tens of millions. Immorality is commonplace. Lying is expected. Few people keep God's Sabbath. People have made an idol out of pleasure, and that idol is one they serve more than God. Few people take the time to seriously seek God by studying the Bible to know His will. There is injustice and oppression of the poor.
The Bible shows that God does intervene to protect or punish His people. There are rewards for obedience and punishments for disobedience. This is shown by the history of Israel and God's promises of blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience (Deuteronomy 11:13-15, 26-28, Deuteronomy 28:1-14, 15-67). Notice especially Deuteronomy 28:23-24: "And your heavens which are over your head shall be bronze, and the earth which is under you shall be iron. The Lord will change the rain of your land to powder and dust; from the heaven it shall come down on you until you are destroyed."
Drought and weather disasters are among the ways God punishes His people for their sins. And these things are written as examples for our learning (1 Corinthians 10:6).
Yet some of the very people who are most zealous about the cause of global warming are very lax when it comes to upholding moral standards and obedience to the Ten Commandments of God who is able to bless us with good weather or withhold that blessing to punish us for our sins.
If we do not repent as a nation and if our sins continue, a time will come when God will punish us for our sins with drought so serious that it can bring about food shortages and even famine.
Yet the public is being conditioned to blame weather disasters on global warming, not on our sins such as abortion and the open disrespect for God in the media and entertainment industry.
We are dependent on God for good weather but we are also dependent on His protection in an increasingly dangerous world.
I have studied the history of World War II, and I am convinced there were many times when God intervened to help the United States and the British nations to survive and win the war. Had we lost that war it is unlikely we would have the freedom of religion we have today.
But our morality has declined, and we are not using our freedoms responsibly. We are being more and more anti-God in our culture. And unless we turn around as a nation, God will not continue to protect us from our enemies indefinitely.
I talk about this topic in more detail in chapters one and three of my book Preaching the Gospel (see link in right panel of this blog).
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Should the Church Observe God's Annual Feasts and Holy Days?
INTRODUCTION
God ordained seven annual festivals and seven annual holy days, or sabbath days, in the Old Testament. Should God's Church observe those days today?
This post will explore this issue and try to answer the question of whether the Church should observe the annual feasts of God.
I will assume that the reader understands that the seventh-day Sabbath is still in effect for the Church. This is very easily proved, and I will not take the space to prove it here. This paper explores the issue of the annual holy days, sabbaths, and feasts given by God to Moses in the Old Testament and whether those days should be observed by the Church today. For there are many people who accept and observe the weekly Sabbath who do not observe the annual holy days.
Before going further, I want to thank everyone who has contributed ideas, information, and questions on this or related topics in my blog or via email. I have been helped by all those who agree with me on this issue, those who disagree with me, and those who have asked questions.
PAUL'S EPISTLES ARE NOT CLEAR ON THIS
I will not start with Paul's epistles in doing this Bible study. Peter warns that there are things in Paul's writings that are hard to understand, and a principle I follow is letting clear scriptures interpret unclear and difficult scriptures. I have found no scriptures in Paul's writings that definitely and specifically discuss the holy days by name, either individually ("Pentecost", "Day of Trumpets", etc.) or as a group ("the feasts of the Lord") in the context of whether we should keep them or not. Every passage from Paul used by those who oppose holy day observance is a general reference to "law" or to "days" without being specific as to whether we should or should not observe God's ordained feasts. I will cover some of those passages later.
But I will start with the teaching of Jesus Christ in the gospel according to Matthew.
Jesus said that till heaven and earth pass away and all things are fulfilled in the law and the prophets (the "law" in this case is a common reference to the books of Moses, Genesis through Deuteronomy, and the "prophets" includes the books that make up the major and minor prophets, Isaiah through Malachi), nothing would pass from the law (Matthew 5:17-18). When will this be? When the prophecy in Isaiah 65:17 is fulfilled and the old heavens and earth have passed away and there is a new heaven and earth - see also Revelation 21:1. This has not yet been fulfilled.
This shows that we need to be very cautious about assuming that anything in the law has been abolished without strong scriptural evidence that it has been abolished. The law commands observance of God's annual feasts and holy days (sabbaths) in Leviticus 23. God's feasts and holy days continue unless we can clearly prove from the New Testament that God has ended them for the Church.
SHADOWS
Some people think that these annual days must end because they are shadows of Christ, and to keep a shadow is to deny Christ. These people often quote Colossians 2:16-17 in this regard. But Paul is not saying that all shadows are obsolete. He is simply pointing out that the reality of what a shadow represents is always more important than the shadow. This passage used the Greek word skia, Strong’s Concordance number 4639, translated "shadow". It means shadow, the image of something made on a background from a source of light. What Paul mean by a shadow? It is a representation of something, such as a ritual, a ceremony, or a symbol. It is a physical act whose value lies in what it represents.
Animal sacrifices are a shadow of the sacrifice of Christ, and they have ended for the Church. But not all shadows have ended. The New Testament itself ordains rituals, ceremonies, and symbols that are shadows of something else.
A ritual, ceremony, symbol, or "shadow" can point backwards to remind us of what has been fulfilled or can point forward to teach us about something that is yet to be fulfilled.
The New Testament ordains ceremonies, rituals, and symbols, which are shadows. The New Testament symbols of bread and wine representing the body and blood of Christ, baptism, the laying on of hands for the receiving of the Holy Spirit (Hebrews 6:2, Acts 8:16-17), foot washing (John 13:3-17), and the anointing of the sick with oil (James 5:14-15) are all examples of New Testament rituals, ceremonies, and symbols which are shadows of things.
Why does God use shadows? To teach us and to remind us of things.
A shadow is not wrong, nor do all shadows end when they are fulfilled. If you want to know if a shadow ends, you have to look to the scriptures to see if that particular shadow or ritual has ended. For example, there are clear scriptures that show that physical circumcision is no longer required for the Church. There is no such scripture saying that holy days have ended.
God's seven annual feasts and holy days are indeed shadows, because each one of these seven represents or is an image of a greater reality. Each one represents something different. Some have been fulfilled and some have not yet been fulfilled, but they all continue. Those which have been fulfilled remind us of what has been fulfilled and those which have not been fulfilled teach us about what is to come.
Yet the annual sabbath days are more than a shadow. They are commanded days of rest and assembly that provide opportunities for drawing closer to God in prayer, Bible study, and assembling for instruction and fellowship. God wants us to spend time with Him on these days just as on the weekly Sabbath.
Likewise the weekly seventh-day Sabbath is also a shadow of something to come. It is a symbol of the coming 1,000 year millennial reign of Christ after 6,000 years of mankind ruling himself. But it is more than a shadow, because we use that time to draw closer to God.
ANIMAL SACRIFICES
If a shadow does not necessarily end when it is fulfilled, why do we not offer animal sacrifices?
We do not offer animal sacrifices because only the priesthood of Aaron is authorized to offer the sacrifices and do priestly duties (1 Samuel 13:7-14, 2 Chronicles 26:16-210. It would be a sin for anyone else to do it. The Church is not represented by the priesthood of Aaron, but by the priesthood of Jesus Christ.
The priesthood of Aaron was a national priesthood and was strictly limited to the Old Covenant. It required a national system of the twelve tribes, each with its own farmland, supporting the tribe of Levi with their tithes, and the tribe of Levi supporting the priesthood of Aaron. When the priests offered animal sacrifices for the annual feasts and holy days, they did it on behalf of the nation. The Church of God is not a nation. We are an assembly of Christians living among the nations of this world. The rules of the Levitical priesthood do not apply to the Church. Likewise we do not stone people for murder, return to our inherited land every 50 years, etc. Those were national laws for the nation of Israel. Those things associated with the priesthood of Aaron do not continue today for the Church.
But the annual holy days are not limited to the priesthood of Aaron. The common people from all the tribes did not offer holy day sacrifices - only the priests did that - but the people rested and assembled for services just as they did on the weekly sabbath, and just as the Church does today.
THE LAW HAS BEEN CHANGED
Although the law has not been abolished, it has been changed (Hebrews 7:12-14). This passage in Hebrews shows that the priesthood of Aaron has been replaced by the priesthood of Jesus Christ for the Church. The fact that the law has been CHANGED shows that it has not been abolished, because you do not change something if you abolish it.
Also, this passage give a guiding principle as to what changes and why. The law was changed out of NECESSITY. It is those things that must change out of necessity that are changed. There is no such necessity to change the law of the holy days, except that animal sacrifices are no longer offered.
It is clear in the New Testament that physical circumcision is not required for the Church. This is an example of how God makes it very clear that something is no longer required. Paul mentions circumcision very clearly and specifically by name (Acts 15:1, 24, Romans 2:25-29, Romans 4:9-12, 1 Corinthians 7:17-19, Galatians 5:1-2, 11, Galatians 6:11-15, Colossians 3:11) and says clearly that it is not required. There is nothing like that in the New Testament about the holy days and feasts saying we should not keep them, referring either to the general term "feasts of the Lord" or specific feasts such as "the Feast of Trumpets" or "the Feast of Pentecost".
Why is circumcision no longer required? Circumcision was given to Abraham, but in the time of Moses it came to represent being a citizen of the nation of Israel. When a Gentile wanted to become a citizen of Israel, he was circumcised (Exodus 12:48-49). Likewise, in the time of Paul, a Gentile could become a Jew and thus a citizen of the nation of Israel by being circumcised. By so doing, he could be represented by the priesthood of Aaron, which was a national priesthood, and come into all the rules and regulations taught by that priesthood (Matthew 23:1-4, Matthew 15:1-3) as well as the promises made to the nation of Israel under the terms of the Old Covenant. But that is not necessary for the Church because we are under the terms of the New Covenant and are represented by the priesthood of Jesus Christ.
SUPPORTING EVIDENCE FOR THE HOLY DAYS
God sometimes shows the importance of something by the context in which He commands or teaches it. Thus, the importance of the weekly Sabbath is shown by the fact that God included it in the Ten Commandments along with commands to have no other gods besides God, to avoid using images in worship, to honor our father and mother, to avoid adultery, murder, stealing, etc. But God also shows the importance of the annual feasts and sabbaths by listing them with the weekly Sabbath in Leviticus 23. This puts the annual feasts in the same category as the weekly Sabbath.
Zechariah 14:16-19 shows that the Feast of Tabernacles will be kept after Christ returns.
There is evidence in the New Testament that Paul kept the holy days and instructed his Gentile congregations to keep them. In 1 Corinthians 5:6-8, Paul wrote, "let us keep the feast". This seems to be in the context of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for it is here that God inspired Paul to teach what the Days of Unleavened Bread represent. Some object saying that "keeping the feast" here is figurative and it means living in Christ. But Christ is nowhere referred to in the Bible as "keeping a feast", and the contrast Paul paints is not between keeping the feast physically or spiritually as he would if this were a controversy. He is talking about literally keeping a feast, a feast his congregation already knew about and was keeping. He is showing them that they need to fulfill the spiritual meaning of the feast even as they kept it physically.
Acts 18:21 shows Paul telling those in Ephesus that he intended to keep a coming feast in Jerusalem. Some object saying that the words "I must by all means keep this feast that cometh in Jerusalem" is missing from some manuscripts. But the following word "but" is not missing, and it seems to me that it would make no sense for that word to be there except as a connecting word between two clauses. And if this clause is in some manuscripts but not others, then it was either added or removed. The Jews had no custody of the Christian scriptures. The Church of God would not change the Bible. The only groups that might try to change the original writings and had the power to do it are the large groups such as those that became the Greek Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church, and neither of these would have the motive to add this in support of Old Testament holy days. But they would have the motive to remove it.
These seven annual feasts and holy days have important symbolic meaning, meaning that ancient Israel never understood. They did not understand, for example, that Passover represented the future sacrifice of Christ. They did not understand that Pentecost represents the giving of the Holy Spirit to the Church so that we are a kind of firstfruits of God's salvation. God gives rituals and shadows as a tool to teach. Common sense indicates that God would want us, who understand the meaning of these days, to keep them, even more than ancient Israel who did not understand what they meant.
SOME ARGUMENTS AGAINST THE HOLY DAYS
Some say that only the law written on tables of stone continues (the Ten Commandments) and not other law not written on stone. But Jesus said that the two great commandments are to love God and love your neighbor (Matthew 22:36-40), and these commandments are greater than the Ten Commandments because all the law and the prophets hang on them, including the Ten Commandments. Yet those two great commandments are not written on stone.
Some object to the holy days because there is no record of them in Genesis. But there is no record of any of the Ten Commandments being given as instructions from God in Genesis, yet the Ten Commandments continue. Silence in Genesis proves nothing.
Some say that because sacrifices were offered on the holy days that this means the holy days do not continue. But sacrifices were also offered on the weekly Sabbath, so the offering of sacrifices on a day does not mean the day is abolished when the sacrifices end.
Some point out Old Testament scriptures and prophecies where God seems to speak against feasts that Israel was keeping. These can refer to pagan feasts that Israel was keeping instead of God's feasts, or it could refer to Israel keeping the feasts with a wrong attitude or mixing God's feasts with sinful practices ("I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting" - Isaiah 1:13). Here are some scriptures some use:
Hosea 2:11 and 5:5-7 - This is referring to a prophesied punishment for sins. Israel and/or Judah would suffer the punishment of no longer being able to keep the annual days they were keeping. This is not necessarily God's rejection of the holy days, but His rejection of Israel who was sinning and was about to go into punishment and captivity. But also, these days are not even necessarily God's holy days. Jeroboam rejected God's ordained feasts days and set up different days, and the northern kingdom of Israel probably never returned to God's true feast days (1 Kings 12:25-33).
Isaiah 1:13-14 - God is rejecting Israel because of their sins. Verse 13 and verse 15 explain. They may have been keeping God's holy days, but their lives were full of sin and God could not endure their hypocrisy of appearing before Him in their sacred meetings while their hands were full of blood.
Amos 5:21 - This is a message to the northern kingdom of Israel (Amos 1:1). Jeroboam rejected God's ordained days and practices and started his own, in some cases on different days, and with different priests and with idols (1 Kings 12:25-330. If you read the history of the different kings of the northern kingdom of Israel, not one was righteous in God's sight, so it is unlikely that Israel ever returned to keeping God's true feasts and holy days as God ordained. They were no longer God's feasts but the feasts of men.
Some may feel that the holy days are not required because they are not commanded in the New Testament. But the weekly Sabbath is also not commanded in the New Testament, yet it continues. Silence in the New Testament does not changed what God has commanded in the Old Testament.
Likewise Acts 15 does not mention the holy days, but it also does not mention the weekly Sabbath, clean and unclean meats, etc. Acts 15 was an administrative decision on Church policy concerning what would be taught and commanded the Gentile members of the Church at that time, and is not intended to be an all-inclusive description of God's law.
Galatians 4:21-31, 5:1-4 - The Galatians had an attitude problem, some of them. Verse 4 of chapter 5 is the key. They wanted to be circumcised because they thought it was necessary and they thought they could be justified by law keeping rather than through faith in the sacrifice of Christ.
Ephesians 2:14-17 - Paul is not specific about what He is calling the "enmity", the "law of commandments contained in ordinances" as it is translated. There is absolutely no mention of the feasts of the Lord or annual sabbaths. In fact, by calling the "law of commandments contained in ordinances" the "enmity", this rules out that he could be talking about God's holy days, because there is nothing about those days that constitutes enmity of any kind.
Colossians 2:13-14 - "the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us" cannot refer to the holy days and feasts of God. I have kept them for about 25 years and I know from experience what a blessing they are and that they are not against me any more than the weekly Sabbath is against me. Probably Paul is referring the requirement of the death penalty for our sins, which was nailed to the cross.
Colossians 2:16-23 - Verse 16 seems to be saying, do not let any man judge you in how you keep the feasts and sabbaths. In the phrase "the body is of Christ" (KJV), the word "is" is not in the original Greek. The phrase is, "the body of Christ". So this could mean, it is the body of Christ, the Church, which is to judge these matters, not any man. There is also in verses 20-23 a rebuke of those who practice the commandments and doctrines of men. This cannot refer to the holy days which were given by God.
HOW ARE THE HOLY DAYS KEPT BY THE CHURCH?
Why are there not more explicit instruction in the New Testament showing us that we should keep the annual feasts and holy days of God, and how to keep them?
There are some things God wants us to seek and dig out of His Word and prove our zeal in doing this. He does not always cram His truth down our throats.
How does the Church know where to keep the feasts and holy days and how to keep them?
Just as God gave the priesthood of Aaron authority, so God has given the ministry of the Church binding authority to make certain decisions (Matthew 16:18-19). The ministry of the Church has the authority to make decisions, guided by God, in where these days should be observed and format of services and how they are to be observed for the members of the Church that they pastor.
In some cases a Christian may not be able to attend with a group that observes these days. In that case I would recommend that a Christian rest on the holy days and keep the days on his own with the wisdom and guidance God gives through the Bible and the Holy Spirit until such time as God provides the opportunity to attend with a Church that keeps these days. But it is better to keep these days with a church that keeps them whenever possible.
Some Christians have been wrongly taught for years that to keep God's holy days means to deny Christ, and these Christians may have a conscience problem with keeping these days. We should certainly pay attention to our conscience in matters that are optional as far as God's word is concerned (Romans 14:22-23), so for example if I feel guilty eating meat, I should not eat meat. But there is no commandment of God that I eat meat. In matters where God's will is clear in the Bible, God's word must override our conscience (Matthew 4:4).
author@ptgbook.org, 2/26/09
God ordained seven annual festivals and seven annual holy days, or sabbath days, in the Old Testament. Should God's Church observe those days today?
This post will explore this issue and try to answer the question of whether the Church should observe the annual feasts of God.
I will assume that the reader understands that the seventh-day Sabbath is still in effect for the Church. This is very easily proved, and I will not take the space to prove it here. This paper explores the issue of the annual holy days, sabbaths, and feasts given by God to Moses in the Old Testament and whether those days should be observed by the Church today. For there are many people who accept and observe the weekly Sabbath who do not observe the annual holy days.
Before going further, I want to thank everyone who has contributed ideas, information, and questions on this or related topics in my blog or via email. I have been helped by all those who agree with me on this issue, those who disagree with me, and those who have asked questions.
PAUL'S EPISTLES ARE NOT CLEAR ON THIS
I will not start with Paul's epistles in doing this Bible study. Peter warns that there are things in Paul's writings that are hard to understand, and a principle I follow is letting clear scriptures interpret unclear and difficult scriptures. I have found no scriptures in Paul's writings that definitely and specifically discuss the holy days by name, either individually ("Pentecost", "Day of Trumpets", etc.) or as a group ("the feasts of the Lord") in the context of whether we should keep them or not. Every passage from Paul used by those who oppose holy day observance is a general reference to "law" or to "days" without being specific as to whether we should or should not observe God's ordained feasts. I will cover some of those passages later.
But I will start with the teaching of Jesus Christ in the gospel according to Matthew.
Jesus said that till heaven and earth pass away and all things are fulfilled in the law and the prophets (the "law" in this case is a common reference to the books of Moses, Genesis through Deuteronomy, and the "prophets" includes the books that make up the major and minor prophets, Isaiah through Malachi), nothing would pass from the law (Matthew 5:17-18). When will this be? When the prophecy in Isaiah 65:17 is fulfilled and the old heavens and earth have passed away and there is a new heaven and earth - see also Revelation 21:1. This has not yet been fulfilled.
This shows that we need to be very cautious about assuming that anything in the law has been abolished without strong scriptural evidence that it has been abolished. The law commands observance of God's annual feasts and holy days (sabbaths) in Leviticus 23. God's feasts and holy days continue unless we can clearly prove from the New Testament that God has ended them for the Church.
SHADOWS
Some people think that these annual days must end because they are shadows of Christ, and to keep a shadow is to deny Christ. These people often quote Colossians 2:16-17 in this regard. But Paul is not saying that all shadows are obsolete. He is simply pointing out that the reality of what a shadow represents is always more important than the shadow. This passage used the Greek word skia, Strong’s Concordance number 4639, translated "shadow". It means shadow, the image of something made on a background from a source of light. What Paul mean by a shadow? It is a representation of something, such as a ritual, a ceremony, or a symbol. It is a physical act whose value lies in what it represents.
Animal sacrifices are a shadow of the sacrifice of Christ, and they have ended for the Church. But not all shadows have ended. The New Testament itself ordains rituals, ceremonies, and symbols that are shadows of something else.
A ritual, ceremony, symbol, or "shadow" can point backwards to remind us of what has been fulfilled or can point forward to teach us about something that is yet to be fulfilled.
The New Testament ordains ceremonies, rituals, and symbols, which are shadows. The New Testament symbols of bread and wine representing the body and blood of Christ, baptism, the laying on of hands for the receiving of the Holy Spirit (Hebrews 6:2, Acts 8:16-17), foot washing (John 13:3-17), and the anointing of the sick with oil (James 5:14-15) are all examples of New Testament rituals, ceremonies, and symbols which are shadows of things.
Why does God use shadows? To teach us and to remind us of things.
A shadow is not wrong, nor do all shadows end when they are fulfilled. If you want to know if a shadow ends, you have to look to the scriptures to see if that particular shadow or ritual has ended. For example, there are clear scriptures that show that physical circumcision is no longer required for the Church. There is no such scripture saying that holy days have ended.
God's seven annual feasts and holy days are indeed shadows, because each one of these seven represents or is an image of a greater reality. Each one represents something different. Some have been fulfilled and some have not yet been fulfilled, but they all continue. Those which have been fulfilled remind us of what has been fulfilled and those which have not been fulfilled teach us about what is to come.
Yet the annual sabbath days are more than a shadow. They are commanded days of rest and assembly that provide opportunities for drawing closer to God in prayer, Bible study, and assembling for instruction and fellowship. God wants us to spend time with Him on these days just as on the weekly Sabbath.
Likewise the weekly seventh-day Sabbath is also a shadow of something to come. It is a symbol of the coming 1,000 year millennial reign of Christ after 6,000 years of mankind ruling himself. But it is more than a shadow, because we use that time to draw closer to God.
ANIMAL SACRIFICES
If a shadow does not necessarily end when it is fulfilled, why do we not offer animal sacrifices?
We do not offer animal sacrifices because only the priesthood of Aaron is authorized to offer the sacrifices and do priestly duties (1 Samuel 13:7-14, 2 Chronicles 26:16-210. It would be a sin for anyone else to do it. The Church is not represented by the priesthood of Aaron, but by the priesthood of Jesus Christ.
The priesthood of Aaron was a national priesthood and was strictly limited to the Old Covenant. It required a national system of the twelve tribes, each with its own farmland, supporting the tribe of Levi with their tithes, and the tribe of Levi supporting the priesthood of Aaron. When the priests offered animal sacrifices for the annual feasts and holy days, they did it on behalf of the nation. The Church of God is not a nation. We are an assembly of Christians living among the nations of this world. The rules of the Levitical priesthood do not apply to the Church. Likewise we do not stone people for murder, return to our inherited land every 50 years, etc. Those were national laws for the nation of Israel. Those things associated with the priesthood of Aaron do not continue today for the Church.
But the annual holy days are not limited to the priesthood of Aaron. The common people from all the tribes did not offer holy day sacrifices - only the priests did that - but the people rested and assembled for services just as they did on the weekly sabbath, and just as the Church does today.
THE LAW HAS BEEN CHANGED
Although the law has not been abolished, it has been changed (Hebrews 7:12-14). This passage in Hebrews shows that the priesthood of Aaron has been replaced by the priesthood of Jesus Christ for the Church. The fact that the law has been CHANGED shows that it has not been abolished, because you do not change something if you abolish it.
Also, this passage give a guiding principle as to what changes and why. The law was changed out of NECESSITY. It is those things that must change out of necessity that are changed. There is no such necessity to change the law of the holy days, except that animal sacrifices are no longer offered.
It is clear in the New Testament that physical circumcision is not required for the Church. This is an example of how God makes it very clear that something is no longer required. Paul mentions circumcision very clearly and specifically by name (Acts 15:1, 24, Romans 2:25-29, Romans 4:9-12, 1 Corinthians 7:17-19, Galatians 5:1-2, 11, Galatians 6:11-15, Colossians 3:11) and says clearly that it is not required. There is nothing like that in the New Testament about the holy days and feasts saying we should not keep them, referring either to the general term "feasts of the Lord" or specific feasts such as "the Feast of Trumpets" or "the Feast of Pentecost".
Why is circumcision no longer required? Circumcision was given to Abraham, but in the time of Moses it came to represent being a citizen of the nation of Israel. When a Gentile wanted to become a citizen of Israel, he was circumcised (Exodus 12:48-49). Likewise, in the time of Paul, a Gentile could become a Jew and thus a citizen of the nation of Israel by being circumcised. By so doing, he could be represented by the priesthood of Aaron, which was a national priesthood, and come into all the rules and regulations taught by that priesthood (Matthew 23:1-4, Matthew 15:1-3) as well as the promises made to the nation of Israel under the terms of the Old Covenant. But that is not necessary for the Church because we are under the terms of the New Covenant and are represented by the priesthood of Jesus Christ.
SUPPORTING EVIDENCE FOR THE HOLY DAYS
God sometimes shows the importance of something by the context in which He commands or teaches it. Thus, the importance of the weekly Sabbath is shown by the fact that God included it in the Ten Commandments along with commands to have no other gods besides God, to avoid using images in worship, to honor our father and mother, to avoid adultery, murder, stealing, etc. But God also shows the importance of the annual feasts and sabbaths by listing them with the weekly Sabbath in Leviticus 23. This puts the annual feasts in the same category as the weekly Sabbath.
Zechariah 14:16-19 shows that the Feast of Tabernacles will be kept after Christ returns.
There is evidence in the New Testament that Paul kept the holy days and instructed his Gentile congregations to keep them. In 1 Corinthians 5:6-8, Paul wrote, "let us keep the feast". This seems to be in the context of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for it is here that God inspired Paul to teach what the Days of Unleavened Bread represent. Some object saying that "keeping the feast" here is figurative and it means living in Christ. But Christ is nowhere referred to in the Bible as "keeping a feast", and the contrast Paul paints is not between keeping the feast physically or spiritually as he would if this were a controversy. He is talking about literally keeping a feast, a feast his congregation already knew about and was keeping. He is showing them that they need to fulfill the spiritual meaning of the feast even as they kept it physically.
Acts 18:21 shows Paul telling those in Ephesus that he intended to keep a coming feast in Jerusalem. Some object saying that the words "I must by all means keep this feast that cometh in Jerusalem" is missing from some manuscripts. But the following word "but" is not missing, and it seems to me that it would make no sense for that word to be there except as a connecting word between two clauses. And if this clause is in some manuscripts but not others, then it was either added or removed. The Jews had no custody of the Christian scriptures. The Church of God would not change the Bible. The only groups that might try to change the original writings and had the power to do it are the large groups such as those that became the Greek Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church, and neither of these would have the motive to add this in support of Old Testament holy days. But they would have the motive to remove it.
These seven annual feasts and holy days have important symbolic meaning, meaning that ancient Israel never understood. They did not understand, for example, that Passover represented the future sacrifice of Christ. They did not understand that Pentecost represents the giving of the Holy Spirit to the Church so that we are a kind of firstfruits of God's salvation. God gives rituals and shadows as a tool to teach. Common sense indicates that God would want us, who understand the meaning of these days, to keep them, even more than ancient Israel who did not understand what they meant.
SOME ARGUMENTS AGAINST THE HOLY DAYS
Some say that only the law written on tables of stone continues (the Ten Commandments) and not other law not written on stone. But Jesus said that the two great commandments are to love God and love your neighbor (Matthew 22:36-40), and these commandments are greater than the Ten Commandments because all the law and the prophets hang on them, including the Ten Commandments. Yet those two great commandments are not written on stone.
Some object to the holy days because there is no record of them in Genesis. But there is no record of any of the Ten Commandments being given as instructions from God in Genesis, yet the Ten Commandments continue. Silence in Genesis proves nothing.
Some say that because sacrifices were offered on the holy days that this means the holy days do not continue. But sacrifices were also offered on the weekly Sabbath, so the offering of sacrifices on a day does not mean the day is abolished when the sacrifices end.
Some point out Old Testament scriptures and prophecies where God seems to speak against feasts that Israel was keeping. These can refer to pagan feasts that Israel was keeping instead of God's feasts, or it could refer to Israel keeping the feasts with a wrong attitude or mixing God's feasts with sinful practices ("I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting" - Isaiah 1:13). Here are some scriptures some use:
Hosea 2:11 and 5:5-7 - This is referring to a prophesied punishment for sins. Israel and/or Judah would suffer the punishment of no longer being able to keep the annual days they were keeping. This is not necessarily God's rejection of the holy days, but His rejection of Israel who was sinning and was about to go into punishment and captivity. But also, these days are not even necessarily God's holy days. Jeroboam rejected God's ordained feasts days and set up different days, and the northern kingdom of Israel probably never returned to God's true feast days (1 Kings 12:25-33).
Isaiah 1:13-14 - God is rejecting Israel because of their sins. Verse 13 and verse 15 explain. They may have been keeping God's holy days, but their lives were full of sin and God could not endure their hypocrisy of appearing before Him in their sacred meetings while their hands were full of blood.
Amos 5:21 - This is a message to the northern kingdom of Israel (Amos 1:1). Jeroboam rejected God's ordained days and practices and started his own, in some cases on different days, and with different priests and with idols (1 Kings 12:25-330. If you read the history of the different kings of the northern kingdom of Israel, not one was righteous in God's sight, so it is unlikely that Israel ever returned to keeping God's true feasts and holy days as God ordained. They were no longer God's feasts but the feasts of men.
Some may feel that the holy days are not required because they are not commanded in the New Testament. But the weekly Sabbath is also not commanded in the New Testament, yet it continues. Silence in the New Testament does not changed what God has commanded in the Old Testament.
Likewise Acts 15 does not mention the holy days, but it also does not mention the weekly Sabbath, clean and unclean meats, etc. Acts 15 was an administrative decision on Church policy concerning what would be taught and commanded the Gentile members of the Church at that time, and is not intended to be an all-inclusive description of God's law.
Galatians 4:21-31, 5:1-4 - The Galatians had an attitude problem, some of them. Verse 4 of chapter 5 is the key. They wanted to be circumcised because they thought it was necessary and they thought they could be justified by law keeping rather than through faith in the sacrifice of Christ.
Ephesians 2:14-17 - Paul is not specific about what He is calling the "enmity", the "law of commandments contained in ordinances" as it is translated. There is absolutely no mention of the feasts of the Lord or annual sabbaths. In fact, by calling the "law of commandments contained in ordinances" the "enmity", this rules out that he could be talking about God's holy days, because there is nothing about those days that constitutes enmity of any kind.
Colossians 2:13-14 - "the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us" cannot refer to the holy days and feasts of God. I have kept them for about 25 years and I know from experience what a blessing they are and that they are not against me any more than the weekly Sabbath is against me. Probably Paul is referring the requirement of the death penalty for our sins, which was nailed to the cross.
Colossians 2:16-23 - Verse 16 seems to be saying, do not let any man judge you in how you keep the feasts and sabbaths. In the phrase "the body is of Christ" (KJV), the word "is" is not in the original Greek. The phrase is, "the body of Christ". So this could mean, it is the body of Christ, the Church, which is to judge these matters, not any man. There is also in verses 20-23 a rebuke of those who practice the commandments and doctrines of men. This cannot refer to the holy days which were given by God.
HOW ARE THE HOLY DAYS KEPT BY THE CHURCH?
Why are there not more explicit instruction in the New Testament showing us that we should keep the annual feasts and holy days of God, and how to keep them?
There are some things God wants us to seek and dig out of His Word and prove our zeal in doing this. He does not always cram His truth down our throats.
How does the Church know where to keep the feasts and holy days and how to keep them?
Just as God gave the priesthood of Aaron authority, so God has given the ministry of the Church binding authority to make certain decisions (Matthew 16:18-19). The ministry of the Church has the authority to make decisions, guided by God, in where these days should be observed and format of services and how they are to be observed for the members of the Church that they pastor.
In some cases a Christian may not be able to attend with a group that observes these days. In that case I would recommend that a Christian rest on the holy days and keep the days on his own with the wisdom and guidance God gives through the Bible and the Holy Spirit until such time as God provides the opportunity to attend with a Church that keeps these days. But it is better to keep these days with a church that keeps them whenever possible.
Some Christians have been wrongly taught for years that to keep God's holy days means to deny Christ, and these Christians may have a conscience problem with keeping these days. We should certainly pay attention to our conscience in matters that are optional as far as God's word is concerned (Romans 14:22-23), so for example if I feel guilty eating meat, I should not eat meat. But there is no commandment of God that I eat meat. In matters where God's will is clear in the Bible, God's word must override our conscience (Matthew 4:4).
author@ptgbook.org, 2/26/09
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Why Is the Bible Sometimes Hard to Understand?
Why is the Bible sometimes hard to understand when it comes to certain doctrinal matters? Or to put it another way, why do sincere people sometimes disagree about what the Bible says in certain basic doctrines? Why isn't the Bible so plain and clear in everything it teaches that there is no room for misunderstanding or disagreement about what it says?
Different churches and individuals believe different things, yet each claims to follow the Bible. Some Christians observe Sunday, some observe the seventh day of the week as Sabbath, and some observe no day at all. Some think the Ten Commandments are done away and some think they are still in force. Some think it is ok to use images and pictures of God and Christ as an aid to worship and some believe that is wrong. Beliefs about prophecy and the events described in Revelation vary widely. This is one reason there are so many churches. There are many churches because there are many beliefs. Some things are believed by all Christian churches. I am sure every church claiming to be Christian believes, correctly, that Jesus Christ died for our sins. But there are many points of difference in doctrine between Catholics, Baptists, Church of God members, Seventh Day Adventists, Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, etc. - all claiming to be Christian yet interpreting the Bible differently on many subjects.
The force of tradition can be an influence. It is hard for someone to overcome wrong traditions they were raised in when they read the Bible. Yet even among those who are willing to give up their tradition, there is wide disagreement about what the Bible says.
God inspired the Bible (2 Timothy 3:16). This can be proven by fulfilled prophecy. God cannot lie, so the Bible is true (Titus 1:2, Hebrews 6:18). God's word, the Bible, can be trusted (Psalm 119:160, John 17:17). Yet not everything in the Bible is clear and easy to understand. Some things that Paul wrote, for example, are hard to understand (2 Peter 3:14-16).
Yet this is the way that God inspired the Bible to be written. God did not have to do it that way. He could have inspired Paul to write more clearly. God could have made the Bible so clear, plain, and easy to understand that there would be no room for disagreement. Instead, He allowed much of the Bible relating to doctrine to be hard to understand, and as a result, men are able to twist the scriptures (2 Peter 3:14-16).
Why did God allow the Bible, which is His word, to be written that way? Why did God not make the Bible more clear on every subject?
Since the sin of Adam, the world as a whole has been cut off from a right relationship with God (Genesis chapter 3). During the last 6,000 years, Satan has been the invisible ruler of this world (Luke 4:5-7, John 12:31, John 14:30, John 16:11, Ephesians 2:2). Satan deceives the whole world, and God allows Satan to do his work of deception at this time (Revelation 12:9). But when Christ returns, Satan will be put away and Christ will rule the earth for 1,000 years (Revelation 20:1-6). This is part of God's 7,000 year plan. Mankind will be able to compare the result of Satan's way of life for 6,000 years and God's way of life for 1,000 years and will see by the results that God's way is better.
But we are still in the 6,000 year period. Christ has not returned yet, and Satan is still ruling and deceiving this society. Satan is the predominant spiritual influence in this world, this society, this civilization right now, not God. Yet God is calling a few now to come out of this world, to be converted, and to be part of the first resurrection to sit with Christ on His throne when He returns (Matthew 7:13-14, Revelation 20:5-6).
God has the power to prevent Satan from doing his work of deception. God is more powerful than Satan, and Satan can only do what God allows him to do (Job 1:12, 2:6). But it is God's will that Satan be able to deceive mankind at this time. It is God's will that Satan be the ruler of this world, to do his work of deception, so that mankind as a whole follows Satan's way of life for 6,000 years and writes the lesson of suffering and destruction in human history during this age of man. Then mankind will be able to compare the suffering and warfare of this age when men are living Satan's way of life with the happiness and peace that will exist under the rule of Jesus Christ when mankind will live God's way of life.
It has been God's will that the Bible be widely distributed in our time. It is the world's all time best seller and has been translated into just about every language. It is easily available in most large bookstores. This facilitates the calling and instruction of Christians all over the world from every background. Yet, God has not inspired the Bible to be written so that it is so clear and easy to understand that Satan cannot deceive people about it. God does allow Satan to deceive the majority in this world, even in matters of religious doctrine and even in matters of Bible interpretation.
So the Bible is written in such a way that it is easy for people to twist scriptures if they are trying to use the Bible to justify what they want to believe or already believe.
I have heard someone say that you can prove anything with the Bible, and in a sense, there is some truth in that. A person can use the Bible to argue his position, and he can usually find scriptures to support his beliefs, whatever those beliefs are. But not honestly.
I think there is a principle of doctrinal and spiritual perception here. If you are trying to understand truth from the Bible with an open mind, God is likely to help you understand if you have a willingness to accept and obey it. But I think God has structured His word such that if a person is trying to put his own meaning into the text, he will be able to find a way. In other words, if he really wants to believe something, and that is more important than accepting the truth with an open mind, if he is trying to find a way to reconcile what he wants to believe with the Bible, God will allow him to do it. He will find scriptures he can twist to fit what he wants to believe. And he probably won't even realize he is doing this. I think God has structured the Bible that way and has given Satan that kind of deceptive power.
But if God is calling you to His truth, and you earnestly want to understand and believe what God is really saying in the Bible, God can help you to understand what He is saying and will free you from Satan's deceptions, perhaps one point at a time. Then each point of truth becomes a test. If you are willing to believe and strive to obey what God shows you, then God will continue to help you understand more, one point at a time.
God doesn't cram His truth down our throats. We have to want it with a sincere mind and zealously seek it. We have to realize that it is precious, like a rare pearl, and be willing to make sacrifices to obtain it. We have to want to know the truth more than we want to keep our beliefs. We should strive to learn to trust God more than ourselves.
Different churches and individuals believe different things, yet each claims to follow the Bible. Some Christians observe Sunday, some observe the seventh day of the week as Sabbath, and some observe no day at all. Some think the Ten Commandments are done away and some think they are still in force. Some think it is ok to use images and pictures of God and Christ as an aid to worship and some believe that is wrong. Beliefs about prophecy and the events described in Revelation vary widely. This is one reason there are so many churches. There are many churches because there are many beliefs. Some things are believed by all Christian churches. I am sure every church claiming to be Christian believes, correctly, that Jesus Christ died for our sins. But there are many points of difference in doctrine between Catholics, Baptists, Church of God members, Seventh Day Adventists, Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, etc. - all claiming to be Christian yet interpreting the Bible differently on many subjects.
The force of tradition can be an influence. It is hard for someone to overcome wrong traditions they were raised in when they read the Bible. Yet even among those who are willing to give up their tradition, there is wide disagreement about what the Bible says.
God inspired the Bible (2 Timothy 3:16). This can be proven by fulfilled prophecy. God cannot lie, so the Bible is true (Titus 1:2, Hebrews 6:18). God's word, the Bible, can be trusted (Psalm 119:160, John 17:17). Yet not everything in the Bible is clear and easy to understand. Some things that Paul wrote, for example, are hard to understand (2 Peter 3:14-16).
Yet this is the way that God inspired the Bible to be written. God did not have to do it that way. He could have inspired Paul to write more clearly. God could have made the Bible so clear, plain, and easy to understand that there would be no room for disagreement. Instead, He allowed much of the Bible relating to doctrine to be hard to understand, and as a result, men are able to twist the scriptures (2 Peter 3:14-16).
Why did God allow the Bible, which is His word, to be written that way? Why did God not make the Bible more clear on every subject?
Since the sin of Adam, the world as a whole has been cut off from a right relationship with God (Genesis chapter 3). During the last 6,000 years, Satan has been the invisible ruler of this world (Luke 4:5-7, John 12:31, John 14:30, John 16:11, Ephesians 2:2). Satan deceives the whole world, and God allows Satan to do his work of deception at this time (Revelation 12:9). But when Christ returns, Satan will be put away and Christ will rule the earth for 1,000 years (Revelation 20:1-6). This is part of God's 7,000 year plan. Mankind will be able to compare the result of Satan's way of life for 6,000 years and God's way of life for 1,000 years and will see by the results that God's way is better.
But we are still in the 6,000 year period. Christ has not returned yet, and Satan is still ruling and deceiving this society. Satan is the predominant spiritual influence in this world, this society, this civilization right now, not God. Yet God is calling a few now to come out of this world, to be converted, and to be part of the first resurrection to sit with Christ on His throne when He returns (Matthew 7:13-14, Revelation 20:5-6).
God has the power to prevent Satan from doing his work of deception. God is more powerful than Satan, and Satan can only do what God allows him to do (Job 1:12, 2:6). But it is God's will that Satan be able to deceive mankind at this time. It is God's will that Satan be the ruler of this world, to do his work of deception, so that mankind as a whole follows Satan's way of life for 6,000 years and writes the lesson of suffering and destruction in human history during this age of man. Then mankind will be able to compare the suffering and warfare of this age when men are living Satan's way of life with the happiness and peace that will exist under the rule of Jesus Christ when mankind will live God's way of life.
It has been God's will that the Bible be widely distributed in our time. It is the world's all time best seller and has been translated into just about every language. It is easily available in most large bookstores. This facilitates the calling and instruction of Christians all over the world from every background. Yet, God has not inspired the Bible to be written so that it is so clear and easy to understand that Satan cannot deceive people about it. God does allow Satan to deceive the majority in this world, even in matters of religious doctrine and even in matters of Bible interpretation.
So the Bible is written in such a way that it is easy for people to twist scriptures if they are trying to use the Bible to justify what they want to believe or already believe.
I have heard someone say that you can prove anything with the Bible, and in a sense, there is some truth in that. A person can use the Bible to argue his position, and he can usually find scriptures to support his beliefs, whatever those beliefs are. But not honestly.
I think there is a principle of doctrinal and spiritual perception here. If you are trying to understand truth from the Bible with an open mind, God is likely to help you understand if you have a willingness to accept and obey it. But I think God has structured His word such that if a person is trying to put his own meaning into the text, he will be able to find a way. In other words, if he really wants to believe something, and that is more important than accepting the truth with an open mind, if he is trying to find a way to reconcile what he wants to believe with the Bible, God will allow him to do it. He will find scriptures he can twist to fit what he wants to believe. And he probably won't even realize he is doing this. I think God has structured the Bible that way and has given Satan that kind of deceptive power.
But if God is calling you to His truth, and you earnestly want to understand and believe what God is really saying in the Bible, God can help you to understand what He is saying and will free you from Satan's deceptions, perhaps one point at a time. Then each point of truth becomes a test. If you are willing to believe and strive to obey what God shows you, then God will continue to help you understand more, one point at a time.
God doesn't cram His truth down our throats. We have to want it with a sincere mind and zealously seek it. We have to realize that it is precious, like a rare pearl, and be willing to make sacrifices to obtain it. We have to want to know the truth more than we want to keep our beliefs. We should strive to learn to trust God more than ourselves.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Did the New Testament Church Observe God's Annual Festivals?
God initiated seven annual festivals and sabbaths in the Old Testament. These days represent steps in God's plan to save mankind through Jesus Christ. Ancient Israel never understood the meaning of those days, but God's Church is able to keep those days with understanding of their true meaning as ancient Israel was not able to do. Yet most of traditional Christianity has rejected God's holy days and feast days that are given in the Bible in favor of days based on the traditions of men, such as Christmas and Easter, with the fertility symbols of the evergreen tree, rabbits, and eggs so common among pagan religions in ancient times. You can look up those symbols and rituals in any encyclopedia to see where they come from. And God clearly tells us not to worship Him imitating the way pagans worship their gods, but to worship God exactly the way He tells us to worship Him (Deuteronomy 12:29-32).
In rejecting God's ordained annual festivals in favor of man-made religious festivals, man is following the same pattern of choosing the traditions of men as he has followed in substituting Sunday for God's seventh-day Sabbath.
Some ministers teach that to keep the annual holy days of God is to deny the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Is this true?
We can look to the New Testament Church of God to see what they practiced. Did the first century Church of God keep these festivals?
The New Testament Church of God kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Was it only the Jewish Christians who kept this feast? No. Paul was apostle to the gentiles, and he taught the Church of God at Corinth to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
The description of this festival is in the Old Testament. Notice: "On the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight is the Lord's Passover. And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the LORD; seven days you must eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it. But you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord for seven days. The seventh day shall be a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it" (Leviticus 23:5-8). Now notice how Paul likens leavening to sin in 1 Corinthians 5:1-8, and he compares unleavened bread to sincerity and truth. Notice especially verses 6-8. After talking about the sin of sexual immorality in that congregation, he says, "Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." This helps us understand the meaning and lesson of this feast, that is, we put leavening out of our houses for seven days and this represents the lesson that we are to put sin out of our lives, or in other words, the lesson of repentance (Acts 2:38).
Notice especially Paul's statement, "let us keep the feast" (1 Corinthians 5:8). This shows that Paul instructed and commanded the Corinthians to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread, one of the seven annual feasts of God, for there is no other feast that would fit this context.
Does keeping God's annual feast days invalidate or deny the sacrifice of Christ? No, because Paul would not have instructed the Corinthians to keep the feast if that were the case.
However, since the Levitical priesthood has been replaced by the priesthood of Jesus Christ, there is no Levitical priesthood to offer animal sacrifices, so those are omitted.
For more information on this festival, see The Days of Unleavened Bread - Repentance.
For those who might be interested in observing this festival, but don't know the dates, the Days of Unleavened Bread in 2009 are seven days starting Thursday, April 9 through Wednesday, April 15. The first and last days are Sabbath days of rest. God counts days from sunset to sunset, so from sunset Wednesday, April 8 till sunset Thursday, April 9 I will observe a sabbath rest and likewise from sunset Tuesday, April 14 till sunset Wednesday, April 15. During the entire seven day festival I will refrain from eating any products with leavening in them (yeast, baking soda, baking powder), and I will make sure I do not have leavening or products with leavening in my house or personal space if I am living in someone else's house. I will also eat some kind of unleavened bread each of those seven days, such as matzos.
Taking the time to clean my space before these days start and making sure I get rid of any leavened products reminds me each year of my personal responsibility to examine my life and get rid of sin wherever I find it. Being careful to not forget and accidentally eat leavened products like donuts at work or anyplace during this time reminds me of the lesson that I have to be diligent to not sin by breaking God's commandments in the letter or spirit. Eating unleavened bread each day reminds me of my need to seek the righteousness that is from God and to seek God diligently each day in prayer and Bible study.
In rejecting God's ordained annual festivals in favor of man-made religious festivals, man is following the same pattern of choosing the traditions of men as he has followed in substituting Sunday for God's seventh-day Sabbath.
Some ministers teach that to keep the annual holy days of God is to deny the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Is this true?
We can look to the New Testament Church of God to see what they practiced. Did the first century Church of God keep these festivals?
The New Testament Church of God kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Was it only the Jewish Christians who kept this feast? No. Paul was apostle to the gentiles, and he taught the Church of God at Corinth to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
The description of this festival is in the Old Testament. Notice: "On the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight is the Lord's Passover. And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the LORD; seven days you must eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it. But you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord for seven days. The seventh day shall be a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it" (Leviticus 23:5-8). Now notice how Paul likens leavening to sin in 1 Corinthians 5:1-8, and he compares unleavened bread to sincerity and truth. Notice especially verses 6-8. After talking about the sin of sexual immorality in that congregation, he says, "Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." This helps us understand the meaning and lesson of this feast, that is, we put leavening out of our houses for seven days and this represents the lesson that we are to put sin out of our lives, or in other words, the lesson of repentance (Acts 2:38).
Notice especially Paul's statement, "let us keep the feast" (1 Corinthians 5:8). This shows that Paul instructed and commanded the Corinthians to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread, one of the seven annual feasts of God, for there is no other feast that would fit this context.
Does keeping God's annual feast days invalidate or deny the sacrifice of Christ? No, because Paul would not have instructed the Corinthians to keep the feast if that were the case.
However, since the Levitical priesthood has been replaced by the priesthood of Jesus Christ, there is no Levitical priesthood to offer animal sacrifices, so those are omitted.
For more information on this festival, see The Days of Unleavened Bread - Repentance.
For those who might be interested in observing this festival, but don't know the dates, the Days of Unleavened Bread in 2009 are seven days starting Thursday, April 9 through Wednesday, April 15. The first and last days are Sabbath days of rest. God counts days from sunset to sunset, so from sunset Wednesday, April 8 till sunset Thursday, April 9 I will observe a sabbath rest and likewise from sunset Tuesday, April 14 till sunset Wednesday, April 15. During the entire seven day festival I will refrain from eating any products with leavening in them (yeast, baking soda, baking powder), and I will make sure I do not have leavening or products with leavening in my house or personal space if I am living in someone else's house. I will also eat some kind of unleavened bread each of those seven days, such as matzos.
Taking the time to clean my space before these days start and making sure I get rid of any leavened products reminds me each year of my personal responsibility to examine my life and get rid of sin wherever I find it. Being careful to not forget and accidentally eat leavened products like donuts at work or anyplace during this time reminds me of the lesson that I have to be diligent to not sin by breaking God's commandments in the letter or spirit. Eating unleavened bread each day reminds me of my need to seek the righteousness that is from God and to seek God diligently each day in prayer and Bible study.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
God's Annual Holy Days and Festivals
Many Sabbath-keeping Christians are not aware that besides the weekly Sabbath day, God instituted seven annual sabbaths in the Old Testament. Just as the weekly Sabbath provides the opportunity to draw closer to God and learn more about His ways and His plan for mankind, so the annual Sabbath days and festivals help to illustrate God's plan for mankind in more detail. Here is a listing of these annual days:
- Passover (not a sabbath, but a feast day): Represents the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
- First Day of Unleavened Bread and Last Day of Unleavened Bread (sabbaths and feast days): Leaven is used as a symbol of sin in the New Testament - 1 Corinthians 5:6-8 - and the festival of unleavened bread represents repentance and putting sin out of our lives, an important step in becoming a Christian (Acts 2:38). Also, this verse in 1 Corinthians shows that the churches raised up by Paul among the gentiles kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because Paul said, "Therefore, let us keep the feast...".
- Pentecost (sabbath and feast day): Represents the gift of the Holy Spirit and the founding of the New Testament Church of God (Acts 2:1-4). It is the Holy Spirit dwelling in a person that makes that person a Christian (Romans 8:9-11). In the Old Testament, it is called the feast of first fruits, and reminds us that Christians today are the early harvest of what will be a far greater spiritual harvest in the future.
- The Day of Trumpets (sabbath and feast day): Represents the second coming of Christ to rule the earth and the resurrection of the saints. This happens at the last trumpet (1 Corinthians 15:50-57, 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18, Revelation 8:2, 11:15-19).
- The Day of Atonement (sabbath and a day of fasting): This represents the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, but also the putting away of Satan into a condition of restraint after the return of Christ (Leviticus 16:1-34, Revelation 20:1). In the passage in Leviticus 16, the goat that is killed represents the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for our sins, and the goat that is released in the wilderness represents Satan and his responsibility for deceiving mankind and temping men into sin. Christ pays the penalty for our share of the responsibility for our sins, but Satan must bear his own blame for his share of the responsibility for mankind's sin. Compare Revelation 20:1-4 with Leviticus 16:21-22.
- The Feast of Tabernacles (first day is a sabbath and feast day): Represents the millenial reign of Jesus Christ and the peace, prosperity, and happiness that mankind will experience (Deuteronomy 16:13-15).
- The Last Great Day (a sabbath and a feast day): Represents the general resurrection and the white throne judgment when salvation will be made available to all who have lived and died and never had the opportunity to hear and understand the true gospel before (John 7:37-38, Ezekiel 37:1-14). Compare John 7:37-38 with Ezekiel 37:12-14. The book of life will be open and men's names can be written in it (Revelation 20:11-15).
I have observed these days by resting and attending church services, and their observance has helped to teach me and remind me of God's wonderful plan for salvation of all mankind.
For more information about these days, see my section entitled The Annual Holy Days and the Plan of God in my book Preaching the Gospel. You can page down to find the particular holy day or festival you want more information about. Or you can go to the book Table of Contents for a listing of the holy days in chapter two and click on the link for the one you are interested in.
- Passover (not a sabbath, but a feast day): Represents the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
- First Day of Unleavened Bread and Last Day of Unleavened Bread (sabbaths and feast days): Leaven is used as a symbol of sin in the New Testament - 1 Corinthians 5:6-8 - and the festival of unleavened bread represents repentance and putting sin out of our lives, an important step in becoming a Christian (Acts 2:38). Also, this verse in 1 Corinthians shows that the churches raised up by Paul among the gentiles kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because Paul said, "Therefore, let us keep the feast...".
- Pentecost (sabbath and feast day): Represents the gift of the Holy Spirit and the founding of the New Testament Church of God (Acts 2:1-4). It is the Holy Spirit dwelling in a person that makes that person a Christian (Romans 8:9-11). In the Old Testament, it is called the feast of first fruits, and reminds us that Christians today are the early harvest of what will be a far greater spiritual harvest in the future.
- The Day of Trumpets (sabbath and feast day): Represents the second coming of Christ to rule the earth and the resurrection of the saints. This happens at the last trumpet (1 Corinthians 15:50-57, 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18, Revelation 8:2, 11:15-19).
- The Day of Atonement (sabbath and a day of fasting): This represents the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, but also the putting away of Satan into a condition of restraint after the return of Christ (Leviticus 16:1-34, Revelation 20:1). In the passage in Leviticus 16, the goat that is killed represents the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for our sins, and the goat that is released in the wilderness represents Satan and his responsibility for deceiving mankind and temping men into sin. Christ pays the penalty for our share of the responsibility for our sins, but Satan must bear his own blame for his share of the responsibility for mankind's sin. Compare Revelation 20:1-4 with Leviticus 16:21-22.
- The Feast of Tabernacles (first day is a sabbath and feast day): Represents the millenial reign of Jesus Christ and the peace, prosperity, and happiness that mankind will experience (Deuteronomy 16:13-15).
- The Last Great Day (a sabbath and a feast day): Represents the general resurrection and the white throne judgment when salvation will be made available to all who have lived and died and never had the opportunity to hear and understand the true gospel before (John 7:37-38, Ezekiel 37:1-14). Compare John 7:37-38 with Ezekiel 37:12-14. The book of life will be open and men's names can be written in it (Revelation 20:11-15).
I have observed these days by resting and attending church services, and their observance has helped to teach me and remind me of God's wonderful plan for salvation of all mankind.
For more information about these days, see my section entitled The Annual Holy Days and the Plan of God in my book Preaching the Gospel. You can page down to find the particular holy day or festival you want more information about. Or you can go to the book Table of Contents for a listing of the holy days in chapter two and click on the link for the one you are interested in.
Monday, December 22, 2008
Keeping the Seventh-day Sabbath Expresses Love Towards God
Jesus was asked, what is the great commandment of the Law.
"Jesus said to him, 'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets" (Matthew 22:37-40). In answering, Jesus was quoting the Old Testament scriptures (Deuteronomy 6:5, Leviticus 19:18). "The Law and the Prophets" is a reference to the Old Testament scriptures, which are composed of the "law" (the books of Moses, the first five books of the Bible), the "prophets" (books such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel as well as the other prophets), and the "writings" (such as Psalms). Jesus is saying that the Old Testament scriptures are based on love towards God and love towards neighbor.
The two great commandments are further defined by the ten commandments. The ten commandments fill in details about HOW to love God and love our neighbor. The first four of the ten commandments teach us how to love God, and the last six teach us how to love our neighbor. Then the whole rest of the Bible further teaches us how to practice the way of love and how to keep God's commandments in their practical application in our lives.
The fourth of the ten commandments teaches us to observe the seventh day Sabbath. As God counts days from sunset to sunset (Genesis 1:2, Leviticus 23:32), this would be from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset. During this time we are to refrain from work (Exodus 20:8, Deuteronomy 5:12) and not pursue our own entertainment (Deuteronomy 5:13-14). This is a time for drawing closer to God and assembling with other Christians for fellowship and instruction (Leviticus 23:3).
How does observance of the seventh-day Sabbath express love towards God? By obeying the Sabbath command, we are acknowledging God as our Creator and as our Lord who has authority over us. We acknowledge God's authority by believing and obeying what He commands in the fourth commandment. "Lord" means ruler, one who has authority. Many people call God "Lord", but it is those who really strive to believe and obey what God says who are acknowledging by their actions that the true God is their Lord (Luke 6:46). The fourth commandment has been called by some a "test" commandment, because it tests our willingness to believe God and obey Him (Exodus 16:4-5, 22-30). It is also a sign between God and his people (Exodus 31:12-13). A sign identifies. The Sabbath helps to identify to Christians who the true God is, that is, the God who created the earth, because the Sabbath day is a memorial of creation (Exodus 20:8-11). The Sabbath also identifies to God who His people are, because it is God's people who are willing to believe and obey what God says by keeping the Sabbath. Throughout the Bible, obedience to God's commandments is equated with love (John 14:21, 1 John 5:1-3).
The weekly Sabbath also illustrates the 7,000 year plan of God, for as the Sabbath follows the six days of work, so the millenial rule of Christ for 1,000 years will follow 6,000 years of man's rule over himself (2 Peter 3:8, Revelation 20:1-4, Daniel 12:4).
The Sabbath provides time for people to rest from the burdens and concerns of the week and draw closer to God in prayer and Bible study. Taking time to learn about the things of God and to draw closer to Him is also an expression of love towards God.
Keeping the Sabbath can also be a test of faith. Many people can figure out that it is wrong to murder, steal, commit adultery, etc. Even societies that do not have a culture based on the Bible can recognize that those things are wrong. But man cannot figure out on his own that it is wrong to work on the seventh day of the week. Man can only know that by believing what God says, and it takes faith to believe what God says, as Abraham did (Romans 4:3, James 2:23, Genesis 15:4-6, Isaiah 51:1-2), and faith is one of the weightier matters of the law (Matthew 23:23). In our day, it can be a test of faith for a man or woman to keep the Sabbath, especially if that man or woman has not grown up in a Sabbath-keeping tradition. Sometimes people can lose their jobs for refusing to work on the Sabbath, and it takes faith to trust God to provide.
Here is an index to some recent posts in this blog about the Sabbath:
A Question and Answer about the New Covenant
Are the Ten Commandments Part of the New Covenant?
When Was the Sabbath Made?
The Ten Commandments, the Sabbath, and Animal Sacrifices
"Jesus said to him, 'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets" (Matthew 22:37-40). In answering, Jesus was quoting the Old Testament scriptures (Deuteronomy 6:5, Leviticus 19:18). "The Law and the Prophets" is a reference to the Old Testament scriptures, which are composed of the "law" (the books of Moses, the first five books of the Bible), the "prophets" (books such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel as well as the other prophets), and the "writings" (such as Psalms). Jesus is saying that the Old Testament scriptures are based on love towards God and love towards neighbor.
The two great commandments are further defined by the ten commandments. The ten commandments fill in details about HOW to love God and love our neighbor. The first four of the ten commandments teach us how to love God, and the last six teach us how to love our neighbor. Then the whole rest of the Bible further teaches us how to practice the way of love and how to keep God's commandments in their practical application in our lives.
The fourth of the ten commandments teaches us to observe the seventh day Sabbath. As God counts days from sunset to sunset (Genesis 1:2, Leviticus 23:32), this would be from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset. During this time we are to refrain from work (Exodus 20:8, Deuteronomy 5:12) and not pursue our own entertainment (Deuteronomy 5:13-14). This is a time for drawing closer to God and assembling with other Christians for fellowship and instruction (Leviticus 23:3).
How does observance of the seventh-day Sabbath express love towards God? By obeying the Sabbath command, we are acknowledging God as our Creator and as our Lord who has authority over us. We acknowledge God's authority by believing and obeying what He commands in the fourth commandment. "Lord" means ruler, one who has authority. Many people call God "Lord", but it is those who really strive to believe and obey what God says who are acknowledging by their actions that the true God is their Lord (Luke 6:46). The fourth commandment has been called by some a "test" commandment, because it tests our willingness to believe God and obey Him (Exodus 16:4-5, 22-30). It is also a sign between God and his people (Exodus 31:12-13). A sign identifies. The Sabbath helps to identify to Christians who the true God is, that is, the God who created the earth, because the Sabbath day is a memorial of creation (Exodus 20:8-11). The Sabbath also identifies to God who His people are, because it is God's people who are willing to believe and obey what God says by keeping the Sabbath. Throughout the Bible, obedience to God's commandments is equated with love (John 14:21, 1 John 5:1-3).
The weekly Sabbath also illustrates the 7,000 year plan of God, for as the Sabbath follows the six days of work, so the millenial rule of Christ for 1,000 years will follow 6,000 years of man's rule over himself (2 Peter 3:8, Revelation 20:1-4, Daniel 12:4).
The Sabbath provides time for people to rest from the burdens and concerns of the week and draw closer to God in prayer and Bible study. Taking time to learn about the things of God and to draw closer to Him is also an expression of love towards God.
Keeping the Sabbath can also be a test of faith. Many people can figure out that it is wrong to murder, steal, commit adultery, etc. Even societies that do not have a culture based on the Bible can recognize that those things are wrong. But man cannot figure out on his own that it is wrong to work on the seventh day of the week. Man can only know that by believing what God says, and it takes faith to believe what God says, as Abraham did (Romans 4:3, James 2:23, Genesis 15:4-6, Isaiah 51:1-2), and faith is one of the weightier matters of the law (Matthew 23:23). In our day, it can be a test of faith for a man or woman to keep the Sabbath, especially if that man or woman has not grown up in a Sabbath-keeping tradition. Sometimes people can lose their jobs for refusing to work on the Sabbath, and it takes faith to trust God to provide.
Here is an index to some recent posts in this blog about the Sabbath:
A Question and Answer about the New Covenant
Are the Ten Commandments Part of the New Covenant?
When Was the Sabbath Made?
The Ten Commandments, the Sabbath, and Animal Sacrifices
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