ARGUMENT #5"THE 10 COMMANDMENTS PREDATED BOTH SINAI AND CREATION."
For starters, even the Jews, to whom the law was given, do not believe that the law predated Sinai. I would refer the reader to the Noachain laws (aka Noahide laws, Noachide laws - from Noach, ie Noah). Are we to believe that 3,000+ years of Jewish scholarship is somehow wrong about their own law? If so, how can they be called upon as an authority on other things? It is a puzzle to me how the COGs can call upon the authority of the Jews when it suits them (for example claiming the Jews have kept the weekly Sabbath on the correct day), then turn right around and dismiss them when it suits them (for example claiming the Jews don't know when to keep Pentacost). RedFox at LivingArmstrongism has a remarkable article on this! That sort of reasoning from the COGs is not scholarship, it's hard and fast ideology. It's predetermining what you want to believe, then forcing all possible information to fit that notion after the fact.
(MARK 2: 27) And He said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath"
So, the Sabbath was made; it was not from eternity. We also know that it was made for man, so it was made sometime after man was made.For the people who say the 10 Commandments are the timeless precepts of God written down, how can you say this for the Sabbath? It simply cannot be. Not only does the Bible disagree, but common sense does as well. Think about it. God is timeless, the Sabbath is a day. With God a day is like an era of time and an era of time like a day. What good does any day have with God? None! As for the angels in heaven, they are always in God's presence and it is always holy. There is no "time" there, but God's presence makes holy so it is always holy. There is no distinction in Heaven. So we can see clearly that the Sabbath does not predate mankind.
Let's take that idea to its logical conclusion. Revelation 21: 22-26 and 22: 5 lead me (in my limited understanding of prophecy) to believe that in God's dwelling place there will be no night dividing the day. If there is no division of days, then there is no need for a weekly Sabbath. And if not, then not only does the Sabbath have a beginning but it has an end. If the Sabbath has a beginning and an end, then it is not eternal. Argument of timelessness disproved.
Many will at this point admit a pre-creation Sabbath isn't something they can prove, they just believe it to be so. In other words, it's pure un-biblical speculation and conjecture! No man's personal opinion is a sure foundation on which to base doctrine. I have nothing against speculation, but keep it in its place and do not base doctrine on speculation. If this notion of an eternal Sabbath influences your understanding of the New Covenant, I suggest that perhaps it is past time to reconsider the wisdom of this notion.
The argument now becomes "The 10 Commandments predate Sinai."
If that were so, why is it that God had to teach the Sabbath to the Israelites? Why is it that not a single mention of the word Sabbath or anything resembling Sabbath observance appears before the Exodus?
(NEH. 9: 14) You made known to them Your holy Sabbath, and commanded them precepts, statutes and laws, by the hand of Moses Your servant.
The Bible's own words say "by the hand of Moses" - and not before!
(HEB. 7: 11) 11 Therefore, if perfection were through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law)...
The old law and the Levitical priesthood are two parts of a whole. They need each other. The law was given under the Levitical priesthood. And when the Levitical Priesthood was replaced by Christ, the law was annulled.
(HEB. 7: 12) For the priesthood being changed, of necessity there is also a change of the law.
Those who are not aware must know that this argument about predating Sinai is supposed to demonstrate that if the 10 Commandments predated Sinai then they are not technically part of the Old Covenant and are therefore still binding today; thus contradicting both Exodus. 34: 28; and Deuteronomy. 4: 13. Well then, what of circumcision which was given to Abraham? Or animal sacrifice which we DO see in Genesis several times (even when we do not see the Sabbath once)? Are those still binding as well? Or what of concubinage, practiced by righteous (by faith not law) Abraham as well as Jacob? Is that valid as well? It seems odd to me that men who were supposedly fully aware of the 10 Commandments not only never mentioned the Sabbath but flagrantly violated the prohibition against adultery. And not only that, but while HWA taught that no one must go to war, Abraham did. Does that validate warfare? I point out over and again how HWA's teachings do not mesh with the Bible (or even with themselves). So, the Sabbath which we don't see prior to the Exodus is binding and valid, but circumcision, animal sacrifice, concubinage, and warfare which we do see are not valid or binding? Perhaps this argument of his isn't so effective an avenue after all!
Speaking of Abraham, let's ask the Bible when the law was given:
(GAL. 3: 16-17) 16 Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, "And to seeds," as of many, but as of one, "And to your Seed," who is Christ. 17 And this I say, that THE LAW, WHICH WAS FOUR HUNDRED AND THIRTY YEARS LATER, cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before by God in Christ, that it should make the promise of no effect.
So, according to Paul, the law came 430 years after Abraham, not 2,000+ years before him. In addition it is not that law that we are under (GAL. 3: 23-25) but the promise by God to Abraham and Christ -- which promise we participate in upon becoming one body with Christ in the Holy Spirit (I COR. 10: 16-17; GAL 3: 26-29).
No doubt someone is out there itching to let us all know that the Sabbath is mentioned in Genesis when God rested on the seventh day of creation. Well, He rested, that much is sure - but that rest was never called "Sabbath". It was a rest that was never entered into by man, including those to whom the Sabbath was given, until Christ died and was resurrected; Hebrews 3 for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.
But those verses only tell you why that particular day of the week was chosen for the children of Israel, not why there is a Sabbath Commandment. In other words, they give you the when. For the why, we go to Deuteronomy.
(DEU. 5: 15) And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.
THIS verse tells you WHY there is a Sabbath command. It looks back to the Exodus. Also, this verse gives a vital clue that the 10 Commandments are not the perfect codification of God's nature, but are exactly what Paul said they were, SHADOWS! Jesus said the greatest commandments were not even of the 10. And those pointed to a greater principle yet -- love! I ask, if not the 10 Commandments, then what is the exact representation of God's nature?
(COL. 1: 15) He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.(II COR. 4: 4)...Christ, who is the image of God...(COL. 2: 9) For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily
Christ is the reality. He is the representation of God's nature. It is not to anything else that we should look, least of all demonstrably false prophets, wolves who peddle Christ, and proud men who set themselves and their "ministry" up as your path to salvation.And what do we see in the word about Jesus Christ?
(MATT. 17: 1-8) 1 Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves; 2 and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. 3 And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. 4 Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, let us make here three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." 5 While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!" 6 And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid. 7 But Jesus came and touched them and said, "Arise, and do not be afraid." 8 When they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.
Why do I quote these verses? Well, you may not have had these verses explained to you in quite this way before (and why would you; these verses were always read as part of a prescribed manner of prophetic interpretation as taught by HWA), but in tradition Moses represents the law and Elijah represents the prophets. Here we have a vision of Jesus being glorified greatly beyond the law and the prophets. Our Lord speaks with them, and the scene is covered up by a cloud. From that cloud comes a powerful and commanding voice from the Father who says, "This is My beloved Son... HEAR HIM!" Not, "Hear the law". Not, "Hear the prophets". But hear Christ! When the cloud dissipated, there was Jesus standing alone; the law and the prophets gone. Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the law and the prophets!Now, pay close attention to what Jesus said next:
(MATT. 17: 9) Now as they came down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, "Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man is risen from the dead."
Tell no one until after His resurrection. Why wait? And why do I mention this? Because certainly there are many who are saying "If we are to follow Jesus' example, and Jesus kept the Sabbath, then we are to keep the Sabbath." In this they demonstrate logical thinking, but not an understanding of the Gospel. You see, as discussed in previous posts in this topic, we learned that Jesus was born under the law in order to redeem those who were under the law (GAL. 4: 4-5). But that Old Covenant, it's priesthood, it's condemnation, could not be annulled for us until His death. Jesus Christ may have been Lord over the Sabbath even while He lived as a man, but those under the law had no such right. When He died, being a primary party to the Old Covenant, that covenant was annulled. Now a New Covenant has come in, based on the glory of the Gospel of Jesus Christ! This is why Jesus commanded the three not to tell a soul until after He died - it wasn't time yet (JOHN 14: 25-26; 16: 12-13).No, it wasn't time yet. Jesus had more to teach them once they were able to accept it. These things came as a shock to the Jewish Apostles but were confirmed through miracles at the council of Jerusalem in Acts 15. In fact, let's look at that. What do we see at first?
In verses 1-5, Paul and Barnabas both could not persuade the Jewish converts that the laws of Moses were not binding on Gentile converts (much like they cannot convince the COGs today). Paul and Barnabas agreed to bring the matter up with the other Apostles and Elders in Jerusalem. When they arrived in Jerusalem there were more Jewish converts professing the need for Gentiles to be Jews in order to be Christians, and another debate arose. Peter stood and spoke to the crowd (v. 6-11). He made this statement:
(ACTS 15: 10) Now therefore, WHY DO YOU TEST GOD by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?
It is not in obedience to God that men attempt to resurrect the Old Covenant, which no man could bear, but in testing God!Paul and Barnabas then declared the many miracles worked among the Gentiles by the Spirit of God - working in people who had no tradition of the Old Covenant (v. 12)! This was amazing thing! James then stood and reminded the people how God took Israel from among the Gentiles and raised them up, and now He had turned to reunite them with the Gentiles again (v. 13-18). Their conclusion?
(ACTS 15: 24) Since we have heard that some who went out from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your souls, saying, "You must be circumcised and keep the law" - to whom we gave no such commandment
Whether you see this as saying those men were not sent, or you see this as saying the message they carried was never commanded, it ends the same way - the Gentiles were never told to keep the Old Covenant in order to be Christians. This conclusion was spoken and agreed upon (v. 19-21), then written in a letter (v. 23-29), then it was again confirmed later on (ACTS 21: 25).
To answer the question from earlier - are circumcision and animal sacrifice which preceded Sinai still binding - the answer is NO! The argument that because something precedes Sinai it is binding on us today is false! What we see is that the Sabbath is never mentioned prior to the Exodus, it was given by the hand of Moses under the Levitical Priesthood, it pointed to God's creation rest that no man entered into until after Christ's resurrection, and it is no longer binding on us because it was fulfilled by Jesus Christ who is the reality that had cast the shadow.Why is this so hard to accept? We all know that Jesus fulfilled the law, yet HWA in effect taught that He did not fulfill the Sabbath. What sense does that make? Our faith, salvation, hope, life, and whatever else good thing there may be are all wrapped up in Christ and NOT in Moses or the Old Covenant. This is a New Covenant in Jesus. He is our Sabbath rest!
The Sabbath is NOT the thing towards which we should look, but rather it is merely a shadow - the substance, the reality is Christ Jesus! He is the Head over all things, even the Sabbath (MATT. 12: 8; MARK 2: 23; LUKE 6: 5). He fulfilled the law and the prophets - as He said He would. It is the right of Christ, the reality and fulfillment, towards whom the law and prophets pointed and about whom they spoke, to replace the Sabbath day as well.
(COL. 2: 10) and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.
The creation rest remains for us to enter into, as we see in Hebrews 3 15: 12, 17; ROM. 13: 8; I JOHN 3: 11, 23; 2 JOHN 1: 5).
[Also see Part I, Part II, Part III, ">
It is important that you understand; Everything on this blog is based on the current understanding of each author. Never take anyone's word for it, always prove it for yourself, it is your responsibility. You cannot ride someone else's coattail into the Kingdom.Acts 17:11
