God’s Law vs. The Law of Moses
From The Beginning
There is a lot of talk both within and without the COG groups about keeping the “law of Moses.” Those against it say it’s part of the old covenant and since we’re under the new covenant, we no longer have to keep those laws. And, sadly, in some ways, the COG groups don’t keep them in the way they are laid out in scripture.
Let’s establish a baseline.
What is God’s Law?
God’s law consists of the eternal laws before creation and the laws that were established at creation.
What is the Law of Moses?
It consists of the same eternal laws of God and those established at creation, and the addition of the Levitical priesthood and animal sacrifices and offerings for sin.
Bottom Line?
The law of Moses differs from God’s law in just one way: human priests and animal sacrifices and offerings for sin. (I do realize there were other sacrificial offerings, but they are not germane to this discussion.)
Which Law Remains With the Life, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus?
When Jesus came, died, and was resurrected, the human priesthood was abolished, and the animal sacrifices and offerings for sin were abolished. Why? Jesus became our High Priest in the order of Melchizedek, and He was sacrificed for all of humanity’s sins.
The human priesthood and the animal sin offerings and sacrifices pointed to Jesus becoming both. The book of Hebrews tells us they were a shadow (symbol) that pointed to Jesus Christ.
The rest of God’s law remains intact (Mt. 5:17-19)!
What Is the Issue With God’s Law?
The main sticking point seems to be with observance of the seventh-day Sabbath. But the seventh-day Sabbath predates the law of Moses. It was established as part of the creation (Gen. 2:2-3).
Jesus observed the Sabbath. Why did Jesus observe it? He created it as Lord of the Sabbath in Gen. 2:2-3! When Jesus says to “Follow me,” what does He mean? It’s pretty simple. Do what He did, speak like He spoke, treat people the way He treated them, have the same relationship with His Father that He did, think like He thought.
What Did the New Covenant Abolish?
It’s important to understand what distinguishes God’s law from the law of Moses to understand what the new covenant did and, more importantly, did not abolish. The book of Hebrews makes this abundantly clear.
How did Noah know which animals were clean and unclean (Gen. 7:2-9)? We don’t see him scratching his head and asking God to spell them out. Noah didn’t have to. This was one of God’s laws established at creation, just as the Sabbath was established as part of God’s law at creation.
Why Does the Law of Moses Exist?
Context is the key to everything. When we pull scripture out of context, we will always be wrong.
Jacob (Israel) and his family went to Egypt during a severe famine. His descendants stayed there for a total of 430 years (Ex. 12:40-41). God’s law was not passed down through successive generations (Deut. 6:9 addresses this problem).
The Israelites assimilated the Egyptian culture, which included eating unclean foods, worshipping pagan gods, and setting up idols as objects of worship. By the time Israel left Egypt, God’s law was unknown to them.
The law of Moses is God’s law given to Israel at Mt. Sinai because they’d lost it while they were in Egypt.
What Is the Takeaway for You and Me?
God’s law is God’s law. We can do all kinds of mental gymnastics to try to get around it, to refute it, and to ignore it. But none of those things change the fact that it exists and is in effect.
It still will be when Jesus establishes God’s kingdom on earth (Zech. 14:16-19).
Are we keeping God’s law as He commanded? You have to answer for you, and I have to answer for me.
I know when I look into the mirror of truth, the Word of God (Jn. 17:17), I find that sometimes the traditions of men have superseded the instructions of God, and I need to change.
What will you find?
God’s Law vs. The Law of Moses
11 comments:
The posting: not bad! I'd throw in tithing as an added law now removed but the tithe receivers will point to Abraham and Jacob as tithers. Of course but not by law. Who did Adam and Noah pay tithes to? The tithing system was set up to support the added Levitical Priesthood, now removed and to repeat there's no commandment to tithe on monetary income. Paul sure did miss his opportunity in 1Cor 9 to emphasize tithing when instead he discussed muzzling oxen, from the law of Moses (what? Law of Moses is no more? Not all of it).
I have no doubt that these ‘controversies’ about ‘Laws’ will be resolved at our Messiahs return. In the meanwhile looking at the divisions within the Armstrong movement and Christianity as a whole they will remain and no one has the low down to use that phrase on the ‘truth’. Or do they? In the meantime we are to love one another (unless they hold a contrary opinion) lol.
A concise statement of the Armstrongist position on God's Law. Unfortunately, it is NOT consistent with what is revealed in Scripture.
What is God's Law? The Law of Moses is an iteration of God's Law which was given to the children of Israel. It was the basis for God's Covenant with those people. Jesus said that the Law was summarized by just two commandments: Love for God, and Loving each other like we love ourselves. Hence, the distinction between God's Law and the Law of Moses is artificial. It is NOT characterized that way in Scripture! (Exodus 16:28, 20:6, Leviticus 22:31, 26:3, 15, Deuteronomy 5:10, 29, 11:13, etc.)
Moreover, there is NO scriptural basis for separating out the priesthood, sacrifices, and offerings from the rest of the Law. Torah clearly views ALL of its instructions as parts of a whole (Numbers 15:40, Deuteronomy 4:2, 12:32, etc.). Likewise, the New Testament views this legislation in exactly the same way (Matthew 5:19, 22:40, Acts 15, James 2:10, etc.). Jesus Christ came here to FULFILL the WHOLE Law, and the Prophets, and Writings of the Hebrew Scriptures (Luke 24:44). In short, it ALL pointed to HIM! Moreover, Christ accomplished his mission. He FULFILLED the Law - the only person ever to have done so!
The book of Genesis records that the Sabbath was created after God had finished his work of creating and rested. I suggest that these folks reread that passage (Genesis 2:1-3). There is NO indication there that God commanded anyone to observe it! Indeed, we find that God had to introduce the Sabbath to the children of Israel because they had no awareness of it (Exodus 16).
Finally, the New Covenant made the Old Covenant OBSOLETE (Hebrews 8:13). What does all of this mean for Christians? That no one will be justified by obeying the commandments contained in the Law (Romans 3:28, Galatians 2:16, 3:11). On the other hand, those who have accepted Christ's fulfillment of the Law on their behalf and received God's Holy Spirit will be loving God and each other.
I agree Millar. I also believe the 'Law' was introduced to keep Israel separate and distinct from those around them. And help them to develop a civil society and unify them as a nation after the trauma of slavery. The Sabbath certainly allows the Jewish people, to this day, be separate as they gather on Saturday to worship God. And I believe it will continue to be observed after the return of Jesus Christ, Israel's long awaited messiah.
“What is the Law of Moses? It consists of the same eternal laws of God and those established at creation, and the addition of the Levitical priesthood and animal sacrifices and offerings for sin.”
I take exception to that statement. The Law of Moses does not contain the eternal laws of God from before creation. The Law of Moses is a collection of laws for human beings – specifically for ancient Israel. We do not see laws that even pertain to other parts of this present Creation such as laws for angels. Herman Hoeh recognized this. He stated that, “These Commandments (Decalogue) existed from the very beginning – since creation.”
God, his character and expectations for his sentient created beings are the source of all law. He instantiates laws for particular categories of beings. If we had laws God had instantiated for angels, we would not know what to do with them. Just like angels needn’t be bothered about the law against adultery – it is not relevant to them.
Another point of disagreement is concerned with the statement, “The rest of God’s law remains intact (Mt. 5:17-19)!”
Not hardly, as John Wayne said. It remains intact “until all is accomplished” as it is written in the verses you cite. In another place in the New Testament it states that the Law was until John the Baptist. This fits with Pauline theology which asserts the Law of Christ instead of the Law of Moses.
There’s much more but I don’t have time to relitigate this.
Scout
Slightly related, but posting just because it came to mind. All the Decalogue is repeated in the New Testament except for the sabbath; why? Perhaps because it is more ceremonial and not part of the moral law, whereas the other 9 are based on the necessities to being a believer in God and not practicing corrupting behaviors. The sabbath in and of itself is not necessary to believing in and worshipping of the Lord or at all necessary in preventing our corrupting of ourselves.
The Bible is a marvelously compact work, considering its scope. The essential things are usually plainly stated, but not always. Sometimes we have to scratch and dig to arrive at a fitting conclusion, because Scripture doesn't answer every detailed question we have. If our expectation is that it should, could the world contain the necessary books that would have to be written to make it so? Considering we have what we have, isn't that enough to come to a logical evaluation without Scripture having to spell out every conceivable detail?
It has been stated here that there is no command in Genesis to keep the sabbath (which happens to be an argument Joe Tkach used in 1998 to dismiss the sabbath).
There are also no commands in Scripture to keep Sunday, Easter or Christmas but that argument doesn't stop "orthodox" Christianity. There is also no command in Genesis for Cain and Abel to honor their parents, but is that really needed to form a logical conclusion that it was known and practiced?
Genesis is not a book of law and commands like Exodus, but of origins, the book of beginnings, which carried great weight and authority with Jesus Christ (marriage and sabbath). Genesis 2 may not mention or command sabbath, but Exodus 20:8-11 does and is a fitting commentary of the Genesis account.
It has also been said by others that Adam didn't keep the sabbath because it's not recorded. This kindergarten approach is absolutely ridiculous to me considering Christ's words that
"the sabbath was made (ginomai- its original making) for man" (anthropos), mankind, human beings, as its human function, but apparently NOT for the first human being Adam!! Does that make any sense at all? Shame on God for not making this clearer, but did He really need to? Could we not come to the right conclusion on our own?
There are as many interpretations on this that there are people. As long as we expect God to do all the work and spell out every single detail, which would require the Bible to be the size of our globe, instead of applying what HE DOES give us in the word, we will forever be divided. Many believe it is the function of the Church to sort these things out, but we currently have 41,000 versions of that, so I don't see changes coming any time soon.
You say 'we find that God had to introduce the Sabbath to the children of Israel because they had no awareness of it (Exodus 16)'
What is being shown in Exodus 16 is which day of the seven was the Sabbath. The Israelites had been in slavery to the Egyptians for years, and Egypt had a ten day week! Under both slavery conditions and a ten day week they were almost guaranteed to loose track of which day was the actual seventh day Sabbath.
The seventh day is being reconfirmed by God - and this sign continued for around forty years.
It is unseemly for a child to dishonor their parents. There was something particularly evil about the sin done unto noah by his grandson. Isaac honored his father unto death. Jacob's betrayal of his father with the help of his mother is particularly ill. Still, Joseph brought his father's bones to Egypt. Isaac and Jacob both followed their parents' instruction on how to receive a bride.
Disrespecting your parents who brought you into this world and sacrificed for you is a grave flaw and damages society.
So, not only were examples given showing the value in honoring one's parents it is a recognized natural good.
This is entirely different from the sabbath that is not innately good outside of God's instructions directed to the Children of Israel. Such laws must be communicated because they are not a part of that which is naturally good.
Jesus was showing the subordination of the sabbath to man when the pharisees were trying to condemn the disciples for picking and eating grain on the sabbath.
anon 12:46:54 was written by me, on a different terminal to my usual one. I never post anonymously, so just identifying myself!
We live in times during which the only available teachers are human. Therefore, we really can't know truth. We can only be convinced by humans to believe in certain ways. Knowers of truth are perceived to be those who believe as we ourselves have come to believe.
No theophanies have occured during our own lifespans. I wish that there had been, but we've only had false apostles and false prophets, who exploit us and self-aggrandize. Sad to say, but we will only know truth upon our own deaths.......or not.
In a sense, all of our arguments are useless.
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