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IN DEFENSE OF THE FAITH
The
Truth About Seventh-day Adventists
A
REPLY TO CANRIGHT
by
William
H. Branson
Appendices
K. Summary of the New
Testament Commandments
Exhibit K
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Total
Mt 8 5 9 3 24 7 6 18 4 84
Mk 2 4 12 1 19 5 4 15 5 67
Lk 6 5 19 17 3 6 13 9 78
Jn 4 1 1 10 10 1 1 8 2 38
Acts 5 5 2 10 2 1 3 28
Rom 4 4 1 1 4 3 3 4 5 29
1 Cor 3 5 1 12 3 1 1 26
2 Cor 1 1 1 1 3 7
Gal 1 1 1 2 1 6
Eph 1 1 1 2 1 3 2 11
Phil 2 2
Coll 1 2 1 1 2 1 1 9
1 Th 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 8
2 Th 1 1 2
1 Tim 3 3 3 1 3 1 4 3 21
2 Tim 1 1 1 1 4 4 12
Tit 1 2 2 2 7
Heb 3 2 2 1 1 9
Jam 2 1 3 3 1 1 4 15
1 Pet 1 1 1 2 1 1 3 10
2 Pet 1 4 2 7
1 Jn 1 1 4 9 1 16
2 Jn 1 1
Jude 2 1 3 2 2 10
Rev 15 12 11 1 15 14 2 11 3 84
Total 66 35 37 64 12 100 71 32 114 56 587
182
L. Fourteen Texts Used Against
the Sabbath Answered
1. Didn't Paul condemn the
Galatians for observing special days and months and seasons and
years? Doesn't this mean
Paul was teaching that the Sabbath had been abolished? (Galatians 4:10)
The answer to your
question is found by understanding who Paul was writing to and what
circumstances he
was addressing. By
reading Galatians 4:8-11 and analyzing the verses surrounding the text
you quoted, we
discover Paul was not
even speaking about the Sabbath. Let's carefully examine what he wrote:
Verse 8 Formerly,
when you did not know God. Here Paul tells us he was not writing to
Jews because, as
God's chosen nation,
the Jews already knew God. Instead Paul was writing to people who were
once pagans
and who had recently
converted to Christianity. Before converting to Christianity these
pagans did not
know God and they
were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. They were
worshipping heathen
idols and pagan deities
which do not have the divine nature of the true God. Paganism was common
in
Paul's day, and in 1
Corinthians 10:20 he also had to warn the Corinthian Christians against
participating in
pagan sacrifices and
celebrations.
Verse 9 But now that
you know God. After Paul preached the Gospel to these pagans and they
learned about the true
God, they converted to Christianity. Now as Christians they know God.
But they are
beginning to slip back
into their old pagan habits: you are turning back to those weak and
miserable
principles. These
were heathen principles taught by the pagans. What were the weak and
miserable
principles of
paganism that these new Christian converts found so appealing that they
risked being
enslaved by them all
over again? Paul answers that question in the next verse.
Verse 10 You are
observing special days and months and seasons and years! Paul wrote
this to
Christians who were
falling back into their old pagan customs. Those special days were
not the special
days that Christians or
Jews observe, they were the special days that pagans observed. For
instance, pagans
celebrated the
solstices: June 22 (the beginning of the summer season) and December 22
(the beginning of
the winter season).
Pagans also celebrated the first day of each week, Sunday, in memory of
their Sun god.
They had many fast days
and feast days which were part of their pagan religion.
Verse 11 I fear for
you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you. Paul had worked
hard to
present the Gospel to
these people. He warned them his efforts would be wasted if they left
Christianity by
turning back to their
old pagan customs and revelry.
Conclusion: There is
nothing here about obeying God's Ten Commandments, or worshipping on
the seventh day of the
week, or abolishing God's holy Sabbath day. Instead, Paul is warning his
new
Christian friends
against turning back to the old pagan celebrations they had once
observed.
2. Paul tells us in Romans
14:5 no day is more sacred than another, therefore we can worship any
day we please.
No, what Paul said is:
one man considers one day more sacred than another; another man
considers every
day alike. Each one
should be fully convinced in his own mind. When we look at the
context we learn
Paul was addressing
personal preferences, not direct commands from God. Let's look carefully
at Paul's
words:
In verse 1 Paul tells
us he is speaking about disputable matters. These are the gray
areas of
Christian life where
personal preferences are exercised, because they do not deal with
clearly defined
commands of God.
Verses 2-4 tell us
these disputable matters concern things such as whether or not a
person
prefers to be a
vegetarian. In the absence of a direct command from God to eat only
vegetables, each
person is free to
exercise his own personal preference. Paul writes that God accepts our
personal
preferences in these
gray areas.
Verses 5-9 tell us that
there are also gray areas when it comes to days. Notice the word
sacred
has been added by the
translators for the original Greek reads: One man judges a day above
a day, another
judges every day.
The King James version reads: One man esteemeth one day above
another; another
esteemeth every day
alike. In other words a fisherman might think the fish bite better on
Tuesday than
they do on Friday. Or a
farmer may prefer to plant his crops on Monday instead of Thursday.
Whatever we
think about one day
being better than another is our personal business.
But in verses 10-12
Paul warns Christians that every one of us will give an account of
himself to
God. While God
accepts our personal preferences in the gray areas, He does not permit
us to choose
which of His commands
we will obey. Disobedience is sin and we will be condemned for
disobedience:
Romans 14:22.
Conclusion: Paul did
not say that God's holy Sabbath day had been abolished. Instead Paul
said as
long as we obey what
God has specifically commanded, we are free to exercise our personal
preferences in
the gray areas of
Christian life. But since God specifically made Saturday holy and
clearly designated it as
the day for rest and
worship, we are sinning if we disobey God's command.
3. Doesn't Ephesians 2:15 say
the Ten Commandments were abolished by Christ's death on the
cross?
No, Ephesians 2:15 does
not even mention the Ten Commandments. Instead it says: by abolishing
in his
flesh the law with its
commandments and regulations. The law that Paul was speaking about
has both
commandments and
regulations. That law was the barrier, the dividing wall of
hostility he referred to in
verse 14. It was the
ceremonial law with its commandments and regulations about sacrifices
and unclean
foods that created a
wall between Jews and Gentiles. Christ fulfilled the ceremonial law and
abolished its
regulations and
sacrifices through His death. But the moral law in Ten Commandments was
not abolished
nor was it even relaxed
by Christ. Instead, Jesus made the Ten Commandments broader and more
farreaching
(Matthew 5:21-48). The
Ten Commandments continue to define sin and point sinners to Christ as
their Savior (Galatians
3:24). Paul tells us that our faith in Christ never abolishes God's Ten
Commandment
law (Romans 3:31).
Conclusion: The
ceremonial law which contained commandments and regulations regarding
foods
and sacrifices was
abolished when Christ died on the cross. But the Ten Commandments
continue to be in
effect as the
definition of sin. We Christians must always obey what God specifically
requires in His moral
law.
4. Paul tells us in Colossians
2:14, 16 that the Ten Commandments were nailed to the cross.
Therefore aren't Christians
free to worship on Sunday instead of Saturday since the Sabbath
commandment no longer is in
effect?
Again, the Ten
Commandments are not even mentioned here. Instead, Colossians 2:14 says:
having
canceled the written
code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed
to us; he took it
away, nailing it to the
cross. Notice that the Bible makes a distinction between the
written code which
was canceled at the
cross and God's Ten Commandments. God's Ten Commandments are eternal and
were placed inside the
Ark of the Covenant. The ceremonial laws ended at the cross and were
kept in a
pocket outside of the
Ark (Deuteronomy 10:4, 5; 31:24-26). The ceremonial laws are the
written code
which regulated what
you eat or drink as well as religious festivals, New Moon
celebrations, (and)
Sabbaths (Colossians
2:16). Jesus fulfilled and established the Ten Commandments by living a
sinless life;
but He fulfilled and
abolished the written code of ceremonial celebrations and worship
services which
pointed forward to His
first coming as the Messiah (sacrificial lambs, offerings, Annual Holy
Days, et
cetera). Jesus
specifically stated He did not come to abolish God's Ten Commandment
Law, but rather to
fulfill it by living a
sinless life (Matthew 5:17-19).
In the original Greek
the words written code are literally the handwritten
certificate of
indebtedness. The
words code, with its are supplied by the translators and do not
appear in the original
Greek. Thus Christ took
away the handwritten certificate of our indebtedness, and nailed
it to the cross
when He forgave all our
sins (Colossians 2:13).
In its simplest terms,
this written certificate of indebtedness states: The wages of sin is
death
(Romans 6:23). By
sinning we are indebted to pay for our sins with our life. But Jesus
paid our death
penalty on the cross
with His life, thus blotting out our death certificate. In addition, He
fulfilled the Old
Testament prophecies
and the religious regulations and ceremonies which pointed forward to
His first
coming and death on the
cross. Thus we can be forgiven fo our past sins, but the Ten
Commandments
were not abolished by
Jesus' death on the cross. Therefore we are not free to sin and we must
be conformed
to the requirements of
God's Law through the power of the Holy Spirit working in our lives
(Romans 7:7,
12, 13, 22, 25; 8:1-8,
12-14).
Now let's read
Colossians 2:16 and study each of the key phrases: Therefore do not
let anyone
judge you by what you
eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon
celebration or a
Sabbath day. The
word therefore refers back to the previous verses where we are
told that Christ
forgave us all our
sins (Colossians 2:13); canceled the written code with its
regulations, that was against
us (Colossians
2:14); and by His death on the cross disarmed and triumphed over the
powers and
authorities
(Colossians 2:15).
The key point Paul is
making here is: therefore since Christ has done all this for you,
do not let
anyone judge you.
Why? Because Christ forgave us all our sins; canceled the
written code; and
triumphed over the
powers and authorities who had the right to condemn us to death for
our sins.
Therefore we are
not to judge or be judged by others on the basis of the externals of
Judaisms ceremonial
laws (what you eat,
drink, religious festivals, New Moon celebrations, or Sabbaths). What
other human
beings think in these
matters is not important (Romans 14:16-18). But we Christians must
always
remember God is the
final judge of both our actions and our characters (Romans 2:11-16).
Since we are all
accountable only to Him
we must each make certain that we do not deliberately disobey what He
has
clearly commanded.
Now, let's look
specifically at what Paul meant when he said we are not to let people
judge us by
what we eat, drink,
religious festivals, New Moon celebrations, or Sabbaths. First,
remember the Ten
Commandments do not
regulate eating or drinking. Those dietary laws are found in the
ceremonial
regulations God
established for the Jews (see Exodus 12:9, 18; Leviticus 3:17; 10:9;
chapter 11, etcetera).
Also, the Ten
Commandments do not regulate religious festivals. The laws
concerning Jewish
religious festivals are
in the ceremonial regulations God established for the Jews (see Exodus
23:14-16;
Leviticus 23:41;
Numbers 29:12, et cetera). Paul is clear that we are not to judge people
by what they eat or
drink, or by the
religious festivals they keep. But abstaining from judging does not
remove our personal
responsibility to God,
nor does it change the fact that God will judge each of us if we
deliberately disobey
Him. Read Colossians
3:5, 6 and notice that Paul lists at least three of the Ten Commandments
there. Paul
is clear that God will
judge us by the Ten Commandments.
The Ten Commandments
also do not regulate New Moon celebrations. New Moon celebrations
were regulated by the
ceremonial laws God established for the Jews (see Numbers 28:14; Ezra
3:5; Psalm
81:3, etcetera).
But, what about the
phrase a Sabbath day? The original Greek reads in respect of a
feast or of a
new moon or of
sabbaths. The words a Sabbath day are supplied by the
translators! The Hebrew word
sabbath means
rest. All Jewish religious feasts and festivals were called
Sabbaths because they were
times of rest from
daily work. The Jews celebrate six annual Holy Days which they call
Annual Sabbaths
(Passover, Day of
Atonement, Feast of Tabernacles, Pentecost, Feast of Trumpets and First
Fruits). The
Ten Commandments do not
regulate these annual Sabbaths. It is the ceremonial law God
established for
the Jews that regulates
all those annual Sabbath Festivals (Leviticus 16:1-34; 23:5-25, 34-36).
The Annual Sabbath
Festivals began with Moses in 1450 B.C., pointed forward to Christ and
ended at the Cross. But
the weekly Sabbath Day began on the seventh day of creation week, 2,500
years
before there ever was a
Jew, and continues for all eternity (Isaiah 66:22, 23). The Sabbath is
part of God's
eternal Ten Commandment
Law which will be used to judge every person (Ecclesiastes 12:13, 14; 1
John
3:4; James 2:10-12;
Matthew 15:3-9).
5. In Galatians 2:19 Paul says
that he died to the law. Doesn't that mean he didn't bother to keep
God's Ten Commandments once he
became a Christian?
No. Before Paul became
a Christian he tried to earn his salvation by keeping God's Law. Now, as
a
Christian, Paul has
come to the realization that God's Ten Commandments are not a method for
earning
salvation - rather the
Ten Commandments are designed to define sin, restrain evil, and turn us
to Jesus for
cleansing, forgiveness
and salvation (Romans 3:20-24). Thus Paul died to the law as a
method for
earning salvation and
he now relies fully on Jesus Christ for his salvation (Galatians
2:17-21). There's
nothing here about
doing away with God's Ten Commandments or doing away with the weekly
Sabbath
day.
6. Doesn't Paul tell us in
Romans 3:28 that we are justified by faith, therefore we don't have to
observe the Ten Commandments?
It is absolutely true
that only Jesus justifies (saves) us, and that we must have a
growing faith in Him.
God's Ten Commandments
can never save us. But let's read on to see what Paul said in verse 31:
Do we
then nullify the law by
this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law. A saved Christian
chooses to obey
God's Law, not because
he's trying to earn salvation, but because it is natural to obey the God
we love and
worship (Matthew
22:35-40; 1 John 5:2, 3).
7. Since Galatians 2:16 tells
us that we are not saved by keeping the Law, shouldn't we forget God's
Ten Commandments and just love
Jesus?
No, Jesus said if we
love Him we will obey what He commands (John 14:15). Love can never be
separated
from obedience. Many
people think that since Paul condemns law-keeping as a method of earning
salvation, that he is
against God's Ten Commandments. However in the next two verses
(Galatians 2:17,
18) Paul makes it clear
that it is not his intention to teach Christians to sin by breaking
God's law! Notice
positively Paul speaks
about God's Law:
Paul's View of God's
Law
* Christians do not
nullify (make of no value) God's Law by their faith in Jesus.
Instead, our faith
upholds God's Law:
Romans 3:31.
* Keeping God's
Commandments is what counts in a positive, loving, Christian life: 1
Corinthians 7:19.
* God's Law is good if
it is used properly: 1 Timothy 1:8.
* If God's Law did not
exist, there would be no sin (and therefore there would be no need for
grace and no
need for our Savior
Jesus Christ): Romans 5:13.
* We are to put away
our sinful natures: Romans 13:12-14.
* Being under grace
does not give us a license to sin: Romans 6:15.
* God's Law is holy,
righteous and good: Romans 7:12.
The Bible is clear that
we are not loyal to God if we deliberately choose to disobey Him: 1 John
2:3-6; 3:3-
6.
8. In Matthew 5:17 Jesus said
He came to fulfill the Law. Doesn't this mean that He abolished God's
Ten Commandments?
When we read this text
very carefully we discover that Jesus specifically stated He did not
come to abolish
the Law. Instead, Jesus
promises us in verse 18 that as long as heaven and earth exist not a
single stroke of
a pen will disappear
from God's Law! The Holy Spirit informs us in 1 John 3:5 that Jesus came
to take
away our sins, not
to take away God's Law! Remember, simply because I fulfill the
speed limit by
driving 55 miles an
hour on Monday does not mean I have abolished the speed limit law and
now can drive
75 on Tuesday! Any
policeman will tell us fulfilling the law does not abolish the
law.
9. Doesn't Paul say that we
are not under the Law, but under Grace? (See Romans 6:14).
Yes. But he also says
being under grace doesn't give us an excuse to sin by breaking God's Ten
Commandment Law because
sin shall not be your master (see verses 14 and 15). Paul is not
against
God's Ten Commandments,
he is against anyone trying to earn eternal life by keeping them. The
Ten
Commandments are not
designed to save us and cannot save us. They define sin and point us to
Jesus for
our salvation. Through
His grace we receive forgiveness for our sins and Divine power to
overcome them:
1 John 1:9. The more
Christ-like we become, the more offensive sin will be to us, and the
greater our
appreciation will be
that Jesus died to pay the penalty for our sins! Remember, Jesus died to
pay the penalty
for sin (law-breaking),
He did not die to take away the Ten Commandments so we could live in
sin.
10. Weren't the Ten
Commandments given to the Jews and not to Christians?
We have just
demonstrated that the Ten Commandments are repeated in the New Testament
and that
everyone, including
Christians, will be judged by God's eternal Ten Commandment Law. So we
Christians
cannot really believe
that God would permit us to lie, steal, murder and commit adultery,
while He
prohibited the Jews
from committing those same sins!
God does not have one
law for Christians and another law for Jews. Neither does God have
separate laws
for Pagans, Atheists,
Hindus and Moslems. Both the Old and New Testaments are clear that every
person
will be judged
according to God's Ten Commandments. Paul tells us that we are all
sons of God through
faith in Christ
Jesus (Galatians 3:26-29). As far as God is concerned, there is no
Jew or Gentile - He
treats us all as one in
Christ. God's Ten Commandments define sin for every person on earth and
point
every one of us to
Jesus Christ for salvation (Romans 3:29-31). Paul is clear that if God's
Ten
Commandments had been
abolished there would be no sin and thus we would not need Jesus Christ
as our
Savior (Romans 5:13).
All of God's people are to live within the bounds He set for us in His
Ten
Commandments.
11. Doesn't God expect us to
do more than just keep the Ten Commandments? That's too simple!
The Bible tells us in
Deuteronomy 5:22 that after giving His people the Ten Commandments, God
added
nothing more.
Solomon, the world's wisest man, wrote: Fear God and keep His
commandments, for this
is the whole duty of
man (Ecclesiastes 12:13). Jesus said: If you want to enter life,
obey the
commandments
(Matthew 19:17). If we are keeping God's Ten Commandments through God's
indwelling
power because we love
Him, they are sufficient. But if we are keeping God's Ten Commandments
on our
own merits because we
are trying to earn our salvation, then they are not enough. Jesus' most
scathing
rebukes were directed
to religious people who added to God's commandments hoping to earn a
place in
heaven by keeping many
rules (Luke 11:46, 52; Mark 7:6-9). Our salvation depends upon our
relationship
with Jesus, while our
Christian duty to God and to man is defined by God's Ten Commandments.
12. Isn't it all right to
choose our own day of worship as long as we keep one day out of seven?
Not if we are going to
follow the Bible. Sunday-observing Christians will quickly agree the
Bible specifies
that Jesus is the only
name that can save us (Acts 4:12). They do not say it is all right to
choose one name
out of seven. They
also agree the Bible states there is only one Lord, one faith, one
baptism and one God -
not one out of many to
choose from (Ephesians 4:5, 6). So why do many Sunday-observing
Christians
stumble over the Bible
fact that Saturday is the only day of the week that God made holy and
commanded
us to use for rest and
worship (Genesis 2:2, 3; Exodus 20:8-11)? God made one day holy, and He
commanded us to keep it
holy! His commands are not multiple choice.
13. Does it really matter
whether or not we keep the Sabbath? Aren't there bigger issues to focus
on
such as loving Jesus?
Should we tell a
murderer he can murder as long as he loves Jesus? Can a thief go
on stealing as long as
he loves Jesus?
No! God takes sin so seriously that He destroyed all unrepentant sinners
in the Flood
(Genesis chapters 6-8).
Sin is so serious that it cost the life of God's Son, Jesus Christ (John
3:16). And, at
the end, God will
destroy all unrepented sinners when He cleanses this earth of all sin.
The Ten
Commandments define sin
(1 John 3:4). No Christian is safe to continue breaking God's Ten
Commandments while
professing to love Jesus Christ (1 John 2:4). God's Ten Commandments are
not His
Ten Suggestions!
14. How can we be certain that
the seventh day of the week God blessed 6,000 years ago is the day we
now call Saturday?
It is very simple to
prove that the weekly cycle has never been broken throughout the history
of this earth.
Consider the following:
God blessed the seventh
day and made it holy during Creation Week (Genesis 2:2, 3). This was the
beginning of the weekly
cycle. Four thousand years later the New Testament clearly states Jesus
worshipped on Saturday.
He was crucified on Friday (the Jews called the sixth day of the week
Preparation Day),
rested in the grave during the Sabbath (the seventh day of the week we
call Saturday),
and rose early on the
first day of the week (Sunday morning) (see Luke 23:52-24:1).
For two thousand years
Christians have memorialized Easter Sunday, the first day of the week,
as
the day Christ rose
from the dead. For two thousand years the Jews have carefully kept track
of Saturday,
the seventh day of the
week, as the day God made holy. There simply is no debate that Saturday
is the
seventh day of the week
and Sunday is the first day of the week. The Dictionary clearly states
Saturday is
the seventh day of the
week. Even astronomers are certain that the weekly cycle has never been
broken
from creation to the
present day.
M. The Ten Commandments in
Revelation
1. Rev 21:3 Rev 22:9 Rev 21:22 Rev 13:4
Rev 19:4,10 Rev 4:8-11
Rev 5:14 Rev 7:13-17
Rev 11:16 Rev 22:3
2. Rev 22:15 Rev 9:20 Rev 13:14,15 Rev 14:9,11
Rev 15:2 Rev 16:2 Rev
21:22 Rev 21:8
Rev 2:20 Rev 19:20 Rev
2:14 Rev 20:4
3. Rev 2:9 Rev 13:1,5,6 Rev 17:1-5 Rev 16:9
Rev 16:11,21
4. Rev 14:7
5. Rev 12:17 Rev 14:12 Rev 22:14 (Matt 17:17-22)
6. Rev 21:8 Rev 22:15 Rev 2:13 Rev 6:8-10
Rev 11:7 Rev 12:4 Rev
13:15 Rev 18:24
Rev 17:6 Rev 19:2 Rev
9:21
7. Rev 2:14 Rev 2:20-22 Rev 9:21 Rev 14:8
Rev 17:15,16 Rev 18:3,9
Rev 19:2 Rev 22:15
Rev 21:2 Rev 17:1-5 Rev
21:9 Rev 21:8
8. Rev 3:11 Rev 9:21
9. Rev 18:23 Rev 13:14 Rev 12:9 Rev 21:8
Rev 2:2 Rev 20:3,8 Rev
22:15 Rev 3:9
Rev 21:27 Rev 20:10
10. Rev 7:13-17 Rev 18:9-19 Rev 9:21
189
O. The Ten Commandments Before
Sinai
Many Christians today
are saying that the Ten Commandments did not exist before the birth of
Moses and
are therefore not
eternal. They assert that the commandments were only meant for the Jews
and ended at
calvary. They further
claim that the Sabbath commandment is not eternally binding and ceased
2,000 years
ago. Does the Bible
teach that the Ten Commandments were in existence before Moses? Were all
people
from Adam to Moses to
be judged by the Decalogue?
1. Genesis References
The book of Genesis
contains numerous references and allusions to the Ten Commandments. In
Exodus 5:5
Moses told the children
of Israel to rest. The word rest is the Hebrew word shabath which
according to
Strong's Hebrew
Dictionary means to keep the Sabbath. The fact that they were known
before Sinai shows
that the patriarchs
knew and kept them.
1. 14:19,20 17:1,9
35:2-4
2. 31:19,30-36 35:2,4
3. Jude 1:14,15 2 Pet
2:6-8
4. 2:1-3 Exodus 5:5
5. 9:22 22:7,8
6. 27:42 37:21 4:8-12
4:23,24 6:11
John 8:44
7. 16:4,5 19:32-38
20:1-8 26:10,11 34:2-7
39:9 2:21-25 Jude 1:7
8. 21:25
9. 20:1-8 12:18,19
27:24 34:13 37:30-33
3:4,5 21:23 John 8:44
10. 30:1 John 8:44
2. The Fall of Lucifer and Adam
According to Ezekiel
28:15 Lucifer was perfect when God created him. The Bible defines
sinless
perfection as perfect
conformity to the Ten Commandments (1 Kings 8:61, 1 Kings 11:4,5, Psalm
19:7,
Jam 1:25). Lucifer
choose to sin while in heaven (1 John 3:8-10, Isaiah 14:12-15) and rebel
against the law
of God's government.
Sin itself is the breaking of the Ten Commandments (1 John 3:4). Baal
worship was
Satan's religion which
typifies hatred and disobedience to the law of God while the Hebrew
worship was
the exact opposite.
From his fall until his destruction in the lake of fire Lucifer never
changes from being a
liar and a deceiver
(John 8:44, Rev 20:13). His religion has always attacked the law of God
(Gen 3:1-10, 2
Kings 17:16, Jer 2:8,
7:9).
1. Is 14:12-15 Mt
4:8-10 Lev 17:7 Deut 32:17 Ps 106:37
Jud 2:13 1 Kg 16:31 Jer
7:9
2. Is 14:12-15 Lev 17:7
Deut 32:17 2 Chr 11:15 Ps 106:37
1 Kg 3:2 Jer 7:9
3. Is 14:12-15 John
10:33 Lev 17:7 Deut 32:17
4. Lev 17:7 Deut 32:17
5. Is 14:12-15
6. Ps 106:37 Jer 7:9
John 8:44 John 13:2 Rev 2:10, 12:7-10
7. Lev 17:7 Jer 7:9
8. Jer 7:9 Luke 8:12
Rev 12:7-10
9. John 8:44 Rev
12:7-10 Rev 20:10 Jer 7:9
10. John 8:44 Is
14:12-15 John 13:2
Were the Ten
Commandments in heaven right from the beginning? The heavenly sanctuary
contains the
original Ark of The
Covenant which house the decalogue. This temple is God's throne (Psalm
11:4, Isaiah
6:1, Revelation
4:10,11) which has certainly existed since the days of Adam even from
eternity (Psalm
45:6, 93:2).
Text Attribute
Psalm 9:7 A Throne of
Judgment
Psalm 47:8, Prov 20:8 A
Throne of Holiness
Psalm 89:14 , Prov
20:28 A Throne of Justice, Judgment, Mercy and Truth
Psalm 97:2, Prov 16:12
A Throne of Righteousness, Judgment
Psalm 103:19,20 A
Throne of His Commandments
Prov 29:14 A Throne of
Faithfulness
These attributes of
God's throne are also attributes of God's eternal holy law :
Text Attribute
James 2:8-12 Judgment
Exodus 20:8, Romans
7:12 Holiness
Romans 7:12 Justice
Psalm 119:58 Mercy
Nehemiah 9:13 Truth
Psalm 119:172
Righteousness
Deuteronomy 10:1-5
Commandments
Psalms 119:86, Rom 3:31
Faithfulness
The New Testament books
of Hebrews and Revelation picture Jesus in the heavenly sanctuary where
the
Ark of the Covenant and
the Ten Commandments are now present. Revelation 15:5 mentions the
phrase
'tabernacle of the
testimony' which according to the Old Testament was the place where the
Decalogue was
housed ( Exodus
26:33,34 30:6 Deut 10:1-5 , 31:9) The word testimony used in verse 5 is
referring to the
eternal law of God
(Exodus 25:16, 21, 22, 31:18, 32:15, 34:29, Psalm 19:7, Psalm 78:5,
Psalm 81:3,4,
Isaiah 8:16,20 ). The
ark still contained the Testament Law when John was in vision in 96 AD.
This phrase
is found in the OT
referring to the Tables of Law in the Mosaic sanctuary (Exodus 26:30-35;
27:21;
30:26,36; 31:7; 38:21;
39:35-3 ; 40:3-5,19-21; Lev 24:3).
In Hebrews 8:8-12 the
apostle Paul states that God will write the law in our minds. Paul in
the
book of Romans uses the
same language to describe the Decalogue as a guide for right thinking
(Rom
7:23,25 ; 8:7). This
text in Hebrews is borrowed from the book of Jeremiah (31:31-34) where
the OT
prophet is clearly
outlining obedience to the Decalogue. The phrase in Hebrews and Jeremiah
is very
similar to many others
in the OT referring to having the Ten Commandments written in the mind
(Deut30:10 ; Josh 22:5
; 2 Ki 10:31 , 23:25 ; 2 Chr 21:31 ; Ezra 7:10 ; Job 22:22 ; Psalm
37:31).
The book of Hebrews
closely parallels that of Revelation in the layout and functioning of
the
heavenly sanctuary.
Both base their ideas on those originally laid out in the OT books of
Exodus and
Leviticus. In Hebrews
chapter 8 we are clearly told that Christ is the High Priest in the
heavenly Temple
and then in chapter 9
we are shown how the layout of the earthly temple is a guide to that of
the one above.
Hebrews Revelation Feature OT
Equivalent
8:5 7:15 The Heavenly
pattern Exodus 25:9,40
9:2 1:12,13 4:5 Lamp
Stands Exodus 25:37
9:2 6:9 8:3 Altar Table
Exodus 27:1-8
9:4 8:3-5 Golden Censor
Lev 10:1
9:4 11:19 15:5 Ten
Commandments Deut 10:1-8
None 4:4,10 24 Elders 1
Chron 24:1-19
None 4:6-10 4 Senior
Elders 1 Chron 24:1
3. The Prophet Enoch
The prophet Enoch was a
man who walked with God (Genesis 5:22-24) and was taken to heaven
without
dying (Heb 11:5). What
does it mean to walk with God ? In Psalm 119 we are told that the right
way to
walk in is the keeping
of God's commandments (Psalm 119:1,9,29-32). The Bible also uses the
word path
to describe the keeping
of the commandments :
Psalm 23:3 The path of
righteousness
25:8-10 Those who keep
His covenant and testimonies
119:35,105 The path of
your commandments
Proverbs 2:1,8,9 Hide
my commandments with you
Isaiah 2:3 The law of
Zion
58:12,13 The Sabbath
way
Micah 4:2 The path of
the law
Isaiah 30:9-11 states
that the wicked hate the path of God's law and turn aside form obeying
it. When
Enoch walked with God
he was walking in the way of the Ten Commandments. Enoch was the first
prophet mentioned in
the Bible (Jude 14,15, Luke 1:70). Before sending the flood God would
send a
message of warning to
the world as He does nothing without revealing his secrets unto the
prophets (Amos
3:7). The Bible clearly
shows that God only reveals His will to prophets who obey the Ten
Commandments.
Proverbs 29:18 Only
visions to the obedient
Jeremiah 26:4-6 The law
and prophecy go hand in hand
Lamentations 2:9 By
forsaking the law prophets loose the vision
Ezekiel 7:26 The law
and the prophets go together
Ezekiel 20:3,7,8,12,13
God withholds the visions form the lawless ones
4. Noah and the Flood
In Jude 14 and 15 we
are told that the prophet Enoch prophesied concerning Christ's second
coming to
judge the ungodly. The
word ungodly means those who reject God's commandments as the text below
clearly say. The flood
was sent to destroy mankind because they had become so evil in their
behavior. The
Bible presents their
evil deeds as violence, immoral, blasphemers.
2 Chr 19:2 Hate God
Psalm 1:1 Hate God's
law
Psalm 43:1 Deceitful
and unjust
Psalm 73:3-12 Violence,
Covetous, Blasphemy, Liars
1 Tim 1:9 Lawless,
Murderers, Disobedient to parents, Whore mongers, Homosexuals, Liars
2 Peter 2:5,6 Sodomy
5. Sodom and Gomorah
The destruction of
Sodom and Gomorah presents to us God's judgements against those who
would break
His holy law and sin so
wickedly. The Sodomites practiced vile and unnatural sexual perversions
condemned in the
Decalogue. In 1 Kings 14:24 we are told that the sin of the sodomites
was the same as
those sins practiced by
the Philistine nations.
Genesis 13:13 ,
18:20-26, 19:1-28
Jude 1:7,8
Deut 29:21-28
Isaiah 1:9,10, 23:12,14
Luke 17:29
2 Pet 2:6-8
Revelation 11:8
1 Kings 14:24 Lev
18:1-30 Incest, Adultery, worship devils,
Homosexuality,
Bestiality.
Deut 18:9-12
Divination, Astrology, Seances, Witches, Psychics
20:18, 32:16
Worshipping the Devil and pagan gods
29:17 Worshipping the
idols of paganism
2 Kings 16:3
Worshipping the idols of paganism
In 2 Peter 2:8 we are
told that the men of Sodom were destroyed by God for being lawless in
their deeds.
What is lawlessness ?
In 1 Timothy 1:9 we are told that Lawlessness is - Murderers,
Disobedient to
parents, Whoremongers,
Homosexuals, Liars etc.
6. Sin Existed From Adam to Moses
In Romans 5:12-14 it is
stated that sin existed from Adam to Moses. What is sin? In 1 John 3:4
as
well as many other
places we are told that sin is breaking God's holy law. Therefore
because these people
were sinners they were
law breakers. The apostle Paul tells us that the law defining sin is the
Ten
Commandments (Rom 7:7).
In Romans 5:12 we are told that Adam introduced sin into the world and
then
in verse 13 we are told
that sin only exists where the is God's law. It is obvious that Adam
sinned by
breaking God's holy law
and believing the lies of the Devil.
How did people of that
era determine what was right and wrong if there was no law? The fact is
that people of that
time knew of sin and its definition which is impossible if there was no
standard to define
it by. What did Noah
and Enoch preach to the people of their day if they did not know right
from wrong. If
someone had gone up to
them and asked is it wrong to lie, steel, murder etc would Noah have
said Well I
don't really know
because God hasn't set any rules yet.? This doctrine teaches that for
2,500 years nobody
on earth knew right
from wrong yet the Bible states that Abraham and Job knew God's law
(Genesis 26:5,
Job 22:22).
Perfect Noah - Genesis
6:1, Abraham - Genesis 17:1
Definition 1 Kings
8:61, 1 Kings 11:4,5, Psalm 19:7, Jam 1:25
Corrupt Genesis 6:11,12
Definition Exodus
32:7,8, Deut 4:16,25, Judg 2:19, Ezek 16:47
Sin Genesis 4:7, 18:20,
20:9, 31:36, 39:9, 42:22, 50:17.
Definition Rom 3:20,
5:13, 7:7, James 2:9-12, 1 John 3:4
Evil Genesis 2:9,17,
3:5,22, 6:5, 8:21, 44:4,5, 48:16, 50:15-20
Definition Psalm
119:101, Prov 6:23,24
Wickedness Genesis 6:5,
13:13, 18:23,25, 19:7, 38:7, 39:9
Definition Psalm
119:53, 61, 95, 110, 119, 155
Iniquity Genesis 15:16,
19:15, 44:16
Definition Psalm
119:133-136
The Bible states that
different people in the book of Genesis were righteous (Noah - Genesis
7:1 , 2 Pet 2:5,
Abel - Heb 11:4 and Lot
2 Pet 2:7,8). The Bible defines Righteousness as obedience to God's law
- Psalm
1:5,6 , 19:9 ,
119:105-106, 137-138, 164-165.
7. All Mankind To Be Judged by the Ten Commandments
One day everybody will
stand before the great judgment seat of God (Rom 14:10, Revelation
20:11-15).
All mankind is to be
judged by the Ten Commandments. Therefore all people from Adam to Moses
will be
judged by the same
great standard. There will be only one standard for everybody in that
day. People from
all ages will have one
code to be judged by and not different codes for different ages.
1 John 3:4
Transgression of the law
James 2:8-11 The only
standard to be judged by
Ecclesiastes 12:13 , 14
The only standard of right and wrong
Romans 2:13 Doers of
the law justified
3:20 Definition of sin
3:31 Establish the law
4:15 The Law is the
only definition of transgression
5:13 Only definition of
sin
7:7 Sin defined by the
law
7:12 Law is Holy , Just
and Good
7:25 The Law of God
8:1-4 Right doing is
defined by the Law
8:7 Opposite of Sin
13:8-10 Opposite of
hate and disobedience
8. The Sabbath Made at Creation Week
If the Sabbath was only
for the Jews God would not have made it at creation week but rather
after the birth
of Moses like the
Aaronic priesthood. The Bible says that the Sabbath was made for man
(Mark 2:27) and
that woman was created
for man (1 Cor 11:9). Were woman only created for Jews ? God created the
Sabbath 2,000 years
before Abraham was born (Genesis 2:1-3, Exodus 20:8-11, 31:15-18). The
Sabbath
was created before sin
existed as part of Paradise and is therefore eternal as paradise. Isaiah
66:22-24
portrays the Sabbath
being kept in the new paradise on earth that will last an eternity. The
Garden of Eden
was God's plan to make
heaven on earth (Genesis 1,2 Revelation 21, 22). What God made in the
garden
was to be as eternal as
heaven itself. The word Eden is Hebrew and means pleasure.
Attribute Eden Heaven
Man's Dominion Genesis
1:28 Revelation 21:7
Man's Diet Genesis 1:29
Isaiah 65:21-23, Revelation 22:2
Man's Occupation
Genesis 2:15 Isaiah 65:21-23
The Sabbath Genesis
2:1-3 Isaiah 66:22-24
Paradise Garden Genesis
2:8,9 Isaiah 35:1 , Revelation 21:1
The River of Life
Genesis 1:10-14 Revelation 22:1,2
Gold & Precious
Stones Genesis 2:11,12 Revelation 21:17-20
Marriage Genesis
2:18-25 Revelation 21:9
The Tree of Life
Genesis 3:22-24 Revelation 22:2
Sinless Perfection
Genesis 1:31 Revelation 21:3
9. The Tower of Babel and the Sabbath
At the Tower of Babel
God created the language groups we have today (Genesis 11:5-9). From
Babel the
people spread out and
covered the face of the earth. Many of these groups still retain stories
of the creation
week and Noah's flood.
There are 105 ethnic groups that have had the same seven day week
(Sunday to
Saturday) as western
Europeans have. Many of these groups had the seven day week without any
contact
with Europeans or Jews.
This shows that they had it since Babel times. At least 85 of these
groups call
Saturday 'Sabbath'
showing that a knowledge of the creation week was passed down since
earliest times.
10. The Ten Commandments In The Garden Of Eden
In the Bible we are
told that God will eradicate sin (Nahum 1:9) and make a new heavens and
a new earth
just like the garden of
Eden (Isaiah 65:17,66:22,2 Pet 3:13, Revelation 21:1-5). The Old and New
Testaments clearly
portray this paradise as a place free of sin and lawlessness (Revelation
21:8).
1. Revelation 22:3
Isaiah 66:22-24
2. Revelation 21:22 ;
21:8
3. Matthew 12:31,32
4. Isaiah 66:22-24
Matthew 19:17 Revelation 22:14
5. Exodus 20:12 Matthew
5:5
6. Revelation 21:8
7. Revelation 21:8
8. Matthew 6:19,20
9. Revelation 22:15
10. Isaiah 65:21-25
11. The Weekly Cycle and Calendars
The weekly cycle was
well established before Sinai. The flood account mentions the weekly
cycle five
times. The book of
Genesis makes clear references to calendars and chronological records
right from the
beginning showing that
man knew how these worked from Edenic times.
Calendars And
Chronologies
1:14-19, 2:1-3, 4:3,
5:1-32, 7:11,17, 8:4,5,13
Weekly Cycle
Genesis 7:4,10,
8:10-14, 29:27,28, 50:10
Exodus 7:25, 12:15,19,
13:6,7
Job 2:13
12. Ancient Revelation And Worship Styles
The book of Genesis
reveals an elaborate system of worship and rituals set up by people
living before
Moses time to worship
God. There were priests, offerings, tithing, circumcision, marriage,
burial rites,
visions etc. This shows
that much information was revealed to people in visions not recorded in
Genesis.
Melchisedek was a
priest of the Most High God and received tithes from Abraham. How did
Abraham and
Melchisedek know about
tithing? It was revealed in visions not mentioned in the Bible. The
Bible does not
say God revealed this
information even though He did. God walked with Adam and Eve in the
garden and
talked with them
(Genesis 2:16-25, 3:8, Revelation 21:3) on a daily basis. God would have
told them that
He created the earth in
six days and rested on the seventh day. If Adam had worked on the
seventh day it
would have been a sin.
Priests Genesis
14:18-20 , Exodus 2:16, 3:1, Heb 6:20
Altars Genesis 8:20,
12:7,8, 13:4,18, 26:25, 33:20, 35:1,3, 35:7
Visions Genesis 4:6,
6:13, 7:9, 8:15, 9:1, 9:8,12,17, 17:1-9, 20:3,6, 21:12, Jude 1:14,15
Laws Genesis 26:5, Job
22:22
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