A SHADOW OF THINGS TO COME
An Open Letter to Seventh Day
Adventists and other Sabbatarians
"Let no man therefore judge you,
in meat or in drink, or in respect of an holy day, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath
days; which are a shadow of good things to come. " Colossians 2:16, 1 7
DEAR BRETHREN:
Even though differing from you in my
views of the Law, I feel constrained to express admiration for the zeal with which you and
your co-workers have endeavored to promulgate, what you believe to be the truth of God. If
we believe anything to be right we must act upon it until the Lord grants us to see
otherwise. I had far rather be wrong and consistent than right and inconsistent, though it
is best of all to be both right and consistent.
I feel justified in addressing you as
Brethren in Christ because of the many points upon which we can hold harmonious
fellowship. We look to the same Father in heaven. We trust in the merit of the same great
sacrifice for sin. We are seeking light from the same inspired Scripture. We are both
striving to live in the way that will be to the glory of God. We see eye to eye upon the
nature of the soul, the penalty for sin, earth's restitution to Edenic conditions, the
Babylonian state of so-called Christendom, and the impending time of trouble along
financial, political and social lines. Then last, but not least, we each see the necessity
of suffering with Christ if we would be glorified with him, and have already suffered a
little of the scorn and derision which the world hurls at the soldier of the cross. The
enumeration of all these points on which we are agreed will enable you to realize that
what I am about to say respecting our differences is not meant in a spirit of wrangling,
but solely for the purpose of sharing with you the blessedness and joy which has dawned in
our hearts with this comforting light. We agree with our Adventist friends that God never
authorized anyone to change the Sabbath of the Decalogue from the seventh day of the week
to the first, but we do believe that just as truly as the Christian has a greater High
Priest, and a greater sacrifice, and a greater tabernacle than Israel had, so, too, the
follower of Christ has a much greater Sabbath than the follower of Moses. Everything under
the Jewish dispensation was typical of "good things to come." (Heb. 10:1) The
Atonement Day, the Passover, the sabbatic years, the jubilees, etc., were all figures of
more important things, so why should it seem strange that the seventh or Sabbath day was
typical any more than the seventh or sabbatic year? But in order that you may see this to
be the Scriptural thought hear Paul in Col. 2:16, 17; "Let no man therefore judge
you, in meat or in drink, or in respect of an holy day, or of the new moon, or of the
Sabbath days: Which are a shadow of good things to come; but the body is of Christ."
The seventh day keepers will argue that the Sabbath here refers to some of those yearly
occasions, which were also called Sabbaths, because part of their observance required rest
from ordinary labor; for instance, the Day of Atonement. But this cannot be the meaning of
Paul's language, for he had already included all these yearly sabbaths under the words,
"an holy day." In harmony with his usual systematic forms of expression Paul
first spoke of the yearly holy days, then came the monthly festivals, the new moons, and
next the weekly rest days. The Christian has a sabbath, too, but, as we shall see, his
sabbath is as much greater than the Jewish sabbath as the substance of a thing is greater
than its shadow. You may ask: Did not the Lord in Exod. 31:16 speak of the seventh day
Sabbath as being given for "a perpetual covenant?" I answer to this that the
very identical language which the Lord used here of the Sabbath he uses elsewhere of the
harvest offering (Lev. 23:14), the Pentecostal sacrifice (Lev . 23:21), the Day of
Atonement (Lev. 23:31, 32) and the feast of tabernacles (Lev. 23:41). The same Hebrew word
"clam," which is translated "perpetual" in the seventh day reference,
is the word translated "forever" in the other passages. See Young's Analytical
Concordance. So if the Advent view is correct we should still be keeping the feast of
tabernacles as well as the Sabbath, but as some of your own brethren have shown, when
dealing with the punishment of the wicked, the word "clam," like the Greek
"aion," really means "agelasting," or "lasting to a
consummation." It is sometimes used in the sense of eternal, but not necessarily.
Thus in Exod. 29:9 we read of the priestly office being given to Aaron and his descendants
"for a perpetual statute," the same word "olam" being used. But that
it does not properly mean "perpetual" in this passage is evident, for Aaron's
family lost the priesthood 1900 years ago. Note Heb. 7:11-14.
We find, then, that Jehovah used the
very same language in speaking of the weekly Sabbath which he used respecting other Jewish
institutions which passed away when that of which they were typical came, so similarly may
not the Jewish Sabbath have passed away, being supplanted by a greater sabbath? Notice our
Lord's words in Matt. 5:17, 18, 'Think not that I am come to destroy the Law or the
prophets; I am not come to destroy but to fulfil; for verily I say unto you, till heaven
and earth pass one jot or one little shall in no wise pass from the Law till.all be
fulfilled." Our Savior did not say the Law should not pass away, but that it should
not pass away until it was fulfilled. But he tells us first that he came to fulfil it, so
if it was fulfilled in him it has passed away. There is a vast difference between a thing
being destroyed and passing away as a result of fulfillment. The law of circumcision was
never destroyed, but it passed away and was abolished when that to which it pointed,
circumcision of the heart, was set forth, and it is this higher circumcision we must
observe. (Rom. 2:28, 29) Likewise Christ did not destroy the Law, or set it at naught, but
his perfect life fulfilled its every requirement, as we imperfect creatures could not, and
thus he became the great inheritor of all the promises of the Law, with the right to
distribute what he inherited under the Law to all who would become his. Additionally the
Law led to Christ and pointed him out as the Holy One of whom Moses had said, "Hear
ye him." (Acts 7:37; Gal. 3:24, 25) Therefore to consider the Law given through Moses
as binding upon the Christian is to doubt whether Christ has accomplished what he came
for; "to fulfil" the Law. Of course the Christian must study that Law, and he
finds jewels of inspired wisdom in it, but he studies it as a shadow of better things, as
typical of the blessings promised under the greater than Moses-Christ.
Then is the follower of Christ under no
law? Yes, he is under a new law, a higher law. Just as he has a better High Priest, a
better sacrifice, a better everything than the dew had, so he has a better law, and it
contains a better sabbath. Isa. 42:21 foretold that Christ was to "magnify the law
and make it honorable," and we are now under this magnified law. The law said:
"Thou shalt not kill," but Christ magnified that when he taught that whosoever
hateth his brother without a cause is guilty of murder. (See Matt. 5:21, 22, 27, 28) The
Law said: "Thou shalt not steal," but Christ taught us that we should not merely
refrain from robbing our neighbor, but be ever ready to share with him what we had, even
to the extent of laying down our lives for our brethren. (John 13:24; 1 John 3:16) The Law
said: "Honor thy father and thy mother," but we are instructed to "honor
all to whom honor is due. " Rom. 13:7
Now, dear brethren, the Adventists see
that Christ magnified the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th commandments,
but they fail to realize that he magnified the 4th, the Sabbath commandment, too. To the
contrary, they believe he made it smaller. One of your brethren put it to me this
way:" Before Christ every little act contrary to the Sabbath commandment, even the
building of a fire, was to be severely punished, but since Christ's sacrifice, so long as
we try to do our best to keep the Sabbath, the Lord will pardon and overlook where we come
short in our obedience to that command." That would have magnified God's mercy, but
it would not have magnified the commandment. Would it be magnifying the 6th commandment if
we should say: "Before Christ murder was to be severely punished, but since then, if
you try to keep the Law-'thou shalt not kill'-it will be all right if you do kill a man
once in a while?".Let me now present our understanding of how Christ magnified the
Sabbath Law.
The Israelite was to consider one-tenth
of what he had as holy unto the Lord; but do we ever hear the Christian advised to give a
tithe to the Lord? Not once. How much are we advised to give him? All that we are and
have. We are to give all that we can in as direct a way as we can, and the remainder is to
be given him in a more indirect way; e. g., we give him the money we spend for food and
clothing, because our body belongs to him and is being used to glorify and serve him. The
food gives us strength to do more for him, therefore the money we spend for food is being
spent for our Lord. (Rom. 12:1; 1 Cor. 6:20; 10:31; 2 Cor. 5:15) In Luke 14:33 our Master
does not tell us to forsake or surrender a tenth, but "all that he hash."
The Jews sang: "Some of self and
some of thee." The Christian sings. "None of self but all of thee."
Likewise the Jew gave God one-seventh
of his time, but the Christian is to give him seven-sevenths. The Lord said in Lev. 19:30,
"Ye shall keep my sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary." The sanctuary was the
holy structure through which God manifested himself to Israel, so to them the word meant a
certain definite holy place; but the Christian finds his sanctuary wherever he is; every
place is a holy place to him. Similarly every day is a holy day, a sabbath of rest to him.
He has a better sanctuary to reverence and a better sabbath to keep. But not only does his
sabbath differ from the typical sabbath, the nature of his rest also differs. It does not
merely mean a cessation from manual labor, but a rest from laboring for self in order to
work and live for God. It means to rest as God rested after he had completed the work of
creation, as the Word expresses it:"To enter into his rest." God's rest does not
mean idleness, "He sends his rain and causes his sun to shine" on the seventh
just as much as on any other day. Then how did he rest? He ceased working for himself in
order to work for man through his Son. And how do we rest like him? By ceasing to work for
self in order to work for him through Christ. Hear Heb. 4:10, "For he that is entered
into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own worm, as God did from his." And then
Paul continues in verse 11, "let us labor therefore," not let us cease from
labor, but labor to put down these selfish propensities which would lead us, contrary to
God's will, to live for self, instead of permitting w "to enter into his rest."
This rest of which the seventh day was a type will not end with this life, but it will
continue an eternal rest, begun here and consummated in eternity.
Let me digress here to say that God's
rest day was not a period of 24 hours, but, like the six days of creation, was a long
period of time. In our own language this is a very common use of the word "day,"
and it is equally frequent in Bible language. (2 Pet. 3:8; Psa. 95:7-10) While the day of
salvation of 2 Cor. 6:2 is already over 1800 years long, so it was with the great days of
creation; they were long periods of time, and likewise the seventh day, in which God
rested, is a long period; it is not over yet.
But to return to the subject of this
letter. In Isa. 58:13 we have a description by the inspired Prophet of what constitutes
Christian sabbath keeping. We must refrain from doing our own ways, and from finding our
own pleasures, and from speaking our own words. That is the sabbath keeping. But the
Christian must do.that every day, therefore every day must be a sabbath to him. For fear
you may not apply the latter part of the verse to the sabbath let me refer you to the
Revised Version, which reads:"And shalt honor it, not doing shine own ways,"
etc., Every day we are to "speak as the oracles of God." (1 Pet. 4:11) Every day
God is to work in us "to do of his good pleasure." (Phil. 2:13) Every day
"the steps of a good man are ordered of the Lord." (Psa. 37:25) So again I say,
every day is a sabbath to him who liveth "not unto himself." Is not this a
glorious magnifying of the Law?
We can now see how "Christ is the
end of the Law for righteousness to every one that believeth." (Rom. 10:4) We can
understand why Paul could say in Gal. 3:19, "The Law was added TILL THE SEED SHOULD
COME," and then in verses 23 to 25 he boldly compares the Law to a severe pedagogue
to whom they were committed for a season, "but after that faith is come we are no
longer under a pedagogue. " And we can comprehend why Paul mourns because "ye
observe days" (Gal. 4:10, 11), and intimates that the brother is weak who
"esteems one day above another" (Rom. 14:5-read verses 1 to 7), failing to
realize that they are all to be counted as days in which his glory is to be sought.
I know how the seventh-day Adventists
divide the Law into two parts, calling the Decalogue "the law of God," and the
remainder "the law of Moses," and then claiming that Christ did away with the
Law of Moses, but not with the law of God. This is an awful mistake; it was all the Law of
God, because it came from him, and it is all the law of Moses in that it came through him.
(Lev. 26:46; Deut. 5:5) Thus our Savior, in Mark 7:10, quotes one of the ten commandments
(Exod. 20:12; Dent. 5:16), and then in the same verse a law which was not in the Decalogue
(Exod. 21:17; Lev. 20:9), and yet attributes them both to Moses. He was not the author of
either, but he was the agent through whom God delivered both commands. Furthermore, the
fact that the Law, which was until John (Luke 16:16; Matt. 11:13), included the Decalogue
as well as the ceremonial features of the Law, is proved by Rom. 7:6, 7; for Paul, after
saying, "we are delivered from the law," leaves no doubt as to what law is meant
by quoting from the tenth commandment. And as his words show we are no longer under the
letter (it was the letter which was on the stones), but under the spirit, the antitype,
that which was shadowed forth in the words on stone, the greater law of love. dames 1:26;
2:8) When we read, therefore, in the books from Acts to Revelation about the redeemed
keeping "the commandments of God," we do not think of the letters in stone given
through Moses, but of the magnified law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus. (Rom. 8:2)
Notice another passage, viz., 2 Cor. 3:3-11. The expression, "written and engraver in
stones," and the reference to Moses face shining at the time is evidence that Paul is
speaking of the Decalogue. In verse 7 he tells us how the Law was accompanied with such
glory that it even caused Moses' face to shine. Then in verse 8 he refers to something
which would be accompanied with more glory, and following this up shows that when
"the glory that excelleth" (v. 10) should come then that which was given with
glory-i. e., the Law written and engraver on stones-was to be "done away." (v.
11) Note the remarkable similarity between the Revised Version rendering of verse 11 end
Matt. 5:18. Then in verses.12 to 18 Paul shows that while Israel had Moses cover his face
so they could not see the glorious results of the giving of that glorious Law, yet we
should refrain from covering our hearts with the veil of prejudice, etc., as we wish to
see the more glorious results of this more glorious law upon the hearts and lives of our
brethren, especially as it was reflected in our great Elder Brother, the Lord Jesus. 2
Cor. 3:18
Dear brethren, much more might be
written, but I must refrain from more than one or two brief statements. Paul's preaching
upon the seventh day, etc., is no endorsement of seventh day Adventism. That was a day
when the cessation from labor brought the Jews together in their synagogues and gave Paul
an opportunity he gladly used. Wherever and whenever he found ears to hear he was ready to
preach. There were crowds in the synagogues on the seventh day, so Paul went there, and
there were numbers at the market every day, so Paul preached there on other days. (Acts
17:17) So just as Paul esteemed those opportunities, so we esteem the opportunities
afforded us on the first day, not because there is a divine command to consider that day a
sabbath above other days, although we consider it a very appropriate day for meetings of
the people of God, being our Lord's resurrection day. However, refraining from actual
labor on the first day is not an endorsement of the wrong ideas many have held about it,
any more than a belief in the Bible would mean an endorsement of the many wrong views
which have been entertained of its teaching. It has been a great comfort to me to find
that salvation did not hang upon such a slender cord as the keeping of a weekly rest day.
There are other features of the
Sabbath, for instance its foreshadowing of the Millennium, which I have not touched upon
at all. That phase of the subject is treated most beautifully in the book,"The Divine
Plan of the Ages"? It is a book of 350 pages, for a cost of $3.00 [postage paid] can
be ordered at the following address:
Bible Student Ministries
P.O. Box 6685
Bridgewater, NJ 08807-6685
Your Brethren in the service of the
King of kings!
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