Law of Moses

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=200 BGCOLOR="#003333" TEXT="#F7F7FF" background="04dd4c00dduajq.gif"> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="95" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 46 WIDTH="91"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="46" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="91" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> <div> At the Jerusalem Conference in the first millennium, it was duly decided under the guidance of the Holy Spirit that the Law of Moses is not required from gentiles converts.</div> <bR> <div>  What is the Law of Moses? Can we simply ignore it? What is the purpose of it being included in our Bibles? </div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="05894943.jpg"> <div> <B>Church of God (Seventh Day) South Africa</B><B>     |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Church of God (Seventh Day) South Africa"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id35.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Brotherly Love"><U>Brotherly Love</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id37.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Covenant Theology"><U>Covenant Theology</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id38.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Food Laws"><U>Food Laws</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id39.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Annual Holy Days?"><U>Annual Holy Days?</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id40.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Fulfilling the Holy Days"><U>Fulfilling the Holy Days</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id41.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Kingdom of God"><U>The Kingdom of God</U></A>   |   <B>Law of Moses</B>   |   <A HREF="id43.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Nature of God"><U>Nature of God</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id44.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Sabbath"><U>The Sabbath</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id45.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Which Law?"><U>Which Law?</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id53.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Speaking in Tongues"><U>Speaking in Tongues</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id59.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Vegetarianism and the Bible"><U>Vegetarianism and the Bible</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id96.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The New Jerusalem"><U>The New Jerusalem</U></A></div> <div> Law of Moses</div> <div> After the Commandments were grouped and given by God at mount Sinai, and eternalized by being written on stone, further communications between God and Moses led to further laws being written in a book. This book became known as the Law of Moses.</div> <bR> <div> "24And it came to pass, when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book, until they were finished, 25That Moses commanded the Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, saying, 26Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee."</div> <div> (Deuteronomy 31:24-26, KJV)</div> <bR> <div> The Ten Commandments formed the basis of the Covenant.</div> <bR> <div> "13And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, <I>even</I> ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone."</div> <div> (Deuteronomy 4:13, KJV)</div> <bR> <div> The Commandments also form part of the new Covenant.</div> <bR> <div> "10For this <I>is</I> the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:"</div> <div> (Hebrews 8:10, KJV)</div> <bR> <div> The process will be different whereby the same laws will be imbibed into our mind and heart. However, by the decision of the Jerusalem Conference as shown in Acts 15, Christians in the gentile world do not have to keep the Law of Moses. Notice the argument that led to the Jerusalem Conference:</div> <bR> <div> "5But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them, and to command <I>them</I> to keep the law of Moses."</div> <div> (Acts 15:5, KJV)</div> <bR> <div> In the end, a decision was reached not to bother them with the requirement to keep the Law of Moses, but some laws that were known among the Jews as universally applicable from Noah were maintained.</div> <bR> <div> "19Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God: 20But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and <I>from</I> fornication, and <I>from</I> things strangled, and <I>from</I> blood."</div> <div> (Acts 15:19-20, KJV)</div> <bR> <div> Turning to God implies turning to the Law spoken by God, the Ten Commandments. </div> <bR> <div> <B>Can we ignore the Law of Moses?</B></div> <bR> <div> The question therefore arises: Can we simply ignore the Law of Moses? Let's see what our responsibility is in this regard.</div> <bR> <div> We can see from various New Testament scriptures that the Law of Moses still has great value for us. The Apostle Paul shows that while we strive to keep the Commandments from our heart, we worship in spirit through the knowledge that we see in the Law of Moses.</div> <bR> <div> 2Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men: 3<I>Forasmuch as ye are</I> manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart."</div> <div> (2 Corinthians 3:2-3, KJV)</div> <bR> <div> Therefore, we can and should gain much insight into how we become justified before God by taking careful note of the ritual of the Law of Moses, particularly surrounding the Temple services, and come to understand that there is a spiritual equivalent through which we need to worship. </div> <bR> <div> <B>The Heavenly Sanctuary</B></div> <bR> <div> A great part of the spiritual equivalent surrounding the heavenly sanctuary involves the sacrifice of Christ. Speaking of Christ, the apostle Paul said: </div> <bR> <div> "4For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law:  5Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, <I>that</I> thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount."</div> <div> (Hebrew 8:4, KJV)</div> <bR> <div> In the Church of God (Seventh Day) we help Christians to understand the workings of the Heavenly Sanctuary, and we do this through a study of the Law of Moses.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Preaching Christ</B></div> <bR> <div> We actually learn a lot this way about Jesus Christ, our Heavenly High Priest. Therefore we preach Christ through a study of the Law of Moses. This is what the apostle Paul did.</div> <bR> <div> "23And when they had appointed him a day, there came many to him into <I>his</I> lodging; to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and <I>out of</I> the prophets, from morning till evening."</div> <div> (Acts 28:23, KJV)</div> <bR> <div> We will lack much understanding if we don't study into the Law of Moses.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Improved understanding of New Testament scriptures</B></div> <bR> <div> Many Christians misunderstand New Testament scriptures for they have a lack of knowledge of the Law of Moses. Let take one example.</div> <bR> <div> When Christ walked the earth, His disciples took from the harvest of another person's farm as they wandered on the Sabbath.</div> <bR> <div> "1And it came to pass on the second sabbath after the first, that he went through the corn fields; and his disciples plucked the ears of corn, and did eat, rubbing <I>them</I> in <I>their</I> hands."</div> <div> (Luke 6:1, KJV)</div> <bR> <div> Some would wonder whether they were not stealing, for they were simply taking from another person's harvest. Is that not considered theft? </div> <bR> <div> Notice what is written in the Law of Moses:</div> <bR> <div> "9And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field, neither shalt thou gather the gleanings of thy harvest. 10And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather <I>every</I> grape of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave them for the poor and stranger: I <I>am</I> the LORD your God."</div> <div> (Leviticus 19:9-10. KJV)</div> <bR> <div> With this understanding, it is clear that they were entitled to pluck the ears of corn from the corners of the field. Therefore they did not steal. We can see how an understanding of the Law of Moses helps us to correctly interpret events in the New Testament.</div> <bR> <div> <B>The millennial rule of Christ</B></div> <bR> <div> We know that Christ will return to Jerusalem to implement the Kingdom of God, and to rule for a thousand years.</div> <bR> <div> "6Blessed and holy <I>is</I> he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years."</div> <div> (Revelation 20:6, KJV)</div> <bR> <div> How will Christ and His saints rule? With what law? How will they regulate society during their reign? They will to some extent with the civil code of the Law of Moses. The prophet admonishes us to learn the Law of Moses towards the end of this age.</div> <bR> <div> "4Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, <I>with</I> the statutes and judgments."</div> <div> (Malachi 4:4, KJV)</div> <bR> <div> We are admonished to "remember" the Law of Moses. That implies we need to read and study it. It does not imply that we need to keep it at this stage, as uncircumcised non-Jewish Christians in gentile countries. It does NOT say "keep it". It does say "remember" it.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Conclusion</B></div> <bR> <div> The Church of God (Seventh Day) therefore does bring the Law of Moses to remembrance through a study program and as needed in sermons. We are preparing a people for Christ, to turn to their heavenly Father in obedience of the Commandments, and preparing for future expanded obedience during the millennial rule of Christ.</div> <bR> <div> "46Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. 47For so hath the Lord commanded us, <I>saying</I>, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth. 48And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed"</div> <div> (Acts 13:46-48, KJV)</div> <bR> <div> Yes, glorify the God of the heavens, for bringing salvation to all peoples of the earth. In this we joyfully go about our mission to preach the Gospel to all peoples around the world. Part of the mission is to bring the Law of Moses to remembrance, but not to keep it.</div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id28.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Documents"><U><IMG SRC="0ea0e0e0.gif" border=0 width="14" height="14" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"> Back to document list</U></A></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>