The Barrd said:
Gosh, I haven't seen twisting like this since my last high school dance...and I don't even want to think about how long ago that was!
It seems fairly obvious to me that Christ's death for our sins didn't give us carte blanche to simply ignore His commandments and merrily go on our way, breaking them whenever the urge hit us. No Christian would dare to even consider such a thing...would they?
What Christian, then, would say that we may:
Worship other gods?
Worship idols?
Use God's Holy Name inappropriately?
UH...let's get back to this one...
Disrespect his/her parents?
Murder?
Commit adultery?
Steal?
Tell vicious lies?
Long for what doesn't belong to him/her?
Wouldn't you feel a bit uncomfortable around Christians who suggested such things? I know I would!
Yes, I know that Jesus died for us, and that His blood is our salvation. I know that we have been set free from the burden of the law. We no longer bear the punishment for our sin...and I am grateful.
But I don't see anywhere where He abolished those commandments. If anything, He expanded on these commandments...yes, all ten of them. No longer are we simply under a command not to kill our neighbor...we may not even harbor angry thoughts against him. It is not enough to simply not commit adultery...we may not even look at our neighbor's spouse to lust after him/her...
Oh, but wait! Didn't the "thou shalt not covet" command already cover that?
Jesus made it very clear that sin begins in our hearts...
Oh, and that pesky fourth command. I did promise to get back to that one.
Did Jesus have anything to say about it?
Evidently, He did.
He did re-iterate the Sabbath command...and expand on it:
Luk 6:1 And 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 them in their hands.
Luk 6:2 And certain of the Pharisees said unto them, Why do ye that which is not lawful to do on the sabbath days?
Luk 6:3 And Jesus answering them said, Have ye not read so much as this, what David did, when himself was an hungred, and they which were with him;
Luk 6:4 How he went into the house of God, and did take and eat the shewbread, and gave also to them that were with him; which it is not lawful to eat but for the priests alone?
Luk 6:5 And he said unto them, That the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.
Oh, and I do love these verses:
Mar 2:27 And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath:
Mar 2:28 Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.
He could have said there "The sabbath was made for the Jews", since it was the Jews who were accusing Him...but He included all of mankind when He said "The sabbath was made for man"...what a wonderful gift!
And it should not escape us that Jesus calls Himself "Lord also of the sabbath"...
Ah...Twisting! It sure was fun, and no doubt a brilliant device of the Enemy to display our bodies provocatively at those school dances...but not so dangerous as all that slow dancing!
And all this slow dancing around the real statement of Yeshua to keep G-d's commandments:
Mark 12:28-33 (KJV)
28 And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all?
29 And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:
30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
32 And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he:
33 And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love
his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.
In those two summary commandments, to Love God and Love one another, are all that G-d desires us to do, and contain all the other commandments in the Torah. Yeshua spoke continuously about how to do them...to Jews, who presumably should know the Commandments. Yet we read the words of Yeshua to the Jews, and appropriate them to ourselves, yet pick and choose what we shall obey.
The Commandments given by G-d on Sinai, blasting the eardrums of any who were within ten miles, were G-d's commandments. Yeshua honored, respected, taught and obeyed the commandments. Of course, he was a Jew, so He had to, right? And us being Gentiles, are just covered by Yeshua's blood, and need do nothing...well, that sounds pretty weird.
Isaiah 56:3-8 (KJV)
3 Neither let the son of the stranger, that hath joined himself to the LORD, speak, saying, The LORD hath utterly separated me from his people: neither let the eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry tree.
4 For thus saith the LORD unto the eunuchs that keep my sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and take hold of my covenant;
5 Even unto them will I give in mine house and within my walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters: I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off.
6 Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the LORD, to serve him, and to love the name of the LORD, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant;
7 Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices
shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people.
8 The Lord GOD which gathereth the outcasts of Israel saith,
Yet will I gather others to him, beside those that are gathered unto him.
We are those 'strangers and those others', saved by Yeshua's death, and made Judicially perfect by his blood.
But you know, the only way to actually show that salvation is to act like our Savior. Christians are in deep disrepute because they are seen as Hypocrites...those that say, and do not do...just like the Pharisees.
The Sabbath is one of the few topics that runs like a skein of true red yarn through every book of the Bible. If it were not important to God, He would have said so. Yeshua would have said so.
Sha'ul wanted, and got, a dispensation from the Torah as to Covenant obligation by those 'others' that we are. But since those others that were hearing Moses in the Synagogue were hearing them on the Sabbath, I can't help but wonder why everyone assumes, we can dispense with any of the Ten Commandments...not by obligation under covenant...but because G-d wants us to obey Him.
G-d wanted us to take hold of the covenant, and treat the Sabbath as a delight...which, being resting from what you do the other six days, is a delight.
Yeshua was always saying, "why do you say you love me, and do not do what I say?
Luke 6:46-49 (KJV)
46 And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?
47 Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like:
48 He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock.
49 But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.
All those under Yeshua are judicially free from the curse of sin...but we are not made sinless, because we are still human. When Yeshua comes, and we are caught up to him in the clouds as he descends from heaven to the Mount of Olives we will be made incorrupt, and with the commandments written into our hearts, and will no longer even think to disobey them.
I wish to please G-d and Yeshua now by attempting some response to the commandments that are given by G-d and Yeshua. I don't do it Jewishly, nor perfectly, but taking the Sabbath to be with my family, and have a day of celebration, reading and studying the Word, taking naps, seeing my friends, and avoiding creative work is not hard, nor are there rules for how we do it, except those given in the Torah: rest, do no work, and have a holy (seperate) gathering (convocation) in your tent (house).
Exodus 20:1-17 (KJV)
1 And God spake all these words, saying,
2 I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness
of any thing that
is in heaven above, or that
is in the earth beneath, or that
is in the water under the earth:
5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God
am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth
generation of them that hate me;
6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
7 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
10 But the seventh day
is the sabbath of the LORD thy God:
in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that
is within thy gates:
11 For
in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them
is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
12 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
13 Thou shalt not kill.
14 Thou shalt not commit adultery.
15 Thou shalt not steal.
16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that
is thy neighbour's.
Deuteronomy 5:12-14 (KJV)
12 Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee.
13 Six days thou shalt labour, and do all thy work:
14 But the seventh day
is the sabbath of the LORD thy God:
in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that
is within thy gates; that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest as well as thou.
Now, why is that so hard for people to grasp? Or is it merely rebellion, and doing your own will?