Zao is life
Well-Known Member
The Lord said we are to rest on the sabbath.
People argue on what day the sabbath is. I think some are missing the point. I think the point is this: We need a day of rest each week.
[8] "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
[9] Six days you shall labor, and do all your work;
[10] but the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your manservant, or your maidservant, or your cattle, or the sojourner who is within your gates;
[11] for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and hallowed it. Exodus 20:8-11 RSV
If what you say is true then likewise, there must be a temple in Jerusalem where the lamp should be caused to burn continuously, and anyone who serves you in your house must be your servant forever if they choose not to leave your service.
"And the LORD said to him, I have heard your prayer and your cry which you have made before Me. I have made this house which you have built holy, to put My name there forever (ôlâm). And My eyes and My heart shall be there all the days." (1 Kings 9:3);
"And you shall command the sons of Israel that they bring you pure olive oil beaten for the light, to cause the lamp to burn continuously in the tabernacle of the congregation, outside the veil which is before the testimony. Aaron and his sons shall order it from evening to morning before the LORD. It shall be a statute forever (ôlâm) to their generations on behalf of the sons of Israel." (Exodus 27:20-21).
"Therefore the sons of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, for an everlasting (‛ôlâm) covenant."And the LORD said to him, I have heard your prayer and your cry which you have made before Me. I have made this house which you have built holy, to put My name there forever (ôlâm). And My eyes and My heart shall be there all the days." (1 Kings 9:3);
"And you shall command the sons of Israel that they bring you pure olive oil beaten for the light, to cause the lamp to burn continuously in the tabernacle of the congregation, outside the veil which is before the testimony. Aaron and his sons shall order it from evening to morning before the LORD. It shall be a statute forever (ôlâm) to their generations on behalf of the sons of Israel." (Exodus 27:20-21).
It is a sign between Me and the sons of Israel forever (‛ôlâm). For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested, and was refreshed.
And He gave to Moses, when He had made an end of speaking with him upon Mount Sinai, two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written by the finger of God." (Exodus 31:16-18).
"If your brother, a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, is sold to you and serves you six years, then in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you.
And if he says to you, I will not go away from you, because he loves you and your house, because it has been good for him with you;
then you shall take an awl and put it through his ear to the door, and he shall be your servant forever (ôlâm). And also to your slave-girl you shall do so." (Deuteronomy 14:12, 16 & 17).
The word ‛ôlâm in all the places it is found is closely related to the Greek word aeon (an Age of time), and because it denotes either a seemingly endless period of time (or an Age, the end of which was not known when the words were written), or a literally endless period of time, there are places in the Old Testament where ‛ôlâm does NOT mean "forever and ever", for example, taking us backwards in time from a certain point in time:
"And Joshua said to all the people, So says the LORD God of Israel, Your fathers lived of old (‛ôlâm) beyond the River, Terah the father of Abraham, and the father of Nahor, and they served other gods." (Joshua 24:2);
"Remember the days of old (‛ôlâm); consider the years of many generations. Ask your father, and he will show you; your elders, and they will tell you." (Deuteronomy 32:7).
‛ôlâm can also mean "forever and ever" (in perpetuity), for example in verses such as Proverbs 8:22-23; Genesis 21:33; Deuteronomy 32:40.
"The tablets of stone" are what is known as the Law. As reflected in the word ‛ôlâm, the end of the period spoken of in Exodus 3:16 was not known when the commandment was given, and the law and commandments would have been "forever in perpetuity" if there was no change in the priesthood:
"For the priesthood being changed, there is of necessity a change made in the law also." (Hebrews 7:12).
"Why then the Law? It was added because of transgressions, until the Seed should come to those to whom it had been promised, being ordained through angels in the Mediator's hand." (Galatians 3:19).
The covenant based on obedience to the law and commandments was broken by the people repeatedly, and because of sin, no human would ever have been capable of keeping the covenant.
"For no one is declared righteous before him by the works of the law (good works produced by obedience to the law), for through the law comes the knowledge of sin." -- Romans 3:19-20
1. What's the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians.5:22-25)?
2. How does Jesus say the fruit of the Spirit becomes evident in those who have faith in Him (John 15:4-5)?
Does Jesus say that the fruit of the Spirit will become evident:
(a) Through obeying the law, which brings a curse upon anyone who fails to obey it? or
(b) Through remaining in the Vine, who is Christ, through the obedience of faith in Him (John 15:4-5)?
3. Does the fruit of the Spirit fulfill the law (Hebrew: torah) (Galatians.5:22-25)?
4. Why is the law the shadow of the fruit of the Spirit (Colossians 2:17), but not the fruit itself?
5. Is obedience to the New Covenant based on faith in Christ, or on obedience to the law, which brings a curse upon all who fail to obey it? (John 15:4-5)
6. Upon which covenant is obedience to the law based? Is obedience to the law based on:
(i) The covenant of law, which brings a curse upon all people for their disobedience to the law? or
(ii) The New Covenant in Christ's blood, shed for the forgiveness of sins, which is the transgression of the law?
7. Which of the two covenants have become old, and ready to vanish away (Hebrews 8:13)?
8. Is the old covenant that was ready to vanish away based on obedience to the law (Exodus 24:7-8), or on obedience through faith in Christ?
9. So should we seek to please God through obedience to Christ (faith in Christ and walking after the Spirit of Christ producing the fruit of the Spirit), or through obedience to the law, which brings a curse?
The law and commandments were a shadow of the fruit of the Spirit of God, not the fruit itself.
ONE NEW EVERLASTING COMMANDMENT
FOR THE ONE NEW EVERLASTING COVENANT
FOR THE ONE NEW EVERLASTING COVENANT
"I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. As I have loved you, you should also love one another." John 13:34
"And this is His commandment, that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as He gave us commandment." 1 John 3:23
"Then they said to Him, What shall we do that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said to them, This is the work of God, that you believe on Him whom He has sent." John 6:28-29
Those who want to keep one part of Old Covenant law must keep it all, and live by the law, i.e obtain eternal life through their obedience to the law. If they do so they have fallen from grace.
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