Some Sabbath keeping organizations give this small 32-page
booklet to those who question whether one should keep the
Sabbath and Holydays. While we agree with Crews’ thoughts
on the Sabbath, we find his concepts concerning the Holydays
in error.
The Holydays were not part of the Law of Moses, from the
perspective that the Apostle Paul preached. Observe that
Yahweh called the Holydays His feasts rather than the feasts
of Moses.
Leviticus 23:2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them,
[Concerning] the feasts of the LORD (Yahweh), which ye shall
proclaim [to be] holy convocations, [even] these [are] my feasts.
The Law of Moses may include the entire Torah – the five
books that Moses authored, the book of Deuteronomy, or the
sacrificial system that taught one the moral code and acted as
a typical justification system until the Reality came. Paul
taught the transition from the Law of Moses as a sacrificial
system, until Christ – the superior sacrifice for justification
died for every one. The Laws of Moses nailed to the cross
were those laws added because of the sins of the people –
those laws that had to do with animal sacrifices, as a means of
justification.
Galatians 3:19 Wherefore then [serveth] the law? It was added because
of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was
made; [and it was] ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.
In other words, the Law of Moses – that part nailed to the tree
– was a means of justification for ancient Israel – a type that
existed only until the reality came. The Apostle Paul devoted
his ministry to explaining the transition from the justification
system under Moses to the justification system under Christ.
1Corinthians 1:23 But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a
stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness;
1Corinthians 2:2 For I determined not to know any thing among you,
save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
God never gave the Festival Days as a means of justification.
The Holydays are informative of past, present and future
great miracles of God in dealing with all of His people.
The Apostle Paul understood that the blood of bulls and goats
could not take away sins. Therefore, Paul focused on the Law
of Moses from the perspective of justification. This had to do
with the Temple worship of ancient Israel. However, we do
not want to miss that Israel entwined these added laws around
God’s Ten Commandments and Holydays, as well as the New
Moons. In other words, Moses – not on his own – added facets
to the Holydays and the weekly Sabbath, and made them very
much a part of the Temple devotion. Almost everything that
had to do with the worship of God centered at the Temple.
Therefore, Paul preached concerning only one perspective of
the Temple Worship – that which had to do with the typical
justification of the Law of Moses. The blood of bulls and goats
cannot take away sins; nevertheless, at the Temple, the priests
purged almost all things with blood and they used the Sin
Offering and the Trespass Offering as offerings for sin – a
means of justification.
Acts 13:39 And by him all that believe are justified from all things,
from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.
Hebrews 10:4 For [it is] not possible that the blood of bulls and of
goats should take away sins.
Hebrews 9:22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood;
and without shedding of blood is no remission.
In other words, Yahweh deemed it important for Israel to set
up a pattern or type of the reality that would come later.
Notice how Paul speaks about this sacrificial system. Moses
purified the pattern of the heavenly things with animal
sacrifices, out of necessity. However, Christ purified the
heavenly things by Himself – the better sacrifice.
Hebrews 9:23 [It was] therefore necessary that the patterns of things
in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things
themselves with better sacrifices than these.
Exodus 25:40 And look that thou make [them] after their pattern,
which was shewed thee in the mount.
The Ten Commandments tell us what sin is. The Law of
Moses, from the perspective Paul preached was the typical
means of justification required under the Old Covenant. In the
New Covenant, the Decalogue still tells us what sin is;
however, the means of justification is now by faith in the
sacrifice of Yahshua.
1John 3:4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin
is the transgression of the law.
Romans 3:28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith
without the deeds of the law.
However, we do not want to miss that breaking any one of the
Ten Commandments requires the death penalty. If one lies –
bears false witness – his punishment is eternal death, based on
the Decalogue, a much greater penalty than that required
under the Law of Moses, for lying. Therefore, one could
safely argue that the Ten Commandments carry a greater
curse than the Law of Moses, if the curse is concerning the
penalty of the law. The basic problem with the Law of Moses
was that it could not justify those who applied to it for
justification. Romans 6:23 is a statement of contrast. One
would not contrast mortal death with eternal life. The Apostle
Paul here contrasts eternal death with eternal life:
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin [is] death; but the gift of God [is]
eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Paul did not contrast the Law of Moses with the Law of God –
the Ten Commandments could not justify one anymore than
the sacrifices of the added law: God did not design the
Decalogue to justify. However, God did design the sacrificial
system as typical justification. Paul contrasted the Law of
Moses – the sacrifices for sin – with the blood of Yahshua and
justification by faith.
This is important to understand; many biblical scholars have
studied the Law of Moses and Paul’s writings about that law
for years and never grasped the fact that – from Paul’s
perspective – it was the means of justification under the Old
Covenant. Unless one comprehends this perspective, he can
never understand the writings of Paul.
The next question we should put forward is, What was in the
“book of the law” that Moses had the Levites put in the side of
the Ark of the Covenant. One could suppose this book to be
the entire Torah or writings of Moses. If this were true, then
the Ten Commandments were in the Law of Moses twice
(Exodus 20 & Deut. 5), as well as on the two tables of stone, in
the middle of the ark. If we determine that the Ten were not
in this book of the law, we then open ourselves to the question,
What else in the Torah was missing from this “book of the
law”?
The Ten Commandments were central to the book of the law;
therefore, Moses had the Levites place the two tables in the
heart of the ark. In other words, the Decalogue is the essence
of what God is and expects man to become.
What Moses said concerning this book of the law indicates that
it did include the Decalogue! The context of Deuteronomy 31
indicates that the book placed in the side of the ark was the
last book Moses wrote – Deuteronomy. Moreover, the Book
of Deuteronomy, in the early part of the volume, includes the
Ten Commandments. This book of the law was for a witness
against the Israelites because they would do evil in the sight of
Yahweh, to provoke Him to anger through the work of their
hands. In other words, they would sin against God; and we
know that sin is the transgression of the Ten Commandments.
Therefore, Moses’ own words signify that this “book of the
law” was Deuteronomy, which included the Ten
Commandments. Perhaps better expressed, How could the
“book of the law” be a witness against their rebellion,
corruption and evil unless it did contain the Ten
Commandments, which identifies sin?
Deuteronomy 31:24 And it came to pass, when Moses had made an end
of writing the words of this law in a book, until they were finished,
25 That Moses commanded the Levites, which bare the ark of the
covenant of the LORD, saying,
26 Take 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.
27 For I know thy rebellion, and thy stiff neck: behold, while I am yet
alive with you this day, ye have been rebellious against the LORD; and
how much more after my death?
28 Gather unto me all the elders of your tribes, and your officers, that I
may speak these words in their ears, and call heaven and earth to
record against them.
29 For I know that after my death ye will utterly corrupt yourselves,
and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you; and evil
will befall you in the latter days; because ye will do evil in the sight of
the LORD, to provoke him to anger through the work of your hands.
By placing the book of Deuteronomy, which included the Ten
Commandments, in the side of the ark, God used His own
principle, which required at least two witnesses against an
individual, for the death penalty: 1) The two tables written by
the hand of God, in the ark; and 2) The book of Deuteronomy,
which included the Ten Commandments, in the side of the ark.
Sin is the transgression of the Law; and the penalty for
breaking the Decalogue was death. Moses said the witness
against them was for their rebellion and because they would do
evil – sin in the sight of Yahweh.
Deuteronomy 17:6 At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses,
shall he that is worthy of death be put to death; [but] at the mouth of
one witness he shall not be put to death.
On the other hand, if one wishes to argue that the Decalogue
was not a part of the “book of the law” placed in the side of
the ark, then we may conclude that other parts of
Deuteronomy may also have been missing. In other words,
once we remove any part of Deuteronomy, the “book of the
law” – we may then determine for ourselves what was or was
not in that book.
One may understand the book of the law as: 1) The entire
Torah – the five books of Moses, 2) The book of Deuteronomy,
or 3) Those ceremonial and sacrificial laws added because of
transgressions.
However, one should observe that we find the phrase, “book of
the law” for the first time at the end of the book of
Deuteronomy:
Deuteronomy 29:21 And the LORD shall separate him unto evil out of
all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant that
are written in this book of the law:
Moreover, we should perceive that the bible fully describes the
“book of the law”: The book of the law of God. Therefore,
the “book of the law” did include the Law of God – the Ten
Commandments. In other words, the book of Deuteronomy –
the book of the law – included both the Law of Moses and the
Law of God.
Nehemiah 8:18 Also day by day, from the first day unto the last day, he
read in the book of the law of God. And they kept the feast seven days;
and on the eighth day [was] a solemn assembly, according unto the
manner.
We should not confuse the book of Deuteronomy, which the
Levites placed in the side of the Ark of the Covenant, with the
Apostle Paul’s statement that the Law of Moses could not
justify one. Paul’s statement had to do with justification – the
body of ceremonial and sacrificial laws given to rectify one
from sin and uncleanness.
Acts 13:39 And by him all that believe are justified from all things,
from which ye could not be justified by the Law of Moses.
The system of justification commenced under Moses’
administration could not justify one from his sins. Once Christ
became our justification, this took the system of justification in
the Law of Moses out of the way. These ordinances were
against us in the sense that they could not do what they
seemed to imply to do. Perhaps better said, the Jews had
come to believe that Moses system of justification was an end
in itself. They did not look toward the sacrifice of the
Messiah, as God intended them to do with the justification
system in the Law of Moses. Of course, God called a few and
gave them His holy spirit – they understood; but the vast
majority of the Israelites did not understand, just as the vast
majority does not understand today.
Colossians 2:14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was
against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way,
nailing it to his cross;
In the sacrificial system, the Levites used only “clean”
animals. We know that God had made a distinction between
clean and unclean animals long before the Law of Moses.
Were the laws of clean and unclean animals a part of the book
of the law placed in the side of the ark, or was that law missing
as well?
Genesis 7:1 And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy
house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this
generation.
2 Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and
his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his
female.
As the original “book of the law” (the autograph) that Moses
wrote and had placed in the side of the ark no longer exists;
and the bible does not specify which words were in that book;
one could project that the book contained only that body of
laws that had to do with justification: In other words, the laws
that God had Moses add because of the transgressions of the
people – the ceremonial and sacrificial system for ancient
Israel, under the Old Covenant.
The point we want to make here is that one cannot choose
what the “book of the law” contained. Certainly, if we
demand that the Ten Commandments were not a part of the
“book of the law” placed in the side of the ark, we should
produce proof of that assertion; for the Ten Commandments
were once in Deuteronomy and twice in the Torah.
Therefore, the argument that the “book of the law” in the side
of the ark was the Law of Moses – without the Decalogue – is
not at all clear, as Crews would have us believe. In fact, his
argument opens up unanswerable questions; and his hypothesis
does not support his conclusion.
Unquestionably, the Festival Days had nothing to do with the
transgressions of the people, from the perspective of one
laboring with sacrifices for his justification. Which Holyday,
minus the sacrifices, justified one from his sins? Which
Holyday, minus the sacrifices, cleanses one of some
uncleanness? This has nothing to do with whether the Ten
Commandments are greater than the Holydays or greater than
the laws of clean and unclean animals. We see here different
perspectives of God’s plan for man. The Decalogue defines
sin. The Holydays are memorials of great miracles of God
past, present and future.
One example: The Passover was a great miracle for ancient
Israel when God rescued them from Egypt – only a type of our
rescue from the world, which is an even greater miracle. Each
person has his own Passover when God calls him out of Egypt
– a type of Satan’s society. Christ set us an example: God
called His Son out of Egypt, a type of the world; and we too
must come out of the society of this world.
Acts 2:39 For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all
that are afar off, [even] as many as the Lord our God shall call.
Matthew 2:15 And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be
fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of
Egypt have I called my son.
It is important to notice that Abraham obeyed Yahweh, kept
His charge, commandments, statutes, and laws. Therefore,
before the Law of Moses, God expected more of man than just
His commandments.
Genesis 26:5 Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my
charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.
In fact, Abraham kept the law of circumcision long before the
Law of Moses!
Genesis 17:23 And Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all that were
born in his house, and all that were bought with his money, every male
among the men of Abraham’s house; and circumcised the flesh of their
foreskin in the selfsame day, as God had said unto him.
Moreover, God never rescinded the law of circumcision. The
reality replaced the type; circumcision is now of the heart.
Romans 2:29 But he [is] a Jew, which is one inwardly; and
circumcision [is that] of the heart, in the spirit, [and] not in the letter;
whose praise [is] not of men, but of God.
It should be of interest that the first Passover and Feast of
Unleavened Bread came before the Law of Moses.
One should also understand that sacrifices existed before the
Law of Moses. Yahweh slew the first sacrifice and made coats
of skins to cover Adam and Eve’s nakedness a type of
covering their sin.
Genesis 3:21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make
coats of skins, and clothed them.
Moreover, Cain offered a meal offering to Yahweh and Abel
offered a burnt offering to Him. Yahweh respected Abel’s
offering, but He did not respect Cain’s offering. Why? Cain
presented only a meal offering to God. God required one to
offer the meal offering on a burnt offering. The burnt offering
demonstrates love and worship of God in the first table of the
law and the meal offering shows love toward one’s fellowman
consistent with the second table of the law (See, Messiah in
the Old Covenant).
From God’s perspective, one must keep the second table of
the law as it relates to the first table of the law. In other
words, one cannot separate his love of man from his love of
God. It is important to observe that Cain could not even
respect his fellowman, though he professed that respect by
presenting a meal offering to God.
Genesis 4:3 And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought
of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD.
4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat
thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:
The sacrifices of Leviticus are types of our worship of God and
how we must live our lives after conversion. They also type
the sacrifice of Yahshua – what He did for us that we cannot
do for ourselves. God never rescinded the ancient sacrifices;
the reality replaced the type.
Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God,
that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto
God, [which is] your reasonable service.
Therefore, the argument that the Ten Commandments existed
before Moses is hardly an ironclad case for their superiority;
not that we believe otherwise. The bible contains ample
evidence that the Ten Commandments are the essence of God’
s mind. However, we find sacrifices, clean and unclean animal
laws, Holydays, circumcision, as well as the Ten before the
Law of Moses.
God brought Israel out of Egypt and brought them through the
baptism of the Red Sea. They came to the foot of Mount
Sinai. Moses went upon the mountain to talk with God and he
returned and propositioned the Israelites with the Covenant –
The Ten Commandments. They said, all that God has said we
will do. They scrubbed themselves clean and assembled to
hear the Decalogue from the mouth of God. However, not
long before the words cooled on the stone from the finger of
God, they involved themselves in a terrible sin.
In other words, they could not keep the commandments of God
– they did not have the mind to do so. The fault was with the
people. Therefore, God made a change in the Covenant; His
New Covenant would come with the promise of His holy spirit
– the missing element in the Old Covenant – which would make
it possible to live by the Covenant of God: The Ten
Commandments.
Hebrews 8:8 For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days
come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house
of Israel and with the house of Judah:
9 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the
day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt;
because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not,
saith the Lord.
10 For this is 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:
1John 3:9 Whosoever is born of God (has the holy spirit) doth not
commit sin (in the new man); for his (God’s) seed remaineth in him
(the man): and he (the man) cannot sin (has the ability to refrain from
sin), because he (the man) is born of God (has the holy spirit of God).
Therefore, because Israel of the Old Covenant could not keep
the Ten Commandments of God, He added the sacrificial laws
for two purposes: 1) To teach Israel how to live their lives
before God and 2) To justify them from their sins – only a type
until the Reality. Of course, this law also prescribed the
penalties and punishments, a great deal more lenient than that
prescribed for breaking the Ten Commandments – eternal
death regardless of how small the infraction.
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin [is] death; but the gift of God [is]
eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
James 2:10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in
one [point], he is guilty of all.
While these laws justified the people as far as their society
was concerned, it did not clear their conscience or remove
their sins, as far as God was concerned. Of course, God did
give His holy spirit to some of the people; these few individuals
knew that the animal sacrifices were symbolic – only a type of
the Reality. Nevertheless, God required the sacrifices of
justification even for those who had His holy spirit. Therefore,
these few looked forward to the superior sacrifice of Christ
just as we look back on that sacrifice today. Moreover, as
they had the holy spirit, most of them fulfilled God’s will in
their lives; and they shall enter into eternal life.
Hebrews 9:9 Which [was] a figure for the time then present, in which
were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did
the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience;
Hebrews 11:13 These all died in faith, not having received the
promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them,
and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and
pilgrims on the earth.
14 For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a
country.
15 And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they
came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.
16 But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore
God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for
them a city.
On the other hand, the blood of Christ cleanses us from our
sins to God’s satisfaction and the spirit of God in us makes
possible a life lived according to the Ten Commandments –
purging our conscience.
Hebrews 9:14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through
the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your
conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
These added laws and animal sacrifices were more than
penalties or punishments. They were for two purposes.
1) Laws as Teacher:
Galatians 3:23 But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut
up unto the faith, which should afterwards be revealed.
24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ,
that we might be justified by faith.
25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.
In other words, the Law of Moses taught the people how God
wanted them to live – something necessary. Remember that
Moses wrote the Torah during his lifetime; before the Torah,
no book existed spelling out how God wanted people to live; at
least the bible says nothing of such a book.
2) Animal Sacrifices as a Means of Justification:
The book of Leviticus details the Sin Offering and the
Trespass Offering. These offerings were for the typical
justification of the people. God considered these people, who
did not have the holy spirit, for physical promises only. On the
other hand, God did consider them ceremonially clean so that
Israel could function as a society under God, if they offered
the ceremonial washings and sacrifices specified for cleansing
and justification.
Galatians 3:10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under
the curse: for it is written, Cursed [is] every one that continueth not in
all things, which are written in the book of the law to do them.
The curse of the law was the fact that it was impossible for the
people to do everything necessary to satisfy the demands of
the law. In other words, a man might go to the Temple,
become ceremonially clean, and on the way home commit a sin,
which would require that he return immediately to the Temple
and do over again what he had just done to be clean. It was
impossible to be clean before God – even in the letter – even
ceremonially – with animal sacrifices.
The curse of the Law of Moses was not because it was a law of
penalties or punishments; rather it was a curse because it was
impossible for it to accomplish the desired end; although God
gave the Israelites this law – through Moses – as a means of
justification, it could not justify them. First, the blood of bulls
and goats cannot take away sin. Second, the holy spirit was
not a part of the Old Covenant. God wants man to live on a
higher plane to the Ten Commandments than just on the level
of the letter. God wants man to live according to the
Decalogue based on the spirit of the law – a level absolutely
requiring the indwelling of the holy spirit.
We do not want to overlook the fact that God did not add the
Annual Festivals to Israel as penalties, punishments, or as a
means of justification. The Annual Festivals were joyous days
given to Israel and us today so that we may better understand
the plan of God. Each one of these Holydays represents
miracles of God necessitated by difficult circumstances, which
man could not overcome.
PASSOVER: Egyptian Bondage – Death of firstborn in Egypt
to bring them out of bondage. This types our bondage to the
world before baptism – God calls and brings us out of Satan’s
society. Passover denotes our ransom out of the world.
DAYS OF UNLEAVENED BREAD PART I: The Passover
Feast – Our preparation to leave the world of sin behind (We
come into contact with the Word of God).
DAYS OF UNLEAVENED BREAD PART II: We journey
away from our old habitat – Satan’s society; and we journey
toward the Promised Land.
DAYS OF UNLEAVENED BREAD PART III: Last Day of
Unleavened Bread (A holy convocation) – Pharaoh hemmed
them in at the Red Sea – God opened the Sea and delivered
them to safety.
This types Satan trying to ensnare us (the old but ransomed
man) back into the world before we become a new man – God
washes away the sins of what we are, in the waters of baptism,
of which the crossing of the Red Sea is a type.
1Corinthians 10:2 And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and
in the sea;
PENTECOST PART I: God brought the Israelites to Mount
Sinai – He thundered the Ten Commandments to the people
from the Mount – giving them the way to eternal life.
PENTECOST PART II: God brought His people to the Upper
Room – He sent tongues of fire to sit on their heads and they
spoke with foreign languages – They received the holy spirit:
The missing element of Pentecost Part 1 – which gives them
and us the ability to live the way to eternal life.
TRUMPETS: God brings mankind to the DAY OF THE
LORD the time of the seven trumpets. Each of these trumpets
requires a miracle from God against evil man. However, at
the last trumpet, the dead in Christ rise and those in Christ
who remain alive rise to meet Him in the air. They return with
Him to heaven for the marriage supper of the Lamb (See Book
of Revelation Outline for more details). This final trumpet
plays out at Armageddon when Yahshua returns with His wife
and triumphs over those who are destroying the earth and sets
up a Kingdom that no one can destroy.
Revelation 11:18 And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come,
and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou
shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints,
and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy
them which destroy the earth.
ATONEMENT: This Holyday contains knowledge of the past,
present and future. In fact, without the knowledge of this
Holyday, one cannot understand the nature of God (See: Why
Atonement); one is absent the knowledge of one type of sin;
and one cannot understand Satan’s fate. God placed this
Holyday between Trumpets and Tabernacles. After the
destruction of the nations, this day propels one into the
Kingdom of God. This day is so sacred that God requires man
to fast on this day – no food or drink for 24 hours. This is the
day that God puts Satan in the bottomless pit.
Revelation 20:1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having
the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil,
and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal
upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand
years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little
season.
In other words, God not only destroys those who are
destroying the earth, but He has Satan put out of commission
just before He begins His rule over the earth from Jerusalem,
which will continue peacefully for 1000 years.
The Day of Atonement also begins the jubilee – a proclamation
of liberty.
Leviticus 25:9 Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubilee to sound
on the tenth [day] of the seventh month, in the day of atonement shall
ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land.
Leviticus 25:10 And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim
liberty throughout [all] the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it
shall be a jubilee unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his
possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family.
TABERNACLES PART I: The first day is a holy convocation;
much evidence exists that Yahshua was born on this day (See:
The Birth of Christ). This day represents the first day of the
millennial reign of Christ.
TABERNACLES PART II: The seven days of Tabernacles
represents the complete 1000 years of Christ’s reign – seven
being the number of perfection.
LAST GREAT DAY: This Holyday is about the majority of
people who have lived on the earth, from the time of Adam and
Eve. Without this day, neither the Protestants nor most
Sabbatarians can understand what will happen to those whom
God does not call now. They compromise the Ten
Commandments of God by coming up with all sorts of foolish
ideas about how God will bring those into the Kingdom of God
who have never heard the name of Christ during their lifetime
– an impossibility. This Holyday comes after the seventh day,
the seventh 1000 years – it is the eighth 1000 years: A new
beginning.
Acts 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none
other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
This is just a synopsis of the Holydays, from only one
perspective; some of them are heavy on the past, with present
spiritual implications; some of them are heavy on the future;
moreover, if one would have a good understanding of the plan
of God they are indispensable.
One should not suppose that Moses, of himself, came up with
the Torah. All scripture, of which the Law of Moses is a part,
came by the inspiration of God. Moreover, all scripture is
profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction and instruction in
righteousness. We only limit ourselves in understanding the
plan of God when we exclude any part of the bible.
Galatians 3:19 Wherefore then [serveth] the law? It was added
because of transgressions, until the seed should come to whom the
promise was made; [and it was] ordained by angels in the hand of a
mediator.
2Timothy 3:16 All scripture [is] given by inspiration of God, and [is]
profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in
righteousness:
God gave Moses this added law, not directly of Himself, as He
did the Ten Commandments, but indirectly – through angels.
Moses administered this law as a mediator between the people
of Israel and God. However, we should not presume that God
made a mistake when He added this law. If one studies this
bylaw, he will see great types of the realities that have now
passed and are yet to come. True, we do not want to rely on
the Mosaic Justification System; God gave it to Moses, by
angels, which was in use until the Seed became our
justification by faith. However, we gain information from
these Old Covenant types; and these lessons do not repeat in
the New Testament.
Now let us consider Colossians 2:14-17, which has become a
stumbling block to Protestants because many of them see this
as eliminating the Ten Commandments, as well as the Law of
Moses; in fact, many believe that the entire Old Testament of
the bible was nailed to the cross. As they put it, The Old
Testament is for the Jews and the New Testament is for the
Gentiles.
Moreover, Colossians 2:14-17 is also a stumbling block to
many Sabbath Keepers because they see it as eliminating many
facets of the Torah – specifically excepting the Decalogue.
Neither position is correct.
We might add that the religious organizations sustain these
positions. One’s loyalty should be first to the organism – the
body of Christ – and secondly to the organizations of man
when they do not contradict the word of God.
Let us observe that what Yahshua blotted out and “nailed to
His cross” was certain ordinances that were against us.
Ordinances are laws of conduct that, when broken, require
atonement; Holydays are not laws that require reconciliation.
Considering that the Holydays are joyful, it is inconceivable
that one would not want to observe them!
However, here Paul informs us concerning the sacrifice of
Yahshua – a superior sacrifice that blotted out the ordinances
of animal sacrifices and the ceremonial washings that were
against us in the sense that they could not do the job of
justification or cleansing. God intended some of these
ordinances as types of the sacrifice of the Messiah. It was
impossible for Paul to speak of the entire Torah as the
handwriting of ordinances. Moreover, if this was Paul’s intent,
than that nailed to the cross did indeed included the Ten
Commandments, for we find the Decalogue twice in the Torah.
Colossians 2:14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was
against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way,
nailing it to his cross;
15 And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of
them openly, triumphing over them in it.
The Apostle Paul expresses one part of these ordinances in the
following passage. Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us:
Therefore, let us keep the feast. In other words, we do not
abandon the Feast just because God replaced the animal
sacrifice (type) with the Reality (Christ). The Feast that
followed the Passover was the Festival of Unleavened Bread
commenced by the Festival of Passover. The Passover, the
sacrifice, was an ordinance; the Passover Feast and Festival of
Unleavened Bread were memorials. We no longer keep the
Passover; however, we do keep the Festival of Passover and
the Festival of Unleavened Bread – these are the plain words
of the Apostle Paul.
2Corinthians 5:7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a
new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is
sacrificed for us:
8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the
leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of
sincerity and truth.
As we understand from Paul’s own words, he in no case
indicates the rejection of the Festivals of God with the
transition from the sacrifices of the Old Covenant to the
Sacrifice of Yahshua in the New Covenant. We continue to
keep these Festivals with their spiritual application just as we
keep the Ten Commandments in the spirit, which is superior to
keeping them in the letter. All that Christ nailed to the cross
was that for which He became the superior sacrifice. The
bible nowhere tells us that Christ nailed the Festivals to the
cross.
With this background, we understand that in Colossians 2:16
Paul’s perspective was not that the five principles, there
mentioned, were abolished. Paul’s point of view concerns the
manner of keeping these things, not their elimination. One
must continue to eat and drink and one must continue to keep
the Sabbath – three things Paul mentions in this list.
However, some who wanted to continue in Judaism – an
accumulation of many traditions of man – wished also to bind
the Christians with these burdensome customs and the
shadows of the Law of Moses. Paul addresses the matter of
meat offered to idols elsewhere. He showed that the idols
were nothing – only the conscience, for the individual, came
into play concerning whether one should eat or not eat meat
offered to an idol. Drink falls into this same category.
The eating of Meat and the pouring out of Drink were also a
considerable part of the sacrificial system of the laws added
because of transgression. The people and the priests ate
certain ceremonially offered meat; and the priests poured wine
on some of the sacrifices. The context of Colossians 2:16
probably focuses on the sacrificial system more than on the
traditions of Judaism; however, the principle would certainly
apply to both.
1Corinthians 8:4 As concerning therefore the eating of those things
that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol [is]
nothing in the world, and that [there is] none other God but one.
1Corinthians 8:7 Howbeit [there is] not in every man that knowledge:
for some with conscience of the idol unto this hour eat [it] as a thing
offered unto an idol; and their conscience being weak is defiled.
Paul informs us that one should not let any man judge us “in
respect of” a Holyday; this admonition continues for us, from a
different perspective, even to this day. Observe that Paul
does not in anyway suggest that this has to do with throwing
away any Holyday. The word respect, as used in Colossians 2:
16 indicates “any particular concerning a Holyday”. In other
words, those who did not understand the sacrifice of Christ
would insist that the Christians should continue to observe the
sacrifices surrounding the Holydays. These particulars were
the shadows of things to come. The Holydays were
memorials.
The KJV translation of the Greek added the word <days>
after “the Sabbath” in Colossians 2:16. The meaning becomes
clear when we drop this addition. If you have a copy of the
KJV that italicizes added words, you may take note of this
addition. The word for Sabbath means the weekly Sabbath
whereas the word for Holyday signifies an annual Sabbath.
Proof of this is just ahead.
Colossians 2:16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink,
or in respect of (in the particulars of) an holyday, or of the new moon,
or of the Sabbath [days]:
The word respect (Strong’s 3313) applies to the Holydays,
New Moon, and the weekly Sabbath. The word means any
particular of the subject at hand. Paul’s admonition was that
no man was to judge us as to the particulars of a Holyday, the
particulars of the New Moon, or the particulars of the weekly
Sabbath. The particulars were the sacrificial part of the Law
of Moses: The shadows until Christ came as the Reality.
From another perspective, the Holydays, New Moon and the
Sabbath are themselves shadows of things yet to come. Some
of the Holydays represent future events and are in this way
shadows of that which is to come. Even the weekly Sabbath is
a shadow of the Festival of Tabernacles when the earth will
rest from the labor of man, in the Kingdom of God, for the
seventh one thousand years, from creation.
Exodus 23:12 Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day
thou shalt rest: that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy
handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed.
2 Peter 3:8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day
[is] with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one
day.
However, one must keep in mind the thrust of Paul’s subject:
Justification. The shadows of justification were those
sacrifices of the Mosaic justification system. Therefore, in
context, by shadow the Apostle Paul refers back to <respect>
or particulars of the Old Covenant that were shadows of
Christ and His sacrifice. In other words, Paul was thinking
justification versus justification. Justification of the Old
Covenant was by animal sacrifices versus justification of the
New Covenant, which is by the Sacrifice of Christ. Moreover,
the new system of Justification is by faith rather than by labor
– “works”.
Colossians 2:16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink,
or in respect (3313) of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the
Sabbath [days]:
17 Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of (belongs
to) Christ.
The conclusion is that if one uses this passage to imply the
abolition of these five principles, he must also abandon the
weekly Sabbath. However, Paul informs us that the body
belongs to Christ and He is the one who must judge us in such
matters. If we discern the bible as a whole, we must conclude
that the ordinances nailed to the cross were those sacrificial
laws replaced by the life and death of Christ and any other
laws that resulted from that sacrificial system. Christ and the
indwelling of the spirit of God replaced the entire sacrificial
system – the particulars of Holydays, New Moons, and the
Sabbath, as well as the Burnt Offering, Passover Offering,
Peace Offering, Sin Offering and Trespass Offering.
Observe that the KJV translation uses the word <respect> for
the Greek word #3313 only 2 out of 43 times; the KJV uses
the word <part> for this Greek word #3313 – 24 times. Notice
that it was a <part> of the Holydays, New Moons, and the
Sabbath, which concerned Paul. Remember that Moses added
sacrifices to the Sabbath day – it was this part, this particular,
which concerned Paul. Moreover, it was this <part> that Paul
referred to as a shadow.
Online Bible: (respect)
3313 merov meros mer’-os
from an obsolete but more primary form of meiromai (to get as
a section or allotment); TDNT-4:594,585; n n
AV-part 24, portion 3, coast 3, behalf 2, respect 2, misc 9; 43
1) a part
1a) a part due or assigned to one
1b) lot, destiny
2) one of the constituent parts of a whole
2a) in part, partly, in a measure, to some degree, as respects a
part, severally, individually
2b) any particular, in regard to this, in this respect
As one can observe, man misunderstands the bible because he
accepts perspectives contrary to scripture. This impresses
upon us the need to understand the bible as a whole and not in
part. Moreover, many times man accepts perspectives
because of his loyalty to the organizations of man rather than
to the organism of the body of Christ. Our loyalty must be
first to God.
Acts 5:29 Then Peter and the [other] apostles answered and said, We
ought to obey God rather than men.
We should also point out that Paul was not redundant when he
mentioned a Holyday and the Sabbath in the same verse of
scripture. Why should Paul mention the Holydays twice, in the
same sentence, as though they were two different things and
yet the same? The addition of the word <days> by the KJV
translators has done its readers a great disservice. The word
<respect> is also very vague. The word has to do with a part,
a measure, a degree, or one of the constituent parts of a
whole. The English word <respect> indicates a whole or the
principle thereby doing the reader of the KJV translation a
disservice.
The Greek definitions of the word <respect> and <Sabbath> in
Colossians 2:16 clear up this matter; moreover, Paul’s writings
on the subject elsewhere confirm our understanding of this
material.
One should also comprehend that God did not introduce all of
the shadows of the Law of Moses solely because of sin. The
burnt offering was not a sin offering. The burnt offering had
to do with one’s worship of God based on the first table of the
Decalogue – the first four commandments.
Christ was our example of the burnt offering by the way He
lived His life, and in His death, according to the will of His
Father. After all, the burnt offering was a blood sacrifice.
Therefore, Christ was a burnt offering in life and in death.
The burnt offering was a teaching tool: 1) How to worship God
and 2) How to live our life according to the first table of the
Decalogue.
John 5:19 Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I
say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the
Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son
likewise.
Matthew 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter
into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father
which is in heaven.
Matthew 16:25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and
whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
The Meal Offering teaches one to love his fellowman.
Moreover, one’s keeping of the second table of the law –
honor toward man – must be as worship of God: The priest laid
the Meal Offering on the Burnt Offering. Christ lived His life
perfectly; therefore, He was our perfect example of the Burnt
Offering and the Meal Offering. These sacrifices did not have
to do directly with sins. In other words, God did not add these
sacrifices for removal of transgressions. They were shadows
of the spirit of God, a part of the New Covenant that replaced
the need for physical sacrifices as teaching tools. We must
become Burnt Offerings and Meal Offerings, as the spirit of
God aids us in our worship of God. The spirit of God replaced
the Burnt, Meal, and Peace Offerings, as teaching tools.
However, each of these offerings presents lessons that must
become a part of us, if we would enter into eternal life.
Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God,
that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto
God, [which is] your reasonable service.
John 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide
you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he
shall hear, [that] shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
The shadows are two pronged: 1) Teaching Tools replaced by
the spirit of God a part of the New Covenant and 2) A system
of Justification replaced by the sacrifice of Christ.
We know that the Passover Feast, Days of Unleavened Bread
and Pentecost existed before the added laws resulting from
transgression. Trumpets, Atonement, Tabernacles and the
Last Great Day have to do with future events. Therefore, one
cannot require that the Annual Holydays be a part of the
added laws resulting from the transgressions of the people.
However, the Israelites did surround the Annual Holydays and
the Sabbath day with the shadows or added sacrificial laws.
This is the reason that Paul used the word <particulars> in
Colossians 2:16. The particulars were the shadows; the
principles were not the shadows.
To use Crews example, was it a sin to keep a Holyday before
Christ’s crucifixion? It was not. Was it a sin to keep a
Holyday after Christ’s crucifixion? It was not. In other words,
God did not add the Holydays because of sin or
transgressions. Because Crews did not observe that the KJV
added the word <days> in Colossians 2:16 and because he did
not remember that Paul admonished the Christians to
eliminate the sacrifice but observe the Festival, he came to a
wrong conclusion concerning what constituted the shadows.
The word <respect> no doubt threw him off track. The
Holydays were not shadows, from the perspective of
transgressions; if that were true, then God would not require
that those in the future come up to Jerusalem to keep the
Festival of Tabernacles.
Zechariah 14:16 And it shall come to pass, [that] every one that is left
of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from
year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the
feast of tabernacles.
The particulars concerning the Holydays, New Moons, and the
Sabbath were the shadows! Moreover, Paul mentioned
nothing concerning the abolition of the Holydays, this is
subjective reasoning based on errors of the immediate context
as well as the rest of the bible on this subject.
Of course, I agree with Crews that the Ten Commandments
are not the subject of Colossians 2:14-17. However, one
cannot honestly escape that the word <Sabbath> in Colossians
2:16 is a reference to the weekly Sabbath.
Colossians 2:16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink,
or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath
(4521) [days]:
Nothing in the definition of the Greek word for Sabbath, as
used in Colossians 2:16, indicates anything other than the
weekly Sabbath (See below). When we understand that the
shadows were the ceremonial sacrifices – the particulars –
surrounding the Holydays, New Moons, and the Sabbath, then
the context of Paul’s information becomes clear.
The transliteration for the Greek word <holyday> is heorte, as
Crews pointed out. However, the transliteration for the
Greek word <Sabbath> – used in Colossians 2:16 – is
sabbaton, which refers to the weekly Sabbath, as per the
definition inset below. The word Sabbath in Matthew 28:1 is
the same Greek word as that used in Colossians 2:16. In fact,
this word appears in the New Testament 59 times as a
reference to the weekly Sabbath. It is interesting to note that
Crews was silent in reference to the Greek word for Sabbath
in Colossians 2:16. We include the following verses to prove
that the Sabbath of Colossians 2:16 was the weekly Sabbath.
Wishing it to be otherwise is futile. Had the Apostle Paul
intended to repeat the word for <Holydays> he would have
used the word heorte again or some other word than sabbaton.
Matthew 28:1 In the end of the Sabbath (4521) (sabbaton), as it began
to dawn toward the first [day] of the week, came Mary Magdalene and
the other Mary to see the sepulchre.
Colossians 2:16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink,
or in respect (the particulars) of an holyday (1859) (heorte), or of the
new moon, or of the Sabbath (4521) (sabbaton) [days]:
Matthew 12:8 For the Son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath (4521)
(sabbaton) day.
ONLINE BIBLE: (holyday)
1859 eorth heorte heh-or-tay’
of uncertain affinity; ; n f
AV-feast 26, holy day 1; 27
1) a feast day, festival
*****************************************************
ONLINE BIBLE: (Sabbath)
4521 sabbaton sabbaton sab’-bat-on
of Hebrew origin 07676 tbv; TDNT-7:1,989; n n
AV-sabbath day 37, sabbath 22, week 9; 68
1) the seventh day of each week which was a sacred festival on
which the Israelites were required to abstain from all work
1a) the institution of the sabbath, the law for keeping holy
every seventh day of the week
1b) a single sabbath, sabbath day
2) seven days, a week
Beginning with page 20 of Crews’ script, I agree with him,
from there until the end of his brochure. Of course, Crews
places a few tomatoes on the windowsill to which I would
object.
However, let us comment on one thing in that section of his
booklet. The word <holy>, which Crews finds as no
happenstance, in its application to the Sabbath and to God’s
people. We do not want to overlook that this same word
<holy> also applies to the Holydays.
Isaiah 58:13 If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, [from] doing
thy pleasure on my holy (06944) (yvid>q') day; and call the Sabbath a
delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not
doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking
[thine own] words:
Leviticus 19:2 Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel,
and say unto them, Ye shall be holy (06918)(~yvidoq): for I the LORD
your God [am] holy.
Leviticus 23:2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them,
[Concerning] the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim [to be]
holy (06944)(vd,qo)convocations, [even] these [are] my feasts.
In all three instances, the bible uses the same Hebrew root
word, for the word <holy>. However, I might point out that
the transliteration of the Hebrew words in these three
instances is qodesh, not chasid, as Crews suggests. Chasid is
the transliteration of the Hebrew word that means
<kindness>.
I might also point out that misunderstandings of the bible
frequently come from faulty perspective. As we observed in
Colossians, Crews’ perspective is that the shadows were the
principles: The Holydays, the New Moons and what he
assumed were Sabbath Days rather than the Sabbath. The
translation fog was so deep that he could not see that the
shadows were certain particulars: the sacrifices and other
works that surrounded the principles. Crews’ perspective flies
in the face of Paul’s other teachings. When we perceive
contradictions in our understanding of the bible, we must
search for the answer, and we will find that our solution often
comes from faulty perspectives.
The KJV translation of the Greek used the correct word for
Sabbath; however, by adding the word <days>, they skewed
the understanding in English. By using the phrase <in respect
of> rather than <particulars of>, they threw the emphasis on
the principles rather than certain particulars of the principles.
Add all this to the fact that Crews has probably already bought
into the doctrines of an organization that does not observe the
Holydays and it was easy for him to fall for the unintended
deception of the English translation of this verse.
Earlier, in his booklet, we observed how Crews assumed the
contents of the law placed in the side of the ark. Crews
probably formed this faulty perspective based on his incorrect
perspective of Colossians 2:14-17. We should also add that the
subject of Colossians 2:14-17, is justification: The elimination
of one system of justification for a superior one.
Understanding the subject matter would have gone a long way
toward keeping Crews from an incorrect perspective.
This all brings to mind the following scripture.
Romans 10:17 So then faith [cometh] by hearing, and hearing by the
word of God.
In other words, if we use the word of God as our guide, we can
grow in faith, understanding, and wisdom.
Suggested Reading:
The Messiah in the Old Covenant Sacrifices.
Why Atonement?
The Birth of Christ
Home
Holy Days
booklet to those who question whether one should keep the
Sabbath and Holydays. While we agree with Crews’ thoughts
on the Sabbath, we find his concepts concerning the Holydays
in error.
The Holydays were not part of the Law of Moses, from the
perspective that the Apostle Paul preached. Observe that
Yahweh called the Holydays His feasts rather than the feasts
of Moses.
Leviticus 23:2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them,
[Concerning] the feasts of the LORD (Yahweh), which ye shall
proclaim [to be] holy convocations, [even] these [are] my feasts.
The Law of Moses may include the entire Torah – the five
books that Moses authored, the book of Deuteronomy, or the
sacrificial system that taught one the moral code and acted as
a typical justification system until the Reality came. Paul
taught the transition from the Law of Moses as a sacrificial
system, until Christ – the superior sacrifice for justification
died for every one. The Laws of Moses nailed to the cross
were those laws added because of the sins of the people –
those laws that had to do with animal sacrifices, as a means of
justification.
Galatians 3:19 Wherefore then [serveth] the law? It was added because
of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was
made; [and it was] ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.
In other words, the Law of Moses – that part nailed to the tree
– was a means of justification for ancient Israel – a type that
existed only until the reality came. The Apostle Paul devoted
his ministry to explaining the transition from the justification
system under Moses to the justification system under Christ.
1Corinthians 1:23 But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a
stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness;
1Corinthians 2:2 For I determined not to know any thing among you,
save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
God never gave the Festival Days as a means of justification.
The Holydays are informative of past, present and future
great miracles of God in dealing with all of His people.
The Apostle Paul understood that the blood of bulls and goats
could not take away sins. Therefore, Paul focused on the Law
of Moses from the perspective of justification. This had to do
with the Temple worship of ancient Israel. However, we do
not want to miss that Israel entwined these added laws around
God’s Ten Commandments and Holydays, as well as the New
Moons. In other words, Moses – not on his own – added facets
to the Holydays and the weekly Sabbath, and made them very
much a part of the Temple devotion. Almost everything that
had to do with the worship of God centered at the Temple.
Therefore, Paul preached concerning only one perspective of
the Temple Worship – that which had to do with the typical
justification of the Law of Moses. The blood of bulls and goats
cannot take away sins; nevertheless, at the Temple, the priests
purged almost all things with blood and they used the Sin
Offering and the Trespass Offering as offerings for sin – a
means of justification.
Acts 13:39 And by him all that believe are justified from all things,
from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.
Hebrews 10:4 For [it is] not possible that the blood of bulls and of
goats should take away sins.
Hebrews 9:22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood;
and without shedding of blood is no remission.
In other words, Yahweh deemed it important for Israel to set
up a pattern or type of the reality that would come later.
Notice how Paul speaks about this sacrificial system. Moses
purified the pattern of the heavenly things with animal
sacrifices, out of necessity. However, Christ purified the
heavenly things by Himself – the better sacrifice.
Hebrews 9:23 [It was] therefore necessary that the patterns of things
in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things
themselves with better sacrifices than these.
Exodus 25:40 And look that thou make [them] after their pattern,
which was shewed thee in the mount.
The Ten Commandments tell us what sin is. The Law of
Moses, from the perspective Paul preached was the typical
means of justification required under the Old Covenant. In the
New Covenant, the Decalogue still tells us what sin is;
however, the means of justification is now by faith in the
sacrifice of Yahshua.
1John 3:4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin
is the transgression of the law.
Romans 3:28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith
without the deeds of the law.
However, we do not want to miss that breaking any one of the
Ten Commandments requires the death penalty. If one lies –
bears false witness – his punishment is eternal death, based on
the Decalogue, a much greater penalty than that required
under the Law of Moses, for lying. Therefore, one could
safely argue that the Ten Commandments carry a greater
curse than the Law of Moses, if the curse is concerning the
penalty of the law. The basic problem with the Law of Moses
was that it could not justify those who applied to it for
justification. Romans 6:23 is a statement of contrast. One
would not contrast mortal death with eternal life. The Apostle
Paul here contrasts eternal death with eternal life:
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin [is] death; but the gift of God [is]
eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Paul did not contrast the Law of Moses with the Law of God –
the Ten Commandments could not justify one anymore than
the sacrifices of the added law: God did not design the
Decalogue to justify. However, God did design the sacrificial
system as typical justification. Paul contrasted the Law of
Moses – the sacrifices for sin – with the blood of Yahshua and
justification by faith.
This is important to understand; many biblical scholars have
studied the Law of Moses and Paul’s writings about that law
for years and never grasped the fact that – from Paul’s
perspective – it was the means of justification under the Old
Covenant. Unless one comprehends this perspective, he can
never understand the writings of Paul.
The next question we should put forward is, What was in the
“book of the law” that Moses had the Levites put in the side of
the Ark of the Covenant. One could suppose this book to be
the entire Torah or writings of Moses. If this were true, then
the Ten Commandments were in the Law of Moses twice
(Exodus 20 & Deut. 5), as well as on the two tables of stone, in
the middle of the ark. If we determine that the Ten were not
in this book of the law, we then open ourselves to the question,
What else in the Torah was missing from this “book of the
law”?
The Ten Commandments were central to the book of the law;
therefore, Moses had the Levites place the two tables in the
heart of the ark. In other words, the Decalogue is the essence
of what God is and expects man to become.
What Moses said concerning this book of the law indicates that
it did include the Decalogue! The context of Deuteronomy 31
indicates that the book placed in the side of the ark was the
last book Moses wrote – Deuteronomy. Moreover, the Book
of Deuteronomy, in the early part of the volume, includes the
Ten Commandments. This book of the law was for a witness
against the Israelites because they would do evil in the sight of
Yahweh, to provoke Him to anger through the work of their
hands. In other words, they would sin against God; and we
know that sin is the transgression of the Ten Commandments.
Therefore, Moses’ own words signify that this “book of the
law” was Deuteronomy, which included the Ten
Commandments. Perhaps better expressed, How could the
“book of the law” be a witness against their rebellion,
corruption and evil unless it did contain the Ten
Commandments, which identifies sin?
Deuteronomy 31:24 And it came to pass, when Moses had made an end
of writing the words of this law in a book, until they were finished,
25 That Moses commanded the Levites, which bare the ark of the
covenant of the LORD, saying,
26 Take 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.
27 For I know thy rebellion, and thy stiff neck: behold, while I am yet
alive with you this day, ye have been rebellious against the LORD; and
how much more after my death?
28 Gather unto me all the elders of your tribes, and your officers, that I
may speak these words in their ears, and call heaven and earth to
record against them.
29 For I know that after my death ye will utterly corrupt yourselves,
and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you; and evil
will befall you in the latter days; because ye will do evil in the sight of
the LORD, to provoke him to anger through the work of your hands.
By placing the book of Deuteronomy, which included the Ten
Commandments, in the side of the ark, God used His own
principle, which required at least two witnesses against an
individual, for the death penalty: 1) The two tables written by
the hand of God, in the ark; and 2) The book of Deuteronomy,
which included the Ten Commandments, in the side of the ark.
Sin is the transgression of the Law; and the penalty for
breaking the Decalogue was death. Moses said the witness
against them was for their rebellion and because they would do
evil – sin in the sight of Yahweh.
Deuteronomy 17:6 At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses,
shall he that is worthy of death be put to death; [but] at the mouth of
one witness he shall not be put to death.
On the other hand, if one wishes to argue that the Decalogue
was not a part of the “book of the law” placed in the side of
the ark, then we may conclude that other parts of
Deuteronomy may also have been missing. In other words,
once we remove any part of Deuteronomy, the “book of the
law” – we may then determine for ourselves what was or was
not in that book.
One may understand the book of the law as: 1) The entire
Torah – the five books of Moses, 2) The book of Deuteronomy,
or 3) Those ceremonial and sacrificial laws added because of
transgressions.
However, one should observe that we find the phrase, “book of
the law” for the first time at the end of the book of
Deuteronomy:
Deuteronomy 29:21 And the LORD shall separate him unto evil out of
all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant that
are written in this book of the law:
Moreover, we should perceive that the bible fully describes the
“book of the law”: The book of the law of God. Therefore,
the “book of the law” did include the Law of God – the Ten
Commandments. In other words, the book of Deuteronomy –
the book of the law – included both the Law of Moses and the
Law of God.
Nehemiah 8:18 Also day by day, from the first day unto the last day, he
read in the book of the law of God. And they kept the feast seven days;
and on the eighth day [was] a solemn assembly, according unto the
manner.
We should not confuse the book of Deuteronomy, which the
Levites placed in the side of the Ark of the Covenant, with the
Apostle Paul’s statement that the Law of Moses could not
justify one. Paul’s statement had to do with justification – the
body of ceremonial and sacrificial laws given to rectify one
from sin and uncleanness.
Acts 13:39 And by him all that believe are justified from all things,
from which ye could not be justified by the Law of Moses.
The system of justification commenced under Moses’
administration could not justify one from his sins. Once Christ
became our justification, this took the system of justification in
the Law of Moses out of the way. These ordinances were
against us in the sense that they could not do what they
seemed to imply to do. Perhaps better said, the Jews had
come to believe that Moses system of justification was an end
in itself. They did not look toward the sacrifice of the
Messiah, as God intended them to do with the justification
system in the Law of Moses. Of course, God called a few and
gave them His holy spirit – they understood; but the vast
majority of the Israelites did not understand, just as the vast
majority does not understand today.
Colossians 2:14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was
against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way,
nailing it to his cross;
In the sacrificial system, the Levites used only “clean”
animals. We know that God had made a distinction between
clean and unclean animals long before the Law of Moses.
Were the laws of clean and unclean animals a part of the book
of the law placed in the side of the ark, or was that law missing
as well?
Genesis 7:1 And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy
house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this
generation.
2 Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and
his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his
female.
As the original “book of the law” (the autograph) that Moses
wrote and had placed in the side of the ark no longer exists;
and the bible does not specify which words were in that book;
one could project that the book contained only that body of
laws that had to do with justification: In other words, the laws
that God had Moses add because of the transgressions of the
people – the ceremonial and sacrificial system for ancient
Israel, under the Old Covenant.
The point we want to make here is that one cannot choose
what the “book of the law” contained. Certainly, if we
demand that the Ten Commandments were not a part of the
“book of the law” placed in the side of the ark, we should
produce proof of that assertion; for the Ten Commandments
were once in Deuteronomy and twice in the Torah.
Therefore, the argument that the “book of the law” in the side
of the ark was the Law of Moses – without the Decalogue – is
not at all clear, as Crews would have us believe. In fact, his
argument opens up unanswerable questions; and his hypothesis
does not support his conclusion.
Unquestionably, the Festival Days had nothing to do with the
transgressions of the people, from the perspective of one
laboring with sacrifices for his justification. Which Holyday,
minus the sacrifices, justified one from his sins? Which
Holyday, minus the sacrifices, cleanses one of some
uncleanness? This has nothing to do with whether the Ten
Commandments are greater than the Holydays or greater than
the laws of clean and unclean animals. We see here different
perspectives of God’s plan for man. The Decalogue defines
sin. The Holydays are memorials of great miracles of God
past, present and future.
One example: The Passover was a great miracle for ancient
Israel when God rescued them from Egypt – only a type of our
rescue from the world, which is an even greater miracle. Each
person has his own Passover when God calls him out of Egypt
– a type of Satan’s society. Christ set us an example: God
called His Son out of Egypt, a type of the world; and we too
must come out of the society of this world.
Acts 2:39 For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all
that are afar off, [even] as many as the Lord our God shall call.
Matthew 2:15 And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be
fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of
Egypt have I called my son.
It is important to notice that Abraham obeyed Yahweh, kept
His charge, commandments, statutes, and laws. Therefore,
before the Law of Moses, God expected more of man than just
His commandments.
Genesis 26:5 Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my
charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.
In fact, Abraham kept the law of circumcision long before the
Law of Moses!
Genesis 17:23 And Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all that were
born in his house, and all that were bought with his money, every male
among the men of Abraham’s house; and circumcised the flesh of their
foreskin in the selfsame day, as God had said unto him.
Moreover, God never rescinded the law of circumcision. The
reality replaced the type; circumcision is now of the heart.
Romans 2:29 But he [is] a Jew, which is one inwardly; and
circumcision [is that] of the heart, in the spirit, [and] not in the letter;
whose praise [is] not of men, but of God.
It should be of interest that the first Passover and Feast of
Unleavened Bread came before the Law of Moses.
One should also understand that sacrifices existed before the
Law of Moses. Yahweh slew the first sacrifice and made coats
of skins to cover Adam and Eve’s nakedness a type of
covering their sin.
Genesis 3:21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make
coats of skins, and clothed them.
Moreover, Cain offered a meal offering to Yahweh and Abel
offered a burnt offering to Him. Yahweh respected Abel’s
offering, but He did not respect Cain’s offering. Why? Cain
presented only a meal offering to God. God required one to
offer the meal offering on a burnt offering. The burnt offering
demonstrates love and worship of God in the first table of the
law and the meal offering shows love toward one’s fellowman
consistent with the second table of the law (See, Messiah in
the Old Covenant).
From God’s perspective, one must keep the second table of
the law as it relates to the first table of the law. In other
words, one cannot separate his love of man from his love of
God. It is important to observe that Cain could not even
respect his fellowman, though he professed that respect by
presenting a meal offering to God.
Genesis 4:3 And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought
of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD.
4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat
thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:
The sacrifices of Leviticus are types of our worship of God and
how we must live our lives after conversion. They also type
the sacrifice of Yahshua – what He did for us that we cannot
do for ourselves. God never rescinded the ancient sacrifices;
the reality replaced the type.
Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God,
that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto
God, [which is] your reasonable service.
Therefore, the argument that the Ten Commandments existed
before Moses is hardly an ironclad case for their superiority;
not that we believe otherwise. The bible contains ample
evidence that the Ten Commandments are the essence of God’
s mind. However, we find sacrifices, clean and unclean animal
laws, Holydays, circumcision, as well as the Ten before the
Law of Moses.
God brought Israel out of Egypt and brought them through the
baptism of the Red Sea. They came to the foot of Mount
Sinai. Moses went upon the mountain to talk with God and he
returned and propositioned the Israelites with the Covenant –
The Ten Commandments. They said, all that God has said we
will do. They scrubbed themselves clean and assembled to
hear the Decalogue from the mouth of God. However, not
long before the words cooled on the stone from the finger of
God, they involved themselves in a terrible sin.
In other words, they could not keep the commandments of God
– they did not have the mind to do so. The fault was with the
people. Therefore, God made a change in the Covenant; His
New Covenant would come with the promise of His holy spirit
– the missing element in the Old Covenant – which would make
it possible to live by the Covenant of God: The Ten
Commandments.
Hebrews 8:8 For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days
come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house
of Israel and with the house of Judah:
9 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the
day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt;
because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not,
saith the Lord.
10 For this is 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:
1John 3:9 Whosoever is born of God (has the holy spirit) doth not
commit sin (in the new man); for his (God’s) seed remaineth in him
(the man): and he (the man) cannot sin (has the ability to refrain from
sin), because he (the man) is born of God (has the holy spirit of God).
Therefore, because Israel of the Old Covenant could not keep
the Ten Commandments of God, He added the sacrificial laws
for two purposes: 1) To teach Israel how to live their lives
before God and 2) To justify them from their sins – only a type
until the Reality. Of course, this law also prescribed the
penalties and punishments, a great deal more lenient than that
prescribed for breaking the Ten Commandments – eternal
death regardless of how small the infraction.
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin [is] death; but the gift of God [is]
eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
James 2:10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in
one [point], he is guilty of all.
While these laws justified the people as far as their society
was concerned, it did not clear their conscience or remove
their sins, as far as God was concerned. Of course, God did
give His holy spirit to some of the people; these few individuals
knew that the animal sacrifices were symbolic – only a type of
the Reality. Nevertheless, God required the sacrifices of
justification even for those who had His holy spirit. Therefore,
these few looked forward to the superior sacrifice of Christ
just as we look back on that sacrifice today. Moreover, as
they had the holy spirit, most of them fulfilled God’s will in
their lives; and they shall enter into eternal life.
Hebrews 9:9 Which [was] a figure for the time then present, in which
were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did
the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience;
Hebrews 11:13 These all died in faith, not having received the
promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them,
and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and
pilgrims on the earth.
14 For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a
country.
15 And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they
came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.
16 But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore
God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for
them a city.
On the other hand, the blood of Christ cleanses us from our
sins to God’s satisfaction and the spirit of God in us makes
possible a life lived according to the Ten Commandments –
purging our conscience.
Hebrews 9:14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through
the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your
conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
These added laws and animal sacrifices were more than
penalties or punishments. They were for two purposes.
1) Laws as Teacher:
Galatians 3:23 But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut
up unto the faith, which should afterwards be revealed.
24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ,
that we might be justified by faith.
25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.
In other words, the Law of Moses taught the people how God
wanted them to live – something necessary. Remember that
Moses wrote the Torah during his lifetime; before the Torah,
no book existed spelling out how God wanted people to live; at
least the bible says nothing of such a book.
2) Animal Sacrifices as a Means of Justification:
The book of Leviticus details the Sin Offering and the
Trespass Offering. These offerings were for the typical
justification of the people. God considered these people, who
did not have the holy spirit, for physical promises only. On the
other hand, God did consider them ceremonially clean so that
Israel could function as a society under God, if they offered
the ceremonial washings and sacrifices specified for cleansing
and justification.
Galatians 3:10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under
the curse: for it is written, Cursed [is] every one that continueth not in
all things, which are written in the book of the law to do them.
The curse of the law was the fact that it was impossible for the
people to do everything necessary to satisfy the demands of
the law. In other words, a man might go to the Temple,
become ceremonially clean, and on the way home commit a sin,
which would require that he return immediately to the Temple
and do over again what he had just done to be clean. It was
impossible to be clean before God – even in the letter – even
ceremonially – with animal sacrifices.
The curse of the Law of Moses was not because it was a law of
penalties or punishments; rather it was a curse because it was
impossible for it to accomplish the desired end; although God
gave the Israelites this law – through Moses – as a means of
justification, it could not justify them. First, the blood of bulls
and goats cannot take away sin. Second, the holy spirit was
not a part of the Old Covenant. God wants man to live on a
higher plane to the Ten Commandments than just on the level
of the letter. God wants man to live according to the
Decalogue based on the spirit of the law – a level absolutely
requiring the indwelling of the holy spirit.
We do not want to overlook the fact that God did not add the
Annual Festivals to Israel as penalties, punishments, or as a
means of justification. The Annual Festivals were joyous days
given to Israel and us today so that we may better understand
the plan of God. Each one of these Holydays represents
miracles of God necessitated by difficult circumstances, which
man could not overcome.
PASSOVER: Egyptian Bondage – Death of firstborn in Egypt
to bring them out of bondage. This types our bondage to the
world before baptism – God calls and brings us out of Satan’s
society. Passover denotes our ransom out of the world.
DAYS OF UNLEAVENED BREAD PART I: The Passover
Feast – Our preparation to leave the world of sin behind (We
come into contact with the Word of God).
DAYS OF UNLEAVENED BREAD PART II: We journey
away from our old habitat – Satan’s society; and we journey
toward the Promised Land.
DAYS OF UNLEAVENED BREAD PART III: Last Day of
Unleavened Bread (A holy convocation) – Pharaoh hemmed
them in at the Red Sea – God opened the Sea and delivered
them to safety.
This types Satan trying to ensnare us (the old but ransomed
man) back into the world before we become a new man – God
washes away the sins of what we are, in the waters of baptism,
of which the crossing of the Red Sea is a type.
1Corinthians 10:2 And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and
in the sea;
PENTECOST PART I: God brought the Israelites to Mount
Sinai – He thundered the Ten Commandments to the people
from the Mount – giving them the way to eternal life.
PENTECOST PART II: God brought His people to the Upper
Room – He sent tongues of fire to sit on their heads and they
spoke with foreign languages – They received the holy spirit:
The missing element of Pentecost Part 1 – which gives them
and us the ability to live the way to eternal life.
TRUMPETS: God brings mankind to the DAY OF THE
LORD the time of the seven trumpets. Each of these trumpets
requires a miracle from God against evil man. However, at
the last trumpet, the dead in Christ rise and those in Christ
who remain alive rise to meet Him in the air. They return with
Him to heaven for the marriage supper of the Lamb (See Book
of Revelation Outline for more details). This final trumpet
plays out at Armageddon when Yahshua returns with His wife
and triumphs over those who are destroying the earth and sets
up a Kingdom that no one can destroy.
Revelation 11:18 And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come,
and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou
shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints,
and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy
them which destroy the earth.
ATONEMENT: This Holyday contains knowledge of the past,
present and future. In fact, without the knowledge of this
Holyday, one cannot understand the nature of God (See: Why
Atonement); one is absent the knowledge of one type of sin;
and one cannot understand Satan’s fate. God placed this
Holyday between Trumpets and Tabernacles. After the
destruction of the nations, this day propels one into the
Kingdom of God. This day is so sacred that God requires man
to fast on this day – no food or drink for 24 hours. This is the
day that God puts Satan in the bottomless pit.
Revelation 20:1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having
the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil,
and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal
upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand
years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little
season.
In other words, God not only destroys those who are
destroying the earth, but He has Satan put out of commission
just before He begins His rule over the earth from Jerusalem,
which will continue peacefully for 1000 years.
The Day of Atonement also begins the jubilee – a proclamation
of liberty.
Leviticus 25:9 Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubilee to sound
on the tenth [day] of the seventh month, in the day of atonement shall
ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land.
Leviticus 25:10 And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim
liberty throughout [all] the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it
shall be a jubilee unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his
possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family.
TABERNACLES PART I: The first day is a holy convocation;
much evidence exists that Yahshua was born on this day (See:
The Birth of Christ). This day represents the first day of the
millennial reign of Christ.
TABERNACLES PART II: The seven days of Tabernacles
represents the complete 1000 years of Christ’s reign – seven
being the number of perfection.
LAST GREAT DAY: This Holyday is about the majority of
people who have lived on the earth, from the time of Adam and
Eve. Without this day, neither the Protestants nor most
Sabbatarians can understand what will happen to those whom
God does not call now. They compromise the Ten
Commandments of God by coming up with all sorts of foolish
ideas about how God will bring those into the Kingdom of God
who have never heard the name of Christ during their lifetime
– an impossibility. This Holyday comes after the seventh day,
the seventh 1000 years – it is the eighth 1000 years: A new
beginning.
Acts 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none
other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
This is just a synopsis of the Holydays, from only one
perspective; some of them are heavy on the past, with present
spiritual implications; some of them are heavy on the future;
moreover, if one would have a good understanding of the plan
of God they are indispensable.
One should not suppose that Moses, of himself, came up with
the Torah. All scripture, of which the Law of Moses is a part,
came by the inspiration of God. Moreover, all scripture is
profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction and instruction in
righteousness. We only limit ourselves in understanding the
plan of God when we exclude any part of the bible.
Galatians 3:19 Wherefore then [serveth] the law? It was added
because of transgressions, until the seed should come to whom the
promise was made; [and it was] ordained by angels in the hand of a
mediator.
2Timothy 3:16 All scripture [is] given by inspiration of God, and [is]
profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in
righteousness:
God gave Moses this added law, not directly of Himself, as He
did the Ten Commandments, but indirectly – through angels.
Moses administered this law as a mediator between the people
of Israel and God. However, we should not presume that God
made a mistake when He added this law. If one studies this
bylaw, he will see great types of the realities that have now
passed and are yet to come. True, we do not want to rely on
the Mosaic Justification System; God gave it to Moses, by
angels, which was in use until the Seed became our
justification by faith. However, we gain information from
these Old Covenant types; and these lessons do not repeat in
the New Testament.
Now let us consider Colossians 2:14-17, which has become a
stumbling block to Protestants because many of them see this
as eliminating the Ten Commandments, as well as the Law of
Moses; in fact, many believe that the entire Old Testament of
the bible was nailed to the cross. As they put it, The Old
Testament is for the Jews and the New Testament is for the
Gentiles.
Moreover, Colossians 2:14-17 is also a stumbling block to
many Sabbath Keepers because they see it as eliminating many
facets of the Torah – specifically excepting the Decalogue.
Neither position is correct.
We might add that the religious organizations sustain these
positions. One’s loyalty should be first to the organism – the
body of Christ – and secondly to the organizations of man
when they do not contradict the word of God.
Let us observe that what Yahshua blotted out and “nailed to
His cross” was certain ordinances that were against us.
Ordinances are laws of conduct that, when broken, require
atonement; Holydays are not laws that require reconciliation.
Considering that the Holydays are joyful, it is inconceivable
that one would not want to observe them!
However, here Paul informs us concerning the sacrifice of
Yahshua – a superior sacrifice that blotted out the ordinances
of animal sacrifices and the ceremonial washings that were
against us in the sense that they could not do the job of
justification or cleansing. God intended some of these
ordinances as types of the sacrifice of the Messiah. It was
impossible for Paul to speak of the entire Torah as the
handwriting of ordinances. Moreover, if this was Paul’s intent,
than that nailed to the cross did indeed included the Ten
Commandments, for we find the Decalogue twice in the Torah.
Colossians 2:14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was
against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way,
nailing it to his cross;
15 And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of
them openly, triumphing over them in it.
The Apostle Paul expresses one part of these ordinances in the
following passage. Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us:
Therefore, let us keep the feast. In other words, we do not
abandon the Feast just because God replaced the animal
sacrifice (type) with the Reality (Christ). The Feast that
followed the Passover was the Festival of Unleavened Bread
commenced by the Festival of Passover. The Passover, the
sacrifice, was an ordinance; the Passover Feast and Festival of
Unleavened Bread were memorials. We no longer keep the
Passover; however, we do keep the Festival of Passover and
the Festival of Unleavened Bread – these are the plain words
of the Apostle Paul.
2Corinthians 5:7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a
new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is
sacrificed for us:
8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the
leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of
sincerity and truth.
As we understand from Paul’s own words, he in no case
indicates the rejection of the Festivals of God with the
transition from the sacrifices of the Old Covenant to the
Sacrifice of Yahshua in the New Covenant. We continue to
keep these Festivals with their spiritual application just as we
keep the Ten Commandments in the spirit, which is superior to
keeping them in the letter. All that Christ nailed to the cross
was that for which He became the superior sacrifice. The
bible nowhere tells us that Christ nailed the Festivals to the
cross.
With this background, we understand that in Colossians 2:16
Paul’s perspective was not that the five principles, there
mentioned, were abolished. Paul’s point of view concerns the
manner of keeping these things, not their elimination. One
must continue to eat and drink and one must continue to keep
the Sabbath – three things Paul mentions in this list.
However, some who wanted to continue in Judaism – an
accumulation of many traditions of man – wished also to bind
the Christians with these burdensome customs and the
shadows of the Law of Moses. Paul addresses the matter of
meat offered to idols elsewhere. He showed that the idols
were nothing – only the conscience, for the individual, came
into play concerning whether one should eat or not eat meat
offered to an idol. Drink falls into this same category.
The eating of Meat and the pouring out of Drink were also a
considerable part of the sacrificial system of the laws added
because of transgression. The people and the priests ate
certain ceremonially offered meat; and the priests poured wine
on some of the sacrifices. The context of Colossians 2:16
probably focuses on the sacrificial system more than on the
traditions of Judaism; however, the principle would certainly
apply to both.
1Corinthians 8:4 As concerning therefore the eating of those things
that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol [is]
nothing in the world, and that [there is] none other God but one.
1Corinthians 8:7 Howbeit [there is] not in every man that knowledge:
for some with conscience of the idol unto this hour eat [it] as a thing
offered unto an idol; and their conscience being weak is defiled.
Paul informs us that one should not let any man judge us “in
respect of” a Holyday; this admonition continues for us, from a
different perspective, even to this day. Observe that Paul
does not in anyway suggest that this has to do with throwing
away any Holyday. The word respect, as used in Colossians 2:
16 indicates “any particular concerning a Holyday”. In other
words, those who did not understand the sacrifice of Christ
would insist that the Christians should continue to observe the
sacrifices surrounding the Holydays. These particulars were
the shadows of things to come. The Holydays were
memorials.
The KJV translation of the Greek added the word <days>
after “the Sabbath” in Colossians 2:16. The meaning becomes
clear when we drop this addition. If you have a copy of the
KJV that italicizes added words, you may take note of this
addition. The word for Sabbath means the weekly Sabbath
whereas the word for Holyday signifies an annual Sabbath.
Proof of this is just ahead.
Colossians 2:16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink,
or in respect of (in the particulars of) an holyday, or of the new moon,
or of the Sabbath [days]:
The word respect (Strong’s 3313) applies to the Holydays,
New Moon, and the weekly Sabbath. The word means any
particular of the subject at hand. Paul’s admonition was that
no man was to judge us as to the particulars of a Holyday, the
particulars of the New Moon, or the particulars of the weekly
Sabbath. The particulars were the sacrificial part of the Law
of Moses: The shadows until Christ came as the Reality.
From another perspective, the Holydays, New Moon and the
Sabbath are themselves shadows of things yet to come. Some
of the Holydays represent future events and are in this way
shadows of that which is to come. Even the weekly Sabbath is
a shadow of the Festival of Tabernacles when the earth will
rest from the labor of man, in the Kingdom of God, for the
seventh one thousand years, from creation.
Exodus 23:12 Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day
thou shalt rest: that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy
handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed.
2 Peter 3:8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day
[is] with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one
day.
However, one must keep in mind the thrust of Paul’s subject:
Justification. The shadows of justification were those
sacrifices of the Mosaic justification system. Therefore, in
context, by shadow the Apostle Paul refers back to <respect>
or particulars of the Old Covenant that were shadows of
Christ and His sacrifice. In other words, Paul was thinking
justification versus justification. Justification of the Old
Covenant was by animal sacrifices versus justification of the
New Covenant, which is by the Sacrifice of Christ. Moreover,
the new system of Justification is by faith rather than by labor
– “works”.
Colossians 2:16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink,
or in respect (3313) of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the
Sabbath [days]:
17 Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of (belongs
to) Christ.
The conclusion is that if one uses this passage to imply the
abolition of these five principles, he must also abandon the
weekly Sabbath. However, Paul informs us that the body
belongs to Christ and He is the one who must judge us in such
matters. If we discern the bible as a whole, we must conclude
that the ordinances nailed to the cross were those sacrificial
laws replaced by the life and death of Christ and any other
laws that resulted from that sacrificial system. Christ and the
indwelling of the spirit of God replaced the entire sacrificial
system – the particulars of Holydays, New Moons, and the
Sabbath, as well as the Burnt Offering, Passover Offering,
Peace Offering, Sin Offering and Trespass Offering.
Observe that the KJV translation uses the word <respect> for
the Greek word #3313 only 2 out of 43 times; the KJV uses
the word <part> for this Greek word #3313 – 24 times. Notice
that it was a <part> of the Holydays, New Moons, and the
Sabbath, which concerned Paul. Remember that Moses added
sacrifices to the Sabbath day – it was this part, this particular,
which concerned Paul. Moreover, it was this <part> that Paul
referred to as a shadow.
Online Bible: (respect)
3313 merov meros mer’-os
from an obsolete but more primary form of meiromai (to get as
a section or allotment); TDNT-4:594,585; n n
AV-part 24, portion 3, coast 3, behalf 2, respect 2, misc 9; 43
1) a part
1a) a part due or assigned to one
1b) lot, destiny
2) one of the constituent parts of a whole
2a) in part, partly, in a measure, to some degree, as respects a
part, severally, individually
2b) any particular, in regard to this, in this respect
As one can observe, man misunderstands the bible because he
accepts perspectives contrary to scripture. This impresses
upon us the need to understand the bible as a whole and not in
part. Moreover, many times man accepts perspectives
because of his loyalty to the organizations of man rather than
to the organism of the body of Christ. Our loyalty must be
first to God.
Acts 5:29 Then Peter and the [other] apostles answered and said, We
ought to obey God rather than men.
We should also point out that Paul was not redundant when he
mentioned a Holyday and the Sabbath in the same verse of
scripture. Why should Paul mention the Holydays twice, in the
same sentence, as though they were two different things and
yet the same? The addition of the word <days> by the KJV
translators has done its readers a great disservice. The word
<respect> is also very vague. The word has to do with a part,
a measure, a degree, or one of the constituent parts of a
whole. The English word <respect> indicates a whole or the
principle thereby doing the reader of the KJV translation a
disservice.
The Greek definitions of the word <respect> and <Sabbath> in
Colossians 2:16 clear up this matter; moreover, Paul’s writings
on the subject elsewhere confirm our understanding of this
material.
One should also comprehend that God did not introduce all of
the shadows of the Law of Moses solely because of sin. The
burnt offering was not a sin offering. The burnt offering had
to do with one’s worship of God based on the first table of the
Decalogue – the first four commandments.
Christ was our example of the burnt offering by the way He
lived His life, and in His death, according to the will of His
Father. After all, the burnt offering was a blood sacrifice.
Therefore, Christ was a burnt offering in life and in death.
The burnt offering was a teaching tool: 1) How to worship God
and 2) How to live our life according to the first table of the
Decalogue.
John 5:19 Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I
say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the
Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son
likewise.
Matthew 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter
into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father
which is in heaven.
Matthew 16:25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and
whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
The Meal Offering teaches one to love his fellowman.
Moreover, one’s keeping of the second table of the law –
honor toward man – must be as worship of God: The priest laid
the Meal Offering on the Burnt Offering. Christ lived His life
perfectly; therefore, He was our perfect example of the Burnt
Offering and the Meal Offering. These sacrifices did not have
to do directly with sins. In other words, God did not add these
sacrifices for removal of transgressions. They were shadows
of the spirit of God, a part of the New Covenant that replaced
the need for physical sacrifices as teaching tools. We must
become Burnt Offerings and Meal Offerings, as the spirit of
God aids us in our worship of God. The spirit of God replaced
the Burnt, Meal, and Peace Offerings, as teaching tools.
However, each of these offerings presents lessons that must
become a part of us, if we would enter into eternal life.
Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God,
that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto
God, [which is] your reasonable service.
John 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide
you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he
shall hear, [that] shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
The shadows are two pronged: 1) Teaching Tools replaced by
the spirit of God a part of the New Covenant and 2) A system
of Justification replaced by the sacrifice of Christ.
We know that the Passover Feast, Days of Unleavened Bread
and Pentecost existed before the added laws resulting from
transgression. Trumpets, Atonement, Tabernacles and the
Last Great Day have to do with future events. Therefore, one
cannot require that the Annual Holydays be a part of the
added laws resulting from the transgressions of the people.
However, the Israelites did surround the Annual Holydays and
the Sabbath day with the shadows or added sacrificial laws.
This is the reason that Paul used the word <particulars> in
Colossians 2:16. The particulars were the shadows; the
principles were not the shadows.
To use Crews example, was it a sin to keep a Holyday before
Christ’s crucifixion? It was not. Was it a sin to keep a
Holyday after Christ’s crucifixion? It was not. In other words,
God did not add the Holydays because of sin or
transgressions. Because Crews did not observe that the KJV
added the word <days> in Colossians 2:16 and because he did
not remember that Paul admonished the Christians to
eliminate the sacrifice but observe the Festival, he came to a
wrong conclusion concerning what constituted the shadows.
The word <respect> no doubt threw him off track. The
Holydays were not shadows, from the perspective of
transgressions; if that were true, then God would not require
that those in the future come up to Jerusalem to keep the
Festival of Tabernacles.
Zechariah 14:16 And it shall come to pass, [that] every one that is left
of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from
year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the
feast of tabernacles.
The particulars concerning the Holydays, New Moons, and the
Sabbath were the shadows! Moreover, Paul mentioned
nothing concerning the abolition of the Holydays, this is
subjective reasoning based on errors of the immediate context
as well as the rest of the bible on this subject.
Of course, I agree with Crews that the Ten Commandments
are not the subject of Colossians 2:14-17. However, one
cannot honestly escape that the word <Sabbath> in Colossians
2:16 is a reference to the weekly Sabbath.
Colossians 2:16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink,
or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath
(4521) [days]:
Nothing in the definition of the Greek word for Sabbath, as
used in Colossians 2:16, indicates anything other than the
weekly Sabbath (See below). When we understand that the
shadows were the ceremonial sacrifices – the particulars –
surrounding the Holydays, New Moons, and the Sabbath, then
the context of Paul’s information becomes clear.
The transliteration for the Greek word <holyday> is heorte, as
Crews pointed out. However, the transliteration for the
Greek word <Sabbath> – used in Colossians 2:16 – is
sabbaton, which refers to the weekly Sabbath, as per the
definition inset below. The word Sabbath in Matthew 28:1 is
the same Greek word as that used in Colossians 2:16. In fact,
this word appears in the New Testament 59 times as a
reference to the weekly Sabbath. It is interesting to note that
Crews was silent in reference to the Greek word for Sabbath
in Colossians 2:16. We include the following verses to prove
that the Sabbath of Colossians 2:16 was the weekly Sabbath.
Wishing it to be otherwise is futile. Had the Apostle Paul
intended to repeat the word for <Holydays> he would have
used the word heorte again or some other word than sabbaton.
Matthew 28:1 In the end of the Sabbath (4521) (sabbaton), as it began
to dawn toward the first [day] of the week, came Mary Magdalene and
the other Mary to see the sepulchre.
Colossians 2:16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink,
or in respect (the particulars) of an holyday (1859) (heorte), or of the
new moon, or of the Sabbath (4521) (sabbaton) [days]:
Matthew 12:8 For the Son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath (4521)
(sabbaton) day.
ONLINE BIBLE: (holyday)
1859 eorth heorte heh-or-tay’
of uncertain affinity; ; n f
AV-feast 26, holy day 1; 27
1) a feast day, festival
*****************************************************
ONLINE BIBLE: (Sabbath)
4521 sabbaton sabbaton sab’-bat-on
of Hebrew origin 07676 tbv; TDNT-7:1,989; n n
AV-sabbath day 37, sabbath 22, week 9; 68
1) the seventh day of each week which was a sacred festival on
which the Israelites were required to abstain from all work
1a) the institution of the sabbath, the law for keeping holy
every seventh day of the week
1b) a single sabbath, sabbath day
2) seven days, a week
Beginning with page 20 of Crews’ script, I agree with him,
from there until the end of his brochure. Of course, Crews
places a few tomatoes on the windowsill to which I would
object.
However, let us comment on one thing in that section of his
booklet. The word <holy>, which Crews finds as no
happenstance, in its application to the Sabbath and to God’s
people. We do not want to overlook that this same word
<holy> also applies to the Holydays.
Isaiah 58:13 If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, [from] doing
thy pleasure on my holy (06944) (yvid>q') day; and call the Sabbath a
delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not
doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking
[thine own] words:
Leviticus 19:2 Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel,
and say unto them, Ye shall be holy (06918)(~yvidoq): for I the LORD
your God [am] holy.
Leviticus 23:2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them,
[Concerning] the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim [to be]
holy (06944)(vd,qo)convocations, [even] these [are] my feasts.
In all three instances, the bible uses the same Hebrew root
word, for the word <holy>. However, I might point out that
the transliteration of the Hebrew words in these three
instances is qodesh, not chasid, as Crews suggests. Chasid is
the transliteration of the Hebrew word that means
<kindness>.
I might also point out that misunderstandings of the bible
frequently come from faulty perspective. As we observed in
Colossians, Crews’ perspective is that the shadows were the
principles: The Holydays, the New Moons and what he
assumed were Sabbath Days rather than the Sabbath. The
translation fog was so deep that he could not see that the
shadows were certain particulars: the sacrifices and other
works that surrounded the principles. Crews’ perspective flies
in the face of Paul’s other teachings. When we perceive
contradictions in our understanding of the bible, we must
search for the answer, and we will find that our solution often
comes from faulty perspectives.
The KJV translation of the Greek used the correct word for
Sabbath; however, by adding the word <days>, they skewed
the understanding in English. By using the phrase <in respect
of> rather than <particulars of>, they threw the emphasis on
the principles rather than certain particulars of the principles.
Add all this to the fact that Crews has probably already bought
into the doctrines of an organization that does not observe the
Holydays and it was easy for him to fall for the unintended
deception of the English translation of this verse.
Earlier, in his booklet, we observed how Crews assumed the
contents of the law placed in the side of the ark. Crews
probably formed this faulty perspective based on his incorrect
perspective of Colossians 2:14-17. We should also add that the
subject of Colossians 2:14-17, is justification: The elimination
of one system of justification for a superior one.
Understanding the subject matter would have gone a long way
toward keeping Crews from an incorrect perspective.
This all brings to mind the following scripture.
Romans 10:17 So then faith [cometh] by hearing, and hearing by the
word of God.
In other words, if we use the word of God as our guide, we can
grow in faith, understanding, and wisdom.
Suggested Reading:
The Messiah in the Old Covenant Sacrifices.
Why Atonement?
The Birth of Christ
Home
Holy Days
| Feast Days Rebuttal! |
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| |
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| TRUTHSEARCH REBUTTAL OF FEAST DAYS & SABBATHS BY JOE CREWS (Are they still binding?) |
| WHAT WAS IN THE BOOK OF THE LAW? |
| THE HOLY DAYS – ONE PERSPECTIVE |
| WHAT LAW DID THE SACRIFICE OF CHRIST BLOT OUT? |
| COLOSSIANS 2:14-17 |
| The Sabbath of Colossians 2:16: |
| The Ten Commandments in Heaven: |