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Luke 16:16

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Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jul 6, 1876

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 48, No. 2.

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LUKE 16:16.

By F. R. Richmond

Those who teach that the law was done away at the time of Christ often quote this text: “The law and the prophets were until John; since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it.” This is thought to teach that the way by which man must enter the kingdom of God has been entirely different since the time of John, and that we are not now required to regard any law of the Old Testament.
A close examination of the text will show that this is not its meaning. To what law does it refer? To make good English, it was necessary for the translators to supply a word. They supplied the word “were;” but does that convey the original meaning? There is nothing in the text itself to indicate what word should be used, but in the parallel text, Matt. 11:13, the right word is found in the original; it is not “were,” but “prophesied.” The text reads: “For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.”
The law prophesied as well as the prophets; that is, it pointed forward to future events. The law here spoken of cannot be the ten commandments; for they are not of a prophetical nature, but are strictly moral precepts to regulate the characters of men in all ages. The reference must be to the law of types and offerings, which pointed to, or typified, the events to take place in the time of John and Christ; and as surely as heaven and earth remain, not one tittle will fail of having its antitype or prophecy fulfilled; nor will any part of the moral law fail of being God’s rule of right for man.
F. R. RICHMOND. Brightwood, Mass.