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THE LAW OF GOD

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International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Aug 26, 1886

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 12, No. 33.

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THE LAW OF GOD.

The Shadowy Sabbaths and the Enduring Sabbath.

(Lesson 21.—Sabbath, September 11.)
1. WHAT does Paul say that Christ has blotted out? "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." Col. 2:14.
2. What else has he done to these ordinances? Col. 2:14, last part.
3. Because this has been done, in respect to what are we not to be judged? "Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holy day, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days." Col. 2:16.
4. On what were the ten commandments written? "And the Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire; ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice. And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone." "These words the Lord spake unto all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice; and he added no more. And he wrote them in two tables of stone, and delivered them unto me." Deut. 4:12, 13; 5:22.
5. How were they graven on these tables of stone? "And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony were in his hand; the tables were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written. And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables." Ex. 32:15, 16.
6. Could words engraved in stone be blotted out?—No.
7. Would it be proper to speak of "nailing to the cross" a law that was engraved in stone?—Not at all.
8. Then what must we conclude concerning the law spoken of in Col. 2:14?—That it has no connection with the ten commandments.
9. How did the ordinances that were blotted out stand related to men? "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." Col. 2:14.
10. Is the Sabbath of the Lord contrary to us? "And he said unto them, The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath." Mark 2:27.
11. When was the Sabbath made for man? "Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it; because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made." Gen. 2:1-3.
12. What was man's condition at that time? "And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day." Gen. 1:31. "Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions." Eccl. 7:29.
13. Did man then stand in need of a Saviour?—No. See 1 Tim. 1:15.
14. But what was the object of the sabbaths mentioned in Col. 2:16? "Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ." Verse 17.
15. Where do we find a record of sabbaths that were ceremonial and shadowy? Lev. 23:5-7, 24, 27, 34, 39.
16. How often did each of these sabbaths come?—Once a year.
17. Did the Lord command these sabbaths with his own voice as he did the Sabbath of the fourth commandment? "And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying," "These are the feasts of the Lord, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons." Lev. 23:1, 4.
18. Were they to be confounded with the seventh-day Sabbath? "These are the feasts of the Lord, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord, a burnt offering, and a meat offering, a sacrifice; and drink offerings, everything upon his day; beside the Sabbaths of the Lord, and beside your gifts, and beside all your vows, and beside all your freewill offerings, which ye give unto the Lord." Lev. 23:37, 38.
19. Repeat the fourth commandment. "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it." Ex. 20:8-11.
20. How long is this to remain unchanged? "The works of his hands are verity and judgment; all his commandments are sure. They stand fast forever and ever, and are done in truth and uprightness." Ps. 111:7, 8. "Concerning thy testimonies, I have known of old that thou hast founded them forever." "Thy word is true from the beginning; and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth forever." Ps. 119:152, 160.