p. 579 | What Has Passed Away? by George W. Bliss

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Oct 2, 1884

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 10, No. 37.

What Has Passed Away?

By George W. Bliss

The Saviour taught his disciples and the multitude that they must not think he had come to destroy the law or the prophets. They must not think so because they now hear him confidently affirm that one jot or one tittle shall in no manner pass from the law until all things be accomplished.

But all things spoken by the prophets were not accomplished at the time of Christ's crucifixion. For the stone cut out of the mountain without hands did not then become a great mountain and fill the whole earth. Dan. 2:35. The kingdom and dominion and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven was not given to the people of the saints of the Most High. All dominions did not then serve and obey the Most High. Dan. 7:27. The day of the Lord has not yet come, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger to lay the land desolate. And the sinners have not been destroyed out of it. Isa. 13:9. The wicked have not all been burned, and their ashes trodden under foot. Mal. 4:13. The land has not been, since the creation, formless and void. The lights of heaven have not been removed. The earth has not been emptied of human beings. The birds have not all disappeared from the heavens. Jer. 4:23, 25-27. The general resurrection has not been accomplished. The full length of everlasting life has not been enjoyed.

Because not one jot nor one tittle shall pass from the law until all things are accomplished, therefore, says the Master, "Whosoever shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of Heaven." From this we understand that the whole of the law is binding upon both believers and unbelievers to the end of time and throughout eternity.

If the divine Teacher classed the ten commandments and the typical and national law all together and called them the law, then we find his apostles teaching, differently from himself, that more than a jot or tittle has passed from the law, even before heaven and earth have passed away, and before all things are accomplished. For the apostles and elders, under the sanction of the Holy Spirit, burdened the Gentile believers with only these necessary things, that they abstain from meats offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from fornication.

By this some understand that all the other things of the law are unnecessary and need not be observed. If this be so, it is not necessary that Gentiles give up their profanity, nor cease their work on the Sabbath. They may bear false witness if it best serves their purpose. They may kill a hated person if they wish. And whoever teaches that they must obey these non-essentials is putting a yoke of bondage on their necks.

Paul taught the Ephesians that Christ had abolished in his flesh the law of commandments contained in ordinances. Eph. 2:15. And he taught the Colossians that the handwriting of ordinances was blotted out, having been taken out of the way by being nailed to the cross. Col. 2:14.

We do not believe that this is a contradiction of the words of Christ. For there is a plainly marked distinction between the law of which Christ speaks, and that to which the apostle refers.

The Lord spoke the ten commandments with his own voice to the people (Deut. 4:12, 13), and wrote them with his own finger on the tables of stone. Ex. 31:18; Deut. 10:4. The tables of stone were put into the ark. Deut. 10:5. There was nothing in the ark but these two tables. 1 Kings 8:9.

The Lord spoke precepts and judgments to Moses (Ex. 21:1), which Moses spoke to the people (Ex. 24:3), and which he wrote in a book. Ex. 24:4. The book was put in the side of the ark. Deut. 31:24-26.

If the ten commandments and the precepts written by Moses were all one law, and of equal importance and duration, why did not the Lord write it all on stones, and have it all placed in the ark together?

It is plain that Christ, in Matt. 5:17-19, spoke of the ten commandments, for he calls attention to some of them, as, "Thou shalt not kill," "Thou shalt not commit adultery."

In Ephesians 2:15 the law mentioned is "the law of commandments contained in ordinances," which is called in Col. 2:14, "the handwriting of ordinances," and which treats of meat, drink, feast days, new moons, and sabbaths. Meat, drink, feast days and new moons are not found on the tables of stone.

There were sabbaths which are not mentioned in the ten commandments, but are found in the law of Moses, and in connection with meat, drink, and feasts. The first day of the feast of unleavened bread was a sabbath. Lev. 23:7. The seventh day of that feast was to be a sabbath. Verse 8. The day of pentecost was to be a sabbath. Verse 21. The first day of the seventh month was a sabbath. Verse 24. The tenth day of the seventh month was a sabbath. Verse 27. On the fifteenth day of the seventh month began a feast; the first day of this feast was a sabbath, and also the eighth day was a sabbath. Verse 39. These were shadows of things to come, and of course ended when the body (Christ) was reached; but they were entirely distinct from the Sabbath of the Lord (see Lev. 23:38), which were enjoined by the law written on the tables of stone, of which our Saviour said that not one jot or tittle should pass away.

GEORGE W. BLISS. Syracuse, New York.