THE Lord Jesus came into the world to suffer and die for the sins of men. John the Baptist, seeing Him, cried out, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." Since the time of Adam's transgression the people of God had looked forward by faith to His coming, that through the shedding of His blood they might be "saved from wrath through Him."
His coming was prefigured, or foreshadowed, by the sacrificial system, which consisted in the shedding of blood by the slaying of innocent beasts, and offering of their bodies in burnt sacrifice upon the altar. In this way, the children of God manifested their faith in the sacrifice of the coming Saviour, "as of a lamb without blemish and without spot." Thus, "by faith, Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice," when he slew the innocent lamb. He thereby confessed to all about him that he believed the blood of the Son of God was to be shed for his sins. So with Abraham as he built his altar wherever he went; and so with his descendants, the Israelites, to whom God gave minute and specific instruction regarding the ceremonial sacrificial system.
There was virtue in this system only as "a shadow of things to come;" for, "it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins." Therefore, the one great object of this system of types and shadows was to point forward to the Lamb of God, "in whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins." When, therefore, the Lamb of God had "made peace through the blood of His cross" ; when in His expiring agony He cried, "It is finished,"—type had met antitype; shadow had met substance. Henceforth the sacrificial ordinances and ceremonies of the temple were at an end; for at the death of Jesus, "the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom."
The great Sacrifice had been offered. The Remedy for sin had come. He had been "brought as a lamb to the slaughter" , and because of this, the ceremonies and rites which had so long pointed forward to this great event, being no longer needed, in the nature of things, ceased to exist. Paul speaks of this ritual system as "the law of commandments contained in ordinances," which Christ "abolished in his flesh." In the ninth chapter of Hebrews it is spoken of as follows: "Which (temple or sanctuary) 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, which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances [rites, or ceremonies, margin], imposed on them until the time of reformation."
The Ceremonial Law.
This law of commandments contained in ordinances; this law which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, together with all other Mosaic rites and ceremonies, is known to Bible students as the "ceremonial law." It was written by Moses in a book, as we shall see later, and had to do exclusively with the sacrifices and services of the temple; with divers washings, meats and drinks, feast days and holy days, with days of the new moon, etc.; together with the ceremonial sabbath days, spoken of in Leviticus 23 and other scriptures, as follows: "In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation. Ye shall do no servile work therein; but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord."
"Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement; it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord. And ye shall do no work in that same day; for it is a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before the Lord your God. For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people. And whatsoever soul it be that doeth any work in that same day, the same soul will I destroy from among his people. . . . It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls."
These ceremonial sabbath days were entirely distinct from the weekly sabbath of the fourth commandment. Their count had nothing whatever to do with the days of the week, as they were yearly sabbaths, and came on the first day of the seventh month, and on the tenth day of the seventh month, etc., without regard to the day of the week.
The prime object of these typical sabbaths was to point forward to Christ. For on those days, the priests were instructed to "offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord;" thus typifying Him who made "His soul an offering for sin." The tenth day of the seventh month was the annual day of atonement, in which all were to afflict their souls, and confess their sins.
And those of the people who had a true sense of the meaning of the sacrifices and offerings of that day, understood that the blood of the victims could not atone for their sins, but simply pointed their faith to the Lamb of God who was to shed His blood on their behalf.9After the death of Christ, many of the Jewish converts to Christianity were slow to discern that these days which had foreshadowed the death of Christ had passed away in His death, and that the law of commandments contained in ordinances had been abolished. They still argued in favor of circumcision, and the ceremonial days of the old dispensation under the Mosaic law. And often, disputes arose between the Jewish and the Gentile Christians, and uncharitable judgment was pronounced owing to the conflicting opinions in this matter. The Jewish Christians argued that their Gentile brethren could not be saved unless they observed the rite of circumcision, and the holy days and ceremonial sabbaths of the Jewish system. The Gentiles, on the other hand, took the Jewish Christians to task for still observing the days and ceremonies which had been abolished.
Owing to this controversy, Paul wrote to the Roman Christians: "Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? . . . One man esteemeth one day above another; another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord, he doth not regard it." Rom. 14:4-6.
Here is a true setting forth of the matter as it stood at that time. To illustrate: Some of the Jewish converts esteemed the tenth day of the seventh month above common days, and regarded it to the Lord. Whereas the Gentile converts did not regard the day as sacred. Paul showed them that it was no sin either to regard the day, or not to regard it, as the day had lost its former significance. He said, "Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind." And now, if a Jewish Christian still wished to regard it as holy, it would be no sin for him to do so. And if the Gentile Christian disregarded the day (which he had a right to do), his Jewish brother had no authority to sit in judgment upon him for so doing. On the contrary, the Gentile must not condemn his Jewish brother for keeping the day if he chose.
Concerning this same matter, Paul wrote to the Colossians: "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. . . . 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; which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ." Col. 2:14-17.
The "sabbath days" here brought to view as a part of the typical system, are the very ones mentioned in Leviticus 23; for they are said to be "a shadow of things to come." And such indeed, in their prime significance, and exclusively such, were the typical sabbath days of the ceremonial system. This being true, the Sabbath of the fourth commandment cannot possibly be placed in the same category with these shadowy "sabbath days" of the ceremonial law; for, first of all, the Sabbath day of Jehovah belongs to the moral law of Ten Commandments, an eternal and unchangeable code, as we shall see; and besides, the term "sabbath days" is in the plural, denoting the different typical sabbath days, such as the first day of the seventh month, and the tenth day of the seventh month, etc. While God's seventh-day sabbath is spoken of in the Bible as the sabbath day, singular number.