stephen
2016-09-24 15:25:04 UTC
Chapter 8: A sabbath commandment in Revelation?
Adventists sometimes claim that Revelation shows sabbath keeping by
Christians.
There is no mention of the sabbath in the entire book of Revelation.
Adventists base their claim on their idea that God’s commandments, for
Christians, remain the Old Covenant law, specifically the 10
commandments. I’ve dealt with why this is incorrect in Chapters 38-40.
Adventists cite Rev 12:17 as an example of sabbath keeping instructed in
Revelation:
Rev 12:17 – And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make
war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God,
and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
To Adventists, the “testimony of Jesus Christ” is a synonym for their
prophetess, Ellen White.
The only “commandments” they recognise are the 10 commandments. They
ignore the fact that there are many laws called “commandments” in the
books of Moses outside the 10 commandments, and they ignore passages
like 1 Corinthians 14:37, where commandments to Christians are not the
10 commandments.
Jesus gave new commandments. He took the 10 commandments, and expanded
on their moral principles in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5-7). And he
said:
John 13:34-35 – A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one
another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this
shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
John 15:10-12 – If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love;
even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.
These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you,
and that your joy might be full. This is my commandment, That ye love
one another, as I have loved you.
Ask an Adventist what the greatest law is, and they’ll tell you it’s the
sabbath commandment. Ask an Adventist what the sign is that we are
Jesus’ disciples, and they’ll tell you it is keeping the sabbath.
That’s not what Jesus said above.
Jesus said that the greatest commandments in the Old Testament were two
found outside the 10 commandments, in what Adventists consider to be the
ceremonial law – Deut 6:4-5 and Lev 19:18:
Matt 22:35-39 – Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a
question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great
commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord
thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy
mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like
unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Passages like Rev 12:17 need to be interpreted in that light. The law
changed (Heb 7:12). Jesus gave a new law. The greatest commandments in
the old law were not in the 10 commandments, but in Deut 6:4-5 and Lev
19:18. Jesus gave a new commandment – love one another as I have loved
you. We are under a new law, not the old law that ended at the cross.
And nowhere in the new law are we told to keep the sabbath, or are we
given an example by the Apostles of sabbath keeping.
Adventists sometimes claim that Revelation shows sabbath keeping by
Christians.
There is no mention of the sabbath in the entire book of Revelation.
Adventists base their claim on their idea that God’s commandments, for
Christians, remain the Old Covenant law, specifically the 10
commandments. I’ve dealt with why this is incorrect in Chapters 38-40.
Adventists cite Rev 12:17 as an example of sabbath keeping instructed in
Revelation:
Rev 12:17 – And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make
war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God,
and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
To Adventists, the “testimony of Jesus Christ” is a synonym for their
prophetess, Ellen White.
The only “commandments” they recognise are the 10 commandments. They
ignore the fact that there are many laws called “commandments” in the
books of Moses outside the 10 commandments, and they ignore passages
like 1 Corinthians 14:37, where commandments to Christians are not the
10 commandments.
Jesus gave new commandments. He took the 10 commandments, and expanded
on their moral principles in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5-7). And he
said:
John 13:34-35 – A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one
another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this
shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
John 15:10-12 – If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love;
even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.
These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you,
and that your joy might be full. This is my commandment, That ye love
one another, as I have loved you.
Ask an Adventist what the greatest law is, and they’ll tell you it’s the
sabbath commandment. Ask an Adventist what the sign is that we are
Jesus’ disciples, and they’ll tell you it is keeping the sabbath.
That’s not what Jesus said above.
Jesus said that the greatest commandments in the Old Testament were two
found outside the 10 commandments, in what Adventists consider to be the
ceremonial law – Deut 6:4-5 and Lev 19:18:
Matt 22:35-39 – Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a
question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great
commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord
thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy
mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like
unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Passages like Rev 12:17 need to be interpreted in that light. The law
changed (Heb 7:12). Jesus gave a new law. The greatest commandments in
the old law were not in the 10 commandments, but in Deut 6:4-5 and Lev
19:18. Jesus gave a new commandment – love one another as I have loved
you. We are under a new law, not the old law that ended at the cross.
And nowhere in the new law are we told to keep the sabbath, or are we
given an example by the Apostles of sabbath keeping.
--
blog: http://blog.theotokos.co.za/
ebook: https://www.facebook.com/DiscussingAdventismBook/
blog: http://blog.theotokos.co.za/
ebook: https://www.facebook.com/DiscussingAdventismBook/