Amen! If Sabbath keeping was still required, so would the burnt offerings which went along with them (Leviticus 19:30; 23:2-3; Numbers 28:1-10; 29:39-40; I Chronicles. 23:30-31; II Chronicles 31:2-4; Isaiah 1:13). So no kindling a fire in any of your dwellings on the sabbath (Exodus 35:3). Every man must remain in his place on the sabbath (Exodus 16:29). No trading (Amos 8:5). No marketing (Nehemiah 10:31; 13:15,19). These were commanded by God to Israel under the Old Covenant. (Exodus 35:1)
If the seventh day Sabbath is still in affect, then why do not the Sabbatarians seek to obey ALL that the LORD commanded? How can a Sabbatarians keep a certain law when he keeps only part of it? If the Sabbath day laws were still in effect today, then according to Exodus 31:12-18; 35:1-3; and Numbers 15:32-36, anyone who profaned the Sabbath was put to death and any person who does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from his people. Who is going to enforce that?
Sabbath keeping with all it's rules and regulations, was part of a covenant with Israel that is not binding on the Church/Christians under the New Covenant. (Colossians 2:16-17)
btw this is not at you specifically, just your scripture reference is relevant it seems.
Ok, this issue is very near and dear to me and has been laid on my heart lately rather strongly (in the last year)...
Pretty intriguing to me that you mention "no trading" "no marketing" "remaining in place"
I'm not going to say either yea or nay on this particular issue "at present" only that I was not aware of these verses. I may have read them at some point but my eyes were not open to them if that makes sense. What's interesting to me is that I felt like going shopping or selling was somehow inappropriate without explicitly being aware that this was scriptural. I felt a little guilty when I was bored and just wanted to get on Ebay, Craigslist, or go thrift shopping. I was aware of the verses about "My own pleasure" on the sabbath and so just waited until sunday to do so because of this...but again interesting.
I was actually quite frustrated with this site at one point because I didn't know the fire commandment and often I consider fire a holy sacrament...where I spend time with the Lord meditating and just having some activity to me that isn't sin in any way I can conceive. Potentially by just the luxury and waste of resources (wood and heat) it could be sinful but it was something along the lines of Solomon (I think) offering tons of burnt offerings. Making the Lord a bonfire was a pretty cool thing for me and it gave me mental release somehow.
Come to find out the fire rule for the sabbath...but then, when I was aware...the sabbath became borderline legalistic for me because I refused to have a fire but it was that day specifically that I kept wanting to. So I got a bit confused.
I will say that a LOT of my life since I was a child the Sabbath commandment (keep it holy) would always come to my mind full force when I was struggling with something (usually lustful thoughts) just that phrase would go through my mind and somehow everything felt worse. I knew NOTHING of being a judaizer or legalism at the time (11-17 years old) It was just different and I'm not sure why.
Mostly I am posting that because it is consistently on my heart that there is something here. Perhaps it isn't for everyone nor a "command" per se owing to the law of liberty, but the reverse is also true in regard to "letting no man judge you in respect to..."
I can't control what is laid on my heart. There are tons of things I've read in the Old Testament that encouraged me tremendously when I felt a conviction that other people around me didn't have (in church).
I won't get into what each of these are but I always felt unclean about certain things and felt "cut off" until I showered and slept and then that's exactly how it was done in Israel. Just because you are unclean doesn't mean it's sin exactly...just something. I'm not entirely sure precisely what it means. I don't think a female is sinning because she has her period (that would be ridiculous) but she is unclean according to the OT.
This is stuff that's just been a part of me since I was very young. No one taught it to me...I'm pretty sure it's the Lord but based off all this "living under the law" stuff, as well as judaizers, legalism, and pharisaical nonsense that has been discussed it causes me a bit of consternation.
The most interesting thing about a lot of the stuff is I follow a code in my heart that I think is the Lord and then when it's directly stated in scripture...well...what do you do with that?
I think if someone doesn't see how viewing the shadow of the things of the past is useful for the present, then perhaps they should ask themselves what Jesus being Lord of the Sabbath means. None of it is clear to me 100%, only that there a lot of things that the NT doesn't declare as sin and when I was younger (and even in later life) when I have a strong desire to do something and feel this massive amount of energy to almost "get me to do it" I start to go through a process. I end up REALLY wanting to, but it's almost like I can't...and then finally (this is different at different times) in a fit of frustration I play Bible roulette (where you open randomly) and it's right there what I'm going through.
Ah yes, but it's "only" the Old testament. I'm in the new covenant...it's not sin for me anymore! I just call bull on that personally. I won't get too personal or explicit with some of the stuff I've been tempted with but a mild one to a lot of people would be cross dressing and hey guess what? It's not talked about in the NT. Sure it's prevalent in a lot of our culture as a sort of joke but err...the Lord was quite specific about it in the Old testament. Wonder why that was.
Wonder why people would think it strange if their pastor started wearing dresses to church?
I get that you could use scriptures about remaining above reproach and avoiding the appearance of evil...but there's no need for me when it's already stated in plain type in scripture.
I post all this because I randomly got on the website and this type of thing does burden me. I don't understand why some are so apt to believe that nothing in the OT applies and are quick to say that the law has been abolished...even if they don't say that directly (because it is unscriptural) indirectly they clearly do to me but I can't tell if this is what they "really" mean because I'm not God. It could be that they are follow their own convictions
but then...why the disparity?
Discussion is helpful, I don't think one should live under the law to be certain. There have been a couple of times when I was being exceptionally contentious with myself (which I think is probably the Lord too) and it was like "fine, bear the full weight, see how it goes..." and I'll just say I have no desire to live like what those times are like. It is excruciating and
black.
So yeah, I've felt a lot concerning this, I think the Lord cares but only as he leads you and I think if we focus on the two greatest commandments, the other stuff will fall into place uniquely (work out your own salvation). It could be that like the seven churches in Revelation, we have different missions/convictions for different ministry, I have no idea. I only know that I cannot escape the law or cut it off from me (Romans 7) and have to use it to correct and chastise my own flesh and there is a struggle between my flesh and my spirit. Most times I'm looking at the Lord in all this and that's all right now that I can do.
Major on the majors minor on the minors?