Hello. I am in the process of detaching from the SDA church. Part of this process for me has been to read my Bible over without SDA influence. Im finding this to be an extremely rich but frustrating experience. Right now Im stuck in Isaiah and no one seems to be able to help me understand. The people I talk to are clearly biased one way or the other and no one seems to understand where Im coming from, which is somewhere in the middle. Im having a lot of struggles with Sabbath, cant seem to decide where I stand on the subject. Its been a year now and I still cant make that decision. Maybe someone here can help?
What does Isaiah 56 say to you? Why the emphasis on Sabbath? At first I read that this is a prophecy (v.1 ... for My salvation is about to come and My righteousness be revealed). Then I read that Sabbath was still pretty important despite the salvation to come (v.2-7). Then I read that their offerings & sacrifices will be accepted (v.7) which is obviously not a part of the new covenant - both sides can agree on that
. So if Sabbath is not to be kept with the new covenant, then why the mention of it here? Why is it important and why werent any other commandments mentioned? And if it is, then why the mention of old covenant rituals? Are they symbolic?
Isaiah 58:13,14 - who is this addressed to? Again, why the focus on Sabbath? Is this saying that the idea of Sabbath has been twisted but the original idea still stands? And would that mean that its still standing now? I cannot get over the idea that its grouped along with murder and worshipping other gods. It must be a moral standard ... right? Im so confused here.
Thanks ahead of time for any responses. Please dont hate, Im just trying to figure things out. Next time Ill ask about Jer 3:16.
Hi, Firetopaz. I'm a former Adventist, and I have some thoughts on your post since this is a topic that I struggled with for several months before finally deciding not to call myself an Adventist anymore.
I would suggest that you read Isaiah 56-66 again, paying close attention to the context. These chapters are in the context of the covenant curses and blessings, the restoration of Israel after captivity, and their expectations of an earthly Messianic age. Therefore, regardless of whether the Adventist view of the Sabbath is correct, I do not believe that these chapters are good to use for defending it.
Here is a passage that I think it's important to take note of:
Isaiah 65:17 "For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth;
And the former things will not be remembered or come to mind.
18 "But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create;
For behold, I create Jerusalem for rejoicing
And her people for gladness.
19 "I will also rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in My people;
And there will no longer be heard in her
The voice of weeping and the sound of crying.
20 "No longer will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days,
Or an old man who does not live out his days;
For the youth will die at the age of one hundred
And the one who does not reach the age of one hundred
Will be thought accursed. (NASB)
Will people die in the new earth--at 100 or any other age--as described in Revelation? Of course not. This is clearly not talking about after the second coming.
Another passage to think about:
Isaiah 66:20 "Then they shall bring all your brethren from all the nations as a grain offering to the LORD, on horses, in chariots, in litters, on mules and on camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem," says the LORD, "just as the sons of Israel bring their grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of the LORD.
21 "I will also take some of them for priests and for Levites," says the LORD.
22 "For just as the new heavens and the new earth
Which I make will endure before Me," declares the LORD,
"So your offspring and your name will endure.
23 "And it shall be from new moon to new moon
And from sabbath to sabbath,
All mankind will come to bow down before Me," says the LORD.
24 "Then they will go forth and look
On the corpses of the men
Who have transgressed against Me
For their worm will not die
And their fire will not be quenched;
And they will be an abhorrence to all mankind."
Verse 23 is often cited by traditional Adventists to prove that all mankind will observe the Sabbath for eternity. However, it also refers to the New Moon, yet Adventists do not say that the New Moon is an eternally binding moral commandment. Consistency would require them to observe the New Moon as well as the Sabbath if they cite this passage as evidence that the Sabbath is eternal.
Also, take a look at the surrounding verses. Verse 21 says that God will take some people for priests and Levites, but the Levitical priesthood is now obsolete, along with the sacrificial system. That doesn't fit with the traditional Adventist interpretation of this passage.
In addition, verse 24 refers to going out and looking at corpses. Is that really what we will be doing in the new earth on the Sabbath and New Moon?
My view of Isaiah 56 and 58 is in relation to these other passages. The Sabbath was the sign of God's covenant with Israel, so it does have a prominent role in these chapters, but it was never meant to be a universal moral obligation, and these chapters have a limited perspective, having been written before Jesus, when the Israelites did not understand how the Messianic prophecies would be fulfilled.
As far as your question about the moral nature of the Sabbath commandment, one of the issues that led me to question the traditional Adventist view of the Sabbath was the way Adventism divides the law into moral and ceremonial categories based on inclusion in the Decalogue. It's interesting to me that the Jews don't see it that way at all. They consider the Sabbath the only ritual that is part of the ten. They also view the Torah as a whole, which is also how Paul presents it in Galatians 5 when he says:
1 It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.
2 Behold I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no benefit to you.
3 And I testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is under obligation to keep the whole Law.
4 You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.
5 For we through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness.
The issue here and in Acts 15 is not just circumcision; it's the fact that circumcision obligates a person to observe the
whole law, not just what Adventists call the "ceremonial law." I believe that the New Testament teaches that we are obligated to keep either the whole Torah or none of it--including the ten commandments.
The Torah was a mixture of rituals and moral standards and civil laws and laws that were given for who knows what reason (because many of them didn't even have an apparent rationale, other than to set Israel apart from the surrounding nations). The false dichotomy--ten commandments plus dietary and tithing laws vs. ceremonial laws--that traditional Adventism imposes on the law is without biblical support.
The ten commandments were distinct from the rest of the Torah only in that they comprised the covenant document, with the Sabbath as the sign of the covenant between God and Israel. Exodus 31 makes this explicit:
Exodus 31:12 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 13 "But as for you, speak to the sons of Israel, saying, 'You shall surely observe My sabbaths; for this is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you.
14 'Therefore you are to observe the sabbath, for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people.
15 'For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a sabbath of complete rest, holy to the LORD; whoever does any work on the sabbath day shall surely be put to death.
16 'So the sons of Israel shall observe the sabbath, to celebrate the sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant.'
17 "It is a sign between Me and the sons of Israel forever; for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, but on the seventh day He ceased from labor, and was refreshed."
18 When He had finished speaking with him upon Mount Sinai, He gave Moses the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written by the finger of God.
Does all of this mean that those of us who no longer accept the Adventist view of the Sabbath and the ten commandments are without moral direction and standards of right and wrong and thus think we have a license to go out and lead sinful lives? I certainly don't believe that. Romans 2 says that even Gentiles, who didn't have the law, had consciences to convict them of right and wrong. Sometimes they even did things that were required by the law even though they didn't have the law.
Righteousness does not come from the law, and neither does morality. Adventism says that the two greatest commandments that Jesus referenced--loving God and loving our neighbor--are a summary of the ten. I see it from another perspective, which is that the ten commandments were specific applications of the transcendent principles of love for God and love for each other. Those specific applications are not eternal just by virtue of their being engraved on the tablets of stone. In fact, 2 Corinthians 3 says that they were a ministry of death and that their glory was fading away. Doesn't sound eternal to me.
We are not even without commandments in the New Testament but not on the basis of whether they are part of the ten. Jesus told us not to commit adultery and murder, even in our hearts. He also told us to love our enemies and pray for our persecutors, to turn the other cheek, to not worry, to not judge others--all things that are not addressed by the ten commandments. The New Testament includes moral principles and even specific standards of Christian living. Some of these coincide with some of the ten commandments but not always. And we don't need the law to discern right from wrong when we have the Spirit living in us.
