This shows what we SDAs normally think of God’s covenant with Israel, and what it means to us today.
And God gave the 10 Commandments. Then he said to treat the slaves well (of course we are more evolved today and the idea of having slaves is repulsive anyway), don’t take usury from a neighbor (unless you put your money in a bank, in which case you don’t know what they do with your money, so don’t worry about it), don’t have sex with animals (obvious), don’t take or give bribes (unless it is like in calling a SDA institution by the name of someone who gives it a lot of money), do lots of stuff with blood and guts of animals (glad that era is over), keep the feasts (until Jesus comes and does them so we don’t have to), eat only clean meat (we’ve evolved past that too to such a high plane that we don’t eat any meat anymore – smug smug wink wink), you must purify a woman after childbirth (whaaaa?), you must wear blue tassels on your clothes (who’s heard of that?), if you have some body issue, you are unclean (just wash it off), don’t have sex with your relatives (that’s gross anyway), you must rebuke your Brother if you see him sin (we are kinder than that and believe in “do not judge”), don’t sow two kinds of seed in your fields (who farms anymore anyway?), don’t round the corners of your beards (what on earth?), don’t eat the fruit of your trees until the 5th year (what a waste), you shall reverence my sanctuary (what’s the big deal? we like to have christmas parties and bazaars and even dramas and movies in it), you shall not give any of your children to Molech (but we have more compassion than you do God, because we believe that if it is a hard thing for the mother to bear her child, it is OK for her to kill it), if your children curse their parents, put them to death (tsk tsk, God, you are soooo intolerant. just let them feel their oats for a while. they’ll come around), you shall kill the homosexuals and sorcerers (but we are so far more evolved than you are God, we just LOVE them), you must keep 7 feasts (you did that Lord so i don’t have to, besides, it would be a real hassle, plus we don’t even know how to calculate the feast days or know what to do on them. wasn’t that just a jewish thing anyway?), you shall let the land rest every 7th year (not really practical in today’s world is it God?), you shall let everything go back to its original owner in the year of jubilee (then how could we live in this world?), if your Brother becomes poor, let him live with you (what! and have some stranger staying in my house!?), and remember to pay a tithe (yes Lord, this is very, very important, and we will promise to enforce this one to the letter).
And God said: Do you promise to do all my commandments and statutes and judgments and enter into a covenant with me and receive my blessings? And all the 21st century Seventh-day Adventists said: God, there are some really good ideas here, some that could be hashed out and improved on in a committee, but some of them are really just inappropriate today, and quite a few of them are so unloving and intolerant, that we really would rather just pass. Thanks anyway. But we’ll be sure to keep most of the 10 commandments, and stay away from the more objectionable sexual perversions, try to eat clean food, and of course pay the tithe. The rest tho is just too much bother. Surely we’ll get the majority of your blessing anyway for keeping some of these things, and we are really too busy to worry much about losing the little blessings from some of the more obscure things. The whole covenant thing sounds kind of old-fashioned. We just want to love you Jesus, but all this other stuff is a bit much, don’t you think? Hope to see you come on the cloud someday and take us to heaven 🙂
Adventists actually distinguish between moral, civil, ceremonial (and we actually add natural law, which covers health issues) of the Mosaic Law – much like other Christians. We don’t eat pork because it is a Mosaic law in Leviticus, we do it because Noah (who proceeded the Jews several hundred years) had 7 animals on the Ark.
Most Adventists don’t know this – and they do pick and choose. In that regard, you are right. If you want to follow the whole Law of Moses, become a Jew, not a Christian (Acts 15).
Similarly, we keep the Sabbath, not because it is part of the Law of Moses’ ceremonial law (as most Christians argue), but because it is part of the 10 commandments (which most Christians agree is the perpetual Moral Law), established at Eden and continuing in heaven.
http://adventistcultmisconceptions.blogspot.com.au/2011/03/29-is-it-true-that-adventists-keep_11.html
Hello Simon, You are very zealous for the traditional, standard SDA teaching 🙂 God bless you as you try to align your life with his will.
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I too did not see the light in the Statutes of the Lord until just last year. So i can understand a little of what you are going thru too.
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Seventh-day Adventists DO definitely pick and choose which laws of God we wish to keep, and which we wish to discard. You have shown in your own comment that we make distinctions between ceremonial, moral, civil, and natural laws. None of these disctinctions are made in the Bible that i am aware of, but it is true that some of these disctinctions are made in the inspired words God gave Ellen White.
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It is clear that the sacrifices and oblations ceased at the cross, just as Daniel 9:27 states. In reading a multitude of Ellen White’s writings on this subject, that is the only thing she mentions as being done away with on the cross too.
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Why did the apostles keep the feasts AFTER the cross? Why was the first big effort by the evil one to “change times and laws” focus on the timing of Passover, and not on the 7th day Sabbath? Why is there not one inspired word saying that the feasts of the Lord, or Statutes of the Lord have been done away with?
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But the one absolute reason that i know for sure that keeping the feasts is God’s will today, is that Jesus did it. If, in the day of judgment, God asks you why you did something, and you answer “Because i followed Jesus’ example”, do you really think that God would be upset with that? Or would he be much more likely to be upset if we say “I know Jesus did it, but my leaders told me it wasn’t necessary after the cross, so i didn’t do it”?
Excellent answer…. I’m so glad to see that Ruach HaKodesh is instructing SDA believers in the significance of YHVH’s Feasts. See Dewey Bruton’s “Daniels Time Line” video.
I think we need to read Psalms 119 and think about it.
…..O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes!
6 Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments.
7 I will praise thee with uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments.
8 I will keep thy statutes: O forsake me not utterly.
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How many really take the time to study these statutes.
What is going to bring real unity to Gods People. I think when we all agree that that Gods Commandments, Statutes, and Judgements are true. And like Jesus told the Jews in John 8:39 .. 39 They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham..
I became and Adventist back in 1987, however, I have always continued to believe these statutes are important. Even Ellen White says that at the end times Gods people with be keeping all his commandments, statutes, and judgements.
Think about.
Troy