| Author | Message | ||
| Jude the Obscure |
Dale Ratzlaffís Idol-Smashing ěSabbath in Crisis": A Chapter-by-Chapter Review 7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay 7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay Chapter I -- ěWhy Study the Sabbath?î Ratzlaff categorizes ěSabbath beliefî into three motifs: 1. Transfer/modification people hold that (1) the day of worship has been transferred from the 7th day Sabbath to the 1st day Sunday and (2) the rules of practice have been modified. ěSunday is the Sabbath of the New Testament.î 2. Reformation/continuation people hold that (1) Christianity needs reformation by restoring sanctity back to the 7th day Sabbath which (2) continues under the new covenant. The spectrum ranges from (1) those who observe the 7th day but do not try to impress their own belief onto other Christian groups to (2) those who both observe it and advocate it. This end of the spectrum teaches not only that it is ěGodís final test of loyalty,î but also that those who reject it will ěreceive the mark of the beastî and be ětormented with fire and brimstoneî in the final judgment. 3. Fulfillment/transformation people hold that (1) the obligation of day has been fulfilled by Christ and (2) the ěSabbath restî has been transformed into the ěrest of grace offered in the gospel in the new covenant.î Most worship on Sunday which they call ěthe Lordís day,î not ěthe Sabbath day.î Ratzlaff appeals to the readerís honesty and warns that ěa highly developed and well-organized belief system can often be the most dangerous blinder to truth.î He cites the Copernican challenge to the prevailing earth-centered world view of Galileoís day and the rejection of ěnew factual evidenceî for the sun-centered world view by the religious leaders. 7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay 7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay Read it for yourself. Write Life Assurance Ministries, P.O. Box 282, Sedona AZ 86340. Or call 520.282.4319. Go not gentle into legalistic night, rage against the dying of the gospel light, Jude | ||
| Jude the Obscure |
Dale Ratzlaffís Idol-Smashing Classic ěSabbath in Crisis": Review of Chapter 2 7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay 7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay 7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay Chapter II -- ěThe Seventh Day in Genesisî From the account of the creation of the seventh day Ratzlaff makes three surprising observations: 1. The formula used to describe each of the first six days ń ěand there was evening and there was morning an Nth dayî -- is missing from the description of the seventh day. 2. The word ěSabbathî does not appear. 3. Nor is anything said about the newly created Adam and Eve resting. God rests, but since ěHe who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleepî (Ps. 121:4), his rest is not the same as human rest. It ěmore likely relates to His enjoyment of His creation,î Ratzlaff writes, ěwhich He characterized as ëvery good.íî While the word ědayî may refer to a 24-hour period, the lack of the evening-morning formula renders possible a longer, indefinite period of time. In fact, in the very next verse (Gen. 2:4), the word ědayî is used to indicate a period of time at least 144 hours or six days in duration. After an undefined period of time during which the created pair sinned, ěthe Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them,î quotes Ratzlaff, who then goes on to say, ěThis event was the beginning of a ëworkí which would continue throughout the centuries until its significance would become fully revealed in the death of Christ.î 7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay 7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay 7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay Read it for yourself. Write Life Assurance Ministries, P.O. Box 282, Sedona AZ 86340. Or call 520.282.4319. Go not gentle into legalistic night -- rage, rage, against the dying of the gospel light, Jude | ||
| Jude the Obscure |
Review of Chapter 3 of Ratzlaffís Idol-Smashing ěSabbath in Crisis": 7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay 7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay 7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay Chapter III -- ěThe Old Covenantî The Old Testament contains three covenants, all in the form of an ancient Near Eastern suzerainty (or ruler-subject) treaty. In all cases the suzerain (ruler) is God. Each contains three main parts: (1) promise, (2) requirement and (3) a sign or seal. Such an ěeverlastingî covenant was made between God and: 1. Noah. (1) Promise: God will never again destroy earth and flesh with floodwater. (2) Requirement: ěYou shall not eat flesh Ö with Ö blood [in it].î Gen. 9:11. (3) Sign: rainbow. 2. Abram (Abraham). (1) Promise: God would make Abram the father of ěmany nationsî who would inhabit Canaan forever. (2) Requirement: Abram would believe God and change his name to Abraham to indicate that belief. (3) Sign: circumcision. 3. Israel (Moses as mediator). (1) Promise (A) Of God to Israel: Deliverance, protection, sustenance, land, forgiveness of sins, etc. (B) Of Israel to God: ěAll that the Lord has spoken we will do.î Exodus 19:7,8. (2) Requirement: Keep the Ten Commandments and some 613 ěother lawsî in Exodus and Deuteronomy. (3) Sign(s): (A) Circumcision for men (included from the previous Abrahamic Covenant) as a one-time act of entrance into the covenant community and its celebration of the annual Passover feast. (B) The Seventh-day Sabbath (ěnot included in the Abrahamic Covenantî) as a perpetual observance to ěrememberî and thus renew the suzerainty treaty weekly. This third covenant, called the Sinaitic (from Mt. Sinai or Horeb) Covenant, became synonymous with the Old Covenant (p. 30) and later the entire Old Testament (p. 30) including the creation account (p. 33) with the Sabbath as its memorial. But the reverse is not true. ěThe stipulations of the Sinaitic Covenant were NOT included in the covenants God made with Noah or Abraham. [p.39,40].î This Old Covenant was supposed to last forever, but because Israel broke it, a ěnew covenantî is mentioned in Jeremiah 31:31. Individual violations were sins and consisted of two kinds: (1) Unintentional, with stipulated blood sacrifices or other non-lethal punishment. (2) Intentional or ěopen rebellion,î with punishment as severe as death, such as the man who was stoned to death for picking up sticks on the Sabbath (Numbers 15:35,36). 7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay 7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay 7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay Read it for yourself. Write Life Assurance Ministries, P.O. Box 282, Sedona AZ 86340. Or call 520.282.4319. Go not gentle into legalistic night -- rage, rage, against the dying of the gospel light, Jude | ||
| Jude the Obscure |
Reviews Ratzlaffís idol-smashing ěSabbath in Crisis" 7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay 7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay 7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay Chapter IV -- ěShadows of Hopeî We who were raised and schooled Adventist were imprinted with a mindset that saw the weekly Sabbath as the only Sabbath of the Old Testament. We were taught to ignore the whole calendrical pattern of Sabbaths, each of which was just as sacred, just as much a part of the law, just as ěholyî a ěSabbath to the Lord,î and just as necessary to be kept as was the 7th day Sabbath. Ratzlaff points out this pattern: 1. One Sabbath per week. 2. Seven additional ěseasonalî Sabbaths per year. 3. A "sabbatical yearî every seven years. 4. A jubilee Sabbath every seven ěsabbatical years.î On these Sabbaths, Israelites, slaves, foreigners, animals and the land itself had to rest. None may do ordinary labor. Specific ědonítsî applied to all: 1. Sabbath-keepers could not leave their homes. 2. Sabbath-keepers could not bake or boil. 3. Sabbath-keepers could not do any work. Neither could your son, your daughter, your male servant, your female servant, your cattle, nor the traveler staying with you. 4. Sabbath-keepers could not kindle a fire. 5. Sabbath-keepers could not buy or sell. 6. Sabbath-keepers could not do their own pleasure. Specific ědoísî applied to all: 1. Sabbath-keepers had to keep it holy or ěset asideî from ordinary days. 2. Sabbath-keepers had to rest. (This meant physically, implying that the Sabbath was a labor law.) 3. Sabbath-keepers had to celebrate the covenant that had been made with the Lord (suzerain). 4. Sabbath-keepers had to take delight in the Lord. 5. Sabbath-keepers had to begin Sabbath at evening on the 6th day and end it at evening on the 7th day, ěday of atonement,î for instance. Specific punishments applied to all: 1. Sabbath-breakers were to be put to death. 2. Sabbath-breakers were to be ěcut offî from the rest of the people. The old SDA argument that the Sabbath was not a part of the ceremonial law -- that was nailed to the cross (Colossians 2:14) -- becomes increasingly unbelievable as one recognizes how inextricably the Sabbath was connected with such rites as the morning and evening burnt offerings. Particularly revealing is the order in which these Sabbaths were listed. It was usually either ascending: 1. Weekly Sabbaths: Sabbaths (days) 2. Monthly Sabbaths: New moons (months) 3. Yearly Sabbaths: Fixed festivals (seasons) Or descending: 1. Yearly Sabbaths: Fixed festivals (seasons) 2. Monthly Sabbaths: New moons (months) 3. Weekly Sabbaths: Sabbaths (days) What our SDA parents, teachers and pastors have so carefully hidden from us all these years now becomes glaringly, embarrassingly clear as at long last we read the apostle Paul with ěeyesî (Colossians 2:16,17 NIV): ěDo not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to 1. a religious festival [yearly Sabbath such as Christmas or Easter is today], 2. a New Moon celebration [monthly Sabbath] 3. or a Sabbath day [the familiar weekly event]. These are a shadow of the things that were to come;î Paul continues, ěthe reality, however, is found in Christ.î So ALL the Sabbaths -- the yearly, the monthly and the weekly -- are only a shadow! A SHADOW! That's the news! And you thought the weekly one was a gospel requirement, didnít you? The SUBSTANCE belongs to Christ! Christ is our true Sabbath rest! When you find the substance that the long long shadow pointed you to, you don't need the shadow any more. Think about that. Now that we have Christ, we don't need the pointer-shadow Sabbath any more! It'sdone its job. Well, thank you, friend Paul, even from a distance of 1,940 years in the past! It's tiime to admit that there is a time-worn SDA deception, perpetrated upon the denomination's own children -- you and me. It is the idea that that the Sabbath of Colossians 2:16 refers only to a yearly Sabbath (see SDA Bible Commentary, e.g.) and not ALSO to the weekly Sabbath! I donít know about the rest of you out there in SDA cyberspace, but this deception stirs within me a deep, righteous anger. For those who incline to check out these descending/ascending lists, Ratzlaff lists plenty of references: 1 Chron. 23:31, 2 Chron. 2:4, 2 Chron. 8:12,13, 2 Chron. 31:3, Ez. 45:17, Hos. 2:11, 2 Ki. 4:23, Neh. 10:33, Isa. 1:13,14, Isa. 66:23 Ratzlaff goes on to point out that the Sabbath was at the heart of Hebrew complex of ceremonial interrelationships: the covenant, the covenant people, the tabernacle, the services, the laws, the promises, the blessings, the cursings, and the land. Circumcision was the sign of entrance into the community (following birth or immigration). And the Sabbath (yearly, monthly and weekly) was the sign of continuance within it and a test of loyal to it. In other words, the Sabbath is most definitely a part of the ceremonial law. And it is not a part of the moral law, such as "no murder" and "no adultery" and "no stealing." Now if it is not a deception, what is it? 7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay 7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay 7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay7thDay Read "Sabbath in Crisis" for yourself. Write Life Assurance Ministries, P.O. Box 282, Sedona AZ 86340. Or call 1.520.282.4319. Do not go gentle into the SDA night, Rage against the dying of the gospel light, Jude | ||
| Susan |
Jude, I'm really enjoying your review. I read this book about 6 months ago and was really blessed by it. You're right on, when you refer to Jesus as our "sabbath" rest. It's so awesome when that really clicks, isn't it? I totally understand your "righteous anger". The deception taught to us by the sda's really burns me up. But I think the experience has caused me to pursue and stand for truth at all costs. The truth is, the FINISHED work of Christ on the cross is all we need. Our salvation has nothing to do with us. It's something that almighty God has already done. Our faith in Jesus is all that's necessary. This wonderful truth of God's grace is so hard to embrace when you're walking in darkness. May God bless us all as we continue to walk in THE Light. | ||
| Thomas |
Isn't it amazing that when we were growing up and taking "bible classes" (EGW class) we were grilled often on Ex. 20, but were never EVER read Ex. 31? The first time I read the Bible as it was meant to be read, cover to cover without interruption or "interpretation", I was amazed that it contained things I had never heard before. And I had always been taught that we were the "church of the Bible". I believe that it is possible to prove any doctrine you wish to prove when you read the Bible as SDA's do. A verse from her added to a verse from there mixed with a couple from over here, then read as a complete thought. You don't need special translations, only special creative readings! That is why I have committed to reading the Bible through twice each year, in it's entirety, for as long as God permits. The closer you anchor to the rock, the more safe and secure you feel! | ||
| Cas |
Jude-I appreciate your comments on the Sabbath. I have started to read Sabbath In Crisis and a very interesting paper by Dennis Rainwater called Discoveries in Doctrine. It is on the What Seventh Day Adventist's need to know web site. I've gotta go but will add more later. Blessings to all |
