IS THERE A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TEN COMMANDMENTS AND THE RITUAL LAW OF THE JEWS? ARE ALL THE "JEWISH LAWS" LUMPED INTO ONE WHOLE WHICH CHRISTIANS MUST REJECT?
Updated 10/15/00: Aesthetics; Updated 11/15/2003: made easy to print out. Updated 04/30/2008: clarifying text added below in blue.
The Seventh-day Adventist Church has always maintained that there is a distinct difference between the moral law of Ten Commandments and the ceremonial law. They have maintained this view because it is the truth. There are many people who deny this claim for the purpose of throwing out the Ten Commandments along with the ritual law. We should not be confused upon this point, not to mention any other.
We should check the internet and see the storm that is brewing against us. One very notable website is the "Sabbath Keepers Refuted" homepage. Part of that webpage charges Seventh-day Adventists with trying to make a distinction between the Ten Commandments and the ceremonial law, and states emphatically that there is no difference between the two. You can find this charge on the following website:
http://www.bible.ca/7-10forSDAs.htm
This website is jam packed with lies and misrepresentations against us, one of which we are dealing with here. Check the whole website, and you will see the nature and similar tactics of those who continue to make war with God's people, as is taking place within our church today. You should recognize that nature just as soon as you view their homepage if no other.
The difference between the Ten Commandments and the ceremonial law is simple. The difference can be seen from this one scripture which serves as a model for many others. It is Numbers 15:27, which states:
(Num 15:27) "And if any soul sin through ignorance, then he shall bring a she goat of the first year for a sin offering."
What this is saying is that "if any soul sin. . ." [or break one law] "then shall he bring a she goat. . ." [or utilize another.]
In other words, if a man breaks any of the Ten Commandments, he is to utilize the ritual law. One law--the Ten Commandments--let the people know what was right and what was wrong, while the other law--the ceremonial laws of Moses--was established in case the first law was broken or in case someone didn't measure up to the requirements of that first law.
The first law represented God's character, while the second law represented another aspect of God's character: His mercy. The ceremonial law was placed as a shadow of Christ's sacrifice for humanity while the moral law distinguished between good and evil. One pointed out what sin was while the other helped to identify or pointed toward the remedy in order for the sinner to avoid the consequences of that first broken law. It was just this same ceremonial law of which was written the scripture:
(Gal 3:19) "Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator."
The Ten Commandments were not "added because of transgressions" because before it there was not such thing. Transgression [of the Law] cannot exist without the Ten Commandments [which is the Law]. The Ten Commandments could not be added after sin came into existence for it defines the very existence of sin. The Ten Commandments existed before our first parents sinned in the garden of Eden (with certain exceptions since there were no oxes and asses before then). On the other hand, it was the ceremonial law which was so added after and because of transgressions. It was first cited when Cain and Abel gave two different kinds of offerings before the Lord, where Cain's offering was rejected regardless of all the hard work and careful attention he sacrificed. Since it was ritualistic, the Jews in Paul's day were always apt to go overboard in its rigorous observance for the benefits its outward characteristics provided them from society. The more rigorous they observed the ritual law was the more holy they were accounted to be.
THERE IS A DISTINCT DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE MORAL AND THE CEREMONIAL LAW. CHECK INSPIRATION.
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