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November 2009
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Dispensationalism & The Sabbath
By Maria Merola
I love Ray Comfort as an Evangelist and I agree with the way that he does street ministry. He uses the Torah, (the Law of Moses) to show people that they have violated the law and that we all need Yahu'shua's blood as atonement for our sins. A friend of mine emailed me with Ray Comfort's article entitled "Freedom from Sabbath Keeping" and she wanted me to respond to this article because she was confused.
I do not consider Ray Comfort a false teacher or a false prophet. I do not consider Ray Comfort as a hireling or one who teaches heresy. In Deuteronomy 13, YHWH tells us how to identify a false prophet by telling us that a false prophet or teacher is one who turns someone away from the true Elohiym (God) of Israel, YHWH.
Just because Ray Comfort is mis-informed on the Sabbath commandment, I do not hear him teaching heresy about the deity of Messiah or taking away from his Messiah-ship.
Those teachers and preachers who subtly take away from his deity, denying that he is the Messiah, or putting mankind on the same level of godhood as Messiah, those are the ones I consider to be false prophets and teachers, because they are directly attacking the nature of Messiah and God the Father. Ray Comfort is a man that I deeply respect and admire. However, I disagree with Ray Comfort's stand on the Sabbath because he is not understanding the Bible from a Hebraic Perspective. After reading Ray Comfort's article below entitled "Freedom from Sabbath-Keeping," I realized that the root of the error in his views concerning keeping Sabbath comes from something called Dispensationalism.
This doctrine basically holds the view that the church and Israel are completely separate in Yah's prophetic scheme of things. Dispensationalists teach that the church will be "raptured" before the tribulation, while the Jews get "left behind" and this is totally false. I used to believe this erroneous doctrine at one time, until Yah woke me up with prophetic dreams and began to teach me from scripture. I now see that YHWH is grafting together the true remnant church who will obey the call to "come out of Mystery Babylon" (Revelation 18) and Jews who believe in Yahu'shua for the end time "two witnesses" in Revelation 11. These will carry that double portion anointing which is that of Moses & Elijah. In other words "spirit & truth," "law & prophets," "wisdom & revelation."
I too, have wrestled with this issue of "How" to keep the Sabbath for years, and whether or not it is a salvation issue.
So with that said, let me answer what Ray Comfort has written in light of my Hebraic understanding of scripture.
Freedom from Sabbath-keeping
By Ray Comfort
Ray Comfort writes:
Some today insist that Christians must keep the Sabbath day; That those who worship on the first day of the week (Sunday) are in great error. They reason that "Sun-day" comes from the pagan worship of the sun-god, that Jesus and Paul kept the Sabbath day as an example for us to follow, and that the Roman Catholic Church is responsible for the change in the day of worship. Those who continue to worship on Sunday will receive the mark of the beast.
Maria Merola's Response:
First of all it is not wrong to worship YHWH on Sunday, attend Church on Sunday, or any other day for that matter. It is simply wrong to call "Sunday" the Sabbath day or to use Sunday worship as a substitute for "honoring Sabbath." It is true that the Catholic Church has willfully and rebelliously called Sunday the Sabbath day after the sun god, and they state in their catechism "Sunday is our Mark of authority over the Protestant churches…Protestants don't realize that by keeping Sunday as the Sabbath, they are under the authority of the Papacy."
Yahu'shua (Jesus) & Paul did infact teach that we should honor the Sabbath day. Infact, Yahu'shua expected the end time believers to keep the Sabbath during the period called the Great Tribulation:
Matthew 24:20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:
Some may reason that Yahu'shua was only speaking to Jews, but what most Christians don't understand is that we are actually grafted into Israel as one stick (Romans 11:16-19, Ezekiel 37:16-17).
Paul calls those of us who have our hearts circumcised true Jews:
Romans 2:
28 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of Elohiym.
The Apostle Paul taught the newly converted Gentile believers from the Law of Moses every Sabbath day in the synagogues. He did not stay home in bed to rest. What YHWH was talking about was "resting" from our own selfish works, earning a living for ourselves.
Acts 13:42 And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next sabbath.
Acts 17:2 And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures…
Acts 18:4 And he (Paul) reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks.
While it is true that the early Christians met on the 1st day of the week to "break bread", one must understand, that on God's calendar, the new day begins at sundown, not at midnight. Pope Gregory was the one who changed the date at midnight. This is a fulfillment of Daniel 7:25 "the Beast shall think to change times and laws…" This means the Papacy (Beast) has done a lot to change Yah's reckoning of times, seasons, holidays, calendar dates etc, and thus confusing prophecy!
When the Christians met on the first day of the week, it was immediately following the Sabbath day and this was called "Havdalah" meaning "exiting the Sabbath." They ate a big meal at sundown after the Sabbath was over. They had teaching all day on Sabbath, and as soon as the sun went down, they ate a big meal at Havdalah and celebrated exiting the Sabbath. The next morning on Sunday morning, they went to work! They did not go to church on Sunday morning.
They never called the 1st day of the week the "Sabbath" nor did they "replace" the Sabbath with another day:
Acts 20:7 And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight.
Ray Comfort says:
Some teach that "Those who continue to worship on Sunday will receive the mark of the beast."
Maria Merola's Response:
The Vatican and the Papacy have already begun making plans to enforce a "Sunday Law." This legislation is already in the works and this will give way to the enforcing of the microchip implant. Those of us who want to obey the 4th commandment will be punished by civil law and we will be forced to choose between worshipping according the Pope's International Sunday law and take the microchip implant, or be decapitated. Ultimately, those of us who have the "mark of Yah" in our foreheads (Ezekiel 9) will be forced to choose to honor Yah's holy day at the expense of our lives! This same thing happened during the days of Antiochus Ephiphanies, who was one of the historical Anti-Messiahs in 164 B.C. Those who treat Sunday as the Sabbath Day, using it as a substitute day instead of Sabbath, those people will ultimately be forced to choose to receive the Mark of the Beast, or obey Yah's commandment.
YHWH has already made the Sabbath day a "sign" or a "mark" between us and him.
Exodus 31:13 Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, "Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am YHWH that doth sanctify you."
The word in Hebrew for "sign" here in this verse is owth, meaning a signal, evidence, mark.
Keeping the Sabbath day on the 7th day of the week, Saturday is a "sign" not just for the Old Covenant, but also for "all generations" as the Lord had commanded. Even in the New Testament, Elohiym speaks to his children concerning this:
Hebrews 4:4-9 For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And Elohiym did rest the seventh day from all his works. And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest. Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief: Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. For if Yahu'shua had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. There remaineth therefore a rest (Sabbath) to the people of Elohiym.
The writer of Hebrews is saying: "there still remains a Sabbath to the people of Yah under the New Covenant."
He says "he limits a certain day" and he says "today if you will hear his voice harden not your hearts."
YHWH is giving us a warning under the New Covenant not to harden our hearts to him as he has limited the 7th day to be called the Sabbath!
Why is it so important to keep Sabbath? Because all of Yah's holy convocations are called "rehearsals" (Levticus 23) and they are prophetic shadow pictures of good things to come. Keeping Sabbath means that we are rehearsing for the 1,000 year Millennial Reign with Messiah! If we don't rehearse all these prophetic things to come in his Holy Days, and Feasts, we will not be ready at his return!
In Hebrews 4, Yah is saying that if Yahu'shua has already given us eternal rest through his finished work on the cross, then the Sabbath day is a "shadow" which prefigures this finished work, but it also pre-figures the future fulfillment of the 1,000 years of Sabbath rest during the Millennium.
But what kind of rest, do we have for the moment? Only rest for the soul, but not for the body yet.
Matthew 11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
Yahu'shua is talking about rest for our soul, (not the body yet) because we have not received our resurrected body until we get married to him on that day. Yahu'shua knows that we are all caught up in the cares of this world, worries and anxieties, so he wants us to "learn of him" meaning reading his word and getting to know him. So what is he saying here? What is a yoke? It is a wooden harness that farmers used to yoke two animals together to plow the field. They would yoke together two donkeys or two oxen. But in the kingdom, Yahu'shua wants us to yoke with him so that together we pull the plow with him and we work the harvest field of souls. Yahu'shua wants us to take his yoke meaning "working for the kingdom" instead of our own selfish works, doing our own thing. That is why Yahu'shua said the Sabbath is made for man, not man for the Sabbath. He wants us to be ministered to on that day.
So, let's read the words of Yahu'shua again, with the Hebrew word Sabbath interjected into it and let me paraphrase what he is saying:
Matthew 11:28 …Come unto me, all you that do your own thing, or your own selfish works, (and you are burdened down with the cares and riches of this world, trying to earn a living) and I will give you Sabbath. Take my yoke or my burden to work for the kingdom upon you, and learn of me, reading my word, my Torah; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and you shall find Sabbath (rest) unto your souls.
When Yahu'shua died on the tree, and said "it is finished" he provided for everything he will ever do for us past, present and future. In heaven it is all done, and complete. But the outworking of it in the natural has yet to be all fulfilled. That is why Yahu'shua said:
Matthew 5
17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
He provided the "First Fruits" by resurrecting on a Holy Day of YHWH called "The Day of First Fruits" or Yom ha'Bikkurim. He did not resurrect on Easter the day of the pagan sex and fertility goddess.
Under the Old Covenant, the priest in the Tabernacle of Moses would have to go into the Holy of Holies and wave the first fruits offering of the harvest of Barley before YHWH. Yahu'shua, as our High Priest went into the Heavenly Temple and offered up the souls of men that he redeemed from the lower parts of the earth, and this is the "first fruits" harvest (Ephesians 4:8-9). Yahu'shua preached the gospel to the spirits in the lower parts of the earth and gave gifts of salvation unto men. (1st Peter 3:19)
And in doing this, he also provided the "First Fruits" of the Holy Spirit for us as a "down payment" or an engagement ring for when we receive our resurrected bodies on the wedding day with him.
Romans 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
So, do we have "rest" or Sabbath for the body yet? No! We have only rest for our souls. And so is the Sabbath fulfilled yet? Have heaven and earth passed away yet? No!
When the writer of Hebrews wrote "there remains a Sabbath for the people of Yah" what was he talking about? He was talking about the fact that there still remains under the New Covenant a day of resting in him and learning of him so that we can have rest for the soul and rest for the body.
Otherwise "wouldn't Yahu'shua have spoken of another day?" But Yahu'shua did not speak of any other day as the Sabbath. We see that Yah "limited" a certain day to be called the Sabbath. (Hebrews 4:4-9).
This was not only for the Old Covenant, as it was still one of the Ten Commandments which Yahu'shua had commanded that we should keep:
Matthew 19:17 .....but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.
YHWH has already made the Sabbath day a "sign" or a "mark" between us and him.
Exodus 31:13 Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, "Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am YHWH that doth sanctify you."
The word in Hebrew for "sign" here in this verse is owth: meaning a signal, evidence, mark. This "sign" or "mark" is what the Holy
Spirit marks us with.
The "sign" of the Holy Spirit in our lives is that he will write the Laws of our Creator (Yah's Torah) on our hearts:
Jeremiah 31:33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith YHWH, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their Elohiym, and they shall be my people.
Hebrews 8:10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith YHWH; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a Elohiym, and they shall be to me a people:
Hebrews 10:16 This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith YHWH, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;
When did Yah "seal" this New Covenant? On the Day of Pentecost (Shavuot), when received the FIRST FRUITS of our redemption which is the gift of the Holy Spirit!
Yah has already marked his own people with the "sign" of the Holy Spirit. These "signs" followed the disciples in the form of miracles. They received "new tongues" as a "sign" that they had been set apart for Yah's service, and they did many exploits in Yahu'shua's name:
Mark 16:17 "And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues."
Satan is a master counterfeiter and will try to counterfeit the "mark" of Yah. YHWH marks his own people with an invisible mark in the forehead:
Ezekiel 9:4-6 And YHWH said unto him, "Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof. And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity: Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary". Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house.
The word mark in this passage in Hebrew is tav which means "signature."
Revelation 3:12 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my Elohiym, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my Elohiym, and the name of the city of my Elohiym, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my Elohiym: and I will write upon him my new name.
This is that same "mark" or signature of Elohiym that he writes on our heads. If we belong to that city called New Jerusalem it means we "overcome" the world, the flesh and the devil, the antichrist. It means that we are citizens of the House of Israel and that we are all in one covenant with the Jews. Elohiym says that the Sabbath shall be a "sign" or a "mark" between me and you FOREVER, THROUGHOUT YOUR GENERATIONS! This means all who are part of the House of Israel. This is the one thing that sets us apart from other religions and other people in the world. We keep Sabbath!
All other pagan religions believe in keeping the other 9 commandments. The only commandment that the pagan religions don't believe in keeping is the Sabbath. That is the only commandment that sets us apart from the rest of the world. The word "sanctify" means "to set apart."
Ray Comfort Continues:
Let's briefly look at these arguments. First, nowhere does the Fourth Commandment say that Christians are to worship on the Sabbath. It commands that we rest on that day: "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shall you labor, and do all your work: But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God: in it you shall not do any work .
. . For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it" (Exodus 20:8–11).
Maria Merola's Response:
Ray Comfort has not examined the scriptures in it's entirety concerning the Sabbath commandment and he does not have full revelation of how it applies to the New Covenant and end time prophecy.
YHWH gives us a guideline as to what he requires us to do on the Sabbath:
Isaiah 58:
13 If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of YHWH, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:
14 Then shalt thou delight thyself in YHWH; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of YHWH hath spoken it.
Yah is giving us a wonderful promise here! He is saying that if we turn away our "foot" meaning that we do a 180 degree turn from doing our own pleasure (shopping, golfing, cleaning house, whatever) on HIS HOLY DAY, and instead we call the Sabbath a delight, and we "honour him" not doing our own things, or what makes us happy, but doing what pleases him, then he will cause us to "ride upon the high places."
That means we will be able to go into the heavenlies and soar like an eagle above all powers and principalities and rulers of darkness! If we honour YHWH on the Sabbath day, the day that he calls Holy, we will overcome the devil in the "high places." And we will be "fed" with the heritage of Jacob. Christians want to stand on all the promises of Yah from Deuteronomy 28, all the blessings, yet they don't want to keep his Torah. Well, let me let you in on a little secret. The blessings and the cursings of Deuteronomy 28 are conditional upon what? Keeping all his commandments:
Deuteronomy 28:1 And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of YHWH thy Elohiym, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that YHWH thy Elohiym will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:
Yahu'shua commands us to do what on the Sabbath?
Mark 3:4 And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace.
Luke 6:9 Then said Yahu'shua unto them, I will ask you one thing; Is it lawful on the sabbath days to do good, or to do evil? to save life, or to destroy it?
Yahu'shua said to "do good" and "save life" on the Sabbath. We preach the gospel, we win souls, we feed the hungry, we do the work of the kingdom on the Sabbath day. We don't do "our own thing."
Ray Comfort Continues:
Sabbath-keepers worship on Saturday. However, the word "Satur-day" comes from the Latin for "Saturn's day," a pagan day of worship of the planet Saturn (astrology).
Maria Merola's Response:
So what? Just because the day of the week called Sabbath or "Shabbat" in Hebrew on God's Biblical Calendar was renamed after Saturn by the pagans, does not mean that we should not continue to honor that day and set it apart for Yah. We should reclaim that day back for Yah and not call it Saturday. I stopped calling Yah's holy day Saturday, and I call it "Shabbat" or Sabbath.
Ray Comfort Continues:
If a Christian's salvation depends upon his keeping a certain day, surely God would have told us.
Maria Merola's Response:
Yahu'shua did indeed tell us that if we want to enter into life we must "keep the commandments."
Matthew 19:17 ....but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.
The question is "how" do we keep the Sabbath? We keep it according to the guidelines I have shown above in Isaiah 58 and by Yahu'shua himself.
None of the commandments are "pre-requisites" to salvation, and we all know that none of us are able to keep them all 100% of the time. That was the purpose for the atonement on the two crossed sticks (stauros & xylon). Yahu'shua gave us the gift of the Holy Spirit which is a "sign" of the New Covenant. That sign is evidenced by the fact that we will have his laws "written upon our hearts." Which laws? Only nine of them?
All of them! But Yahu'shua, knowing that our human nature is to turn everything into a religion, gave us the two greatest commandments of "loving YHWH with your whole heart, mind, soul and strength" and "loving your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22:37, Luke 10:27). He gave us these commandments as the "greatest" because he wants us to dictate how we keep the other commandments by these two commandments. In other words, Yah's is not impressed with us honoring the Sabbath if we are not doing it out of love for him.
If we do any of the commandments as a means to being made righteous, this is a wrong motivation, and Yah calls this "self righteousness." We keep the commandments out of love for him and of course because we want to "enter into life."
Keeping the commandments should be dictated always by loving YHWH first with all of our being, and then loving our neighbor.
Ray Comfort Continues:
At one point, the apostles gathered specifically to discuss the relationship of believers to the Law of Moses. Acts 15:5–11, 24–29 was God's opportunity to make His will clear to His children. All He had to do to save millions from damnation was say, "Remember to keep the Sabbath holy," and millions of Christ-centered, God-loving, Bible-believing Christians would have gladly kept it. Instead, the only commands the apostles gave were to "abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication."
Maria Merola's Response:
What Ray Comfort is missing here is that the Jewish Apostles gave these 4 commandments to newly converted Gentile Believers as "starter laws" in order to be able to have fellowship with them.
James, the brother of Yahu'shua, sentenced the Gentiles to keep these 4 laws in addition to the ten commandments because it was already understood that Yahu'shua taught us to "keep the commandments" as a means to entering into life. Yahu'shua had already told us that he did not come to destroy the Law of Moses. Yahu'shua had already told us to save life and do good on the Sabbath. So any newly born again Gentile believer would know that this was what Yahu'shua required.
But because these Gentiles were not trained in the Torah all of their lives, it would take them years to become fully Torah observant. So to make it easier on them, and so that they could come into immediate fellowship with the Jews, James broke it down for these Gentiles to abstain from four things until they could learn to become fully Torah observant:
Acts 15:20 But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood.
Notice that the KJV does not say "meat" sacrificed to idols. It says "pollution of idols" and so this means pagan holidays offered up to idols as well, not just food.
James continued to reason with the other Elders and Apostles by saying:
Acts 15: 21 For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day.
What James was saying here, if I may paraphrase: "These Gentiles will be learning the Law of Moses in the synagogue every Sabbath Day, so they will eventually learn to be fully Torah observant. But for now, let's only give them these 4 things to abstain from."
Ray Comfort Continues:
There isn't even one command in the New Testament for Christians to keep the Sabbath holy.
Maria Merola's Response:
Ray Comfort is being hypocritical in saying this, because his method of evangelism includes showing people that they have broken the 10 commandments. Yet, does he include the 4th Commandment? Or does he really mean "the nine commandments"?
He shows people that they have broken the Torah (Law of YHWH) in order to show them that they are sinners in need of a blood sacrifice, but what about asking them if they have broken the 4th commandment? Why do so many Christians say that they believe in the 10 commandments, yet in reality they only believe in the 9 commandments?
What Ray Comfort is in essence saying to these people he is evangelizing is this: "you have broken the law, you are a sinner, and now you must become saved so that you will be allowed to keep on breaking the law under Grace."
What is the point of bringing these people under Grace if it does not transform them? If all the law is good for is showing us that we are sinners, and once we are saved we are allowed to go back to breaking the law again under Grace, then why not just remain a sinner?
The New Testament is full of Yahu'shua's own words to "keep the commandments" and Yahu'shua himself told us that he did not come to destroy the Law of Moses. This means he expected us to continue to keep them until "heaven and earth pass away." Yahu'shua went on to say: "whosever shall teach men to break one of the least of these commandments; he shall be called least in the kingdom."
I love Ray Comfort and I hope that he does not end up being one of the least in the kingdom by teaching that we are "free from keeping Sabbath."
But I am going to have to believe what our Messiah Yahu'shua says over Ray Comfort on this one.
For the first 60 years after Yahu'shua died on the tree, the New Testament Scriptures had not even gone into print yet until about 96 A.D. when John was exiled on the Island of Patmos. The New Testament believers preached the gospel out of the Old Testament Scriptures. The Torah, and the Prophets were what the newly converted Gentiles had to read, and so it was already understood that keeping the Sabbath was a "sign" between those who are grafted into Israel and YHWH.
Ray Comfort Continues:
In fact, we are told not to let others judge us regarding Sabbaths (Colossian 2:16), and that man was not made for the Sabbath, but the Sabbath for man (Mark 2:27).
Maria Merola's Response:
Many Christians take Colossians 2:16 out of context, but we have to see what Paul is saying from a Hebraic understanding of scripture in order to understand what he means. Paul was speaking to the Church at Colossi who were formerly pagans, and they used to keep all the pagan holidays. Then they were newly converted and the Jewish Rabbi's who did not believe in Jesus were trying to impose on them the man-made traditions of the Talmud (oral traditions of men). The Rabbi's were trying to impose on these newly converted Gentiles, man-made rules and regulations regarding how to honor the Sabbath days and Holy Days of Yah. But Paul was telling them that these "man made" traditions called "ordinances" or dogma in Greek, had been "blotted out" and so now we are able to keep the Holy Days that Yah commands us to keep without all the man-made traditions attached to it:
Colossians 2
14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;
15 And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.
16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:
Paul is saying that we should let no man judge us for wanting to keep the Sabbath days and for "how" we are to keep them. The Rabbi's had made up a whole lot of rules and regulations (ordinances) that were not in the Torah, and so Paul was telling them, that they were free to keep the Holy Days and the Sabbath Days without being judged by men on "how" they keep it according to man-made traditions.
Paul is telling us here that the Sabbath days were prophetic shadow pictures of "things to come" in prophecy.
Colossians 2:17 Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.
The word "is" here in this verse above was added in by the translators because it is in italics in the KJV. What is Paul talking about here? He is talking about the body of Messiah/Christ being the only ones who are qualified to judge us in "how" we keep the holy days of YHWH and the Sabbaths. Why? Because the body of Messiah are accountable to one another in the scriptures. But the pagans and the Rabbinic Jews who did not believe in Yahu'shua as the Messiah were not qualified to judge these Colossians in regard to holy days.
Ray Comfort Continues:
The Sabbath was given as a sign to Israel (Exodus 31:13–17); nowhere is it given as a sign to the Church. Thousands of years after the Commandment was given we can still see the sign that separates Israel from the world—they continue to keep the Sabbath holy.
Maria Merola's Response:
Ray Comfort is showing his views as being a "Dispensationalist." Dispensationalism teaches that the church and Israel are two separate entities, but this is not the case! The other extreme of Dispensationalism is what is known as "Replacement Theology" but there are actually 3 schools of thought in Christianity as to who Israel is, and only one of these schools of thought is correct.
There are three views in modern day Christendom today:
1.) The Church is a Substitute for Israel: (I don't adhere to this view )
The dominant view in Christianity has been that the Church is the New Israel, a replacement of the concept of Israel from the Old Testament. This view teaches that the Church is the replacement for Israel and that the many promises made to Israel in the Bible are fulfilled in the Christian Church, not in biblical, literal, Israel.
So, the prophecies in scripture concerning the blessing and restoration of Israel to the Land of Promise are "spiritualized" into promises of Yah's blessing for the Church. The prophecies of condemnation and judgment, however, still remain for national Israel and the Jewish people.
This view has been called "Replacement Theology" because the Church replaces Israel in the program of Yah. Major problems exist with this view, such as the continuing existence of the Jewish people throughout the centuries and especially with the revival of the modern state of Israel. If Israel has been condemned by YHWH, there being no future for the Jewish nation, how do we account for the supernatural survival of the Jewish people, Israel's rebirth among the gentile nations, victories in major wars with the Arabs and a flourishing modern democratic Jewish state. The Catholic Church since the Roman Emperor Constantine in the 3rd Century have been the main proponents of this doctrine and it has spread into the Church today.
2.) The Church is Totally Different and Distinct from Israel: (I don't adhere to this either)
The view that Israel and the Church are different is not accurate either. In this view, the Church is completely different and distinct from Israel and the two are never to be confused or used interchangeably.
This view erroneously teaches that the Church is an entirely new creation, which came into being on the Day of Pentecost. The only problem with this view is that all those on the day of Pentecost were Jewish. None were Gentiles. It was not until 15 years later that Cornelius received the Holy Spirit and thus began the Gentile Church. This view holds that the Church has no relationship to the curses and blessings for Israel, the covenants, promises and warnings are valid only for Israel. Israel has been set aside in Yah's program during these past 2,000 years of dispersion. YHWH has preserved the Jewish people through great persecutions, though they are largely in unbelief. This view comes from another erroneous doctrine called Dispensationalism.
3.) The Engrafting of the Church with Israel: (This is the view I adhere to)
YHWH changed Jacob's name to Israel, and later on when Israel was dying, he gave his blessing to two of his sons, Joseph and Judah. Joseph had two sons born to an Egyptian woman, Ephraim & Manasseh. In Genesis 48, we read that Israel blessed the younger son of Joseph named Ephraim. And Jacob gave a blessing to Judah (Jews). Judah is the English word for Yahudah from where we get the word "Yahudiym" which means "Jews" in Hebrew. In this story, Joseph is a prophetic picture of Messiah being married to the pagan church. Since Joseph married a Gentile/Egyptian woman, his son Ephraim was considered a Gentile and yet he inherited the same promises of Israel with Judah (Jews).
In Ezekiel 37:16-17 we read a prophecy of God taking the tribe of Ephraim (Gentile Believers) and the tribe of Judah (Jews) and grafting them into one stick or one Olive Tree. Paul speaks of the same thing in Romans 11:16-19, when he calls Gentiles the "wild branches" and he calls Jews the "natural branches" and he says that we shall all be made as one tree or one branch.
The Church has NOT "replaced" Israel with regard to the promises of Abraham. But instead the remnant who come out of Mystery Babylon in the Church have been "grafted into" the same olive tree with Israel and we are partakers of the same promises with Israel.
Galatians 3:29 And if ye be Messiah's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.
Ephesians 3:6 That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Messiah by the gospel.
Ray Comfort Continues:
Romans 14:5–10 tells us that one man esteems one day of the week above another; another esteems every day alike. Then Scripture tells us that everyone should be fully persuaded in his own mind. We are not to judge each other regarding the day on which we worship.
Maria Merola's Comments:
Paul's letter here is to Romans, who were new to the faith. He wanted them to make sure that they were obeying the two greatest commandments first and foremost, which was to love YHWH with all of our being and to love your neighbor as yourself.
There were Jews who were forcing the Gentiles to hurry up and become fully Torah observant over night, and that was not the loving approach. We read about the Judaizers who were always trying to force the Gentiles to do all these laws out of pride and arrogance.
It was as if their attitude was "you stupid Gentiles you will never measure up to us Jews, we will always be one step ahead of you, because we keep the law. If you want to be one of us, you'd better measure up to our standards and be like us…"
Instead of showing unconditional love towards the Gentiles and simply accepting them on the basis of their faith in Messiah, these Jews were always trying to be prideful by acting as if they were better than the Gentiles and this was the attitude that Paul was addressing.
Instead of allowing the Gentiles to grow in their relationship with YHWH at their own pace and instead of allowing the Gentiles to learn to observe Torah by the working of the Holy Spirit operating in their lives, these Jews were trying to force them to keep the law in their flesh, out of pride, and not out of love for YHWH.
Romans 14:
5 One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.
6 He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto YHWH; and he that regardeth not the day, to YHWH he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to YHWH, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to YHWH he eateth not, and giveth YHWH thanks.
Paul was in no way saying that the Sabbath day was no longer in effect. What he was saying here is that we should place people's conscience on a higher priority than just trying to keep rules and regulations. Ultimately it is the person's conscience we should be concerned with. Paul is teaching us that loving our fellow brother in the faith is the highest commandment and that we should not judge a brother who is weaker in the faith and has not attained to the same level of understanding Torah as those who are more mature in the faith. Paul's goal here was love as the highest commandment.
That way, people are free to grow in the love of YHWH and they will want to obey the commandments out of their love for Yah, not out of peer pressure from other believers.
Ray Comfort Continues:
Jesus did keep the Sabbath. He had to keep the whole Law to be the perfect sacrifice. The Bible makes it clear that the Law has been satisfied in Christ.
Maria Merola's Response:
Ray says "Jesus had to be perfect" yet Yahu'shua Messiah commands us to be perfect also:
Matthew 5:48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
The reason for Yahu'shua dying on the cross and giving us the gift of the Holy Spirit is so that we can also fulfill the righteousness of the law just as he did!
Romans 8:4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Yahu'shua did not excuse us from having to keep the law; he has given us the ability to keep the law by the Holy Spirit's power in us!
I already demonstrated that not all of the Torah has been fulfilled yet according to the words of Yahu'shua himself. Yahu'shua said that none of the Law of Moses, not even one punctuation mark will pass away until "heaven and earth pass away" and we know that this has not happened yet (Matthew 5:17-18).
Here is what is left to be fulfilled in the law:
When Yahu'shua catches away the believers that will occur on the Feast of Trumpets. When we come back with him seven days later after a 7 day marriage in heaven, that day will be the day that he "avenges the blood of the saints" and that day is called "Yom Kippur" or The Day of Atonement. We will get to participate in the Day of Wrath with Yahu'shua on the great and dreadful day as we will be in our resurrected bodies. Five days later we will go into the Millennial Kingdom with him and this will fulfill the Feast of Tabernacles and the Sabbath for 1,000 years. This will occur on the 7th Day or the 7th Millenium (a day is like a thousand years to the Lord). And so you see, we still have more of the Feasts of YHWH to fulfill from Levticus 23. Not all has been fulfilled yet!
Ray Comfort Continues:
The reason Paul went to the synagogue each Sabbath wasn't to keep the Law; that would have been contrary to everything he taught about being saved by grace alone (Ephesians 2:8,9). It was so he could preach the gospel to the Jews, as evident in the Book of Acts. Paul had an incredible evangelistic zeal for Israel to be saved (Romans 10:1). To the Jew he became as a Jew, that he might win the Jews (1st Corinthians 9:19, 20). That meant he went to where they gathered on the day they gathered.
Maria Merola's Response:
Ray Comfort ignores the fact that Paul went into the synagogue to teach Gentiles the Law of Moses in Acts 13:42 & Acts 18:4. He makes it appear that Paul's only purpose was to preach the gospel to the Jews, and that Paul was in no way attempting to keep the Law of Moses.
But we find information contrary to what Ray Comfort is saying in Acts 21. Some of the Jews were falsely accusing the Apostle Paul of teaching the Jews to no longer keep the laws of Moses and to stop circumcising their baby boys.
Acts 21:21 And they are informed of thee, that thou teachest all the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs.
But Paul was not teaching Jews to stop circumcising their baby boys. Paul merely preached that adult male Gentiles did not need to get circumcised in order to enter into covenant with YHWH.
But that did not mean that it was a sin for Jews to circumcise their baby boys. So in order to show the Jews that these rumors about him were false and that he was still very much a Torah observant Jew keeping the Law of Moses, he shaved his head and did a purification ritual according to the Law of Moses. The Jews wanted him to make an open demonstration that these rumors about him were false so he did as they asked him to do:
Acts 21:
23 Do therefore this that we say to thee: We have four men which have a vow on them;
24 Them take, and purify thyself with them, and be at charges with them, that they may shave their heads: and all may know that those things, whereof they were informed concerning thee, are nothing; but that thou thyself also walkest orderly, and keepest the law.
26 Then Paul took the men, and the next day purifying himself with them entered into the temple, to signify the accomplishment of the days of purification, until that an offering should be offered for every one of them.
If Ray Comfort is trying to build a case that the Apostle Paul was no longer keeping the Sabbath, and he only went into the temple to preach because that was the only way to win the Jews to Messiah, he is wrong about that, and the evidence in Acts 21 proves that to be so.
The Apostle Paul did not contradict the Law of Moses ever once! Paul was a fully Torah observant Jew. Ray Comfort is confusing salvation by Grace with being sanctified and set apart from the world. Most Christians make this mistake and treat the initial salvation by Grace as the end of the story. But there is so much more! Yahu'shua saved us by Grace and there is no law that can save us! But once we are saved, he expects us to "work out our own salvation with fear and trembling."
Philippians 2:12 Therefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
This means that Grace will continue to "teach us" to keep Yah's commandments.
Ray Comfort Continues:
D. L. Moody said, "The Law can only chase a man to Calvary, no further." Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law so we are no longer in bondage to it. If we try to keep one part of the Law (even out of love for Yah), we are obligated to keep the whole Law (Galatians 3:10)—all 613 precepts. If those who insist on keeping the Sabbath were as zealous about the salvation of the lost as they are about other Christians keeping the Sabbath, we would see revival.
Maria Merola's Response:
No disrespect intended towards D. L. Moody, because he was a great man of Yah for his time. But now, Yah is bringing his remnant out of Mystery Babylon ways and restoring those in the church back to their Hebraic Roots. Hence we are coming back into a Hebraic understanding of scripture once again. True Revival is always characterized by a return to keeping Yah's commandments.
D.L. Moody is also displaying "dispensationalist" theology here, which is wrong. Dispensationalism only came into existence in the late 1800's but prior to that, the church did not teach this type of doctrine.
When the Apostle Paul speaks of the "curse of the Law," he is not saying that the Law of Moses brought the curse. Paul was telling us that the law was holy and the commandment was holy.
Romans 7:12 Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.
But it was our weak sinful nature that brought the curse because we are unable to keep the law. What Messiah redeemed us from is the "curse" of not being able to keep the law!
The Law of Moses is not cursed! Our sinful flesh brought us under a curse and Messiah redeemed us from the sinful flesh that prevented us from keeping the Law of Moses. The curse of the Law, which Paul was talking about, was not the Law of Moses. He was talking about a different law. He was talking about the "Law of Sin and Death."
What is the Law of the Spirit of Life?
It is the Law of Moses being written upon our hearts as a sign of the New Covenant. And this Law of the Spirit of life which has set us free from this other law called the law of sin and death!
Romans 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Messiah Yahu'shua hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
If we love Yah with all of our heart, mind, soul and strength, his commandments will not be grievous or burdensome to us. We will enjoy obeying all of his commandments.
1st John 5:3 For this is the love of Elohiym, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
