Bible predicts asteroid hitting the earth?

Thelt and hasbeen and D'lo have posted very good and intelligent comments. Let me see if I can respond to some of the ideas raised.

The idea that the Sabbath (kept as the seventh day, sacred and a day of rest) has been done away with comes from the idea that Thelt raised; basicially that the 10 Commandments are part of the ceremonial law, thus, they were done away with when Jesus died at the cross.

This sounds good except for a couple of things. First, if the 10 Commandments were done away with, issues like adultery, stealing, covetousness (envy) and using God's name in vain would now be allowed. Most Christians accept that 9 of the 10 Commandments are still applicable to today's Christians. Somehow, to me, it seems confusing to believe that the fourth commandment, which is the one that deals with the Sabbath, is the only one that has been done away with - that all the others are still applicable.

Either all are done away with, or all are still applicable. We can't pick and choose which ones we want to keep and which ones we want to do away with.

Another thought is that there are two parts of the "Law" in the Old Testament. As Thelt mentioned, there is the ceremonial law. But there is also what Christians call the moral law.

The ceremonial law is the law that was handed down by Moses, specifically. It mostly dealt with the sacrificial system, the health laws (the kosher laws), etc. The ceremonial law was done away with when Jesus died; this was symbolized by the tearing apart of the veil in the Sanctuary in the temple as Jesus died.

However, the moral law was not done away with. In fact, I would even say that it CAN'T be done away with. God is a moral being; we cannot separate God from his moral character. If we were to try and detail his moral character, we would end up with moral laws.

I believe that the 10 Commandments are part of the moral law. For several reasons: It was written by God himself, using his own finger, on tablets of stone. The ceremonial law was written by Moses and written in a book. The moral law deals with moral precepts while the ceremonial law deals with ceremonial ritual matters.

In fact, in the New Testament book of James, James speaks about keeping God's moral law. In order to prove his thought, he quotes from the 10 Commandments, proving (to me) that the 10 Commandments are part of the moral law and never to be done away with.

hasbeen posted a passage in Mark showing Jesus' words about the Sabbath. Jesus' own words prove that the Sabbath was not only created for Jews but for every human being. Jesus said, ""Jesus said to them, 'The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.'"

The Sabbath was made for "man". In this context, it is clear that Jesus means every human being, not just the Jews.

As to the passage in Colossians 2:14-16, here are a couple of thoughts. Notice that the text says "sabbath days", it does not say "Sabbath day". This difference is important because it shows that it is not talking about the weekly Sabbath.

You ask, so what Sabbath could it be talking about? Well, the passage itself gives a clue. It says that these sabbath days were "a shadow of things to come." So, these sabbath days pointed to something that would happen in the future.

The sabbath days mentioned in this passage is talking about the yearly ceremonial sabbath days. You can find all kinds of ceremonial sabbath days mentioned all through the Old Testament. They all pointed to the fact that a Messiah would come one day to redeem His people. Which is why Paul says that at the cross, these "sabbath days" were nailed to the cross.

One more thought here on that passage: Paul himself kept the Sabbath throughout his entire life. If he had intended to teach that the Sabbath day was done away with in his passage in Colossians, why then did he keep the Sabbath day the rest of his life? It doesn't make sense.

OK, here is my last comment. Why did God create the Sabbath in the first place? Here are three quick reasons.

1. So we would remember that God created everything in this planet. The fourth commandment in Exodus 20:8-11 speaks clearly of this, saying that we should keep the Sabbath "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.

2. The Sabbath is a sign that God has saved us and we belong to His family.
"Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them." Ezekiel 20:12.

3. So that we would have a day of rest. Our society basically runs 24/7, but it has been God's plans that we have a day to recoup, a day to recover, a day to rest between all our work and play. The Sabbath fits perfectly into God's idea that we should live a balanced life. "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work..." Exodus 20:8-10.

:xyzthumbs

 

So, what about those that don't believe in the bible or your god? Cool, I'll be eating lunch when you get in line at the restaurant.

 

Hey Turbo!! Where have you been?

 

why even participate in this thread? why mock us?

 

Hey Patti! Nice to have someone remember me.

There have been huge, major changes in my life this past 18 months or so. I never had the time, nor, to be honest, the inclination, to spend time in TBR.

However, I did think about most of you and the other day, wondered what was going on. So I logged on, checked the threads, read the posts, look over the HOF threads, and realized that not much had changed. This thread caught my eye and I decided to respond.

I do feel bad in having missed out about the different things going on in other people's lives (Honey's surgery, etc).

So, I'm back, but who knows that I'll spend much time here anyway.

How have you been? Hope things are well with you.

 

I can only hope that you'll do your best to live up to whatever standards are important to you.

And enjoy your lunch. :xyzthumbs