Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Isaiah 66:22, 23 - Sabbath In Heaven?

22  "For as the new heavens and the new earth Which I will make shall remain before Me," says the LORD, "So shall your descendants and your name remain.
23  And it shall come to pass That from one New Moon to another, And from one Sabbath to another, All flesh shall come to worship before Me," says the LORD (NKJV)
This expression "new heavens and earth" has to be defined by the context in which it is found. For example, in 2 Peter 3:1-13, the usage of it is clear that it is referring to the next era of time in heaven where there is absolutely nothing that exists as sinful. But the context of Isaiah in which Isaiah 66:22, 23 is in disallows such a meaning. Please consider that Isaiah is speaking of the same "new heavens and earth" in chapter 65 which helps us determine the meaning of it:
"For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former shall not be remembered or come to mind" (65:17)
 
Now note what all is in Isaiah's "new heavens and earth":
  • Levites (66:21)
  • New Moon (66:23)
  • Sabbath (66:23)
  • flesh (66:23)
  • wolves, lambs, lions and serpents (65:25)
  • children who die at 100 years old (65:20)
  • building houses and planting vineyards, work with hands (65:21, 22)
  • bringing forth children (65:23)
Now when you compare what is actually taught about the New Testament's "new heaven and earth" you can readily conclude that Isaiah's "New heaven and earth" cannot be speaking about the heaven where God's literal throne exists today, but most probable of the return of the Jews from Babylonian captivity--which was a new era in their existence as a nation.
 
  • Christ is our priest in heaven and is not of Levi. The law was changed (Heb. 8:1; 7:11-15)
  • New Moon and Sabbaths are done away and a mere shadow of things to come (Col. 2:14-17). Besides, there is no sun or moon in heaven (Rev. 21:23, 22:5). This fact makes it impossible to have a regular Sabbath keeping as well as a the "new moon."
  • no flesh shall inherit it (1 Cor. 15:50ff)
  • no death exists there (Rev. 22:4)
Following are some charts that deal with typical arguments that Adventists give regarding Isaiah:
I hope this helps.
Cordially,
Steven J. Wallace

15 comments:

  1. Thanks for giving this extra circulation. More material in a PowerPoint series is published on "The Law" is here: http://www.lubbockindianaavecofc.com/#!downloads (note particularly July and August 2012)

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  2. Isaiah 65 is in relation to Deuteronomy 28 which outlines the blessings of Israel if they keep the commandments and return to Him. God fulfilled His promise and did bring them into the Promised Land but unfortunately as they did repeatedly throughout the Old Testament well into the New Testament, they backslid and received the curses of Deuteronomy 28 instead. Note where it says, ''but no one will buy you.'' This translates to redeem or save you. He is the only One who can redeem Israel. That is the ''forever'' spoken of in Deuteronomy 28 v 45 and 46. But the 12 tribes can still come back to Him and avoid the second death/corruption but they will not fully be restored until His Second Coming. This is proven in Revelation 22 v3. In Christ's mercy and grace He gave the Lost Sheep and the gentiles the spiritual keys to the Kingdom but we do not enter His Kingdom until He establishes it in the New Heaven and New Earth. Isaiah 66 is speaking of His Second Coming. Verse 4 is speaking of the grand illusion. Verse 15 is clearly speaking of Judgment Day. Verse 22 ''shall remain before Me.'' Key word is remain or everlasting. New moons can mean new months, new beginnings or holy days. And one Sabbath to another can mean that God's clock continues to operate as always or an eternal Sabbath where we enter into Eternal Rest with Him. Either way I WANT IN!!! So you don't have to throw the baby out with the bathwater. You don't have to follow the religion to follow the Word. Christ IS The Lord of the Sabbath.

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  3. And I want to be clear that YES when He gave us the keys to the Kingdom He also stated in Luke 17:20-21 - ''And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.'' And YES we are ALL redeemed by HIS blood but again, this is in relation to the promise of restoration of Jerusalem and the children of Israel in the establishing context and establishing the timelines for Isaiah 65 and 66. All Ten Commandments are for our profit and not only God-inspired but written by His finger. And He came to fulfill or perfect and demonstrate how we are to keep them in love not out of obligation. The greatest sacrifice is our obedience. But we are NOT to beat each other up over days. But do ask yourself one thing, why does it say this in Matthew 24 v 20 - ''But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day'' Food for thought. And note the following as well - Consider just this one fact: the word Sabbath appears 107 times in the Old Testament and a surprising 68 times in the New Testament. The “first day” of the week, however, is mentioned only eight times in the New Testament, a rather revealing indication about which day was observed then and still commanded as the proper Sabbath for today.

    The Disciples Kept the Sabbath
    85 Times in the book of Acts

    So what exactly do ancient languages teach us on the subject of the Seventh-day Sabbath? Interestingly enough, the most ancient of all languages literally call Saturday - Sabbath. There are 108 different languages that refer to Saturday as "the Sabbath".

    And that does NOT include the number 7 which is synonymous with the Sabbath.

    By the way, GREAT POST!!!! Continue to seek truth and share your journey!!!!

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  4. Two more points I need to make real quick. The law was not changed in Hebrews. Christ fulfilled or perfected it in Hebrews 7:19 - ''For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God. The ceremonial laws were done away with as a result. Also He fulfilled all sin offerings, atonements, etc by the shedding of His blood. The Sabbaths or holy days were fulfilled by Him as well. He literally became the Passover feast - the Lamb, the Unleavened Bread, The Feast of the Tabernacle, etc. So we do not have to keep those days but we should keep them in remembrance as a memorial and we can do this with Communion as often as we like as well. But what most people fail to realize is that the evening and the morning happened BEFORE the sun and moon were created on the 5th day. So we reached the 7th day with only two days consisting of the existence of the moon and sun. And this came BEFORE the law was handed down to Moses as well. It is obvious that God also gave Adam and Eve commandments or else how would Abel know the proper sacrifice? So it is safe to say that the Sabbath was established in the beginning especially since it is the completion of Creation. Every other nation worshiped sun gods on Sol Deis or the day of the Sun = Sunday. Out of all the commandments the 4th is the longest and only one containing ''Remember'' and to keep it ''holy'' or separate/distinct. The part of the 4th commandment which states ..''the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is'' which also distinguishes and sets Him apart from all other gods. So you reject Him and His identity because what is the first line of the Bible? Genesis 1:1 - ''In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.'' No coincidence that He injoined that in the Sabbath commandment. Can't separate the two which is why Christ was not only the Lord of the Sabbath, but He is also our rest and He created the heaven and the earth under the authority of His Father so God's authority is also in question. Just food for thought. Hope this helps.

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    1. If the law was given in the beginning to Adam and Eve, then how should John 1:17 read; Fpr the Law was given through Adam? Pliz do not read into sth which is not there. If they (Adam and Eve) had been observing the 10 commandments,how will they relate to commandment 5 when they don't have both parents?

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    2. Thank you I agree with your comment on the Sabbath, very clearly explained.

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  5. laws were changed, like sacrificial law yes, His commandments will never change.

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  6. The Sabbath is eternal... even the suspect Catholic priest and Gay Episcopalian minister told me Sabbath is Saturday. Before they went on some crazed excuse as to why we needn't keep it. Wow. Apply the same conviction you have to the other 9 commandments to the 4th. Let's be fair. Any logical person would understand that of course God, who wrote in STONE the Commandments and the longest one being the 4th and starting with the word "Remember" didn't make a mistake or planned to drop it. Amen and keep seeking family.

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  7. Where in the New Testament could new converts to the gospel find the rules for sabbath keeping?

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    1. No one will find sabbath observance rules in the New Testament aka New Covenant. Some say that Jesus kept the Sabbath in the New Testament and that should be our reason for 'keeping it' as well. BUT, that was Old Covenant and we are under the New. Gentiles were never under the law.

      Unfortunately, when the Bible was compiled the organizers separated the New from the Old Testament by ending the Old with Malachi and beginning the New with Matthew 1:1. The New Testament aka New Covenant did not begin at the birth of Jesus but at His death. While alive and teaching on earth, Jesus was a Jew and was subject to the law. The New Testament aka New Covenant actually begins in Acts, chapter 1.

      Under the New Covenant, which includes both Jews and Gentiles who believe in Jesus, we live and are led by the Spirit - not the law. There are no rules or laws for sabbath keeping in the New Covenant. Jesus is our sabbath rest and not a day of the week. The Spirit indwells us, teaches and guides us daily, thus every day with Jesus is sabbath as we rest from our works of trying to help Him save us and trust in what He has done for us.

      I believe in the whole Bible, the Old and New Testament. Having said that, we must bear in mind that everything in the Bible was not written for all people as far as application but we can all learn from what has been written and from the examples shared in the Bible. The Old Testament and its law focused on Israel. The New Testament and its gospel of grace is for both Jew and Gentile that believe in Jesus.

      I hope this very short answer has been helpful.

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  8. Are you suggesting that you reject the old testament and only read the new Testament?

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  9. For instructions on the Sabbath, I recommend you go where those who wrote the books of the new Testament went for their instructions. That would be the old Testament.

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  10. According to Mrs E.G. White, neither Tithing nor the sabbath were re-enacted in the New Testament (Covenant) (Counsels on Stewardship, p.66). So why are the SDAs still enforcing this Old Covenant obligation on New Covenant believers? Are they not disingenuous?

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  11. There are two definitely defined Laws within the Bible, God's Law written on stone and later to be found written into believers hearts, they you have Moses Laws written by Hand and placed at the side of the Ark compared to God's Law in the ARK, Christ did away with Moses Ceremonial Laws i.e. Moses Hand Written Laws that had restrictions, its own Sabbaths, New Moon Celebrations etc most of which was a shadow of what was to come and Fulfilled by Jesus death on the Cross. NT tells us Gods people will be those that keep the commandments and believe in Jesus, also tells us not a single mark in a character will change in God's Law, finally we are also told in the NT he that breaks one commandment is guilt of breaking them all, so the Law is the same today as it was before. The Sabbath was setup well before any Jewish person was ever around, and was to be Kept by Pre-Jews, Jews, Gentiles in other words by God's people no matter what time period they are born within. Also note in Revelation it predicts the Anti Christ to come would think of changing Times and the Law, the 4th commandment as found in the Bible is the only one that has both Time within it as wells as being a Law, Time is the 7th Day and its the 4th Commandment written by God himself.

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