The Sabbath Day: Moses' Law or God's Law?

This subject is one that really excites me because it's something God revealed to me one day as I was reading through the book of Deuteronomy. It excites me whenever I find doctrine in the Bible that our churches have never taught us.

This is what I found in Deuteronomy 31:24-26: "So it was, when Moses had completed writing the words of this law in a book, when they were finished, that Moses commanded the Levites, who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord, saying: 'Take this Book of the Law and put it beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, that it may be there as a witness against you;"

The phrase "the ark of the covenant" is possessive. So we could re-word it to say, "The Covenant's ark". What was "The Covenant" that was inside the ark? It was the Ten Commandments permanently written on stone tablets.

The "ark of the covenant" or "the covenant's ark" was a wooden chest in which God commanded Moses to place the Ten Commandments (God's Covenant/Law) which were written on the stone tablets by the finger of God. This was the second set written by God because the first set got broken when Moses' threw them on the ground when he saw Israel's idolatry. (This should tell us just how important these Ten Commandments are to God - and how permanent.) The lid to this ark was "the Mercy Seat" where God's presence dwelt - a very holy place! In fact, if anyone touched this ark, except for the Levites (priests), God killed them instantly!! (see 2 Samuel 6:6,7).

So this raises a question: How could God's people read or meditate on God's law "day and night" as quoted in Joshua 1:8 - if they couldn't get near it? During the 40 days and nights that Moses was on Mt. Sinai - he (Moses) was busy writing not only The Ten Commandments (God's Covenant/Law) in a book, but also all the levitical and ceremonial laws with their curses and blessings. This book is called "The Book of the Law" or "Moses' Law". Basically, it contained the first five books of the Bible - the Pentateuch. Deuteronomy 29:21 says "And the Lord would separate him from all the tribes of Israel for adversity, according to all the curses of the covenant that are written in the Book of the Law." Deut. 30:10 says "...If you obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep His commandments and His statutes which are written in this Book of the Law..." Notice this "Book of the Law" contains BOTH the Ten Commandments and God's statutes.

One of the reasons this Book of the Law had to be on the outside of the ark was to make it readable and so others could copy from it. Deut. 17:18-20 says, "Also it shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write for himself a copy of this law in a book, from the one before the priests, the Levites. And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord His God and be careful to observe all the words of this law and these statutes. That his heart may not be lifted above his brethren, that he may not turn aside from the commandment to the right hand or to the left, and that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children in the midst of Israel." Now we can understand how we can meditate on it "day and night" according to Joshua 1:8!

I need to mention that the verse that many churches use to try to "do away with" God's law (when it comes to the Sabbath Day) is found in Colossians 2:14. It says, "...having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross." There are two problems with this verse: 1) With the Covenant sealed inside the ark, it was impossible to "nail it to the cross"; 2) The Ten Commandments didn't have any requirements/penalties attached to them. They were just 10 Commandments of God's Law. All the requirements of that Law, with it's blessings and punishments, were written in Moses' handwriting and placed in a book outside of the ark.

The analogy my husband and I came up with is that of our U.S. Constitution. It is sealed inside a bulletproof display case in Washington, D.C. However, the Amendments to the Constitution are outside of that case and they are what define the penalties if the laws of the Constitution are violated. Another analogy: Suppose we break the law of going 70 mph in a 40 mph speed zone - and we now have to go to court. The judge declares our fine/penalty. However, some nice person steps forward and pays that penalty for us. Did that "do away" with the speeding law of 40 mph? When we step outside the courtroom and get in our car, the first thing we see is a sign that says 40 mph! Now are we going to obey it or say that because someone paid our fine - it no longer applies to me?

The apostasy of today says "we are no longer under law, but under grace" - meaning God's law doesn't apply to us - especially the Fourth Commandment (the Sabbath Day). Under Moses' law, the soul that sinned had to die or sacrifice a lamb in his place. Today, a person doesn't have to die because of breaking His Law - IF we accept that God, in Christ, died in our place on the cross, and then we choose to obey His laws and follow Him. The good news is that Jesus (God in the flesh) took the curses of the ceremonial and levitical laws to the cross for us - so we no longer need to offer the blood of sheep and goats for the forgiveness of our sins. The other good news is that God's Law as contained in the Ten Commandments still applies to us today - and yes, that includes the Sabbath Day.