Malachi 4:4 Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments.
Malachi 4:5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:
Malachi 4:6 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.
This study is a focus on the SOP and what it teaches on this matter…It also goes over several other errors that people believe. Some have come to believe the Ceremonial Law was instituted at Sinai. The SOP tells us it was in place 4000 years before Christ. And further it tells us these laws were repeated at Sinai. All references are below… And according to the SOP the law of Moses has many hidden truths to reveal to us today.
Adam had the moral and ceremonial law before Moses……..And only the system of sacrifices and offerings were nailed to the cross. Not the Ceremonial laws.
“God’s people, whom he calls his peculiar treasure, were privileged with a two-fold system of law; the moral and the ceremonial. The one, pointing back to creation to keep in remembrance the living God who made the world, whose claims are binding upon all men in every dispensation, and which will exist through all time and eternity. The other, given because of man’s transgression of the moral law, the obedience to which consisted in sacrifices and offerings pointing to the future redemption. Each is clear and distinct from the other. From the creation the moral law was an essential part of God’s divine plan, and was as unchangeable as himself. The ceremonial law was to answer a particular purpose of Christ plan for the salvation of the race. The typical system of sacrifices and offerings was established that through these services the sinner might discern the great offering, Christ. But the Jews were so blinded by pride and sin that but few of them could see farther than the death of beasts as an atonement for sin; and when Christ, whom these offerings prefigured, came, they could not discern him. The ceremonial law was glorious; it was the provision made by Jesus Christ in counsel with his Father, to aid in the salvation of the race. The whole arrangement of the typical system was founded on Christ. Adam saw Christ prefigured in the innocent beast suffering the penalty of his transgression of Jehovah’s law. {RH, May 6, 1875 par. 4}”
The Ceremonial Laws have an application today, yet the sacrificial offerings ceased at the cross.
“The ceremonial system was made up of symbols pointing to Christ, to His sacrifice and His priesthood. This ritual law, with its sacrifices and ordinances, was to be performed by the Hebrews until type met antitype in the death of Christ, the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. Then all the sacrificial offerings were to cease.” -Ellen G. White -Patriarchs and Prophets (1890) Chap. 32 -The Law and the Covenants, p.365
Sacrificial system pointed to the cross for 4000 years. That is well before Moses was ever given the law.
“’In the midst of the week He shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease.’ In A.D. 31, three and a half years after His baptism, our Lord was crucified. With the great sacrifice offered upon Calvary, ended that system of offerings, which for four thousand years had pointed forward to the Lamb of God. Type had met antitype, and all the sacrifices and oblations of the ceremonial system were there to cease. {GC88 327.3} ” -Ellen G. White -The Great Controversy (1888) Chapter XVIII -An American Reformer –p.327-328
The types met reality at the cross….These laws still have meaning today since “Christ our passover is sacrificed for us” and we have a “high priest in the heavenly sanctuary”. One tittle of the law has not passed, but rather, their has been a change in the law. But not a change in the sense of removing any laws. The only thing abolished at the cross was “death”(2 Tim 1:10) by the sacrifice of Christ.
“We have the types and the shadows in the ceremonial laws, and these were to last until they should meet the reality. The sacrificial offerings were continually revealing the fact that Christ was coming to our world, and when type met antitype in the death of Christ, then the sacrificial offerings, typifying Christ, were no more of any value, but the royal law of God could not be changed.” -Ellen G. White -The Review and Herald -July 15, 1890 -Obedience to the Law Necessary.
Sacrifice and oblation(offering) ceased…
“And He shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week He shall cause the sacrifice and oblation to cease.” (Daniel 9:27 KJV)
The word oblation means offering according to Strong’s Concordance. These offerings went along with the sacrificial system (Numbers 28:5,8,9,12,13,20,26,28, etc.).
The sacrificial system with its sacrifices and offerings were to cease at the cross.
There is more to the breach in the wall(law) then just the Sabbath…..
“In the time of the end every divine institution is to be restored. The breach made in the law at the time the Sabbath was changed by man, is to be repaired” –E. G. White –Prophets and Kings (1917) / Chap. 57 -Reformation p. 678
The Levitical law applies to us today…..
“We are to become familiar with the Levitical law in all its bearings; for it contains rules that must be obeyed; it contains the instruction that if studied will enable us to understand better the rule of faith and practice that we are to follow in our dealings with one another. No soul has any excuse for being in darkness. Those who receive Christ by faith will receive also power to become the sons of God (Letter 3, 1905).” {1BC 1110.4} 1BC -S.D.A. Bible Commentary Vol. 1 (1953) / Leviticus
None of the books of Moses were nailed to the cross. The law of Moses is not different than the law of God since God it is God’s law. The laws given to Moses explained and protected the ten commandments. The law of Moses did not pass away at the cross.
“In consequence of continual transgression, the moral law was repeated in awful grandeur from Sinai. Christ gave to Moses religious precepts which were to govern the everyday life. These statutes were explicitly given to guardthe ten commandments. They were not shadowy types to pass away with the death of Christ. They were to be binding upon man in every age as long as time should last. These commands were enforced by the power of the moral law, and they clearly and definitely explained that law.” {RH, May 6, 1875 par. 10} –E. G. White –The Review and Herald May 6, 1875 –The Law of God.
Malachi 4:4 tells us the “law of Moses” has special application to us today. “Remember the law of Moses” it wasn’t “nailed to the cross”.
“From the light which God has given me it would be for our advantage to study the directions given to Israel. (Read Malachi 4.) Verse 4 especially has a meaning which all have not comprehended. Let it be carefully considered.” {PH087 8.2}–E. G. White: Pamphlets -PH087 -Special Testimony to Battle Creek Church (1897).
Remember the Law of Moses before the second coming….Important to God’s last day people, just like it was to Nehemiah and Ezra when they came out of Babylon…We are in a similar situation.
“The closing words of Malachi are a prophecy regarding the work that should be done preparatory to the first and the second advent of Christ. This prophecy is introduced with the admonition, “Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments.” {SW, March 21, 1905 par. 1}–E. G. White: PERIODICALS / SW –The Southern Watchman -March 21, 1905 “In The Spirit and Power of Elias.”
The law has great truths hidden in it which are entirely new to us today…
“Strict integrity should be cherished by every student. Every mind should turn with reverent attention to the revealed word of God. Light and grace will be given to those who thus obey God. They will behold wondrous things out of His law. Great truths that have lain unheeded and unseen since the day of Pentecost, are to shine from God’s word in their native purity. To those who truly love God the Holy Spirit will reveal truths that have faded from the mind, and will also reveal truths that are entirely new.”–E. G. White –Fundamentals of Christian Education (1923) / Chap. 60 -The Bible in Our Schools p.473
Special light which is additional would be revealed in the law today….Praise God for his law which has wondrous things in it.
“There was to be special light for God’s people as they neared the closing scenes of this earth’s history. Another angel was to come from heaven with a message, and the whole earth was to be lightened with his glory.. It would be impossible for us to state just how this additional light would come. It might come in a very unexpected manner, in a way that would not agree with the ideas that many have conceived. It is not at all unlikely, or contrary to the ways and works of God, to send light to His people in unexpected ways.”–E. G. White –Manuscript Releases Volume Thirteen –No. 1061 -Additional Light for God’s People p.334.
Paul showed that the Ceremonial system was given by God, not Moses and gave due honor to it.
“He(Paul) also gave due honor to the ceremonial law, showing that Christ was the one who instituted the whole system of sacrificial service.”. {Ellen White RH, November 25, 1890 par. 2}
http://thethirdangelsmessage.com/Let_no_man_judge_you.php
http://thethirdangelsmessage.com/law_of_liberty.php
http://thethirdangelsmessage.com/under_schoolmaster.php
http://thethirdangelsmessage.com/gospel_in_galatians.php