I have a dog named Scrappy. Scrappy has a nice, fenced yard. In this yard there is food, water, and shelter,and a few chew toys; everything a dog could need. Scrappy, however, prefers to be outside the fence where there are predators. There is not food readily available (unless he catches it), There is water, but the only real shelter would be to crawl under a car. I put Scrappy in the fence every evening and very quickly he finds a way under, over, or THROUGH the fence (rusty old chicken wire in spots). Every time I watch where he gets out and then I patch the fence.(I should have stock in zip ties!) I'm TRYING to PROTECT him, but he just wants to do his own thing, outside of the protective fence. It's taken me three months to see the analogy. God's law is our protective fence. God makes provisions for us when we stay inside the fence. I can't protect Scrappy from himself and I can't protect him if he runs off. If he gets hurt in the mountains, I might not be able to get him help in time to save him; if I could even find him, or get to where he is. Because I love him, I am trying to give him safe boundaries, and that's why all of God's laws are so important for us. The more obstinate he becomes in getting out of the fence the more drastic measures I must take to get his attention. What does it take for God to get our attention. It has been said that sometimes we must be flat on our backs before we look up. Pray that we and Scrappy don't have to learn the hard way.
All governments have laws. Some governments have too many oppressive laws, and people are persecuted. Some have very loose laws, and people run around looting places without any consequences. The government of God also has laws. The Bible says that they are for our good. Deuteronomy 6:24 KJV "And the LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as it is at this day." https://bible.com/bible/1/deu.6.24.KJV There are only ten of them. The first four teach us about how God is to be worshiped. The last six is about our relationship with each other. Exodus 20:3-17 KJV" 3 "Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: 5 thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; 6 and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. 7 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. 8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 10 but the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: 11 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. 12 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. 13 Thou shalt not kill. 14 Thou shalt not commit adultery. 15 Thou shalt not steal. 16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. 17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's." https://bible.com/bible/1/exo.20.3-17.KJV
Most people do not have a problem with thinking that the last six commandments are good and valid, but a good majority of people, take issue with the fourth. Why is the one commandment, that begins with the word remember, the only one that people want to forget? Because of these verses: Colossians 2:14, 16 KJV 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; 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:" https://bible.com/bible/1/col.2.16.KJV The catch is sabbath day(s); this is not talking about THE Sabbath day, but the festivals that the Jewish nation kept such as Passover, and the feast of tabernacles etc. (note: learning ABOUT these feasts IS important as they are in the Bible and continue to have significance in God's calendar, but whether we keep them or not is not important) These feasts pointed forward to Jesus. It would literally be impossible in today's society for all the males to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem three times in a year. We also no longer need to sacrifice sheep and goats because Jesus IS our sacrifice. In Leviticus 23 it explains each feast and when it is. Leviticus 23:4-8 KJV 4 "These are the feasts of the LORD, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons. 5 In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD's Passover. 6 And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread. 7 In the first day ye shall have an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein. 8 But ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD seven days: in the seventh day is an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein." https://bible.com/bible/1/lev.23.4-8.KJV Notice how the feast, because it begins on the fourteenth day of the month, could begin on any day of the week. The first day of that feast and the seventh day of that feast were called "holy". These were called sabbaths. Leviticus 23:24-25 KJV 24 "Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation. 25 Ye shall do no servile work therein: but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD." https://bible.com/bible/1/lev.23.24-25.KJV Notice the text calls the first day of the seventh month "a Sabbath". The text in Colossians becomes clear when you realize that Paul is not doing away with a divine decree which began in Genesis 2:1-3 KJV 1 "Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. 3 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made." https://bible.com/bible/1/gen.2.1-3.KJV and will never end. Isaiah 66:22-23 KJV 22 "For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain. 23 And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD." https://bible.com/bible/1/isa.66.22-23.KJV Paul also says this: Galatians 1:8 KJV "But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed." https://bible.com/bible/1/gal.1.8.KJV If Paul or anyone else even thinks that they can change God's times or laws that individual not only is cursed but also is described in Daniel 7:25 KJV 25 "And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time." https://bible.com/bible/1/dan.7.25.KJV This entity is known as "The antichrist ."
For more about the Sabbath issue please see my other blog on why Sabbath is essential https://iodtiger.blogspot.com/2025/03/sabbath-is-essential.html and the other one on Sabbath verses Sunday. https://iodtiger.blogspot.com/2024/03/sabbath-vs-sunday.html
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