25. Is the Sabbath a ceremonial law?
On account of two web sites by people who hate and attack the largest Sabbath keeping Church in the world, I have been asked the question “Is the Sabbath a Ceremonial Law?” This is one question I never thought I would have to deal with as the answer is so obvious to those who understand scripture. Those teaching the Lord's Sabbath is a Ceremonial Law (Sacrificial law) rather than a Moral Law either have a poor understanding of scripture or are badly deceived. You cannot say you love God with all your heart and then look for ways to manipulate scripture to avoid a Commandment of God that defines it is Him we love and worship. Those teaching this fallacy have also implied that God made a foolish mistake when He put the fourth Commandment into what is obviously a Moral Law. Since there is always so much confusion between laws in scripture, we will cover this question in extensive detail starting with defining these two laws.

When God delivered the children of Israel from Egyptian bondage, He also delivered to them the Ten Commandments in magnificent fiery majesty. This law of eternal duration was spoken by God, written by God, recorded on tables of stone and stored on the inside of the Ark under the mercy seat. Around the same time the temporary ceremonial law (Mosaic Law) was also delivered to Israel. It was written by Moses and recorded on parchment (paper) and stored on the outside of the Ark. This law dealt with the ceremonial rites of the Jewish sanctuary service that passed away at the cross. The Mosaic Law can easily be identified in Scripture as it talks about sacrifices, offerings, purifications, holy days, circumcision (a religious Jewish rite) and other rites associated with the Hebrew sanctuary service.

So the Bible speaks of two Laws. Law Number 1 is the Law of God (“the Ten Commandments,” or “Two tablets of the Testimony,”) also known as the “Moral Law,” the “Law of Love” and the “Decalogue.” Law Number 2 is the “Law of Moses” (the “Book of the Law,” or “Book of the Covenant,”) also known as the “Mosaic Law,” the “Ordinances” and the “Ceremonial Law.” Is there any relationship between the Moral Law and the Ceremonial Law? Of course! If an Israelite sinned, he broke Law Number 1, the Moral Law of the Ten Commandments. He then had to bring his offering according to Law Number 2, the sacrificial Ceremonial Law to receive forgiveness. This is the relationship between these two laws. Law Number 1 defines sin, as sin is the transgression of the Moral Law, the Ten Commandments. 1 John 3:4. Law Number 2 defined sacrifices, the Ceremonial Law which was the remedy for sin.

When the Israelite sinned, he broke the first law. To make atonement for his sin he had to obey the second law. This Ceremonial Law can easily be identified in the Scriptures. It talks about circumcision (a religious Jewish rite), sacrifices, offerings, purifications, holy days, and other rites associated with the Hebrew sanctuary service. So here are two very distinct laws. Jesus Christ our true Passover Lamb permanently took the place of Law Number 2 when He cried out “It is finished” and bowed His head and died that Friday afternoon. When that unseen hand tore the temple curtain from top to bottom, this signified that the Ceremonial Law that pointed the people to His sacrificial death was once and for all nailed to the cross. But not so for the Moral Law which is eternal in nature.

The Sabbath cannot be a Ceremonial Law (Mosaic Law)
The fourth Commandment is called "the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.” (Exodus 8-11) So did it belong to God or Israel? The fact that should be abundantly clear is that the Lord's Sabbath was never practised because of sin and so it cannot be a Ceremonial Law based on this one very obvious point alone. The Mosaic Law (ceremonial law) and the Ten Commandments are separate laws and are written separately. One was written in stone by God (Exodus 31:18) and stored on the INSIDE of the ark of the Covenant (Deuteronomy 10:5) and the other was written on paper by Moses (Deuteronomy 31:24) and stored on the OUTSIDE of the Ark of the Covenant. (Deuteronomy 31:26) And so to state another extremely obvious point. The Mosaic Laws were written in the Mosaic Law and the Ten Commandment laws were written in the Ten Commandments! The Lord's Sabbath is written in the Ten Commandments and is the fourth Commandment. The Creator of the universe did not make a foolish blunder when He put His Sabbath in His Moral Law instead of the Law of Moses (Ceremonial Law), which had all the ceremonial sabbaths! God put HIS Sabbath exactly where it belonged. Our God is not a fool and “is not the author of confusion…” 1 Corinthians 14:33.

God had Moses write the Ceremonial Law (Mosaic Law) that had all the ceremonial sabbaths that were instituted because of sin, and God wrote His Moral Law with His Sabbath that was made at creation before sin. So why would Christians who truly love God insult Him by implying that God made a foolish mistake and put a ceremonial sabbath in His Moral Law instead of having Moses put it with the rest of the ceremonial sabbaths in the Ceremonial Law? The wise and those who truly love God already know that God is not a fool and does not make mistakes. It is His Sabbath that he made at creation before sin and God put it exactly where it belonged. In His Moral Law of love!

So what would you do? To quote the obvious once again, if you instituted a Moral Law of love and a sacrificial Ceremonial Law, where would you put a ceremonial sabbath? Would you put it in the Ceremonial Law with all the other ceremonial sabbaths or would you put the ceremonial sabbath in your Moral Law of love? It is a ridiculous question I know, and it is so blatantly obvious that you would put a ceremonial sabbath in the law that had all the other ceremonial sabbaths that it is just not funny. This is why it grieves me so much when so called Christians out there try and call the Sabbath of the Lord thy God a ceremonial sabbath. They often say that the Moral Law and the Ceremonial Law are the same or any other nonsensical statement to avoid the truth. To make such a statement is no different to saying that when you commit adultery, you must then go and commit murder to make reconciliation for your sin. Or that Jesus died on the cross because people were using animals for sacrifices. Sound ridiculous? Of course! But this is just as foolish as what those who would try and convince us of a lie in saying there is no difference between these two laws.

There is one deceived Catholic who attacks the truth because the largest Sabbath keeping Church in the world teaches the truth about the serious errors of the Catholic system and what they did to God's law. So in turn he is driven by hatred for this Church and attacks anything relating to the truth taught by them in defense of his faith he claims. One of his foolish statements was that a moral law has to be kept 24 hours a day and it cannot be a moral law if it is only kept one day. If God says that to keep His Seventh day holy is to love Him then that makes keeping that 24 period a moral law!

Another man teaching the heresy of the Lord's Sabbath being a Ceremonial Law shows how deceived he is when he states that our Christian web site teaching the truth on wicca witchcraft was written by witches when it clearly is not. We are obviously not witches! This very deceived man looks for any scriptures where the Lord's Sabbath is spoken of at the same time that anything in relation the Ceremonial Law is also being spoken of and then abuses that scripture to try and make his argument. One of his examples is that the priests could work on the Lord's Sabbath continuing with the required sacrifices so it must be ceremonial. Did it ever occur to him that the sacrificial system needed to run 24/7 and why the priests were blameless? One can only shake their head in despair at such foolishness. Anyway, enough on the deceived and on with the facts.

Is the Sabbath a Ceremonial Law or Moral Law?
A moral law is a law that when broken is not an act of love. Speaking of the Ten Commandments, Moses while quoting God states in Deuteronomy 6:5 that to love God with all your heart, soul and might is to obey every one of the Ten Commandments that were just read as Deuteronomy 6:5 is just seventeen verses right after the second reading of the Ten Commandments. So just to clarify once more, what Moses is actually saying in Deuteronomy 6:5 is this, “If you love God with all your heart, soul and might then you will keep all Ten of these Commandments I have just read to you.” This of course includes the fourth Commandment. Did you note that all Ten are love for God? The fourth being the Sabbath is also a Commandment of love because Deuteronomy 6:5 says that loving God with all your heart, soul and might is to keep each and every one of the Ten Commandments that had just been read. In no way does loving God supremely change one single Commandment. So God is vindicated once again. See also the Bible list of the Ten Commandments.

Was the Lord's Sabbath first instituted before or after sin? The fact is that the only reason we have the Seventh day Sabbath is because God added the Seventh day at creation for this one and only purpose. Genesis 2:1-3 “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 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. 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.” The word translated “rested” in our English Bibles in Genesis 2:3 is “shabbath” in the Hebrew, which means Sabbath! So here is the word Sabbath at creation and proof it existed before sin and is part of God's perfect plan. So the Lord's Sabbath existed before sin and a long time before the Ceremonial Law ever existed which is yet another reason the Lord's Sabbath cannot be a Ceremonial Law. And even further evidence it existed from creation. Exodus 31:17 says, “It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever:..” And why is the Sabbath a sign forever? Because, “...in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.”

Paul also shows that you cannot separate the Lord's Sabbath from the Moral Law and call it a Ceremonial Law. Paul said in Romans 7:7 “What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. No, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, You shall not covet.” So Paul says that we know sin by the knowledge of the law. Note that Paul three times in this scripture says “the law” and hence “the law” has to be one specific law that can only be the Moral Law as Paul specifically quotes one of the Ten Commandments. So Paul references one and only one specific law and he does not say that we know sin by knowledge of this law except for the fourth Commandment now does he? Once again we see that to break any one of the Ten Commandments is sin and that makes all of them quoted in this context to be moral laws!

In Exodus chapter 16, which is before the first reading of the Ten Commandments, God says to Moses that He is going to test the people to see if they will keep all His Moral Law or not. The fourth Commandment is very much a test Commandment and most are failing miserably just as God's children did in Exodus 16:4-30. So how did God test the people to see if they loved Him enough to obey His Law? By seeing if they would specifically keep the Seventh Day or not for one very special Moral Law. Did they keep the Seventh day as God commanded? No! And how did God respond? God accused them of breaking all His Moral Law. As far as God was concerned, if they did not keep the fourth Commandment as He commanded then they were breaking all His Laws and Commandments. We find James demonstrates this same principle as God.

James 2:10-12 says, “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law. So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.”

In reference to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, Jesus said in Matthew 24:20, “And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath.” So why would Jesus say pray that you don't have to flee on the Sabbath if was a ceremonial sabbath? The Ceremonial Law was nailed to the cross and yet here is Jesus showing it is still being kept forty years after the cross. There is no way Jesus would say this unless the Sabbath was still going to be kept subsequent to His death. This is solid proof of Sabbath keeping after the cross that also proves it is eternal and belongs in God's eternal Moral Law and cannot be a ceremonial sabbath that were nailed to the cross.

Isaiah also prophesied in Isaiah 66:22-23 that, “For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make … and from one Sabbath to another, shall ALL flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD.” So we keep the Lord's Sabbath in the New Heaven and Earth also! Now that would be strange thing to do if the fourth Commandment was a Ceremonial Law! Keeping a sacrificial law in the kingdom when we are told that there is no more sin.

You will see later that God says that when we keep His Sabbath holy, is a sign that it is God that makes us holy and it is a sign that it is God we worship and that it is a sign that we are God's children. This is talking about the love and worship of God. This also clearly shows that it is a Moral Law of love. The Sabbath is a SIGN that we belong to God and worship God and that He sanctifies us making us His holy children. How can anyone say this has to do with sacrifices for sin. It is sin to break the Lord's Sabbath.

The following table gives an overview of the various feast Holy days that were part of the Ceremonial Law. This law was written in a book by Moses (hence two of its names, Book of the Law and Mosaic Law) and you will note that this law had several ceremonial sabbaths that so often get confused with the fourth Commandment (written in stone by God) of the Ten Commandments which is the Sabbath of the Lord and is eternal for everyone as are the other nine Commandments. The ceremonial sabbaths on the other hand were written by the hand of Moses and were temporary for literal Israel only and were nailed to the cross. It is not hard to see the difference between the ceremonial sabbaths that were practised because of sin and the Ten Commandment Moral Law of God. Do the contents of this table look like a Moral Law to you?

Who wrote the Ceremonial Law and the Moral Law and where were they written and stored?
The Book of the Law (Ceremonial Law) was written by Moses on a paper equivalent and the Ten Commandments (Moral Law) was written by God in stone. You cannot change what is written in stone and hence this also demonstrates the eternal nature of ALL Ten Commandments that God wrote in stone. This includes HIS Sabbath unless you think God is a God of confusion which scripture states he is not, (1 Corinthians 14:33) or that God makes serious mistakes (God is omniscience and does not make mistakes) and put what He calls HIS Sabbath in the Ceremonial Law written by Moses. The ceremonial sabbaths were for Israel only and this is why God called them HER sabbaths. Since God calls HIS Sabbath the Sabbath of the Lord thy God, then this gives clear differentiation as well.

So who wrote the Ceremonial Law? Joshua 23:6 “Be you therefore very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, that you turn not aside there from to the right hand or to the left;”

And where was the Ceremonial Law stored? Deuteronomy 31:24-26 “And it came to pass, when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book, until they were finished, 25 That Moses commanded the Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, saying, 26 Take this book of the law, and put it in the SIDE of the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may be there for a witness against you.”

Who wrote and spoke the Moral Law? Deuteronomy 4:12-13 “And the LORD spoke unto you out of the midst of the fire: you heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only you heard a voice. 13 And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even Ten Commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone.”

And where was the Moral Law stored? Deuteronomy 10:5 “And I turned myself and came down from the mount, and put the tables IN the ark which I had made; and there they be, as the LORD commanded me.”

So we find the Ceremonial Law and the Moral Law once again well distinguished and separate. Moses wrote and spoke the temporary Ceremonial Law that was written on paper and stored on the outside of the Ark separate from the Moral Law. But what was really special is what was stored on the inside of the Ark. God wrote and spoke the eternal Moral Law that was written in stone and this is what was stored on the inside of the Ark under the mercy seat. God's precious Moral Law that defines God's character.

We also find that the Ceremonial Law was instituted 430 years after because of transgressions, which was breaking God's Moral Law.

Genesis 26:5 says that “...Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.” These commandments, statutes and laws cannot be the Ceremonial Law, (Mosaic Law) because this law was not given until 430 years later. Thus this also proves the Ten Commandments (Moral Law) had to exist from the beginning before they were codified in Exodus 20, and this includes the fourth Commandment that was made at creation before sin and is also proven by Exodus 16.

Galatians 3:17 “And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect.” The context of this verse reveals that Paul is referring to the Mosaic Law (Ceremonial Law) rather than the Ten Commandments (Moral Law). One verse later is further confirmation that this later law was the Law of Moses.

Galatians 3:19, “Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions till the seed should come to whom the promise was made...” Note that we are given two very significant bits of information as to why this law was added and how long it would remain in effect.

1. Why was it given? Galatians 3:19 clearly states that it was “added because of transgressions.” Since “where no law is, there is no transgression.” (Romans 4:15), one cannot be guilty of transgressing a law which does not exist. So one law obviously already had to exist and this law had been “transgressed,” which made it necessary to add another law 430 years after the covenant God made with Abraham. Since Genesis 26:5 says “Abraham obeyed ... my laws”, we know that this earlier law, which Abraham observed was the Ten Commandment Moral Law. Moses had not even been born yet, so it could never have been his law! The Ten Commandments had been transgressed making it necessary to add the Ceremonial Law. If a law forbidding murder is broken, then another law would have to be enacted to prescribe the penalty for breaking that first law. Remember also in Galatians 3:10, Paul refers to the curses “which are written in the book of the law.” This law written in a book was the Mosaic Law.

2. How long did this “added” law remain in effect? Galatians 3:19 says, “Till the seed should come.” There cannot be any controversy over the identity of that seed. It is Jesus Christ. Do we have any evidence that the law which was blotted out and nailed to the cross was in fact the Ceremonial Law of Moses? This law was designated as the “handwriting of ordinances.” Colossians 2:14. Nowhere in the entire Bible are the Ten Commandments identified as ordinances. This term is applied to local legal codes which are very narrow and limited, such as “town ordinances” which extend to the city limits. In comparison, the Ten Commandments are more like the constitution of the United States.

Note the following two tables comparing the Moral Law and the Ceremonial Law as well as a table comparing the ceremonial sabbaths with the fourth Commandment. Note that the fourth Commandment is called the “Sabbath of the Lord thy God” and God calls them “My weekly Sabbaths” but the ceremonial sabbaths were for Israel only and were called, “Her Sabbaths.” So here is yet another distinction between the fourth Commandment written in stone by God and the ceremonial sabbaths written in a book by Moses.

The Facts:
Our God is a God of infinite wisdom.
God is all knowing. (Omniscience)
God is love. (1 John 4:8, 16)
God's Ten Commandments are a law of love. (Moral Law)
The Ceremonial sabbaths were observed as a result of sin. (Were not love)
The Sabbath of the Lord is for personal quality time with our Creator. (A love Commandment)
The Sabbath of the Lord thy God was never practised because of sin and so cannot be a Ceremonial Law.

The Questions:
Why would our God of infinite wisdom put His Sabbath in His law of love if it is not a law of love?
Why would our omniscient God put His Sabbath in His eternal law of love if it's not eternal?
Why didn't God put His Sabbath with all the temporary ceremonial sabbaths if it was a ceremonial sabbath and was to end at the cross?
Why didn't God put His Sabbath with the Jewish ceremonial sabbaths if His Sabbath was only for the Jews?
Did God's eternal law change that Jesus said would not change by a Jot or Tittle till heaven and earth pass? (Matthew 5:18, Luke 16:17)
Did God's love for us diminish or end at the cross since He gave us the Seventh day for personal time with Him?
Does God no longer want to have this personal, quality Holy time with us on His Holy Day anymore?
If yes, then why didn't Jesus remove the Seventh day since it would be obsolete, and change to a Six day week?
And why did Jesus keep the Sabbath and why did the Jews and Gentiles such as Paul and Luke keep it after the cross?
And why did Jesus show we would still be keeping the Sabbath when the temple was destroyed in 70 A.D.? (Matthew 24:20)
And why did God say that all flesh would still be keeping the Sabbath in the New Heaven and Earth? (Isaiah 66:22-23)

The Sabbath truth:
God did not include His Sabbath with the ceremonial sabbaths that were nailed to the cross because His Sabbath is NOT a ceremonial Sabbath. God did not include His Sabbath with the ceremonial sabbaths that were just for the Jews because His Sabbath is for ALL FLESH. How could our God of infinite wisdom place a Temporary law in an Eternal law or a law that is NOT love in a law that IS love? Our God is not a fool and “is not the author of confusion…” 1 Corinthians 14:33. God put His Sabbath in His Moral Law of Love because it is a Law of Love and a very special one that is a SIGN it is God we Love and Worship and that we are His children. It is also a SIGN that it is God that sanctifies us and makes us His Holy children. What person who truly loves God would not want to be under this SIGN? It is NOT a sign when we keep another day. To do so is to profane the Holy and to try and make Holy the profane. Only God can make a day Holy.

Ezekiel 22:26 “Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they showed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.”

Exodus 31:16-17 “Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a PERPETUAL covenant. 17 It is a SIGN between me and the children of Israel FOR EVER: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.”

Before responding that the above passage does not apply to you and that you are not a child of Israel, please understand the following. Today there is the Israel of God (Galatians 6:16) and the Israel after the flesh 1 Corinthians 10:18. The Israel of the flesh are those that are Jews by birth. The Israel of God is anyone who belongs to Christ and is under the New Covenant. There are many Christians who do not understand that if we are Christ's then we are spiritual Jews and the Israel of God now. Observe below who the New Covenant was ONLY made with. If one rejects this truth then they cannot be under the New Covenant. See also Romans 2:28-29, Romans 9:6-8 and Galatians 3:28-29. When the Jews rejected God's message from Stephen (Acts 6:8-7:60) and stoned him, the following statement became fact. He is not a Jew which is one outwardly, but he is a Jew who is one inwardly and so if we are God's children then we are Abraham's seed and therefore children of Israel and heirs according to the promise. See also the Sabbath FAQ 15 and Daniel's 70 week prophecy for more on why anyone who belongs to Christ is now Israel. So many have missed and not understood this very relevant and important fact.

Hebrews 8:10 “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:”

What a beautiful verse. God found fault with the Old Covenant in that the people would not obey the Ten Commandments. So now God has written His law in our hearts and in our minds in hope that it will be our hearts desire to love and obey Him so He can be our God and we can be His people. Many do not realize that there is a growing list of more than 500 denominations that observe the Seventh day Sabbath. Select the following link to view a list of some of the different denominations of Sabbath keeping Churches.

So is the Sabbath a Ceremonial Law? Not a chance! The Sabbath of the Lord thy God was never practiced because of sin and this is one of the worst arguments I have ever seen Satan try and perpetuate.