God’s Law Changed
The Bible prophesied a power would arise that would attempt to change God’s law. Has this happened?
The Counterfeit Sabbath 2 of 2
What is truth?
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?
Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: but the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.
Truth is personified in Jesus and revealed in His Word, the Bible. Apart from the small number who were able to see and hear it embodied in Jesus, truth is preserved for the rest of us in the Old and New Testaments. It may seem unfair, but we must remember that the majority rejected Him, not realizing that He was indeed the Messiah, the Son of God. Let us also remember the words of Jesus Himself to the unbelieving Thomas: “Because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed; blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed” (John 20:29).
What else can we learn about truth?
Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.
Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.
Truth is a free gift that can be obtained “without money and without price” by the poorest and the richest; yet, because we live in a world where good and evil are at war, error and deception strive for supremacy over truth. Due to Satan’s incessant warfare against it, truth often brings reproach, inconvenience, and sacrifice into the lives of those who, having found it in God’s Word, consider it better than gold and sweeter than honey. Some are willing to sacrifice everything for it, while personal gain, convenience, or persecution causes others to abandon it.
Does Jesus change?
Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
What were the Ten Commandments written on?
And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.
God wrote the Ten Commandments Himself on tablets of stone to demonstrate their unchanging and eternal nature.
What did Jesus say about the law?
Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail.
My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.
For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.
Since Jesus cannot change, His law cannot change either, for it reflects His holy and unchanging character. Consequently, God could not alter His holy law and still remain the infinitely holy God that He is. Moreover, if His law could have been modified, the Father would have never needed to send His Son to die for our sins on Calvary. Christ’s death stands as eternal testimony that the law is as immutable as God Himself.
It is often claimed that because of Jesus’ death, we are no longer under the law but under grace. But which of the Ten Commandments do we no longer need? Since Jesus died for our sins, are we now free to have other gods, bow down to images, blaspheme God’s name, desecrate His Sabbath, dishonor our parents, murder, commit adultery, steal, lie, and covet? Of course not. Each of these commandments remains as relevant today as when they were first proclaimed on Mount Sinai.
What is part of His law? When was it established?
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 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: 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.
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.
Part of the Ten Commandments that God gave to Moses on Mount Sinai is the seventh-day Sabbath, although God sanctified the day in the very first week of creation. The fourth commandment is a monument in time—a weekly reminder of our Creator God and an opportunity to acknowledge Him as Lord of our lives. The beauty of a time-based monument is its universal accessibility to all, regardless of location, who choose to receive its blessing of rest in God.
Did Jesus keep it?
And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.
And it came to pass also on another sabbath, that he entered into the synagogue and taught: and there was a man whose right hand was withered.
And they went into Capernaum; and straightway on the sabbath day he entered into the synagogue, and taught.
Was it kept after His ascension?
But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and sat down.
And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next sabbath. Now when the congregation was broken up, many of the Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas: who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God. And the next sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God.
And from thence to Philippi, which is the chief city of that part of Macedonia, and a colony: and we were in that city abiding certain days. And on the sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither.
After these things Paul departed from Athens, and came to Corinth; … And he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks.
In the Bible, the weekly Sabbath refers to the seventh day of the week (Exodus 20:10). Scripture testifies that Jesus Himself kept it, and His apostles continued to keep it after His ascension.
What warning did Paul give?
Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.
Paul warned that people would arise within the church—professing to be Christians—who would speak perverse things to draw believers away from the truth.
Was this prophesied in advance?
And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land. And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them. Yea, he magnified himself even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down. And an host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practised, and prospered.
Daniel prophesied that a power, symbolized by a little horn, would arise and exalt itself in opposition to God’s authority, trampling on the truths of the Bible.
Does Daniel have additional details?
And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. 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.
This verse echoes Paul’s warning about men arising “speaking perverse things,” as it describes a religious power that would “speak great words against the most High.” This power, again symbolized by a horn, would challenge God’s authority, persecute His followers for 1,260 years, and seek to change times and laws. This is the same religious power as the one described in Daniel 8:9-12, except that in Daniel 7:24-25 it rises from among the ten tribes that divided the Roman Empire, whereas in Daniel 8 it arises out of one of the four Greek kingdoms that emerged after the death of Alexander the Great. Since the Roman religion of Mithraism was borrowed from Greece through the kingdom of Pergamon, it is not contradictory to say that this power emerged from both the Greek and Roman Empires.
In fact, Mithraism was the Persian name for Babylonian sun worship, for Mithra was the Persian god of light, who, under the Roman Empire, was identified with the sun god Sol Invictus, the invincible or unconquerable sun. This sun worship was later Christianized when Catholicism declared Sunday holy in honor of Christ’s resurrection—a day long associated with pagan sun worship, not only in Mithraism but also in the religion of ancient Babylon.[1] Thus, there is a direct line of continuity between the religions of Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome, and Catholicism—a progression symbolically illustrated in the image of Daniel 2.
There is only one commandment that is both a law and a measure of time: the fourth.[2] The first seeds of its alteration were planted when Constantine converted to Christianity in 312 AD, for after becoming Emperor, he granted Christian bishops influence in the legislative process. Under their guidance, he soon passed the first Sunday law in 321 AD, declaring Sunday—the pagan day of sun worship—the official day of rest across the Roman Empire. This was reinforced in 364 AD, when the Council of Laodicea urged Christians to observe Sunday as their rest day while prohibiting them from resting on Saturday. Thus, the fourth commandment of God was effectively changed—from honoring the biblical seventh-day Sabbath established at creation to observing Sunday—and the rest is history.
Did Jesus warn about this?
Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition. Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
The elevation of human-made commandments and traditions above the truth of the Bible was already a problem in Jesus’ time, and He warned against it. Why? Because it is idolatry. Idolatry is traditionally defined as the worship of idols—human-made images. In the same way, Sunday sacredness is a human-made tradition. Just as God did not create the sun as an object of worship, He did not establish the first day as a day of worship; therefore, there is no real difference between worshiping the object and venerating the day.
What else was changed besides the fourth commandment?
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.
The word “laws” is plural, and indeed the Sabbath commandment was not the only one that was changed. The Catholic Church removed the second commandment, which prohibits the worship of images, and divided the tenth commandment into two.[3] However, it is the alteration of the fourth commandment that stands out most, because the Sabbath is the mark of God’s authority, identifying Him as the Creator. To alter it, therefore, is to directly challenge God’s authority. This naturally raises the following question: What is the Catholic Church’s mark of authority?
What is the Catholic Church’s mark of authority?
Now in the matter of Sabbath observance the Protestant rule of Faith is utterly unable to explain the substitution of the Christian Sunday for the Jewish Saturday. It has been changed. The Bible still teaches that the Sabbath or Saturday should be kept holy. There is no authority in the New Testament for the substitution of Sunday for Saturday. Surely it is an important matter. It stands there in the Bible as one of the Ten Commandments of God. There is no authority in the Bible for abrogating this Commandment, or for transferring its observance to another day of the week. …
We have in the authoritative voice of the Church the voice of Christ Himself. The Church is above the Bible; and this transference of Sabbath observance from Saturday to Sunday is proof positive of that fact. Deny the authority of the Church and you have no adequate or reasonable explanation or justification for the substitution of Sunday for Saturday in the Third—Protestant Fourth—Commandment of God.
Of course the Catholic Church claims that the change was her act. It could not have been otherwise, as none in those days would have dreamed of doing anything, in matters spiritual, ecclesiastical and religious without her. This act is a mark of her ecclesiastical power and authority in religious matters.
The Church changed the observance of the Sabbath to Sunday by right of the divine, infallible authority given to her by her founder, Jesus Christ. The Protestant, claiming the Bible to be the only guide of faith, has no warrant for observing Sunday. In this matter the Seventh-day Adventist is the only consistent Protestant.
If Protestants would follow the Bible, they would worship God on the Sabbath Day. In keeping the Sunday they are following a law of the Catholic Church.
My brethren, look about you upon the various wrangling sects and denominations. Show me one that claims, or possesses the power to make laws binding on the conscience. There’s but one on the face of the earth—the Catholic Church—that has the power to make laws binding upon the conscience, binding before God, binding under pain of hell fire. Take for instance the day we celebrate—Sunday. What right have the Protestant churches to observe that, day? None whatever. … Sunday is not the Sabbath according to the Bible and the record of time. Every one knows that Sunday is the first day of the week, while Saturday is the seventh day and the Sabbath, the day consecrated as a day of rest. It is so recognized in all civilized nations.
I have repeatedly offered $1000 to any one who will furnish any proof from the Bible that Sunday is the day we are bound to keep, and no one has called for the money. If any person in this town will show me any scripture for it I will, tomorrow evening, publicly acknowledge it and thank him for it. It was the holy Catholic Church that changed the day of rest from Saturday to Sunday, the first day of the week. And it not only compelled all to keep Sunday, but at the Council of Laodicea, A. D. 364, anathematized those who kept the Sabbath and urged all persons to labor on the seventh day under the penalty of anathema.
Which church does the whole civilized world obey? Protestants … profess great reverence for the Bible, and yet by their solemn act of keeping Sunday they acknowledge the power of the Catholic Church. The Bible says, ‘Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy,’ but the Catholic Church says, ‘No, keep the first day of the week,’ and the whole world bows in obedience.
What question does the papacy ask Protestants?
Protestants have repeatedly asked the papacy, “How could you dare to change God’s law?” But the question posed to Protestants by the Catholic church is even more penetrating.
Here it is officially: You will tell me that Saturday was the Jewish Sabbath, but that the Christian Sabbath has been changed to Sunday. Changed! but by whom? Who has authority to change an express commandment of Almighty God? When God has spoken and said, Thou shalt keep holy the seventh day, who shall dare to say, Nay, thou mayest work and do all manner of worldly business on the seventh day; but thou shalt keep holy the first day in its stead?
This is a most important question, which I know not how you can answer. You are a Protestant, and you profess to go by the Bible and the Bible only; and yet in so important a matter as the observance of one day in seven as a holy day, you go against the plain letter of the Bible, and put another day in the place of that day which the Bible has commanded.
The command to keep holy the seventh day is one of the ten commandments; you believe that the other nine are still binding; who gave you authority to tamper with the fourth? If you are consistent with your own principles, if you really follow the Bible and the Bible only, you ought to be able to produce some portion of the New Testament in which this fourth commandment is expressly altered.
How many lawgivers are there?
There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?
There is only one Lawgiver—God. Yet we have learned that there exists a religious power claiming to be a lawgiver as well, one that considers itself justified in altering the law of God Himself, thereby placing its authority above His (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4). Jesus warned, “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him [God] which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28). The Church can kill the body (as it did to millions during the Dark Ages), but God has power to raise it from the dead (1 Thessalonians 4:16; 1 Corinthians 15:52). Whom, then, would you rather obey?
Reason and sense demand the acceptance of one or the other of these alternatives: either Protestantism and the keeping holy of Saturday, or Catholicity and the keeping holy of Sunday. Compromise is impossible.
What role will the law play in the last days?
And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.
Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.
In the last days, there will be a sealing of God’s people in their foreheads, which, according to Isaiah, refers to God’s law. When God’s people are sealed, they make an unwavering decision to honor the authority of His law as supreme—above the laws of men—no matter the cost. Their hearts are so knit with their Father’s that they would rather die than disobey their Maker (Revelation 12:11).
What is said about the saints?
Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters. … Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.
Since there will be a call in the last days to worship God, the Creator of the universe, this implies that another power will also be seeking worship. The call includes a reference to the final part of the fourth commandment, which identifies the Sabbath as the sign that God is the Creator of all. Because Isaiah connects the sealing with the commandments, the seventh-day Sabbath, therefore, will constitute the seal of God in the last days.
The other power seeking worship will have its own seal—Sunday—as a sign of allegiance. Just as God used the eating of a tree to test Adam and Eve in Eden, so He will use the observance of a day to test the final generation living on earth. Revelation 14:12 leaves no room for doubt, declaring that the saints will, by God’s grace, be keeping His commandments and the faith of Jesus.
Murl Vance, “The Counterfeit Memorial,” Signs of the Times, July 29, 1940, p. 4 ↩︎
The term “times” in “think to change times and laws” also applies to prophetic times—the method of prophetic interpretation in particular. The historicist method, championed by the Protestant Reformers, has largely been abandoned in favor of the preterist and futurist methods, introduced by the Roman Catholic Jesuits Luis de Alcazar and Francisco Ribera. Alcazar proposed that the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation were fulfilled in the past (preterism), while Ribera suggested they will be fulfilled in the future (futurism). Historicism, on the other hand, views prophecy as relevant throughout church history, tracing it to specific historical events, nations, and movements. The preterist and futurist methods were introduced mainly to counter the historicist method and to divert attention away from Catholicism as a major power in end-time prophetic scenarios, since historicism unequivocally identifies the Roman Catholic Church as the sea beast of Revelation 13. ↩︎
Incidentally, Catholicism teaches that the pope is infallible when he speaks ex cathedra—from his authoritative position—yet at the same time asserts that God, the Creator of all, could somehow alter His own divine law. How can this be? ↩︎