The point of this article is to create a dialogue among God’s people with regards to the law as found within the Scriptures. We need to rightly divide the word of truth and rightly put things in their place and let them shine forth in ten times their original brightness.
We piggy back and spring off in this short study from the testimonies of God’s Spirit as found in the writings of Sister White.
The Ceremonial Law
“Adam and Eve, at their creation, had a knowledge of the law of God; they were acquainted with its claims upon them; its precepts were written upon their hearts. When man fell by transgression the law was not changed, but a remedial system was established to bring him back to obedience. The promise of a Saviour was given, and sacrificial offerings pointing forward to the death of Christ as the great sin offering were established.” {PP 363.1}
“But had the law of God never been transgressed, there would have been no death, and no need of a Saviour; consequently there would have been no need of sacrifices.” {PP 363.1}
Points to note.
- When man sinned a remedial system was instituted. In other words, in consequence to man’s sin the remedial system was added.
- What was the purpose of the remedial system? To bring man back into obedience.
The fall of man, or the transgression of the law of God, sin caused an establishment of a remedial system. In other words, because of sin, the remedial system was added. Without the entrance of sin the remedial system would not have been added. The remedial system would have been unnecessary.
Now let us get more practical and tangible. What exactly is this remedial system?
“…When man fell by transgression the law was not changed, but a remedial system was established to bring him back to obedience. The promise of a Saviour was given, and sacrificial offerings pointing forward to the death of Christ as the great sin offering were established.” {PP 363.1}
The remedial system was established… sacrificial offerings pointing forward to the death of Christ the great sin offering were established.
I think it can be seen that sister White here uses Hebrew synonymous parallelism in prose form, in two succeeding sentences, to define what exactly is the remedial system.
The remedial system was the system of sacrifice and offering that pointed forward to the death of Christ. This is the system that was now introduced after the entrance of sin as a necessity to bring back man to God, to obedience to God.
Christ, as prefigured in the sacrificial system, was to come and die as the great sin offering in order to atone for the sin of the world and thereby reconcile man to God.
This system of sacrifices only became necessary because of the entrance of sin into the world through the transgression of Adam. If Adam had not transgressed there would have been no need for the introduction or addition of the system of sacrifices because there would not have been need for Christ to die as the great sin offering in order to bring man back to God.
Again the system of sacrifices was only added because of transgression. The remedial system was only added or instituted because things had gone wrong and a remedy was needed. Without trangression, without things going wrong, the addition would not have been necessary.
“But had the law of God never been transgressed, there would have been no death, and no need of a Saviour; consequently there would have been no need of sacrifices.” {PP 363.1}
I think that point has been settled. Now let us carry on. Is there another name which is tied to this remedial system, or system of sacrifices in religious thoughts?
“The sacrificial system, committed to Adam, was also perverted by his descendants. Superstition, idolatry, cruelty, and licentiousness corrupted the simple and significant service that God had appointed. Through long intercourse with idolaters the people of Israel had mingled many heathen customs with their worship; therefore the Lord gave them at Sinai definite instruction concerning the sacrificial service.” {PP 364.3}
From the above we see that if we want to learn about the sacrificial system that was added as a remedial system as a result of transgression we need only look at the instructions given at Sinai concerning sacrifices. You will mostly find these in Leviticus chapter 1 to chapter 7.
It should be noted that in the reading of the Leviticus 1 to 7 the sacrifices were intricately connected with the tabernacle or sanctuary, where God Presence dwelt, and a priesthood that ministered in the offering of the sacrifices.
Does the sacrificial system that was transmitted to Adam also have these aspects of a sanctuary and a priesthood?
Let us see.
“And at the end of days it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.” {Genesis 4:3-5}
So there was a time that Cain brought his offering unto the LORD and so did Abel.
If I may ask,
- How did Cain and Abel know that they were to bring sacrifices before God?
- How was the time of bringing these sacrifice determined?
- The passage says it was ‘at the end of days’ (marginal reading). Does this mean it was at the end of the biblical yearly cycle like it was for Israel? See Ex 23:16, Ex 34:22
Irrespective of what answers the questions yield some things stand as fact.
- They both had an understanding of offering sacrifices.
- They brought them unto the LORD. That is where the LORD was at that time and where His Presence dwelt. We may not have clear answers from the bible where this physically was but we know for a fact they brought them unto the LORD. Just like Israel was wont to do two millennia afterwards.
- They brought their sacrifices at the same time period, the end of days.
Having observed all this, one thing still lacks in this narration; a visible presentation of a priesthood in the story of Cain and Abel.
Does this mean that the concept of a priesthood was not given to Adam and Eve and it was unknown to the world until Sinai?
Seemingly.
But if we could get an evidence from the bible that showed an understanding of the concept of the priesthood before Sinai would that at least hint to us that there was an understanding back then of the concept of a priest? A person who officiated on behalf of the people in things that concerned God? See Heb 5:1
If your answer is yes, we would point to Melchizedek. He is explicitly called a “priest of the Most High God”. Gen 14:18. And that would clearly demonstrate the understanding of the office of a priest before Sinai hinting that the knowledge of such an office existed and was understood.
The only wonder now is that we do not see it explicitly mentioned in the narration of Cain and Abel bringing their sacrifices. Was there a priest with them there that helped in the offering of the sacrifices?
Continuing …
“After the completion of the tabernacle He communicated with Moses from the cloud of glory above the mercy seat, and gave him full directions concerning the system of offerings and the forms of worship to be maintained in the sanctuary. The ceremonial law was thus given to Moses, and by him written in a book. ” PP 364.3
“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.” {PP 365.1}
Thus we see that the other name for the remedial system, the system of sacrifices and offerings that pointed forward to the death of Christ is called the ceremonial system or rather the ceremonial law or ritual law.
At this point let us reiterated once again some paragraphs we have read above …
“This system of sacrifices only became necessary because of the entrance of sin into the world through the transgression of Adam. If Adam had not transgressed there would have been no need for the introduction or addition of the system of sacrifices because there would not have been need for Christ to die as the great sin offering in order to bring man back to God.
Again the system of sacrifices was only added because of transgression. The remedial system was only added or instituted because things had gone wrong and a remedy was needed. Without trangression, without things going wrong, the addition would not have been necessary.“
Rephrasing this thought and replacing the words the system of sacrifices with ceremonial law we have the following statement…
The ceremonial law only became necessary because of the entrance of sin into the world through the transgression of Adam. If Adam had not transgressed there would have been no need for the introduction or addition of the ceremonial law because there would have been no need for the ceremonial law (as fulfilled in Christ) as the remedial system in order to bring us back into harmony with God.
Again restating it, the ceremonial law was added because of transgression. Had man never sinned or had transgression never existed the ceremonial law would never have been added. As the ceremonial law as fulfilled in Christ was the remedy for transgression.
“Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator” Galatians 3:19
In a sense the law in this passage is the ceremonial law, the system of sacrifices and offerings. It was added because of transgression. And was to continue till the seed should come; when the sacrifices and oblation shall cease (see Dan 9:27).
However, in its present context of Galatians 3 one can argue that it is talking about the giving of the law in Sinai but if it is remembered that the giving of the law in Sinai is firstly comprised of two laws; the moral and the ceremonial; and that this was no new giving of the law but a repetition of that which had already been given to Adam the difficulty presented by the given context in Galatians 3 disappears.
To close this study here are two excerpts …
The Moral Law
“Adam and Eve, at their creation, had a knowledge of the law of God; they were acquainted with its claims upon them; its precepts were written upon their hearts. When man fell by transgression the law was not changed, but a remedial system was established to bring him back to obedience. The promise of a Saviour was given, and sacrificial offerings pointing forward to the death of Christ as the great sin offering were established. But had the law of God never been transgressed, there would have been no death, and no need of a Saviour; consequently there would have been no need of sacrifices.” {PP 363.1}
“Adam taught his descendants the law of God, and it was handed down from father to son through successive generations. But notwithstanding the gracious provision for man’s redemption, there were few who accepted it and rendered obedience. By transgression the world became so vile that it was necessary to cleanse it by the Flood from its corruption. The law was preserved by Noah and his family, and Noah taught his descendants the Ten Commandments. As men again departed from God, the Lord chose Abraham, of whom He declared, “Abraham obeyed My voice, and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.” Genesis 26:5. To him was given the rite of circumcision, which was a sign that those who received it were devoted to the service of God—a pledge that they would remain separate from idolatry, and would obey the law of God. The failure of Abraham’s descendants to keep this pledge, as shown in their disposition to form alliances with the heathen and adopt their practices, was the cause of their sojourn and bondage in Egypt. But in their intercourse with idolaters, and their forced submission to the Egyptians, the divine precepts became still further corrupted with the vile and cruel teachings of heathenism. Therefore when the Lord brought them forth from Egypt, He came down upon Sinai, enshrouded in glory and surrounded by His angels, and in awful majesty spoke His law in the hearing of all the people.” {PP 363.2}
“He did not even then trust His precepts to the memory of a people who were prone to forget His requirements, but wrote them upon tables of stone. He would remove from Israel all possibility of mingling heathen traditions with His holy precepts, or of confounding His requirements with human ordinances or customs. But He did not stop with giving them the precepts of the Decalogue. The people had shown themselves so easily led astray that He would leave no door of temptation unguarded. Moses was commanded to write, as God should bid him, judgments and laws giving minute instruction as to what was required. These directions relating to the duty of the people to God, to one another, and to the stranger were only the principles of the Ten Commandments amplified and given in a specific manner, that none need err. They were designed to guard the sacredness of the ten precepts engraved on the tables of stone.” {PP 364.1}
“If man had kept the law of God, as given to Adam after his fall, preserved by Noah, and observed by Abraham, there would have been no necessity for the ordinance of circumcision. And if the descendants of Abraham had kept the covenant, of which circumcision was a sign, they would never have been seduced into idolatry, nor would it have been necessary for them to suffer a life of bondage in Egypt; they would have kept God’s law in mind, and there would have been no necessity for it to be proclaimed from Sinai or engraved upon the tables of stone. And had the people practiced the principles of the Ten Commandments, there would have been no need of the additional directions given to Moses.” {PP 364.2}
The Ceremonial Law
“The sacrificial system, committed to Adam, was also perverted by his descendants. Superstition, idolatry, cruelty, and licentiousness corrupted the simple and significant service that God had appointed. Through long intercourse with idolaters the people of Israel had mingled many heathen customs with their worship; therefore the Lord gave them at Sinai definite instruction concerning the sacrificial service. After the completion of the tabernacle He communicated with Moses from the cloud of glory above the mercy seat, and gave him full directions concerning the system of offerings and the forms of worship to be maintained in the sanctuary. The ceremonial law was thus given to Moses, and by him written in a book. But the law of Ten Commandments spoken from Sinai had been written by God Himself on the tables of stone, and was sacredly preserved in the ark.” {PP 364.3}