Sabbath Food: Part 2

John Plunkett
December 22, 2012  

I would like to return to the subject of Sabbath Food. 

To begin, I just want to repeat a couple of things. 

In this multi-part Bible study, we're asking the following questions; and hopefully, we will answer them as we go through – from God’s holy Word, of course.   We are going to be looking to God’s Word to give us the answers to our questions.

The questions are these:

Also, I think you will agree that there are a couple of additional spin-off questions that naturally arise from the first three questions:

Secondly, before we get into the "meat and potatoes" of this study – i.e. the verses themselves – I want to preface our reading of the verses I have for today with a few biblical principles that I believe will apply throughout the study, which could turn out to be quite a long one and might go on for quite a few months.  I don’t think that poses a problem, though, because I want to be comprehensive with it.  I want to dig into it to a depth that I cannot do in just one or two sermons.  We really do need to be looking deeply into these things in order to find out all that God has to say to us on it. 

What can tend to happen, though, is that people can have one or two "pet" Sabbath scriptures which they hold on to, apply and say, "This is the answer to it all" – when really it is only one small part of a much bigger picture.

I want to repeat one of the things that we concentrated on in Part One of this study way back in June.  I won’t apologize for this repetition because it is a very important point and some of you may not have heard it.   I want to begin again by concentrating first of all on the fact that God tells us not to judge unrighteously on these things.  I want to reiterate this right now and I will probably keep coming back to it as we go through the study because I believe that it really is very important:

Colossians 2:
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:
17:  Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.

You and I know that neither God nor the apostle Paul are telling us here that, because these things constitute the shadow of things to come, it is now somehow permissible for God’s New Testament children to eat pig-meat and shellfish; or that it is acceptable for us to drink as much alcohol as we are able to swill down our throats; or that it is okay for us to totally disregard the importance of the new moons and God’s calendar; or that we don’t need to keep God’s Sabbaths or Holy Days. 

So what are God and the apostle Paul telling us in this scripture?  They are telling us that the important thing is that we do not judge one another in the details of how we individually choose to observe these things – within the bounds of His Law, of course. 

The important thing is that we need to get our standards from the Word of God.  We are going to be discussing much more about this as we go along.

It is evident by the fact that the apostle Paul found it necessary to mention this here, that there was judging going on; that there was a judging problem at that time in God’s church in Colossae – and in other congregations too.  This scripture in Colossians 2 – and other scriptures as well – reveal that there were some brethren in various early Church of God congregations who were making a practice of judging one another over their differences regarding various things, such as whether or not they were vegetarian, how often they ate meat, how often they fasted, on what days they should eat meat or fast, whether or not they could eat meat that had been previously offered to heathen idols, whether or not it was permissible for church members to drink wine or other alcoholic beverages and if so, what the limits should be, when and how the new moons should be observed and hence the Holy Days (because one leads to the other) and what should or should not be permissible on God’s weekly Sabbaths and annual Holy Days.  This last one is the one that is most relevant to us today. 

Through the apostle Paul, God warned the Colossian brethren – and warns us today by extension – not to indulge in this unrighteous kind of judging.  (Please note however that there certainly is a righteous kind of judging, as is mentioned in many other scriptures, notably John 7:24).

First and foremost, let us keep this warning against unrighteous judgment – specifically about the keeping of the Sabbath – firmly in the forefront of our minds as we go through this Bible study series.

My second point in this preamble to our Sabbath Food scriptures is that God the Father and Jesus Christ instruct us, both by word and by example, that we keep God’s Commandments holy; but that we keep them as Jesus magnified them.

I have heard it said that different brethren have different points of view on how strictly the Sabbath should be kept because of our different backgrounds or our different principles and that it is acceptable for one member’s principles to be different than another’s.

I can agree that a person’s opinions or principles might be shaped somewhat by their different backgrounds and experiences; but I strongly believe that, if we are all imbued with God’s Holy Spirit and if we are all striving to live by God’s holy, inspired Word, our principles should be virtually identical – for the most part, anyway.  Let’s look at a few scriptures on this:

Amos 3:3: 
Can two walk together, except they be agreed?

This is a little tiny verse with a huge lesson in it.

Philippians 3:
15a:  Let us therefore, as many as be perfect...

Of course, none of us are totally perfect.  I believe that this means becoming perfect or on the road to perfection.  It can also mean spiritually mature.

15b: ... be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.

Paul seems to be sending us down a "funnel" here, concentrating us into a place where our opinions in lots of ways need to be the same.

Verse 16:  Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing.
17: Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample.

So we see that the apostle Paul expected the church members in the Philippi congregation to be like-minded with him and his fellow-apostles, to walk by the same rules as they walked by, to mind the same things as they minded, and to follow their example. 

We might read this and ask the question: “How could the apostle Paul be so sure that his example and his principles were so right for the brethren to follow?  How?  The answer is because the right example and principles were not Paul’s.  They were Jesus Christ’s.  Paul learned and copied them from Jesus:

I Corinthians 11:1: 
Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.

We see that the apostle Paul emulated Jesus Christ.

All of this discussion of a Christian’s principles may at first seem irrelevant to our topic of Sabbath Food; but please bear with me a little longer, because this is an important preamble to the study, as I think that you will come to see.

Another question: What are the true Christian principles?  What are the principles that a true Christian must live by?

As we'll see as we go through this next scripture, the true Christian principles are essentially bound up in the one Holy Spirit of God.  There a many scriptures that we could read on this; but to keep it short, let’s just pick on this one:

Philippians 1:
27:  Only let your conversation (NKJV: conduct) be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;

Let’s talk about this for a few more minutes.  A Christian’s conduct should be the result of one mind.  That mind should be the result of one Christian spirit.  That spirit is the Holy Spirit, of course.  There is only one Holy Spirit.  We all have the human spirit; but the spirit that we are really interested here in is the Holy Spirit.  

The Holy Spirit is the one and the same spirit that governs what we call "the Spirit of the Law."  When we hear the Spirit of the Law being mentioned, we know which spirit is being talked about.  The Holy Spirit is the unifying Spirit of God’s holy Law; and God’s holy Law is the Law of love.  

When we think of the Law, we think of the Commandments.  They are virtually one and the same thing (Matthew 22:35-40).

Where and when did Jesus expand and extend "the Letter of the Law" into what we know as "the Spirit of the Law"?  God the Father and Jesus Christ (as YHVH) initially put it together and it was the Spirit of their Law.  When did they expand it?  Jesus expanded it to the disciples in Matthew 5 in what we have commonly and perhaps inaccurately referred to as "the Sermon of the Mount."   Let's go there:

Matthew 5:21:
Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment.

Here, Jesus is quoting His Sixth Commandment, as you know.

The phrase, “by them of old time” is a poor translation of the Greek adjective "archaios."   This translation is poor because it might lead those who are wishing to do away with or downgrade the Ten Commandments to feel that Jesus was belittling the Ten Commandments here, or watering them down.  He was not!  And He never did!  He was not saying, "That was then; but this is now."  Well yes, He was in a way saying this; but He was not watering it down.  On the contrary, He was magnifying it!

If you look it up in a good Bible dictionary or lexicon, you will find that a better, more relevant rendition of the word "archaios" is "from the beginning."  Hence Jesus is saying here: "You have heard that it was said from the beginning..."  This makes it even more important.  In a few minutes, we will go to Genesis 2, which solidly backs up what Jesus said here.  But for now, still in Matthew 5, next comes Jesus’ magnification of His Sixth Commandment:

22:  But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca {You empty-headed person}, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire..

Then Jesus moves on to His second example of the magnification of His law:

Verse 27:  Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time... {You have heard that it was said by them from the beginning}... Thou shalt not commit adultery:
28:  But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

We all know that, in the subsequent verses after these, Jesus refers to more points than just these two.  But I concentrate on these two specifically because, in them, Jesus quotes two of His Ten Commandments – number six and number seven.

A couple of questions arise.  In saying what Jesus said here, did He do away with these two commandments?  Did He say that it was no longer necessary for His New Testament people to obey those two Commandments?  Did He "soften" them or take away from them?  Did He downgrade them or shrink their importance?  Did He reduce the importance of keeping them?  Did He declare that, from that time on, they were less important than they had been previously; or no longer as important as they had been previously; or that they were no longer as strictly binding as they had been previously? 

The answer to all of these questions is a resounding "No!" 

On the contrary, what He did here was to magnify these two commandments.  He made them more binding, not less.  He pointed us to the fact that the Spirit of the Law is far superior to the mere Letter of the Law, as Paul reiterated:

Romans 7:
6:  But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.

This doesn’t mean to say that the Ten Commandments and the Letter of the Law are done away.  Rather, it means that the Spirit of the Law is so much more important.

Verse 7:  What shall we say then?  Is the law sin?  God forbid.  Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.

Romans 3:31:
Do we then make void the law through faith?  God forbid: yea, we establish the law.

More questions arise.  Are we to believe that, just because Jesus only quoted and magnified His sixth and seventh commandments in Matthew 5, His magnification was restricted to these two alone and that the same kind of magnification should not be applied to the other eight – including the fourth Commandment?  Of course not!

Let’s go back to verse 17 of Matthew 5, where we will see how Jesus first introduced the magnification portion of what we call the Sermon on the Mount:

Matthew 5:
17: Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.

He is not just talking about just two Commandments here; but all of them.  

There are two very interesting words here – "destroy" and "fulfil."  When He used these two words, He seemed to be verbally likening His Law to a liquid – in perhaps two different ways – good wine and good ink!  

The word "destroy" is translated from the Greek word "kataluo," which can also mean "to water down," "to dilute" or "to dissolve."  If ink were to be watered down, it will not be as clear or effective.  If good wine is watered down, it will not be as good as in its undiluted state; it certainly will not taste nearly as good! 

On the other hand, the word "fulfil" is translated from the Greek verb "pleroo," which can also mean "to make full."  Once again, if we apply this to either ink or wine, we are adding more.  Jesus is adding more!  The Greek verb can mean:

Does this sound like Jesus was downgrading or watering down His own Commandments?  Certainly not!

Verse 18:  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.  

Not on jot nor tittle!  Not even one piece of the fine detail of Hi Law shall pass until all be fulfilled.  Has all been fulfilled?  No!  That day has not yet arrived.  There are people who would try and make us believe that all has been fulfilled – that Jesus fulfilled everything.  Yes, He did complete all of the "important bits"; but there is still a long way to go before all has been totally fulfilled.  

Also, the other thing to notice here is that Jesus says, “Not one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law,”  This is not just two Commandments.  This all of His Law; not just the two Commandments that He quoted.  Not one jot or one tittle can be taken out!

Verse 19:  Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.  
20:  For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.  

How could the people who were listening to Jesus at that time ensure that their righteousness exceeded that of the Scribes and Pharisees?  How could they ensure their own greatness in the Kingdom of God?  (I know that we sometimes say that we don’t necessarily want to be great in the Kingdom of God.  "I just want to be a doorkeeper" or something like that.  You and I are going to be kings and priests in the Kingdom of God (Revelation 1:6; 5:10). We don’t need to be embarrassed about this).  But I digress!  How could Jesus listeners ensure that their righteousness will exceed that of the Scribes and Pharisees?  And how can we ensure the same level?  How can we ensure our greatness as kings and priests in the Kingdom of God?  By doing and teaching the Ten Commandments.  Not just the Ten Commandments; but Jesus’ magnified renditions of them.  

That magnification is what Jesus went into in the six examples which He proceeded to give in verses 21 to 48.  He just honed in on two of the Ten Commandments and then four other points as well.  I use the term "examples" because I believe that the points that Jesus gave here were not fully, one hundred percent comprehensive.  I believe that Jesus wants us to use "our little grey cells" in conjunction with the Holy Spirit that He has put within us in order to flesh out and to build on the framework that He gave us here.  

Just because He only mentions two of the Ten Commandments here doesn’t mean to say that the other eight don’t count.  I am not trying to read into it something that is not there; but this is one case where we can imply that the magnification o all of the Ten Commandments is valid.

What I am suggesting here, then, is that, as we go through this Sabbath Food Bible study over the next couple of months, we apply the same principle of magnification to the Fourth Commandment – just as Jesus applied it to the Sixth and Seventh Commandments.  

If we are going to err, I think we would really be better erring on "the safe side" – which I believe to be "the magnified side."

As we go through these Sabbath Food scriptures together, I promise that I will try to be as unbiased as possible.  I am still learning.  I know that I am getting to be a little "long in the tooth"; but I am still learning God’s Word and His will; and I know that all of you, too, are continuing to learn.  All of us are a work in progress.  If what we read and learn over the next few months causes us to make any necessary changes and causes us to better align ourselves to God’s Word and will, then it has to be a good thing.  

I do not wish to argue with anybody or their views, if different than mine.  I don’t want to make any unrighteous judgments.  I just want to find out, from God's Word, what He wants me to do;   This is what I am going to be working on and studying for the next couple of months and you are invited to join me in my studies.

God wants us to find out where we are going wrong; and when we do find these things out, He wants us to repent of those things.  He wants us to be increasingly coming to His perfection as we go along.

Okay, that is the preamble over with for today; so now, let’s get into the "meat and potatoes" of the Bible study.  Let’s start looking at the Sabbath Food scriptures themselves.

But where do we start?  There are so many relevant scriptures!  But there is no rush or panic.  We will get to them all.  As we go through the Bible in order of the scriptures, we are going to try to get to all of the relevant scriptures and discuss them in a fair way.  However, if, as we go along, you think I might be leaving some important scriptures or points out, please don't hesitate to drop me a line by e-mail or give me a call and say, "Hey!  What about this one?"  

So again, where do we start?  The words of Maria Von Trapp  in "The Sound of Music" come to my mind: "Let’s start at the very beginning; a very good place to start!"   Also from the scriptures... Remember what we read earlier when we looked at that word ‘archaios’ in Matthew 5?... "You have heard that it was said by them from the very beginning."  So let us go back to the very beginning of the age of man here on earth.

Genesis 2:
1:  Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
2:  And on the seventh day God (Elohim) 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.

It is important that we know what is being talked about here.  We are going to pick on some of these Hebrew words, as we go through the relevant Old Testament scriptures, and, of course, the Greek words when we come to the New Testament. 

The Hebrew word for "work" here is "melakah" (Strong’s 4399).  Please make note of this term, as we will be coming back to it later in our study.

Secondly, let’s look at the verbal (or etymological) similarity between two other very relevant Hebrew words here.  The Hebrew word for "seventh" is "shebiy" (Strong’s 7637).  The second one is the Hebrew word for "rested" which is "shabath" (Strong’s 7673).  We can clearly see the similarity between the two words "shebiy" and "shabath."

"Shabath" can also mean "cease," "desist" or "put an end to."  Basically, it means "Stop."  

"Shebiy" means "rested."  Together they are a kind of weekly stop sign.

The God who said these things was Elohim.  What was Elohim’s example for us in this regard?  Just what did He do?  

Actually, more accurately, What did they do?  Who was (and is) Elohim?  It was the God Family at that time – God the Father and Jesus Christ – God the Father and YHVH.  When a scripture is just talking about YHVH on His own, sometimes you will see the term, "Elohim YHVH" and, of course, sometimes just "YHVH."  When you see "Elohim," this is referring to both God the Father and Jesus Christ.

So again, what did they do in Genesis 2:1-3?  Right from the beginning of man’s time on earth they Shabathed on the Shebiy day.  They rested on the seventh day.  God’s Word says that they – God the Father and YHVH – Shabathed.  They rested.  They ceased.  They stopped working.  It says that Elohim ended their work.  

The Hebrew word for "ended" is "kalah," which can mean just simply "finished" or "accomplished."  They completed their work.  In verses 2 and 3, it says "all his work."  All their work!  What work had Jesus and His Father been engaged in during the first six days of that week?  It was their re-creation work.  So once Elohim had finished all of their re-creation work, they stopped working and they Shabathed – they rested.  

Did they need to rest?  No.  Of course they didn’t need to rest.  It is obvious – and we will see this when we get to Part Three –  that they rested as an example for their people –  including you and me.

What else did Elohim do?  The scripture says that they blessed the seventh day.  The Hebrew word translated as "blessed" is "barak," which can also mean "salute," "praise," "kneel," or "congratulate."  These words reveal the different levels or layers of the specialness of the seventh day.

What else did Elohim do?  They sanctified the seventh day.  As well as "sanctified," the Hebrew word "qadash" can also be translated as:
- dedicated
- purified
- separated
- consecrated
- hallowed
- made holy
- set apart as sacred.  

These words reveal how absolutely "super-special" the seventh day was made.  It wasn’t just made special at Sinai, but way earlier – actually approximately 2,500 years earlier than Sinai.  It was made holy at the very beginning of the age of man – at the very time of God’s re-creation of this earth.  

Please note who sanctified it.  Verse 3 also tells us that it was made super-special by Elohim – by God the Father and YHVH.  We need to remember that only God the Father and Jesus Christ are truly Holy:

Revelation 15:4:  
Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name?  For thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest.

This verse applies to Jesus Christ; but obviously, by extension, to His Father.  Only they who are inherently and eternally holy are able to hallow something else.  Only they have the authority to set something apart – including time – as sacred, hallowed, dedicated, consecrated, purified, separated and holy.  Only the Ones who are holy can make something else holy.   Only they have the authority to sanctify something and – please remember this as we go though this study, because it is very important to remember – only they have the authority to de-sanctify something.  Only they have the authority to remove the holiness of a thing that they have previously made holy, or to down-grade or lessen its  holiness.  

As this point is so important, right from the beginning of our study, let’s beware of even the very thought that mere human beings might be allowed to belittle, to down-grade, or to water down God’s holy Sabbath days in any way at all, or to relegate them to lower importance that they were created and sanctified to be.

Such thoughts could be hazardous to our health – both physically and, even more important in the long run, spiritually.  We need to be looking after our spiritual health.  I am not advocating a "ministry of fe– ar" or anything like that; but being aware of such things is for our own good.

Have you ever belittled God’s Sabbaths in the past?  Yes, even since you were called into God’s church?   I'll admit that I have.  I am not going to point the finger at anybody else; but perhaps, in some cases, what happens is that this can be a result of the teaching or example of other people – other members or ministers who have been in the church way longer than we have – people who perhaps we assume to know better than us.  We can say that is why we watered the Sabbath down; but the bottom line is that this is not a permissible excuse.  Ministers and long-time members are still only mere human beings  and not one of them has the right to teach – neither by word nor by example – the demeaning of God’s holy time.  Please remember what Jesus said – what we read earlier:

Matthew 5:19:  
Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Again, we cannot point the finger of blame at others for our own unrighteous actions.  Despite our backgrounds and experiences, we are all individually responsible for our own actions.

But now that God has called us and put His Spirit in us, His holy Word – the Word of God – must be our instruction book.  Not the words, opinions or examples of other human beings; and especially those that are  not solidly backed up by God’s Word.  

I am not saying that we shouldn’t listen to or learn from the preaching or the writing of other converted people.  If I believed that, I would be wasting my breath standing up here right now.  But it is like Mr. Armstrong used to say: "Don’t just believe me!  Blow the dust off your own Bible."  The ultimate authority and the last word on all doctrine must be from the Word of God.  That is why I want this series to be all about going back to "the Book" on this particular subject.

Let’s move along approximately 2,500 years now; and let’s visit our poor Israelite forefathers in their Egyptian slavery:

Exodus 5:  
1:  And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness.

We can’t be totally sure which feast this was.  I am not sure.  It could have been one of the annual feasts that we are familiar with; or a unique one specially commissioned and commanded by God just for that purpose of testing Pharaoh.  Whichever is the case, we will see that the Israelites were to stop (shabath) their usual work in order to keep this day.

Verse 2:  And Pharaoh said, Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go?  I know not the LORD, neither will I let Israel go.  
3:  And they said, The God of the Hebrews hath met with us: let us go, we pray thee, three days’ journey into the desert, and sacrifice unto the LORD our God; lest he fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword. 4:  And the king of Egypt said unto them, Wherefore do ye, Moses and Aaron, let the people from their works?  Get you unto your burdens.  
5:  And Pharaoh said, Behold, the people of the land now are many, and ye make them rest from their burdens.

The Hebrew words ‘maaseh’ for works and ‘balah’ for burdens will come to be important as we continue our study.  Why would they be important?   I have heard some brethren say that the only work that we must decline on God’s Sabbaths is the work of our daily, paid jobs.  You have probably heard that too.  They say that any other work is acceptable.  However, as we continue on, we will see that there are lots of valid proofs against this opinion.  We will come back to these things as we move along.

The next scripture, and the last one for today, is in Exodus 12.  We are going to visit the Israelites again.  They are still in Egypt.  They haven’t left yet.  They are just receiving God’s commands regarding the keeping of the Passover and – what is more relevant to our present study today – the two annual Sabbaths – the two Holy days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

Exodus 12:  
15:  Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; even the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel.
16:  And in the first day there shall be an holy convocation, and in the seventh day there shall be an holy convocation to you; no manner of work shall be done in them, save that which every man must eat, that only may be done of you.

This last sentence here is very interesting.  The Hebrew word for “no manner of work” is ‘malaka’– the very same word used in Genesis when Elohim gave us the example of ceasing from all their work.  First in verse 16 of Exodus 12, we read that no manner of work shall be done on the two Holy Days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread; and then we read that, on these particular days, a certain degree of work is acceptable for the preparation of food.  Please note that the wording here does not mention that cooking is being allowed.  

Still, there are a couple of questions that arise from this.  First of all, I want you to think about this verse and ask these questions: Does this “no manner of work” restriction apply only to the first and last Days of Unleavened Bread?  Or does it apply to all of God’s annual Holy Days?  Or does it also apply to all of the Holy Days and the weekly Sabbaths?  

Secondly, what about the clause, “save that which every man must eat”?  Does that phrase really open up the first and last days of Unleavened Bread – and perhaps the other Holy Days too – for some degree of cooking?  But it doesn’t say anything about cooking!  It obviously does refer to preparing and serving out the food that is available; but it doesn’t say anything at all about cooking it.  Is it referring to minor food preparation that does not involve cooking or any major consumption of time and effort?  If you will allow me to express my own personal opinion on this, I feel that the latter is the correct understanding.   I say this because, if this verse did allow some degree of cooking, it would be contradicting other related scriptures later on; and God’s Word does not contradict itself.  More light will be shed on these questions as we continue; and especially as we use God’s recipe for Bible Study.  You know what I am talking about:

Isaiah 28:10:  
For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:

This is what we are going to be doing as we go through this study.  

JHP/pp/sl/jhp