It
is with great fear for our fellowman that we write this article. The
topic is not one that has not been known to some throughout history,
especially in the age in which we live, which started 50 days after our
Lord arose from the grave. This age started with the events of Acts 2.
It was at this time that the law of God was changed. No man was any more
commanded by God to go to Jerusalem for the three specified instances,
as was the case to those Israelite men who lived under the law of Moses.
Notice Deuteronomy 16:16,17: "Three times in a year shall all
thy males appear before the Lord thy God in the place which he shall
choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and
in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the Lord
empty: Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of
the Lord thy God which he hath given thee." (See Exodus
23:14-17, Exodus 34:23.) We do not do this now. Is it because the law of
the land frees us from having to do so? Or, is it because the law of God
has changed, and He no longer requires males to go to the place He chose
for them to observe these 3 feasts?
Who
were the first priests under the law given by God to Moses? Aaron, the
brother of Moses, was the first high priest, and his sons were priests
under him (Exodus 28:1,40,43). In Exodus 29:9 you can find this was a
perpetual statute; that is, Aaron, his sons and their sons would always
be the high priest or a priest of Israel. No son of Moses, or later of
King David, could be a priest. God was very specific that only Aaron,
his sons, or a male descendant could be a priest. Did God offer them any
way to change His law? No. If you know of a teaching in God's Word,
showing God was pleased with a change of this priesthood under the
Mosaical law, please write, giving book, chapter, and verse.
Had
any Israelite family neglected to follow God's specific instructions
regarding the killing of the Passover lamb, and regarding the sprinkling
of the lamb's blood on the door posts and the lintel, the firstborn of
that disobedient Israelite family would have died just as did the
firstborn of each Egyptian family when God passed through Egypt that
night of Passover (Exodus 12).
This week's article gives two examples of how God specified what He required. Israel was not free to appoint priests from any other tribe than the Levitical tribe, from which tribe was Aaron. And in order to escape death on the Passover night, each Israelite had to follow exactly God's commands. Students of the Bible recognize God has always clearly spelled out His commands for man. So it is today. All who do not obey the commands of the New Testament law will not receive and enjoy salvation. Jesus was our sacrificial Passover lamb (1 Corinthians 5:7). He dedicated the new covenant by His blood (Hebrews 9:11-15). He shed His blood to purchase the church, His body (Acts 20:28; Ephesians 1:22,23; Colossians 1:18-20). To be in His body, the church, each of us must obey God's clear commands, found in the New Testament. God has not given to any man, or group of men, the right to change, alter, delete, or add to God's commands!