SDA Open Letter - Moral vs Ceremonial Law

...I continue with my letter to the SDA leaders

IS THERE A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MORAL AND CEREMONIAL LAW?

So let’s look closer at Ellen G White’s Moral vs Ceremonial Laws. 

Short form for the 10
Commandments
in Hebrew

If I ask a Jewish person how many commandments there are that make up the Law, they will state that there are not 10 but there are 613 Commandments.  They call the law the Mitzvot.   [I covered this in an earlier post].  The Ten Commandments are seen as a summary of the 613 commandments.  Furthermore, if I ask a Jewish person who follows the Law whether the ten commandments or any law is more important or otherwise, they will tell you that each of the commandments make up ONE Law and therefore each commandment is equal in rank.  (Actually and incredibly, most Jews today are atheists so do not even believe in God – this is sad but true and prophetically foretold (Isaiah 6:10 and restated in John 12:40) so if you did ask a Jew they would probably not care.)  [There are some examples below:]

When God gave the Ten Commandments, he did so at Horeb, also known as the Mt Sinai area.  That is common knowledge and no one denies that.  The Ten Commandments form part of the Law of Moses which is written in the Torah* – The Torah is also known as the Book of the Law which we know as the Pentateuch - or Genesis to Deuteronomy.  The Torah is a part of the Tanakh.  This Unlike our bible, the Tanakh contains the Old Testament books that we have but they are not divided into separate books like ours.  So for example, Genesis to Deuteronomy is one “book” (Torah) while things like Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, etc are in one “book” called The Prophets (Nevi'im) and others are contained in the book known as "The writings" (Ketuvim). Oddly enough, Daniel (an SDA favourite book), Ezra-Nehemiah are found in the Ketuvim and not the Nevi-im.  This description of the Tanakh is mentioned in the New Testament (Matt 5:17; 7:12; 22:40; John 1:45; Ac 13:15; 24:14; Ac 28:23; Rom 3:21. 

The Apostle James, the half brother of Jesus said this:    

For the one who obeys the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it. (James 2:10).   

If you break one point of the law you break the Law.  Break the Sabbath, you break the Law.  Steal and you break the Law, commit adultery and you break the Law, move a boundary marker and you break the Law,  Boil meat with milk (Ex 23:19) and you break the law, prophesy falsely and you break the Law (Deut 18:20) Borrow money on interest (Deut 20:20) and you break the Law, harvest an entire field (Lev 19:9) and you break the Law.

What I want to know is this and I hope you have the answer because SDA followers always say that such a thing exists, so you must know here there is proof:  

WHERE IN THE BIBLE DOES IT CLEARLY STATE THAT THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MORAL AND CEREMONIAL LAWS? 

 I have asked nearly every SDA member and elder that I can find this question and no one can give me an answer.

This is why murder is punishable by stoning, blasphemy by stoning, picking up sticks on the Sabbath by stoning.  This is not to say that every punishment is stoning, as stoning is not always the punishment (there would be no Jew alive today if it was!) but the view that breaking any law, no matter how big or small, simply broke THE LAW – THE ONE LAW – THE LAW OF GOD.  

I challenge any SDA leader to approach a practicing orthodox Jew and tell them that there is a difference between moral, civil and ceremonial laws.  They will do one of two things.  They will either laugh at you for saying something so silly (because they believe there is only one Law) or they will hit you for blasphemy.  You will be accused of tampering with the Law of God.  Practicing Jews find such talk offensive. [EDIT; Actually some may agree with SDAs - Judaism has many distortions.]
-------

[BONUS MATERIAL NOT IN ORIGINAL LETTER. 

Warning: I get into an area here that I admit is not my specialty at all, so I rely heavily on outside sources.  Secondly, because we need to look closely into Jewish thinking on their own Commandments from God, there is a lot of Hebrew terms.  I have tried to explain these as best I can.  However, the topic lies at the heart of what makes a Jew, Jewish.  As the "Law" is very much a part of the fabric of the Jew, it is as difficult for me to explain as it is for you to explain why Rugby is such an important part of New Zealand Culture.  Thirdly, the Jewish world regarding the Laws of Moses is not simple.  Whenever you read Jewish material bear in mind that just because it is Jewish, does not mean is speaks for all Jewish thought or even is necessarily scriptural.  In much the same way that if you want to know about Christianity, do you read the Catholic Catechisms, Martyn Luther's 95 Theses, the Nicene Crede]

Here are some Jewish commentaries on the Law. (Note that followers of Judaism do not use the name, God, as according to some, that violates the Mitzvot.  Instead they substitute it as G-d.

There are a total of 613 commandments in the Torah (including the most famous Ten), and ALL enable us to serve G-d. Judaism is emphatic to point out that a “small” Mitzvah is no less important than a “big” mitzvah. Though believing in G-d’s Omnipotence and Providence may seem loftier than turning off a refrigerator light before Shabbat, both of these mitzvahs are required components in fulfilling G-d’s word. G-d wants us to perform all the commandments, and each one constitutes His eternal wishes of us.

In summary: these specific Ten Commandments are not more important than the rest of the commandments.

So what’s all the hullabaloo about the Big Ten? After all, G-d did choose to deliver these ten – and only these ten – amidst a big show at Mt. Sinai in front of all the Jewish people!
The Ten Commandments are general and inclusive commandments which have the other 603 Torah commandments incorporated within them. In these Ten one can find the root of all the other commandments.

For example, one single commandment may encompass a detailed set of specific laws (“Keep the Shabbat holy” includes the 39 labors prohibited on Shabbat and their derivations); or it may hint to a whole gamut of laws which are only alluded to within the general commandment (“Do not steal” branches into laws about kidnapping, deception, border encroachment, cheating, and more). 

 [Emphasis mine: Source: Mrs Dinka Kumer askmoses.com]

  

According to Jewish tradition, G-d gave the Jewish people 613 mitzvot (commandments). All 613 of those mitzvot are equally sacred, equally binding and equally the word of G-d. All of these mitzvot are treated as equally important, because human beings, with our limited understanding of the universe, have no way of knowing which mitzvot are more important in the eyes of the Creator. Pirkei Avot, a book of the Mishnah, teaches "Be as meticulous in performing a 'minor' mitzvah as you are with a 'major' one, because you don't know what kind of reward you'll get for various mitzvot." It also says, "Run after the most 'minor' mitzvah as you would after the most 'important' and flee from transgression, because doing one mitzvah draws you into doing another, and doing one transgression draws you into doing another, and because the reward for a mitzvah is a mitzvah and the punishment for a transgression is a transgression." In other words, every mitzvah is important, because even the most seemingly trivial mitzvot draw you into a pattern of leading your life in accordance with the Creator's wishes, rather than in accordance with your own....

The Aseret ha-Dibrot [10 Commandments as they are called in the Torah] are not understood as individual mitzvot; rather, they are categories or classifications of mitzvot. Each of the 613 mitzvot can be subsumed under one of these ten categories, some in more obvious ways than others. For example, the mitzvah not to work on Shabbat rather obviously falls within the category of remembering the Sabbath day and keeping it holy. The mitzvah to fast on Yom Kippur fits into that category somewhat less obviously: all holidays are in some sense a Sabbath, and the category encompasses any mitzvah related to sacred time. The mitzvah not to stand aside while a person's life is in danger fits somewhat obviously into the category against murder. It is not particularly obvious, however, that the mitzvah not to embarrass a person fits within the category against murder: it causes the blood to drain from your face thereby shedding blood. 

[Emphasis mine: Source: Judaism 101]

Further on in this piece, the author breaks down the "10 Commandment" categories.  This is what is said about Commandment number four - The Sabbath

4. Observance of Sacred Times

This category is derived from Ex. 20:8-11, beginning, "Remember the Sabbath day..." It encompasses all mitzvot related to Shabbat, holidays, or other sacred time.

Here is what the Jewish Encyclopedia has to say about cermonial laws.  My apologies for the academic talk here and the  heavy use of hebrew terms, but I have highlighted some important points.

Ceremonies and Ceremonial Law: Symbolic rites and observances, expressive of certain thoughts or sentiments. As social life demands forms of etiquette, so every religous system has its peculiar ceremonies indicative of its own particular truths. The Biblical name for ceremonies appears to be "edut" ("testimonies," Deut. iv. 45; vi. 17, 20;), in distinction to "mishpaṭim" ("judgments," "ordinances," Ex. xxi. 1, and elsewhere); while the term "ḥuḳḳim" ("statutes") is applied to both moral and ceremonial laws (Ex. xii. 14, 43; Lev. xviii. 4, and elsewhere). The Rabbis distinguish between mishpaṭim, moral laws—which are dictated by reason and common sense, such as laws concerning justice, incestuous marriages, and the like—and ḥuḳḳim, those divine statutes to which the "Yeẓer ha-Ra'" (the evil inclination) and the heathen object, such as the prohibition of pork or of wearing garments woven of wool and linen (Sifra, Aḥare Mot, xiii. on Lev. xviii. 5; Yoma 67b).
... Whenever Judaism entered into relations with other nations and religions, the moral laws were accentuated, and the ceremonial laws were put into the background. Hellenistic Judaism, therefore ... take the same attitude toward the ceremonial laws. And, again, when the Jew came into contact with Arabic culture, this view of the ceremonial laws prevailed as being dictated by reason and common sense.

Emphasis mine:  Source: Jewish Encyclopedia

You can see though that depending on the prevailing culture, the Jews slanted things differently between moral and ceremonial laws.  For example, Hellenistic Judaism, being based in Greece, tended to emphasise things that were based on morals and philosophy, as opposed to Arabic cultures (ie, Babylonian) which were very ceremonial.

To simplify
Ceremonies = Edut (Testimonies)
Mishpatim = (Judgements or ordinances or RULES) - which contain moral laws dictated by common sense.
Hukkim (Statutes or LAWS) is applied to moral and ceremonial laws. - including evil inclinations, prohibition on eating pork and wearing garments of wool combined with linin.

Now it appears that the justification given above tries to demonstrate that a distinction between moral and ceremonial laws exists.  And if you ask an SDA where the Sabbath fits, they will tell you that it is a moral law.

Bear in mind that over the years, Judaism has distorted somewhat with various interpretations coming in through various rabbis and others such as Mamoinides.  Jesus after all contended with the Pharisees (who were self proclaimed protectors of the Law of Moses).  The Torah itself never separates moral for ceremonial.) Out of the context of the culture in which the Jew was living as a result of the Diaspora, and with the destruction of the Temple in AD70, the need to re-interpret the Law was necessary if it was to remain relevant.  (Which as I have shown in earlier posts, it was made obsolete anyway!)

This leads to much confusion redarding whether there is any real differentiation between Moral and Ceremonial laws and whether such a disticntion is God ordained or man contrived.  This from Chancellors Parashah Commentary. (A Parashah is a section or division of the Torah used to deliver prayers or readings - like we have divided the bible into chapters, but more like how we divide up the bible into 365 chunks in one of those, "Read the bible in one year" programs.)

For their part, the Rabbis, ever sensitive to the nuances of language, draw a far-reaching distinction between the terms. Mishpatim consist of commandments that are reasonable and self-evident, "which if they had not been promulgated would have to be, like the prohibitions against idolatry, sexual immorality, murder, theft and blasphemy". On the other hand, hukkim represent those commandments impenetrable to reason and "susceptible to the skepticism of Satan, such as the proscription to eat pig's meat and wear clothing made of wool and linen or the proscriptions to free the childless sister-in-law, cleanse the leper and send forth the scapegoat" (BT Yoma 67b). 
 Source: Chancellors Parashah Commentary: (Emphasis mine)

Notice how the Hukkim here lists a ban on eating pig, wearing mixed clothing, cleansing lepers and sendinf forth the scapegoat.  Now ask and SDA which are ceremonial and which are moral.  Because Ellen G White stated that Jesus nailed the "Ceremonial Laws" to the Cross, then whatever else in the law they hold onto must therefore be "Moral law."  So a ban on pig must be a moral law then!  One can easily see how sending forth the scapegoat is ceremonial, but what about cleansing the leper?  Is that moral or ceremonial - because there are both moral and ceremonial reasons for this.

Now hidden in this commentary is this - the reference at the end (BT Yoma 67b).  BT is the abbreviation for Babylonian Talmud.  The Talmud is an extra-biblical commentary interwoven with scripture used in Judaism and especially amongst Orthodox Jews who uphold a very strict view on the Law of Moses. (I could compare this to the SDAs clear word bible, that also is more a commentary interwoven with scripture that promotes SDA doctrine.) It is a central text of rabbinical Judaism (more on this in the next post).  The section called Yoma is contained within the broader section called the Mishna.  The Mishna is:

The Mishnah is a compilation of legal opinions and debates. Statements in the Mishnah are typically terse, recording brief opinions of the rabbis debating a subject; or recording only an unattributed ruling, apparently representing a consensus view. (Wikipedia)

So lets look at this.  This is what preceded the commentary explaining the Rabbinical position.

...the Torah makes use of two terms, mishpatim and hukkim, translated as "rules" and "laws." Technically, as Baruch A. Levine makes clear in his commentary, they reflect two sources of legal practice. The word mishpatim deriving from the root sh-f-t, "to judge," embodies rules articulated in a judicial setting. Hukkim from the root h-k-k "to engrave" or "inscribe" suggests laws promulgated by decree. In our parashah [sectional division of the Tenakh] the terms seem to be synonymous, because God is the only lawgiver: 

"My rules (mishpatim) alone shall you observe, and faithfully follow My laws (hukkim): I the Lord am your God" (18:4).

Source: Chancellors Parashah Commentary:  (Emphasis mine)

Lev 18:4-5 (NET)
(4)  You must observe my regulations and you must be sure to walk in my statutes. I am the LORD your God. 
(5)  So you must keep my statutes and my regulations; anyone who does so will live by keeping them. I am the LORD. 

Note no moral vs ceremonial but regulations and statutes.  Some statutes are regarded as moral and some are regarded as ceremonial, according to some people.  But God doesn't.


You will notice that amongst Judaism, there is much debate over the interpretation of the Law.  Where the Torah (Book of the Law - or the first 5 books of our Old Testament) is commented and interpreted on by the Babylonian Talmud, which sees other commentaries thrown in alongside or on top of and so in the end, the original meaning gets clouded and distorted.  It must be remembered that the Babylonian Talmud was written in two sections about 200 and 600 AD.

So in the end, like every discussion involving doctrine, the benchmark is the inerrant and authentic Word of God.  For us it is the Bible, and for Jews this is (in the context if this discussion) the Torah.

So here is what the Commandments (or Mishnah) are to a Jew:

A mitzvah is a commandment -- one of the taryag mitzvot, 613 commandments, relating to Jewish observance and religious practice. The commandments are the centerpiece of Judaism because they are where faithfulness to God and His Torah translate into action! ...
... the Jewish people in its entirety was present at Sinai when God Himself gave the Torah to His chosen people. ...

The mitzvot reflect the infinite and eternal nature of their Author. ... the mitzvot themselves remain unchanged. They are not susceptible to reform and cannot be influenced or swayed by public opinion or contemporary thought.

The importance of the mitzvah system is that it relates to the very nature of the Jewish people. ... They are integral to his existence; they relate in a most intimate way to his very identity and to his soul.

The greatest question of them all is "What is the purpose of life?" The Torah explains that the purpose of human existence is to achieve closeness to God. This is attained via living in accordance with the 613 commandments because each mitzvah, in its own unique way, contains the means for man to forge a relationship with God.
Judaism is not as much a religion as it is a relationship. It is only through mitzvah observance that man can build a deep, enduring, and meaningful relationship with God. The Jew knows that the key to every good relationship is the obligations that it confers. It is a given that the stronger and more intimate the relationship, the more intense the level of responsibility. ...

Every relationship has two components. There is an element of reaching out, of doing positive actions that build and foster the bond between the parties. Then there is an element of restraint, of holding back from any action that might sully or destroy the relationship. These elements are both found in the Torah commandments.
The 248 positive commandments are actions that build and further man's bond to his Creator. The 365 negative commandments are those forbidden activities that threaten to break down this relationship. While the former entail positive measures indicating love of God, not violating the latter reflects man's fear of God and desire not to ruin the relationship. ..
[Emphasis mine: Source torah.org]

The striking thing here is that there is never a mention of moral vs ceremonial Laws, just positive and negative ones.

And again here is what James, the Jewish Apostle said regarding the Mitzvot.

For the one who obeys the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it. James 2:10 
 

It is hard for a gentile head to get around these Jewish concepts and words above, I do not pretend that I understand separating Mishpatim and Hukkim as a great number of Jews cannot adequately explain it.  This is why they have Rabbis who specialise in this.  I am not being discriminatory when I say this, but the Hebrew way of thinking is not the way a Gentile thinks.  I am a gentile, but what I read in Jewish commentaries leads me to believe that the reason why we fail to decipher the above is because we are...well...Gentile!  Therefore, I would appreciate feedback from my Jewish friends, especially scholars who can enlighten further.  But essentially, the description shows a great deal of interweaving between the various concepts, making it extremely difficult to strictly separate moral from ceremonial laws - if it were possible. If you want to find a list of what is Mishpatim and what is Hukkim, or indeed, what is both, you will have a hard time, simply because while they may think of moral and ceremonial, the reality is quite difficult to determine.  This is because a Jew who follows Judasim knows that the Mitzvot is in its entirely moral. 

However, it appears that the Gentile SDA Church through a Gentile woman called Ellen G White, believes it knows better that the people who God made the Mosaic Covenant with in the first place - the Jew - and also knows better than the Jewish Apostles, including Paul, who was trained at one of the highest rabinnical Schools of the time - the School of Hillel, who wote that the Law was nailed to the cross. 

The mitzvot reflect the infinite and eternal nature of their Author. ... the mitzvot themselves remain unchanged. They are not susceptible to reform and cannot be influenced or swayed by public opinion or contemporary thought. (Torah.org)

---------------

*The explanation of the Torah has been edited from the original letter to avoid the confusion between the Torah and the Tanakh