The Jewish religion has mis-positioned the law given by God as a side line to Christ as the main line in His economy. In his Epistle to the Galatians, Paul used two women in the Old Testament in Genesis to signify two things (4:22-31). These two women are Sarah, Abraham’s wife, and Hagar, Abraham’s concubine. Sarah signifies God’s grace and Hagar signifies God’s law. The position of the law is that of a concubine, and the position of God’s grace is that of a proper wife. The law was given by God and is of God, but God put the law into the position of a concubine. The Jewish people made the mistake of positioning the law as a wife. This means that they mis-positioned the law.
God gave the law as a side line to Christ, who is the main line in God’s economy. In God’s economy there are two lines; one is the main line, and the other is the side line. The main line is Christ and the side line is the law. The Bible teaches mainly Christ. Christ is the main subject of the Bible. Christ stands as the main line and even the main lane of the Bible. When we drive a car, we do not want to drive in the side lane but in the main lane. We are driving in Christ, taking Christ as our main lane and main line. The Jews, however, are on the side line, remaining with the law as a concubine.
One among the Jews, Saul of Tarsus, later became an apostle. He tried his best to correct the Jews because they were not in the main line. Judaism is satanic because it does not stay in God’s ordained line. According to the Bible, God gave the law to help the Jews realize that they could not keep the law. To try to keep the law is foolish. Instead, we should remain with Christ. We should not get away from Christ. He is our main line. Paul took Christ in such a way, but the Jews would not take Paul’s advice.
According to Paul’s word in Romans 7, the law is the instrument through which sin deceives and kills men (v. 11). The power of sin is the law (1 Cor. 15:56). This fact should warn us not to turn to the law to try to keep it, for in so doing we give sin the opportunity to deceive and kill us. Those in Judaism have all been killed by the law. There are five million members of Judaism in the United States today, and all of them have been distracted from Christ. They are on the side line of the law committing “suicide.” Hagar, typifying the law, and her son were cast out (Gal. 4:30-31). Thus those under the slavery of the law are driven out of God’s grace.
Hagar brought forth a son named Ishmael. There are many Ishmaelites today fighting against Israel. The issue of Hagar is one who fights against God’s people. Ishmael persecuted Isaac (Gen. 21:9). The Judaizers, the descendants of Abraham according to the flesh, also persecuted the believers, the descendants of Abraham according to the Spirit, as Ishmael persecuted Isaac (Gal. 4:29).
Those in Judaism also have misapplied the dispensational Sabbath-keeping (Exo. 20:8-11). In history God set up a day called the Sabbath. God created the heavens and earth and millions of things within six days. After these six days, God declared the seventh day as a day of rest. The Sabbath was God’s rest. Then God charged His people to keep that day as a memorial of God’s creation. Man was charged to keep the Sabbath to remember God’s creation, that is, to remember that Jehovah, Elohim, is the Creator of the universe and of man.
We need to realize, however, that God’s ordination concerning the keeping of the Sabbath was a dispensational ordination. In the Bible God has different ways to deal with people in different ages. In the early age of God’s dealing with man, there was an ordination for man to keep the Sabbath. That ordination was for that age. It was not an eternal ordination but a dispensational ordination. When that dispensation, or period of time, was over, the keeping of the Sabbath was over.
The Jews, however, did not realize this, so they misapplied the dispensational Sabbath-keeping. Before Jesus came, Moses charged Israel to keep the Sabbath. That was according to God’s charge. When Jesus came, however, He was the Sabbath as the rest for God’s people (Matt. 11:28-30). The Sabbath was a type, a shadow, of Christ. When the person comes, the shadow is over. We should not keep the shadow when we have the person. When the person is here with us we do not disregard him to pay attention to his photo. That would be foolish. Thus, when Jesus came, the outward ritual of keeping the Sabbath was over.
The Jews fought against Jesus mainly due to the keeping of the Sabbath day. The observance of the Sabbath was abolished by the Lord Jesus in His ministry (Matt. 12:1-12). That offended the Jews to the uttermost. They wanted to destroy Him because of this (v. 14; John 5:16). Thus, they misapplied the keeping of the Sabbath.
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