Comments on the Pamphlet by Glenn Wenger on Truth

The version used is KJV

This is my comments and summary of the 32 page pamphlet titled The Power of the Love of the Truth, by Glenn Wenger, published as second printing in Mar 2008 by Weaverland Publications out of Ephrata, PA. In this writing, I will use the short word pamphlet instead of the full title.

Please read my two other essays on sabbath here and here to understand my current position based on what I have studied from the Word of God. I will be referencing them here as part of my comments back on this pamphlet.

## About

It is a well written pamphlet, with the emphasis on truth being the Word of God and basing all our actions and thinking on it. The main points Mr.Wenger makes is around relying on God's Word alone as the truth and not give into man made traditions, culture or human writings. He uses several points to illustrate this and very strongly as well.

The other point he makes is that to not fear the truth. But to go with the presupposition that God's Word is the truth and any fear we have around it changing our presuppositions like cultural norms or traditions must be abandoned, as the truth will set us free. This is also related to being a peculiar people, as referenced in 1 Peter 2:9. Glenn emphasizes that by not seeking the truth due to the fear of it, we display our lack of faithfulness in God.

He uses the example of 7th day and 1st day sabbath as the scenario to drive his point home and this is where his presentation contradicts his setup in prior pages leading upto this. His conclusion is that neither 1st or 7th day is correct, but we are to be in service to God all 7 days.

He uses a lot of scriptures through out to make all of his points.

His conclusion that basing our opionions and practices on the Word alone is powerful and a stance I fully support and adhere to.

I will try to document my comments on the sabbath presentation from this pamphlet. Please note that, this is based on my current reading and understanding of the Word of God and trying to apply the entire sciprtures. As the Most High enlightens me thru His Spirit, I will undoubtedly update based on current understanding (hence the date of when this is written).

## Key Points on Glenn's Sabbath example

Here are my challenges to some of the points Glenn ties to make from page 23 onwards. I will expand on some of them in subsequent sections.

To prove which day to observe sabbath, his primary appeal is to Irenaeus, Pilgrim Marpeck and Menno Simons (pg 27) and then uses that to build his position and conclusion to serve God in all 7 days. This goes against Glenn's own setup leading upto this application, as his primary ways to interpret Paul and Jesus is via the writing of these men, albeit Godly men.
He also uses the word sabbath in searching the scriptures (assume it is KJV) and there by doesnt find the first occurence of the word in Genesis 2:3. The KJV word rested is the same Hebrew word shabbat H7673. Since we have OT in Hebrew (from the Masoretic Text) and NT in Grek (from Textus Receptus), we need to be a bit more diligent in our search for the words. See the section on Sabbath occurence
Hence Glenn confuses aspects of God's commands around worship, service and rest. As we will see in the section on sabbath, the command is to rest on the 7th day. I argue the same point as Glenn does that worship and service belongs to all 7 days in my second sabbath essay.
Sabbath also means feasts or set-apart days, and not just the 7th day rest. Again I will explore this in the next section.
Glenn uses to base the truth on the 66 books of the bible as we know it. But till 1828, the authorized KJV had 14 of the apocyphal books included. When you read the stories in Maccabees on the history of sabbath, you will get a different perspective than the simple interpretations of what we have from men like Irenaeus or Origen or Clement of Alexandria.
Paul in his various expistles uses the word law in diverse contexts and we cant treat all of them the same. Some details are provided in this section
The law being done away with is also a weak argument, where Glenn asks the question on 10 commandments and it was written in stone and it no longer stands as he uses 2 Corinthians 3 and Col 2:16-17 to talk of the law being done away with. From Jeremiah 31:31 and the verses in that chapter on the new covenant, we now the law written in our hearts. This is the reason, the writings on the stone is not longer needed. Being done away with 10 commandments lead to various heresies in the past and continues to do so to this day. Therefore we must be careful to not assume, the 10 commandments are done away, as many catholics and protestants believe.
In summary, although the initial precepts on truth and basing it on bible alone is well established by Glenn, the example used fails to take into account the entire bible and uses select verses to end on the conclusion that we must serve God all 7 days, not answering the original question on what is the day of rest.

Sabbath-occurences

The hebrew word shabat שָׁבַת H7673, is the root and means resting as we saw earlier. This occurs beginning in Genesis 2:3. The word used in Exodus 16:23, which Glenn points to as the first occurence, uses a form of H7673, shabbath in H7676, שׁבּת. This word is used both in singular and plural.

The greek word equivalent is sabbaton G4521 σάββατον as used in Col 2:16, which again Glenn references. I will write about it in the following section

The variations of hebrew word shabat or shabbath and shabbathown שׁבּתון H7677 is used various places to reflect rest, ceasing, sabbath day, feast (special day).

7th day as in Exodus 35:2, second part of Exodus 16:23, Exodus 20:8 as part of 4th commandment
rest as in first part of Exodus 16:23 for the people, or for the land as in Lev 25:4-5 and when God rested as in Genesis 2:3
feast as in for Yom Kippur in Lev 16:31 using both words rest and sabbath
specific feast like Passover as used in John 19:31 as a high day.
cease, as in Joshua 22:25 and 2Chronicles 16:5

Col2-16

In my opinion, the full context of Colossias 2 is to warn the believers of man-made doctrines. From my understanding, from reading of Josephus and other sources, the Pharasaic Jews (including Saul before becoming a believer) observed the oral law, which became Talmud and Mishna over time. These were expansion and addition to the Law of Moses (Torah, the first 5 books of OT). These laws was what Jesus fought against and subsequently early apostles faught against.

For example, on sabbath day of rest, they had specific regulations on what not to do - no fire, no travel beyond a short distance, no healing, no feeding of the poor, no walking on grass etc. These specific regulations started to ensure the people never forgot to rest of sabbath, as it was this sin, that got them exiled to Babylon, since they had forgotten to give land its sabbath rest.

This is the reason, Jesus continued healing on sabbath and the various teachings that came from that in the gospels. This is also the reason He stated that the burden of these Jews on the Jewish people was heavy and instead He asked us to take up His yoke, which was easy and the burden light.

With this in mind, the specific verse on 16 is around the practices around fasting/dietery regulation as well as actual observence of the new moon (new month), feast days and the 7th day sabbath. As Paul confirms in 17, these are all shadow of the real fulfilment in our Messiah Jesus. This is similar to the Lord's Supper. We dont partake in Lord's Supper to be saved or to partake in the actual body and blood of Christ (as Catholics believe), but as a memorial to reflect on the completed work of our Messiah on the cross. Similarly, in my opinion, the 7th day rest and the feasts are pointing forward to the real rest in Christ and the ultimate feast when we will be joined with Him in the new jerusalem.

As mentioned above, the new covenant from Jeremiah 31:31 and the verses in that chapter is about how the law of God is written in our hearts. This is the reason, the writings on the stone is no longer needed.

Therefore, we need to prayerfully consider how to adhere to the commands and not add man-made doctrines, like what the gnostics and the Pharisees were proclaiming from both side of the ditch. This is what Paul urges, following the admoniton in end of ch 2 and into ch 3 of Colossians.

What-Law

The greek word in NT for law is nomos νόμος G3551. The main word in hebrew in OT is torah which meant specifically the first 5 books (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy). There are other words in hebrew for commanment, ordinance, precept etc. But the law typically means the first 5 books. Contrasting this, in NT, when Paul uses the greek word nomos, I am not sure it always means the same. I still am not able to understand several of the deeper meanings of Paul's letter. Here are some examples of how law is used with qualifiers which makes it hard to say it is the same across all of them.

law of faith in Romans 3:27
law of God Romans 8:7, 7:25, 7:22
law of righteousness Romans 8:31
law of Moses 1 Corinthians9:9
law of Christ Galatians6:2
law of sin Romans 7:23, 7:25
law of the Spirit Romans 8:2

Paul also references law positively in several cases as does negatively in several places. He also references a practice, which we follow in our church: Women to remain silent in assembly, from 1 Corinthians 14:34 is from the law.

In addition, James uses law of liberty in his epistle in verses 1:25 and 2:12.

Therefore, with these examples, we must be careful to study the context and understand what law and the references the apostle is talking about before stating all of the OT Law is done with.

Anomia

If the 10 commandments and the law is done away with as indicaed by Glenn in page 26, what do we make of the verses from Jesus in Matthew on the law will not be abolished (Matthew 5:17-19) or to exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees (Matthew 5:20) or to listen to the teaching of Moses (from Matthew 23:2-3).

In my opinion, doing away with all the 10 commandments and the prophets yields lawlessness. This word in greek is anomia. This is the warning Jesus gives in Matthew 7:23 - the word for iniquity is G458 anomia ἀνομία.

Therefore we need to be careful to not fall into the trap of elevating Paul's word over what Jesus preached.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I enjoyed reading the pamphlet and the precepts set forth. I also want to make sure I look at the whole Word of God, His full counsel, through the ancients thru prophets to my Messiah and His apostle's writings. In addition, I need to understand the context of the epistles/letters so I dont throw baby with the bath water, but discern the truth balancing with the rest of the scriptures. In addition, I need to apply these teachings and writings to my current context the best way possible. If I am unclear on anything I need to fast and pray so God will reveal them to me through the outworking of His Spirit. In general, I need to prayerfully ask God to preserve and show me any areas I am misunderstanding His Word and misapplying it in my life, so I can rectify it and base my life on His Word - His entire scriptures.