THE CEREMONIES ABOLISHED AT THE CROSS

1 - Every service performed at the Temple—


including the daily sacrifices, the feast days, and

all the rest—ended when Christ died.

“Jesus, when He had cried again with a loud voice,

yielded up the ghost. And, behold, the veil of the

temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom;

and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent.”—

Matthew 27:50-51 (Mark 15:38).

2 - All the types and shadows ended at the

cross.

“While the Saviour’s death brought to an end

the law of types and shadows, it did not in the

least detract from the obligation of the moral law.

On the contrary, the very fact that it was necessary

for Christ to die in order to atone for the transgression

of that law, proves it to be immutable.”—Patriarchs

and Prophets, 365.

39

3 - The sacrificial laws were ceremonies and

types and shadows which were done away with at

the cross.

“The ceremonial system was made up of symbols

pointing to Christ, to His sacrifice and His

priesthood. This ritual law, with its sacrifices and

ordinances, was to be performed by the Hebrews

until type met antitype in the death of Christ, the

Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world.

Then all the sacrificial offerings were to cease. It

is this law that Christ ‘took . . out of the way, nailing

it to His cross.’ Colossians 2:14. But concerning the

law of Ten Commandments the psalmist declares,

‘Forever, O Lord, Thy Word is settled in heaven.’

Psalm 119:89.”—Patriarchs and Prophets, 365.

4 - The Passover is an example of the “types

and ceremonies” which were abolished at the

cross.

The significance of the Passover ceased when

Christ died (DA 723, 774; PP 539). The Passover

typified Christ’s death (6BC 1090; DA 51, 82, 154-

155; GC 399; PP 277, 539; 6T 194-195).

“Christ was standing at the point of transition

between two economies and their two great festivals.

He, the spotless Lamb of God, was about to

present Himself as a sin offering, that He would

thus bring to an end the system of types and ceremonies

that for four thousand years had pointed

to His death. As He ate the Passover with His disciples,

He instituted in its place the service that was

to be the memorial of His great sacrifice. The national

festival of the Jews was to pass away forever.

The service which Christ established was to

be observed by His followers in all lands and through

all ages.”—Desire of Ages, 652.

Laws Abolished at the Cross

40 The Feast Days

“The Passover was to be both commemorative

and typical, not only pointing back to the deliverance

from Egypt, but forward to the greater deliverance

which Christ was to accomplish in freeing His

people from the bondage of sin. The sacrificial lamb

represents ‘the Lamb of God,’ in whom is our only

hope of salvation. Says the apostle, ‘Christ our Passover

is sacrificed for us.’ 1 Corinthians 5:7. It was

not enough that the paschal lamb be slain; its blood

must be sprinkled upon the doorposts; so the merits

of Christ’s blood must be applied to the soul. We

must believe, not only that He died for the world,

but that He died for us individually. We must appropriate

to ourselves the virtue of the atoning sacrifice.”—

Patriarchs and Prophets, 277.

“On the fourteenth day of the month, at even, the

Passover was celebrated, its solemn, impressive ceremonies

commemorating the deliverance from bondage

in Egypt, and pointing forward to the sacrifice

that should deliver from the bondage of sin. When

the Saviour yielded up His life on Calvary, the

significance of the Passover ceased, and the ordinance

of the Lord’s Supper was instituted as a

memorial of the same event of which the Passover

had been a type.”—Patriarchs and Prophets, 539.

“All the ceremonies of the feast were types of

the work of Christ. The deliverance of Israel from

Egypt was an object lesson of redemption, which

the Passover was intended to keep in memory. The

slain lamb, the unleavened bread, the sheaf of

first fruits, represented the Saviour.”—Desire of

Ages, 77.

“The slaying of the Passover lamb was a shadow

of the death of Christ. Says Paul: ‘Christ our Passover

is sacrificed for us.’ 1 Corinthians 5:7. The sheaf

of first fruits, which at the time of the Passover was

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waved before the Lord, was typical of the resurrection

of Christ. Paul says, in speaking of the resurrection

of the Lord and of all His people: ‘Christ the

first fruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at His

coming.’ 1 Corinthians 15:23. Like the wave sheaf,

which was the first ripe grain gathered before the

harvest, Christ is the first fruits of that immortal

harvest of redeemed ones that at the future resurrection

shall be gathered into the garner of God.

“These types were fulfilled, not only as to the

event, but as to the time. On the fourteenth day of

the first Jewish month, the very day and month on

which for fifteen long centuries the Passover lamb

had been slain, Christ, having eaten the Passover

with His disciples, instituted that feast which was

to commemorate His own death as ‘the Lamb of

God, which taketh away the sin of the world.’ That

same night He was taken by wicked hands to be

crucified and slain. And as the antitype of the wave

sheaf our Lord was raised from the dead on the

third day, ‘the first fruits of them that slept,’ a sample

of all the resurrected just, whose ‘vile body’ shall be

changed, and ‘fashioned like unto His glorious body.’

Verse 20; Philippians 3:21.”—Great Controversy,

399.

5 - The Feast of Unleavened Bread was part of

the Passover (DA 77; PP 539), so it also ended at

Calvary.

6 - Pentecost signaled the time of Christ’s inauguration

into His priesthood.

“The Pentecostal outpouring was Heaven’s

communication that the Redeemer’s inauguration

was accomplished. According to His promise He

had sent the Holy Spirit from heaven to His followers

as a token that He had, as priest and king, re-

Laws Abolished at the Cross

42 The Feast Days

ceived all authority in heaven and on earth, and was

the Anointed One over His people.”—Acts of the

Apostles, 39.

We are never told that we should keep the Feast

of Pentecost, but we are told that God required that

the Jews keep it (DA 75; Ed 41-42; MH 281; PP

537; 540).

7 - We are never told that, today, we are required

to keep any Old Testament feast. This is

because required obedience to the whole system

ended at Calvary.

“Christ’s death and resurrection completed

His covenant. Before this time, it was revealed

through types and shadows . . Christ’s sacrifice

is the glorious fulfillment of the whole Jewish

economy. The Sun of Righteousness has risen.

Christ our righteousness is shining in brightness

upon us.”—7 Bible Commentary, 932.

8 - The feasts were an integral part of the sacrificial

system! The requirements for each one of

them, as ordered by God, made it impossible to

separate the feasts from their sacrificial services.

At every yearly feast, animals were sacrificed; usually

one each day. This made each feast a foreshadowing

of the death of Christ.

Because both the daily sacrifices and the yearly

feasts were all about the offering of blood sacrifices,—

this is why, in all of the following statements,

the entire “Jewish system,” the entire “Jewish

economy,” and the entire “Mosaic system”—are said

to predict the coming of Christ as the Lamb of God

who would die for the sins of the world! The sacrifices

were closely intertwined in all that was done

43

in the various services—and definitely in the

yearly feasts!

“The great truths set forth by the types and

shadows of the Mosaic law were brought to view,

and faith grasped the central object of all that

system, the Lamb of God that was to take away

the sins of the world.”—Fundamentals of Christian

Education, 97.

“Christ’s mission was not understood by the

people of His time. The manner of His coming was

not in accordance with their expectations. The Lord

Jesus was the foundation of the whole Jewish

economy. Its imposing services were of divine appointment.

They were designed to teach the

people that at the time appointed One would come

to whom those ceremonies pointed.

“But the Jews had exalted the forms and ceremonies

and had lost sight of their object. The traditions,

maxims, and enactments of men hid from

them the lessons which God intended to convey.

These maxims and traditions became an obstacle

to their understanding and practice of true religion.

“And when the Reality came, in the person of

Christ, they did not recognize in Him the fulfillment

of all their types, the substance of all their

shadows. They rejected the antitype, and clung

to their types and useless ceremonies.”—Christ’s

Object Lessons, 34-35.

“But One greater than Moses lay in the priest’s

arms; and when he enrolled the child’s name, he

was enrolling the name of One who was the foundation

of the whole Jewish economy. That name

was to be its death warrant; for the system of sacrifices

and offerings was waxing old; the type had

almost reached its antitype, the shadow its substance.”—

Desire of Ages, 52.

Laws Abolished at the Cross

44 The Feast Days

“The Jewish economy, bearing the signature

of Heaven, had been instituted by Christ Himself.

In types and symbols the great truths of redemption

were veiled. Yet when Christ came, the

Jews did not recognize Him to whom all these symbols

pointed. They had the Word of God in their

hands; but the traditions which had been handed

down from generation to generation, and the human

interpretation of the Scriptures, hid from them

the truth as it is in Jesus. The spiritual import of

the sacred writings was lost. The treasure house of

all knowledge was open to them, but they knew it

not.”—Christ’s Object Lessons, 104.

“Christ was the cornerstone of the Jewish

economy, and of the whole plan of salvation. This

foundation stone the Jewish builders, the priests

and rulers of Israel, were now rejecting.”—Desire of

Ages, 597.

“The rites of the Jewish economy were instituted

by Christ Himself. He was the foundation

of their system of sacrificial offerings, the great

antitype of all their religious service. The blood

shed as the sacrifices were offered pointed to the

sacrifice of the Lamb of God. All the typical offerings

were fulfilled in Him.

“Christ as manifested to the patriarchs, as symbolized

in the sacrificial service, as portrayed in

the law, and as revealed by the prophets, is the

riches of the Old Testament. Christ in His life, His

death, and His resurrection, Christ as He is manifested

by the Holy Spirit, is the treasure of the New

Testament. Our Saviour, the outshining of the

Father’s glory, is both the Old and the New.”—Christ’s

Object Lessons, 126.

“The glory of the gospel reflects light upon the

Jewish age, giving significance to the whole Jew45

ish economy of types and shadows.”—Evangelism,

231.

“Christ was the foundation of the Jewish economy.

The whole system of types and symbols was

a compacted prophecy of the gospel, a presentation

in which were bound up the promises of redemption.”—

Acts of the Apostles, 14.

“The Saviour of prophecy was to come, not as a

temporal king, to deliver the Jewish nation from

earthly oppressors, but as a man among men, to

live a life of poverty and humility, and at last to be

despised, rejected, and slain. The Saviour foretold

in the Old Testament Scriptures was to offer Himself

as a sacrifice in behalf of the fallen race, thus

fulfilling every requirement of the broken law. In

Him the sacrificial types were to meet their

antitype, and His death on the cross was to lend

significance to the entire Jewish economy.”—Acts

of the Apostles, 227-228.

“Christ’s death and resurrection completed His

covenant. Before this time, it was revealed through

types and shadows, which pointed to the great

offering to be made by the world’s Redeemer, offered

in promise for the sins of the world. Anciently

believers were saved by the same Saviour as now,

but it was a God veiled. They saw God’s mercy in

figures. The promise given to Adam and Eve in Eden

was the gospel to a fallen race. The promise was

made that the seed of the woman should bruise the

serpent’s head, and it should bruise His heel.

Christ’s sacrifice is the glorious fulfillment of the

whole Jewish economy. The Sun of Righteousness

has risen. Christ our righteousness is shining in

brightness upon us.”—7 Bible Commentary, 932.

“Thus the law for the presentation of the firstborn

was made particularly significant. While it was

Laws Abolished at the Cross

46 The Feast Days

a memorial of the Lord’s wonderful deliverance of

the children of Israel, it prefigured a greater deliverance,

to be wrought out by the only-begotten

Son of God. As the blood sprinkled on the doorposts

had saved the first-born of Israel, so the blood

of Christ has power to save the world.

“God’s people, whom He calls His peculiar treasure,

were privileged with a twofold system of law;

the moral and the ceremonial. The one, pointing

back to creation to keep in remembrance the living

God who made the world, whose claims are binding

upon all men in every dispensation, and which will

exist through all time and eternity. The other, given

because of man’s transgression of the moral law,

the obedience to which consisted in sacrifices and

offerings pointing to the future redemption. Each

is clear and distinct from the other.

“From the creation the moral law was an essential

part of God’s divine plan, and was as unchangeable

as Himself. The ceremonial law was to answer

a particular purpose in Christ’s plan for the

salvation of the race. The typical system of sacrifices

and offerings was established that through

these services the sinner might discern the great

offering, Christ. But the Jews were so blinded by

pride and sin that but few of them could see farther

than the death of beasts as an atonement for sin;

and when Christ, whom these offerings prefigured,

came, they could not discern Him. The ceremonial

law was glorious; it was the provision made by Jesus

Christ in counsel with His Father, to aid in the salvation

of the race. The whole arrangement of the

typical system was founded on Christ. Adam saw

Christ prefigured in the innocent beast suffering

the penalty of his transgression of Jehovah’s law.”—

6 Bible Commentary, 1094-1095 (Review May 6,

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1875).

“The types and shadows of the sacrificial service,

with the prophecies, gave the Israelites a

veiled, indistinct view of the mercy and grace to be

brought to the world by the revelation of Christ. To

Moses was unfolded the significance of the types

and shadows pointing to Christ. He saw to the end

of that which was to be done away when, at the death

of Christ, type met antitype. He saw that only

through Christ can man keep the moral law. By

transgression of this law man brought sin into the

world, and with sin came death. Christ became the

propitiation for man’s sin. He proffered His perfection

of character in the place of man’s sinfulness.

He took upon Himself the curse of disobedience.

The sacrifices and offerings pointed forward to

the sacrifice He was to make. The slain lamb typified

the Lamb that was to take away the sin of the

world.

“It was seeing the object of that which was to

be done away, seeing Christ as revealed in the law,

that illumined the face of Moses. The ministration

of the law, written and engraved in stone, was a ministration

of death. Without Christ, the transgressor

was left under its curse, with no hope of pardon.

The ministration had of itself no glory, but the promised

Saviour, revealed in the types and shadows

of the ceremonial law, made the moral law glorious.”—

1 Selected Messages, 237.

“Paul desires his brethren to see that the great

glory of a sin-pardoning Saviour gave significance

to the entire Jewish economy. He desired them to

see also that when Christ came to the world, and

died as man’s sacrifice, type met antitype.

“After Christ died on the cross as a sin offering

the ceremonial law could have no force. Yet it was

Laws Abolished at the Cross

48 The Feast Days

connected with the moral law, and was glorious. The

whole bore the stamp of divinity, and expressed the

holiness, justice, and righteousness of God. And if

the ministration of the dispensation to be done away

was glorious, how much more must the reality be

glorious, when Christ was revealed, giving His lifegiving,

sanctifying Spirit to all who believe?”—6 Bible

Commentary, 1095.

“The gospel of Christ reflects glory upon the Jewish

age. It sheds light upon the whole Jewish

economy, and gives significance to the ceremonial

law. The tabernacle, or temple, of God on earth

was a pattern of the original in heaven. All the ceremonies

of the Jewish law were prophetic, typical

of mysteries in the plan of redemption.

“The rites and ceremonies of the law were given

by Christ Himself, who, enshrouded in a pillar of

cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, was the

leader of the hosts of Israel; and this law should be

treated with great respect, for it is sacred. Even after

it was no longer to be observed, Paul presented

it before the Jews in its true position and value,

showing its place in the plan of redemption and its

relation to the work of Christ; and the great apostle

pronounces this law glorious, worthy of its divine

Originator. That which was to be done away was

glorious, but it was not the law instituted by God

for the government of His family in heaven and on

earth; for as long as the heavens shall remain, so

long shall the law of the Lord endure.”—6 Bible

Commentary, 1095.

“There is no discord between the Old Testament

and the New. In the Old Testament we find the

gospel of a coming Saviour; in the New Testament

we have the gospel of a Saviour revealed as the

prophecies had foretold. While the Old Testament

49

is constantly pointing forward to the true offering,

the New Testament shows that the Saviour prefigured

by the typical offerings has come. The dim

glory of the Jewish age has been succeeded by the

brighter, clearer glory of the Christian age.”—6 Bible

Commentary, 1095.

“But there is a law which was abolished, which

Christ ‘took out of the way, nailing it to His cross.’

Paul calls it the law of commandments contained

in ordinances. This ceremonial law, given by God

through Moses, with its sacrifices and ordinances

. . was to be binding upon the Hebrews until type

met antitype in the death of Christ as the Lamb of

God to take away the sin of the world. Then all the

sacrificial offerings and services were to be abolished.

Paul and the other apostles labored to show

this, and resolutely withstood those Judaizing

teachers who declared that Christians should observe

the ceremonial law.”—Signs, September 4,