Ran across this little essay while looking for something else, and though it interesting enough to post for newbies at textual analysis, at least.
"Consider the following lengthy quotation written by a Messianic Jew, Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum, in his book titled Israelology:
Not much interested in the HRM movement but if you are then fine, I don't mind people discussing it; I just wanted to pass the above along.
"Consider the following lengthy quotation written by a Messianic Jew, Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum, in his book titled Israelology:
Those who argue for a mandatory Sabbath observance on the basis of the Law of Moses will often refer to Exodus 31:13, which states that the Sabbath is to be observed throughout your generations; 31:16, that the Sabbath is to be a perpetual covenant; and, 31:17 where it is to be a sign between God and Israel for ever. According to the proponents of mandatory Sabbath-keeping, these terms show that the Sabbath obligation continues, although many other parts of the Mosaic Law are no longer in effect, such as the sacrificial system and the Levitical priesthood. However, while the English terms do tend to carry concepts of eternity, that is not the meaning of the Hebrew words themselves. Classical Hebrew had no word that actually meant “eternal.” The Hebrew term for “forever” (olam) as BDB states, means “long duration,” “antiquity,” or “futurity.” The Hebrew forms mean nothing more than, “until the end of a period of time.” What that period of time is must be determined by the context or determined by related passages. In classical Hebrew, these words never meant or carried the concept of eternity, but had a time limitation. The period of time may have been to the end of a man’s life, or an age, or dispensation, but not for ever in the sense of eternity. This is very clear from examining the usage of the same terminology in other passages.
For example, the same Hebrew term for for ever is used to mean nothing more than up to the end of a man’s life in Exodus 21:6:
Then his master shall bring him unto God, and shall bring him to the door, or onto the door-post; his master shall bore his ear through with an awl; and he shall serve him for ever. (Not for eternity, but for the rest of his life).
Deuteronomy 15:17:
Then thou shalt take an awl, and thrust it through his ear onto the door, and he shall be thy servant for ever. (Not for eternity, but for the rest of his life.)
1 Samuel 1:22:
But Hannah went not up; for she said unto her husband, I will not go up until the child be weaned; and then I will bring him, that he may appear before Jehovah, and there abide for ever. (Not for eternity, but for the rest of his life.)
1 Chronicles 28:4:
Howbeit Jehovah, the God of Israel, chose me out of all the house of my father to be king of Israel for ever: … (David did not rule over Jerusalem for eternity, but he did rule for the rest of his life.)
Other examples where olam means only to the end of a man’s life include Exodus 14:13; Leviticus 25:46; 1 Samuel 20:23 and 27:12. Another way that the same term was used is when God said that He would dwell in the Solomonic Temple for ever in 1 Kings 9:3:
And Jehovah said unto him, I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that thou has made before me: I have hallowed this house, which thou has built, to put my name there for ever; and mine eyes and my heart shall be there perpetually
The same statement is made in 2 Chronicles 7:16. However, God left the Temple in the days of Ezekiel. Obviously, for ever here meant the age or period of time of the First Temple only.
In Deuteronomy 23:3, the concept of for ever is clearly limited:
An Ammonite or a Moabite shall not enter into the assembly of Jehovah; even to the tenth generation shall none belonging to them enter into the assembly of Jehovah for ever.
Obviously here for ever is limited to ten generations.
Even more relevant to the issue at hand is that the same term is applied to other facets of the Law of Moses besides the Sabbath, such as the kindling of the Tabernacle lampstands (Exod. 27:21; Lev. 24:3); the ceremony of showbread (Lev. 24:8); the service of the brazen laver (Exod. 30:21); the Levitical priesthood and the priestly garments (Exod. 28:43; 40:15; Lev. 10:9; Num. 10:8; 18:23; 25:13; 1 Chron. 15:2; 23:13); the sacrificial system, including sacrifices, offerings, etc. (Exod. 29:28; Lev. 7:34, 36; 10:15; Num. 15:15; 18:8, 11, 19; 19:10); and, the Yom Kippur sacrifice (Lev. 16:34). If it is insisted that the Sabbath is still mandatory on the basis of the English word “forever,” then the same thing would have to apply to all these other facets of the Law of Moses. Yet those who insist on mandatory Sabbath-keeping will insist that the Messiah has put an end to all the others.
As for the term perpetual covenant, it is also used of the ceremony of the showbread in Leviticus 24:9
As for the term throughout your generations, this too is limited in time. It is used of a man’s life (Lev. 25:30); the Levitical priesthood (Exod. 40:15; Lev. 10:9; Num. 10:8; 18:23); the ceremony of the lampstands (Exod. 27:21; Lev. 24:3); the service of the brazen laver (Exod. 30:21); and the sacrificial system (Lev. 7:36; Num. 15:15).
It is inconsistent exegesis to insist on the basis of such terms as forever, throughout your generations, and perpetual covenant that the Sabbath law is still mandatory without incorporating all of these other elements from the Law of Moses for the same reason. (Israelology, pp. 655–657)"
Do Gentile Believers in Jesus Christ Become Jews?
Ever since the gospel message spread to the Gentiles in the first century AD, believers have struggled to understand the relationship between Gentile believers in the Jewish Messiah, Jesus Christ, …
midwestapologetics.org
Not much interested in the HRM movement but if you are then fine, I don't mind people discussing it; I just wanted to pass the above along.