You've Heard it Said... (Part 2)

How many times have I heard people say things like, "There are 613 Commandments in the Torah - I can't keep them all!" (Usually followed by another misconception, such as: "The law is a curse!")?

I will tell you - I cannot count the times...

But I do have to wonder: these people who think it is "impossible" to keep the Commandments - have they ever actually read the list of commandments? My guess is "No."

I Googled it once and found a helpful website, Hebrew4Christians, which lists the commandments and the corresponding scripture for each. One of the very first things I noticed as I made my way down their list was the overlapping of commandments. In fact, the website comments on this:

The website goes on to comment that "some laws do not apply at to [Gentiles] at all (for example, laws concerning Temple practices, agricultural laws, civil laws...)" etc. By the time you cross out anything that applies to the King, a judge... and whatever other category does not apply to you, the arbitrary number of "613" has been significantly reduced.

I was encouraged to read a similar comment on a Bible study website that I follow:

The common refrain ... is “There are 613 laws, we can’t possibly keep them all!” This is pretty much always spoken by someone who has never taken the time to read Leviticus and know that no one is asking us to obey all 613 laws. Are you a Levitical priest? Are you a farmer? Are you a woman? Are you a man? Are you a judge? Do you live in Jerusalem? Is there an earthly temple right now?  If you answered “no” to any one of these questions then a large portion of those 613 don’t even apply to you. Answer “no” to more than one? Even fewer.

Our duty can be summed up in what is known as the Ten Commandments.  If we set our hearts to follow those and to remain in His word, seeking His guidance on our lives, all other commandments (laws) that apply to us will naturally follow suit.

In contrast, there are so many laws in the United States that they do not even have a count of them but estimates are that they exceed 25,000. Most folks I know will proudly state that they are a law abiding citizen of the United States.

And that’s when the real reasons come out for why people don’t want to obey God: We feel we are being “inconvenienced” when it comes to giving up things we want to do, and can’t understand why God won’t let us do things like eat bacon or spare ribs, go to a baseball game on Saturday, and other seemingly “harmless” things that everyone else is doing, and they’re fine! So why shouldn’t I? God is not that mean, God doesn’t care about such trivia; after all “Jesus Paid It All” and it’s now all about Grace, Grace, Grace. I mean, "Jesus nailed all that to the cross, right?"

Again - have these same people actually read their Bibles? And again, my guess is: "No." Because if they did, they would have read in Colossians 2:13-14: 

When you were dead in your trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our trespasses, having canceled the debt ascribed to us in the decrees that stood against us. He took it away, nailing it to the cross!

This is the verse so many people quote, thinking that it means "Jesus nailed 'the Torah' to the cross." But if you go back and read it again with fresh eyes, not influenced by all the so-called doctrine you have heard all these years, you can see for yourself that Jesus nailed our DEBT to the cross. It simply does not mean the same thing!

Back in 2016, I posted about wearing tzitzit... in which I mused:

I don't need a "logical" reason. I need to do it because He asked me to.

In my mind, the same logic applies to our basic obedience to God's instructions for living a godly life. Because that is exactly what "The Law" is - God's instruction manual. It's not a set of arbitrary rules set down by a "mean God;"  instead, they are principles to live by that will bring us blessing. That is what He promised, and that is what I believe is true.

If you don't agree with me, see for yourself what Jesus said about it.

(... and you may have noticed, I have already expounded on this same topic previously... but it keeps coming up!)

45762 :: More Musings on Jeremiah

 Continuing in the Jeremiah vein, the scripture I picked up on today was Jeremiah 32:32-33 - the one where God is saying that His instructions will be written on our hearts instead of just tablets of stone. (Although I think sometimes that our hearts must be made of stone... there is so much evil and hatred blatantly displayed all over the world.)

I think as society has walked away from God's teachings, basic civility has been on the decline. So, with whatever time we have left before "the days to come," it falls to us who love God's law to walk in the opposite sprit and overcome our base human nature that defaults to wanting to return evil for evil - but instead find ways to (metaphorically speaking) "turn the other cheek"; when we see unkindness, we respond with kindness. When we see greed, we respond with generosity.

What will that look like in real time? I'm guessing "easier to say - not as easy to do" without the power of the Holy Spirit working in us.

I will put My law in their minds
and inscribe it on their hearts.
And I will be their God,
and they will be My people.

-Jeremiah 31:33b 

 

45761 :: Taking a Leap from Jeremiah to Ephesians

 As I think over what I have just finished reading in Jeremiah, I can't hep but feel grateful that God has opened my eyes and opened my ears to hear His Word.

I also think back to the details I read recently about William Tyndale and his efforts (and martyrdom) to get the Word of God into the hands of the people in their own language. It does not escape my notice that we have 30+ copies of the Bible in our house. So, with the privilege and ready availability of having the very Word of God so accessible, wouldn't you think that our society would have improved by now? I'm not talking about medical or technical advances that have made our lives better (although that might be debatable...) but the condition of our hearts.

No, I rather think that with every opportunity that is presented to us to grow closer to God, the enemy has ramped up his deceptive schemes to pull us away - to take our focus off of our own salvation; we have lost our devotion to God and the things of His kingdom.

All the more reason to STAND.

Ephesians 6:14-18 - Stand, therefore, having your loins girt about with Truth, and having on the breastplate of Righteousness and your feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of Peace; ABOVE ALL, taking the shield of Faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of Salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is THE WORD OF GOD: praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit...

(I quoted that from the KJV, as that is how I memorized it when I was young, but I am a fan of understanding what I am reading, so recommend using a modern translation, as the English vernacular, despite having dictionaries available since 1604, has continued to morph and evolve through the centuries.) 

I have lately become a big fan of the Berean Study Bible, which translates it:

Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness arrayed, and with your feet fitted with the readiness of the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Pray in the Spirit at all times, with every kind of prayer and petition.

 

Not Sorry to be Set Apart

I knew there was a reason I have been hesitant to join in the Lent observances that have begun to be practiced every year at our church. (Beginning, if I remember correctly, when a former staff pastor who is decidedly on the side of traditional liturgical practices instituted it.) I have gone once or twice, did the "Stations of the Cross" that were set up around the auditorium, and even had ashes placed symbolically on my forehead. But, to be quite honest, it seemed like meaningless ritual to me. I "tried" to feel more spiritual through it all, but just could not drum it up.

Turns out, my Southern Baptist roots are probably at fault for this. I remember, when I was in high school, many of my friends asking, "What are you giving up for Lent?" Having not a clue, I asked my mother, who informed me, "We don't observe Lent. That's what the Catholics do." (In case you did not know, there never seemed to be any love lost between the Baptists and Catholics - at least the way I saw it.)

However, that did not deter me from wanting to fit in with my friends (ah, peer pressure!) so the first year I valiantly gave up French fries for lunch. (Believe me, that was a sacrifice.) Over the years I have given up chocolate, given up drinking anything but water - even these days, I have friends who go dark on Facebook for Lent. 

Today, in preparation for Lent observance, I decided to Google "is Lent Biblical?" and not to my surprise, a transcribed podcast from a Independent Baptist Church in Indianapolis jumped to the top of the list. I read their arguments with interest.

They went into great detail about the meaning and timing of Lent, and the significance of it as it is based on the worship of Babylonian fertility goddess "Ishtar" and her son Tammuz. (Sound familiar? I have known for years that the word "Easter" is derived from "Ishtar," but that is a different bunny trail.) This false god worship is mentioned in Scripture in Ezekiel 8: ...Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the LORD’S house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz. Then said he unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations than these... (Yes, you heard that right. God called their observance an "abomination.")

Just the simple fact that Lent was not celebrated by the apostles or the early Christian church until the early 4th century is reason enough to ignore the custom, in my opinion. But wait! There's more!

Some feel that by observing Lent, we are showing "solidarity" with the rest of the Christian church. (Presuming they mean the "denominations" that hold on to the Catholic traditions.) But is that really a legitimate reason? WDSS? (What does Scripture Say?) I don't know about your Bible, but mine calls me to "Come out from among them and be separate." In other words, just because every other denomination is doing something is not justification for doing something that is not only unscriptural, but counter to the tenets of our belief. Nothing that we can do, no ritual that we perform, no ashes on the forehead can replace the grace and forgiveness we have received freely from God by believing and trusting in His son, Yeshua (Jesus.) 

Another reason given by some is that "We need time each year to repent." Well - sort of. We actually need to take time EVERY.DAY to repent. Besides that, why would we align our Day of Repentance with a decidedly pagan observance when the Lord gave us a perfectly good commandment to observe the Day of Atonement (which - surprise - does not fall anywhere near Easter.) Nowhere in my Bible does it say this is for Jews only. If we have aligned ourselves with the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and we want to claim the blessings God gave to them, why ever would we turn around and align ourselves with Babylonian sun god worship? That just makes no sense to me.

So, here I am, still faced with the fact that our assembly is inviting us to participate, and having to choose to stand on the truth that we are called to be separate from those who mix holy with common. Religious rituals and symbolism are a sorry substitute for Grace through Faith. 

I guess you can take the girl out of the Baptist church, but the Baptist church never really comes out of the girl. Sorry if that hurts anyone's feelings - but not sorry to be Set Apart.