ResponsiveReiding

The following is a copy of a newsletter sent out in November of 2008 by Baruch Maoz. Baruch is a native Israeli, a veteran of several wars there, and has been pastoring a Baptist Congregation in Israel for decades since his conversion.  He is uniquely qualified to give the following. It is well worth our time and attention to consider.

Do continue to pray for the Peace of Jerusalem. Pray that the Prince of Peace may at last rule in the hearts of those there.

Israel’s Greatest Need: A Plea to American Evangelicals

I just don’t get it! Perhaps someone can explain it to me: how can we act so contrary to what we believe? How can there be such a yawning gap between what we know is true and what we do in the name of the truth we know? You don’t get it either, do you? You’re not sure what I mean? Well, let me explain: The Bible faces us with a question: what will it profit a nation if it gains the whole world and loses its own soul? I therefore ask, what does Israel need above and beyond anything else – a strong army? Peace with its Arab nations? A thriving economy? No. There is something far more important that Israel needs.

What is the greatest blessing God has promised Israel – the Land? The Law? The temple? No. He promised something far more wonderful, something that addresses Israel’s greatest need better than anything else. He promised,

‘I will be your God and you will be my people’.

‘I will pour clean water on you and you shall be clean’.

‘I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah . . . I will put my law in their inward parts and write it on their hearts’.

‘I will put my Spirit within you’.

‘They shall all know the Lord, from the least to the greatest of them’.

God and his transforming power are Israel’s greatest need. God is all men’s truest, greatest need. We were created in the image of God and made for fellowship with him, whether we are Jewish or gentile, male or female, slaves or freemen. Nothing is more fulfilling, more suited, more appropriate to man than the knowledge and worship of God. This is true of the Jew first and also of the gentile.

ISRAEL AND THE LAND

In the past, Israel had possession of the land. It enjoyed a thriving economy and substantial security. God fulfilled his promise to Israel and gave them, through the hand of David, all the territory from the Euphrates to the river of Egypt, from the Great Sea to the Mediterranean. But Israel defiled the land with its sensuous idolatry, its greedy, hedonistic and selfish society, and with its determined transgressions of the laws of God. To what nation had God given so much? Yet no nation had proven so ungrateful. In just response, and according to the covenant God made with Israel’s forefathers, God sent them out of the land. Ten of the twelve tribes were destroyed, utterly wiped off the face of the earth. A bare remnant attached itself to Judah and thus preserved its continued existence. God had warned the people. He sent messengers who brought God’s word to the nation. They said,

The word of the Lord that came to Micah of Moresheth during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah — the vision he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem: 2 Hear, O peoples, all of you, listen, O earth and all who are in it, that the Sovereign Lord may witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple. 3 Look! The Lord is coming from his dwelling place; he comes down and treads the high places of the earth. 4 The mountains melt beneath him and the valleys split apart, like wax before the fire, like water rushing down a slope. 5 All this is because of Jacob’s transgression, because of the sins of the house of Israel. What is Jacob’s transgression? Is it not Samaria? What is Judah’s high place? Is it not Jerusalem? 6 “Therefore I will make Samaria a heap of rubble, a place for planting vineyards. I will pour her stones into the valley and lay bare her foundations. 7 All her idols will be broken to pieces; all her temple gifts will be burned with fire; I will destroy all her images. Since she gathered her gifts from the wages of prostitutes, as the wages of prostitutes they will again be used.” 8 Because of this I will weep and wail; I will go about barefoot and naked. I will howl like a jackal and moan like an owl. 9 For her wound is incurable; it has come to Judah. It has reached the very gate of my people, even to Jerusalem itself (Micah 1:1-9, NIV).

You have behaved more wickedly than your fathers. See how each of you is following the stubbornness of his evil heart instead of obeying me. 13 So I will throw you out of this land into a land neither you nor your fathers have known . . . for I will show you no favour (Jer. 16:12-13).

Israel had no right to security in its sins. The people lost their right to possess the land when they sinned and would not be allowed to remain in it. The covenant was clear:

If you do not obey the LORD your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today. …64 Then the Lord will scatter you among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other. There you will worship other gods—gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your fathers have known. 65 Among those nations you will find no repose, no resting place for the sole of your foot. There the Lord will give you an anxious mind, eyes weary with longing, and a despairing heart. 66 You will live in constant suspense, filled with dread both night and day, never sure of your life. 67 In the morning you will say, ‘If only it were evening!’ and in the evening, ‘If only it were morning!’ – because of the terror that will fill your hearts and the sights that your eyes will see (Deut. 28:15, 64-67).

‘”Hear the word of the Lord, all you people of Judah who come through these gates to worship the Lord. 3 This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Reform your ways and your actions, and I will let you live in this place. 4 Do not trust in deceptive words and say, ‘This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord!’ 5 If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly, 6 if you do not oppress the alien, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, 7 then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your forefathers for ever and ever. 8 But look, you are trusting in deceptive words that are worthless.

9 ‘”Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal and follow other gods you have not known, 10 and then come and stand before me in this house, which bears my Name, and say, ‘We are safe’ – safe to do all these detestable things? 11 Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching! declares the Lord. 12 ‘”Go now to the place in Shiloh where I first made a dwelling for my Name, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of my people Israel. 13 While you were doing all these things, declares the LORD, I spoke to you again and again, but you did not listen; I called you, but you did not answer. 14 Therefore, what I did to Shiloh I will now do to the house that bears my Name, the temple you trust in, the place I gave to you and your fathers. 15 I will thrust you from my presence, just as I did all your brothers, the people of Ephraim”‘ (Jer. 7:2-15).

God would not allow Israel to remain in the land so long as it remained in sin, and no purported reliance on a covenant would avail. The people of Israel had no right to view itself safe from punishment due to a covenant they consistently transgressed. God made this very clear to Israel on many occasions, as he did to the northern kingdom through Amos:

7 ‘Are not you Israelites the same to me as the Cushites?’ declares the Lord. ‘Did I not bring Israel up from Egypt, the Philistines from Caphtor and the Arameans from Kir? 8 Surely the eyes of the Sovereign Lord are on the sinful kingdom. I will destroy it from the face of the earth — yet I will not totally destroy the house of Jacob,’ declares the LORD. 9 ‘For I will give the command, and I will shake the house of Israel among all the nations as grain is shaken in a sieve, and not a pebble will reach the ground. 10 All the sinners among my people will die by the sword, all those who say, “Disaster will not overtake or meet us”‘ (Amos 9: 7-10).

God required of Israel a pure, sensitive, godly society that conducted its affairs in justice, protected the weak, restricted the strong and the well-connected, and ensured that the needy had their true needs met. This was the main burden of the prophetic message. Prediction was the smallest part of what the prophets had to say, and most predictions were of an unwelcome nature because they spoke of impending judgment. Modern-day fascination with the prophetic tends to ignore the moral content of the prophecy and focus, instead, on a form of Christian fortune-telling. It is catastrophic rather than Christological, event-focused rather than focused on moral duty. It is tantalizing rather than sanctifying, and it insists on Israel’s right to possess the land without reference to the nation’s moral duty before God and to those of other nations. This is unbiblical. It is not truly helpful to Israel, nor does it address Israel’s greatest need.

ISRAEL’S SINFULNESS

God informed Isaiah that the nation’s sins had created a barrier between himself and the people so that he will not hear their prayers (Isa. 59:1-2). Their religiosity was an abomination to him, their many sacrifices brought him no pleasure, their presence in the temple was a nuisance, their incense detestable, and their celebrations hateful. When they spread their hands in prayer, he would turn his face away. He would not listen even if they offered many prayers. As far as God was concerned, the nation’s leaders were like leaders of Sodom and Gomorrah (Isa. 1:10-15)!

Israel today is barely different. A former President of Israel has been accused of rape and indecent behaviour while in office. Its Minister of Justice was found guilty of forcing himself on a young woman and removed from office. Its Minister of the Treasury was indicted for theft of public funds and forced to resign. The police have recommended that Israel’s Prime Minister be indicted for fraud, embezzlement, and misuse of public funds, which recommendation brought about his resignation. Religious Ministers of State and parliament members have been jailed for bribery, fraud, and misuse of public funds.

In 1999, 18,785 legal abortions were performed in Israel compared to 131,936 births. In 2006 there were 148,170 births and 19,830 reported abortions. This number does not include the many unreported abortions performed in Israeli hospitals and, more commonly, in clandestine, ill-equipped and unsanitary conditions. The Israeli military provides free abortions to any female soldier who requests it, for any reason. Reports from Israeli soldiers, both commissioned and non-commissioned, indicate a high incidence of terroristic activity on the part of Israeli West bank settlers against Palestinian villagers, whose olive trees are cut down, whose flocks are stolen or poisoned, whose homes and cars are vandalized and who are often forced to run a gauntlet of jeering, poking, striking Israeli settlers armed with guns and clubs. All too often, such events take place with the connivance of the Israeli military. Military roadblocks, originally established by Israel in the West Bank due to security considerations, are now being used to stifle Palestinian economic development and render life in the Palestinian regions insufferable. The World Bank released insists that Israel’s closure system is a leading cause for the Palestinians’ economic woes.

I am aware of the argument on the other side. We must recognize that Israel is at war with brutal enemies that aim at nothing less than its total, physical annihilation. Israel’s misbehaviour, or the individual failures and misjudgements of some of its soldiers are not characteristic of Israel’s policies or of its moral standards. The enemy often hides within the Palestinian civilian population, and if often harboured by that population, where it is permitted to establish its bases and store its weaponry. Israel’s press is full of effective protest against Israeli moral failures, whereas the Palestinian press and population often hail atrocities perpetuated in their name with glee and calls for more.

Being an Israeli, I am furious at every terrorist attack on my nation. I am fully aware of the way infiltrators cynically use ambulances, pregnant women and the goodwill of some soldiers. Being a Christian, I denounce the horror of terrorism and recognize that Jews do not normally engage in the kind of life-threatening acts of terror widely employed by the Palestinians. But Jewish settlers do terrorize their Palestinian neighbours without cause or justification. Their actions deserve firm condemnation and seldom receive such from Israeli authorities. Every time an injustice is perpetuated by an Israeli against Palestinians, the moral fibre of Israeli society is weakened and the justice of the Israeli cause put in question. Vengeance is the Lord’s. It may not be executed by man, taking the law into his own hands.

Israeli society is hedonistic, materialistic, and promiscuous. The biblical role of men and of women is being extensively and effectively denied. Homosexuality is portrayed as a legitimate sexual option. God is far from the thoughts of the average Israeli. The gap between the rich and the poor is immoral because much of their riches are not the product of innovation or industry but of tax evasions, and of political connections.

Orthodox Judaism is void of a moral message. Nor is it able to set a moral example when its internal squabbles spill over to verbal and physical violence and so many among them are notoriously corrupt. Orthodoxy enlists en masse to protest the desecration of the Sabbath but not of the family through infidelity and divorce. It ensures that leavened foods are not sold during the seven days of Passover, while it is known for double bookkeeping and for false reporting and consequent receipt of disproportionate government aid. Judaism constitutes a major departure from biblical norms. Its views of God, of man, of sin, of holiness, and of the way to atone for sins is altogether contrary to what the Bible teaches. Jewish can-do arrogance has replaced shame, sorrow, and repentance and is viewed as a substitute for an atoning sacrifice. Holiness is especially a matter of ritualistic adherence. Sin is not viewed as an eternal offence against God but a relative error that can be ameliorated by human effort and God exists to bless Israel and to promote its national aspirations.

THE GOOD IN ISRAELI SOCIETY

There is no doubt: Israel is an innovative society. It has contributed to the world’s welfare in many ways. There are more Israeli Nobel Prize winners per capita than in any other nation. Israeli technological, agricultural, and medical inventions are renowned, and used the world over – including in many Arab countries. The State of Israel has accorded the Palestinians more political liberties, more economic possibilities, more educational opportunities than they had under Egyptian and Jordanian rule. Israel has also contributed more to the United Nations’ Palestinian Relief Organization than all the Arab nations combined. In spite constant military threats for over 60 years, Israel has remained a bastion of democracy in the militarized, autocratic Middle East. No less remarkably, Israel ensures true religious freedom, including the freedom to evangelize in spite of the shameful history of persecution, consistently undertaken by Christian societies and nations. The Israeli judicial system is independent and famously just.

ISRAEL IN THE EYES OF GOD

None of Israel’s virtues makes up for the sins of which Israel is guilty. None can atone for the sins of a nation that has transgressed the laws of God, broken covenant with its Maker and set itself up in determined rebellion against him. Which of the prophets did Israel heed? Which of God’s laws did it not break? Although the nation was punished, it has persisted in sin:

2 Hear, O heavens! Listen, O earth! For the LORD has spoken: ‘I reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me. 3 The ox knows his master, the donkey his owner’s manger, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.’ 4 Ah, sinful nation, a people loaded with guilt, a brood of evildoers, children given to corruption! They have forsaken the LORD; they have spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him. 5 Why should you be beaten anymore? Why do you persist in rebellion? Your whole head is injured, your whole heart afflicted. 6 From the sole of your foot to the top of your head there is no soundness — only wounds and welts and open sores, not cleansed or bandaged or soothed with oil. 7 Your country is desolate, your cities burned with fire; your fields are being stripped by foreigners right before you, laid waste as when overthrown by strangers. 8 The Daughter of Zion is left like a shelter in a vineyard, like a hut in a field of melons, like a city under siege. 9 Unless the LORD Almighty had left us some survivors, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been like Gomorrah. 10 Hear the word of the LORD, you rulers of Sodom; listen to the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah! 11 ‘The multitude of your sacrifices — what are they to me?’ says the LORD. ‘I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats. 12 When you come to appear before me, who has asked this of you, this trampling of my courts? 13 Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations — I cannot bear your evil assemblies. 14 Your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts my soul hates. They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. 15 When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood; 16 Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong, 17 learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow. 18 ‘Come now, let us reason together,’ says the LORD. ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. 19 If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land; 20 but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.’ For the mouth of the LORD has spoken (Isa. 1:2-20).

The main point of eschatology, the main burden of the prophetic message, was not to predict the future but to provoke Israel into spiritually motivated moral behaviour by warning of impending judgment. It was not so much prediction as protest and promised punishment, and any use of prophecy that ignores this is unfaithful to the prophetic message.

ISRAEL’S PREDICAMENT

Isaiah called upon the people:

16 ‘Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong, 17 learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow. 18 ‘Come now, let us reason together,’ says the LORD. ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. 19 If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land; 20 but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.’ For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.

How could the people wash? How could they make themselves clean? They could not remove their evil deeds from the Lord’s sight because no one can bring clean out of that which has been soiled. How could the people stop doing wrong? How they learn to do right? They could do so no more than a leopard can change its spots or an Ethiopian the colour of his skin. Sin had infected the hearts of all mankind, and the Jewish people are no exception now and were no exception then. Nothing but a transforming act of God can change them. They need a new heart, a different attitude to God’s legislated demands. The narrative of Israel’s history is repeatedly one of sin, judgment, mercy, restoration and renewed sin, leading to a repeat of the same cycle.

But God had promised to break that cycle and to transform Israel inwardly:

7 This is what the LORD says: ‘Sing with joy for Jacob; shout for the foremost of the nations. Make your praises heard, and say, “O LORD, save your people, the remnant of Israel.” 8 See, I will bring them from the land of the north and gather them from the ends of the earth. Among them will be the blind and the lame, expectant mothers and women in labour; a great throng will return. 9 They will come with weeping; they will pray as I bring them back. I will lead them beside streams of water on a level path where they will not stumble, because I am Israel’s father, and Ephraim is my firstborn son. 10 Hear the word of the LORD, O nations; proclaim it in distant coastlands: “He who scattered Israel will gather them and will watch over his flock like a shepherd.” 11 For the LORD will ransom Jacob and redeem them from the hand of those stronger than they. 12 They will come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion; they will rejoice in the bounty of the LORD — the grain, the new wine and the oil, the young of the flocks and herds. They will be like a well-watered garden, and they will sorrow no more. 13 Then maidens will dance and be glad, young men and old as well. I will turn their mourning into gladness; I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow . . . 17 So there is hope for your future,’ declares the LORD . . . 31 ‘The time is coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. 32 It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,’ declares the LORD. 33 ‘This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,’ declares the LORD. ‘I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34 No longer will a man teach his neighbour, or a man his brother, saying, “Know the LORD,” because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,’ declares the LORD, ‘for I will forgive their wickedness’ (Jer. 31:7-13, 17, 31-34).

Nor will Israel then return to the cycle of sin, punishment, restoration and renewed sin. As Ezekiel put it:

‘I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.’ (Ezek. 36: 25-27)

‘They will no longer defile themselves with their idols and vile images or with any of their offenses, for I will save them from all their sinful backsliding, and I will cleanse them. They will be my people, and I will be their God.’ (Ezek. 37:23).

DRAWING CONCLUSIONS

A day is coming when Israel will be so unlike itself today that the very cooking pots of Jerusalem will be dedicated to the Lord. These promises are very familiar to those evangelicals who love Israel. What practical conclusions do they draw from them? Why is it that they have neglected the promises’ obvious meaning and have substituted political support for a faithful Gospel ministry? How can evangelicals, in the name of the Gospel, refrain from preaching the Gospel to Israel and how can it be that they have more interest in Israel’s social, political and economic advance than in the strengthening of a local, indigenous Gospel by way of Jewish Christian congregations in Israel?

Some years back, I was engaged in a struggle against a legislative effort in the Israeli house of legislature (the Knesset) to outlaw evangelism in Israel. We had the support of parliamentarians, Heads of State and prominent friends of Israel all over the world. To my amazement, no American evangelical leader would take a public stand against this bill. None would openly stand with us Israeli Christians, for fear that they would lose the illusionary influence they claimed to have with Israeli politicians.

Millions, tens of millions of evangelical dollars are sent to support Israel, often in support of Israel’s most radical political platforms, while some congregations of Israeli Christians struggle to make ends meet or meet for worship in unsuitable facilities for lack of funds. Rabbi Eckstein is milking evangelicals dry for funds, many of which serve worthy causes but, I ask: is any cause more worthy than the Gospel?

Evangelicals are supporting the building of West Bank settlements, hospitals, schools and even synagogues where the name of Christ is reviled. They invest large sums of money assisting Jews to immigrate to Israel. They fly Israeli flags in their churches and hobnob with Israeli politicians. Meanwhile, the church I formerly served has been struggling for 6 years to complete a building and is still unable to finish for lack of funds. A national Christian social aid fund in Israel that I chair presently has a waiting list of over 30 families seeking help in purchasing a home, and as many have given up waiting because we do not have available funds. An evangelical Bible college in Israel, the only one in the country, is struggling to make ends meet. A translation of the Bible into modern Hebrew struggled for years for lack of funds. Again, I could multiply examples.

Can you imagine what impact just 10% of that money could have on the life and witness of Israeli congregations? Can you begin to imagine the impact Israeli churches could have on their society if another 10% of these evangelical benevolent funds were channelled through them to worthy causes? Can you imagine the good it could do? But, no. American evangelicals have become politicized. They are more interested in forwarding God’s presumed eschatology than his moral injunctions and their duty to members of the Household of Faith in Israel.

I’m disappointed by evangelical Christians who profess a biblical love for my people, who lay claim to faith in Jesus as the saviour of the world, and yet have such unbiblical priorities. These brethren know there is no salvation apart from faith and repentance; that, unless a man is born again from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God. They know that ancestry, human effort – even if it is sincere religious effort – or anything else within the reach of man is not enough to earn a place in heaven. Salvation is by grace through faith, not of works lest any man should boast. Yet, in spite of their faith in Jesus and their love for the Jewish people, they act as if being Jewish assures one of a passport to heaven. Many do not stretch a finger to preach the Gospel to Israel or support local Israeli churches. American Christians visit ‘the Holy Land’ in the thousands. How many have visited Israeli Christians, encouraged them, taken a part in their labours and worshipped with them?

It is time to change, brethren. It is time to renew our commitment to the Gospel and to him who died so that we would have a Gospel. It is time to return to biblical priorities. The Gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, Jews first and also gentiles. May God give us grace to believe it.

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From MaozNews (the Baruch and Bracha Maoz Newsletter), No. 11 (November 26, 2008.)

By Baruch Maoz

1 – Ecclesiastes 3:11 (ESV) 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.

RAF: Man often fails to be content both with WHERE God has him, and WHEN. Men have immortal souls, but not eternal souls in the same sense as God. We are finite in our entire being. And while our souls will never die (in the sense of never ceasing to exist, either in Heaven or for those in Hell) they have not always – been. We are not like God in that He is “from everlasting to everlasting” (1 Chron. 16:36), whereas we had a beginning. Once we did not exist at all, and then God created us.

As created, finite beings, and not self-existent, infinite beings, we are to live and function within the realm God has made us to exist in. There is a beauty of this time and place with which we are to fully engage. And, He has also given us a capacity to understand the concept of eternity and the age to come. It is right then for us to live today in this place, in light of the eternity before us. Yet (the text says) He has given us this reality of eternity in such a way that we cannot find out the absolute whole of what God “has done from the beginning to the end.”

Now certainly, the main point of the text is that these things cannot be known by ourselves, we need the special revelation of God we receive through His Word and consummately in Christ Jesus.

Yet there may yet be more in this for us. I take this last phrase to at least also contain the idea that we are to humble ourselves in not trying to reach beyond God’s revelation. Passages such as Eph. 2:6-7 & 3:7-11 or even the great metanarrative Rom. 11:36 (all things from Him, through Him and to Him) are glimpses beyond this veil. But we are wise not to absolutize these flashes of glorious revelation to the extent that we imagine we have all of God and His purposes figured out in totality.

Perhaps our tendency toward speculation in theology can lead us beyond proper bounds. Let us handle these revelations carefully and with a holy hush in our souls lest we trample upon them as though we have the whole of God so reduced as to be fully comprehended by our finite minds. We will spend eternity searching out His riches. We will never be able to exhaust them, never able to take them all in. Only God can fully know God.

This of course does not mean we cannot TRULY know Him – we do! Nor does it mean we do not have true revelation regarding eternal and infinite things – again, we do! Nor does it mean we cannot know critical eternal realities regarding His eternal plans and purposes. Once more, we truly do. But it is to say we need to refrain from imagining we can and do know more than we can and do.

The same Peter who had received such a singular revelation of Christ’s Messianic identity in Matt. 16, is rebuked by Jesus a few verses later for not setting his mind on the things of God, but of man. Peter steps beyond his bounds and rebukes the Savior. May we not be found similarly stepping over the edge.

Oh Father, forgive me for those times when I fail to be humble before your revelations, and take to myself more than is fitting because of them.

1. The one-word theme of Ecclesiastes is: PURPOSE. It is a call to examine all of life and question the very reason for it – for our existing and living.

2. Ecclesiastes 1:1-11 (ESV) 2 Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity. 3 What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?…11 There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of later things yet to be among those who come after.

RAF: Here is the question, the GREAT question is you will: Is life just this endless cycle of – stuff?
Is there any real meaning to it?
Or do we come and go, and that’s it?

3. Ecclesiastes 1:13-15 (ESV) 13 And I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven. It is an unhappy business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. 14 I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind. 15 What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is lacking cannot be counted.

RAF: The Preacher’s lament here is not due to considering life as a man who is in right relationship with God – but life considered in the context of the Fall and as man apart from God.

Rom. 8 tells us that the Lord “subjected” the world to “futility” as a result of the Fall, that hope might come in. The idea is to make life considered alone, as a meaningless reality apart from the purpose for which we were created. We are not be content in any way with this fallen existence as it is, but look forward to when the universe will be completely restored to its right relationship with Him. The present situation cannot be fixed as is. The crookedness of this present life cannot be made straight. Nothing less than a complete new heavens and earth will suffice. Nothing, but an entirely new mode of existence. Come quickly Lord Jesus.

4. Ecclesiastes 1:16-18 (ESV) I said in my heart, “I have acquired great wisdom, surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me, and my heart has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.” 17 And I applied my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is but a striving after wind. 18 For in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.

RAF: Knowing for “knowing’s” sake – is utterly empty. How many give themselves to the sport of knowledge? But when it is all said and done, if it does not lead them to a better knowledge of God and His purposes, they have wasted every moment of it. We can do this even in theology. Beware!

5. Ecclesiastes 2:1 (ESV) I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy yourself.” But behold, this also was vanity.

RAF: So, let’s see if pleasure satisfies.
No.
4 -6 Not: Pleasure in accomplishment.
7-8 Not: Pleasure in possessions.

How many are still laboring under the illusion that the reason their life is meaningless is either because they have not accomplished something great or lasting, or because they do not possess something – apart from which they imagine themselves to be bereft of true satisfaction. Should they then get these, they will prove to be nothing at all. Oh how we need to be divested of this thinking before we engage in pursing its emptiness.

NOTE: Not that there was NO pleasure at all, but that there was nothing lasting, nothing truly satisfying. (v. 10)

6. Then I said in my heart, “What happens to the fool will happen to me also. Why then have I been so very wise?” And I said in my heart that this also is vanity. ESV – Ec 2:15

RAF: For any and all who consider what life is about – this reality must be faced. If everything just ends in death, what difference does it make if I live wisely or foolishly? If I know much or little? It all just ends. Just “knowing” is a bottomless well which we can drown in. Apart from God, as is truly – vanity (emptiness).

7. 24 There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God, 25 for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment? 26 For to the one who pleases him God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he has given the business of gathering and collecting, only to give to one who pleases God. This also is vanity and a striving after wind. ESV – Ec 2:24-26

RAF: This then is the sum of what he has considered so far: From the hand of God in judgment as a result of the Fall, man has nothing at all better – not one thing – than merely eating, drinking and finding some sort of enjoyment in his work. This is the best the man apart from Christ can hope for. That’s it! Imagine then how many do not even have these? How many seem to strive for only these. How many are content with only these. This, is the deepest human tragedy writ large.

1. The Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tent of meeting, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying, 2 “Take a census of all the congregation of the people of Israel, by clans, by fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, every male, head by head. ESV., Numb. 1:1-2

RAF: Our English Bibles take the title of “Numbers” due to the fact that there are two, very important censuses taken during the period of history it covers. However, the traditional Hebrew title of “In The Wilderness” seems more appropriate. Note how God culls out those who fail to believe His promises. How unbelief and disobedience are so linked as to be virtual synonyms. Indeed, the first transgression – the root of all disobedience – is failure to believe God above Satan, the World, and even (perhaps especially) ourselves.

2. The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 2 “The people of Israel shall camp each by his own standard, with the banners of their fathers’ houses. They shall camp facing the tent of meeting on every side. ESV., Numb 2:1-2

RAF: This is a most wonderfully graphic illustration of what it means to have God at the very center of your life. No matter what direction geographically each one was facing, they were ALL to be facing the “tent of meeting” – the place of God’s presence. Some would be facing north, some south, some east, and some west – but all were oriented NOT according to the map, but according to the Tabernacle. How about you? Is this how you orient your life? Regardless of your career, irrespective of your family situation, regardless of your financial or social status – do you camp, do you reside, always facing the place of God’s presence? This is the great need. They could have all had their tents pitched all around the Tabernacle, but still not been facing it. It is not enough to say that Christ is simply at the center – we must be truly facing Him, seeking Him, looking to Him at all times and in every encampment or situation.

3. 5 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 6 “Bring the tribe of Levi near, and set them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister to him. 7 They shall keep guard over him and over the whole congregation before the tent of meeting, as they minister at the tabernacle. 8 They shall guard all the furnishings of the tent of meeting, and keep guard over the people of Israel as they minister at the tabernacle. 9 And you shall give the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they are wholly given to him from among the people of Israel. 10 And you shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall guard their priesthood. But if any outsider comes near, he shall be put to death.” ESV., Numb. 3:5-10

RAF: 1 Pet. 2:9 reminds us that the Church comprises a “royal priesthood.” It is our duty to be the guardians, the protectors of our Great High Priest, His People, His Church – His Truth. Do we give ourselves to guard the sacred trust of His Word to us? This is so that who and what Christ is and what He has done and continues to do in His High Priestly role is preserved and proclaimed from generation to generation. In every generation there are those who would obscure Him. They would deny His divinity, or His humanity, or His being the God/Man. They would begin and propagate myths about Him contrary to the truth of His Word. They would obscure the need for His substitutionary sacrifice. They would add works to salvation or deny we need saving from the wrath of God at all. They would seek to undermine the authority of Scripture and the exclusivity of Christ as the Savior alone. They would pervert the nature of His Church and His teaching and His mission. We are set here to protect His Gospel, His name, His glory. We are to be sure that what has been built upon the foundation of Christ is passed on faithfully to the generations which follow as long as He tarries. We are to keep men apprised of their hopeless condition in sin, their lost and dead state and of the salvation to be found only by means of faith in the work of the Son of God at Calvary. We are to keep His reputation from being mythologized or co-opted by those who would use it for their own ends. We are guardians of the sacred glories of Christ our Savior. Are we about this business? What about those who come behind us? Young men, are you ready to take up this challenge? Old men, are you training them? Church – do we take our Guardianship seriously?

4. The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 18 “Let not the tribe of the clans of the Kohathites be destroyed from among the Levites, 19 but deal thus with them, that they may live and not die when they come near to the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in and appoint them each to his task and to his burden, 20 but they shall not go in to look on the holy things even for a moment, lest they die.” ESV., Numb. 4:17-20

RAF: It is true even in ministry, that everyone neither can nor should do everything. There are some appointed to one aspect of ministry, and others to other aspects. But it is a sad truth that often, we are not content with God’s gifts to us. Sometimes we can lust after the gifts and privileges of others. When we do so, we expose ourselves to God’s discipline. Jealousy of other’s ministries is one sure way to disqualify ourselves from what God has given to us. Israel’s history will show how among the 3 divisions of the Levites, jealousy and seeking the place of others will be terribly destructive. Let it not be so among us. Let us remember that every gift of God, is, a gift of God. And to weigh or compare our gifts against one another to think as the world and the flesh does. Given all the fruit of all the trees on the Garden, the one Adam and Eve just HAD to have – was the one not given to them. Oh Father, guard our hearts against such craven longings. Another’s office may be well and good, but to lust after it over and above what you have given to us, is rank idolatry and is sure to bring your hand upon us heavily. Keep us from it. Let us prize what you have placed in our hands – and tend to it with all that is within us.

1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 18 “Speak to Aaron and his sons and all the people of Israel and say to them, When any one of the house of Israel or of the sojourners in Israel presents a burnt offering as his offering, for any of their vows or freewill offerings that they offer to the Lord, 19 if it is to be accepted for you it shall be a male without blemish, of the bulls or the sheep or the goats. 20 You shall not offer anything that has a blemish, for it will not be acceptable for you. 21 And when anyone offers a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord to fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering from the herd or from the flock, to be accepted it must be perfect; there shall be no blemish in it. 22 Animals blind or disabled or mutilated or having a discharge or an itch or scabs you shall not offer to the Lord or give them to the Lord as a food offering on the altar. 23 You may present a bull or a lamb that has a part too long or too short for a freewill offering, but for a vow offering it cannot be accepted. 24 Any animal that has its testicles bruised or crushed or torn or cut you shall not offer to the Lord; you shall not do it within your land, 25 neither shall you offer as the bread of your God any such animals gotten from a foreigner. Since there is a blemish in them, because of their mutilation, they will not be accepted for you.” ESV., Lev. 22:17-25

RAF: We are not to offer to God our second best. Yet how often this is very much the case. We worship Him with little or no energy – having used it up throughout the week on other things. We often give Him the time, the resources we have left over, not the firstfruits. When we do take on a task, sometimes we can do it in a fashion less careful or meticulously than we would if we did it for ourselves, or our employer. Why then would we imagine that such would be pleasing to God? When we do so, we reveal that in fact God is not the center of our lives, but merely a segment. Perhaps (we may say) the most important segment – but not the true hub. This passage ought to serve as a good reminder to examine ourselves once again to see whether or not such is the case.

Then again, note by way of contrast how much better off we are under the New Covenant of Christ than the old Mosaic one. What one among us feels that even their best is without defect? None. But we have this promise: “1 Pet. 2:5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” Our spiritual sacrifices ARE acceptable. How? “Through Jesus Christ.” What a great Redeemer He is!

2. The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, These are the appointed feasts of the Lord that you shall proclaim as holy convocations; they are my appointed feasts. ESV., Lev. 23:1-2

RAF: This passage lists the 7 “feasts” God appointed for His people Israel.

a. A weekly Sabbath

b. Yearly Passover

c. Yearly Firstfruits

d. Yearly Weeks (or Pentecost)

e. Yearly Trumpets

f. Yearly Day of Atonement

g. Yearly Booths

Of all these, only one is not a feast in the proper sense: Atonement. This is the single day of fasting commanded by God for His people. By example, we can see that God appoints far more feasting for His people than fasting. More days of resting than mourning. There is to be sorrow over sin, but much more rejoicing over redemption. Where sin has abounded, grace has much more abounded (Rom. 5:20). Those who would forget their sin altogether err, but those who focus upon it more than their forgiveness and reconciliation do as well. May our rejoicing be proportionate to the glory of our forgiveness, and our sorrow not outstrip our glorying in the finished work of Christ. The legalists would give us more fast days than feast days – or at least as many. The licentious would have no fast days at all and feast only. God appoints both, but in their proper measure. May we have the wisdom to do so as well.

3. The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Command the people of Israel to bring you pure oil from beaten olives for the lamp, that a light may be kept burning regularly. 3 Outside the veil of the testimony, in the tent of meeting, Aaron shall arrange it from evening to morning before the Lord regularly. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations. 4 He shall arrange the lamps on the lampstand of pure gold before the Lord regularly. ESV., Lev. 24:1-4

RAF: It is the both the high privilege and the sacred duty of ministers to attend the house of the Lord, so that there is light. In other words, the ministry of the Word, opened and expounded that men’s souls may have the light of God’s Word illuminating them at all times. Whenever this is abandoned, the essentials are plunged into darkness:

a. The altar of incense; our prayers and petitions are to be illuminated by God’s Word that we might pray aright, and see its significance before God.

b. The table of the “shew-bread” – where the testimony that Christ is God’s Bread for us come down out of heaven, our soul’s sole sustenance.

c. The Ark of God’s Covenant. Then, behind a veil, but now, open to our full view. Here, God has made known His sworn faithfulness, and it is here where mercy covers our sins – where the blood of the Lamb is seen, and full and free forgiveness reigns while we fellowship with God.

Take away the light of God’s Word, and these three are obscured in total darkness. How powerful are Paul’s parting words to Timothy – “preach the word”. 2 Timothy 4:2

4. Now an Israelite woman’s son, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the people of Israel. And the Israelite woman’s son and a man of Israel fought in the camp, 11 and the Israelite woman’s son blasphemed the Name, and cursed. Then they brought him to Moses. His mother’s name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan. 12 And they put him in custody, till the will of the Lord should be clear to them.

13 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 14 “Bring out of the camp the one who cursed, and let all who heard him lay their hands on his head, and let all the congregation stone him. 15 And speak to the people of Israel, saying, Whoever curses his God shall bear his sin. 16 Whoever blasphemes the name of the Lord shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall stone him. The sojourner as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death. ESV., Lev. 24:10-16

RAF: How is it? Why is it – that when men strive with one another, it somehow seems fitting to curse God’s name? It is nothing other than the tendency within us to shift blame for sin and discomfort – for any problem – away from human sin and the Fall, back to God. Man will seek even unconsciously (perhaps we could call this the instinct of the fallen soul) to justify himself at all times – and to thrust his fist into the face of God. No wonder then it is to be met with such violence and disdain. Thoughts against God can arise from within in a moment. And while the Fall was eternally ordained, we must never sever it from the reality of man’s own responsibility in bringing it about – God is not to blame. But oh, how we want that weight off of our collective shoulders.

5. 17 “Whoever takes a human life shall surely be put to death. 18 Whoever takes an animal’s life shall make it good, life for life. 19 If anyone injures his neighbor, as he has done it shall be done to him, 20 fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; whatever injury he has given a person shall be given to him. 21 Whoever kills an animal shall make it good, and whoever kills a person shall be put to death. 22 You shall have the same rule for the sojourner and for the native, for I am the Lord your God.” 23 So Moses spoke to the people of Israel, and they brought out of the camp the one who had cursed and stoned him with stones. Thus the people of Israel did as the Lord commanded Moses. ESV., Lev. 24:17-23

RAF: We must never forget the purpose of the command is to establish equity, not barbarism. In other words, the concept of an “eye for an eye” is twofold:

a. It prevents the thwarting of justice by failing to punish crimes at all. Sins against one another in society are not to be summarily dismissed. Personal forgiveness is always requisite, but sin often extends beyond the individual into society as a whole. It is one thing for me to forgive one who has broken into my house and stolen from me. To forgive and not require restitution of any kind is good. But it is another thing altogether to let such thieves go, only to rob my neighbor! This is to fail to love my neighbor as myself – and to see to it he is protected from harm. Thus I dare not let the thief go completely, but am responsible to see that justice is done for the good and protection of others. Hence Paul can warn Timothy regarding Alexander the coppersmith who did him “great harm.” (2 Tim. 4:14) The warning was necessary as an act of love for Timothy and others.

b. Note too that justice can be thwarted – or perverted – by OVER punishment. How easily we can see in our day, disproportionate monetary settlements in legal cases. Such fails to recognize that the punishment(s) must fit the crime in order for justice to be served. The loss of a tooth is to be compensated commensurately, not wildly. If someone steps on our toe, it is not to be a Federal case. It is not a warrant for death or taking away the whole of one’s home or goods. This statute in God’s Law for Israel prevents using the courts for revenge and promotes true equity among men.

For justice to be served, we must neither under punish, nor over punish. Failure in either direction, destroys a society eventually for it is contrary to God’s own attribute of just-ness.

1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to Aaron and his sons and to all the people of Israel and say to them, this is the thing that the Lord has commanded. 3 If any one of the house of Israel kills an ox or a lamb or a goat in the camp, or kills it outside the camp, 4 and does not bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting to offer it as a gift to the Lord in front of the tabernacle of the Lord, bloodguilt shall be imputed to that man. He has shed blood, and that man shall be cut off from among his people. 5 This is to the end that the people of Israel may bring their sacrifices that they sacrifice in the open field, that they may bring them to the Lord, to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and sacrifice them as sacrifices of peace offerings to the Lord. 6 And the priest shall throw the blood on the altar of the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting and burn the fat for a pleasing aroma to the Lord. 7 So they shall no more sacrifice their sacrifices to goat demons, after whom they whore. This shall be a statute forever for them throughout their generations. English Standard Version., Le 17:1-7.

RAF: There could be no such thing as private sacrifice in Israel. This is perhaps the equivalent of modern home or single family churches. Sacrifice was commanded worship and it was not allowed to be conducted outside the context of the Tabernacle. Why? Because as the text shows, it leads to idolatry, and a service to God which is detached from the rest of His people. One cannot have a right relationship with God, and not also be connected to His people. One ought to want connection to His people in the larger context and not want to privatize his service to God. This of course does not mean Churches cannot be small, especially at the beginning. It does mean Churches while autonomous, are not to be excessively privatized. The Body of Christ as a whole must not be ignored or discounted. This may mean we will be forced to interact with those who do not subscribe to our particular slant on everything. We do not abandon individual responsibility to understand God’s Word and to follow it, but we also must let humility prevent us from thinking we have a corner on all the truth and monopolize the one true understanding of all things. The Body is large and diverse. We must make room for one another when and where we can. We must seek connection with the Body of Christ in the larger context – even when it is in bad condition spiritually. We are not speaking of indiscriminate ecumenism, but rather of a proper, Biblical catholicity among those who hold to standards like “There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” English Standard Version., Eph 4:4-6.
2. Leviticus 17:10-12 (ESV) 10 “If any one of the house of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn among them eats any blood, I will set my face against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from among his people. 11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life. 12 Therefore I have said to the people of Israel, No person among you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger who sojourns among you eat blood.

RAF: Man as made in God’s image is the only earthly creature capable making a distinction between mankind and beasts. Beasts kill and eat without regard for the reality of the life being in the blood. Men are not beasts. We cannot even do such a thing as eat as though we were not created in God’s image. To eat like a beast is to degrade, to abase the image of God we bear.

Contrary to the fallen worldview, we ARE different than the animals.

Even more, God’s reason is that He has specifically designated blood as the symbolic of Christ in making atonement. Therefore they are to be reminded always of the reality of blood and what it means to God in having it used in demonstrating the death of the Savior for sins.

3. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, I am the Lord your God. 3 You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not walk in their statutes. 4 You shall follow my rules and keep my statutes and walk in them. I am the Lord your God. 5 You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; if a person does them, he shall live by them: I am the Lord. ESV – Lev. 18:1-5

RAF: We are to live as though we are God’s people, in contradistinction from all other peoples. This does not require us to go out of our way to be different, but to make our difference known simply in our hearkening to and living under the authority of God’s Word. Is God’s Word what directs us in all things? Is it to this we find our final appeal in weighing all truth? God’s truth “sanctifies” us.

John 17:17

In this text, the defining difference will be marked out as the understanding and carrying out of human sexuality. The way Israel is contrasted here to Egypt cannot be missed as the contrast between God’s people and the World at large.

Nowhere does the Church stand in a more obviously and markedly different place than the World, than in our attitudes toward and the living out of – our sexuality. Where the World not only has no self-control in this area, they despise the very mention of it. Not so with us. The exalted nature of sex and the intimacy and glory of the sexual union in its portrayal of Christ’s intimacy with His Bride the Church, informs every aspect of its sacredness and glory to us.

Here, the believer finds himself & herself combating the single most pervasive avenue of influence from the World that we face. No wonder then it is such a struggle. To disconnect ourselves from the attitudes and mindsets of the World in this area – is the most profound and violent battlefield. Let the Christian be aware – this battle affects all others. Sexual purity is at the very core of the true Christian life. And it is an area not easily subdued. Only by the wisdom of the Word, the power of the Holy Spirit and the absolute necessity of constant vigilance and self-conscious seeking for the Spirit’s work and reign can it be done. But it CAN and MUST be done.

4. You shall not give any of your children to offer them to Molech, and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord. ESV – Lev. 18:21

RAF: What made sacrifice to Molech particularly heinous, is located in one thing: It was the sacrificing of infants in a most horrifying, burning death – for the sake of securing personal benefits.

The question then naturally arises for us – what perceived benefit(s) are willing to sacrifice the good and well being of our children for?

The name “Molech” comes from a word which means “king.” Hence God emphasizes that He alone is LORD, no one else is to be seen as our King in the same capacity.

And our King Jesus calls us not to sacrifice our children – ever. Rather, His call to us to raise them in His nurture and admonition. To pray for and labor for their conversion. To display to them the glories of our God – especially His mercy and grace toward sinners as we have experienced it and as it is offered to them in the Gospel. To expose them to the preaching of the Word, the worship of the saints, the fellowship of the Church, our constant prayers, our lives of service to the Kingdom, our submission to the Spirit and their need for salvation in Christ Jesus.

5. 9 “When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. 10 And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God. ESV – Lev. 19:9-10

RAF: What follows, follows on this principle. In other words, God is going to give a series of charges that demonstrate the acts of loving one another in the society of God’s people. But such charges are not random, they issue from God’s own holiness. These are predicated on His nature. They are a means of living with one another in the same attitudes which God holds toward us. It is most instructive.

9-10: CHARITABLENESS – “When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God.

God has a heart of great charity toward those who are poor. We manifest this aspect of His character when we do the same. We must see them in their distress, and make provision for them – and that, in such a way that preserves their dignity and keeps them from falling into a pattern of receiving without laboring. Thus, the fields are not to reaped entirely, and so those in need, can gather the food themselves, without disgrace, and leave knowing they’ve done the harvesting themselves and remain dignified.
11-12: HONESTY – “You shall not steal; you shall not deal falsely; you shall not lie to one another. You shall not swear by my name falsely, and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord.

God deals with us in truth. He desires it in our own inward parts, and it is essential in our dealings with one another. We do not steal, because our God does not. We do not deal falsely, because He does not. We do not lie to one another because He IS truth. Nor do we take any oaths by His name but what is honest and upright and true. As our God is, so are we to be.

13: INTEGRITY – “You shall not oppress your neighbor or rob him. The wages of a hired servant shall not remain with you all night until the morning.

Greed an laziness and lack of care for others can allow us to deal with one another in ways that are less than forthcoming and in the other’s best interest. But this is not how our God deals with us. He thinks of our welfare in His dealings with us and so we are to do the same in dealing with others. We are to be sure we do not take advantage of them. We are safe with Him, and thus others are to be sage with us.

14: COMPASSION – You shall not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall fear your God: I am the Lord.

The deaf cannot hear such curses, nor the blind know who would put such things in their way. But because we cannot be discovered, does not mean we are not to have every compassion on those in such condition, and again, not to take even the slightest advantage of them. Man’s cruelty to man sometimes knows no bounds. But our God is not this way. His own heart sees our defects and does not use them against us. Children especially need to know God’s heart toward those who need compassion, that they too may learn to display the goodness of their God to others from an early age.

15: IMPARTIALITY – “You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor.

God’s people above all the people of the earth are to be vested in seeing justice done around us. And not vigilante justice. We are not to have our favorites, where justice is lessened because we like them or they can offer us some advantage. We are not to have those whom we dislike and thus let them become “examples” or bear heavier penalties without concern. We are to deal with all men the same in such matters, because this is how our God is. Those closest to Him, are no less responsible than those farthest from Him. Those farthest, are no more culpable than those near. We must show the world our God deals impartially – which is why each and every one, needs the work of Christ at Calvary.

16: HARMLESSNESS – You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not stand up against the life of your neighbor: I am the Lord.

No one should ever fear harm at our hands. People should feel safe in that they would never suffer harm at our hands for any reason. We are not against them, but for them. They are the ones we are to bless by giving them the Gospel, and rescuing their souls from the fire.

17: NO INDIFFERENCE – “You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him.

Rather than resolve issues, we sometimes prefer to simply write the other off. But this not how our God deals with us. If there is anything the Cross is, it is the symbol of the very opposite of God’s indifference e to we, who have made ourselves His enemies. Nothing is worse than to be meaningless in the eyes of others. Our God treats no man so, and neither can we.

18: NO VINDICITVENESS – You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.”

Justice is never a private matter. How easy it is for us to justify all sorts of actions and attitudes under the umbrella of seeing some sort of secret or “poetic” justice done. But this is not how our God loves us. And this is how we are to love our neighbors as ourselves. To refuse to bear grudges or to exact our pound of flesh. To love, as He loves us – and to make that known to all.

Sorry – I forgot to mention I’m away until Jan. 7th.

As I write this, I’m in my shorts, enjoying the sunshine and warm breeze blowing off of the lake.

I love Texas!