"My Lord and my God, have your way with me;
Blessed and Anointed you are,
Master and Commander in this raging sea -
You who begin and end all things,
You, Firstborn From Among the Dead.
Magnificent, glorious manifest of the Invisible,
Prince at the right hand and the Great King,
All I count rubbish, count as ash and soot and fading leaves
In comparison to you.
Brilliant One, my liege-lord, my life is yours,
And I swear my oath to thee.
My life is caught up in yours,
And I know no other way;
So do with me what you will.
My Jesus, I love thee;
I know thou art mine.
My gracious redeemer,
My Savior, my love --
If ever I loved thee, my Jesus tis now.
All folly of sin, I resign.
God make me holy;
Teach me justice in the inmost place;
Let mercy and righteousness enrobe me;
Let the shepherd of peace me rule.
If I die before I wake,
I pray, dear Lord, my soul to take-
For my life breath is yours, and yours alone;
Dust and shadow cannot rule;
Evil carries no more sting.
Let my words be few;
And, Father, be pleased,
When the end of this road I find,
Let me not be disqualified.
Cast off, dear fetters,
Shake way, hurdles high;
Let the sound of saints before rejoice,
Let angels his name magnify--
For that shall be my trump, my song,
Play, flute and tambourine, wild drum.
Play, and raise your voice--
Bow your head little seed,
Pour out, off'ring of drink;
Herald the Majesty,
Wake all who sleep."
24 July 2009
13 July 2009
The Forfeiture of Rights: A Prompt.
I have relinquished my rights, all of them. I do not have the right to life, for my soul is a gift bestowed upon me; nor do I have the right to liberty, for my liberty was also a gift, purchased with blood. I relinquish the right to happiness, or even to pursue happiness, for happiness is fleeting and the pursuit of such idolatry. I recant of my want for justice, for fairness too is a gift; and I demand not mercy, for that too was bought with the blood of the offender.
Success is not within my rights, nor comfort, or solitude, nor joy and pleasure, nor sorrow and pain. Failure is not mine to grasp, nor fame, nor glory. These things are not mine, and they cannot be taken. All knowledge, all wisdom, all treasure of the earth; poverty and riches, cold and heat, all these things I relent, for I am indeed a slave, and therefore my rights are none.
What is inherent in me is not a right, but rather my own dependence - Shall I go far within this vein? I give up my right to be heard, understood, and seen. I give up the right to be loved, hated, and all between. These things are not mine, for I am but a slave, and a slave knows not these things. The right to eat is not mine, nor drink, nor laugh. The right to family, to friends, to all those loved and hated, these too I relinquish.
I recant my right to self-esteem, to my individualism, my independence; and I dare not grasp the things of heaven and earth and hell as if they were mine. The portion of a slave is nothing, and therefore mine is nothing. I have not the right to be a wife, nor daughter, nor sister, nor mother. My right to pray, I lay down. My right to evil, I cringe back from. My right to what is holy, I cannot cling to - My right to be known I also lay down.
My right to my abilities are not so; they are too gifts from a master to his slave; shall I hold them fast? The right to defend myself, the right to lay down my rights - even this I must forfeit, for how else can such be released?
I deny myself the pleasures and pains of all that is and will be; for what are they to me? My right to devotion, I lay down. My right to rejection, laid aside. My right to be defended, stand me down; my right to be trodden upon, also go. Better and worse, sickness or health, fallen down.
I say these things because I want for nothing, and I say these things because I have nothing. I cast aside obligation along with the rest. Shall I despair in this, never so - for what more shall be said? Take a seat, virtue and vice, sit down, for you are not the end of all things; and what do I gain by seeking you rather than the One Who Is?
I am indeed a slave, and a slave possesses no rights. I am an heir and shall inherit all, but should I set my eyes on my inheritance, I will lose even that. This too I set down, that I may be disqualified. And yet, perhaps I must also set down that which qualifies me; or can I?
Or rather, am I willing to be mistaken? I have naught else to lose.
Take your seat, then, also - For though he slay me; yet I will trust him.
I am a slave. My life is my master's, and my rights are gone. They are not taken from me, for I never had them; rather, I have set them down, for they were to me treasures. All that has not come to mind, and yet are rights perceived or yet grasped, those two I lay down. And now that all has gone, I lay me also down - for what is left but myself?
This too I relinquish: Body, mind, soul, strength, this right also is not mine. There, all is done. These gifts, these treasures...for now, forever, fallen away, and laid to rest.
Philippians 3
Success is not within my rights, nor comfort, or solitude, nor joy and pleasure, nor sorrow and pain. Failure is not mine to grasp, nor fame, nor glory. These things are not mine, and they cannot be taken. All knowledge, all wisdom, all treasure of the earth; poverty and riches, cold and heat, all these things I relent, for I am indeed a slave, and therefore my rights are none.
What is inherent in me is not a right, but rather my own dependence - Shall I go far within this vein? I give up my right to be heard, understood, and seen. I give up the right to be loved, hated, and all between. These things are not mine, for I am but a slave, and a slave knows not these things. The right to eat is not mine, nor drink, nor laugh. The right to family, to friends, to all those loved and hated, these too I relinquish.
I recant my right to self-esteem, to my individualism, my independence; and I dare not grasp the things of heaven and earth and hell as if they were mine. The portion of a slave is nothing, and therefore mine is nothing. I have not the right to be a wife, nor daughter, nor sister, nor mother. My right to pray, I lay down. My right to evil, I cringe back from. My right to what is holy, I cannot cling to - My right to be known I also lay down.
My right to my abilities are not so; they are too gifts from a master to his slave; shall I hold them fast? The right to defend myself, the right to lay down my rights - even this I must forfeit, for how else can such be released?
I deny myself the pleasures and pains of all that is and will be; for what are they to me? My right to devotion, I lay down. My right to rejection, laid aside. My right to be defended, stand me down; my right to be trodden upon, also go. Better and worse, sickness or health, fallen down.
I say these things because I want for nothing, and I say these things because I have nothing. I cast aside obligation along with the rest. Shall I despair in this, never so - for what more shall be said? Take a seat, virtue and vice, sit down, for you are not the end of all things; and what do I gain by seeking you rather than the One Who Is?
I am indeed a slave, and a slave possesses no rights. I am an heir and shall inherit all, but should I set my eyes on my inheritance, I will lose even that. This too I set down, that I may be disqualified. And yet, perhaps I must also set down that which qualifies me; or can I?
Or rather, am I willing to be mistaken? I have naught else to lose.
Take your seat, then, also - For though he slay me; yet I will trust him.
I am a slave. My life is my master's, and my rights are gone. They are not taken from me, for I never had them; rather, I have set them down, for they were to me treasures. All that has not come to mind, and yet are rights perceived or yet grasped, those two I lay down. And now that all has gone, I lay me also down - for what is left but myself?
This too I relinquish: Body, mind, soul, strength, this right also is not mine. There, all is done. These gifts, these treasures...for now, forever, fallen away, and laid to rest.
Philippians 3
09 July 2009
Notations: The Greatest Commandment
Someone asked the question does God address the heart. This prompted a topic search on "love the Lord" and "love your neighbor/each other/one another." By rights I should do one on "heart," but it's still pending. This is long, so bear with me; and it's all Scripture.
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This does not include all the times Scripture references "the steadfast love of the Lord," which is probably more times than here. For those who are picky, I used ESV and my phrase search was "love the Lord." I don't know why I'm doing this, other than maybe to make the point God does address the heart. He's after us, you know, heart, soul, mind, and strength.
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Deuteronomy 6:5
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
Deuteronomy 10:12
“And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul...
Deuteronomy 10:15
Yet the Lord set his heart in love on your fathers and chose their offspring after them, you above all peoples, as you are this day.
Deuteronomy 11:1
Love and Serve the Lord
“You shall therefore love the Lord your God and keep his charge, his statutes, his rules, and his commandments always.
Deuteronomy 11:13 (Show Deuteronomy 11)
“And if you will indeed obey my commandments that I command you today, to love the Lord your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul,
Deuteronomy 13:3
you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the Lord your God is testing you, to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
Deuteronomy 23:5
But the Lord your God would not listen to Balaam; instead the Lord your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the Lord your God loved you.
Deuteronomy 30:6
And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.
Deuteronomy 33:12
Of Benjamin he said, “The beloved of the Lord dwells in safety. The High God[1] surrounds him all day long, and dwells between his shoulders.”
Joshua 22:5
Only be very careful to observe the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, to love the Lord your God, and to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments and to cling to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.”
Joshua 23:11
Be very careful, therefore, to love the Lord your God.
2 Chronicles 6:14
and said, “O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven or on earth, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart,
2 Chronicles 6:42
O Lord God, do not turn away the face of your anointed one! Remember your steadfast love for David your servant.”
Psalm 31:23
Love the Lord, all you his saints! The Lord preserves the faithful but abundantly repays the one who acts in pride.
Psalm 97:10
O you who love the Lord, hate evil! He preserves the lives of his saints; he delivers them from the hand of the wicked.
Psalm 145:20
The Lord preserves all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy.
Jeremiah 14:10
Thus says the Lord concerning this people: “They have loved to wander thus; they have not restrained their feet; therefore the Lord does not accept them; now he will remember their iniquity and punish their sins.”
Daniel 9:4
I prayed to the Lord my God and made confession, saying, “O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments...
Hosea 10:12
Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground, for it is the time to seek the Lord, that he may come and rain righteousness upon you.
Joel 2:13
and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster.
Amos 5:15
Hate evil, and love good, and establish justice in the gate; it may be that the Lord, the God of hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.
Micah 6:8
He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness,[1] and to walk humbly with your God?
Zechariah 8:17
do not devise evil in your hearts against one another, and love no false oath, for all these things I hate, declares the Lord.”
Zechariah 8:19
“Thus says the Lord of hosts: The fast of the fourth month and the fast of the fifth and the fast of the seventh and the fast of the tenth shall be to the house of Judah seasons of joy and gladness and cheerful feasts. Therefore love truth and peace.
Matthew 22:37
And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
Mark 12:30
And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’
Luke 10:27
And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”
John 21:15
When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.”
John 21:17
He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.
1 Corinthians 16:22
If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed. Our Lord, come![1]
Ephesians 1:15
For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love[1] toward all the saints,
1 Thessalonians 1:3
remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Thessalonians 3:12
and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you,
2 Thessalonians 3:5
May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.
1 Timothy 1:14
and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
2 Timothy 2:22
So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.
Philemon 1:5
because I hear of your love and of the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints,
Jude 1:21
keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.
Leviticus 19:9 (Show Leviticus 19)
Love Your Neighbor as Yourself
“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.
Leviticus 19:18 (Show Leviticus 19)
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.
Matthew 5:43 (Show Matthew 5)
Love Your Enemies
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’
Matthew 19:19 (Show Matthew 19)
Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Matthew 22:39 (Show Matthew 22)
And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
Mark 12:31 (Show Mark 12)
The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
Luke 10:27 (Show Luke 10)
And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”
Romans 13:9 (Show Romans 13)
For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Galatians 5:14 (Show Galatians 5)
For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
James 2:8 (Show James 2)
If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well.
Psalm 85:10 (Show Psalm 85)
Steadfast love and faithfulness meet; righteousness and peace kiss each other.
Psalm 108:4 (Show Psalm 108)
For your steadfast love is great above the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.
Psalm 119:64 (Show Psalm 119)
The earth, O Lord, is full of your steadfast love; teach me your statutes!
Psalm 119:124 (Show Psalm 119)
Deal with your servant according to your steadfast love, and teach me your statutes.
Song of Solomon 6:4 (Show Song of Solomon 6)
Solomon and His Bride Delight in Each Other
He You are beautiful as Tirzah, my love, lovely as Jerusalem, awesome as an army with banners.
Lamentations 1:2 (Show Lamentations 1)
She weeps bitterly in the night, with tears on her cheeks; among all her lovers she has none to comfort her; all her friends have dealt treacherously with her; they have become her enemies.
Romans 13:8 (Show Romans 13)
Fulfilling the Law Through Love
Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.
1 Corinthians 4:17 (Show 1 Corinthians 4)
That is why I sent[1] you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ,[2] as I teach them everywhere in every church.
[1]Or am sending [2]Some manuscripts add Jesus
2 Corinthians 9:7 (Show 2 Corinthians 9)
Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
Ephesians 4:16 (Show Ephesians 4)
from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
Ephesians 5:33 (Show Ephesians 5)
However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
Colossians 2:2 (Show Colossians 2)
that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery, which is Christ,
1 Timothy 6:2 (Show 1 Timothy 6)
Those who have believing masters must not be disrespectful on the ground that they are brothers; rather they must serve all the better since those who benefit by their good service are believers and beloved.
False Teachers and True Contentment
Teach and urge these things.
2 Timothy 3:4 (Show 2 Timothy 3)
treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
2 Timothy 3:10 (Show 2 Timothy 3)
You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness,
Zechariah 8:17 (Show Zechariah 8)
do not devise evil in your hearts against one another, and love no false oath, for all these things I hate, declares the Lord.”
John 13:34 (Show John 13)
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.
John 13:35 (Show John 13)
By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
John 15:12 (Show John 15)
“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.
John 15:17 (Show John 15)
These things I command you, so that you will love one another.
Romans 12:10 (Show Romans 12)
Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.
Romans 13:8 (Show Romans 13)
Fulfilling the Law Through Love
Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.
2 Corinthians 13:11 (Show 2 Corinthians 13)
Final Greetings
Finally, brothers,[1] rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another,[2] agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.
[1]Or brothers and sisters [2]Or listen to my appeal
Galatians 5:13 (Show Galatians 5)
For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.
Ephesians 4:2 (Show Ephesians 4)
with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,
1 Thessalonians 3:12 (Show 1 Thessalonians 3)
and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you,
1 Thessalonians 4:9 (Show 1 Thessalonians 4)
Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another,
2 Thessalonians 1:3 (Show 2 Thessalonians 1)
Thanksgiving
We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers,[1] as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing.
[1]Or brothers and sisters. The plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) refers to siblings in a family. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, adelphoi may refer either to men or to both men and women who are siblings (brothers and sisters) in God's family, the church
Hebrews 10:24 (Show Hebrews 10)
And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works,
1 Peter 1:22 (Show 1 Peter 1)
Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart,
1 Peter 4:8 (Show 1 Peter 4)
Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.
1 Peter 5:14 (Show 1 Peter 5)
Greet one another with the kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are in Christ.
1 John 3:11 (Show 1 John 3)
Love One Another
For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.
1 John 3:23 (Show 1 John 3)
And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us.
1 John 4:7 (Show 1 John 4)
God Is Love
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.
1 John 4:11 (Show 1 John 4)
Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
1 John 4:12 (Show 1 John 4)
No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.
2 John 1:5 (Show 2 John 1)
And now I ask you, dear lady—not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one we have had from the beginning—that we love one another.
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This does not include all the times Scripture references "the steadfast love of the Lord," which is probably more times than here. For those who are picky, I used ESV and my phrase search was "love the Lord." I don't know why I'm doing this, other than maybe to make the point God does address the heart. He's after us, you know, heart, soul, mind, and strength.
-----
Deuteronomy 6:5
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
Deuteronomy 10:12
“And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul...
Deuteronomy 10:15
Yet the Lord set his heart in love on your fathers and chose their offspring after them, you above all peoples, as you are this day.
Deuteronomy 11:1
Love and Serve the Lord
“You shall therefore love the Lord your God and keep his charge, his statutes, his rules, and his commandments always.
Deuteronomy 11:13 (Show Deuteronomy 11)
“And if you will indeed obey my commandments that I command you today, to love the Lord your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul,
Deuteronomy 13:3
you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the Lord your God is testing you, to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
Deuteronomy 23:5
But the Lord your God would not listen to Balaam; instead the Lord your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the Lord your God loved you.
Deuteronomy 30:6
And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.
Deuteronomy 33:12
Of Benjamin he said, “The beloved of the Lord dwells in safety. The High God[1] surrounds him all day long, and dwells between his shoulders.”
Joshua 22:5
Only be very careful to observe the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, to love the Lord your God, and to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments and to cling to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.”
Joshua 23:11
Be very careful, therefore, to love the Lord your God.
2 Chronicles 6:14
and said, “O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven or on earth, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart,
2 Chronicles 6:42
O Lord God, do not turn away the face of your anointed one! Remember your steadfast love for David your servant.”
Psalm 31:23
Love the Lord, all you his saints! The Lord preserves the faithful but abundantly repays the one who acts in pride.
Psalm 97:10
O you who love the Lord, hate evil! He preserves the lives of his saints; he delivers them from the hand of the wicked.
Psalm 145:20
The Lord preserves all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy.
Jeremiah 14:10
Thus says the Lord concerning this people: “They have loved to wander thus; they have not restrained their feet; therefore the Lord does not accept them; now he will remember their iniquity and punish their sins.”
Daniel 9:4
I prayed to the Lord my God and made confession, saying, “O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments...
Hosea 10:12
Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground, for it is the time to seek the Lord, that he may come and rain righteousness upon you.
Joel 2:13
and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster.
Amos 5:15
Hate evil, and love good, and establish justice in the gate; it may be that the Lord, the God of hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.
Micah 6:8
He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness,[1] and to walk humbly with your God?
Zechariah 8:17
do not devise evil in your hearts against one another, and love no false oath, for all these things I hate, declares the Lord.”
Zechariah 8:19
“Thus says the Lord of hosts: The fast of the fourth month and the fast of the fifth and the fast of the seventh and the fast of the tenth shall be to the house of Judah seasons of joy and gladness and cheerful feasts. Therefore love truth and peace.
Matthew 22:37
And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
Mark 12:30
And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’
Luke 10:27
And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”
John 21:15
When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.”
John 21:17
He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.
1 Corinthians 16:22
If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed. Our Lord, come![1]
Ephesians 1:15
For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love[1] toward all the saints,
1 Thessalonians 1:3
remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Thessalonians 3:12
and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you,
2 Thessalonians 3:5
May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.
1 Timothy 1:14
and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
2 Timothy 2:22
So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.
Philemon 1:5
because I hear of your love and of the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints,
Jude 1:21
keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.
Leviticus 19:9 (Show Leviticus 19)
Love Your Neighbor as Yourself
“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.
Leviticus 19:18 (Show Leviticus 19)
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.
Matthew 5:43 (Show Matthew 5)
Love Your Enemies
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’
Matthew 19:19 (Show Matthew 19)
Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Matthew 22:39 (Show Matthew 22)
And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
Mark 12:31 (Show Mark 12)
The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
Luke 10:27 (Show Luke 10)
And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”
Romans 13:9 (Show Romans 13)
For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Galatians 5:14 (Show Galatians 5)
For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
James 2:8 (Show James 2)
If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well.
Psalm 85:10 (Show Psalm 85)
Steadfast love and faithfulness meet; righteousness and peace kiss each other.
Psalm 108:4 (Show Psalm 108)
For your steadfast love is great above the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.
Psalm 119:64 (Show Psalm 119)
The earth, O Lord, is full of your steadfast love; teach me your statutes!
Psalm 119:124 (Show Psalm 119)
Deal with your servant according to your steadfast love, and teach me your statutes.
Song of Solomon 6:4 (Show Song of Solomon 6)
Solomon and His Bride Delight in Each Other
He You are beautiful as Tirzah, my love, lovely as Jerusalem, awesome as an army with banners.
Lamentations 1:2 (Show Lamentations 1)
She weeps bitterly in the night, with tears on her cheeks; among all her lovers she has none to comfort her; all her friends have dealt treacherously with her; they have become her enemies.
Romans 13:8 (Show Romans 13)
Fulfilling the Law Through Love
Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.
1 Corinthians 4:17 (Show 1 Corinthians 4)
That is why I sent[1] you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ,[2] as I teach them everywhere in every church.
[1]Or am sending [2]Some manuscripts add Jesus
2 Corinthians 9:7 (Show 2 Corinthians 9)
Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
Ephesians 4:16 (Show Ephesians 4)
from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
Ephesians 5:33 (Show Ephesians 5)
However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
Colossians 2:2 (Show Colossians 2)
that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery, which is Christ,
1 Timothy 6:2 (Show 1 Timothy 6)
Those who have believing masters must not be disrespectful on the ground that they are brothers; rather they must serve all the better since those who benefit by their good service are believers and beloved.
False Teachers and True Contentment
Teach and urge these things.
2 Timothy 3:4 (Show 2 Timothy 3)
treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
2 Timothy 3:10 (Show 2 Timothy 3)
You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness,
Zechariah 8:17 (Show Zechariah 8)
do not devise evil in your hearts against one another, and love no false oath, for all these things I hate, declares the Lord.”
John 13:34 (Show John 13)
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.
John 13:35 (Show John 13)
By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
John 15:12 (Show John 15)
“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.
John 15:17 (Show John 15)
These things I command you, so that you will love one another.
Romans 12:10 (Show Romans 12)
Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.
Romans 13:8 (Show Romans 13)
Fulfilling the Law Through Love
Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.
2 Corinthians 13:11 (Show 2 Corinthians 13)
Final Greetings
Finally, brothers,[1] rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another,[2] agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.
[1]Or brothers and sisters [2]Or listen to my appeal
Galatians 5:13 (Show Galatians 5)
For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.
Ephesians 4:2 (Show Ephesians 4)
with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,
1 Thessalonians 3:12 (Show 1 Thessalonians 3)
and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you,
1 Thessalonians 4:9 (Show 1 Thessalonians 4)
Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another,
2 Thessalonians 1:3 (Show 2 Thessalonians 1)
Thanksgiving
We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers,[1] as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing.
[1]Or brothers and sisters. The plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) refers to siblings in a family. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, adelphoi may refer either to men or to both men and women who are siblings (brothers and sisters) in God's family, the church
Hebrews 10:24 (Show Hebrews 10)
And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works,
1 Peter 1:22 (Show 1 Peter 1)
Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart,
1 Peter 4:8 (Show 1 Peter 4)
Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.
1 Peter 5:14 (Show 1 Peter 5)
Greet one another with the kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are in Christ.
1 John 3:11 (Show 1 John 3)
Love One Another
For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.
1 John 3:23 (Show 1 John 3)
And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us.
1 John 4:7 (Show 1 John 4)
God Is Love
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.
1 John 4:11 (Show 1 John 4)
Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
1 John 4:12 (Show 1 John 4)
No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.
2 John 1:5 (Show 2 John 1)
And now I ask you, dear lady—not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one we have had from the beginning—that we love one another.
04 July 2009
The Law: Notations
Excerpts from some discussions with friends as I read through the OT. I'm only in Numbers, so yeah. Anyway.
I've been reading through the Law, myself, lately. Numbers, currently.
Romans 14:14: "I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; but to him who thinks anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. " (NASB)
I'm not sure why it never occurred to me before, but Paul is talking about nothing being unclean in the context of a letter that, thus far, has dealt to a large degree with the necessity of dying to sin and living a righteous life. What has always been a "given" to me then became abundantly clear: there is a difference between what is sinful - morally wrong - and what is only unclean.
One thing my study Bible pointed out is the following (from an article in said study Bible:
Leviticus is a difficult book, mainly because modern readers have no firsthand experience of ancient rituals and the worship practices of the tabernacle. For this reason, readers should be aware of the potential pitfall of imposing concepts or distinctions that are foreign to the biblical text itself. With this general warning in mind, several particular interpretative issues may be mentioned.
Ritual and ethical commands. To begin, there is some debate about how to understand the relationship between the “ritual” regulations of chapters 1–16 and what are commonly called the “moral/ethical” commands of chapters 17–26. It is not uncommon for modern readers to see “ritual” and “ethics” as two very separate matters and thus to view these two sections of the book as quite different and distinct. Leviticus, however, is more nuanced than that.
While it may be true that not every “ethical” law of chapters 17–27 involves a ritual, it is not true that every “ritual” law of chapters 1–16 is disconnected from ethics. In fact, the whole of the book is concerned with Israel's being “holy” to the Lord, and the ritual laws of chapters 1–16 are just as important in this regard as are the laws of chapters 17–27. From the perspective of Leviticus, there is no such thing as a “nonethical” ritual law. As a result, it is unwise to see chapters 1–16 and chapters 17–27 as two unrelated sections of material. Both are equally concerned with Israel's holiness to the Lord.
Unclean, clean, holy. Leviticus also often uses the language of “unclean,” “clean,” and “holy” differently than today. With “unclean” and “clean,” for example, most modern readers are tempted to think of that which is “nonhygienic” or “hygienic.” In Leviticus, however, these words do not refer to hygiene at all. Rather, they refer to “ritual states.” (The word “holy” is also used in many contexts to describe a ritual state.) Understanding the concept of ritual states is very important to understanding Leviticus as a whole.
Leviticus sets forth three basic ritual states: the unclean, the clean, and the holy. On the one hand, these categories guide the community with reference to the types of actions a person may (or may not) engage in, or the places that a person may (or may not) go. Those who are unclean, e.g., may not partake of a peace offering (7:20), while those who are clean may (7:19). (A modern analogy might be that of registering to vote: a person who is “registered” may vote, whereas a person who is “unregistered” may not.) There is a distinction to be made between “ritual states” and “moral states.” One who is in the ritual state of holiness is not necessarily more personally righteous than a person who is simply clean or unclean (just as a person who is “registered” to vote is not necessarily more righteous than a person who is not).
How ritual purity relates to moral purity. Even though ritual states and moral states are different, the ritual states also seemed to represent or symbolize grades of moral purity. The highest grade of moral purity was that of the Lord himself, who was “holy” and who dwelt in the “Holy of Holies.” By constantly calling the Israelites to ritual purity in all aspects of life, the Lord was reminding them of their need for also seeking after moral purity in all aspects of life (20:24–26).
Interpreting the rituals and ceremonies. A further challenge in Leviticus is how to interpret the various rituals and ceremonies. In particular, how should the individual acts and objects that make up a ritual be understood? Answering this question can be difficult, for the simple reason that Leviticus rarely explains what various ritual actions or objects mean. (One of the few exceptions is 17:11, where sacrificial animal blood is said to be the “life” of the animal.) Some help is provided, however, by asking questions about the general function(s) and the specific function(s) of the ritual.
Generally speaking, rituals may function in several ways: e.g., to address aspects of the human condition (such as impurity or sinfulness), to serve as a way for the offerer to express emotions or desires to the Lord, and to underscore various truths about the Lord or the human condition. (In many instances, one ritual may accomplish all of these things.) It is helpful to ask which of these general functions is in view in the ritual being considered. Related to this, one should also ask, “What is the specific goal/function of this particular ritual as a whole?”
Answering these two questions provides an interpretative framework in which to understand the individual actions of the ritual (much as a paragraph is an interpretative framework for the sentences in it). For example, if a ritual as a whole is meant to express an emotion (general), and more specifically to express praise (specific), then the individual actions or objects of the ritual should somehow contribute to this goal. Though this approach may still leave some questions unanswered, it will usually provide helpful guidelines and protect readers from some of the interpretative excesses of the past.
Another interpretative issue is how one should understand various concepts such as uncleanness, cleanness, and holiness. Great debate accompanies this issue, for the simple reason that Leviticus often provides various laws concerning cleanness and uncleanness without giving an explicit rationale of why something or someone is clean or unclean (e.g., ch. 12). Traditionally, commentators have thought that the rationale behind these rules was to be found in hygienic concerns, polemics against Canaanite religious customs, or the symbolic meaning of “death.” (For these and other views, see notes on chs. 11–15.)
Of these options, uncleanness as symbolic of death appears to be the only proposal that sufficiently covers many (as opposed to just some) of the cases of uncleanness. (If this is correct, then holiness—which is the polar opposite of uncleanness—could often symbolize “life.”)
NT relevance of commands in Leviticus. What do these legislative texts of Leviticus have to do with the church today? At this point, only a broad picture may be presented, and it will be painted in three brushstrokes, merely offering examples of the value of Leviticus for the Christian believer. First, the sacrificial system of Leviticus has ceased for the people of God; it has been fulfilled in the coming of Christ (cf. Heb. 9:1–14, 24–28; 10:1–14). Yet studying these laws is important because they enable the reader to understand how the work of Christ saves people, since the sacrifices point to different aspects of the meaning of Christ's sacrifice of himself.
Second, the festal calendar of Israel enumerated in Leviticus (Lev. 23:1–44) has strongly shaped the Christian church's traditional calendar. The three main national pilgrim feasts of Israel are the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Harvest, and the Feast of Booths. For those churches that follow the traditional calendar, these celebrations find their climax in Good Friday, Easter, and Pentecost. To fully understand the Christian celebrations, one must see their initial purpose in the OT. At the same time, some aspects of the legislation in Leviticus (such as the laws regulating clean and unclean foods) had the goal of separating Israel from the other nations. Although this separation has been done away with in the Christian era, these laws still teach the people of God to be morally clean (see note on 11:1–47).
Third, the entire Levitical Holiness Code (chs. 17–27) deals with sanctification, i.e., the idea of holiness affecting how one lives in the covenant community. The NT applies to Christians the same principle of life stated in Leviticus 11:44, “be holy, for I am holy” (quoted in 1 Pet. 1:16). In fact, many of the moral requirements reflected in the Holiness Code reveal the kinds of moral conduct that are still either pleasing or displeasing to God (cf., e.g., Lev. 19:11–18, 35–36). On the other hand, several details of the Holiness Code concern more symbolic aspects of holiness that should no longer be followed in the Christian era (such as laws prohibiting garments of two kinds of cloth, 19:19; prohibiting the shaving of the edges of one's beard, 21:5; and excluding people with physical defects from presenting offerings, 21:17–23).
Further, the NT envisions a people of God that transcends national boundaries, and thus it dissolves the bond between the specifically theocratic system of government that was OT Israel. Therefore, current civil governments need not replicate the civil laws specific to the Mosaic theocracy (such as capital punishment for adultery in 20:10 or for blasphemy in 24:16, or the Sabbath year and Jubilee year in 25:1–22), although of course all governments must pursue justice (and Leviticus may certainly help Christians develop their notions of justice).
~Excerpt from The ESV Study Bible, Introduction to Leviticus
Apologies for the length of that, but it was easier than me trying to paraphrase, methinks.
Reflecting on this passage, I came up with a few conclusions:
1) The Jews must have known there was a difference between moral law (right/wrong) and ceremonial law (clean/unclean), because Paul doesn't spend any time talking about the difference. He just says, similar to Peter's revelation in Acts, that things which were formerly unclean are now clean, while it's clear from the rest of the book (and indeed, the rest of his writings) that things which formerly were considered sinful are still sinful.
I think that's where things like "Even King David and his men were allowed on one occasion to eat the holy bread reserved for the priests because of their need" come in.
2) If the Jews knew this, they probably also understood which laws from the Torah were moral and which were ceremonial.
3) It appears to me, particularly from the immediate context of Romans 14 (which comes right after a lengthy passage about Israel), that the rendering clean of all things unclean is a mirror of God's inclusion of the Gentiles in His Church. This is also consistent with Peter's revelation in Acts, in which unclean food represents an "unclean" person, the Gentile Cornelius.
"Sojourners" and "foreigners" were inside Israel were also held accountable for the length of time they remained in Israel. They were not only permitted, but required, to be ceremonially clean and participate in the events. One curious note was that the hired hand of a priest was not permitted to eat the priest's portion, but a slave, because he was part of the household, was. I think that was more or less in keeping with the overall rule that slaves had to be treated with dignity.
4) If that's the case, I don't think things that were "unclean" ever had a moral wrongness, except in point of obedience. I think the point of all of it was to illustrate sanctification (being set apart or holy), and that eliminating the distinction of clean and unclean was also illustrative, as I said before, of the inclusion of the Gentiles.
5) (This one is the point of the thread) Considering all the above, when we read the Old Testament laws, how do we know which laws are moral and which are ceremonial? It seems to me that a lot of laws which we assume are one kind are mixed in with others that we consider the other kind. How do we make the distinction?
I think a lot of times the distinction comes with the purpose of the particular law, and also what it's before and after. More or less, they follow a pattern.
One other thing I noticed was how something holy can be profaned but cannot be made unholy. I'll list my own notations and then I'll be quiet for now because this post is long.
My notes, mostly from Leviticus and Numbers (I'm only into chapter 18 or so):
Some is admittedly more descriptive rather than spelled out. Descriptive meaning I gleaned that based on things in the narrative but not spelled out black and white that way. It was an interesting observation.
I was trying, at one point, to mark every cross referenced law, but that got....hard. I wound up going by section title. I think it's mostly Leviticus and Numbers. I haven't gotten to Deuteronomy yet.
Exodus 29:37 - Whatever touches the altar becomes holy.
Ex. 30:29&30
This one's a stretch, but Lev. 5:14-16 has an indication as well. That is not the strongest one.
Leviticus 10 - unauthorized fire; they are killed, but their offerings are yet considered holy and must be eaten by the priests. Descriptive.
Lev. 22:15-16
also v.31-33
Numbers 4 - Clan of Levites who handle the holy things, but only after the priests cover them.
(Again, the concern is death for unauthorized contact, not for fear of making the holy unholy. The Levites were ceremonially clean but not considered 'holy' as in authorized to touch.)
Numbers 16 - Specifically v. 36-40
Numbers 18:31&32
I just noted it never says 'made unholy.' It says 'made unclean' if it was clean, or it says 'profaned' if it were holy. And the reason I say that means it can't be made unholy is that Scripture talks about profaning the Lord's name, and that can't be made unholy. So the deduction is holy things cannot be made unholy, but they can be profaned. His name can merely be used (or, people do use it) in an unholy fashion.
My friend: My biggest thought is that those are all part of the covenant of the Law, which was fulfilled by Christ and brings death.
Me: Well, yeah, but we're called a royal priesthood, and the Levitical/Aaronic structure is what would have been the reference. I was just noting it. It's a shadow. I haven't explored it fully; just made the notations.
I've been having a little fun with the concept lately, seeing where it goes. 0=)
Thank you for using your study of Scripture in this thread. I really got a lot out of reading all that, both from your own notes and from the ESV intro stuff. I think the definition of unclean/clean/holy as ritual states rather than states of moral purity. That, I think, is very relevant to my question.
To a degree, but sometimes a thing can be both moral and ritual. And sure thing. There's more notes somewhere. What I thought was interesting also was the idea of vows. Example: If a Nazarite accidentally came into contact with a corpse during his period of devotion, he had to wait seven days, on the eighth day go see a priest for re-consecration, and start over. He was never released from his vow.
I do have a question about this part. I think I can grant that the symbolic aspects of some laws are evident (especially mixing two kinds of cloth, sowing a field with two kinds of seed, or breeding two different animals, which I see as having the same symbolism). But is it all that obvious? Do we necessarily know when a law was given for its symbolic meaning, and do we necessarily know that we don't have to follow those?
One thing I've noticed, and my guess is you have too, is that different things are clear at different times. Since the Spirit is alive and well and our teacher, he has different lesson plans for each day. So we don't see everything clearly, or even all at once.
Furthermore, and this is just a side comment, I think sometimes we don't know what to do with a thing (ex: don't cook a young goat in its mother's milk) and assign it a category. It's kinda the "No Idea" file. And other times it isn't that we see it as no longer relevant as much as we don't exact the same penalty for whatever reason.
As for the cross-breeding of animals and such - I think it's Numbers that said the point of those was strictly so Israel would be set apart in all things from the rest of the world. For us, I think that translates "Whatever you do, in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord."
(Note, in case anyone wonders: I'm not the person who believes we should continue keeping the Mosaic Law. Scripture is clear that there are aspects of the Mosaic Law that no longer need to be followed. I just want to know what our thought process is - we say that the non-moral/ethical laws no longer apply, but what is our standard for determining which ones are moral/ethical and which are not?)
My understanding is that mostly if it's a dietary regulation or something pertaining to bodily functions it's considered non-moral; and if it's considered a moral one we still accept it, but don't necessarily exact the same penalty (ex: We haven't gone around stoning witches - lately, anyway). Of course, even those interpretations apparently change. But that may itself be a discussion.
But that is the question: How do you the 10 Commandments are moral laws and not ceremonial laws? And do you know what is in Leviticus? Here is a sampling (please actually read, for those of you who usually skip over Bible quotes):
Lev. 19:11 "'Do not steal. "'Do not lie. "'Do not deceive one another. 12 "'Do not swear falsely by my name and so profane the name of your God. I am the Lord. 13 "'Do not defraud your neighbor or rob him. "'Do not hold back the wages of a hired man overnight. 14 "'Do not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind, but fear your God. I am the Lord. 15 "'Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly. 16 "'Do not go about spreading slander among your people. "'Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor's life. I am the Lord. 17 "'Do not hate your brother in your heart. Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in his guilt. 18 "'Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.
19 "'Do not mate different kinds of animals. "'Do not plant your field with two kinds of seed. "'Do not wear clothing woven of two kinds of material. . . .
26 "'Do not eat any meat with the blood still in it. "'Do not practice divination or sorcery. 27 "'Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard. 28 "'Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the Lord. 29 "'Do not degrade your daughter by making her a prostitute, or the land will turn to prostitution and be filled with wickedness."
That was a lot of very different things all in one passage. How do you "pick out" what belongs in the "moral" camp and what belongs in the "ceremonial" camp?
I think, especially with a section like this, you have to look at what's around it and what's already been said. The OT has a strange pattern of giving an overview, then providing events leading to a need for clarification (such as a few of the examples in my 'holy/profane' notes), then giving the clarification, then moving on.
Like one of John's letters, I think it's Leviticus with a whole section on a particular 'type' of law, then at the tail end says something like "don't give yourself to idols" or something. I think in both cases the author hasn't gone crazy (and now I'll have to look at the OT one). John spends all this time talking about light and dark, good and evil, righteousness and unrighteousness. He signs off, then says, "Little children, abstain from idols." Either John was senile, or he decided at the last second to convey his whole letter in one sentence: To indulge in sin is to give yourself to idols.
Anyway, that one hit me the other day. I'll have to go find the other passage. I think this is also how you make sense of the creation account(s) in Genesis. You have a lovely introduction with a brief description of each day, then the writer backs up a little bit to describe Eden, then backs up to describe the creation of Man. And you see things like that throughout. Exodus has several sections, especially once they leave Egypt, where the writer summarizes the related events, then backs up and goes into some detail on a particular event.
I'm more or less turning it into a study of Ex.20-Deuteronomy. Anyway, so, like I said, I've been reading straight through my Bible and pretty much just happened to be reading through this when Zoe started this discussion - which is why I'm taking advantage of the opportunity to post random notations and thoughts for further discussion.
At any rate, another sidenote: Today I read Numbers 19&20 (with a few cross-references; I realize I'm doing this the slow way). According to my footnote, it's coming up on the end of the forty year wanderings, but there's no designated "after X amount of time" in the text itself. At any rate, it records the death of Miriam, Moses' act of stupidity (which, since God called it rebellion, I will), and Aaron's death and the resulting succession of the high priesthood.
It's really the footnote regarding the reason Moses and Aaron were forbidden to enter Canaan that drew my attention. I have color-coded the part that stuck out. Yes, I am taking severe advantage of my entire study Bible also being available online.
The note offered several suggestions:
Num. 20:2–13 Rebellion at Meribah. Complaints about lack of water characterized the journey from the Red Sea to Sinai (Ex. 15:22–27; 17:1–7), and now they occur again. In both situations Moses struck the rock with his staff. This is what he had been told to do in Ex. 17:6, but on this second occasion he had been told to speak to the rock (Num. 20:8). This deviation from carrying out God's instruction led to Moses' being condemned not to bring this assembly into the land (v. 12).
Since this seems like a minor error, it has been suggested that it was Moses' anger (see v. 10) to which God took exception.
But v. 12 seems to make it clear that it was carelessness in attending to God's command that was the real issue: Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people. As the prime mediators of God's laws to Israel, Moses and Aaron had to be exemplary in their obedience. Their failure to follow the divine instruction exactly led to their forfeiting their right to enter Canaan.
Some have suggested that another factor was involved: since God had told Moses in the earlier incident, “I will stand before you there on the rock” (Ex. 17:6), Moses should have known that God was present here on the rock as well; therefore Moses' speaking to the rock (Num. 20:8) would be actually speaking to God, and therefore when Moses struck the rock with his staff twice (v. 11), it was a serious manifestation of anger against God, and it is not surprising that God punished Moses severely (cf. note on 1 Cor. 10:3–4). Others hold that the emphasis here is on the difference between what God commanded and what Moses did; usually Moses did just what God commanded him, but not here.
It was similar carelessness by Aaron's sons that led to their death in Lev. 10:1–3. The phraseology of Num. 20:12 also echoes that of the spy story, where God complains, “How long will they not believe in me?” (14:11). The people's unbelief led to their exclusion from the land; so did Aaron's and Moses' unbelief. Meribah means “quarreling.” In Ex. 17:7, Rephidim was also nicknamed Meribah (see also Ps. 95:8).
And now to make this correlate with Zoe's original question. Was Moses' action really a minor error? I mean, eating a fruit was a minor error. Not offering firstfruits was a minor error. Bringing 'unauthorized fire' to the altar was minor, right? Touching the ark was minor, right? Mishandling the things of the Most Holy Place was minor, correct? And it was minor, I suppose, for a Levite (not a priest) to touch the unwrapped items of the Most Holy Place while packing. Yes? No?
Maybe I'm harping, but I think this is a serious question. I mean, remember what Zoe said: How do we tell which ones are ceremonial and which are moral?
Moses' sin, here, I don't think can be taken as simply ritual, even if it is merely a foreshadowing. I think one thing the footnote misses is that this may be more akin to Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac. Or near sacrifice. (I'm on the fly, btw.)
Think of it this way: Had Moses not done this thing, he would not have been in open rebellion (high-handedness, I think Numbers puts it in other passages). Had Abraham decided not to take Isaac to Mt. Moriah, would he have forfeited his right just as Moses did?
I'm only asking. In both cases, God provided. But I think we can agree in both cases much more was going on than God having a temper tantrum or suddenly going crazy.
Rather, was it ritual, or was it moral?
I've been reading through the Law, myself, lately. Numbers, currently.
Romans 14:14: "I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; but to him who thinks anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. " (NASB)
I'm not sure why it never occurred to me before, but Paul is talking about nothing being unclean in the context of a letter that, thus far, has dealt to a large degree with the necessity of dying to sin and living a righteous life. What has always been a "given" to me then became abundantly clear: there is a difference between what is sinful - morally wrong - and what is only unclean.
One thing my study Bible pointed out is the following (from an article in said study Bible:
Leviticus is a difficult book, mainly because modern readers have no firsthand experience of ancient rituals and the worship practices of the tabernacle. For this reason, readers should be aware of the potential pitfall of imposing concepts or distinctions that are foreign to the biblical text itself. With this general warning in mind, several particular interpretative issues may be mentioned.
Ritual and ethical commands. To begin, there is some debate about how to understand the relationship between the “ritual” regulations of chapters 1–16 and what are commonly called the “moral/ethical” commands of chapters 17–26. It is not uncommon for modern readers to see “ritual” and “ethics” as two very separate matters and thus to view these two sections of the book as quite different and distinct. Leviticus, however, is more nuanced than that.
While it may be true that not every “ethical” law of chapters 17–27 involves a ritual, it is not true that every “ritual” law of chapters 1–16 is disconnected from ethics. In fact, the whole of the book is concerned with Israel's being “holy” to the Lord, and the ritual laws of chapters 1–16 are just as important in this regard as are the laws of chapters 17–27. From the perspective of Leviticus, there is no such thing as a “nonethical” ritual law. As a result, it is unwise to see chapters 1–16 and chapters 17–27 as two unrelated sections of material. Both are equally concerned with Israel's holiness to the Lord.
Unclean, clean, holy. Leviticus also often uses the language of “unclean,” “clean,” and “holy” differently than today. With “unclean” and “clean,” for example, most modern readers are tempted to think of that which is “nonhygienic” or “hygienic.” In Leviticus, however, these words do not refer to hygiene at all. Rather, they refer to “ritual states.” (The word “holy” is also used in many contexts to describe a ritual state.) Understanding the concept of ritual states is very important to understanding Leviticus as a whole.
Leviticus sets forth three basic ritual states: the unclean, the clean, and the holy. On the one hand, these categories guide the community with reference to the types of actions a person may (or may not) engage in, or the places that a person may (or may not) go. Those who are unclean, e.g., may not partake of a peace offering (7:20), while those who are clean may (7:19). (A modern analogy might be that of registering to vote: a person who is “registered” may vote, whereas a person who is “unregistered” may not.) There is a distinction to be made between “ritual states” and “moral states.” One who is in the ritual state of holiness is not necessarily more personally righteous than a person who is simply clean or unclean (just as a person who is “registered” to vote is not necessarily more righteous than a person who is not).
How ritual purity relates to moral purity. Even though ritual states and moral states are different, the ritual states also seemed to represent or symbolize grades of moral purity. The highest grade of moral purity was that of the Lord himself, who was “holy” and who dwelt in the “Holy of Holies.” By constantly calling the Israelites to ritual purity in all aspects of life, the Lord was reminding them of their need for also seeking after moral purity in all aspects of life (20:24–26).
Interpreting the rituals and ceremonies. A further challenge in Leviticus is how to interpret the various rituals and ceremonies. In particular, how should the individual acts and objects that make up a ritual be understood? Answering this question can be difficult, for the simple reason that Leviticus rarely explains what various ritual actions or objects mean. (One of the few exceptions is 17:11, where sacrificial animal blood is said to be the “life” of the animal.) Some help is provided, however, by asking questions about the general function(s) and the specific function(s) of the ritual.
Generally speaking, rituals may function in several ways: e.g., to address aspects of the human condition (such as impurity or sinfulness), to serve as a way for the offerer to express emotions or desires to the Lord, and to underscore various truths about the Lord or the human condition. (In many instances, one ritual may accomplish all of these things.) It is helpful to ask which of these general functions is in view in the ritual being considered. Related to this, one should also ask, “What is the specific goal/function of this particular ritual as a whole?”
Answering these two questions provides an interpretative framework in which to understand the individual actions of the ritual (much as a paragraph is an interpretative framework for the sentences in it). For example, if a ritual as a whole is meant to express an emotion (general), and more specifically to express praise (specific), then the individual actions or objects of the ritual should somehow contribute to this goal. Though this approach may still leave some questions unanswered, it will usually provide helpful guidelines and protect readers from some of the interpretative excesses of the past.
Another interpretative issue is how one should understand various concepts such as uncleanness, cleanness, and holiness. Great debate accompanies this issue, for the simple reason that Leviticus often provides various laws concerning cleanness and uncleanness without giving an explicit rationale of why something or someone is clean or unclean (e.g., ch. 12). Traditionally, commentators have thought that the rationale behind these rules was to be found in hygienic concerns, polemics against Canaanite religious customs, or the symbolic meaning of “death.” (For these and other views, see notes on chs. 11–15.)
Of these options, uncleanness as symbolic of death appears to be the only proposal that sufficiently covers many (as opposed to just some) of the cases of uncleanness. (If this is correct, then holiness—which is the polar opposite of uncleanness—could often symbolize “life.”)
NT relevance of commands in Leviticus. What do these legislative texts of Leviticus have to do with the church today? At this point, only a broad picture may be presented, and it will be painted in three brushstrokes, merely offering examples of the value of Leviticus for the Christian believer. First, the sacrificial system of Leviticus has ceased for the people of God; it has been fulfilled in the coming of Christ (cf. Heb. 9:1–14, 24–28; 10:1–14). Yet studying these laws is important because they enable the reader to understand how the work of Christ saves people, since the sacrifices point to different aspects of the meaning of Christ's sacrifice of himself.
Second, the festal calendar of Israel enumerated in Leviticus (Lev. 23:1–44) has strongly shaped the Christian church's traditional calendar. The three main national pilgrim feasts of Israel are the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Harvest, and the Feast of Booths. For those churches that follow the traditional calendar, these celebrations find their climax in Good Friday, Easter, and Pentecost. To fully understand the Christian celebrations, one must see their initial purpose in the OT. At the same time, some aspects of the legislation in Leviticus (such as the laws regulating clean and unclean foods) had the goal of separating Israel from the other nations. Although this separation has been done away with in the Christian era, these laws still teach the people of God to be morally clean (see note on 11:1–47).
Third, the entire Levitical Holiness Code (chs. 17–27) deals with sanctification, i.e., the idea of holiness affecting how one lives in the covenant community. The NT applies to Christians the same principle of life stated in Leviticus 11:44, “be holy, for I am holy” (quoted in 1 Pet. 1:16). In fact, many of the moral requirements reflected in the Holiness Code reveal the kinds of moral conduct that are still either pleasing or displeasing to God (cf., e.g., Lev. 19:11–18, 35–36). On the other hand, several details of the Holiness Code concern more symbolic aspects of holiness that should no longer be followed in the Christian era (such as laws prohibiting garments of two kinds of cloth, 19:19; prohibiting the shaving of the edges of one's beard, 21:5; and excluding people with physical defects from presenting offerings, 21:17–23).
Further, the NT envisions a people of God that transcends national boundaries, and thus it dissolves the bond between the specifically theocratic system of government that was OT Israel. Therefore, current civil governments need not replicate the civil laws specific to the Mosaic theocracy (such as capital punishment for adultery in 20:10 or for blasphemy in 24:16, or the Sabbath year and Jubilee year in 25:1–22), although of course all governments must pursue justice (and Leviticus may certainly help Christians develop their notions of justice).
~Excerpt from The ESV Study Bible, Introduction to Leviticus
Apologies for the length of that, but it was easier than me trying to paraphrase, methinks.
Reflecting on this passage, I came up with a few conclusions:
1) The Jews must have known there was a difference between moral law (right/wrong) and ceremonial law (clean/unclean), because Paul doesn't spend any time talking about the difference. He just says, similar to Peter's revelation in Acts, that things which were formerly unclean are now clean, while it's clear from the rest of the book (and indeed, the rest of his writings) that things which formerly were considered sinful are still sinful.
I think that's where things like "Even King David and his men were allowed on one occasion to eat the holy bread reserved for the priests because of their need" come in.
2) If the Jews knew this, they probably also understood which laws from the Torah were moral and which were ceremonial.
3) It appears to me, particularly from the immediate context of Romans 14 (which comes right after a lengthy passage about Israel), that the rendering clean of all things unclean is a mirror of God's inclusion of the Gentiles in His Church. This is also consistent with Peter's revelation in Acts, in which unclean food represents an "unclean" person, the Gentile Cornelius.
"Sojourners" and "foreigners" were inside Israel were also held accountable for the length of time they remained in Israel. They were not only permitted, but required, to be ceremonially clean and participate in the events. One curious note was that the hired hand of a priest was not permitted to eat the priest's portion, but a slave, because he was part of the household, was. I think that was more or less in keeping with the overall rule that slaves had to be treated with dignity.
4) If that's the case, I don't think things that were "unclean" ever had a moral wrongness, except in point of obedience. I think the point of all of it was to illustrate sanctification (being set apart or holy), and that eliminating the distinction of clean and unclean was also illustrative, as I said before, of the inclusion of the Gentiles.
5) (This one is the point of the thread) Considering all the above, when we read the Old Testament laws, how do we know which laws are moral and which are ceremonial? It seems to me that a lot of laws which we assume are one kind are mixed in with others that we consider the other kind. How do we make the distinction?
I think a lot of times the distinction comes with the purpose of the particular law, and also what it's before and after. More or less, they follow a pattern.
One other thing I noticed was how something holy can be profaned but cannot be made unholy. I'll list my own notations and then I'll be quiet for now because this post is long.
My notes, mostly from Leviticus and Numbers (I'm only into chapter 18 or so):
Some is admittedly more descriptive rather than spelled out. Descriptive meaning I gleaned that based on things in the narrative but not spelled out black and white that way. It was an interesting observation.
I was trying, at one point, to mark every cross referenced law, but that got....hard. I wound up going by section title. I think it's mostly Leviticus and Numbers. I haven't gotten to Deuteronomy yet.
Exodus 29:37 - Whatever touches the altar becomes holy.
Ex. 30:29&30
This one's a stretch, but Lev. 5:14-16 has an indication as well. That is not the strongest one.
Leviticus 10 - unauthorized fire; they are killed, but their offerings are yet considered holy and must be eaten by the priests. Descriptive.
Lev. 22:15-16
also v.31-33
Numbers 4 - Clan of Levites who handle the holy things, but only after the priests cover them.
(Again, the concern is death for unauthorized contact, not for fear of making the holy unholy. The Levites were ceremonially clean but not considered 'holy' as in authorized to touch.)
Numbers 16 - Specifically v. 36-40
Numbers 18:31&32
I just noted it never says 'made unholy.' It says 'made unclean' if it was clean, or it says 'profaned' if it were holy. And the reason I say that means it can't be made unholy is that Scripture talks about profaning the Lord's name, and that can't be made unholy. So the deduction is holy things cannot be made unholy, but they can be profaned. His name can merely be used (or, people do use it) in an unholy fashion.
My friend: My biggest thought is that those are all part of the covenant of the Law, which was fulfilled by Christ and brings death.
Me: Well, yeah, but we're called a royal priesthood, and the Levitical/Aaronic structure is what would have been the reference. I was just noting it. It's a shadow. I haven't explored it fully; just made the notations.
I've been having a little fun with the concept lately, seeing where it goes. 0=)
Thank you for using your study of Scripture in this thread. I really got a lot out of reading all that, both from your own notes and from the ESV intro stuff. I think the definition of unclean/clean/holy as ritual states rather than states of moral purity. That, I think, is very relevant to my question.
To a degree, but sometimes a thing can be both moral and ritual. And sure thing. There's more notes somewhere. What I thought was interesting also was the idea of vows. Example: If a Nazarite accidentally came into contact with a corpse during his period of devotion, he had to wait seven days, on the eighth day go see a priest for re-consecration, and start over. He was never released from his vow.
I do have a question about this part. I think I can grant that the symbolic aspects of some laws are evident (especially mixing two kinds of cloth, sowing a field with two kinds of seed, or breeding two different animals, which I see as having the same symbolism). But is it all that obvious? Do we necessarily know when a law was given for its symbolic meaning, and do we necessarily know that we don't have to follow those?
One thing I've noticed, and my guess is you have too, is that different things are clear at different times. Since the Spirit is alive and well and our teacher, he has different lesson plans for each day. So we don't see everything clearly, or even all at once.
Furthermore, and this is just a side comment, I think sometimes we don't know what to do with a thing (ex: don't cook a young goat in its mother's milk) and assign it a category. It's kinda the "No Idea" file. And other times it isn't that we see it as no longer relevant as much as we don't exact the same penalty for whatever reason.
As for the cross-breeding of animals and such - I think it's Numbers that said the point of those was strictly so Israel would be set apart in all things from the rest of the world. For us, I think that translates "Whatever you do, in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord."
(Note, in case anyone wonders: I'm not the person who believes we should continue keeping the Mosaic Law. Scripture is clear that there are aspects of the Mosaic Law that no longer need to be followed. I just want to know what our thought process is - we say that the non-moral/ethical laws no longer apply, but what is our standard for determining which ones are moral/ethical and which are not?)
My understanding is that mostly if it's a dietary regulation or something pertaining to bodily functions it's considered non-moral; and if it's considered a moral one we still accept it, but don't necessarily exact the same penalty (ex: We haven't gone around stoning witches - lately, anyway). Of course, even those interpretations apparently change. But that may itself be a discussion.
But that is the question: How do you the 10 Commandments are moral laws and not ceremonial laws? And do you know what is in Leviticus? Here is a sampling (please actually read, for those of you who usually skip over Bible quotes):
Lev. 19:11 "'Do not steal. "'Do not lie. "'Do not deceive one another. 12 "'Do not swear falsely by my name and so profane the name of your God. I am the Lord. 13 "'Do not defraud your neighbor or rob him. "'Do not hold back the wages of a hired man overnight. 14 "'Do not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind, but fear your God. I am the Lord. 15 "'Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly. 16 "'Do not go about spreading slander among your people. "'Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor's life. I am the Lord. 17 "'Do not hate your brother in your heart. Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in his guilt. 18 "'Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.
19 "'Do not mate different kinds of animals. "'Do not plant your field with two kinds of seed. "'Do not wear clothing woven of two kinds of material. . . .
26 "'Do not eat any meat with the blood still in it. "'Do not practice divination or sorcery. 27 "'Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard. 28 "'Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the Lord. 29 "'Do not degrade your daughter by making her a prostitute, or the land will turn to prostitution and be filled with wickedness."
That was a lot of very different things all in one passage. How do you "pick out" what belongs in the "moral" camp and what belongs in the "ceremonial" camp?
I think, especially with a section like this, you have to look at what's around it and what's already been said. The OT has a strange pattern of giving an overview, then providing events leading to a need for clarification (such as a few of the examples in my 'holy/profane' notes), then giving the clarification, then moving on.
Like one of John's letters, I think it's Leviticus with a whole section on a particular 'type' of law, then at the tail end says something like "don't give yourself to idols" or something. I think in both cases the author hasn't gone crazy (and now I'll have to look at the OT one). John spends all this time talking about light and dark, good and evil, righteousness and unrighteousness. He signs off, then says, "Little children, abstain from idols." Either John was senile, or he decided at the last second to convey his whole letter in one sentence: To indulge in sin is to give yourself to idols.
Anyway, that one hit me the other day. I'll have to go find the other passage. I think this is also how you make sense of the creation account(s) in Genesis. You have a lovely introduction with a brief description of each day, then the writer backs up a little bit to describe Eden, then backs up to describe the creation of Man. And you see things like that throughout. Exodus has several sections, especially once they leave Egypt, where the writer summarizes the related events, then backs up and goes into some detail on a particular event.
I'm more or less turning it into a study of Ex.20-Deuteronomy. Anyway, so, like I said, I've been reading straight through my Bible and pretty much just happened to be reading through this when Zoe started this discussion - which is why I'm taking advantage of the opportunity to post random notations and thoughts for further discussion.
At any rate, another sidenote: Today I read Numbers 19&20 (with a few cross-references; I realize I'm doing this the slow way). According to my footnote, it's coming up on the end of the forty year wanderings, but there's no designated "after X amount of time" in the text itself. At any rate, it records the death of Miriam, Moses' act of stupidity (which, since God called it rebellion, I will), and Aaron's death and the resulting succession of the high priesthood.
It's really the footnote regarding the reason Moses and Aaron were forbidden to enter Canaan that drew my attention. I have color-coded the part that stuck out. Yes, I am taking severe advantage of my entire study Bible also being available online.
The note offered several suggestions:
Num. 20:2–13 Rebellion at Meribah. Complaints about lack of water characterized the journey from the Red Sea to Sinai (Ex. 15:22–27; 17:1–7), and now they occur again. In both situations Moses struck the rock with his staff. This is what he had been told to do in Ex. 17:6, but on this second occasion he had been told to speak to the rock (Num. 20:8). This deviation from carrying out God's instruction led to Moses' being condemned not to bring this assembly into the land (v. 12).
Since this seems like a minor error, it has been suggested that it was Moses' anger (see v. 10) to which God took exception.
But v. 12 seems to make it clear that it was carelessness in attending to God's command that was the real issue: Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people. As the prime mediators of God's laws to Israel, Moses and Aaron had to be exemplary in their obedience. Their failure to follow the divine instruction exactly led to their forfeiting their right to enter Canaan.
Some have suggested that another factor was involved: since God had told Moses in the earlier incident, “I will stand before you there on the rock” (Ex. 17:6), Moses should have known that God was present here on the rock as well; therefore Moses' speaking to the rock (Num. 20:8) would be actually speaking to God, and therefore when Moses struck the rock with his staff twice (v. 11), it was a serious manifestation of anger against God, and it is not surprising that God punished Moses severely (cf. note on 1 Cor. 10:3–4). Others hold that the emphasis here is on the difference between what God commanded and what Moses did; usually Moses did just what God commanded him, but not here.
It was similar carelessness by Aaron's sons that led to their death in Lev. 10:1–3. The phraseology of Num. 20:12 also echoes that of the spy story, where God complains, “How long will they not believe in me?” (14:11). The people's unbelief led to their exclusion from the land; so did Aaron's and Moses' unbelief. Meribah means “quarreling.” In Ex. 17:7, Rephidim was also nicknamed Meribah (see also Ps. 95:8).
And now to make this correlate with Zoe's original question. Was Moses' action really a minor error? I mean, eating a fruit was a minor error. Not offering firstfruits was a minor error. Bringing 'unauthorized fire' to the altar was minor, right? Touching the ark was minor, right? Mishandling the things of the Most Holy Place was minor, correct? And it was minor, I suppose, for a Levite (not a priest) to touch the unwrapped items of the Most Holy Place while packing. Yes? No?
Maybe I'm harping, but I think this is a serious question. I mean, remember what Zoe said: How do we tell which ones are ceremonial and which are moral?
Moses' sin, here, I don't think can be taken as simply ritual, even if it is merely a foreshadowing. I think one thing the footnote misses is that this may be more akin to Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac. Or near sacrifice. (I'm on the fly, btw.)
Think of it this way: Had Moses not done this thing, he would not have been in open rebellion (high-handedness, I think Numbers puts it in other passages). Had Abraham decided not to take Isaac to Mt. Moriah, would he have forfeited his right just as Moses did?
I'm only asking. In both cases, God provided. But I think we can agree in both cases much more was going on than God having a temper tantrum or suddenly going crazy.
Rather, was it ritual, or was it moral?
02 July 2009
Bulletin
Just trying to set up a feed. We'll see if it works. I'm currently pondering a new blog series. Bogswallow is complete, and I'm working on Cinderbeast.
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