August 10, 2008 9:05 AM
Anonymous wrote:
UCMJ....first thing that comes to mine when reading this chapter. Full of more 'thou shalt nots' and 'that shalts'. This chapter relates itself more to the governing of a society, not the governing of one's self. To govern one's self is to, like Rich said yesterday (yes, I always go back to the day previous to see if anyone wrote after I did), love. It is not 'do this', 'don't do this' type of religion to which we belong. We belong to the religion of love, truly brought to this earth by Jesus Himself. It is not easy, to love, that is...it takes a heck of a lot more to love someone that to hate them. Look at all the 'work' it takes to 'love' a spouse, or your children. By 'work', I mean, a tremendous lot of self-sacrifice, and learning wisdom, and tiring hours teaching, mentoring, LISTENING, waiting, trusting, hoping, praying, watching, believing; but most of all, when put all together, LOVING. This chapter is about 'laws', not about loving. By following these laws you don't necessarily please, nor show your love to God. Not followoing them, however, can get you punishment, but that is not to be confused with non-love. We all need discipline, and we can use the Bible to get that (as well as our friends), but we, most of all, need LOVE....to get it, certainly, but more importantly, to GIVE it. USMJ?- the rules and laws of the military: Uniform Code of Military Justice. Reply to this
August 10, 2008 2:12 PM
Rich wrote:
When the Israelites were in Egypt, they lived in a land where they had laws and regulations imposed by the Egyptians on how to live. These laws (I suppose) were set by the Pharaohs of the past and present and enforced by the officials in charge. They governed all aspects of life and relationships. All functioning societies must have laws.
When the Israelites left Egypt, they left these laws and regulations. Obviously a nation cannot survive without laws. So, God gave the Israelites laws to live by. I am sure many of the laws listed here were similar to laws that existed in Egypt, but I am also sure some were different.
So, why would God give his people laws? Because they needed them to establish an independent nation. And, because God loved his people! Imagine how long it would take for the people themselves to set up laws like this. Imagine the debates and discussions that would occur. Think of our founding fathers. Think of the constitution and amendments to the constitution. Think of the struggle to establish these governing rules and the debate that took place then (and that continues) over them. God knew that his people did not have the time and organization to set up rules to live by, so he set them up for them. God also knew that the people were more apt to accept his laws after the awesome displays of power he had just shown - from plagues, to drowning Egyptians, to food and water, to fiery mountain, ...) - than they would accept some laws set up by a man or a group of men. So, in love, God gave his people laws to live by.
Many of these rules sound strange to us, but my guess was that they probably sounded very reasonable to the people at that time. In fact, many of these were probably much fairer and clearer than the laws of Egypt (that were probably put in place by men who were more interested in maintaining their power than in helping the people). I am sure (like I said above) that many of these rules reflected standard accepted practices of the day. I am sure these are more God based and fairer than the laws established by the Pharaohs. But I am sure they did not sound strange to the people.
I think the best way to read sections like this is the Bible is to see them as expressions of God's love to his people. They are not lists that we are to follow today (although it is interesting how many laws in society today have Biblical foundations). But instead they are examples of how concerned God is with his chosen people and how involved he wants to be in our lives. Reply to this
August 10, 2008 9:32 PM
rik wrote:
we all need rules to stay in line. think about your children. if youdo not set rules for them they would destroy themselves with junk food and tv/video games. we as adults are really c=just children of God. we need rules to stay in line. itis human nature. Reply to this
UCMJ....first thing that comes to mine when reading this chapter. Full of more 'thou shalt nots' and 'that shalts'. This chapter relates itself more to the governing of a society, not the governing of one's self. To govern one's self is to, like Rich said yesterday (yes, I always go back to the day previous to see if anyone wrote after I did), love. It is not 'do this', 'don't do this' type of religion to which we belong. We belong to the religion of love, truly brought to this earth by Jesus Himself. It is not easy, to love, that is...it takes a heck of a lot more to love someone that to hate them. Look at all the 'work' it takes to 'love' a spouse, or your children. By 'work', I mean, a tremendous lot of self-sacrifice, and learning wisdom, and tiring hours teaching, mentoring, LISTENING, waiting, trusting, hoping, praying, watching, believing; but most of all, when put all together, LOVING. This chapter is about 'laws', not about loving. By following these laws you don't necessarily please, nor show your love to God. Not followoing them, however, can get you punishment, but that is not to be confused with non-love. We all need discipline, and we can use the Bible to get that (as well as our friends), but we, most of all, need LOVE....to get it, certainly, but more importantly, to GIVE it. USMJ?- the rules and laws of the military: Uniform Code of Military Justice.
Reply to this
When the Israelites were in Egypt, they lived in a land where they had laws and regulations imposed by the Egyptians on how to live. These laws (I suppose) were set by the Pharaohs of the past and present and enforced by the officials in charge. They governed all aspects of life and relationships. All functioning societies must have laws.
When the Israelites left Egypt, they left these laws and regulations. Obviously a nation cannot survive without laws. So, God gave the Israelites laws to live by. I am sure many of the laws listed here were similar to laws that existed in Egypt, but I am also sure some were different.
So, why would God give his people laws? Because they needed them to establish an independent nation. And, because God loved his people! Imagine how long it would take for the people themselves to set up laws like this. Imagine the debates and discussions that would occur. Think of our founding fathers. Think of the constitution and amendments to the constitution. Think of the struggle to establish these governing rules and the debate that took place then (and that continues) over them. God knew that his people did not have the time and organization to set up rules to live by, so he set them up for them. God also knew that the people were more apt to accept his laws after the awesome displays of power he had just shown - from plagues, to drowning Egyptians, to food and water, to fiery mountain, ...) - than they would accept some laws set up by a man or a group of men. So, in love, God gave his people laws to live by.
Many of these rules sound strange to us, but my guess was that they probably sounded very reasonable to the people at that time. In fact, many of these were probably much fairer and clearer than the laws of Egypt (that were probably put in place by men who were more interested in maintaining their power than in helping the people). I am sure (like I said above) that many of these rules reflected standard accepted practices of the day. I am sure these are more God based and fairer than the laws established by the Pharaohs. But I am sure they did not sound strange to the people.
I think the best way to read sections like this is the Bible is to see them as expressions of God's love to his people. They are not lists that we are to follow today (although it is interesting how many laws in society today have Biblical foundations). But instead they are examples of how concerned God is with his chosen people and how involved he wants to be in our lives.
Reply to this
we all need rules to stay in line. think about your children. if youdo not set rules for them they would destroy themselves with junk food and tv/video games. we as adults are really c=just children of God. we need rules to stay in line. itis human nature.
Reply to this