Posted on by Abe Austin

The Basis for Following the Commandments: Part Two

In my last post I stated that the question of whether it is reasonable to abide by God’s commandments rest on three fundamental pillars. It is not the point of this study to try and prove each of these pillars, only to establish that they are the core issues that must be wrestled with when deciding whether to follow the traditional Christian principles or not. It is left to the reader to discover what answer he or she has to every point.

The first of these core pillars has to do with the reality of the Judeo-Christian God. Is there a supreme creator of the universe, one who calls Himself our Father, who seeks our eternal salvation? There are many different possible representations of who or what that God would be, whether personified or disembodied, whether dwelling in the heavens above or emerging from within the human heart, but for the purpose of this study all that matters is the question of whether a benevolent and all-powerful creator exists. This requirement is itself divided into three parts. As taught in the Judeo-Christian tradition, God must be:

  1. Real
  2. Good and Benevolent
  3. All-powerful

If God were not good and benevolent, then His laws would not necessarily be for our benefit. They might not be given to us out of love, designed to bring about our greatest happiness, and so adherence to them might be counterproductive to our nature. If God is not all-powerful, then He may not be able to secure for us the promised blessings that obedience to His law is supposed to provide. We would have no assurance that following His law would give the peace, joy, serenity, and wholeness that has been foretold of. And if God is simply not real at all, then obviously both of the above failings apply.

And so, it is up to the sincere seeker of truth to determine: do you believe that God is real? Do you believe that He loves you, and only provides laws that are meant to secure your ultimate happiness? Do you believe He has the power to deliver that happiness as promised?

If the answer to any of those is “no,” do you wish it was otherwise? Is there some experience or barrier in your life that prevents you from believing in such a God? Would you be willing to live as if such a God did exist, if only to see whether He manifests Himself to you in time?

Or, if the answer to all of those is “yes,” then one knows that God’s commandments to us are motivated by love, and that they are empowered to bring us the peace and serenity we need. Following such law would be a privilege, and it would be the great desire of the true believer to find out exactly what are the details of that law. And that brings us to our second point, are the commandments taught in traditional Christianity the true law of this true God? We will discuss that matter in the next post.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 2:7-9

7 Then said his sister to Pharaoh’s daughter, Shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for thee?

8 And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, Go. And the maid went and called the child’s mother.

9 And Pharaoh’s daughter said unto her, Take this child away, and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages. And the woman took the child, and nursed it.

It seems a bold move for Moses’s sister to approach Pharaoh’s daughter and ask if she needs a wetnurse for the baby. This is quite a coincidence, an Israelite maiden appearing immediately after the discovery of an Israelite baby, recommending an Israelite woman who has an active milk supply. I have to assume that Pharaoh’s daughter was able to put two-and-two together and knew exactly what was going on. Apparently, though, she had made up her mind to save the child, and so she consented to the proposal.

And if that really was the mindset of Pharaoh’s daughter, then her order for Moses’s mother to “take this child away, and nurse it for me” was really an act of great benevolence. She was restoring Moses back to his proper mother, at least for a time, letting the woman care for him in her own home as her own son. Not only this, but she was even paying Moses’s mother for the service as well! Thus, it is conceivable that the women were pretending to one story on the surface, but with an understood meaning between them. The unspoken offer from Pharaoh’s daughter might have been “I will save your son, and I will let you still be his mother for the first part of his life, and I will provide you money to help you better provide for your family, but in return, they boy must eventually become my adopted son and live under my protection.”