When we surrender to God’s justice
We finally meet His mercy instead
Surrender to Mercy
Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 23:27-30
27 I will send my fear before thee, and will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee.
28 And I will send hornets before thee, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee.
29 I will not drive them out from before thee in one year; lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the field multiply against thee.
30 By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land.
God continues His promises, now detailing how He will fight Israel’s wars for them, breaking down their enemies before Israel even arrives. Verse 28 promises that the Lord will even send a plague of hornets to drive them out.
As it turns out, we do not hear of the fulfillment of that prophecy in the books of scripture. It may have very well occurred, just no record of it has survived to this day. Other scholars have suggested that “hornets” may not have been meant literally, that the Lord may have just been saying He would send all manner of afflictions and plagues to wear the enemies down and drive them from the land. If this interpretation is correct, then it may be primarily a reference to the Egyptians, who would, in fact, break many of these nations in the campaigns of Ramses III.
Yet in the midst of all this dramatic conquest the Lord also shows a well-thought-out strategy. If all the enemy is driven out in a single year, the land will be ravaged by the destruction and the Israelites would have more fields than they can handle. By driving them slowly, by degrees, there would be less sudden brutality upon the land and the Israelites would be able to gradually take over those places.
Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 22:28
28 Thou shalt not revile the gods, nor curse the ruler of thy people.
This notion that the Israelites should not revile “the gods” may be surprising, since we know that they would be many times commanded to break down the groves and idols to the false gods, driving their influence out with extreme prejudice. The general consensus among scholars is that the translated word “gods” is not accurate here, and that mortal rulers and leaders were originally intended, which indeed is matched by the second half of the verse, “nor curse the ruler of thy people.”
The word that has been translated into “the gods” is elohim, which is accurately translated as “gods” throughout the rest of the Bible, but perhaps it is used here to emphasize that the priests, judges, and teachers are stand-ins for God, his representatives, the plurality of God that extends from the one. As such, their station and their mantle is to be respected as the divine, though they themselves are just men.
There is evidence that this was the original intention of this commandment in the book of Acts, chapter 23. Here, Paul is teaching to the people and the High Priest orders him to be struck on the mouth! Paul shoots back an angry retort and the people are shocked at him, pointing out that he is speaking ill of the High Priest himself! Paul immediately apologizes, explaining he did not know the man was the High Priest and that he certainly wouldn’t have said what he did if he had known. He even references this exact verse in Exodus in his apology. Thus Paul, an ancient Israelite, certainly seems to have taken this verse to be speaking about local leaders, not idolatrous gods.
Paul’s attitude, and the imperative within this verse, reflect a strong level of respect for authority, one that is hard to imagine in our culture today. To show reverence to our leaders requires great nuance. On the one hand, we must hold to our testimony of the truth, even when those in authority are misaligned and advocate for lies, yet we also need to respect those who stand imperfectly as God’s representatives. Perhaps it is the difficulty of this nuance that so often leads us to fall to one side or the other, either continuing with evil leaders no matter how low their depravity sinks, or else making open mockery and ridicule of leaders who are genuinely trying their best. The true disciple will seek a way to respect lower leaders who have gone astray, even while having their first allegiance to God and the truth.
Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 22:22-24
22 Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child.
23 If thou afflict them in any wise, and they cry at all unto me, I will surely hear their cry;
24 And my wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.
The passion in God’s words is palpable in these verses! We have been hearing of laws and penalties that were to be applied by the Israelite judges, but now God is claiming judgment and retribution in this matter for Himself. The widow and the fatherless are not to be afflicted “in any wise,” and God will be actively listening for their cries of distress and punishing anyone who raises his hand against them.
As has already been noted in the rules related to the betrothal of women and the treatment of servants, God’s law shows a keen understanding of which people are in the most vulnerable of positions, and He is fiercely protective of them. In verse 24 He promises that He will raise up foreign armies to kill any Israelite men who abuse and take advantage of the widow and the fatherless.
And why would He do that? He explains it is to make the wives of those men widows, to make the children of those men fatherless. It all goes back to the principle of justice and retribution. If you would hurt or profit over those who lack a husband and father, then your own family will be made to lack a husband and father. Not only should we do unto others as we would have others do unto us, but also do unto others as we would have others do unto those under our care.
Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 22:10-12
10 If a man deliver unto his neighbour an ass, or an ox, or a sheep, or any beast, to keep; and it die, or be hurt, or driven away, no man seeing it:
11 Then shall an oath of the Lord be between them both, that he hath not put his hand unto his neighbour’s goods; and the owner of it shall accept thereof, and he shall not make it good.
12 And if it be stolen from him, he shall make restitution unto the owner thereof.
Yesterday’s verses mentioned how a judge would have to decide between two conflicting testimonies, trying to find the truth of the matter according to his own observation and reason. Thus, there would be a human element in matters of justice, which means there would be flawed results. Surely, sometimes the guilty would be deemed innocent and set free, while the innocent would sometimes be deemed guilty and unfairly punished.
Today’s verses answer this dilemma. They state that if a man is accused of causing the death of an animal that he had on loan, that he could defend his innocence by making a solemn oath to the Lord. This appeal to the divine is the ultimate endpoint of every legal system. While we will always have lawsuits and trials where the truth cannot be verified, where lies prevail, where the wrong judgment is administered; the sense of justice yet finds its answer in the divine. If a man would make a lying oath before the Lord, then it would become the purview of the Lord to administer justice Himself. Until recently, my own country’s court system similarly required those that testified to swear on the Bible, invoking a divine oversight upon their words. From that point on, a person may yet lie and deceive, but it is most assuredly upon their own head.
Even if a man makes no formal pledge before God, it is still essential that the people believe that God still sees and knows all, and that the unresolved wrong runs contrary to His nature, and that He will make it right in this life or the next. If such were not the case, then there would be times where evil would surpass good, where lies would triumph over truth. It would mean that if one were clever and bold enough, they could wrest the universe to their will to the harm of others, and there would be no justice to ever set things right. And if that were the case, then the entire concept of law, and right and wrong, and justice, would all be vain illusions.
The Basis for Following the Commandments: Summary
In this series I noted society’s progressive departure from traditional Western ethics and morality, which are founded upon the Judeo-Christian commandments. I identified three core pillars of belief that are essential for wholehearted adherence to these commandments. They were:
- Belief in the reality of the Judeo-Christian God
- Belief that the Bible contains the genuine commandments of that God
- Belief that those authentic commandments are essential for true happiness in life
If someone lacks any one of these testimonies, then they are not likely to be motivated to actually follow the commandments.
Review)
As we discussed, belief in the reality of the Judeo-Christian God means believing that God is real, that He is our creator, that He is benevolent, and that He is all-powerful. Put another way, we need to believe that God is someone we can actually trust. We trust Him because He is good, and the things He says are genuinely meant to bring us joy, and we trust Him because He is capable, so if He says something is for our ultimate joy He will be able to deliver on that promise.
Overlapping with that testimony is the third one, which is to believe that God’s instructions are THE BEST way to obtain happiness and purpose in our lives. So long as we think we can figure out a better plan than God’s we will hold ourselves back from His law. To have this testimony means that we trust in Him more than anything else, even more than we trust in ourselves. It means that His word carries greater weight than any other.
Finally, even if we believe that God is real, and that His word carries greater weight than any other, we still need to know what those words are. To follow the commandments we have to believe that the Bible is genuine scripture, divine words that originated from that real and trusted God. Without this testimony, one is left to operate only on the direct whispers of God to our own heart, which I believe for most of us occurs less frequently than the number of times we need guidance in our lives. At some point we need to adopt principles on faith, and one must have a testimony in the Biblical commandments to follow them
Cultivating Testimony)
Some people seem to come by these three pillars of testimony naturally. Their inner core is already perfectly aligned with each tenet and they accept and live the ethical principles of Christianity without struggle.
But I believe that is not the case for most of us. I believe that most of us do not naturally have all three of the core beliefs mentioned here. Maybe we have one, maybe two, maybe none of them at all. However, not naturally having all three pillars of belief does not mean that we should just abandon the Christian ethic. It turns out that most testimonies do not come before the trying of the law, but after. Most of us don’t know what we believe until we live it. Either we try the right thing and then become convinced that it is right, or we try the wrong thing and then become convinced that it is wrong.
So if you lack any or all of the core pillars mentioned above, I would implore you to not give up on their ideas, but to put them to the test. Pause and think what sort of life you might live if you did already believe in them all, and then try living that way for a time. See whether you find a greater sense of wholeness, peace, and joy from that lifestyle or not.
I don’t want to extend this study long enough to lay out the evidence for the following assertions, but perhaps I will do so at another time. The Christian ethic has been the bedrock of Western civilization, and has brought greater innovation, illumination, and relief into the world than any other thing. It would be naive and foolish to discard it without ever giving it serious consideration and experimentation. If it has uplifted so many billions, it really might lift you as well. Certainly it has done so for me.
The Basis for Following the Commandments: Part Four
Thus far we have discussed how accepting the traditional Western ethics requires us to both believe in the Judeo-Christian God, and that the words of the Bible contain His genuine commandments. There yet remains one core pillar for our testimony, though, which is a belief that God’s true commandments are absolute.
The fact is, there are many today that do believe in God and do believe that the Bible contains His commandments, however they are taken by a notion that these commandments are little more than paternal advice. They think it is ideal to follow the commandments, and that it would be good for other people to adhere to them, but that things won’t be so bad if they personally don’t. What they lack is a testimony that God’s laws are actually imperative.
Traditionally, the commandments have been presented to the Western world as having both a negative deterrent against breaking them, and a positive reinforcement for following them. The negative deterrent is the assertion that breaking the commandments brings suffering, either in the form of divine punishment or simply natural consequences. The positive reinforcement is the assertion that following the commandments brings joy, either in the form of divine blessing or simply natural consequences. The combination of these two is that following the commandments will lead to the most fulfilling, most joyful, most complete form of life that we can experience, whereas regularly breaking them will lead to the most heartbroken, the most painful, the most fractured form of life that we can experience.
So now the questions come to you. Do you believe that God’s commandments genuinely matter? Do you believe that the quality of your life will be always be affected by adherence or resistance to them?
If the answer to any of those is “no,” why is that? As with the other pillars, is there something in your life that prevents you from believing that the highest quality of life can only be achieved by adherence to the commandments? Is there some part of you that insists on finding another way? Would you be willing to experiment with the commandments, adhering to them as a matter of analysis, to see if your quality of life markedly improves?
If, on the other hand, your answer to all of those is “yes,” then you have established that God is real, that His commandments are taught in the Bible, and that following those commandments really matters for your personal happiness. There can be no logical reason not to abide by these principles of traditional, Western ethics. Only weakness of the flesh could cause you to set these principles aside.
The Basis for Following the Commandments: Part Three
In my last post I discussed how a belief that the Judeo-Christian God is real, benevolent, and all-powerful are necessary components to accepting the commandments taught in traditional Western ethics. However, those beliefs alone do not get us all the way to being convinced of exactly which law we need to live by. Today we will talk about the second aspect of our testimony that is necessary to follow these commandments. In order to abide by these rules, we have to believe that they are really coming to us from the God that we believe in.
The commandments that have been taught to us in traditional Western culture have all been derived from the Bible. They include the ten commandments that were given to Moses, as well as the others that are scattered throughout the sacred text. We follow them because we consider them to be the words of God, Himself, and since we believe that He is real, benevolent, and all-powerful, we are inclined to follow the instructions that He has given us. He would know, better than anyone else, what behavior would be for our own good, and following His plan would be the most certain way to achieve happiness and peace.
But what if one believes in God, but not necessarily in the authenticity of the words of scripture? We are thousands of years from the first writing of those words, and it is strictly a function of faith to say, “yes, these words really did come from the mouth of the Lord, and not just the pen of man.”
One doesn’t even have to get lost in academic arguments on the authenticity of the text. In my observation, the reasons why most people dismiss the Bible has nothing to do with scholarly analysis, but just because their default is not to believe something that is so fantastic and far removed from them. Even if one accepts that a loving God probably would leave instructions to His children, they might struggle to accept anything that purports to be that instruction. They have lost their capacity to believe in the incredible.
I turn these questions over to you. Do you believe that the Bible is genuinely the word of God? And if it is, do you accept that the commandments written therein are His genuine instructions to you?
If the answer to any of those is “no,” why is that? As with the questions of God’s reality, is there some experience or barrier in your life that prevents you from believing in anything that purports to be scripture? And even if you are prevented from believing by default, would you be willing to abide by the commandments contained in the Bible even while unsure of their authenticity, if only to see if they come alive for you as you do so?
If, on the other hand, the answer to all of those questions is “yes,” then we have established that God is real and His commandments are the same as what is taught in traditional Western tradition. Even with all that, though, there remains yet one more pillar of faith that must be established. Even if these are God’s commandments, how absolute are they? Is it permissible for us to flex and bend them? We will discuss that matter in the next post.
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:
- Real
- Good and Benevolent
- 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.
Right Before God
Before we can become right before God, we have to be able to confess everything that we have wrong before God.
Spiritual Wanderings 