Author Archive

How He Loves

Monday, March 15th, 2010 | Author: Skip Moen

“He who has My commandments, and keeps them, he it is who loves Me; and he who loves Me shall be loved by My Father, and I will love him, and will disclose Myself to him.” John 14:21

Will Love – We could spend some time looking at this verse from the perspective of obedience.  We could examine what it means to keep Yeshua’s commandments.  We could look at the connection between keeping them and experiencing the Father’s love.  But before we do any of that, there is something even more precious here.  It is the love of Yeshua for us.

“ and I will love him.”  In Greek, kago agapeso auton.  The sentence is emphatic.  I will love him.  There can be no doubt about this.  No matter what my daily experience or situation, Yeshua declares His love for me as a matter of absolute fact.  It is His personal guarantee.

What kind of love is this?  The verb form here means this is a fact of future action.  You will recognize the root agape.  It is love that seeks the benefit of another at cost to the one who loves.  It is self-sacrifice on behalf of someone else.  It’s not about feelings, calculations or duty.  It’s about personal total commitment.

Why would Yeshua guarantee such action?  After all, this kind of commitment weathers every storm.  It doesn’t matter if I am up or down, this love doesn’t fail.  So, why would He make this promise to me?  I’m not always the kind of person who merits love.  I often fail.  I betray others.  I lie.  Sometimes I take advantage.  But Yeshua assures me that none of that will interfere with His commitment to me, as long as I am pursuing as best I can the keeping of His commandments.

Heschel says, “In the eyes of the world, I repeat, I am an average man.  But in my heart I am not an average man.  To my heart I am of great moment.  The challenge I face is how to actualize, how to concretize the quiet eminence of my being.” [1] That is the secret to Yeshua’s love.  He does not see us as just average men and women.  He sees the great, quiet eminence of our being.  He sees us as we are designed to be.  Nobility disguised in ordinary flesh and blood.  And because He sees us as we could be seen, He loves us in order that we might be manifest as He sees us.  We are precious in His sight.

This is the greatest fact of the universe.  Not only did God create all there is in order that we might walk with Him, He brought all this into being because we matter most to Him.  His Son proclaims that most important fact of all existence.  “I will love you.”  That is the final and absolute endorsement of who I am.  I am loved by God manifest in the flesh.   Nothing can undermine my worth.  He has spoken.

Topical Index:  love, agape, self-worth, John 14:21

[1] Abraham Heschel, Who Is Man?, p. 35.

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Spatial Priorities

Sunday, March 14th, 2010 | Author: Skip Moen

My times are in Your hand; save me from the hand of my enemies, and from those who persecute me. Psalm 31:16

Times – Let’s think about time.  What seems so obvious turns out to be much harder to conceptualize than we thought.  What is this thing called “time”?  As soon as we begin to explain it, we run into words about space, not about time.  We describe time as if it were a spatial dimension.  We use words like “before” and “after.”  We draw a line on a page and talk about the past, present and future, pointing to places on the line.  We throw around words like “timeline” and “future plans.”  We admit that we have no control over what will happen tomorrow, but we still think of tomorrow as “someplace” out there, waiting to come onto the stage of the present.  A lot of this conceptualization comes from Greek philosophy which thought of time in terms of a river.  Upstream was the future, flowing toward the place where we stand on the river bank (the present).  Downstream is the past, those events that have already passed by us and recede from our view.  When the Greek philosophers said that no man can step into the same river twice, they meant that everything is in flow.  Every moment is unique, either moving toward us or away from us.  The mythology of time travel depends on this spatial metaphor.  Time travel is simply moving my position along the river bank.

Of course, theology grabbed this metaphor for all it was worth, postulating that God resides “outside” of time, viewing the whole line “at once.”  (Did you notice that even describing this we are using spatial words, not time words?)

In 1962, James Barr wrote a small manuscript about the biblical words for time.  He cited Orelli, concluding the Hebrew words “characterize time not as a pure continuum, as a universal entity or indeed as an abstract form, but as something as individual and concrete as possible.”[1] In other words, the Hebrew worldview sees time as particular events connected by other particular events.  It does not see time as a kind of universal “line” which events are written upon.  The Hebrew view is concrete, phenomenological and temporal.  It is the view of flow, of life events melding one into another.

In this verse, the paradigm word of time (‘et) is directly connected to David’s life experience.  This is typical of the Hebrew view.  There is no abstract, universal, theoretical view of time.  There is what happens.

OK, so what?  Why do we care about these esoteric ideas?  Ah, we care because once we adopt the Greek view of a universal continuum that “floats” events toward us, we start to think as if the events already exist out there.  What we will do tomorrow is already fixed in eternity.  We are only waiting to see it happen in the present.  And, of course, that means that the events are determined before they come into our present.  The spatial fallacy suddenly creates a huge problem – the problem of free will.  That problem spills over into omniscience, infallibility, impassibility and immutability.  Suddenly the simple view of flow takes on enormous logical difficulties.  We start to believe that the course of our lives is determined “ahead of time” and that we are only playing out the scenes that were written down before we were born.  The paradigm pushes us to some sort of fatalism – as Greek paradigms are wont to do.  We know that something isn’t right about this.  After all, people are responsible for their choices.  But we don’t know how we got into the mess in the first place, so we can’t find out way out.

It’s time to ask some serious questions about the paradigm.  If Hebrew is a language of dynamic flow, a language that derives its concepts from its verbs, then maybe there’s another way to look at this world, a way that looks at the whole idea from the perspective of relationships, not universal principles.

What do you think?

Topical Index:  time, ‘et, paradigm, flow, Psalm 31:16

[1] Barr, Biblical Words for Time, p. 95.

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Vermont

Saturday, March 13th, 2010 | Author: Skip Moen

SMJ_7631

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Order-Takers

Saturday, March 13th, 2010 | Author: Skip Moen

For not the hearers of the law are justified with God but the doers of the law shall be justified. Romans 2:13

Doers – This is a nearly impossible verse for Augustine and Luther (and those who follow their lead). It’s impossible because Paul unequivocally says that those who do the commandments of God are justified. Actually, it’s even worse than that. Paul says that those who merely hear God’s commandments but do no do them are not justified. This is about as strong a statement about the necessity of following God’s instructions in Torah as you will find in the New Testament. And it comes from the apostle of “grace.” What can we say?

A quick look at the Greek confirms the dilemma. The word is poietes, from the verb “to make” (poieo). It clearly means someone who performs the required commandments. There’s not much wiggle room here. Paul says it plainly: justification comes from keeping the commandments.

This conclusion is so antithetical to the long-standing Christian doctrine of sole fide, sole gratia that we are apt to do whatever we can to reinterpret Paul’s statement. Unfortunately, we don’t take Paul seriously. We retain the paradigm rather than recognizing that something doesn’t make sense. It isn’t Paul who is confused. It’s our interpretive scheme. Thanks to Augustine, the early church fathers, the Reformers and the evangelicals, we would rather believe what we want to believe than listen to the apostle. Paul doesn’t see conflict. Grace and works form a covenant together. We are the ones who split them apart – and we have struggled with this text (and others) ever since.

So, Today’s Word is not about this text. The text is clear enough. Today’s Word is about the paradigm that causes us to read the text as either a problem for our theology or a confirmation of Paul’s unity of law and grace. This paradigm is based on an association between the general pagan religious requirement to placate the gods and the Jewish idea of works of righteousness. Pagan religions often view men as victims of the gods. In order to survive in this world, paganism requires that men offer sacrifices to appease the gods and gain their favor. We find this thinking in all kinds of pagan religions, from the worship of Ba’al and Moloch to the Greeks and native Americans. When thinkers read passages in the Bible that described sacrifices and worship rituals, they connected these with pagan appeasement. Therefore, they thought that Israel practiced a more sophisticated version of appeasement theology. This association became the opposing idea to Christian grace. In other words, according to this paradigm, Judaism developed from prior pagan rituals but was still connected to the basic idea of placating YHWH, an ancient god of anger.

Christianity takes a significant step forward by rejecting this ancient pagan idea. According to this paradigm, Christianity rejects any connection between “earning” God’s favor and prescribed religious rituals. Therefore, Christianity stands opposed to Judaism.

This paradigm is not based on Scripture. It is based on a general concept of religion, independent of the actual prophetic tradition of Israel. Therefore, it reads the Hebrew Scriptures within the paradigm – and ignores or reinterprets contradictory passages to fit the paradigm. The biggest problem is really right in front of us: How do we take off the blinders?

Unfortunately, many wonderful and devoted believers will not be able to take off the blinders. The paradigm is so much a part of their way of looking at the world, and has been reinforced by the Church for so long, the very idea that there might be another way is so frightening they refuse to consider it. They are sure of their beliefs, so forget the problems and the text. This is the way it has always been. It takes enormous patience, gentleness, yes, and sometimes shock, to remove the fear of examining the text. For some, it just isn’t going to happen.

But here’s the caution. We can’t make it happen either. This is God’s arena. We live according to our understanding of His unity, and He uses us to bring about awareness and truth. Insistence will not turn the tide. Love will. It is important to be aware of the paradigm shift that brought about this unwarranted chasm. It is important to know that Scripture is consistent in its grace-Torah perspective. But “love your enemies” is still the authorized way of life. Seek truth. Live Torah. Hope in His faithfulness.

Topical Index: paradigm, law, grace, Romans 2:13

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All For This

Friday, March 12th, 2010 | Author: Skip Moen

For in six days YHWH made the heavens and the earth,  . . . Exodus 20:11

In Six Days – How long did it take God to make the earth?  Careful.  We usually think that God created the earth on one of the days of creation.  One day He made light.  One day He made the sun and moon and stars.  One day He made the plants.  One day He made the animals.  One day He made Man.  But that isn’t what this text says.  It says, “Ki sheshet yamim” (during the course of six days).

Rabbi Bob Gorelik points out that the creation of the heavens and the earth took six days.  In other words, all the time before the completion of the process is involved in bringing about the heavens and the earth.  The focus of God’s effort to produce this planet with men and women took the whole creative process.  Everything God did was aimed at this one result – that Man would walk the earth with Him.

Step back just a moment and consider what this means.  Whether you believe in the Big Bang or any other cosmological explanation of what is, Scripture tells us that it was all necessary to bring about God’s intended purpose – you!  From the very instant God spoke ye-hi or (Let be light), everything was aimed at this goal.  The span of time of the creative process, no matter how long, brought about a place where Man and God could be in fellowship.  You are the object of His concern! How valuable are you to God?  The creation of the entire universe happened just so that you could walk with Him!  That’s how valuable you are to God.

Maybe today you’re not feeling so great.  Maybe you think that you don’t amount to much.  Maybe you’re feeling worthless, hopeless or condemned.  Look up at the heavens.  Consider the entire universe.  Let God’s handiwork fill your mind – and then remember that He went to all that trouble just so you could be here today.  The picture that the Bible paints of God’s creative energy has a purpose.  That purpose is to let you know that God did all of this in order to enjoy your company.  If God thinks you are so valuable that He is willing to create the entire universe just to share it with you, then why let anything else get you down?

Today is a great day to live according to God’s point of view.  You matter – infinitely!  If He is for you, who can be against you.  Get up and go.  The universe is waiting to see its purposes fulfilled in you.

Topical Index:  creation, six days, value, Exodus 20:11

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“Sin Lies At Your Door”

Thursday, March 11th, 2010 | Author: Skip Moen

Genesis chapter 4 is the story of Cain and Abel.  It is a story that we have probably known since childhood.  I can remember the picture Bible that I had.  In it was a page about Cain and Abel, arguing in a field before the murder occurred.   My Sunday school instruction was focused on that act of vengeance – the first murder.

But if I set aside those childhood images and actually study the text, I find that the emphasis that God puts on this event is comes before the murder takes place.  God’s conversation with Cain reveals something far more important about the nature of sin.  Let’s look closely and see.

Cain and Abel bring offerings to God.  The word for “offering” here also means “tribute” so there is a deliberate implication that they both recognized the necessity to pay homage to their King.  Abel’s offering is accepted.  Cain’s is not.  The text says nothing more.  It does not tell us why God did not accept Cain’s tribute.  But it does tell us that because Cain’s offering was not accepted, he was depressed and crestfallen.  While he was in this mood, God came to talk with him.

“Cain, why are you depressed?” was God’s opening question.  Even this question should alert us to God’s focus on the matter.  God did not ask several other questions that would have seemed logical.  He did not ask, “Why didn’t you bring me a tribute that was acceptable?”   He did not ask, “Why didn’t you pay attention to my requirements?”  He did not ask, “Why did you disobey me?”  In fact, there is no implication that Cain committed any sin at this point.  God focuses on Cain’s mood.  This is a counseling session.  The Master psychotherapist is leading his second client (do you know who the first client was?) to examine his emotional state of mind.

“Cain, why are you depressed?” implies that God is surprised to find Cain in an ugly mood.  The fact that God makes no mention at all of the rejected offering implies that Cain still has the opportunity to make his tribute acceptable.  Cain, God says, you don’t need to be upset about this.  Just go out and fix it.  I am not upset with you.  I just want you to make things right with me.  I am giving you the opportunity to correct this situation, with no strings attached.

God goes on to re-affirm this opportunity.  He says, “If you do well, won’t your disposition change – won’t you be happy?”  The text says, “won’t your countenance be lifted up?”  Cain, says God, listen to me.  Go out and fix this thing.  I will accept the correction.  Your mood will change from depression to joy.  Instead of looking down and feeling depressed, you will look up and feel accepted.  It’s just a matter of taking my advice and following through.  Still God says nothing about sin.  He is giving Cain the opportunity and the direction needed to establish the proper relationship between them.

Then the Master psychotherapist provides a warning.  The second part of verse 7 is the real emphasis of this story.  “And if you do not do well, sin is lying at the door and its desire is for you, but you must master it.”

God knows that emotional situations can become the seedbed for sinful acts.  He sees Cain’s depression.  He knows that there are two monumental choices facing Cain.  Cain can agree with God’s assessment of the situation and take steps to repair the relationship.  Or Cain can defend himself, refuse God’s assistance and let his emotional state carry him into action.

Sin is lying at the door. Notice some very important things about this statement.  First, sin is still outside.  It is right there, ready to come in if invited, but it is not yet part of the emotional equation.  The word used here is rabas.  It means “a resting place.”  In almost every occurrence in the Old Testament it is associated with “repose” or “rest after exertion”.  It does not carry with it the idea of something evil lying in wait.  In fact, this word is used many times to symbolically describe the rest of sheep under the shepherd’s care.  Translations that imply that this verse means sin is crouching like a tiger, ready to spring into action probably miss the mark.  God says to Cain, “Sin is in repose just outside your mind.  If you choose to accept my solution, it will stay there.  It cannot begin to work until you open the door.  But if you don’t heed my warning, if you let this emotion take hold of you, sin will have the opportunity it needs to come to action.  Be careful, Cain.”

Then God closes His conversation with this remark, “Sin’s desire is for you but you must master it.”  Sin wants control.  Sin needs control.  The word for desire used here occurs only three times in the Old Testament.  In both of the other occurrences, it is about sexual desire.  Is there any stronger form of desire to take over someone than sexual desire?  Is there any stronger emotion than the emotion of wanting to possess the object of my lust?  God makes it very clear.  Sin wants to own you.  Sin wants a controlling, intimate involvement with you.  And it will use the emotional gateway to get what it wants.

But God says that Cain can be sin’s master.  It is up to him.  Choose!  You still have time, Cain.  You can still reverse this emotional roller coaster you are on and prevent the downhill slide.  Nod your ascent to my evaluation of the circumstance of your life.  Agree that I am your King and deserve your tribute.  And it will be acceptable.  You will find joy.  You will be released from this depression.

Or – open the door to that sleeping dog and all Hell will follow.  It will take control of your emotions, and your mind and then your actions until there is no way back.

Cain went away from that conversation and plotted murder.  In the text, there is no argument with Abel.  Not a word is recorded about any conversation between them.  The text says that Cain, with pre-meditation, found Abel and killed him.  Sin no longer lay in repose at the door.  Sin took over Cain’s life.

This old story introduces the second methodology of sin’s operation.  When Adam and Eve sinned, the steps were introduced with doubt.  All the serpent did was place a doubt about God’s integrity in the mind of Eve.  Then he fanned that spark of doubt until it burst into the flames of desire – the desire to be like God.  Cain’s encounter with sin’s control and destruction does not come through doubt.  Cain’s fall comes through unyielding self-will.

“Why did you put me down, God?”  “I brought my tribute but you only liked his.”  “You humiliated me in front of him!”  “It’s your fault, God”.  “Don’t tell me what I have to do to make it right!”  “If it weren’t for you, I would be fine.”  “Stop preaching to me, I didn’t do anything wrong!”  “I’m not going to listen to your advice.”  “You just want me to do it your way.”  “There’s nothing wrong with my way.”

Two children bring their homework to the teacher.  One child has done everything according to the instructions.  It is accepted.  The other child, for whatever reason, has only completed part of the assignment.

“Look here”, says that teacher, pointing to the instruction paragraph.  “Do you see what it says about using colors to show the relationships?  Please take this back to your seat and finish it according to these instructions.”  There is no judgment given.  Only counsel.

But the child is distraught.  “Why should I have to follow those instructions?  I want to do it my way.  I’m right.  You’re wrong.  You see, I don’t have to do what you tell me to.”

God’s counseling practice is open twenty-four seven.  He knows the state of our emotions.  He knows that sin lies just outside the door, ready to rouse itself to action if we decide to do it our way.  So many times in my life I have ignored that inner reminder that, in spite of my will to control everything, life does not operate according to my rules.  God reminded Cain that He was in charge.  He is the King.  The tribute must be acceptable to Him.  It doesn’t make any difference if I want to do it some other way.  I am free to do so, but my choosing not to agree with God’s assessment of my life will only open the door for sin’s control.

When I find myself in the throes of emotional battles I need to seek God’s advice.  God says, “You must master it.”  The choice is still mine.  Am I upset?  Am I discouraged?  Am I angry?  Am I lonely, heartbroken, afraid?  In the midst of every emotional trauma, I can still seek God’s view of my circumstances.  I can still rely on His control and concern.

Or I can do it myself!

Sin is sleeping at the door.

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Whoa!

Thursday, March 11th, 2010 | Author: Skip Moen

Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but what matters is the keeping of the commandments of God.  1 Corinthians 7:19

What Matters Is – Those who claim that the writing of Paul set aside the Law and proclaim the age of grace tend to read only the first half of this verse.  Since circumcision is usually understood as the symbol of Jewish obedience, Paul’s proclamation that it is nothing allows an interpreter to say, “You see, there is no reason for us to keep the Law.  It doesn’t mean anything anymore.”  Ah, but what do we do about the rest of the verse?

Any good translation will have the phrase “what matters is” in italics or some text that indicates it is not part of the original Greek.  The Greek text is alla teresis entolon theou.  Literally, this is “but keeping the commandments of God.”  The emphatic disjunction is implied.  Circumcision doesn’t matter.  Uncircumcision doesn’t matter.  But.  Here the word alla is very strong.  There is another word for but in Greek.  It is much weaker.  This word (alla) comes with force.  In other words, Paul draws a hard line between what he has just said and what he will now say.  But what matters is keeping the commandment of God.

Whoa!  Isn’t circumcision a commandment?  How can Paul say that circumcision doesn’t matter and then turn right around and say that what matters is keeping God’s instructions which includes circumcision?  Something doesn’t make sense here.  Just reading the text without the context will only bring confusion.

Here’s the question we must ask in order to understand what Paul is saying:  Who is he writing to?  It wasn’t Christians.  There were no Christians when Paul wrote to the Gentile Messianic believers in the synagogue in Corinth.  There were Jews who believed Yeshua was the Messiah and there were Gentiles who believed that Yeshua was the Messiah.  They were worshipping in the same place.  What issue could potentially separate them?  Ethnic origin.

David Stern writes, “  . . . in God’s Messianic Community, Jews and Gentiles have equal standing before God.  On this ethnic ties, cultural expressions, customs and social or religious status have no bearing; in this regard Jewish or Gentile does not matter.  What matters is keeping the commandments . . .”[1] In other words, if you are a Gentile and you are not circumcised, so what?  You are still accepted before God by grace, grafted into His commonwealth.  If you are a Jew and you are circumcised, so what?  You are also accepted before God on exactly the same basis – grace.  Keeping the commandments is what we do after God brings us into His kingdom.  Ethnic ties don’t matter.  What matters is what we do once we are there.  What matters is the persistent commitment to live according to devotion to Him over the rest of our lives.

Topical Index:  commandments, circumcision, 1 Corinthians 7:19

[1] David Stern, Jewish New Testament Commentary, p. 456

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Piling Up

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010 | Author: Skip Moen

Written many years ago, sometimes it’s good to reflect on past experiences.

These days I am having to learn lessons about acceptance.  It is February in New Jersey.  We are having the worst winter anyone around here can remember.  My car is stuck in the ice (and had been for some days now).  Schools are closed (and have been quite regularly).  Business has ground to a halt – no one is in.  This is the second month of sub zero wind chills.  The second month of constant shoveling.  The second month of astronomical heating bills, no salt, no sand.  It is the era of cabin fever.

I try to work.  The kids are constantly underfoot, being kids bored with life, unable to do what they want to do (go outside).  So they find ways to antagonize each other.  They succeed in exasperating me.  Television is pathetic, even when the cable is working.  We have seen every Disney video twenty times.

My wife is home from the office.  The telephone rings constantly.  Is she there?  Just one more call and I’ll watch the kids for awhile, I hear.  Twenty five minutes of conversation, one minute of baby-sitting, another ring.  So it goes.  I would rather she brave the impassable roads and go to the office.  I am exhausted trying to keep the kids occupied and away from her at the same time.  I give up every expectation of getting anything done on my agenda.

At least I can do the household fix up chores.  It seems like a burst of inspiration.  But the nineteen month old keeps picking up the screwdriver, the four year old wants to hammer.  I put it down.  I’ll just read.  The littlest one decides that reading would be great – as long as I am reading to her.  I sit and stare blankly at the ESPN channel, watching the women do step aerobics.  Only six more weeks until the thaw.  Could life get more pathetic?

God must have known that we would have days like these.  I am reminded of a host of phrases which seem so impossible now.  “In everything give thanks”, “all things work together for good”, “Rejoice evermore”, “This is the day that the Lord has made, rejoice and be glad in it”.  All those wonderful, positive expressions seem so barren at the moment.  They don’t not speak comfort to me.  If anything, they convict me for I am not rejoicing, I’m not giving thanks, I’m not glad.  I want to say to God, “Wait a minute.  You can do anything you want to.  You can take care of all of these trying circumstances with just a whisper.  But what about me?  I’m here, stuck in the ice with two kids, no car, bored, frustrated, angry.  How come I have to go through this stuff day after day?”

I don’t get verbal responses.  It’s probably a good thing.  I would most likely interpret a verbal answer as a sure sign that I had finally gone crazy from all this frustration.  Instead I find that I am reminded of some of the basics of my beliefs.  I hear Paul saying to me, “to know him and the fellowship of his suffering” is all that matters.  I hear James reminding me that I need to “count it all joy when” I fall into attitude temptations.  I remember Jesus’ teaching about the sparrows.  And then I think of the one who saved me from my ego filled attitudes.  Jesus.  Did he have it so easy?  Forget the crucifixion.  What about just ordinary life?  Didn’t he have to deal with cuts and bruises?  Didn’t he encounter traveling woes?  Didn’t he face unsympathetic people demanding of him?  Didn’t he experience interruptions and distractions?  Didn’t he have to manage conflicting relationships?  And didn’t he do it, without ever losing his proper attitude toward who God His father is.  “Give us this day, our daily bread”.  Is that just a request for this day’s provisions, or is it also part of the plea for spiritual nourishment?  Not living by bread alone must mean asking for what we need today for all of our sustenance.  And today God has given me snow, ice, children, interruptions, an unplanned agenda.  As part of my required nourishment.  As something that I need from Him to grow.

That thought challenges my attitude.  Maybe it isn’t my wife or the weather or the kids or whatever else comes my way today that I need to work on.  The fact is that these things hardly ever seem to change and certainly they do not change because I try to make them different.  The only thing that really affects my circumstances is me.  I can change only one thing – who I am.

Sometimes it takes a reminder.  God seems to accomplish that part of the process quite efficiently.  I get a phone call from someone in Minnesota.  He laughs at my complaints about the weather.  It’s 32 below zero there.  Some else calls from California.  The earthquake has changed his commute from 30 minutes to 6 hours.  My four year old greets me as I walk into the kitchen and, unprompted, tells me that I am his best Dad.  Could I color with him, please?  If I let myself see reality instead of my projections, life is simply what it is – a time and place for adjustments, gratitude and grace.

God, grant me the strength to accept the things that I cannot change, the courage to change the things that I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

One day at a time.

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Graceland (2)

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010 | Author: Skip Moen

And it shall come to pass, if you carefully listen to my commandments which I command you today,  . . . Deuteronomy 11:13

Carefully Listen To – We have discovered that even Jewish rabbis recognized the priority of grace.  The false dichotomy between law and grace was an invention of Augustine.  His influence spread through church history, resulting in the current mistaken view that Jews believe salvation comes by “works” but Christians have a superior understanding of the role of grace.  None of this is biblical.

So, now that we have a corrected view of the biblical position, let’s take a closer look at this verse.  Immediately we see that the original is a duplicate word, shama’.  The text actually reads “eem-shamoa tishmeoo” (if you shama’ shama’).  The verb shama’ means “to listen, to hear, to obey, to regard, to proclaim, to heed, to understand.”  A pretty wide umbrella covering most of what it means to know what God says and do it.  In order to emphasize the importance of this concept, the text duplicates the word.  This is like putting an exclamation point behind the idea.  It’s not simply a matter of receiving the sound waves with your ears.  This is “Pay attention!”  “Do what you are instructed to do!”  Carefully give attention to God’s Word and be sure that what He says becomes the way that we live.

It’s worth noting that there is a small Hebrew particle proceeding the duplicated shama’.  That particle is eem.  It is “if.”  God’s instruction is conditional.  “If you pay attention and do what I command you to do, then certain things will follow.”  Of course, conditional statements require fulfillment.  So, even though Israel is God’s chosen people, they must still commit themselves to His ways.  The covenant of grace contains expected obligations.  God acts to save.  Israel is expected to live accordingly.

“If you carefully listen and obey,” says the Lord, “then I will deliver what you need to be prosperous, safe and satisfied.”  That sounds pretty good.  After all, who is capable of bringing the rains, causing the growth of the plants, protecting the livestock and satisfying our needs more than God Himself?  Do we really think that we can handle all the tasks and circumstances of life on our own?  Are we really ready to say, “No thanks, Lord.  I’ll just make my own way in the world.”  Obedience has rewards – if we listen carefully.

Of course, there is the other side of the coin.  We could act as if God’s instructions for living don’t apply to us.  We could ignore the if and not listen or obey.  I wonder what we can expect to occur then?  Maybe we should ask Adam.

Topical Index:  shama’, eem, if, listen, obey, Deuteronomy 11:13

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Correction on Galatians

Tuesday, March 09th, 2010 | Author: Skip Moen

Attentive reader John McNear informed me that Disc 3 and Disc 4 of Galatians were switched.  I fixed the audio files and re-uploaded them to the Galatians page.  Thanks John.

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