Personal Ethics

You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord. Leviticus 19:18 NASB Neighbor – Ethics is a relational concept. It does not exist as an inner, entirely personal formation. To be ethical there must be a movement from an inner…

Odious Oaths

“Go and lie in wait in the vineyards, and watch; and behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to take part in the dances, then you shall come out of the vineyards and each of you shall catch his wife from the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin.” Judges 21:20b-21…

Ignoring Leviticus 19:18

Against You, You only, I have sinned and done what is evil in Your sight, so that You are justified when You speak and blameless when You judge. Psalm 51:4 NASB You only – Suppose you are at last confronted by your worst sin. Suddenly it comes to the light. There is no more denial,…

Seeing God

“You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him.  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.” Leviticus 19:17-18 ESV…

How Far?

You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the LORD. Leviticus 19:18  NASB Neighbor – Proxy Christianity is a wonderful way to avoid the real world.  It allows me to simply pay for someone else to share in…

Textual Emendation

“you have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor, and hate your enemy.’” Matthew 5:43 Enemy – Who said that?  Who said, “Love your neighbor and hate your enemy”?  If you look at the reference in Leviticus 19:18, you won’t find the second part of this citation.  In fact, you will find…

Kingdom Ethics

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you,” John 13:34 Love – Why does Yeshua say this is a new commandment? Doesn’t the Torah teach us to love one another? Isn’t that the point of loving your neighbor? What makes this particular statement so unique?…

Who Lives Next Door? (1)

And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service and to building up the body of Christ.  Ephesians 4:11-12 Equipping  – Why did the Lord provide the Body with all of these gifted…

Self-preservation

“Love your neighbor and yourself alike” Leviticus 19:18 (translation by Martin Buber) Love – What does it mean to love your neighbor as yourself?  Perhaps Martin Buber helps us peel away the layers of religious distortion by offering this translation.  To love my neighbor is to act toward my neighbor with exactly the same self-preserving…