Why Not?

As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years,
Or if due to strength, eighty years,
Yet their pride is but labor and sorrow;
For soon it is gone and we fly away.  Psalm 90:10  NASB

Pride – “For if there is no meaning inherent in the world, on what basis can we determine the value of our actions?”[1]  Let me put it another way.  If the world is a neutral place of existence, then how can you tell if what you do is good or bad?

Picture the Greek idea of the world.  It’s a stage.  We are actors upon the stage.  But the stage is neutral.  It is simply the place where we act.  It does not come with its own moral prerogatives.  It’s just the boards and drapes and furniture on the floor.  Our actions determine what is good and what is bad.  And how do we know that?  Because we decide to make morality according to our own interpretation of the play we are performing.

In the Greek idea of the world, most of us sit in the audience.  We observe others acting on the stage.  We pass judgment on their performance according to our customs and laws.  There is nothing materially important about the stage itself.  It could be anywhere.  It’s just the accidental frame of our opinions.

Now consider the Hebrew idea.  Adam is intimately connected to adamah.  He is the stage and the stage is him extended into the world.  What he does affects everything on the stage, but the stage is not a neutral playing ground.  It is his skin stretched into the universe.  Everything is connected.  That’s why God must destroy the vegetation along with the human population in the flood.  Human sin polluted the earth.  Everything had to be cleansed.  In the Hebrew view, no one is in the audience, not even God.  Everyone is involved.  Everyone affects the outcome.  But even though the world is not neutral, it does not provide its own meaning for living.  Meaning must come from outside the world because meaning has eternal consequences.

In the Greek view, we make up the rules of good and evil as we go.  In the Hebrew view, the rules concerning good and evil are given by God.  In fact, men without God’s revelation of good and evil literally have no idea what they are doing and no basis for doing one thing as opposed to another.  They are driven by desire, custom and social circumstances.  In the end, life is summarized by labor and sorrow.  It ends with nothing to show for it.  Without a basis of meaning that stretches beyond the world, there is no ultimate purpose.  Consequently, meaning decays into praxis.

Meaning must be eschatological.  It is a function of ultimate purpose and ultimate purpose is determined only by God.  In other words, a man without God’s instructions is a man who has no ultimate basis for his choices.  He might as well roll dice.  Unless God tells me how I am to live, I have no idea what life is really about.

Topical Index:  pride, labor, sorrow, life, meaning, ethics, Psalm 90:10



[1] Ira Stone, commentary on the text of Mesillat Yesharim by Moses Luzzatto, p. 28.

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Rich Pease

The water of life!

It’s center stage. Always there. Completely free.
And, yet, so many thirsty souls miss it.

God’s Word reminds us of it 3 times in Revelation.

“And He said to me, “It’s done! I am the Alpha and
the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of
the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts.” Rev 21:6

“And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal,
proceeding from the throne of God and of the lamb.” Rev 22:1

“And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say,
“Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take
the water of life freely.” Rev 22:17

May our lives today show forth streams of living water – – –
so those who thirst can come, and taste, and see
that the Lord is good!

David Hereford

As He pulls apart the boards of the stage I had envisioned to be performing on, He gives me peace and strength to live by trusting His presence instead of what I had built.
Praise His holy name!

Daria

PRAISE YHVH!

Daria

“Unless God tells me how I am to live, I have no idea what life is really about.”
Amen! I am so beyond-words thankful to my YHVH that He tells me how to live.

Ester

“Because we decide to make morality according to our own interpretation of the play we are performing.”
“We pass judgment on their performance according to our customs and laws.”
Wow, I can’t have read this TW on a more appropriate day, if you are aware of the situation I am facing TODAY, with my comprehension of the above verses. (I am trying hard to catch up with TWs I have been missing, being caught up in many personal events.)

“In the Hebrew view, the rules concerning good and evil are given by God. In fact, men without God’s revelation of good and evil literally have no idea what they are doing and no basis for doing one thing as opposed to another. They are driven by desire, custom and social circumstances.”
Wow, Skip, I marvel at your insights of ABBA’s ways! And thank you for expressing them so well. This TW is so very meaningful to me this day.

“Meaning must be eschatological. It is a function of ultimate purpose and ultimate purpose is determined only by God. In other words, a man without God’s instructions is a man who has no ultimate basis for his choices. He might as well roll dice. Unless God tells me how I am to live, I have no idea what life is really about.” Absolutely true!
Yet, I am grieving this day being convicted what I stand for is YHWH’s way, but being accused of causing conflict between brethren.
ABBA is aware of what’s going on; covet your prayers for my situation, that His will and purposes be done! Todah!
Shalom!