The Beginning
Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I am about to proclaim in your hearing today; and you will learn them and you will take care to do them. Deuteronomy 5:1 (Craigie)
Hear – When it comes to God’s order, everything begins with shema. “Hear, O Israel” carries the sense of listening attentively and obeying what you hear. God’s order always starts with His word. He speaks. We obey. It’s that simple. God doesn’t make it difficult. But we certainly seem to.
If we understand that God knows what’s best, and if we hear what God says about the organization and operation of life, then why don’t we just do it? The answer can only be this: we don’t trust what He says. Any other explanation is an indication of insanity. To know what is the best thing for me to do and then to do something else is an indication of mental collapse. That’s why sin is ultimately inexplicable. Sin is the choice to do what I know is not in my best interest. It is irrational and suicidal. But we do it anyway, don’t we?
So, the only real reason why I don’t do what God tells me to do is that I don’t trust His word. How utterly foolish that is! Do I think that I know better than God? Actually, I do. That’s why I don’t take His advice. In that moment of disobedience, I think that I really do know better than He does. I am not willing to listen and obey because I believe that I know what is right for me. When we sin, we deny God’s sovereignty and His omniscience. We act as though He doesn’t know and He isn’t in charge. We suffer from a serious and dangerous mental defect. Maybe that’s why Paul tells us to renew our minds. You can be human and live rationally by following God’s statutes and ordinances, or you can become insane and follow your own heart.
There is one other legitimate explanation for our voluntary insanity. It could be that we have never heard what God says. We don’t act according to His design for the universe because we don’t know what it is. This is legitimate but inexcusable. Why? Because what God wants us to do is not hidden in secret code or mystery religion. It is written in the Book. Therefore, you and I are accountable even if we haven’t read it because we have access to God’s word on the subject even if we don’t avail ourselves of the opportunity. Don’t ask me about the poor child in Ethiopia who has never heard of Jesus. Ask me about the man or woman who carries a Bible, attends church, lives in a “Christian” nation but has no idea what God has to say about loans, education, family quarrels, business practices, law suits, government, holy days or sex. We make up the rules as we go along rather than listen and obey the rules God put in place centuries ago. It’s time to change.
So, we begin at the beginning. Are you ready to listen, or would you rather be insane?
Topical Index: Commandments
I wanted to ‘bump’ this one for the purposes of starting a discussion about HOW anyone has found to DO anything on Skip’s little check list at the bottom: i,e, “loans, education, family quarrels, business practices, law suits, government, holy days or sex”. Pick any one, try a ‘bullet point” approach, perhaps, or even add to the list. I want to see what others may have found out about how to live this everyday stuff beyond the obvious Ten Commands, such as put YHVH first, respect your seniors, including parents, rest on Shabbat, don’t lie, steal, kill, sex sin or go into covetousnss (which takes care of MOST of the problems, incidentally.)
What have you found in the Torah that has been working in every day life?
This would really help me. Thanks in advance (and Skip, too, for bringing up the topic).
I would also love to hear some practical ways to live this out. For me, the yetzer ha’ra is truly a wiley trickster. In an email from chabad.org, it describes some of the many “faces” of the yetzer ha’ra. In summation, anything that keeps us from active avoda, no matter how noble the excuse, is nothing but the actions of the yetzer ha’ra. I find this to be true, especially in walking out these things. I struggle with getting caught in study of the truth rather than actively living the truth. “Analysis paralysis” is what we call it in the financial advisement world, and it is one tough adversary to overcome.
Borders, not moving an ancient boundary stone. Not just physical, but emotional, spiritual and mental as well. To push at another’s boundaries is not only a threat but it implies a deep disregard for the sanctity of that person. I can visit with permission but invading doesn’t go over to well!