Basic Arithmetic
24 You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you. Deuteronomy 4:2
Add / Take Away – Do you think that God is serious when He says we are not to add or subtract anything from His commandments? The Hebrew verb for “add” is yasaf. It is used to describe increasing, repeating, continuing and enhancing actions. So, Israel’s sins are piled one on another and her guilt is increased. The Lord added sons to Jacob and Rachel. Solomon increased the tax burden on the people. It’s pretty easy to understand the meaning of yasaf. Since that’s the case, I wonder why we don’t seem to pay any attention to it.
Do we add to God’s commandments? Well, we might start by asking if we increase or enhance the requirements. For example, a society that expects and awards massive punitive damages certainly adds to God’s civil justice. We do the same thing in the church, adding tradition to church governance and requirements. That pushes us in the direction of legalism. Just think about all the behavioral rules that govern your life. How many of them are really grounded in Scripture? How many of them are extensions or additions? Does God command you to go to church every Sunday? Does He obligate you to give the tithe to the local church? Does He compel you to wear specific clothing, speak with particular phrases or use certain prayers? Does He regulate your social contacts or your choice of career? We really need to know; but my guess is that most of us have never looked closely to see what God says and what He doesn’t say.
On the other hand, God is just as concerned about taking away from His word. Here the Hebrew is gara, a verb that means “to diminish, to reduce, to remove and to cut short.” We’re much better at subtraction than addition. That’s because reducing and diminishing God’s word doesn’t require so much investigation. All we have to do is do what we want. For example, God commands us to honor the Sabbath and keep it holy. Hard to get around that, isn’t it? Pretty black and white. When did we decide as Christians that God really didn’t mean what He says? Do you suppose that happened when it became inconvenient? After all, do we really think God actually cares what we do after church on Sunday? If we don’t understand what God means, subtraction is pretty easy. Of course, the great Christian excuse is this: these laws were only for Jews. We have so saturated our theology with grace and forgiveness that it has become the perfect excuse to do whatever seems morally correct. So, in spite of the fact that God says the Feast of Unleavened Bread is to be kept forever, I rather doubt that any contemporary Christian has ever participated nor even imagines he or she ever will. There’s something wrong here. God is not interested in moral correctness. He is interested in obedience.
Living according to God’s Word is dangerous. It’s dangerous because it demands a razor-sharp understanding of God’s freedom in the midst of human structure. God is neither legalistic or antinomian. Rules do not make a relationship with Him. Neither does the denial of rules. You and I have to walk on the edge of the blade if we are going to serve our Master according to His desires. If you’re not sure about adding or subtracting, maybe you need to get back to first grade and start over. It’s not what’s “right” that matters. It’s what He requires.
Topical Index: Commandments
