Compromise, compromise, over the Cliff Edge: “10 Commandments – Do Not Murder” continued…

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I’m starting this post with a joke.  Not because the topic is humorous, but because it helps illustrate a point.  (I don’t know who the original author of the joke is.  I first heard it more then 30 years ago.  If I find out who the author is, I’ll post the  credit.)  Here’s the joke as well as I remember it:

A Catholic priest, an evangelical Pastor, and a Jewish Rabbi were discussing when life begins.  The priest states unequivocally that life begins at the moment of conception, and that there is no discussion about it.  The Pastor states that he sees the issue a little less strictly, and that life begins when the heart starts beating.  The Rabbi states, “You two know nothing!  Life begins when the dog dies and the kids move out!”

Yes, this blog post is about abortion.  And the above joke alludes to a problem in the church that has been around for some time.  As soon as Christians entered the discussion as to when ‘life begins’, it lost the battle.  Such a discussion is only about making a compromise.  Once one compromise is made, no matter how seemingly innocuous, eventually more will be required.  As is now happening.

States are passing or seriously considering passing laws allowing abortion up to the moment of birth, and allowing people other then doctors perform the procedure.

This occurrence shouldn’t be surprising.  That this would eventually occur was obvious.  Once abortions were allowed under some circumstances, then the call for compromising on other circumstances would never end.  And it will continue.  And over the cliff we go.

We are now stating that life, up to birth (and possibly shortly thereafter), has no value.  This devaluation of life will continue.  What’s next?  Babies that have defects can be killed?  Unthinkable you say?  This is exactly what happened not so long ago in a modern society!  (Don’t remember? – think Nazi Germany and their indiscriminate killing of handicapped people.)

God states that He abhors the ‘offering’ [sacrificing] of babies and children to foreign gods.

You shall not give any of your children to offer them to Molech, and so profane the name of your God: I am the LORD.  Leviticus 18:21 (ESV)

Why did the people sacrifice their children to other gods?  The basic reason can be stated as this: they wanted a better life for themselves.

Are abortions today any different?  Why are the vast majority of abortions done today?  Because the mom thinks her life will be better without the child.

No difference!  In times past, the babies were offered directly to a god in exchange for a better life for the parents.  Today the babies are offered to some nebulous idea in exchange for the mom having a better life!

We need to repent on behalf of this nation!  We also need to start supporting those groups that are helping the moms find alternatives to abortion!

Today, Feb. 23rd, 2019, a call has gone out nationwide (USA) for prayer and repentance.  It’s about time!   (www.dayofmourning.org – best viewed with Google Chrome).

Yes, God’s command ‘do not kill’ includes the unborn.

P.S.

If you want to argue against this stance by bringing up cases such as when the mother’s life is in danger, I say to you, “You hypocrite!  If you were really concerned about the life of the mother, you wouldn’t be supporting these laws that will allow people without medical degrees to perform the abortion!  That type of thing took many, many women’s lives!”

  • Yosef

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10 Commandments Series – 6: “Do Not Murder” Exodus 20:13

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Now we are getting into the easier to repeat, oft quoted, rarely taken at more then face value, commandments.  At the top of the list is this one,

“You shall not murder.”  Exodus 20:13  (ESV)

It’s really simple.  Don’t murder.  Yet for all its simplicity, there is a bit of controversy around it, and it is often ignored.

First some controversy.  I won’t spend much time on this.  The Hebrew word used clearly means, and is used for, ‘murder’, not ‘kill’.  A different Hebrew word would have been used if the command had been ‘You shall not kill,’ or it had meant both.  Unfortunately, many of the older English translations use the word ‘kill’, and some people then take this and form theology and social norms from it.  But the word is ‘murder.’  You can easily verify this if you want.

But how is this command ignored?  Most of us haven’t murdered anyone or even want to… or have we?

Yeshua (Jesus) said:

“But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.” Matthew 5:22 (ESV)

Yeshua pointed out that the commandment is deeper then just physically murdering someone.  He pointed out that it can be done with words also!

To take this a bit further, what about when we choose to not help someone or to not encourage someone when the need is right in front of us.  There are many passages in the Bible exhorting us to help and encourage others.

So, flip this command around and look at it from a positive viewpoint.  If ‘do not murder’ is stating the command from the “don’t do” perspective, how would it be stated from the “do this” perspective?  By the way, looking at a command from a ‘positive’ viewpoint is a very Jewish way of looking at the commands of God.

Help to live; encourage; assist; have positive words and deeds.

When we pass up opportunities to help someone to live; to encourage or assist someone; or to have positive words or deeds, then we are, in a way, helping to ‘murder’ the person who otherwise would have benefited.

So, look at the command to ‘not murder’ from Yeshua’s (Jesus’) viewpoint, and act accordingly.  It’ll bring joy to both you and the one being helped, and Yehovah (the LORD) will smile!

Shalom!  – Yosef

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What’s all this about Blood in the Bible?

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Just a cursory reading of the Bible and you’ll eventually read something about blood.

“…The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground.” Genesis 4:10 (ESV) [God talking to Cain after Cain killed his brother Abel.]

“But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, the blood.”  Genesis 9:4 (ESV) [God telling Noah how to eat meat after the great flood.]

“Take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and touch the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin.”  Exodus 12:22 (ESV) [God’s telling the Israelites to kill a lamb or goat and put its blood on their doorposts prior to God going through Egypt and freeing the Israelites.]

“But you must not eat the blood; pour it out on the ground like water.” Deuteronomy 12:16 (NIV)

“and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7 (NIV)

It seems Yehovah (God / the LORD) puts importance on blood and gave people rules concerning it.

But what does this have to do with Christians, for, as I hear often, “we are no longer under the law!”?

Well, consider the following:

– Three of the above quotes are from before the “Law” was given (on mount Sinai).

– The apostles, including Paul, and the early Jerusalem church leaders, considered the issue of blood of fundamental importance to Gentile believers.

In Acts 15 we find what is called the “Jerusalem Council.”  They wrote to all Gentile churches the following, expecting all believers to obey:

“…that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality.”  Acts 15:29 (ESV)

So what? you may ask.  This doesn’t affect my walk with Jesus (Yeshua).

Our walk with Yeshua (Jesus), and his knowing us, is deepened when we do as He asks.  When we do as He asks, we are humbling ourselves and saying to him, “your way is the right way; not my way.”

What better way to get to know Yeshua (Jesus) better, and be known by him, then to walk as he walked and do what pleases him!

And obeying is training in righteousness.  How can we say that we will listen to Him when the spirit speaks to us when we won’t listen when His words are in black and white before us!  As we learn to do the easy things, and listen to the easy to hear words, we will grow nearer to Him and hear Him clearer in all things!

After this you may also ask, “what does it mean to abstain from blood?”  That is an important question as the Bible does not clearly spell it out.  Looking into this opens up a huge discussion on what it means, and what it implies.  But that is for a later post….

Shalom!  -Yosef

Greater love has no one…

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I recently had  a health scare that made me really realize that there is nothing more important then family and friends.  But I think most of us know this already at one level or another, so I’m going to write about something just a bit different.

One of the things I needed most during the health scare time was someone to both read the Word of God with, and pray with.  I knew my neighbor professed being a Christian, but I didn’t know him well yet (I just moved into this apartment building about 4 months ago… what can I say, I’m slow getting to know people).  Anyway, I asked him if he would read and pray with me.

Without hesitation or 2nd thought, he said ‘yes.’  In fact, he has said ‘yes’ for several nights in a row.  He knew I needed the help.

I came to realize something through this.  Here was a man following Messiah Yeshua (Christ Jesus), and who didn’t know me all that well, yet he was willing to drop everything he was doing and spend a couple hours a night with me for several nights now.

A Bible verse comes to mind:

“Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13 (ESV)

I came to realize that this verse isn’t just talking about the sacrifice Yeshua (Jesus) made for all of us, but it is also referring to the selfless giving of ourselves for a brother or sister in need, just as my neighbor has been doing for me.

Then I asked myself,

“Would I do the same for someone else?  Day after day, or even once?”

And I honestly couldn’t answer a definite ‘yes!’  Here I was experiencing the love of Yeshua (Jesus) being given to me, and I wasn’t sure I could return it if the circumstances were reversed!  Time to repent!

If we are going to follow Yehovah (the LORD) then we need to show it!  And this will mean giving of oneself to another, both in time and resources.  In this way we glorify our Father in heaven and reflect Yeshua (Jesus) on this earth!

“By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.  But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?  Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.”  1 John 3:16-18 (ESV)

It’s not until you see this in action that you can really appreciate what it means, but we can still practice it.  Hopefully this little post encourages you to give of yourself to others.

Shalom!  – Yosef

Paul – who did he think he was? (Acts 21 – 28)

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In the book of Acts we have an overview of the apostle Paul’s life and ministry.  And it is here that we should look first before we try to understand his letters.  The apostle Peter writes,

“There are some things in them that are hard to understand…” 2 Peter 3:16 (ESV)

If Peter so cautions us, it will behoove us to take care when reading Paul’s letters, else all manner of odd ideas and theology may (and has) arise.

One of the main things to look at is how Paul represented himself when he was on trial.  How did he view himself and what did he say about himself?  Here are a few of the things he said in reference to himself:

“believing everything laid down by the Law and written in the Prophets…” Acts 24:14 (ESV)

“Neither against the law of the Jews, nor against the Temple… have I committed any offense.” Acts 25:8 (ESV)

“…saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass: that the Christ must suffer and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles.” Acts 26:23 (ESV)

“It is with respect to the hope and the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial.” Acts 23:6 (ESV)

Also, when Paul arrived in Jerusalem, prior to being arrested, the elders of the church asked him to join in a vow several brothers had taken.  Why?  (See Acts 21:17-26).

“Thus all will know that there is nothing in what they have been told about you, but that you yourself also live in observance of the Law.” Acts 21:24, spoken by the elders to Paul.

In other words, many people, both Jewish followers of Yeshua (Jesus) and those not following Yeshua, were accusing Paul of no longer following the Law of God.  Yet he said, and emphasized (the vow), that he continued, and always had, followed the Law!

This must be remembered in reading and interpreting his letters!

Paul’s message was, and is, “explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus (Yeshua), whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ (Messiah).”  Acts 17:3 (ESV) parenthesis mine.  And this message was to both Jew and Gentile, and it enraged both sides.

This leaves the question of just what did Paul teach the gentiles?

Do you think that Paul told the Gentiles that the Law of God no longer applied, or do you think Paul was telling them something else?  If something else, what?

The next post will deal with Paul’s overriding message is throughout his letters.  After that we can deal with specific letters and ideas.

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