God’s Rules

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Exodus 20:3-17    “No other gods; no idols; reverence for God’s name; honor the Sabbath Day; Honor your parents; Do not murder; do not commit adultery; do not steal; do not bear false witness; do not covet your neighbors house, property, or spouse.”

Exodus 21-23     These chapters cover additional rules–specific foods which can be eaten, and those which cannot.   They cover when someone is considered unclean–ill with a transmitable disease and needs to be segregated from the camp to protect many others, when a woman has her period or has given birth and is separated from the camp.  Caring for a dead person, wrapping with herbs and preparing for burial then the preparers are separated as from the camp and considered unclean.  God also set up rules of certain foods that can be eaten during the holidays he set forth, and they were told to always honor Passover–they were to eat specific foods for these holidays,and specifically for Passover, to remember and thank God for leading the people from Egypt, releasing them from slavery and guiding them to the Promised Land.  

Leviticus 18:4-5     You shall follow my rules and keep my statutes and walk in them.  I am the LORD your God.  You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; if a person does them, he shall live by them.

Deuteronomy 6:5-6     You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.  And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.  

Psalm 19:7-9     The law of the LORD is perfect, reliving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart.

Matthew 22:37-40     Jesus summarizes the law; love God, and love your neighbor as yourself.

1 John 5:3     For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments.  And his commandments are not burdensome.

 

God had given the Israelites many different rules while they traversed for 40 years from Egypt to the chosen land of ‘milk and honey.’  God wanted the best for His people and the rules he gave were to protect his people–from disease, from hurting others, from jealously, and from respecting one another.  His initial three commandments were to honor him–He is the sole God, creator, so there should be NO other gods worshiped; no idols should be made and honored (they certainly are not with any power and all are handmade–therefore without power to guide, to love, to grant prayers, to punish when we do something that is grievously wrong.  The second and third are for us to always honor him–not abuse his name, disprespect his name and use it callously, without honor, use as cheap slang.  He is the Creator of all, and worthy of our respect–not disrespecting his blessed name. 

The Israelites were told to honor their day of rest–to spend that day in gratitude, worshiping God, and thanking him for giving them a day of rest, for supplying them with al they needed.  There was no need to go and search for food–manna and quail while in the Wilderness–it was provided so THEY could totally rest and be grateful.  This is a rest for people and animals, and a time to spend realizing how generous our God is.   All of these inital commandments want us to honor God first and foremost, and the fourth to honor the day of rest he gave us.  

He supplies and fills our needs, and now we have the opportunity to thank Him for offering us a day of rest, a day to spend time thanking God and and recognizing the amount of care he has given us–food, enough to suffice our needs, funds, animals, and water, and all of the nature we get to enjoy.  We are blessed.

The next commandments are to tell the people how they should behave to others.  First, honoring parents and other elderly members of family–and this one comes with a promise–“so that we can enjoy a long life.  Disrespecting parents and being an obnoxious misfit within your own family, leads to death by stoning.  (Not that I have knowledge of anyone in the 20th or 21st century being stoned to death–but I have no reason to doubt this as the Word is clear, and tells of a parents who brought their son, and the judgment was to stone him death.

The next commandment is to not murder.   Although that is a command from God, he also told the Israelites to annihilate many of the people in the lands they were occupying that he wanted the Israelites to have, conquer and live and thrive in.  But certainly the callous murders we can hear about daily disturb most of us, yet, it seems to me many people are just without heart, conscience, care and have no problem murdering, tearing families apart.  Just being brutal, uncGod designed.aring.  God alone is the only one who can demand death–and he demanded death to all those who occupied the land he was giving the Israelites–because they were honoring idols–not God, but handmade idols with no power, yet many were honoring them.

Adultery is the next commandment God gave us.  There is illness of many kinds associated with adultery.  Adultery causes feelings of mistrust, broken hearts, sexual diseases, destroying families, at least changing the dichotomy of the family unit once the deceit and adultery becomes open.  God tried to protect us from our selfish lusts, from destroying our partner and family, from sexual diseases–some of which can kill over time, from being burdened with guilt and destruction of the family unit as God originally designed.  He wanted us to honor the one mate–not to have multiple partners.  

The next commandment given was not to steal.   Stealing often leads to others being hurt with the loss of items, funds or perhaps clothing or linens that are needed.  But God gives to each what they need–not necessarily what they may want.  But he does not want one stealing from another to “benefit” to the detriment of another.  Stealing hurts others; takes advantage of what others may have (and need) and when it is stolen, that person has to do without.  It is difficult to keep one’s children fed and clothed when those objects may have been stolen.  The disciples pooled everything together so they could care for widows and children without the necessities.  Stealing hurts others, therefore God made that one of his commands; do not steal.

No false witness against a neighbor–that is lying and God wants us to be truthful.

Over history, some of the commandments have been changed–many now have three separate commands against coveting things and items that belong to your neighbor.   No coveting your neighbor’s goods, property, and his wife. I prefer the way they are written in Exodus and Deuteronomy which stress God is the one who should be honored, revered, and no idols to be made and revered–as there is only one God, the Creator.  He wants one day for the folks to not work, to spend time revering him, thinking about God and being grateful for all his has done for us.  He is the one and only God, and per his own admission, a jealous God–there should be no reverence for a hand-made idol.  

God’s commands and rules were to mostly protect us.  I am not sure about not eating certain animals while others are okay.  Later, in the New Testament, Peter was shown it was okay to eat anything, and all the people were to be accepted.  I believe that part of the reason certain animals and birds and fish were eliminated from their diet was to test.  Human nature frequently pushes and urges us to disobey–partly to see why it is forbidden.  

For whatever reason, it seems humans love to push the envelope with something forbidden.  I remember when my sound was about a year old, and went to an electric plug.  I pulled him away and sternly told him not to touch.  Within moments, he was edging back toward it; as he reached for it, this time I pulled him away and slapped his right hand with a stern no and the announcement of “boo-boo.”  Again, he went toward it this time with a grin and a cute challenge as he eyed me.  This time, he got a firm swat on his diaper, and was firmly placed in my lap not able to crawl back to the enticing item.  We seem drawn to the forbidden.

Over the years once they were living in the Promised Land, the priests — Levites, and other rabbisthen the educated and proveleged Pharisees, Sadducees, added to the rules God had given.  Many of them took an abundance of the meat offered as a sacrifice instead of the amount God had said was theirs.  Many became thieves–thinking they were superior to the workers and common people, and somehow entitled.  They looked down on all other persons unless those were part of the “proper” class as they saw others.  Instead they gouged them, hurt them, over-taxed them and generally made the people suffer so they could be elevated in they eyes of all.

This is not the way God designed us to live with one another.  We are to respect and love one another–not decide we are better than others, not shake our heads and say “Thank you, God that I am not like this sinner here.” and believe it fully.  I don’t think we get to that point until we know God, we have been forgiven and given His grace, and realize we ARE no better–and in all honesty may be not be as kind, gracious, and loving as we see others.

I am blessed that I have been able to grow in my knowledge of God, and can see that many times I treated others with a lack of respect and felt more entitled.  Thankfully now, I see the rich blessings He has bestowed for me and ‘mybellaviews.’