I'm doing a study on the covenants and the law, to explain the name of my you tube channel. In doing this study, I of course get sidetracked as always. I can't read the story of Abraham, for instance, without reflecting on what he was thinking as he was on his way to sacrifice his son. I used to think it was a joke, God making him wait until he was 100 years old, then giving him his son and then telling Abram to give him back. "No, no, I was only kidding, Abraham..." Now I see it as trying to relate to us what it meant to Him to give up His son.
Anyway, it occurred to me that God repeatedly tells the people of Israel, that they would be his people. He would establish Israel forever. Of course, we all know that the true Israel is the believers in love and mercy, not those who were literal descendants. But...his people Israel WERE still an example to the world. They were the perfect example of how to piss God off. They just couldn't help themselves, actually. Seriously, they were an example of how not to go about having a relationship with God. Their religious system will forever go down as the system of laws that neglects mercy. To make mankind work, for us all, we have to serve each other. When someone is going through their life as a user, or a taker, not giving back, they upset the natural order that is necessary for us to survive in the long run. Eventually, if everyone were takers, we as a people would completely destroy everything around us. Witness what corporate rule is doing to the environment around us that we depend on (ultimately for the survival of all). Take morals out of the hunt for money and that's what happens.
It has been bothering me that the purpose of the cross was the fulfillment of the law, and Christ in this act did away with the 'old' covenant and set it aside for the new, wherein the laws are written on our hearts. Well, the part that has bothered me isn't so much that, as the idea that after the destruction of the temple and setting aside of the law, the church itself merely picked it up and embraced it. The whole thing started all over again, with all the rules and regulations, only now it was spread all over the whole world. I couldn't figure out why God would allow that to happen, if He were the one doing the destroying of it within his people.
I see it now. Rules are man's natural inclination towards order. The example was put forth on all of our behalf, to show us all why it doesn't work, and to show those who desire it what does work. Israel and their covenant laws really were an example of the people of God for the whole world. Only they weren't the example we expect when we think of an example. They were an example of failure, because no effort of man's will work when approaching God, or the Spirit of God, or the Spirit of Man, or however you think of him. Only approaching in a spirit of love and mercy will suffice. Thinking you are acting on God's behalf is nothing more than puffing yourself up. If God can orchestrate the whole charade of the Jewish nation just to show all of us how NOT to live for God, I don't think He really needs our help, and anything WE do is going to be a microcosm compared to HIS works.
YOU can learn directly from God.
If you're religion is confusing to you, there's a reason. Get a red letter Bible, and read the words of Jesus to the priests and preachers of His day. Then understand this: There's no difference between them and the priests and preachers of our day. Why would there be? Just as there was in His day, there are some with good intent, but even they are learning from a corrupted system. Want the truth? Throw out everything you've learned from them, pick up the Bible, and read it for yourself. Not by chapter and verse as you were taught. Particularly in the New Testament, read the way they were written, as letters. And unless you're well versed in Old English, get a modern translation. One you can read and understand. Stick to the New Testament at first, so as not to be overwhelmed. And know this, it isn't the word of God the way you were taught. It's the word of God as understood by those who wrote it. Try to understand it from the point of view of those it was written to...we were taught to read it as if it was written to us!
The problem with that is, those the New Testament was written to were going through the transition from one Covenant to another. They were awaiting an event in their time. To learn about that event, one needs to consult historians, such as Josephus and his account of it in "Wars of the Jews."
The problem with that is, those the New Testament was written to were going through the transition from one Covenant to another. They were awaiting an event in their time. To learn about that event, one needs to consult historians, such as Josephus and his account of it in "Wars of the Jews."
Questioning the established theologies. The church teaches the law, just as it did when Jesus railed against it in His day. A discussion on the freedoms He gave us, and why true followers might want to operate on the outside. The truth is out there, but where?
Friday, August 20, 2010
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