Archive for the ‘OT’ Category

4
Feb

The Dietary Laws

   Posted by: Joshuah

“God gives us guidelines to make life simpler and better for us, but we like to complicate everything and then whine about it. If you don’t like the dietary laws, perhaps you don’t like the God who gave them.”
(R.J. Rushdoony, “Institutes of Biblical Law”, Vallecito, CA 1999, p.86)

Since hardly any church teaches that the dietary laws are still valid, many Christians nowadays have no idea what they actually say, or where to find them.  Both is easily mended.

You find the dietary laws in Leviticus 11, which starts like this:

“And the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying to them, ‘Speak to the people of Israel, saying, These are the living things that you may eat among all the animals that are on the earth.’ ” (Lev 1:1-2)

So the dietary laws are an ordinance for all the children of Israel.In short, chapter 11 says that every animal that is carnivorous, omnivorous, or a scavenger is unclean, because they eat the blood of other animals or feed on carcasses.  This includes pigs, which are specifically mentioned in verse 7, and also horses.  Animals that chew the cud and have a cloven hoof, however, are clean animals (Lev 11:3-8), as they are designed to eat greens and grass only.
Of the fish, bottom feeders are forbidden – they, too, are omnivorous, but fishes with fins AND scales are considered clean (Lev 11:9-12).  Shrimp and other seafood like muscles, therefore, are forbidden, and so is catfish.

Those birds that prey on other animals are forbidden again, following the same principle we find for mammals (Lev 11:13-20).

Of the insects, only those that have wings AND leap are labeled clean, like the famous locusts John the Baptist lived off, for example (Lev 11:21-23; Mk 1:6).

Every swarming thing is abominable generally speaking (Lev 11:41-44).  A few more of the “swarming things” which are not to be eaten are listed later, such as the weasel, the tortoise or the snail (Lev 11:29-30).

Verses 23 to 41 mainly deal with the uncleanness of carcasses and how they defile what comes into contact with them, but they also mention than no animal that goes on its paws is considered food (Lev 11:27), like cats or dogs.
In summary, for most animals mentioned, consuming blood, which is forbidden to the Israelites because in the blood is the life of every living being, makes animals unfit for food, too.

Note that many of the unclean animals are considered food nowadays, however: pigs, horses, tortoise, snail, catfish, shrimp, and in some parts of the word also cats and dogs.  But God’s command is still valid today, so stay away from what defiles you in God’s eyes, which is what the last verses of Leviticus 11 say:

“For I am the LORD who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy. This is the law about beast and bird and every living creature that moves through the waters and every creature that swarms on the ground, to make a distinction between the unclean and the clean and between the living creature that may be eaten and the living creature that may not be eaten.” (Lev 11:45-47)

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25
Jan

No Mixing

   Posted by: Joshuah Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

“You shall be holy to me, for I the LORD am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine.” (Lev 20:26)

We mentioned it elsewhere recently: One of the basic biblical principles is “no mixing”, or the separation of the clean from the unclean, brethren from non brethren, the holy from the profane. “Holy” means “set aside, separate”, so holiness lies at the core of this principle of “no mixing”. God calls His chosen people to be holy as He is holy, and to separate themselves from everything that defiles them, including other peoples.

Another aspect consistently mentioned in context with “no mixing” is that of idolatry. Mixing with other peoples is a snare to Israel to go whoring after other gods (Deu 7:16 or 7:25, for example), but the 10 Commandments clearly forbid idolatry:

“You shall have no other gods before me.” (Exo 20:3)

Mind you, this indicates that indeed there are other gods, and that God’s chosen people are not to turn to them instead of the LORD their God.

So if God’s chosen people ignore the concept of holiness and the principle of “no mixing”, they are guilty of the sin of idolatry. God created everything according to its kind, and He separated the heavens from the earth so that the two realms would not be mixed, just as He separated the day from the night (Gen1:1-8). When heavenly beings violated this separation to come down to earth and have children with human women, God’s punishment both for them and for mankind was most severe (Gen 6:1-7).

The concept of “no mixing” is a very practical one. The case laws give us several examples that illustrate the principle and at the same time make it clear that faith is for all of life and not just for an hour on Sunday mornings. If we follow God, we are to follow him 24 hours a day 365 days a year, and in all aspects of life. So apart from the obvious call to stay away from other peoples and their gods, you find a prohibition against clothing of mixed thread (Deu 22:11) and against plowing with an uneven yoke (Deu 22:10). And if you look at the Dietary Laws for example (Lev 11), you find the clean animals separated from the unclean along the lines of whether or not these animals violate the separation of life and death – those animals that are carnivorous, scavengers or omnivorous are not considered food, as they eat the blood of other animals in which is the life, thereby breeching the barrier between life and death. Blood is not to be eaten (Gen 9:4, Lev 17:11), nor are semen and blood to be mixed, which is why a wife is to be separate from her husband during her monthly bleeding (Lev 15; 18:19).

“No mixing” in terms of brethren is a somewhat difficult topic, as most of what the bible has to say about this would be classified as hate speech today. But if you want to follow God’s Law Word, you better not marry anyone who is not your kind, or adopt children from parents who aren’t. It is rather common amongst American Christians these days to adopt little Asian dolls when they either won’t or can’t have children anymore, but as well as their intentions might be, they are violating the principle of “no mixing”.
“No mixing” goes beyond the plain differences of race though. We are called to put the evil away from among us, so criminals who endanger the brethren community are not brethren anymore, but are to be dealt with according to God’s judgment and the corresponding punishment (Deu 17:2-7, for example). I suppose you are aware of the fact that there is no such thing as a prison in Mosaic Law – you find cities of refuge for those who kill someone by accident (Deu 19:5-6), but otherwise, the punishment is rather straight forward and basically results in restitution, and if a life is taken, in death (read Exodus 21 and 22 for a number of examples).

If you look for it, you find the principle of “no mixing” at work all through the Scriptures, both in the big things and in the small. We should not chalk it off lightly, as people are wont to do these days.

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9
Jan

Sola Scriptura

   Posted by: Joshuah

“I have applied all these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brothers, that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another.” (1 Cor 4:6)

We have already mentioned that it is essential to rely on ALL of Scripture and not just on those verses we like. Elaboration on Tota Scriptura will follow, but today we want to concentrate on the idea of “Sola Scriptura”, Scripture alone.

So what’s the point about Sola Scriptura ?

Scripture, the inerrant word of God, is all we need. There is no need for additional texts to rely on, additional “revelations”, be it the book of Mormon, or anything the Catholics rely on besides Scripture, or whatever book by whatever pious author you might come across.

When Jesus is confronted with the devil, with temptation, what does He do (Mat 4:1-11)? Does He launch into a long drawn out conversation with the devil ? No, He doesn’t. He quotes Scripture:

“But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” “(Mat 4:4)

“Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” ” (Mat 4:7)

“Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’” ” (Mat 4:10)

“It is written” is all that is needed to defeat the devil and his schemes. It worked for Jesus, it works for us today, in exactly the same way. We are to test the spirits against Scripture alone, and will defeat every vile scheme, just like Jesus did, if we put on the whole armor of God (1Jn 4:1, Eph 6:11-18).

All that matters is Scripture, and everything we hear, read or see is measured with the one and only yardstick, God’s Law Word. If we need definitions, we let Scripture define itself, for example the definition of love (Exo 20:1-17 and the case laws, Deu 5:6-21). If we need explanations, we let Scripture explain itself, for example Peter and his dream in Acts 10, or why Jesus speaks in parables (Mat 13, Mar 4, Luk 8).

There is no need to add our own definitions or explanations to Scripture, in fact, that would be modern Pharisee-ism: Instead of relying God’s Law Word, modern Pharisees come up with their own rules and regulations based on their own definitions and explanations, just like in Jesus’ time. But Jesus is clear about this attitude, so beware:

“You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’” (Mat 15:7-9)

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7
Jan

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable”

   Posted by: Joshuah

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.” (2Ti 3:16-17)

We were accused of the following recently:

“Your claim is based upon Old Testament references, I know that nothing in the New Testament upholds it.”

I am not going to explain what claim we made – it was based on both Old and New Testament references, of course – but would like to concentrate on the statement made.

This person says that, since our claim is based on Old Testament references alone, it is invalid and only if something is “upheld” in the New Testament, it is still valid and binding for Christians today.

Now you can argue about the idea of something being “upheld”, since in order to find out if it is or not, you would have to go much deeper into Scripture than just look for a word that might or might not be repeated. You will have to look for concepts, for the mindset of the people, and make sure that you understand what is going on in the New Testament based on the mindset of the people who Jesus met and dealt with, who the letters were addressed too.

But the point I am trying to make is so much more simple:

  1. Jesus is God in the flesh (Joh 1:1;14). God does not change (Mal 3:6), Jesus does not change (Heb 13:8). Whatever command is made in the Old Testament, therefore, is still valid today unless specifically ended, like the sacrificial law: Jesus himself was the last sacrifice, the last Passover lamb to be slain (1Co 5:7; Heb 10:12).
  2. When Jesus argues in the New Testament, He quotes Scripture. What does he quote ? When met with temptation, He quotes Deuteronomy (for example Mat 4:4); we find Him referring to Isaiah when He explains why He speaks in parables (for example Mat 13:14-15), and He refers back to Exodus and Deuteronomy when it comes to the Ten Commandments, just as examples. Of course He quotes Old Testament Scriptures, as the New Testament was not written yet. The same counts for Paul when he labels all Scripture to be breathed by God and profitable (2Ti 3:16-17)- all Scripture, that was, in his time, the Old Testament only. Now while we believe that both Old and New Testament are inspired by God and thus inerrant and eternal, it is important to point out that the Old Testament constitutes not only the major part of our bible, but also lays the foundations needed to understand what happens in the New Testament.

Rather than dismissing something that is based on Old Testament Scripture only, we should be careful if a claim relies on New Testament Scriptures alone, and contradicts Old Testament Scripture. The claim might very well be resting on a modern understanding of a biblical concept and hence be wrongly handling the word of truth (2Ti 2:15).

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