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Adding to the Law – As Bad as Subtracting

Adding to the Law

When he was president, I was thinking about what I would have said to President Barack O’Bama. You know how you think when you think you’re smarter than everybody else. I would like to explain the danger of politics. One of the dangers is the contrast with faith. Faith seeks to be right with God, and He will give power to that faithful one. Politics is the attainment of power without any need to be right with God. When you’re poor and weak and God gives you power, you know you’re on the right track, not perfect, but on the right track. But with politics, how do you know you’re using power rightly? Do you need faith? Do you help the poor? Who are the poor? Is it those without means, or is it those who are pursued for their means? I mean, can you vote the largesse of those with means so that you can enjoy the product of their work? Does “Thou shalt not steal” not apply as long as a majority says it’s okay? Can you steal by using the ballot box?

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Acts chapters 6 & 7

The Prophet Stephen, aka Martyr

Stephen, above all others in the New Testament Church, even the apostles, understood the timing issue. See Acts chapters 6 and 7.

What was the faithful Israelite’s attitude at the time of the coming of Christ? He believed the law of Moses, the prophets, the histories, and the Psalms of David. He had a view of Israel as the premier nation, the nation God had chosen for a special purpose. I like to imagine that the 12 were that type; with all their failings, they were hoping for God’s promises of a kingdom to come true and to be a part of it.

Stephen was not one of the 12. We don’t know, but he might have been a follower in the crowds around Jesus, or he might have been someone who while visiting during the Feast of Pentecost, was such an Israelite like the Apostles. He caught the vision of the Kingdom, but Stephen was amazing. He Continue reading “Acts chapters 6 & 7”

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Biblical Judicial System – Who Shall Issue the Law?

Who Shall Issue the Law?

“Take you wise men, and understanding, and known among your tribes, and I will make them rulers over you. And ye answered me, and said, The thing which thou hast spoken [is] good [for us] to do. So I took the chief of your tribes, wise men, and known, and made them heads over you, captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, and captains over fifties, and captains over tens, and officers among your tribes. And I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear [the causes] between your brethren, and judge righteously between [every] man and his brother, and the stranger [that is] with him. Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; [but] ye shall hear the small as well as the great; ye shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment [is] God’s: and the cause that is too hard for you, bring [it] unto me, and I will hear it. And I commanded you at that time all the things which ye should do.” Deuteronomy 1:13-18.

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Biblical Judicial System – A Unique System of Laws

A Unique System of Laws

Israel’s system of government, including its judiciary, was unique in the ancient world, purposely so. It was meant to cause God’s chosen people to stand out. It was the ideal system, meant to demonstrate how wise God’s people were, not in themselves, but in the law they had. “Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.” Deuteronomy 4:6. However, more importantly, it was also the society and system of government into which the Messiah was to be born and live. How much more should it have been the ideal and model for the world of what God wants?

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