Freedom is Good News Part 160

God has a name!  Of course, that is quite obvious.  But do you know what it is?  Perhaps we should take our time in considering our answer, because one of the Ten Commandments deals exclusively with God’s name.  Commandment number 3: “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.”  I suppose many of us would consider that to be the extent of the commandment but there is more; “… for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who takes His name in vain.” (Exodus 20:7)

If you consider each of the Ten, you will find that this is the only one to which God attaches a warning.  So I guess we should take into consideration that God’s name is very important.  So what is His name?

Hey!  What’s our hurry!!  Let’s first muse upon what it means to take something “in vain”.  The word “vain” has several nuances of meaning in the bible; it can mean deceit, malice, falsity or emptiness.  And each one of these could be used in conjunction with the Third Commandment.  But let us first ask the question, what does it mean to “take” something in vain, especially to take the name of God in a deceitful, false or empty way? 

If it is raining out and I “take” my raincoat, what I mean is that I will wear it or put it on.  My wife might tell me to “take” an umbrella so as to use it.  If I must go to the store I will “take” the car; it is a conveyance that I will use.  Have you ever taken the name of God?  This goes way beyond just speaking the word for His name.  Most times today, when a man and woman get married, the wife “takes” the last name of her husband (this custom is very related to what we are talking about – it is a biblical consideration for the bride of Christ taking upon herself the name of her husband).

Yes, when we enter into covenant with God and accept the sacrifice of His Son for our sins, we enter into a strong relationship with Jesus.  When we do as Peter told the crowd in Acts 2:38, to “repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit”, we actually take upon us a great responsibility to honor and obey Him.  And we take upon us the name of God!!!  This is a marriage covenant we enter into and we are betrothed to the one who loves us and died for us.

The actual name of God becomes a delicate subject.  In Hebrew His name is made up of just 4 letters.  The letters are: “Yod, Hey, Vaw, Hey”.  In English we would write “YHVH” and the pronunciation is much debated for there are no vowels.  Yehovah or Yahwah are perhaps the more common way of saying this name.  We see this name in the book of Exodus when God confronts Moses from the burning bush and gives to him his commission.  Moses asks what God’s name is and God answers, “My name is, ‘I AM WHO I AM’” or “I AM THAT I AM”.  This name, when brought into English is best translated as “The Eternal One” the one who is self-existent. 

As always we run out of space just when it is starting to get good. 

Freedom is Good News Part 152

Romans 2:4:  “Do you show contempt for the riches of His goodness, tolerance and patience, not knowing that God’s goodness leads you to repentance?”  In our previous article, I made a bold statement: I said we might be showing contempt for God by not understanding our need for repentance when compared to the goodness of God. 

Just how do we see our repentance?  Some 40 years ago I was brought face to face with the law of God.  A good friend and co-worker tried to show me a few things from the word of God.  I had never read the bible and knew nothing of what he was trying to tell me.  He asked me if I knew that there was something called the Ten Commandments and of course I knew about these ten.

He then asked me if I had ever read them.  Well I suppose that in my earlier life as a student in a parochial school for 12 years, I had seen them and well, yes, maybe I had read them.  He then proceeded to ask me if I had a bible in my home and if so would I turn to Exodus 20 and read them.  Well it turned out that I did have a bible and after finding Exodus 20 I read the Ten Commandments.

I had been taught, in that parochial school, about the commandments of God but when I read them for myself I realized that I had to turn my life around and begin to walk toward the great God and creator of all things.  Yes, my life began to change.  However, it took me an additional 2 years, almost to the day, to understand the concept of repentance.  Two years of talking to God.  Two years of arguing with God.  Two years of pushing God away from me.  But God was gentle.  He was patient.  He was kind.  He showed His love.  And yet I had never realized the concern that God had for me a sinner.

Somehow He wanted me to be one of His children.  I had never been one to join a group.  I tried boy scouts but left after a short time.  I was asked to visit several service organizations but couldn’t get myself to feel comfortable in joining.  But this was different.  This was God, the one who ruled the universe, wanting me to be a part of His family – how could I continue to refuse?  This was larger than anything I had ever encountered.

I talked to my friend and co-worker and told him of my thoughts.  I asked him to tell me what I should do with this new revelation of mine.  He went to the scriptures and showed me Acts chapter 2.  You see, there was a group of “religious” people who had gathered to hear the Apostle Peter deliver a message and that message “cut them to the heart”.  Peter spoke of the prophet Joel and how he had prophesied that God was going to pour out His Spirit on all people.  He told them of this Jesus of Nazareth who performed many miracles.  He told them that this Jesus had been resurrected from the dead.  And then he said this, “Therefore let all the house of Israel be assured of this:  God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”  Their response?  “Brothers, what shall we do?”  Peter was quick with the reply, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.  And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:38)  Pretty simple?  Maybe; but quite amazing.

I needed to hear that and so I responded!!

Freedom is Good News Part 112

“Man does not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4)

“Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.” (Psalms 119:105)

It is, indeed, a beautiful thing to have access to the word of our Almighty God, Creator of heaven and earth!!  He is the Creator of all things and just as any manufacturing company will provide the user with an instruction manual, so our Maker and Designer has given us a manual to instruct us on the proper use and care of who we are and how we operate.

We have spent a few weeks looking into the first Five of the Ten Commandments of God.  And so now we will consider the last five.  God has not put as many details into these final five as He has the first ones but one of the first things we should take note of is that they all begin on a negative footing: “You shall not …”

I believe we all know what it means to murder, commit adultery, steal, bear false witness and covet.  These are not obscure words that send us to the dictionary to search for their meanings.  And I believe if we spent some time in consideration of these 5, we would understand, if we are rational, just how good they are and how necessary they are for the safety and health of a society.  We all know that we “should not ……”!

But let’s take a look at some of these five from a positive perspective.  How do we do that?  I’m glad you asked! 

The Sixth Commandment is: “You shall not murder.”  So how do we look at this in a positive light?  Perhaps the simplest way is to consider how we might help others to live a better life.  In our little community of Elk Horn it has been my observation that we do a very good job.  There is always a helping hand, a visit to the sick or bereaved, a donation to those in need when tragedy strikes. 

When considering theft, we might turn it around and think about those in need and how we might give of ourselves.  Here in this community, we have a food pantry to donate to.  And there is usually a notice in the newspaper concerning an organization putting on a charitable fund drive.  We are so blessed to be able to give!

I am sure that you could add to this “positive aspect” list of the final five commands.  But let’s stop and take a quick look at what Jesus had to say about these commands.  Remember, He came not to abolish the law but to fill it to the full.  “You have heard that it was said ‘Do not commit adultery’.  But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.’”  (Matthew 5:27)

There is an immense amount of instruction given to us in the Word of God.  Sometimes we may think that the law is only found in the Old Testament but according to many commentaries, there are more commands in the New Testament – Jesus came to fill to the full.  God’s word is good and “the commandment is holy, righteous and good.”  Rom. 7:12.

Freedom is Good News Part 111

Several articles ago we began looking at the Ten Commandments and we’ve come through the first five with five more to go.  We have seen that God placed many details within the first five and have considered just how we should look at them.  But as we come to the last half of the Ten, they come at us rapid fire and quite straight forward.  “You shall not murder.  You shall not commit adultery.  You shall not steal.  You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.  You shall not covet: your neighbor’s house; your neighbor’s wife; his manservant or maidservant; his ox or donkey; or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

In Matthew 4 we read about Jesus baptism, His 40 days of fasting in the wilderness and, immediately following, the temptation by Satan in the wilderness.  Then in verse 17, we see that: “From thence forth Jesus began to preach.”  We read in chapter 5 that His message to the crowds began with what we call the beatitudes.  And then in chapter 5:17 we find Jesus laying down the “ground rules” for His ministry; He did not want anyone (including you or me) to misunderstand just how He approached His ministry.  “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fill them to the full.  I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen will by any means disappear from the Law until everything has come to pass.”

We will (God willing) take a closer look at these final 5 commandments but for now I suggest that we take a short sidetrack and see just how our Savior saw this “Law” that was codified in the part of our bibles called “The Old Testament”.  I use the word “codify” here because this is what Jesus is talking about when He used the terms, “smallest letter” and “least stroke of the pen”.  To codify something means to write it down.

The Jews of His day, the Pharisees and Sadducees, etc., had developed something called the “oral law”.  This was not a part of the law that God gave to Moses to write down.  The Jews had their traditions and passed them on down through the generations by word of mouth – thus the “oral law”.  We find, later on in Matthew, that Jesus upbraided the Pharisees for this, calling them hypocrites and so in Matthew 15:3 we read, “Why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? … Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your traditions.”

This is a very important concept to understand.  Jesus specifically used the terms “smallest letter” and “least stroke of the pen” (in Matthew 5:18) in order to differentiate the written word of God from this so called “oral law”.  God’s word is truth – the Rabbi’s words, not so much!

As Jesus continues His preaching to the crowds in Matthew 5, He begins to teach about God’s law and to “fill it to the full”.  And we will look some more at this in our next article.  But remember this:  The Apostle Paul tells us in Rom. 7:12 that the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.”  And that my friend is Good News!!                                                                 

Freedom is Good News Part 110

When I was young I was introduced to the Ten Commandments and given a simplified version of them to memorize.  I recall that I memorized the fifth commandment as, “Honor your father and your mother.”  And this is the gist of what is said there, but our Heavenly Father gives us a few more details in this next commandment.

“Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the LORD your God is giving you.” (Deuteronomy 5:16)  These are interesting details, are they not? 

God has given us the first 4 commandments that teach us how our Heavenly Father desires to be worshiped; but before He gives us the last 5 commandments, ones that teach us how to enjoy a prosperous society, He tells us that we must honor our parents.  This fifth commandment acts as a bridge from God to society.  In it He teaches us that the family unit is the foundation of society.  Without this understanding, society has no substance upon which to stand. 

Our society today appears to be on a slippery slope downward toward calamity.  The honor that a child is required to have for his parents becomes hard to find today.  God, the creator of all things and all people, knew that this command was imperative for an orderly society and so He added the promises to the base command.

Do we want a long life?  I believe most of us, if not all, would answer yes.  Do we want a long life that goes well for us?  If I get to live a long life, I sure would desire it to go well!!  I believe a sane person would answer, yes!  And what’s this about “the land the LORD your God is giving you”? 

God is the owner of all things.  In Leviticus 25:23 He tells us that the land is His.  As the old song says, “This world is not my home, I’m just a passing through” – God brought the land into existence and He can surely take it all away.

There is a principle tucked away in this 5th Commandment – and it involves respect for authority.  The first authority for a family (after God) is the parents.  But in a solid society, authority extends outward to what the bible calls “elders”.  When I was a kid, I knew that when my friend’s parents told me to change my behavior, I had better obey.  I also understood that policemen were around for our good and they were to be respected.

God is the ultimate authority but He has placed others in society to keep order.  Paul says it this way in Romans 13:1, “… there is no authority except that which God has established.  The authorities that exist have been established by God.  Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted.” 

God has told us to “Honor our father and mother.”  And so I see that Jesus tells us that God is our Father – He is our Heavenly Father.  Therefore honor God, all you His children!!

Freedom is Good News Part 109

In looking at the Fourth Commandment we saw, in our previous article, that there was a slight difference in the two instances where the Ten Commandments are written.  Deuteronomy begins by telling us to “Observe the Sabbath day” and Exodus starts by telling us to “Remember the Sabbath day.  In Exodus the emphasis of this command is related to the creation found in Genesis 1 and 2.  Within this version we find written, “Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God.  On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your animals, not the alien within your gates.  For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day.  Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” 

As we look at this, let us note that God is concerned with animals.  He is the creator and He has compassion upon all the He has created.  The alien that might have been living among them (there were a few Egyptians that tagged along with them as they left Egypt) was also to be given a rest day.  But the emphasis here is upon creation week. 

In the other version of the commandments found in Deuteronomy we find this addition, “The seventh day is a Sabbath day to the LORD your God.  On it you shall not do any work, neither you, not your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your ox, your donkey or any of your animals, nor the alien within your gates, so that your manservant and maidservant may rest, as you do.  Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the LORD your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm.  Therefore the LORD your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath Day.”  The emphasis here is on the fact that the Israelites were slaves in Egypt.  This was something that God wanted His people to remember and so to memorialize it by keeping the Sabbath day; a day of freedom.

Allow me to consider here what the Apostle Paul tells us about our own slavery.  In Romans 6:16 we read, “Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey – whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?”  Jesus Himself said in John 8:34, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.”

And so, what is the sign that leads us to remember our freedom?  It is the Sabbath day!  And our freedom leads us to rejoice in the freedom of obedience. 

Within both of these versions we find written that the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD.  This is not a man-made concept.  God blessed the day and made it holy; only God can make a day holy!  It is a gift from God to us and is something to be valued.

In everyplace I look, I see the hand of God giving good gifts and blessing His people – let us rejoice in our God!

Freedom is Good News Part 108

We have taken a look at the first three Commandments in our previous articles and so we come to the fourth.  When we consider these first four we see that they all pertain to our worship of God and that is an important observation.  God does indeed, come first in everything.

I have my bible open to Deuteronomy 5, which is where we find the second entry of the 10 Commandments (the first being in Exodus 20).  The first thing that grabs my attention is that this fourth Commandment is the longest of all the ten.  Our God does not waste words.  Words are of great importance to Him.  Remember in the gospel of John chapter one it is written, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the word was God.”  Two things are to be understood here.  First: this is a reference to the Son of God, who in the book of Revelation 19:13, is referred to as the “Word of God” and second: we see in the book of Genesis that it was with the use of words that God created all things – “And God said, ‘Let there be light and there was light’” etc.

Our God does not waste words!  Deut. 5:12, “Observe the Sabbath Day by keeping it holy.”  In the book of Exodus it is written, “Remember the Sabbath Day by keeping it holy.”  One version tells us to “remember the Sabbath” and the other tells us to “observe the Sabbath”. 

The version in Exodus is calling us to remember.  What does it want us to remember?  The idea of this day of rest is not something new.  It is not something that was given to the Israelites after their exodus from Egypt.  God established the Sabbath at creation!!  “Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.  By the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing; so on the seventh day He ceased from all His work.  And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it He ceased from all the work of creating that He had done.” (Gen. 2:1-3)  It was God who gave to His created ones, a day of rest and because the Israelites had been slaves to the Egyptians for over 200 years, He wanted to remind them of this extremely important day. 

As slaves, they most likely had been working seven days a week – no time off.  God reminded them of this wonderful gift and commanded that they cease form their labor and spend one day out of seven, worshiping Him.  What a beautiful gift for God’s people.  Are you one of God’s people? 

Just as we saw in considering the importance God places on words, we see a similar concept here in the Sabbath day, a day of rest.  When God began to create, He used words and when He refers to His Son he calls Him “the Word”; so, when we consider His Sabbath, we remember this creation and when we ponder His Son we find in Him the true rest for our souls, “Come unto me, all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)  There is more on this topic to come!!

Freedom is Good News Part 104

It appears that God wanted us to know how important the 10 commandments were and so He caused them to be written completely in two separate books of the bible.  We find them first in the 20th chapter of Exodus.  The time line for this is shortly after the Israelites came to Mount Sinai after crossing the Red Sea. 

The build up to the event of God speaking these commands, is given to us in chapter 19.

God tells Moses, “This is what you are to say to the house of Jacob and what you are to tell the sons of Israel:  You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt and how I carried you on eagles wings and brought you to myself.  Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession.  Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” 

God had great plans for the people of Israel but as we know, they turned from God and broke His covenant.  This 19th chapter is a very beautiful story of God calling His people to meet with Him and so hear Him speak all these words.  Listen to the description of this meeting:  “On the morning of the third day, there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast.  Everyone in the camp trembled. … Mount Sinai was covered with smoke because the LORD descended on it in fire.  The smoke billowed up from it … the whole mountain trembled violently and the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder.”  Yes, the presence of God is an awesome thing!!

God Himself spoke all the words of the 10 commandments in the hearing of the people.  Moses wrote down all the words for us to read and learn from but he also re-wrote them in the book of Deuteronomy.  We find them, with only a very small variation, in Deuteronomy 5.

Last article, we took a look at the first commandment and considered why it is the most important one.  “You shall have no other gods before me.”  So we know that God doesn’t want us to worship anything or anyone beside Him.  The second commandment follows with God stating that even if you do not have another god, He does not want us worshiping Him by trying to create an image.  We just read a part of what it was like when God went to meet with the children of Israel; how could anyone believe that they might capture the might and awe and splendor and glory of the Creator God by making a statue of Him? 

Do you think you have a picture in your mind of what God looks like?  I must say, get rid of it.  Our small minds with their finite capabilities cannot create an image of the God who is life itself, the God who dwells in unapproachable light, the God who is an all-consuming fire.  If we create an image of God in our minds we are breaking this second commandment.  We find this one in Exodus 20:4-6.  Let us worship God as He would have us worship Him.  It is not about us and what we want.  Rather it is about Him and what He wants!