Opus 2018-228: Digging into Deuteronomy: Idle Worship and Idol Worship

(Deuteronomy 4:23 KJV)  Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he made with you, and make you a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, which the LORD thy God hath forbidden thee.

Most people have heard of the Ten Commandments.  I doubt if there are many who could list all ten.  If you are curious you can find them at Exodus 20:3-17.  I don’t know if the last six are listed by priorities but it is clear that the first are most important.  Actually they are a package deal and in spite of what you have heard, they can be obeyed.  The problem is no one wants to obey.  If we look at modern entertainment we find that most of them are violated on a regular basis.

The second commandment is being referred to here.

(Exodus 20:4-6 KJV)  Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:  Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

Most of us today would not think of actually building an idol and putting it in a special room to worship.  We are to modern for such foolishness.  Who wants a golden calf or a statue of pan in their living room?  This points out that idolatry can take many forms.  An idol is anything that we give a place to in our lives that represents anything that God has commanded us to avoid. 

For example take the commandment that says,

(Exodus 20:8 KJV)  Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.

How many regular habits do we have that occupy our day of rest?  You might have a garage full of lawn equipment and feel that Sunday is the only day you have to mow the yard.  You may feel like you have a need for a game of golf or other sport activity.  Maybe you honor the sabbath by eating out and making others do the work you are avoiding.  Those appropriate activities become idols because they get in the way of putting God first.

I think the point of violation will be different for each of us.  It may be subtle.  It will have eternal results.  Keep in mind that God will not be mocked.

homo unius libri

Opus 2018-174: Digging into Deuteronomy: Memory Loss

(Deuteronomy 4:9 KJV)  Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons;

Why is it that we seem to need to keep repeating things to remember them?  When I was in high school and college I knew everyone’s birthday.  Now I have to write down the dates for my wife and kids.  I once had long passages of scripture memorized and now can’t even remember which ones they were.  I could quote the Gettysburg Address.  I used to know the proper mixture for mixing mortar.  I could look at a baby and tell you how many months.  The list goes on.  I would give you more examples but I can’t remember what I have forgotten.

This verse tries to alert us to the danger of forgetting.  The fade starts as our eyes stop looking at them.  Then they get vague in our minds and eventually they wither in our hearts.  You may not have any tools to study the Hebrew but “give heed” and “keep” (8104) are the same Hebrew word.  The antidote is given twice.  We remember by repetition.  Every year when I was teaching I had to work through how to figure percentages.  I knew there was a formula, I just didn’t remember what numbers went where.  After a few times reviewing it all came back and I didn’t need to think about it any more, until next year.  Every summer the knowledge would hide because I wasn’t using it.

One of the best ways to remember the important things is to teach them to your children.  That reinforces by repetition but it also puts you on the line.  You have declared something you believe to be important.  You have demanded that they learn it.  Now you better live up to it yourself. 

There may be a few people with perfect memory but that isn’t me and probably isn’t you.  We have to work at it.

homo unius libri

Opus 2013-365: Basic Beliefs: God Is..., Part 1 of 3

Years ago in a seminary class the professor stated that there are three categorical statements about God in the Bible.  These are in addition to the attributes stated or implied.  These are statements that begin, “God is....”  When I did a search for “God is” in my software I came up with 169 hits.  Most of them are simple statements like “God is giving to us.”  Those obviously don’t fit this category.  Others are more subtle like,

(Deuteronomy 4:31 KJV)  (For the LORD thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them.

I want to look at the three statements given by that professor.  Interestingly they are all from the writings of John, the last writer and the one with the most time to reflect.  This is not intended as a required doctrinal statement explaining God.  It is simply a look at some of the basics.

The first statement,

(John 4:24 KJV)  God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

First, lets deal with the translation.  In the KJV and other older translations this describes God as “a” Spirit.  Modern translations drop the indefinite article and simply have “God is spirit.”  Greek does not use the articles the way we do.  The definite article, “the,” is used sparingly and seems to indicate emphasis.  The indefinite articles, “a” and “an,” do not exist in Greek so anywhere you see them they are added on the opinion of the translators.

The theological point here is that the eternal God is not a physical being.  When the Son came to earth he was “incarnated.”  That means He crossed a line and took on the physical nature of human beings without giving up the divine nature.  In essence though, it means that we are not to think of God in physical terms. 

There are numerous figures of speech in the Bible that are used to teach us about God.  They help us to understand bigger lessons.  There are times when the word picture is clear in our minds and seems to indicate that God is physical.

(Mark 16:19 KJV)  So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.

But if God is not physical, He does not have hands.  It is just as powerful to accept this as a metaphor and learn from it.  Everything is the Bible is not to be taken literally.  How do you know?  Paraphrasing the realtor who asked what was most important, “Three things:  Context, context, context.”Try to understand the Bible in the context of the Bible. 

For example.

(Psalms 91:4 KJV)  He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.

Does that mean that God is a chicken?  If you insist that everything is totally literal that is your declaration.  If you accept that this is a metaphor, then don’t insist everything is literal.  Accepting the inspiration of the Word is not the same as demanding a literal interpretation.

More could be said but the first point is that God is Spirit, not material.

To be continued...

homo unius libri