Something I'm still trying to figure out - it is said that God gave the Israelites all those "odd" laws to set them apart and that therefore those laws are not for us. I've also heard that "law" for the Israelites was actually more like "instruction".
If the Israelites were given laws or instruction to make them different, peculiar, set-apart from the other nations, why shouldn't we be the same way? I assume it's thought to be because we are set apart in a different way but what sense does that make? If we are made different by the spirit, are we to assume He only set the Israelites apart by making them odd? And that somehow shows how marvelous He is because His people do weird things that have no point other than to be strange?
Or is it that the law and instructions they lived by set them apart as morally upright, healthy, and a cohesive, blessed nation? Well, WOULD have if they'd actually obeyed what they were told! Then they got all carried away and concentrated on keeping the laws to the letter and thinking that showed something.
Are our bodies substantially different now that we don't need to follow the same health laws? And so morally advanced that we don't need the civil laws laid down? Spiritual enough that we no longer need to worry about the mandate not to incorporate the ways of the heathen worship into our worship of Him? Somehow I doubt it.
There has to be some difference though - what can we possibly do about the fact that we don't live in a theocracy? I don't believe we are to just follow as many laws as we can; I do believe we are to abide by all the principles embodied in those laws.
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I've only recently come across your blog and have enjoyed reading your posts.
ReplyDeleteI think that the laws as given in the Torah are opportunities for us to serve Him. It's not about following as many laws as we can it's about serving Him with every fiber of our being.
The laws are there to make us holy. Be holy, for I the Lord your God am Holy. And it is said, Blessed are You, O Lord our God, Who makes us Holy by your mitzvot (commandments).
I thank God that we don't live in a theocracy. I th ink the fact that we have religious freedom is a great blessing. We should be free to worship the Lord without fear of persecution from the government for our beliefs.
I totally agree!
ReplyDeleteMy point about a theocracy is merely that that means we can't legally follow the instructions of scripture in many cases.