2005-01-07
Good Morning Cherished Readers,
Last week, I wrote about MT 5: 21-22 in which God makes His will that we should not commit murder crystal clear. You’ll remember that the word for “kill” in Hebrew, “ratsach” [pronounced raw-tsach] means “to murder intentionally, to dash to pieces.” So, the issue of premeditation is taken up right away in the Sermon on the Mount. Information on the consequences for premeditated murder- death- and unintentional murder- safe harbor in a city of refuge- was also given. Cities of refuge are discussed in NU 35: 6, 13-15. Now, we will pick up with MT 5: 23-24, “So if you are about to offer your gift to God at the altar and there you remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar, go at once and make peace with your brother, and then come back and offer your gift to God.”
One thinks of caveman mentality as a person wanting something and simply taking it without thought of consequences to others. If opposition to this act is mounted, then a fight ensues in which one combatant eventually overtakes the other. However, the teaching Christ gives us exactly follows that of the Law [EX 20: 13, “Thou shalt not kill”]. Both the OT and NT are saying essentially, “Think twice before you act.” Christ takes it one step further by teaching reconciliation and forgiveness, before God will accept an offering. In this process of thinking twice, the person who knows he still has an outstanding beef with another person is told to go settle it first. For reconciliation, there must be willingness on the part of both parties, and indeed, both parties are held accountable to Christ’s teaching if they are to be acceptable to God. First of all, God rewards reconciliation and has always done so. Look at 2 SAM 22: 25-26 from David’s Song of Victory. “And so He rewards me because I do what is right, because He knows that I am innocent. O Lord, You are faithful to those who are faithful to You and completely good to those who are perfect.” We know from reading the Psalms that David and God had a most remarkable closeness with each other. Christ addressed the issue of peacemaking in MT 5: 9, “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.” Christ emphasizes the issue of forgiveness by all of His promises of salvation for repentance and believing in Him. He makes it so by His Atonement on the cross.
Many folks ask the question: Why was Abel’s offering to God acceptable when Cain’s was not? Of course the most often-given answer that Abel’s offering involved the shedding of blood is certainly correct. But there is another aspect to this that we humans with limited foresight couldn’t have possibly seen before Abel met his physical fate. God had to have known that Cain was capable of premeditated murder even before he slew his brother, Abel [GN 4: 2-10]. This passage also reveals God’s justice, because in GN 4: 6-7 God reveals His omniscience and His offer to Cain of a chance to confess his sin in a seeking of forgiveness. “Then the Lord said to Cain, ‘Why are you angry? Why that scowl on your face? If you have done the right thing, you would be smiling; but because you have done evil, sin is crouching at your door. It wants to rule you, but you must overcome it.’” God’s forgiveness was available then just as it is now, but Cain had allowed Satan to establish a stronghold in him. O how very true are the words of 1 PET 5: 8-9, “Be alert, be on watch! Your enemy, the devil, roams around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Be firm in your faith and resist him, because you know that your fellow believers in all the world are going through the same kind of sufferings.” The same can be said for the truth of EPH 4: 26-27, “If you become angry, do not let your anger lead you into sin, and do not stay angry all day. Do not give the devil a chance.”
Christ continues on the issue of reconciliation at the time of a lawsuit in MT 5: 25-26, “If someone brings a lawsuit against you and takes you to court, settle the dispute with him while there is time, before you get to court. Once you are there, he will turn you over to the judge, who will hand you over to the police, and you will be put in jail. There you will stay, I tell you, until you pay the last penny of your fine.” How many of us when white hot with anger are willing to put Christ’s teaching first? This question goes right to the heart of the quality of our faith and willingness to obey. Do we really believe God is Who He says He is and God can do what He says He can do? Believe it! Today and every day, we must examine our willingness to accept God’s ultimate sovereignty over our lives and supreme power. We must be willing to submit to it, if we are to keep up our end of the Covenant of Grace and cooperate with God in our own sanctification. Remember that God loves each of us enough to want us to be in heaven with Him for eternity. He knows what we must do to shuck off the sin in our lives and allow Him to perfect us enough for that glorification. He wants to be “constantly renewing us in His own image, so that we can have a deeper knowledge of Himself” [EPH 3: 10]. That should give us some estimation of the depth of God’s love for us.
PRAYER: O Lord, long ago Jeremiah wrote these verses in LAM 3: 40 and 58. “Let us examine our ways and turn back to the Lord…You came to my rescue, Lord, and saved my life.” With the hindsight that our place in human history gives us, we can see in these verses the same teaching that Christ gives us in the Sermon on the Mount and in His Atonement. Your plan for us has always been a perfect cure for the stain of sin that Satan brought to the Garden of Eden. We must ask, Dearest Abba, why You would go to as much trouble and disappointment for so long to bring us back to You. The only answer that is possible is that we don’t know the depth of the love that you have always had for us. We stand before Your throne to acknowledge You as our One and Only Sovereign and Supreme God. We pledge our faith that You always tell the truth and take the time to examine Your history with us, so that we can know something about the extent of Your patience and compassion. PS 107: 43 expresses this better than we can. “Those who are wise will take all this to heart; they will see in our history the faithful love of the Lord.” Often, we have found ourselves in deep trouble. You offer us mercy, if we are willing to notice it. PS 9: 10, “All those who know your mercy, Lord, will count on You for help. For you have never yet forsaken those who trust in You.” That says so much about the consistently diligent and true Covenant Partner that You are. You give us direction when we are sorely tempted to allow our anger to lead us to sin, as evidenced by PS 37: 23-24, “The steps of the godly are directed by the Lord. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will not fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand.” You show us the ways to forgiveness by our repentance, faith in Christ, acceptance of the great sacrifice He made for us on the cross, and our willingness to seek reconciliation with You and those we may have wronged. Your model of forgiveness of those who have wronged us is what we dedicate ourselves to following. You are an awesome God Who deserves our eternal thanks and praise. In Christ’s name we pray. Amen.
Next week, I am led by the Spirit to begin a very touchy subject, adultery and divorce. There is disagreement about and some misunderstanding of the Lord’s will in this matter. So, we’ll look at some of the Scriptures on this emotionally charged subject. Those of us who can read the Scriptures on a subject like murder (accidental or premeditated) from both the OT and the NT, upon the backdrop of the huge job that God is doing in civilizing mankind over his history, will begin to understand that there is no inconsistency in His teaching. Repeatedly, I hear people say, “I hate the OT, because it is so harsh.” I only wish that I could convince them that any harshness seen in it was deemed necessary by God, because of the stage humans had reached in his task of civilizing them. Moreover, the same forgiveness and love from God has always been available to them even in OT times. The only thing that was not was salvation, because that didn’t come until Christ died on the cross and was raised. God knows his creation well, including what they are ready to hear and what they are ready to understand at any point in time. It’s the reason why He has chosen to reveal His secrets gradually. People with caveman mentality haven’t a clue about what love is or how it can help to transform lives. Christ felt it was so important for us to know that He made it the New Commandment in JN 13: 34-35. We have an opportunity now to think twice about our thoughts and actions when we become angry. We also know that reconciliation and love matter greatly to God. We can truly consider ourselves blessed!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn