Category Archives: Biblical Wisdom

Religious roots

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS – Overview

Biblical Wisdom, , ,

“Be careful then to do as The Lord has commanded you. Do not turn to the right or the left.”  Moses to the Israelites, Exodus 5:29, Tanakh, JPS

The text of The Ten Commandments was codified by the hand of  The Lord while the Children of Israel were encamped in the desert at a place they called Horeb. Moses, the great prophet and lawgiver, went up to Mount Sinai, where he conversed with The Lord for forty days and nights and The Lord wrote His commandments on two tablets of stone, even while the people turned their hearts away from God and convinced Aaron, the brother of Moses, to make them a golden calf to worship. The Lord told Moses to return to the camp because the people were rebelling. Moses saw the people dancing and cavorting about their idol and in anger he threw the stone tablets to the ground, completely destroying them.

God said He would destroy all the Israelites and start over with Moses and his descendants to make a great people. Moses turned down that offer, and pleaded with the Lord to spare the Israelites. Thereafter Moses again spent forty days and nights on the mountain in the presence of The Lord and returned with new tablets containing the Commandments, which formed the basis for all Judeo-Christian laws, the laws upon which Western Civilization was founded.

Today there are many people who deny the part those Commandments have played in the development of modern society and seem to hate any reference to them in the public square. The very thought of The Ten Commandments is an affront to their tender sensibilities, and so they demand not freedom OF religion, but freedom FROM religion. This demand means that believers in the word of God must acquiesce to the total surrender of any public statement of their faith. It also means the complete denial and rewriting of history and the complete obliteration of the very existence of the Word of God.

Why such hatred and fear? Can they not just turn their heads if something is so offensive? That’s what the rest of us are forced to do when we are offended. Is it that their behavior is so shameful they cannot stand to be reminded of what they are and they no longer want to be held accountable for their actions? Do they seek to justify their evil?

If the TRUTH will make us free, then the opposite is also true, we are slaves to the lies we believe. Our children deserve to know the truth of their own history and we can no longer stand still for the loss of historical truth.

Here is the Tanakh text of the Ten Commandments as translated into English by the Jewish Publication Society. It reads a little differently than the standard King James Version, but the changes are interesting.

The Ten Commandments -Tanakh Version

Deuteronomy 5:1-17

Moses summoned all the Israelites and said to them: Hear, O Israel, the laws and rules that I proclaim to you this day! Study them and observe them faithfully!

The Lord our God made a covenant with us at Horeb. It was not with our fathers that The Lord made this covenant, but with us, the living, every one of us who is here today. Face to face the Lord spoke to you on the mountain out of the fire – I stood between the Lord and you at that time to convey the Lord’s words to you, for you were afraid of the fire and did not go up to the mountain– saying:

I the Lord am your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, the house of bondage: You shall have no other gods beside me.

You shall not make for yourself a sculptured image, any likeness of what is in the heavens above, or on the earth below, or in the waters below the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them. For I the Lord your God am an impassioned God, visiting the guilt of the parents upon the children, upon the third and upon the fourth generation of those who reject Me, but showing kindness to the thousandth generation of those who love Me and keep My commandments.

You shall not swear falsely by the name of the Lord your God; for the Lord will not clear one who swears falsely by His name.

Observe the sabbath day and keep it holy, as the Lord your God has commanded you. Six days shall you labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God; you shall not do any work – you, your son or your daughter, your male or your female slave, your ox or your ass, or any of your cattle, or the stranger in your settlements, so that your male and female slaves may rest as you do. Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God freed you with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the sabbath day.

Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may long endure, and that you may fare well, in the land that the Lord your God is assigning to you.

You shall not murder.

You shall not commit adultery.

You shall not steal.

You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. You shall not crave your neighbor’s house, or his field, or his male or female slave, or his ox, or his ass, or anything that is your neighbor’s.
. . . . . . .

There you have the Lord’s simple prescription to save a troubled society.

More to come.

POSSIBILITIES

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“With God all things are POSSIBLE.” — Matthew 19:26
“Without God all things are PERMISSIBLE.” — Fyodor Dostoyevski
“Without God all things are INEVITABLE.” — Gertrude Himmelfarb (?)

When I first read it, I thought the scripture in Matthew meant that since GOD was all powerful anything was possible for HIM, and it was a novel concept to begin to understand that if we have GOD with us then all things are possible for US. It certainly makes our human possibilities more profound.

Around us are people lost and struggling because they have cut themselves away from any moorings to God and think they have the right, the permission to do anything they wish. When there is nothing beyond his own will to consult it is easy for any man to become a law unto himself. When a man reaches that point in his life, anything at all becomes permissible, and there is no price to be paid except in the lives of others who run afoul of those who so believe.

Beyond being permissible, though, is the inevitable result of having no mooring in the reality of what happens to one’s soul when a person exercises unrighteous dominion over others, and the havoc one evil man or woman can cause to a nation and its people. When people with no moral foundations reach positions of power they pose a danger to everyone and everything within their sway.

Understanding how another can sear his or her conscience to the point where it no longer exists, to become a psychopath, is beyond the experience of most people, and they fail to recognize the danger in the facile charm that seems to be a trademark of the psychopaths among us.

The inevitable result when such people gain power is the loss of liberty and goodness for all they touch. Truth becomes one of the first casualties in the battle, and lies become coin of the realm.

You and I, in order to protect truth and integrity, must follow God, understanding that if HE is with us, all things truly are possible. Through study of the doings of men, prayer about all matters that face us, and honesty in our assessments, we need to ask ourselves, “What would HE have us do?” Sometimes facing that answer will cause us pain and fear. Repentance and a return to virtue are certain to be required. Great courage to repair our own lives will be needed in the task before us if we are to maintain our liberty.

In repairing our lives perhaps Herman Melville said it best: “IN THIS WORLD . . . SIN THAT PAYS ITS WAY CAN TRAVEL FREELY AND WITHOUT A PASSPORT, WHEREAS VIRTUE, IF A PAUPER, IS STOPPED AT ALL FRONTIERS.” (Moby Dick)

Virtue is truly a pauper in our world, but it is also said to be it’s own reward. It seems then that virtue is an internal and personal matter between each man and God. External frontiers, such as public scorn and ridicule, should not deter us from holding on to and having faith in virtue as one source in our search for the truth that makes us free.

Will enough people repair their lives and regain faith in the possibility of having God help our nation in its struggle?

“Despotism may govern without faith, but liberty cannot.”  DeToqueville

Why Read the Bible?

Biblical Wisdom, Economics, Politics, , , ,

Seeing the Handwriting On The Wall – As told in Daniel, Chapter 5

People who never read the Bible miss a rich cultural heritage passed on and preserved for millennia. King Solomon correctly taught that “there is nothing new under the sun.” And yet each new generation arrogantly believes that they are the first ones to be in their circumstances or know truth. Because they reject historical biblical principles, many people no longer learn that liberty is an unalienable right that comes from God and in their ignorance sell their birthright for a mess of pottage.

Even today there are cultural differences that separate us from others. If an Australian Aborigine were suddenly transported to New York City and a New Yorker took his place in the Outback, which one would be most likely to survive? At least the Aborigine would know how to fight, could learn to raid garbage cans for food, and could sense danger, but what would a city boy alone know about how to orient himself by the stars, how to find food and water in the wild, or how to defend himself from wild animals?

In our hubris we have forgotten that people in the past also led full lives and had wisdom we can learn and receive guidance from. The Bible is one such source of practical lessons on life and recognizing what is important in human experience.

In the not too distant past even people who were not “religious” were somewhat literate in biblical knowledge. The writer Florence King wrote about having problems with Social Security. Finally she had an appointment with a supervisor and after once again explaining her problem the supervisor assured her she understood and the problem would be resolved. Miss King muttered, “I can see the handwriting on the wall already.” The supervisor looked at her blankly, then turned her chair around to look at the wall and said, “I don’t see any handwriting.”

Sometimes we don’t see “the handwriting on the wall” because we have never studied it enough to see its relevance to us.

In his book “After America: Get Ready For Armageddon”, Mark Steyn clarifies the story of Belshazzar, King of Babylon, and “the handwriting on the wall.”

Belshazzar had a feast for all his courtiers and brought out the gold and silver plates, utensils and goblets looted from the temple in Jerusalem and used them to drunkenly toast the gods of gold and silver worshiped by the Babylonians. In the midst of the feast a disembodied hand appeared and wrote the words, “mene, mene, tekel, upharsin,” on the wall. Belshazzar understood the words, but not why they suddenly were written during his big party.

No one ever explained to me what the words meant, I only knew the interpretation. Mr. Steyn explains that the words are names for units or weights of Babylonian currency, or as he says: half-dollar, half-dollar, penny and two bits.

Daniel the Jewish prophet was called in by the King to interpret the “handwriting on the wall.” The interpretation given to Belshazzar by Daniel is:

MENE: “God hath numbered thy kingdom, and hath finished it”.   TEKEL: “Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.”  UPHARSIN: “Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.”

Within a day Belshazzar was slain, and the Persians and Darius the Mede had taken over the kingdom.

I am grateful to Mr. Steyn for identifying what the words written on the wall actually mean and placing the story in the context of Belshazzar having wasted the resources of his kingdom, thereby destroying it. If we were to ponder just a little would this story have any relevance to our nation’s trillions, trillions, billions, and millions in debt?

Is anyone in Washington reading the “handwriting on the wall?”

SERIOUS WAR

Biblical Wisdom, Politics, , ,

And there was war in Heaven. . . Revelations 12:7

When I was young and first heard about war in Heaven I tried to imagine what it was like. It seemed so exciting. Did Michael and his side win by throwing the largest lightning bolts, using the biggest swords, killing the most foes — but wait, we’re speaking of immortal beings here. They can’t be killed, can they? So just how IS a war fought in Heaven?

On earth war is bloody, grim, noisy, dirty and frightening. Terror and loss are always present. But Heaven? How could Heavenly Beings turn against their own?

Apparently there were those who thought they were smarter and better at determining the best interests of others and so decided to strike out against the Great God and all who sided with Him. That is the eternal war. There are always those who fight against agency and freedom and few who are willing to bear the burden of freedom. And there are also those willing to use that fear of freedom to seize control. The struggle between liberty and bondage, between darkness and light, has been the same from the beginning and will be to the end.

I have watched and considered the doings of nations, the history of brother against brother, and decided that the war in Heaven was one of IDEAS, of WORDS used to hurt and degrade, to lie and persuade, to promise safety. Even in Heaven as here in mortal existence, the war has been one of deceit and hatred in order to gain power and glory. Always power over others, to control and defeat them.

Watching the last political campaign, hearing the obvious lies and ignorance, the pandering to greed, the twisting of truth . . . and then, BINGO!, the answer to war in Heaven came! POLITICS! Politics were introduced into the Holy Realms and mankind became locked in the perpetual battle for their right to be free.

“I was never so free as when I was a prisoner.” I decided upon reading that statement by Alexander Solzhenitsyn that as choices narrow the final choice a man must make in order to remain human and free is to always be aware of righteousness and our individual responsibility to ACT well before God. To be willing to die if necessary to protect liberty.

I can’t remember who said it, but there was the thought that, “we often forget the essential humanness of God.” He does love His creatures and is very kind to those who love and serve Him. We are commanded to become as He is, completed and perfect. Hard, yes, but we are to do the best we can in the battle we face.

This is a very serious war for the souls of all men.