Skip to main content

Judge, Lawgiver, King II

              For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; it is he who will save us. (Isaiah 33:22)

                not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. (Hebrews 10:25)

                Yes, this is yesterday’s verse, but as I was not sleeping last night, I was thinking, and a couple of thoughts seemed interesting enough to explore. The first deals with culture and pronouns. The verse repeatedly says that God is our ____. For Americans, the emphasis here is that God is your _____ and my _____ therefore our ___. Individually. What happens between you and God should not have anything to do with what happens between God and me. In the Israelite culture, there was, and I suspect is, more of a sense that God is Israel’s ____.

                As another example, there are people who say, “I don’t need the Church to be a Christian.”  But at the same time, we’re commanded not to forsake meeting together, and we’re commanded to love our neighbors as ourselves (Mark 12:30-31).

                There are many points in Scripture when people are commanded to respond to someone doing something wrong and times when the whole nation is punished for the behavior of one person. The answer to the question of whether “our” means “yours and mine individually” or “yours and mine together” is “Yes.” The Lord is not just our Judge, our Lawgiver, our King, and our Savior. He is also my Judge, my Lawgiver, my King, and my Savior. And that may seem obvious, but it’s now always.

What happens when God punishes a whole nation for what your neighbor did? What happens when what you’re doing “isn’t harming anyone” but violates the principles set forth in Scripture for the society? What if it doesn’t hurt you and you can’t really see how it hurts us, but it seems to hurt them to be told they’re not allowed. Should you be punished for their disobedience?

If “our” refers only to yours and mine together, it may only matter what you do if what you do somehow impacts the whole. It can be very impersonal. But if it refers to yours and mine individually, then He must respond to what we do because what we do has ripple effects out to everyone else. It would not be fair to judge and punish one person, while letting another slide. Being our individual Judge, Lawgiver, King, and Savior requires that He deal with us as individuals: as persons. That can either be a scary thought, or highly comforting.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

"Especially to those who belong to the family of believers."

Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. (Gal 6:10)   “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.   By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35)           Joshua grinned when he saw Rex standing by the door, studying something on the ground. "Hey, man! Are we ready to do this thing?"          Rex looked up. "Josh, I can't do it. We're still best buds, but I can't stand your fiancée."           I've met "Rex" many times. I've been Rex. Joshua (Jesus) loves the Church. He's not a fool. He knows the Church is far from perfect, but she is His chosen bride. The Rexes of this world, who think themselves His friend, turn away from her. "You don't need the Church to...
Post a Comment
Read more

Ssssssubmmissssssionnn

Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ . (Ephesians 5:21)             "Ssssssubmmisssssssionnn." Can't you just hear the serpent hissing this most horrible of words? If you listen to the serpent or the world, submission means groveling, allowing yourself to be abused, denying yourself your own humanity. Nothing could be worse than submission, could it?             Submission has never been a problem for me, as long as things are going the way I want them to. The rest of the time? Well, let's just say that while I don't know how to fight physically, I don't know how to not fight mentally. One of the fights I've been having with myself for years is about submission.             My first breakthrough took place on a trip to a bookstore. As I walked into the store, my thoughts were very clear. 1) I was goi...
Post a Comment
Read more

Shark Fins, Triple Dog Dares, Heroes, Villains and Sidekicks

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12)            There's a scene in Jaws in which someone sees a shark fin and starts a panic. As   all the swimmers scramble to shore, boats surround the fin, which falls over to reveal two kids. With several guns pointed at them, one of the kids points at the other. The message is clear: it was his idea. In Christmas Story, there's a scene in which one kid "triple dog dares" another to do something stupid. Since it's a triple dog dare, well, what choice does the boy have? There doesn't seem to be any end to the trouble that peer pressure can cause. ...
Post a Comment
Read more