Leviticus 19

[stovebolts]

You know, I was just reading Leviticus 19 again mainly for verse 19:8 because it ties in so tightly with Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and summerized in Mark 12:28-34 when I ran across this.

Leviticus 19:16 You shall not go up and down as a talebearer among your people: neither shall you take a stand against the life of your neighbor: I am the LORD.

Family Bible notes had this to say;
Tattlers, those who go about retailing scandal, and delight in accusing, ridiculing, or depreciating others, especially the good, are following Satan the great accuser, and in a way which leads to his place of torment.

Interestinly, the Geneva Bible Footnotes had this to say;
Thou shalt not ego up and down as a talebearer among thy people: neither shalt thou fstand against the blood of thy neighbour: I am the LORD.
e. As a slanderer, backbiter, or quarrel picker.
f. By consenting to his death, or conspiring with the wicked.

Spurgons is too long to post.

Moving on,
Leviticus 19:17 You shall not hate your brother in your heart: you shall surely rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him.

Again, Family Bible notes had this to say; Hate thy brother in thy heart--rebuke thy neighbor; instead of cherishing a secret grudge against our neighbor, it is our duty frankly to reprove him, wherein we think he has done wrong.
Not suffer sin upon him; better, not bear sin on his account, that is, by neglecting our duty towards him

Jamieson Faucett and Brown had this to say;
17. thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour--Instead of cherishing latent feelings of malice or meditating purposes of revenge against a person who has committed an insult or injury against them, God's people were taught to remonstrate with the offender and endeavor, by calm and kindly reason, to bring him to a sense of his fault.
not suffer sin upon him--literally, "that ye may not participate in his sin."

It's been an interesting study so far. :

 

[stovebolts]

Shortly after I posted this, my wee little brain started thinking. I’d like to share those thoughts and perhaps get others input. Ok, here it goes.

As were all aware of, we are now in the New Covenant. I’m assuming most here understand the new covenant, but let me just do a very quick and incomplete recap.

Jeremiah 31:31 Behold, the days come, says the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:

Jesus said, “For this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.†(Matthew 26:28). Well, this was a fulfillment of what was written in Jeremiah, and I’d like to spend a little bit of time there. Lets look at the verses that follow.

Jeremiah 31:33-34 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, says the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, says the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

It’s interesting that the Law of the Lord will be written in our hearts and that the law will be “Put†in our “Inward†parts.

Christ said, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.†(Matthew 5:17) and to his disciples he said, “But the Comforter, who is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.†(John 14:26)

When one is born again, one will produce the fruits of the spirit (Galatians 5) and these fruits are in accordance with God’s law. Paul sums it up like this, “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.†This presents us with a choice. If the law is written on our heart and we as Christians have the Holy Spirit, then we ought not to grieve the spirit but rather have compassion and mercy on one another for as James says, “ Out of the same mouth proceeds blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.†(James 3:10)

When a scribe asked Jesus, “What is the greatest commandâ€Â, Jesus replied by quoting the Shema. (do a google search for the full Shema). Jesus quoted the prophets and said, “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.†(Mark 12:30-31)

When the Scribe answered wisely, Jesus responded, “You are not far rom the kingdom of God.â€Â

Well, I could go on and on as this begins to open up, but I’m out of time.

May the peace of our Lord be with you all.

 

[francisdesales]

...When one is born again, one will produce the fruits of the spirit (Galatians 5) and these fruits are in accordance with God’s law. Paul sums it up like this, “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.†This presents us with a choice. If the law is written on our heart and we as Christians have the Holy Spirit, then we ought not to grieve the spirit but rather have compassion and mercy on one another for as James says, “ Out of the same mouth proceeds blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.†(James 3:10) .

I agree. We have a choice, even those of us who are born again and have been given the gifts of the Spirit. WE are told not to grieve the Spirit - which means we have the potential to do that. Over and over, WE are exhorted to follow the Spirit within us. To me, all of this means that works do not follow from faith like some magic conveyor belt. Conversion is not something that automatically happens, but is a realization that we MUST change. God gives us the gifts, the tools, but we must also do God's Will.

Regards

 

[jgredline]

Nice post Jeff...

 

[lovely]

Your first post, and now your second, also led me to ponder this topic a bit, Jeff.

I was thinking that when we just love God so much, when it just overflows in us, then we can not help but walk in the Spirit..saturated in His love, a love for Him, and a love toward others. I think God does use us to speak of His Gospel, but it is His Holy Spirit alone that causes one to hold a Truth in their heart. He does use such things, even if they seem to be a struggle, to grow fruit in us...that is such a miracle and blessing.

God keeps it so simple for us, and yet we continue to miss it so much of the time. He takes great care to show us mercy, and to care for us, and I imagine that it grieves Him greatly when we do not show love to one another. I get a taste of that sometimes when one of my children offends the other. I am grieved over the offender's action, because it displeases God and causes discord, and I am grieved over the pain of the one who was offended. I try to take care to make it right, and plant seeds of repentance and forgiveness, but they must have hearts truly given over to my will...and His...for that to be genuinely successful. And so, we learn to be more careful, and trustful, toward Him with our own lives...and to pray that this also happens in others. We can trust that to Him also. Thanks, and I agree with Javier, good posts.

The Lord bless you.

 

[stovebolts]

It drives me nuts when I get so busy in other areas of life that I loose my train of thought. If I had the time, I could have written a couple more pages, but I’m afraid at the moment my train of thought has been broken… Perhaps it will come back. I hope this isn’t a sign of getting old. Lol

Joe,
I couldn’t agree more with your reply and to touch on what you said, “To me, all of this means that works do not follow from faith like some magic conveyor belt.†Really hits home.

Just so I can put a piece of scripture (a law that is written in the heart of a Christain) to what I’m about to write, here it is. And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field, neither shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. And you shall not glean your vineyard, neither shall you gather every grape of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and stranger: I am the LORD your God. (Leviticus 19:9-10)


In my walk with Christ, I am still tempted when I least expect it. Now, when I say tempted, I’m not just talking about being tempted to “do or think†evil things that I know are wrong like lusting, stealing or lying (All laws in Lev 19 and written in our hearts), but I’m also talking about not doing the things I know I should be doing like helping those around me that I see are in need when I have the capability to assist in whatever capacity. There is a difference, yet many fail to realize this, or, maybe we just don’t talk about that side of our faith. Often, we have to put a conscious effort into being aware of the latter because we can get so absorbed into our own little world and our own personal relationship with Christ that we fail to see the needs of those that surround us. I took my son to see the latest Spiderman when I went to Tn. last week and if you get a chance to see the move, you’ll see exactly what I’m talking about when Peter (Spidy) plans this big date to give his sweetheart a ring… He simply got so absorbed into his own world, he failed to see the needs of the one he truly loved because he lost sight of what true love genuinely was.

Notice in verse 10 that it states, “you shall leave them for the poor and stranger:†Who is this stranger? In our modern day language, would an atheist be included? How about a person from another religion or from a denomination that we may not be particular to? You see, just like Paul uses the “Muzzle your Ox†(Deut 25:4 – 1 Cor 9:9 and 1 Tim 5:17) , I believe that Lev 19:9-10 is talking about meeting the basic needs of those around you and these needs are not confined to just physical needs, but emotional and spiritual needs too.

Well again, I could go on, but I don’t want to write so much that others won’t want to read it so I’ll just end it here and wait for your thoughts, as I always enjoy reading your encouraging words.

Javier and lovely, I’ll reply shortly.

 

[stovebolts]

Javier and lovely,
Sorry, I just got pulled away for the day and don't think I'll be able to get a decent reply back to either of you. That being said, I would really, really like to hear any comments or additions you may have to add. lovely, thank you for your wonderful reply as it's so down to earth and placed in a real life example that I can ever so relate to. I'm reminded of our recent trip to TN last week with our daughter and son in our Van for 11 hours ohh, can't forget our bably lamb! That was interesting lol.

 

[jgredline]

Jeff
The lamb was and is very cool..... 8-)
I really have nothing to add with what your putting together...I am simply enjoying the reminders....We all need that from time to time and for me right now is one of those times...

 

[francisdesales]

It drives me nuts when I get so busy in other areas of life that I loose my train of thought. If I had the time, I could have written a couple more pages, but I’m afraid at the moment my train of thought has been broken… Perhaps it will come back. I hope this isn’t a sign of getting old. Lol

Joe,
I couldn’t agree more with your reply and to touch on what you said, “To me, all of this means that works do not follow from faith like some magic conveyor belt.†Really hits home.

I think that is a primary message of James. Faith doesn't necessarily bring about deeds of love. James chastises the community that turns its back on the poor, despite "claiming" to have faith. Then, he goes on to discuss Abraham and how his faith and actions worked together to be considered just in God's eyes.

James says a lot about what you discuss...

Blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for when he hath been proved, he shall receive a crown of life, which God hath promised to them that love him. James 1:12

But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. James 1:22

And if any man think himself to be religious, not bridling his tongue, but deceiving his own heart, this man's religion is vain. James 1:26

More people here should take heed of this... This is an amazing verse - your faith is worthless if you cannot control the way you speak! So much for "faith alone". What sort of love is in our hearts if we lash out and speak evil about another, and then, a minute later, praise God with that same tongue? James discusses that in James 3.

In my walk with Christ, I am still tempted when I least expect it. Now, when I say tempted, I’m not just talking about being tempted to “do or think†evil things that I know are wrong like lusting, stealing or lying (All laws in Lev 19 and written in our hearts), but I’m also talking about not doing the things I know I should be doing like helping those around me that I see are in need when I have the capability to assist in whatever capacity.

Since I am in James, he also mentions that, as well.

To him therefore who knoweth to do good, and doth it not, to him it is sin. James 4:17

At the Mass, we pray a prayer at the very beginning that goes like this:

I confess to God, the Almighty Father, and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I sinned through my own fault. In my thoughts, and in my words, what I have done, and what I have failed to do...

Yes, many people forget the aspect of sin that you bring up. Especially in today's society where sin is relegated to the big ones, like murder and rape. Yet, James calls us to task in Chapter 2, where I think many of us have experienced the attitude that he discusses.


Regards

 

[Bubba]

I agree. We have a choice, even those of us who are born again and have been given the gifts of the Spirit. WE are told not to grieve the Spirit - which means we have the potential to do that. Over and over, WE are exhorted to follow the Spirit within us. To me, all of this means that works do not follow from faith like some magic conveyor belt. Conversion is not something that automatically happens, but is a realization that we MUST change. God gives us the gifts, the tools, but we must also do God's Will.

Regards

Joe,

You mentioned that we must have the ability or freewill to make the correct choice for after all the Bible says we can quench the Spirit. Remember man is responsible for all of the Law and every time we sin, we quench the Holy Spirit. In essence, for the believer the fact we can obey or even want to obey the law is because of Christ in us. Because at regeneration, our heart is now able and actually desires to say yes to Jesus, one must wonder if this is freewill or a new will. I believe if I do anything correct it is because of Jesus in me, and because Jesus is in me I will be working for the kingdom, or I do not belong to Him. Again is this freewill or a new will?

Blessings, Bubba