Hello All,
(Just a general disclaimer that I must insert here at the beginning. I am but a lay person, like most of you. And these weekly “thoughts” are but my own. Not the definitive word on this or any topic. Just my own conclusions derived from my own study and faith in God. The greatest hope I have for these weekly “thoughts” is to have them be a springboard for further study on your part. Not to be a weekly treatise to be blindly accepted. So, please read them with this intent, this motive in mind).
This week’s lesson from “The Adult Sabbath School Guide” is titled “Facing Opposition”. Another good lesson on the exiles returning to Jerusalem and the opposition they faced as they rebuilt the temple and the city walls. This entire study is very pertinent to us in our day and the opposition we may face as time draws to a close. “Wherever we turn in today’s world, the work of the Lord is resisted” (quarterly for October 19). And so this quarter’s lesson is most helpful to our understanding today as we prepare for the “New Jerusalem” and help others to so prepare, too.
In Sunday’s lesson, we look at the Israelites refusing help from the Samaritans in this rebuilding (Ezra 4: 1-5). And the obvious question is, was it the right thing to do? We all know the fallout from this refusal. First, it is the opposition from the ones spurned. Secondly, this animosity between Israel and Samaria continued into Christ’s day when He seeks to reach those very Samaritans (see John 4). So was this refusal in Ezra’s day God’s will? There is no recorded comment by God Himself regarding the wisdom or folly of this refusal. It is just recorded in Scripture, that’s all. In the lesson for this week, the quarterly makes a case for this refusal to have building assistance. But then Christ’s connecting later with that same nation and His regard for all peoples seems to imply that this refusal may not have been God’s will. Hmmmm? What is right? And the question hovers, is the Bible a codebook telling us precisely what to do? Or is it more a casebook, citing cases upon cases, to illuminate the principles upon which people in every age can act, too?
We created beings want absolutes. This is always right… that is always wrong. This is the codebook approach. I go to the Bible to always find the right way to go. But is this the way to read the Bible? Can we go astray by applying the instructions in the Bible, that may have been given for a certain situation, and then apply those particular instructions without thorough assessment to the situation in question today? I think we can go astray with this method. For example, in our study of Ezra and Nehemiah, there are two polar opposite decisions made in almost the same case. Each had to decide if help should be sought from the prevailing authority. Ezra says “No” (see Ezra 8: 21-23). Nehemiah says, “Yes” (see Nehemiah 2: 7-9). Which one applies? And this is not just some theological question. Leadership at the Adventist hospital I worked at had a heated debate about offered help from the community at the time of an anticipated expansion. Both of these texts were cited. Each side of the issue used these very texts to bolster their particular opinion. “Yes” we solicit and accept help, or “no” we go it alone. Similar to our quarterly lesson for this week. Which way is right? When using the Bible as a codebook, this is the controversy we can encounter. Each side quoting a text that fits their own conclusion. But in this controversy, we can see our way clear, too.
In each case, we have to contemplate the SITUATION that must be considered. In every decision we make in this life, we need to always consider the situation. Is love best expressed by softness or firmness? In this particular case, do I speak or withhold speaking? And God has given this prerogative to each of us to decide. He gives us His Word, a grand and glorious casebook of situations upon situations and how our God of love interacts with His children. Just like His Son while here as a Man among men, God gives us examples, parables, metaphors and descriptions of so many various interactions in an effort to help us understand the PRINCIPLES behind the varied actions. We get in trouble when we attempt to use the Bible as a codebook instead of a casebook. We argue about Paul’s admonition to the Corinthian women’s role in church (see 1 Corinthians 14) and extrapolate that to include all women for all time. Is this true? Was Paul making some blanket statement for all women? Or was it for that particular time and place?
Or Paul’s comments about eating meat (see 1 Corinthians 8-10). That it is OK for a true Christian to eat anything at all (we Adventist’s don’t like that comment). How about Christ asking the disciples in the upper room to make sure that they have a sword and then chastising them in the “Garden” against using a sword (Luke 22: 35-38; Matthew 26: 50-52). And on and on. So many seeming contradictory interactions. The casebook approach is the only one that makes any sense of it all. If not, we will be in perpetual argument with our brothers and sisters over points of doctrine, missing the love principle behind everything.
This was the issue with the Israelites. They followed the “blueprint” to the letter. Even adding detail to the letter of the law, as they understood it. They understood Scripture! But did not know the God of Scripture. They knew the rules in the “codebook”, but did not know the grand and glorious Divine principle of love behind the rules. Let us not duplicate the Israelites sin, for sin it is. A refusal to be led by God Himself and an insistence to be led by their own interpretation of God. Let us read the Scripture to see God in action, in various ways, under various situations, with diverse people over a long period of time. The seeming contradictions of Scripture disappear as we so read. To see God and His principles of Love.
With brotherly love,
Jim
P.S. Are there “absolutes” in the Bible? Of course there are. Things that are always and eternally true or things that are always and eternally untrue. But, in my opinion, we err when we interpret everything in Scripture as God’s will in the matter. The Bible records what is, what was. And often with no comment from God. There was no voice from heaven commending Rahab as she lied to protect the Israelite spies under the straw. No voice from heaven said, “Well lied, Rahab!” But the story stands in the Bible and Rahab’s faith is still commended. She acted from where she was in life with the understanding she had. But we Christians would never sanction lying under any circumstance.
Did God ever sanction lying? YES HE DID!! Read 1 Kings 22 and 2 Chronicles 18. He may not have initiated the lie, but He surely allowed it. Love was best served in this SITUATION by the “lying Spirit” that God allowed. God’s voice of love was best heard in this way. Amazing, is it not?!
So let us read Scripture not to win a debate, prove a point, or silence opposition to our own interpretation. We must study to see God and to know Him. In this alone we will be led aright. To see the love behind the action, to see love behind the decision, and to see how best to love others into the kingdom. It is God’s way.