Psalm 19
We are walking in today: Weekend Meditation: Rule of the Bedrock of Order and Social Justice!!!
Witness law throughout the Bible: H8451 towrah-- law, direction, instruction, of special law, codes of law, custom, manner
Genesis 26:5 Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws. H8451
The Torah ...............
Exodus 12:49 One law H8451 shall be to him that is home born, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you.
The prophets ..................
Ezra 7:6 This Ezra went up from Babylon; and he was a ready scribe in the law H8451 of Moses, which the LORD God of Israel had given: and the king granted him all his request, according to the hand of the LORD his God upon him.
The writings ...........................
Joshua 1:7 Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, H8451 which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest.
Nehemiah 8:8 So they read in the book in the law H8451 of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.
Psalm 19:7-11
7 (6) It rises at one side of the sky,
circles around to the other side,
and nothing escapes its heat.
8 (7) The Torah of Adonai is perfect,
restoring the inner person.
The instruction of Adonai is sure,
making wise the thoughtless.
9 (8) The precepts of Adonai are right,
rejoicing the heart.
The mitzvah of Adonai is pure,
enlightening the eyes.
10 (9) The fear of Adonai is clean,
enduring forever.
The rulings of Adonai are true,
they are righteous altogether,
11 (10) more desirable than gold,
than much fine gold,
also sweeter than honey
or drippings from the honeycomb.
UNDERSTANDING THE KINGDOM CONCEPT OF LAW
Any civil society, the “rule of law” is the bedrock of order and social justice. No human society can survive long without laws. This is just as true for a kingdom as for any other system of government. Human nature being what it is, laws are necessary to keep man’s baser instincts and drives in check, protect public safety and decency, and preserve the moral order. Every kingdom is governed by laws. Laws enforce and protect the standards by which the kingdom operates.
In order to develop a better understanding of the overall kingdom concept, it is important to have knowledge of the origin, nature, and function of laws in a kingdom. We often think of laws as unpleasant and inconvenient demands that restrict our freedom and limit our options.
True freedom is always circumscribed by boundaries, and laws define those boundaries. Within those boundaries we are free to thrive, prosper, and reach our full potential.
The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes.
The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever. The ordinances of the Lord are sure and altogether righteous. They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb. By them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward (Psalm 19:7-11).
It is written: “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4).
SEVEN PRINCIPLES OF LAW
1. All creation was designed to function by inherent principles. Inherent means “built-in”; existent from the beginning. In other words, the laws of the King of Heaven are built into the very structure of creation and determine precisely how all of creation functions.
2. These principles are called “natural law. “Natural law has to do with laws concerning the nature of a thing.
3. Natural law is the standard for effective function of everything that God has created.
4. Laws are the key to successful existence and a guarantee of fulfillment of purpose.
5. Laws protect purpose. When we obey laws, we protect the purpose for which we were born.
By obeying God’s laws, I mean living in willing submission to Him as King and Lord and honoring His Word as the unchanging standard of reference for our lives. So then, what laws of God are we to obey? All of them, of course, and there are many. But here are the two most important:
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength (Deuteronomy 6:5).
Love your neighbor as yourself (Leviticus 19:18b).
Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law (Romans 13:10).
6. The purpose for law is to protect the constitutional covenant. Laws exist to make sure that the provisions of the constitution are carried out consistently, equitably, and without prejudice for all citizens. When God made His promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for Him to swear by, He swore by Himself, saying, “I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.” And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised….Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of His purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, He confirmed it with an oath (Hebrews 6:13-15,17).
7. Laws are the conditions of covenant. They are the terms under which, if followed, the covenant will operate.
THE KING’S WORDS OF LAW
As I said before, laws are built into the very fabric of creation. Everything in the natural realm operates according to inherent principles. The same is true of the spiritual realm. The Kingdom of Heaven is like any other government in the sense that it has laws to protect it and assure that it operates according to God’s intent.
Laws establish God’s Kingdom. And these laws were put in place long before the first human being arrived. And yet so often, we have the arrogance and the presumption to question God or challenge Him about His laws and the way He runs things.
Job knew he was innocent of any wrongdoing and could not understand why he was suffering. In his pain and indignation, Job ended up trying to tell God a few things. That is when God spoke up and adjusted Job’s thinking:
Then the Lord answered Job out of the storm. He said: “Who is this that darkens My counsel without knowledge? Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer Me. Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell Me, if you understand. Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!…Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you set up God’s dominion over the earth? (Job 38:1-5a,33).
In other words, God was saying, “Job, how dare you ask Me about My laws? You weren’t even around when I made them! Who are you to challenge Me?” It does no good for a product to challenge the manufacturer: “
Remember, the king’s word is law in his kingdom. When it is written down, it is called a testament, and when repeated verbally, constitutes a commandment:
When Moses went and told the people all the Lord’s words and laws, they responded with one voice, “Everything the Lord has said we will do.” Moses then wrote down everything the Lord had said (Exodus 24:3-4).
THE MEANING OF LAW
What exactly is “law”? The most basic Hebrew word for “law” is torah, which also means, in addition to “law,” direction and instruction. In time, the word torah was used to refer to the entire body of law that Moses received from God on Mt. Sinai and passed along to the Israelites. In this usage, torah means “the law,” “the direction,” and even “the Law of the Lord.”1 In the New Testament we find two basic Greek words used for “law.”
The first of these is nomos, which means “to divide out, distribute” and also “that which is assigned.” It gradually came to mean “usage” and “custom” and, eventually, “law as prescribed by custom, or by statute.”2 This is the word from which we get our English word norm.
Whatever becomes accepted as a numinous society eventually becomes a law four society. Depending on the nature of the idea or behavior, this process could be very dangerous because we as a society could end up endorsing and normalizing evil or immorality.
This is precisely what has happened and is happening in western culture with regard to such issues as homosexual rights, homosexual marriage, abortion rights, assisted suicide, embryonic stem cell research, and the like. God’s laws are designed to prevent us from accepting and normalizing evil and assigning it the force of law in our society.
The second Greek word for “law” in the New Testament is ethos, which means “custom.” Whenever we speak of something as being “customary,” we are speaking of ethos. God’s laws are supposed to be customary for us. It is supposed to be customary for us not to lie or steal or covet.
It is supposed to be customary for us to forgive and to love our enemies as well as each other. Ethos is less formal than nomos. In fact, whereas nomos came to mean decreed, established law, ethos was used to describe unwritten law. The most powerful laws of all are the unwritten laws.
NATURAL LAW VERSUS WRITTEN LAW
God intended law to be natural. To understand the Kingdom of Heaven, it is important also to understand the distinction between natural law and written law. First of all, written law is necessary only when natural law is absent. If we human beings were all law-abiding by nature, there would be no need for written law.
But as we saw above, our rebellion against God destroyed the rule of natural law in our lives and made written law (as well as human government) necessary to protect society and restrain evil. Second, the purpose for written law is to restore natural law to the conscience. Because of our rebellion against God, we lost our instinctive knowledge and understanding of natural law.
Our consciences became corrupt and our likeness to our Maker became tarnished and distorted. Things that were natural in the beginning now became “unnatural.” For example, we consider generosity to be a virtue, a positive quality we admire in others and aspire to in ourselves. Why? Because it is not a “natural” human trait, at least not anymore. God never commanded Adam to be generous and giving. Why not? Because giving came naturally to Adam.
A generous spirit was inherent in him because he was made in the image of God, his Creator, and God is generous by nature. But after the rebellion, mankind became greedy, obnoxious, abusive, mean, stingy, and hoarding.
Third, natural law is sometimes referred to as the “spirit of the law.” This reflects God’s desire for His laws, the standards of His Kingdom, to become the norms of our society. Remember, earth is a colony of Heaven, and the laws of the King of heaven should apply here as much as they do there. Laws produce society because they determine social relationships.
There is a difference between the law and the spirit of the law. The spirit of the law refers to original intent—the purpose that was in the mind of the Lawmaker in the beginning. Therefore, the spirit of the law is the inherent essence of the original purpose and intent of that law.
PRINCIPLES
1. Every kingdom is governed by laws.
2. The Bible is the law book of the Kingdom of Heaven.
3. The Kingdom of heaven has laws to protect it and assure that it operates according to God’s intent.
4. Laws are built into creation.
5. Whatever becomes accepted as a norm in our society eventually becomes a law four society.
6. God’s laws are designed to prevent us from accepting and normalizing evil and assigning it the force of law in our society.
7. God’s laws have personal application with national ramifications.
8. Written law is necessary only when natural law is absent.
9. The purpose for written law is to restore natural law to the conscience.
10. Natural law is sometimes referred to as the “spirit of the law.”
11. Laws produce society because they determine social relationships.
12. The spirit of the law is the inherent essence of the original purpose and intent of that law.
13. Any nation is only as good as the laws it enacts.
14. Natural law is the fundamental operating principle of the Kingdom of Heaven.
Shema Selah it is the unwritten law that resides in our hearts and minds that will return us to the Kingdom of the Most High!!
Psalm 19
We are walking in today: Weekend Meditation: Rule of the Bedrock of Order and Social Justice!!!
Witness law throughout the Bible: H8451 towrah-- law, direction, instruction, of special law, codes of law, custom, manner
Genesis 26:5 Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws. H8451
The Torah ...............
Exodus 12:49 One law H8451 shall be to him that is home born, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you.
The prophets ..................
Ezra 7:6 This Ezra went up from Babylon; and he was a ready scribe in the law H8451 of Moses, which the LORD God of Israel had given: and the king granted him all his request, according to the hand of the LORD his God upon him.
The writings ...........................
Joshua 1:7 Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, H8451 which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest.
Nehemiah 8:8 So they read in the book in the law H8451 of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.
Psalm 19:7-11
7 (6) It rises at one side of the sky,
circles around to the other side,
and nothing escapes its heat.
8 (7) The Torah of Adonai is perfect,
restoring the inner person.
The instruction of Adonai is sure,
making wise the thoughtless.
9 (8) The precepts of Adonai are right,
rejoicing the heart.
The mitzvah of Adonai is pure,
enlightening the eyes.
10 (9) The fear of Adonai is clean,
enduring forever.
The rulings of Adonai are true,
they are righteous altogether,
11 (10) more desirable than gold,
than much fine gold,
also sweeter than honey
or drippings from the honeycomb.
UNDERSTANDING THE KINGDOM CONCEPT OF LAW
Any civil society, the “rule of law” is the bedrock of order and social justice. No human society can survive long without laws. This is just as true for a kingdom as for any other system of government. Human nature being what it is, laws are necessary to keep man’s baser instincts and drives in check, protect public safety and decency, and preserve the moral order. Every kingdom is governed by laws. Laws enforce and protect the standards by which the kingdom operates.
In order to develop a better understanding of the overall kingdom concept, it is important to have knowledge of the origin, nature, and function of laws in a kingdom. We often think of laws as unpleasant and inconvenient demands that restrict our freedom and limit our options.
True freedom is always circumscribed by boundaries, and laws define those boundaries. Within those boundaries we are free to thrive, prosper, and reach our full potential.
The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes.
The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever. The ordinances of the Lord are sure and altogether righteous. They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb. By them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward (Psalm 19:7-11).
It is written: “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4).
SEVEN PRINCIPLES OF LAW
1. All creation was designed to function by inherent principles. Inherent means “built-in”; existent from the beginning. In other words, the laws of the King of Heaven are built into the very structure of creation and determine precisely how all of creation functions.
2. These principles are called “natural law. “Natural law has to do with laws concerning the nature of a thing.
3. Natural law is the standard for effective function of everything that God has created.
4. Laws are the key to successful existence and a guarantee of fulfillment of purpose.
5. Laws protect purpose. When we obey laws, we protect the purpose for which we were born.
By obeying God’s laws, I mean living in willing submission to Him as King and Lord and honoring His Word as the unchanging standard of reference for our lives. So then, what laws of God are we to obey? All of them, of course, and there are many. But here are the two most important:
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength (Deuteronomy 6:5).
Love your neighbor as yourself (Leviticus 19:18b).
Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law (Romans 13:10).
6. The purpose for law is to protect the constitutional covenant. Laws exist to make sure that the provisions of the constitution are carried out consistently, equitably, and without prejudice for all citizens. When God made His promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for Him to swear by, He swore by Himself, saying, “I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.” And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised….Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of His purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, He confirmed it with an oath (Hebrews 6:13-15,17).
7. Laws are the conditions of covenant. They are the terms under which, if followed, the covenant will operate.
THE KING’S WORDS OF LAW
As I said before, laws are built into the very fabric of creation. Everything in the natural realm operates according to inherent principles. The same is true of the spiritual realm. The Kingdom of Heaven is like any other government in the sense that it has laws to protect it and assure that it operates according to God’s intent.
Laws establish God’s Kingdom. And these laws were put in place long before the first human being arrived. And yet so often, we have the arrogance and the presumption to question God or challenge Him about His laws and the way He runs things.
Job knew he was innocent of any wrongdoing and could not understand why he was suffering. In his pain and indignation, Job ended up trying to tell God a few things. That is when God spoke up and adjusted Job’s thinking:
Then the Lord answered Job out of the storm. He said: “Who is this that darkens My counsel without knowledge? Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer Me. Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell Me, if you understand. Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!…Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you set up God’s dominion over the earth? (Job 38:1-5a,33).
In other words, God was saying, “Job, how dare you ask Me about My laws? You weren’t even around when I made them! Who are you to challenge Me?” It does no good for a product to challenge the manufacturer: “
Remember, the king’s word is law in his kingdom. When it is written down, it is called a testament, and when repeated verbally, constitutes a commandment:
When Moses went and told the people all the Lord’s words and laws, they responded with one voice, “Everything the Lord has said we will do.” Moses then wrote down everything the Lord had said (Exodus 24:3-4).
THE MEANING OF LAW
What exactly is “law”? The most basic Hebrew word for “law” is torah, which also means, in addition to “law,” direction and instruction. In time, the word torah was used to refer to the entire body of law that Moses received from God on Mt. Sinai and passed along to the Israelites. In this usage, torah means “the law,” “the direction,” and even “the Law of the Lord.”1 In the New Testament we find two basic Greek words used for “law.”
The first of these is nomos, which means “to divide out, distribute” and also “that which is assigned.” It gradually came to mean “usage” and “custom” and, eventually, “law as prescribed by custom, or by statute.”2 This is the word from which we get our English word norm.
Whatever becomes accepted as a numinous society eventually becomes a law four society. Depending on the nature of the idea or behavior, this process could be very dangerous because we as a society could end up endorsing and normalizing evil or immorality.
This is precisely what has happened and is happening in western culture with regard to such issues as homosexual rights, homosexual marriage, abortion rights, assisted suicide, embryonic stem cell research, and the like. God’s laws are designed to prevent us from accepting and normalizing evil and assigning it the force of law in our society.
The second Greek word for “law” in the New Testament is ethos, which means “custom.” Whenever we speak of something as being “customary,” we are speaking of ethos. God’s laws are supposed to be customary for us. It is supposed to be customary for us not to lie or steal or covet.
It is supposed to be customary for us to forgive and to love our enemies as well as each other. Ethos is less formal than nomos. In fact, whereas nomos came to mean decreed, established law, ethos was used to describe unwritten law. The most powerful laws of all are the unwritten laws.
NATURAL LAW VERSUS WRITTEN LAW
God intended law to be natural. To understand the Kingdom of Heaven, it is important also to understand the distinction between natural law and written law. First of all, written law is necessary only when natural law is absent. If we human beings were all law-abiding by nature, there would be no need for written law.
But as we saw above, our rebellion against God destroyed the rule of natural law in our lives and made written law (as well as human government) necessary to protect society and restrain evil. Second, the purpose for written law is to restore natural law to the conscience. Because of our rebellion against God, we lost our instinctive knowledge and understanding of natural law.
Our consciences became corrupt and our likeness to our Maker became tarnished and distorted. Things that were natural in the beginning now became “unnatural.” For example, we consider generosity to be a virtue, a positive quality we admire in others and aspire to in ourselves. Why? Because it is not a “natural” human trait, at least not anymore. God never commanded Adam to be generous and giving. Why not? Because giving came naturally to Adam.
A generous spirit was inherent in him because he was made in the image of God, his Creator, and God is generous by nature. But after the rebellion, mankind became greedy, obnoxious, abusive, mean, stingy, and hoarding.
Third, natural law is sometimes referred to as the “spirit of the law.” This reflects God’s desire for His laws, the standards of His Kingdom, to become the norms of our society. Remember, earth is a colony of Heaven, and the laws of the King of heaven should apply here as much as they do there. Laws produce society because they determine social relationships.
There is a difference between the law and the spirit of the law. The spirit of the law refers to original intent—the purpose that was in the mind of the Lawmaker in the beginning. Therefore, the spirit of the law is the inherent essence of the original purpose and intent of that law.
PRINCIPLES
1. Every kingdom is governed by laws.
2. The Bible is the law book of the Kingdom of Heaven.
3. The Kingdom of heaven has laws to protect it and assure that it operates according to God’s intent.
4. Laws are built into creation.
5. Whatever becomes accepted as a norm in our society eventually becomes a law four society.
6. God’s laws are designed to prevent us from accepting and normalizing evil and assigning it the force of law in our society.
7. God’s laws have personal application with national ramifications.
8. Written law is necessary only when natural law is absent.
9. The purpose for written law is to restore natural law to the conscience.
10. Natural law is sometimes referred to as the “spirit of the law.”
11. Laws produce society because they determine social relationships.
12. The spirit of the law is the inherent essence of the original purpose and intent of that law.
13. Any nation is only as good as the laws it enacts.
14. Natural law is the fundamental operating principle of the Kingdom of Heaven.
Shema Selah it is the unwritten law that resides in our hearts and minds that will return us to the Kingdom of the Most High!!
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