Scripture is Multi-Layered
Well I've decided to start writing a blog. So this is my first post -- I'm going to try to write once every 2 weeks or once every month -- and I am going to try to write consistently. The past couple of years I've had a desire to wrap my brain around the "boring" part of the Pentateuch. You know the parts that no one really likes to read or teach on, yet that we all know was a really big portion of the nation of Israel's understanding of both God and life. And in the year or so that I've been studying it out I've realized that it isn't that its lifeless only that it takes more than an off-handed glance to understand, but within the often overlooked passages of Exodus 20 - Deuteronomy 34 there is much gold to be found.
More than just Rules
Scripture is many layered and often speaks on a multitude of levels. Not only does Scripture communicate directly, in showing us what God said, but it also calls us to speculate as to why God said it and what the fact that He said it means to humanity. For example, there is much more to the Commandment "Thou shall not kill" than just a rule that we should obey. First, we consider why God gave a Command like this: that by saying such God is giving value to human life by outlawing murder -- you would only outlaw something if the act that you were deeming illegal trampled upon something that you regarded as precious. So "Thou Shall not Kill" also speaks, "God values human life". Second, consider what it must have meant to the people of Israel to have heard such a Command. Remember this generation actually grew up in a genocide -- Moses himself was saved miraculously the ethnic cleansing of Pharaoh. Consider what the people of Israel must have thought as they reflected on these things as they walked through the desert -- God actually cared about people's lives. This might not be a big deal to those of us fortunate enough to have grown up in safe neighborhoods and in mostly just governments, but to people who lived in generations of forced labor and who witnessed their newborn babies being violently wrestled from their arms and murdered right after birth -- this was a big deal.
Defining what is Valuable
Yet, if you look at things further and consider what mankind would be like if the God of the Universe hadn't declared that life was valuable to Him. Can we imagine this? Consider what the world would be like if the highest power in Creation didn't care about people's lives. Think about what it would be like if someone could take the life of another and God not bat an eye. If we examine this deeper we would notice that such Truths like "God is Love" are built upon this very Commandment. Would it be possible to imagine a God who gets pleasure from each individual person, who from a creative spark mixed with sheer joy imprinted our DNA into our mother's wombs and who lives deeply entangled to and affected by the movements of our hearts -- both hurt by our rejection and thrilled by our half-hearted flailing attempts to obey Him; would it be possible to imagine such a Loving God who didn't care if someone killed another?
This can ultimately lead us to consider that the Love of God and the Justice of God are not inverse expressions of God's personality, but rather are intricately intertwined. The very fact that God cares is the reason why He created a Law that would define and protect what is valuable.
More than just Rules
Scripture is many layered and often speaks on a multitude of levels. Not only does Scripture communicate directly, in showing us what God said, but it also calls us to speculate as to why God said it and what the fact that He said it means to humanity. For example, there is much more to the Commandment "Thou shall not kill" than just a rule that we should obey. First, we consider why God gave a Command like this: that by saying such God is giving value to human life by outlawing murder -- you would only outlaw something if the act that you were deeming illegal trampled upon something that you regarded as precious. So "Thou Shall not Kill" also speaks, "God values human life". Second, consider what it must have meant to the people of Israel to have heard such a Command. Remember this generation actually grew up in a genocide -- Moses himself was saved miraculously the ethnic cleansing of Pharaoh. Consider what the people of Israel must have thought as they reflected on these things as they walked through the desert -- God actually cared about people's lives. This might not be a big deal to those of us fortunate enough to have grown up in safe neighborhoods and in mostly just governments, but to people who lived in generations of forced labor and who witnessed their newborn babies being violently wrestled from their arms and murdered right after birth -- this was a big deal.
Defining what is Valuable
Yet, if you look at things further and consider what mankind would be like if the God of the Universe hadn't declared that life was valuable to Him. Can we imagine this? Consider what the world would be like if the highest power in Creation didn't care about people's lives. Think about what it would be like if someone could take the life of another and God not bat an eye. If we examine this deeper we would notice that such Truths like "God is Love" are built upon this very Commandment. Would it be possible to imagine a God who gets pleasure from each individual person, who from a creative spark mixed with sheer joy imprinted our DNA into our mother's wombs and who lives deeply entangled to and affected by the movements of our hearts -- both hurt by our rejection and thrilled by our half-hearted flailing attempts to obey Him; would it be possible to imagine such a Loving God who didn't care if someone killed another?
This can ultimately lead us to consider that the Love of God and the Justice of God are not inverse expressions of God's personality, but rather are intricately intertwined. The very fact that God cares is the reason why He created a Law that would define and protect what is valuable.
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