The scripture for today, February 14 (2/14), is Colossians 2:14 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:
“[God] having canceled the written code with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.”
It is beyond my comprehension why anyone would want the Law of Moses unless they don’t want to obey ALL 600 commands but want an excuse to justify one or two commandments HERE AND THERE they do want.
They want the part that says to tithe so they can get people’s money. (Actually, the good Jew gave one-third, not one-tenth.) Or they want a separate priesthood so they can feel important. Or they want showy things in worship like candles, incense, musical instruments (though they were only allowed the harp, lyre and cymbal) so they can enjoy themselves more.
Hold on! If we obey one command we are required to keep the entire Law of Moses ~ all 600 commands. Galatians 5:3 and James 2:10 say so. Are you up to it?
Our verse for today says the Law was against us; that is, it was impossible for us to keep perfectly. Try wading through Leviticus in the Old Testament. That’s where most of the old Law (“the written code with its regulations”) is.
It’s tedious. It regulated nearly every part of everyone’s daily life. It involved what we could and couldn’t eat, having to kill animals to die in our place whenever we sinned, stoning adulterers and rebellious children to death, having a separate Levite priesthood, giving a third of your income, reporting to priests as long as we had an open sore, use of candles, having to go to the Temple in Jerusalem three times a year, spreading blood on our doorposts, and on and on.
The book of Hebrews in the New Testament was written to help us understand that God’s new Law of Grace is much more spiritual. Read especially chapters 8 & 9. We have to make a choice: Old or New.
Hebrews was written about the time the Temple in Jerusalem was permanently destroyed, thus making it impossible to obey several things in the old Law. And a little time later the Jewish genealogies were destroyed, thus making it impossible to prove who was a Levite and eligible to be a priest.
But wait! Does that mean Christians should never read the Old Testament? The Old Testament of the Bible is not the same as the Law of Moses. The Law is a small part of the Old Testament. The rest of it is wonderful praise, amazing wisdom, accounts of people who did or did not try to follow God, and those astounding prophecies of Jesus all through them. Plus, it doesn’t hurt to wade through those old laws just as a reminder of what we have been set free from.
So, let us not neglect the Old Testament as so many people do. Thank God for the Old Testament.
WORSHIP CHANGES SINCE THE 1ST CENTURY is mostly about decisions to pick up something from the Old Testament and add it to New Testament worship. It caused confusion and terrible acts of violence. To READ NOW, click a picture or paste this: https://amzn.to/2SWY27j
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“But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the Word, they quickly fall away.”
STEPHEN: UNLIKELY MARTYR starts out as a teenage coward who runs from every confrontation and hides his beliefs. Through tragedies, he gradually matures until one day he is confronted with the leaders of his old religion who demand, follow our creeds or die. So, he died. To BUY NOW, click a picture or paste this: https://amzn.to/2GnzJqq
