What is the History of the Jewish People?

Jews are one of the most ancient peoples in the world. The Bible, ancient historians outside the Bible, as well as archeology, all record their history. We have more facts about their history than that of any other nation. We will use this information to summarize their history. To make the history of the Israelites (an Old Testament word for the Jewish people) easier to follow, we will use timelines.

Abraham: The Jewish Family Tree Begins

The timeline starts with Abraham. God promised that through him God would bless all nations. Then God tested him in the symbolic sacrifice of his son Isaac. This was a sign pointing to Jesus by marking the future location of his sacrifice. God then named Isaac’s son Israel. The timeline continues in green when Israel’s descendants were slaves in Egypt. This period began with Joseph, son of Israel (the genealogy was: Abraham -> Isaac -> Israel (also known as Jacob) -> Joseph). He led the Israelites to Egypt, where later on the Egyptians enslaved them.

bible timeline with abraham and moses in history — Living in Egypt as slaves of Pharoah

Moses: The Israelites become a Nation under God

Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt by the Passover Plague, which destroyed Egypt and allowed the Israelite Exodus from Egypt to the land of Israel. Before he died, Moses announced Blessings and Curses on the Israelites (when the timeline goes from green to yellow). God would bless their obedience but curse them if they did not obey. These Blessings & Curses would follow the Jewish people ever after.

bible historical timeline from Abraham to david — Self-Rule as a confederation of Tribes with no king and no capital

For several hundred years the Israelites lived in their land but they did not have a King, nor did they have the capital city of Jerusalem. However, with King David at 1000 BCE this changed.

historical timeline Living with Davidic Kings ruling from Jerusalem — Kings of David ruling from Jerusalem

David establishes a Royal Dynasty at Jerusalem

David conquered Jerusalem and made it his capital city. He received the promise of a coming ‘Christ’. From that time on the Jewish people waited for the ‘Christ’ to come. His son Solomon, rich and famous, succeeded him and built the First Jewish Temple on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem. The descendants of King David continued to rule for about 400 years. This was the period of Israelite glory – they had the promised Blessings. They were a powerful nation; had an advanced society, rich culture, and a magnificent Temple. The timeline shows this period in aqua-blue (1000 – 600 BCE).

But the Old Testament also describes their growing corruption during this time. Many prophets in this period warned the Israelites that the Curses of Moses would come if they did not repent. But the Isralite nation ignored their warnings. During this time the Israelites divided into two separate kingdoms. There was the northern Kingdom of Israel or Ephraim, and the southern Kingdom of Judah. This is like Koreans today, one people split in two countries – North and South Korea.

The First Jewish Exile to Babylon

Finally around 600 BCE the Curses happened. Nebuchadnezzar, a powerful Babylonian King came just like Moses had predicted 900 years before when he wrote in his Curse:

The Lord will bring a nation against you from far away, from the ends of the earth, like an eagle swooping down, a nation whose language you will not understand, ⁵⁰a fierce-looking nation without respect for the old or pity for the young. ⁵¹They will devour the young of your livestock and the crops of your land until you are destroyed. They will leave you no grain, new wine or olive oil, nor any calves of your herds or lambs of your flocks until you are ruined. ⁵²They will lay siege to all the cities throughout your land until the high fortified walls in which you trust fall down. They will besiege all the cities throughout the land the Lord your God is giving you.
Deuteronomy 28: 49-52)

Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem, burned it, and destroyed the Temple that Solomon had built. He then exiled the Israelites to Babylon. This fulfilled the predictions of Moses that:

Just as it pleased the Lord to make you prosper and increase in number, so it will please him to ruin and destroy you. You will be uprooted from the land you are entering to possess.

⁶⁴Then the Lord will scatter you among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other. There you will worship other gods—gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your ancestors have known.
Deuteronomy 28:63-64

jewish historical timeline Conquered and exiled to Babylon — Conquered and exiled to Babylon

So for 70 years, the period shown in red, the Israelites lived as exiles outside the land promised to Abraham and his descendants. The term Jews began in this period in reference to their foremost tribe Judah.

Return from Exile under the Persians

After their exile, the Persian Emperor Cyrus conquered Babylon and Cyrus became the most powerful person in the world. He permitted the Jews to return to their land.

jewish historial timeline Living in the Land as a part of Persian Empire — Living in the Land as a part of Persian Empire

However they were no longer an independent country, they were now a province in the Persian Empire. This continued for 200 years, shown in pink in the timeline. During this time the Jews rebuilt the Jewish Temple (known as the 2nd Temple) and the city of Jerusalem. Though the Persians permitted the Jews to return to the land of Israel, many remained abroad in exile.

The period of the Greeks

Then Alexander the Great conquered the Persian Empire and made the Israelites a province in the Greek Empires for another 200 years. The timeline shows this period in dark blue.

jewish historical timeline Living in the Land as part of Greek Empires — Living in the Land as part of Greek Empires

The Period of the Romans

Then the Romans defeated the Greek Empires and they became the dominant world power. The Jews again became a province in this Empire. The timeline shows this period in light yellow. This is the time when Jesus lived. This explains why there are Roman soldiers in the gospels. The Romans ruled the Jews in Israel during the life of Jesus.

jewish historical timeline Living in the Land as part of Roman Empire — Living in the Land as part of Roman Empire

The Second Jewish exile under the Romans

From the time of the Babylonians (586 BCE) the Jews had not been independent. A succession of other empires ruled them. The Jews resented this and they revolted against Roman rule. The Romans came and destroyed Jerusalem (70 CE), and burned down the 2nd Temple. Then they deported the Jews as slaves across the Roman Empire. This was the second Jewish exile. With the vastness of the Roman Empire the Jews eventually scattered around the whole world.

Jerusalem and Temple destroyed by Romans in 70 AD. Jews sent into world-wide exile

This is how the Jewish people lived for almost 2000 years, dispersed in foreign lands and never totally accepted there. In these different nations they regularly suffered great persecutions. This persecution of the Jews was particularly true in Europe. From Spain, in Western Europe, to Russia the Jews lived often in a dangerous situations in these kingdoms. Jews emigrated to India and Kaifeng, China to escape these persecutions. The Curses of Moses back in 1500 BCE were accurate descriptions of how they lived.

… Among those nations you will find no repose, no resting place for the sole of your foot. There the Lord will give you an anxious mind, eyes weary with longing, and a despairing heart.
Deuteronomy 28:65

God gave the Curses against the Israelites to make peoples ask:

All the nations will ask: “Why has the Lord done this to this land? Why this fierce, burning anger?”
Deuteronomy 29:24

And the answer:

And the answer will be: “It is because this people abandoned the covenant of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, the covenant he made with them when he brought them out of Egypt. ²⁶They went off and worshiped other gods and bowed down to them, gods they did not know, gods he had not given them. ²⁷Therefore the Lord’s anger burned against this land, so that he brought on it all the curses written in this book. ²⁸In furious anger and in great wrath the Lord uprooted them from their land and thrust them into another land, as it is now.”
Deuteronomy 29: 25-28

The timeline below shows this 1900 year period as a long red bar.

Historical Timeline of the Jews - featuring their two periods of exile — Historical Timeline of the Jews – featuring their two periods of exile

Note that the Jewish people went through two periods of exile. But the second exile was much longer than the first exile. an the first exile.

The 20th Century Holocaust

The persecutions against the Jews peaked when Hitler, through Nazi Germany, tried to exterminate all the Jews living in Europe. Six million Jews lost their lives in what today we know as the Holocaust. Hitler almost succeeded but he was defeated and a remnant of Jews survived.

Modern Re-birth of Israel

The fact that there were people who self-identified as ‘Jews’ after thousands of years without a homeland was remarkable. During this period the Jews even lost their native language, Hebrew. But this allowed the final words of Moses, written down 3500 years ago, to come true. In 1948 the world, through the United Nations, saw the incredible re-birth of the modern state of Israel. This fulfilled what Moses had written centuries before regarding how their exile would end.

then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes^[a] and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you. ⁴Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there the Lord your God will gather you and bring you back. ⁵He will bring you to the land that belonged to your ancestors, and you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your ancestors.
Deuteronomy 30:3-5

The Jews established their modern state of Israel in spite of great opposition. Most of the surrounding nations waged war against Israel in 1948 … in 1956 … in 1967 and again in 1973. Israel, a very small nation, was sometimes at war with five nations at the same time. Yet not only did Israel survive, but her territory increased. In the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel regained Jerusalem, her historic capital city David had founded 3000 years ago. The creation of the state of Israel, and the consequences of these wars, has created one of the most difficult geo-political tensions of our world today.

As Moses predicted (explored further here), the re-birth of Israel created an impetus for Jews to return to Israel. Per Moses’ blessing they are being ‘gathered’ from the most ‘distant lands’ and being brought ‘back’. Moses wrote that both Jews and non-Jews should note the implications.

December 19, 2016

Was Jesus the son of a virgin from the line of David?

We saw that ‘Christ’ is an Old Testament title. Let us now look at this question: was Jesus of Nazareth that ‘Christ’ predicted in the Old Testament?

From the Line of David

David, author of Psalms, shown in Historical Timeline

Psalm 132 in the Old Testament, written 1000 years before Jesus lived, contained a specific prophecy. It said:

¹⁰For the sake of your servant David,
do not reject your anointed one.
¹¹The Lord swore an oath to David,
a sure oath he will not revoke:
“One of your own descendants
I will place on your throne….
¹³For the Lord has chosen Zion…,
¹⁷“Here I will make a horn grow for David
and set up a lamp for my anointed one. (Psalm 132:10-17)

Long before Jesus, the Psalms predicted that God’s anointed one (i.e. ‘Christ’) would come from David. This is why the gospels show Jesus to be in David’s genealogy. They want us to see that Jesus fulfills this prophecy.

The New Testament begins with this right from its first verse.

This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham:
Matthew 1:1

Was Jesus really from the line of David?

But how do we know that they did not just make up the genealogies to get a ‘fulfillment’? They were sympathetic to Jesus and so perhaps wanted to exaggerate the truth.

When trying to find out what really happened, it helps to have the testimony of hostile witnesses. A hostile witness was on-hand to see the facts but does not agree with the overall belief. So such a witness has motive for refuting testimony that might be false. Suppose there was a car accident between persons A and B. Both blame each other for the accident – so they are hostile witnesses. Person A says that he saw person B texting just before the accident, and person B admits this. Then we could assume that this part of the dispute is true since person B has nothing to gain agreeing to this point.

In the same way, looking at records of hostile historical witnesses can help us determine what really happened with Jesus. New Testament scholar Dr. FF Bruce studied Jewish Rabbi references to Jesus in the Talmud and Mishnah. He noted the following comment about Jesus:

Ulla said: Would you believe that any defence would have been so zealously sought for him (i.e. Jesus)? He was a deceiver and the All-merciful says: ‘You shall not spare him neither shall you conceal him’[Deut 13:9] It was different with Jesus for he was near to the kingship” p. 56

FF Bruce makes this remark about that rabbinical statement:

The portrayal is that they were trying to find a defence for him (an apologetic note against Christians is detected here). Why would they try to defend one with such crimes? Because he was ‘near to the kingship’ i.e. of David. p. 57

In other words, hostile Jewish rabbis did not dispute the Gospel writers’ claim that Jesus was from David. They did not accept Jesus’ claim to ‘Christ’ and opposed the Gospel claims about him. But they still admitted that Jesus was in the royal family of David. So we know that the Gospel writers did not simply make that up to get a ‘fulfillment’. Even the hostile witnesses agree on this point.

Was he Born of a Virgin?

The possibility remains that Jesus fulfilled this prophesy simply ‘by chance’. There were also others from the Royal family. But being born of a virgin! There is no possibility that this could happen ‘by chance’. It is either:

A misunderstanding,
A fraud, or
A miracle – no other option is open.

The Genesis account of Adam hinted at a coming virgin birth. In the New Testament, Luke and Matthew clearly state that Mary conceived Jesus while she was a virgin. Matthew also claimed that this was a fulfillment of a prophecy from Isaiah (ca 750 BCE) which said:

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel (i.e. ‘God with us’)
Isaiah 7:14 (and quoted in Matthew 1:23 as a fulfillment)

Perhaps this was just a misunderstanding. The original Hebrew הָעַלְמָ֗ה (pronounced haalmah), translated ‘virgin’, can also mean ‘young maiden’, i.e. a young unmarried woman. Perhaps that is all that Isaiah meant to say, long ago in 750 BCE. With a religious need on the part of Matthew and Luke to venerate Jesus they misunderstood Isaiah to mean ‘virgin’ when Isaiah had really meant ‘young woman’. Add the unfortunate pregnancy of Mary before her marriage, and it developed into ‘divine fulfillment’ in the birth of Jesus.

The Witness of the Septuagint

Many people have advanced explanations somewhat like this. One cannot refute this because it is impossible to prove whether someone was a virgin or not. But that explanation is too simplistic. Jewish rabbis translated the Hebrew Old Testament into Greek around 250 BCE. This Greek translation of the Old Testament was called The Septuagint. So two hundred fifty years before Jesus lived Jewish rabbis wrote down their interpretation of Isaiah 7:14. How did these Jewish rabbis translate Isaiah 7:14 from the Hebrew into Greek? Did they translate it as ‘young woman’ or ‘virgin’? Many people seem to know that the original Hebrew הָעַלְמָ֗ה can mean either ‘young woman’ or ‘virgin’. But few bring up the witness of the Septuagint which translates it as παρθένος (pronounced parthenos), which specifically means ‘virgin’.

In other words, the leading Jewish rabbis in 250 BCE, over two hundred years before Jesus’ birth, understood the Hebrew Isaiah prophecy to mean ‘virgin’. The Gospel writers or by early Christians did not invent the virgin birth. It was in Jewish thinking long before Jesus came.

The Rabbis knew what virgin entailed

Why would leading Jewish rabbis in 250 BCE make such a fantastic translation prophesying a virgin having a son? If you think it is because they were superstitious and unscientific, let’s think again. People in that time were farmers. They knew how breeding worked. Hundreds of years before the Septuagint Abraham knew that after a certain age came menopause and then childbearing was impossible. No, rabbis in 250 BCE did not know modern chemistry and physics, but they understood how animals and people reproduced. They would have known it was impossible to have a virgin birth. But they did not shrink back and translate it as ‘young woman’ in the Septuagint. No, they stated it in black and white that a virgin would have a son.

Mary’s Context

Now consider the fulfillment part of this story. No one can prove that Mary was a virgin. But remarkably, she was in the only and very brief stage of life where it could remain an open question. This was an age of large families. Families with ten children were common. Given that, what was the chance that Jesus would be the oldest child? Because if he had had an older brother or sister then we would know for certain that Mary was not a virgin. In our day when families have about 2 children it is a 50-50 chance, but back then it was closer to a 1 in 10 chance. The chance was 9 out of 10 that the virgin ‘fulfillment’ should just be dismissed by the simple fact that Jesus had an older sibling. But against the odds he didn’t.

Now add the remarkable timing of Mary’s engagement onto this. If she had been married even for a few days, the virgin ‘fulfillment’ could again simply be dismissed. On the other hand, if she became pregnant while not yet engaged she would not have had a fiance to care for her. In that culture, as a pregnant but single woman she would have had to remain alone – if she had been allowed to live.

It is these remarkable and unlikely ‘coincidences’ that make the virgin birth impossible to disprove that strikes me. These coincidences are not expected. Rather they show a sense of balance and timing as if a Mind were arranging events with plan and intent.

Witness of the rabbinical Writings

If Mary had been married before Jesus was born or if Jesus had older siblings, then hostile Jewish witnesses would surely have pointed that out. Instead, it seems that, once again, they agree with the gospel writers on this point. FF Bruce notes while explaining how rabbinical writings mention Jesus.

Jesus is referred to in rabbinical literature as Jesus ben Pantera or Ben Pandira. This might mean ‘the son of the panther’. The most probable explanation is that it is a corruption of parthenos, the Greek word for ‘virgin’ and arose from Christian references to him as a son of a virgin (p57-58)

Today, as Jesus’ time, there is hostility to Jesus and the claims of the gospel. Then, as now, there was significant opposition to him. But the difference is that back then there were also witnesses, and as hostile witnesses they did not refute some basic points that they could definitely refute, if these points had been made up or been in error.

September 19, 2016

Was there an Adam? The Testimony of the ancient Chinese

The Bible is a remarkable book. It claims that God inspired it, and also accurately record history. I used to doubt the historical accuracy for the beginning chapters of the first book in the Bible – Genesis. This was the account of Adam & Eve, paradise, the forbidden fruit, a tempter, followed by the account of Noah surviving a worldwide flood. I, like most people today, thought these stories were really poetic metaphors.

As I researched this question, I made some fascinating discoveries that made me re-think my beliefs. One discovery lay embedded in Chinese writing. To see this you need to know some background about the Chinese.

Chinese Writing

Written Chinese arose from the beginning of Chinese civilization, about 4200 years ago, some 700 years before Moses wrote the book of Genesis (1500 BCE). We all recognize Chinese calligraphy when we see it. What many of us don’t know is that ideograms or Chinese ‘words’ are constructed from simpler pictures called radicals. It is similar to how English takes simple words (like ‘fire’ and ‘truck’) and combines them into compound words (‘firetruck’). Chinese calligraphy has changed very little in the thousands of years. We know this from writing found on ancient pottery and bone artifacts. Only in the 20^th century with the rule of the Chinese communist party has the script been simplified.

‘First’ for Chinese

For example, consider the Chinese ideogram for the abstract word ‘first’. The image shows it.

‘First’ is a compound of simpler radicals as shown. You can see how these radicals are all found combined in ‘first’. The image also shows the meaning of each of the radicals. What this means is that around 4200 years ago, when the first Chinese scribes were forming the Chinese writing, they joined radicals with the meaning of ‘alive’+’dust’+’man’ => ‘first’.

But why? What natural connection is there between ‘dust’ and ‘first’? There is none. But notice the creation of the first man in Genesis.

The LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and the man became a living being.
Genesis 2:7

God made the ‘first’ man (Adam) alive from dust. But where did the ancient Chinese get this relationship 700 years before Moses wrote Genesis?

Talk and Create for Chinese

Think about this:

Dust + breath of mouth + alive = to talk

The radicals for ‘dust’ + ‘breath of mouth’ + ‘alive’ combine to make the ideogram ‘to talk’. But then ‘to talk’ itself combines with ‘walking’ to form ‘create’.

But what is the natural connection between ‘dust’, ‘breath of mouth’, ‘alive’, ‘walking’ and ‘create’ that would cause the ancient Chinese to make this relationship? But this also bears a striking similarity with Genesis 2:17 above.

The Chinese Devil and Tempter

This similarity continues. Notice how ‘devil’ forms from “man moving secretly in the garden”. What is the natural relationship between gardens and devils? They have none at all.

Yet the ancient Chinese then built on this by then combining ‘devil’ with ‘two trees’ for ‘tempter’!

So the ‘devil’ under the cover of ‘two trees’ is the ‘tempter’. If I wanted to make a natural connection to temptation I might show a sexy woman at a bar, or something else enticing. But why two trees? What do ‘gardens’ and ‘trees’ have to do with ‘devils’ and ‘tempters’? Compare now with the Genesis account:

The LORD God had planted a garden in the east… in the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil
Genesis 2:8-9

Now the serpent was more crafty… he said to the woman, “Did God really say …”
Genesis 3:1

The Genesis account does show a relation between ‘covet’, ‘two trees’ and ‘woman’.

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband
Genesis 3:6

The Big Boat

Consider another remarkable parallel. The image shows the Chinese ideogram for ‘big boat’ and the radicals that construct it:

They are ‘eight’ ‘people’ in a ‘vessel’. If I was going to represent a big boat why not have 3000 people in a vessel. Why eight? Interesting, in the Genesis account of the flood there are eight people in Noah’s Ark (Noah, his three sons and their four wives).

Genesis as History

The parallels between the early Genesis and Chinese writing are remarkable. One might even think the Chinese read Genesis and borrowed from it, but the origin of their language is 700 years before Moses. Is it coincidence? But why so many ‘coincidences’? Why are there no such parallels with the Chinese for the later Genesis stories of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob?

But suppose Genesis recorded real historical events. Then the Chinese – as a race and language group – originate at Babel (Genesis 11) as all other ancient language/racial groups. The Babel account tells how the children of Noah had their languages confused by God so that they could not understand each other. This resulted in their migration out from Mesopotamia, and it restricted inter-marriage to within their language. The Chinese were one of these peoples dispersing from Babel. At that time the Genesis Creation/Flood accounts were their recent history. So when they developed writing for abstract concepts like ‘covet’, ‘tempter’ etc. they took from accounts that they knew well from their history. Similarly for the development of nouns – like ‘big boat’ they would take from the extraordinary accounts that they remembered.

Thus they embedded into their language from the beginning of their civilization a memory of Creation and the Flood. As the centuries passed they forgot the original reason, as so often happens. If this is the case, then the Genesis account recorded real historical events, not just poetic metaphors.

Chinese Border Sacrifices

The Chinese also had one of the longest running ceremonial traditions on earth. From the start of the Chinese civilization (about 2200 BCE), the Chinese emperor on the winter solstice always sacrificed a bull to Shang-Di (‘Emperor in Heaven’, i.e. God). This ceremony continued through all the Chinese dynasties. In fact it was only stopped in 1911 when general Sun Yat-sen overthrew the Qing dynasty. They conducted this bull sacrifice annually in the ‘Temple of Heaven’, now a tourist attraction in Beijing. So for over 4000 years a bull was sacrificed every year by the Chinese emperor to the Heavenly Emperor

Why?

Long ago, Confucius (551-479 BCE) asked this very question. He wrote:

“He who understands the ceremonies of the sacrifices to Heaven and Earth… would find the government of a kingdom as easy as to look into his palm!”

What Confucius said was that anyone who could unlock that mystery of the sacrifice would be wise enough to rule the kingdom. So between 2200 BCE when the Border Sacrifice began, to the time of Confucius (500 BCE), the Chinese lost or forgot the original reason for the sacrifice. Yet they continued the annual sacrifice another 2400 years to 1911 CE.

Perhaps, if the meaning within their calligraphy had not been lost Confucius could have found an answer to his question. Consider the radicals used to construct the word for ‘righteous’.

Hand + lance/dagger = me; + sheep = righteousness

Righteousness is a compound of ‘sheep’ on top of ‘me’. And ‘me’ is a compound of ‘hand’ and ‘lance’ or ‘dagger’. It gives the idea that my hand will kill the lamb and result in righteousness. The sacrifice or death of the lamb in my place gives me righteousness.

Ancient Sacrifices in the Bible

The Bible records many animal sacrifices long before Moses started the Jewish sacrifice system. For example, Abel (Adam’s son) and Noah offer sacrifices (Genesis 4:4 & 8:20). It seems that the earliest peoples understood that animal sacrifices symbolized a substitute death needed for righteousness. One of Jesus’ titles was ‘lamb of God’ (John 1:29). His death was the real sacrifice that gives righteousness. All animal sacrifices – including the ancient Chinese Border Sacrifices – were only a pictures of his sacrifice. This is what Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac pointed to, as well as Moses’ Passover sacrifice. The ancient Chinese seemed to have started with this understanding long before Abraham or Moses lived. But they had forgotten it by Confucius’ day.

God’s Righteousness revealed

This means that people understood the sacrifice and death of Jesus for righteousness from the dawn of history. A memory of this ancient understanding is even preserved in the zodiac. Jesus’ life, death and resurrection came from God’s planning.

This goes against our instincts. We think that righteousness is based either on mercy of God or on our merit. In other words, many think no payment is required for sin since God is solely merciful and not Holy. Others think that some payment is required, but that we can make the payment by the good things we do. So we try to be good or religious and we hope it will all work out. The Gospel contrasts itself with this thinking:

But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. ²²This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile,
Romans 3:21-22

Perhaps the ancients were aware of something that we are in danger of forgetting.

Bibliography

The Discovery of Genesis. C.H. Kang & Ethel Nelson. 1979
Genesis and the Mystery Confucius Couldn’t Solve. Ethel Nelson & Richard Broadberry. 1994

June 20, 2016

Simple but Powerful: What is the meaning of Jesus’ sacrifice?

Jesus came to give himself as a sacrifice for all peoples so that we could escape our corruption and reconnect with God. God declared this plan at the beginning of human history. He then signed it in the sacrifice of Abraham by pointing to Mount Moriah where Jesus’ sacrifice would be provided. Then the Jewish Passover sacrifice pointed to the day of the year when Jesus would be sacrificed.

Bad News … The Law of Sin and Death

Why is his sacrifice so important? This is a question worth asking. The Bible declares a Law when it states:

For the wages of sin is death…
Romans 6:23

“Death” literally means ‘separation’. When our soul separates from our body we die physically. Similarly we are even now separated from God spiritually. This is true because God is Holy (sinless) while we have become corrupted from our original creation and so we sin.

The diagram illustrates this. It pictures two cliffs with God opposite from us with a chasm between us. Just like a branch cut from a tree is dead, so we have cut ourselves off from God and become spiritually dead.

We are separated from God by our sins like a chasm between two cliffs — We are separated from God by our sins like a chasm separating two cliffs

Merit from our Good Efforts is insufficient

This separation causes guilt and fear. So what we naturally try to do is build bridges to take us from our side (of death) to God’s side. We do this in many different ways: going to church, temple or mosque, being religious, being good, helping the poor, meditation, trying to be more helpful, praying more, etc. These deeds to gain merit can be very difficult – and living them out can be very complicated. The next figure illustrates this.

Good Efforts – useful as they may be - cannot bridge the separation between us and God — Good Efforts – useful as they may be – cannot bridge the separation between us and God

The problem is that our hard efforts, merits, and deeds, though not wrong, are insufficient because the payment required (the ‘wages’) for our sins is ‘death’. Our efforts are like a ‘bridge’ that tries to cross the gap separating us from God – but in the end cannot do it. This is because good merit will not solve our root problem. It is like trying to heal cancer (which results in death) by eating vegetarian. Eating vegetarian is not bad, it may even be good – but it will not cure cancer. For cancer you need a totally different treatment.

This Law is Bad News – it is so bad we often do not even want to hear it and we fill our lives with activities and things hoping this Law will go away. But the Bible stresses this Law of sin and death to get our attention to focus on the cure that is simple and powerful.

For the wages of sin is death but…
Romans 6:23

Good News of Life

The small word ‘but’ shows that the direction of the message is about to change directions, to the Good News of the Gospel – the cure. It shows both the goodness and love of God.

For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23)

The good news of the gospel is that the sacrifice of Jesus’ death is sufficient to bridge this separation between us and God. We know this because three days after his death Jesus rose bodily, coming alive again in a physical resurrection. There exists historic, compelling evidence for this. Abraham’s sacrifice and the Passover sacrifice prophetically acted out Jesus’ coming sacrifice. God planned these signs pointing to Jesus to help us find the cure.

Jesus was a human who lived a sinless life. Therefore he can ‘touch’ both the human and the God sides and span the gap separating God and people. He is a Bridge to Life which the diagram illustrates.

Jesus is the Bridge that spans the chasm between God and man

Given as a Gift, not earned by Merit

Notice how God offers this to us. He offers it as a … ‘gift’. Think about gifts. No matter what the gift is, if it is really a gift it is something that you do not work for and that you do not earn by merit. If you earned it the gift would no longer be a gift – it would be a wage! In the same way you cannot merit or earn the sacrifice of Jesus. It is given to you as a gift. It is that simple.

And what is the gift? It is ‘eternal life’. That means that God has cancelled the sin which brought you and me death. Jesus’ bridge of life enables us to re-connect with God and receive life – which lasts forever. God loves you and me that much. It is that powerful.

The Gift Received

So how do we cross on this bridge of life that Jesus gives to us as a gift? Again, think of gifts. If someone gives you a gift it is something you do not work for. But to get any benefit from the gift you must ‘receive’ it. Every time a gift is offered to a recipient there are only two alternatives. Either recipient refuses the gift (“No thank you”) or receives it (“Thank you for your gift. I will take it”). Likewise, you must receive this gift that Jesus offers to benefit from it. You cannot simply believe, study, meditate upon it, or understood it. The next figure illustrates this as we ‘walk’ on the Bridge by turning to God and receiving His Gift offered to us.

Jesus sacrifice is a gift that each of us must choose to receive

So how do we receive this gift? The Bible says that

Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved
Romans 10:12

Notice that this promise is for ‘everyone’. Since he rose from the dead Jesus is alive even now and he is ‘Lord’. So if you call on him he will hear and give his gift to you. You call out to him and ask him – by having a conversation with him. Perhaps you have never done this. Below is a prayer that can guide you. It is not a magic chant. The specific words used do not give it power. It is the trust like Abraham had that we place in him to give us this gift. As we trust him He will hear us and answer. The Gospel is powerful, and yet also so simple. Feel free to follow this guide if you find it helpful.

Dear Lord Jesus. I understand that with my sins I am separated from God. Though I can try hard, no effort and sacrifice on my part will bridge this separation. But I understand that your death was a sacrifice to wash away all my sins. I believe that you rose from the dead after your sacrifice so I know that your sacrifice was sufficient. I ask you to please cleanse me from my sins and bridge me to God so I can have eternal life. I do not want to live a life enslaved to sin so please free me from sin. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for doing all this for me and would you even now continue to guide me in my life so I can follow you as my Lord.

Amen

February 19, 2016April 15, 2025

Odkiaľ pochádza „Kristus“ Ježiša Krista?

Niekedy sa ľudí pýtam, aké bolo Ježišovo priezvisko. Zvyčajne odpovedajú: “Myslím, že jeho priezvisko bolo ‘Kristus’, ale nie som si istý.”

Potom sa pýtam: „Ak áno, keď bol Ježiš malým chlapcom, vzali Jozef Kristus a Mária Krista malého Ježiša Krista na trh?

Keď to takto počujú, uvedomujú si, že „Kristus“ nie je Ježišovo priezvisko. Takže, čo je ‘Kristus’? Odkiaľ pochádza? čo to znamená To je to, čo preskúmame v tomto článku. Po ceste tiež uvidíme, odkiaľ pochádza titul ‘Syn Boží’.

Preklad verzus prepis

Najprv musíme poznať niektoré základy prekladu. Prekladatelia sa niekedy rozhodnú prekladať podľa podobného zvuku , a nie podľa významu, najmä v prípade mien alebo názvov. Toto je známe ako prepis . V prípade Biblie sa prekladatelia museli rozhodnúť, či jej slová (najmä mená a názvy) budú lepšie v prekladanom jazyku prostredníctvom prekladu (podľa významu) alebo prostredníctvom prepisu (podľa zvuku). Neexistuje žiadne špecifické pravidlo.

Septuaginta

Biblia bola prvýkrát preložená v roku 250 pred Kristom, keď židovskí rabíni preložili hebrejský Starý zákon do gréčtiny. Tento preklad je Septuaginta (alebo LXX) a ľudia ho široko používali v staroveku a dokonca aj dnes. Apoštoli napísali Nový zákon o 300 rokov neskôr v gréčtine. Preto citovali skôr grécku Septuagintu ako hebrejský Starý zákon.

Preklad a transliterácia v Septuaginte

Nasledujúci obrázok ukazuje, ako to ovplyvňuje súčasné Biblie:

To ukazuje tok prekladov z originálu do súčasnej Biblie

Pôvodný hebrejský Starý zákon je v kvadrante #1. Pretože Septuaginta bol preklad z hebrejčiny do gréčtiny (v roku 250 pred Kristom), ukazujeme šípku idúcu z kvadrantu #1 do #2. Autori Nového zákona napísali Nový zákon v gréčtine, takže to znamená, že #2 obsahuje Starý aj Nový zákon. V spodnej polovici (#3) je moderný jazykový preklad Biblie (napr. angličtina). Na získanie tohto prekladu lingvisti preložia Starý zákon z pôvodnej hebrejčiny (1 -> 3) a Nový zákon z gréčtiny (2 -> 3). Prekladatelia musia rozhodnúť o transliterácii alebo preklade mien a názvov, ako je vysvetlené vyššie.

Biblie preložené v pravoslávnej tradícii (vo všeobecnosti východoeurópske cirkvi) prekladajú Starý zákon z gréckej Septuaginty. Pre tieto Biblie teda Starý aj Nový zákon pochádzajú z gréčtiny (2 -> 3).

Pôvod ‘Krista’

Teraz nasledujeme rovnakú sekvenciu, ale so zameraním na slovo „Kristus“, ktoré sa objavuje v Novom zákone.

V pôvodnej hebrejčine (v kvadrante č. 1 ) bolo slovo použité pre Krista „ mashiyach “. Hebrejský slovník definuje „ mashiyach “ ako „pomazanú alebo zasvätenú“ osobu. Pasáže žalmov prorokovali konkrétny príchod mashiyach (s určitým členom ‘the’). V preklade Septuaginty z roku 250 pred Kristom rabíni použili grécke slovo pre hebrejské mashiyach s podobným významom, Χριστός = Christos . Toto pochádzalo z chrio , čo znamenalo obradné potieranie olejom.

Preto bolo slovo Christos preložené významom (a nie prepísané zvukom) z hebrejského „ mashiyach“ do gréckej Septuaginty, aby prorokovalo o tejto prichádzajúcej osobe. Toto je kvadrant #2 . Pisatelia Nového zákona pochopili, že Ježiš bol práve touto osobou, o ktorej prorokovali v Septuaginte. V gréckom Novom zákone teda naďalej používali výraz Christos . (opäť v kvadrante #2 )

Kristus v Bibliách iných jazykov

Ale pre iné jazyky bolo slovo „Christos“ prepísané z gréčtiny do angličtiny (a iných moderných jazykov) ako „Kristus“. Toto je spodná polovica obrázku s označením #3 . Moderný „Kristus“ je teda veľmi špecifický titul zo Starého zákona. Vzniká prekladom z hebrejčiny do gréčtiny a potom prepisom z gréčtiny do iných jazykov. Učenci prekladajú hebrejský Starý zákon priamo do moderných jazykov bez použitia gréčtiny ako stredného jazyka. Pri preklade pôvodného hebrejského „mashiyach“ použili rôzne slová. Niektorí zvukom prepísali hebrejské „mashiyach“ na slovo Mesiáš . Iní preložili „mashiyach“ jeho významom a tak majú aj „ Pomazaný “ v týchto konkrétnych pasážach. V žiadnom z týchto prípadov slovo „Kristus“ v moderných Starých zákonoch často nevidíme . Preto toto spojenie so Starým zákonom nie je zjavné. Ale z tejto analýzy vieme, že v Biblii:

‘Kristus’ = ‘ Mesiáš’ = ‘ Pomazaný’

Všetky majú rovnaký význam a odkazujú na rovnaký pôvodný názov. Je to podobné ako 4= ‘štyri’ (angličtina) = ‘quatre’ (francúzština) = 6-2 = 2+2. Toto všetko sú matematické a jazykové ekvivalenty ‘4’.

Pomazanie bol proces, ktorým prešiel dezignovaný kráľ, aby sa stal kráľom. Je to podobné tomu, ako zvolenie je proces, ktorým dnes premiér alebo prezident získava právo vládnuť. Mohli by sme povedať, že predseda vlády je „vyvolený“ rovnakým spôsobom, ako by sme povedali, že kráľ je „pomazaný“. Takže „Pomazaný“ alebo „Mesiáš“ alebo „Kristus“ určil Kráľa, niekoho, kto bude vládnuť.

Starozákonné proroctvá o „Kristovi“

Takže kde sa prvýkrát objavil titul „Kristus“? Vidíme to ako prorocký titul už v žalmoch, ktoré Dávid napísal asi 1000 pred Kristom – dávno pred narodením Ježiša.

Kráľ Dávid, autor žalmov, v historickej časovej osi

2Spolčujú sa pozemskí králi,

vládcovia sa spolu radia

proti Hospodinovi a jeho pomazanému:

3„Roztrhnime putá

a odhoďme ich povrazy!“

4Ten, ktorý tróni na nebesiach, smeje sa,

Pán sa im vysmieva.

5Vtedy v hneve prehovorí,

svojou prchkosťou ich vyľaká:

6„Ja som ustanovil svojho kráľa na Sione,

na svojom svätom vrchu.“

7Oznamujem rozhodnutie Hospodina.

Povedal mi: „Ty si môj syn,

ja som ťa dnes splodil.“

Žalmy 2:2-7

Pomazaný je tiež „Syn Boží“

Tu tiež vidíme, že Pánov výnos oslovuje Pomazaného ako „môjho Syna“. Inými slovami, Boh nazýva „Pomazaného“ svojím „synom“. Toto je miesto, kde pochádza názov „Syn Boží“, zo Žalmu 2. Preto ho nevymyslel Ježiš ani pisatelia Nového zákona. Je synonymom Pomazaného. Takže teraz:

‘Kristus’ = ‘ Mesiáš’ = ‘ Pomazaný’ = ‘Syn Boží’

Súvisiaci názov „Syn človeka“ skúmame tu .

Kristus očakávaný v 1. storočí

S týmto poznaním urobme niekoľko postrehov z evanjelia. Nižšie je reakcia kráľa Herodesa, keď mudrci z východu prišli hľadať židovského kráľa. Toto je súčasťou príbehu o narodení Ježiša . V závislosti od prekladu sa tu použije slovo „Mesiáš“ alebo „Kristus“. Všimnite si, že „ten“ predchádza Mesiáša alebo Krista, aj keď sa netýka konkrétne Ježiša.

3Keď to počul kráľ Herodes, rozrušil sa a s ním aj celý Jeruzalem. 4Zvolal všetkých veľkňazov a zákonníkov ľudu a vypytoval sa ich, kde sa má narodiť Mesiáš

Matúš 2:3-4

Všimnite si, že samotná myšlienka „ Krista “ (alebo „ Mesiáša “) bola už bežne chápaná medzi Herodesom a jeho náboženskými poradcami, dokonca ešte pred Ježišovým narodením. Používajú názov bez toho, aby sa konkrétne odvolávali na Ježiša. Je to preto, že, ako je vysvetlené vyššie, „Kristus“ pochádza zo starozákonných žalmov napísaných pred stovkami rokov kráľom Dávidom . Toto bežne čítali Židia 1. storočia (ako Herodes) z gréckej Septuaginty. Tento titul existoval stovky rokov predtým, ako existovali nejakí kresťania.

Kráľa Herodesa to ‚veľmi znepokojilo‘, pretože sa cítil ohrozený týmto Kristom, o ktorom chápal, že je jeho rivalom. Takže v reakcii kráľa Herodesa vidíme význam Krista (Kráľa) a jeho prastaré korene, pochádzajúce dávno predtým.

Kristus v žalme 132

Žalmy obsahovali ďalšie odkazy na tohto prichádzajúceho Krista . Položil som štandardnú pasáž vedľa seba s prepísanou pasážou s nápisom „Kristus“, aby ste ju mohli vidieť.

Žalm 132- Z hebr	Žalm 132 – Zo Septuaginty
Pane,… ¹⁰ Pre svojho služobníka Dávida nezavrhni svojho pomazaného . ¹¹ Pán prisahal Dávidovi, pevnú prísahu, ktorú neodvolá: „Na tvoj trón dosadím jedného z tvojich vlastných potomkov… ¹⁷ Tu nechám Dávidovi narásť roh a svojmu pomazanému postavím lampu . “	Pane,… ¹⁰ Pre svojho služobníka Dávida nezavrhni svojho Krista . ¹¹ Pán prisahal Dávidovi, pevnú prísahu, ktorú neodvolá: „Na tvoj trón dosadím jedného z tvojich vlastných potomkov… ¹⁷ „Tu dám narásť Dávidovi roh a postavím lampu svojmu Kristovi . “

Žalm 132 hovorí v budúcom čase („… vyrobím Dávidovi roh…“) ako mnohé pasáže v Starom zákone. Židia vždy čakali na svojho Mesiáša (alebo Krista). Skutočnosť, že očakávajú alebo očakávajú príchod Mesiáša, je dôsledkom proroctiev Starého zákona, ktoré sa pozerajú na budúcnosť.

Takže aby som to zhrnul. Nasledujúce názvy sú synonymá a všetky pochádzajú zo žalmov.

Kristus = Mesiáš = Pomazaný = Syn Boží

Starozákonné proroctvá: Špecifikované ako systém zámkov

To, že Starý zákon konkrétne predpovedá budúcnosť, z neho robí nezvyčajnú literatúru. Je to ako zámok dverí. Zámok má určitý tvar, takže ho môže odomknúť iba špecifický „kľúč“, ktorý zodpovedá zámku. Tak isto je Starý zákon ako zámok. Niečo z toho sme videli v článkoch o Abrahámovej obeti , Adamovom počiatku a Mojžišovej Veľkej noci . Žalm 132 teraz pridáva požiadavku, aby „Kristus“ pochádzal z Dávidovej línie. To vyvoláva otázku: Je Ježiš tým zodpovedajúcim „kľúčom“, ktorý odomyká proroctvá?

Tu sa pozrieme na to, či Ježiš zapadá do proroctva o príchode z Dávidovej línie . Tu začíname skúmať tému proroctiev The Branch .

January 10, 2016April 16, 2025

Čo je desať prikázaní? čo učia?

Mojžiš napísal prvých päť kníh Biblie. Tieto knihy opisujú zrod izraelského národa pred tisíckami rokov . Mojžišovým poslaním bolo zrodiť tento národ, aby sa stal svetlom pre okolité národy. Začal tým, že vyviedol Izraelitov (alebo Židov) z otroctva v Egypte prostredníctvom záchrany známej ako Pesach . Na Pesach Boh oslobodil Izraelitov spôsobom, ktorý poukázal na budúce vyslobodenie pre celé ľudstvo .

Mojžiš na časovej osi. Desať prikázaní bolo daných za jeho života.

Mojžišova výzva však nebola len vyviesť Izraelitov z egyptského otroctva. Jeho mandátom bolo tiež viesť ich k novému spôsobu života. Takže päťdesiat dní po Veľkej noci ich Mojžiš viedol na horu Sinaj, kde dostali Zákon.

Aké príkazy teda dostal Mojžiš? Celý zákon bol dosť dlhý, so 613 špecifickými príkazmi. Ale Mojžiš najprv dostal súbor špecifických 90ot kameňa, známych ako Desať prikázaní . Toto Desatoro tvorilo súhrn Zákona – morálne predpoklady pred všetkými ostatnými. Desať prikázaní (niekedy nazývaných aj Desatoro) je Božou aktívnou mocou, ktorá nás privádza k pokániu . To je to, čo skúmame v tomto článku.

Časť All Souls Deuteronomy, ktorá obsahuje najstaršiu zachovanú kópiu Desatera_{^{Autor neznámy, fotografia Shai Halevi, Public domain, prostredníctvom Wikimedia Commons}}

Desatoro prikázaní

Tu je desať prikázaní tak, ako ich Boh napísal na kameň. Potom ich Mojžiš zaznamenal v knihe Exodus v Biblii.

1Boh hovoril všetky tieto slová: 2„Ja som Hospodin, tvoj Boh, ktorý som ťa vyviedol z Egypta, z domu otrokov. 3Nebudeš mať iných bohov okrem mňa! 4Neurobíš si modlu ani nijakú podobu toho, čo je hore na nebi, dolu na zemi alebo vo vode pod zemou! 5Nebudeš sa im klaňať ani im slúžiť, lebo ja som Hospodin, tvoj Boh, Boh žiarlivý, ktorý trestá viny otcov na synoch do tretieho i štvrtého pokolenia tých, čo ma nenávidia, 6ale milosť preukazujem tisícom tých, čo ma milujú a zachovávajú moje prikázania.

7Nevyslovíš meno Hospodina, svojho Boha, nadarmo, lebo Hospodin nenechá bez trestu toho, kto nadarmo vysloví meno Hospodina, svojho Boha!

8Pamätaj na sobotný deň, že ho máš svätiť!

9Šesť dní budeš pracovať a konať všetku svoju prácu. 10Siedmy deň je sobota pre Hospodina, tvojho Boha. Nebudeš konať nijakú prácu ani ty, ani tvoj syn, ani tvoja dcéra, ani tvoj sluha, ani tvoja slúžka, ani tvoj dobytok, ani cudzinec, ktorý je v tvojich bránach. 11Veď Hospodin za šesť dní utvoril nebo a zem, more a všetko, čo je v nich, a v siedmy deň odpočíval. Preto Hospodin požehnal sobotný deň a posvätil ho.

12Cti svojho otca a svoju matku, aby si dlho žil v krajine, ktorú ti dá Hospodin, tvoj Boh!

13Nezabiješ!

14Nescudzoložíš!

15Nepokradneš!

16Nevyslovíš krivé svedectvo proti svojmu blížnemu.

17Nebudeš túžiť po dome svojho blížneho a nebudeš túžiť ani po manželke svojho blížneho, ani po jeho sluhovi, ani jeho slúžke, ani jeho volovi, ani jeho oslovi; ani po ničom, čo patrí tvojmu blížnemu!“

Exodus 20:1-17

Štandard Desatora

Dnes niekedy zabúdame, že to boli príkazy , nie návrhy alebo odporúčania. Ale do akej miery máme poslúchať tieto príkazy? Nasledujúci verš prichádza tesne pred odovzdaním Desatora:

3Mojžiš vystúpil k Bohu. Hospodin ho oslovil z vrchu a povedal mu: „Toto povieš domu Jákoba a oznámiš synom Izraela:

Exodus 19:3

5Ak teda budete pozorne počúvať môj hlas a budete zachovávať moju zmluvu, budete mojím osobným vlastníctvom medzi všetkými národmi, lebo celá zem je moja.

Exodus 19:5

Mojžiš zaznamenal nasledujúce tesne po odovzdaní Desatora.

7Potom vzal knihu zmluvy a nahlas z nej čítal ľudu, ktorý vyhlásil: „Poslušne splníme všetko, čo povedal Hospodin.“

Exodus 24:7

Desať príkazov – nie viacnásobný výber

Zamyslime sa nad týmto. Niekedy na školských skúškach učitelia dávajú viacero otázok (napríklad 20). Potom však vyžadujú, aby študenti odpovedali len na niektoré otázky. Študenti si môžu napríklad vybrať ľubovoľných 15 otázok z 20, na ktoré budú odpovedať. Každý študent by si vybral 15 najjednoduchších otázok, na ktoré by mal odpovedať. Týmto spôsobom učiteľ uľahčuje skúšku.

Mnoho ľudí zaobchádza s Desatorom rovnakým spôsobom. Myslia si, že Boh po tom, čo dal desať prikázaní, myslel: „Skús šesť ľubovoľných z týchto desiatich prikázaní“. Myslíme si to, pretože si inštinktívne predstavujeme Boha, ako balansuje medzi našimi „dobrými skutkami“ a našimi „zlými skutkami“. Ak naše dobré zásluhy prevážia alebo zrušia naše zlé nedokonalosti, dúfame, že to postačí na získanie Božej priazne. Alebo možno aspoň dostať priepustku do neba. Z rovnakého dôvodu sa mnohí z nás snažia získať náboženské zásluhy náboženskými aktivitami. Tieto často zahŕňajú; chodiť do kostola, mešity alebo chrámu, modliť sa, postiť sa a dávať peniaze chudobným. Dúfajme, že tieto činy vyvážia časy, keď neposlúchame jedno z desiatich prikázaní.

Poctivé čítanie Desatora však ukazuje, že takto to Boh nedal. Ľudia majú poslúchať a dodržiavať VŠETKY príkazy – stále. Úplné ťažkosti pri dosiahnutí tohto cieľa prinútili mnohých rebelov proti desiatim prikázaniam. Známy ateista Christopher Hitchens zaútočil na desať prikázaní z tohto dôvodu:

“…potom prichádzajú štyri známe ‘shalt not’, ktoré jednoznačne zakazujú zabíjanie, cudzoložstvo, krádeže a falošné svedectvo. Nakoniec je tu zákaz chamtivosti, zakazujúci túžbu po ‘svojich susedoch’… majetku. … Namiesto odsúdenia zlých činov je tu čudne formulované odsúdenie nečistých činov od ľudí od nečistých, ale zbytočných si vyžaduje odpočinok… uvažovať o nich je priveľa… Ak Boh skutočne chcel, aby sa ľudia zbavili takýchto myšlienok, mal si dať väčší pozor na vynájdenie iného druhu. Christopher Hitchens. 2007. Boh nie je veľký: Ako náboženstvo všetko kazí. S.99-100

Prečo dal Boh desať prikázaní?

Ale myslieť si, že Boh môže prijať viac ako 50 % námahy, alebo že Boh urobil chybu, keď požadoval nemožné, je nepochopením účelu Desatora. Boh nám dal desať prikázaní, aby nám pomohol identifikovať naše problémy.

Ilustrujme si to na príklade. Predpokladajme, že ste tvrdo spadli na zem a veľmi si poranili ruku. Nie ste si však istí vnútorným poškodením. Je kosť v ruke zlomená alebo nie? Neviete, či sa to zlepší, alebo či potrebujete sadru na ruku. Takže urobíte röntgenový snímok ruky a röntgen odhalí skutočnú situáciu. Áno, skutočne si zlomil kosť v ruke. Uzdravuje röntgen vašu ruku? Je vaša ruka lepšia vďaka röntgenu? Nie, tvoja ruka je stále zlomená. Teraz však viete , že je skutočne zlomený a musíte naň nasadiť sadru, aby sa zahojila. Röntgen problém nevyriešil, skôr ho odhalil , takže ho teraz môžete správne liečiť.

Príkazy odhaľujú hriech

Podobne nám Boh dal desať prikázaní, aby sme mohli vidieť problém hlboko v nás, náš hriech. Hriech znamená „minúť“ cieľ toho, čo Boh od nás očakáva v tom, ako sa správame k druhým, k sebe a k Bohu. Hovorí to Biblia

2Hospodin hľadí z neba na ľudí,

díva sa, či je aspoň niekto rozumný,

kto hľadá Boha.

3Všetci poblúdili, všetci sa zvrhli,

niet nikoho, kto by konal dobro,

niet ani jediného.

Žalmy 14:2-3)

Všetci máme tento vnútorný kaziaci problém hriechu . Je to také vážne, že Boh hovorí o našich „dobrých skutkoch“ (od ktorých dúfame, že odstránia naše hriechy):

6Nikto nevzýva tvoje meno,

neprebúdza sa, aby sa pripútal k tebe,

lebo si pred nami skryl svoju tvár

a nechal si nás v moci našich vín.

Izaiáš 64:6

Naša spravodlivá zásluha v náboženských obradoch alebo pri pomoci druhým sa počíta len ako „špinavé handry“, keď sa porovnávajú s našimi hriechmi.

Ale namiesto toho, aby sme si uvedomili svoj problém, máme tendenciu porovnávať sa s ostatnými. Tým sa meriame s nesprávnym štandardom. Prípadne sa niektorí viac usilujú získať náboženské zásluhy. Iní sa vzdajú a žijú len pre potešenie. Preto Boh ustanovil desať prikázaní, aby:

20 Pretože zo skutkov Zákona nebude pred ním ospravedlnený nijaký človek. Veď zo Zákona pochádza poznanie hriechu.

Rimanom 3:20

Skúmať naše životy a vidieť naše hriechy proti štandardu Desatora je ako pozerať sa na röntgen, aby sme videli zlomenú kosť v ruke. Desať prikázaní náš problém „nerieši“. Namiesto toho jasne odhalia problém, takže prijmeme nápravu, ktorú nám Boh poskytol. Namiesto pokračovania v sebaklame nám Zákon umožňuje vidieť samých seba presne.

Boží dar daný v pokání

Prostriedkom, ktorý Boh poskytol, je dar odpustenia hriechov. Daruje ho zadarmo smrťou a zmŕtvychvstaním Ježiša Krista. Tento článok to vysvetľuje podrobnejšie. Boh nám jednoducho dáva tento dar života, ak dôverujeme Jeho dielu alebo mu veríme.

16 však vieme, že človek nie je ospravedlnený zo skutkov podľa Zákona, ale iba vierou v Krista Ježiša. Aj my sme uverili v Ježiša Krista, aby sme boli ospravedlnení z viery v Krista, a nie zo skutkov podľa Zákona, lebo zo skutkov podľa Zákona nebude nikto ospravedlnený.

Galaťanom 2:16

Môže nám byť daná spravodlivosť ako Abrahámovi, ktorý bol ospravedlnený pred Bohom . Vyžaduje si to však, aby sme činili pokánie . Činiť pokánie znamená „zmeniť zmýšľanie“ a zahŕňa odvrátenie sa od hriechu a obrátenie sa k Bohu a Daru , ktorý ponúka. Ako vysvetľuje Biblia:

19Kajajte sa a obráťte sa, aby boli zotrené vaše hriechy

Skutky apoštolov 3:19

Sľub pre teba a mňa je, že ak budeme činiť pokánie a obrátime sa k Bohu, naše hriechy nám nebudú započítané. Namiesto toho dostaneme Život.

Tá prvá Veľká noc a Abrahámova skúška odhalili Boží podpis v Jeho pláne pre nás. Podobne aj konkrétny deň, keď Boh dal Mojžišovi Desatoro, poukazuje na príchod Ducha Božieho, aby v nás prebýval. Prebývajúci Duch Svätý nám dáva schopnosť nasledovať Boha spôsobom, ktorý sami nedokážeme.