statutes

December 7, 2018

They were righteous (Lk 1:6-1:6)

“Both of them

Were righteous

Before God.

They lived

Blamelessly

According to

All the commandments

And regulations

Of the Lord.”

 

ἦσαν δὲ δίκαιοι ἀμφότεροι ἐναντίον τοῦ Θεοῦ, πορευόμενοι ἐν πάσαις ταῖς ἐντολαῖς καὶ δικαιώμασιν τοῦ Κυρίου ἄμεμπτοι

 

Luke continued his unique portrayal of Zechariah and Elizabeth as righteous people (ἦσαν δὲ δίκαιοι ἀμφότεροι) before God (ἐναντίον τοῦ Θεοῦ).  As they were descendants of Aaron, the expectations for their behavior were higher than other Israelites.  They were blameless (ἄμεμπτοι).  They walked or followed all the commandments, statutes, ordinances and regulations of the Lord (πορευόμενοι ἐν πάσαις ταῖς ἐντολαῖς καὶ δικαιώμασιν τοῦ Κυρίου).  They were upright people, pillars of the community.  They were faithful followers of the Jewish Law.  Who could ask for anything more?

February 3, 2018

The Law

The Law, the Torah, or the Pentateuch, consisted of first five books that were developed over a number of years, but firmly established around 400 BCE.  The five books of the Pentateuch include Genesis, a 10th-5th century BCE writing about the pre-existence of the Israelites, and the particular stories of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph.  The Exodus, finished around 450 BCE, recalls the story of Moses and how he led the Israelites out of Egypt for years in the desert.  Leviticus and Numbers, worked on between 550-400 BCE, lay out the particular codes, rules and regulations for the Israelites, as well the numbers of people that were involved in the exodus from Egypt.  Deuteronomy, developed in the 7th-6th century BCE, told the story of Moses in the wilderness with emphasis on the laws of the heart.  This Law or Torah explained the early or pre-history of the Israelites before they entered the promised land.  These books also contained all the commands, statutes, or rules for the Israelites after they entered the promised land.  All further Jewish developments were based on the Torah or the Law.

November 30, 2017

They example of northern Israel (Mic 6:16-6:16)

“You have kept

The statutes of Omri.

You have kept

All the works

Of the house of Ahab.

You have followed

Their counsels.

Therefore,

I will make you

A desolation.

I will make your inhabitants

An object of hissing.

Thus,

You shall bear

The scorn of my people.”

The statutes of King Omri (885-874 BCE) and King Ahab (874-853 BCE), the kings of northern Israel, favored the Baal worship and various injustices in Samaria.  They had followed the bad counsels of these northern kings of Israel.  Thus, Yahweh was going to make them a desolation.  The people of the north would become an object of hissing, as they bore the scorn of Yahweh’s people.

July 13, 2017

The Zadok priests as teachers and judges (Ezek 44:23-44:24)

“They shall teach

My people

The difference

Between the holy

And the common.

They shall show them

How to distinguish

Between the unclean

And the clean.

In a controversy,

They shall act

As judges.

They shall decide it

According to my judgments.

They shall keep

My laws,

As well as my statutes

Regarding

All my appointed festivals.

They shall keep

My Sabbath holy.”

These Zadok priests would teach Yahweh’s people the difference between the holy and the common, as well as how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean. In any controversy, they would act as judges. They would decide all these cases according to Yahweh’s judgments. They were to keep all Yahweh’s laws and statutes regarding the appointed religious festivals. Finally, they were to keep the Sabbath holy.

June 24, 2017

One Davidic king (Ezek 37:24-37:25)

“My servant David

Shall be king

Over them.

They shall all

Have one shepherd.

They shall follow

My ordinances.

They shall be careful

To observe

My statutes.

They shall live

In the land

That I gave to

My servant Jacob,

Where you ancestors lived.

They,

With their children,

With their children’s children

Shall live there forever.

My servant,

David,

Shall be their prince

Forever.”

Yahweh, via Ezekiel, spoke lovingly about the kingship of David. However, King David lived nearly 400 years earlier than the time frame of the exile. Obviously, this is an allusion to a Davidic king, someone from his blood line. However, that would be hard to prove. The key point here was that there was going to be only one shepherd, one king, one country, not multiple kingdoms. Everyone would follow and observe Yahweh’s ordinances and statutes. They were going to live in the land that Yahweh gave to his servant Jacob, where their ancestors had lived. There they, their children, and their children’s children would live forever under the princely leader from the Davidic dynasty.

May 3, 2017

The false statutes (Ezek 20:25-20:26)

“Moreover

I gave them statutes

That were not good.

I gave them ordinances

By which

They could not have life.

I defiled them

Through their very gifts,

In their offering up

All their firstborn.

Thus I might

Horrify them.

Thus they might know

That I am Yahweh.”

In some sort of cruel joke, Yahweh gave his people statutes and ordinances that he knew were not good or helpful for their life. In fact, he seemed to indicate that he had told them to offer up their first born babies as a sacrifice. He did this to defile and horrify them. However, like always, they should know that he was Yahweh. Was this some sort of primitive practice? This seems to contradict everything else that was said in this work.

May 2, 2017

They still rebelled (Ezek 20:13-20:13)

“But the house of Israel

Rebelled

Against me

In the wilderness.

They did not observe

My statutes.

But they rejected

My ordinances.

By their observance,

Everyone shall live.

They rejected

My Sabbath.

They greatly

Profaned it.”

The house of Israel rebelled in the wilderness also. They did not observe Yahweh’s statutes and ordinances. Instead, they rejected these living ordinances and the Sabbath observance. Thus they profaned it.

April 27, 2017

The good son of the unrighteous man (Ezek 18:14-18:17)

“But if this man

Has a son

Who sees all the sins

That his father

Has done,

Then considers it,

But does not do likewise,

Should he live?

This son does not

Eat upon the mountains

Or lift up his eyes

To the idols

Of the house of Israel.

He does not

Defile his neighbor’s wife

Or wrong any one.

He does not

Exact pledges

Or commit robbery.

But he gives his bread

To the hungry.

He covers the naked

With a garment.

He withholds his hand

From iniquity.

He takes no advance

Or accrues interest.

He observes

My ordinances.

He follows

My statutes.

He shall not die

For his father’s iniquity.

He shall surely live.”

What happens to the son of an unrighteous person? What if the son sees all the sins that his father has done, but decides to not follow in his father’s footsteps? This son does not eat upon the mountains or lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel. He does not defile his neighbor’s wife or wrong any one. He does not exact pledges for loans or commit any robberies. However, he gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with a garment. He stays away from iniquity. He does not take any advances or accrue interest. He observes Yahweh’s ordinances and statutes. He is not going to die because of his father’s iniquity. Rather he will live.

April 10, 2017

The judgment at the border (Ezek 11:10-11:12)

“You shall fall

By the sword.

I will judge you

At the border of Israel.

You shall know

That I am Yahweh.

This city shall not

Be your pot.

You shall not

Be the meat inside it.

I will judge you

At the border of Israel.

Then you shall know

That I am Yahweh.

You have not followed

My statutes.

You have not kept

My ordinances.

But you have acted

According to the ordinances

Of the nations

That are around you.”

Yahweh was going to judge them at the border of Israel. They would die by the sword if they were not captured. They all would know that he was Yahweh, since that was repeated twice in this short section. They would no longer be the meat in the pot in Jerusalem. The judgment at the border was because they had not followed and kept Yahweh’s statutes and ordinances. Instead, they had followed the ordinances of the countries around them. This seems strange but true.

March 31, 2017

The rebellious ones in Jerusalem (Ezek 5:5-5:6)

“Thus says Yahweh God!

‘This is Jerusalem.

I have set her

In the center

Of the nations,

With countries

All around her.

She has rebelled

Against my ordinances.

She has rebelled

Against my statutes.

She has become

More wicked

Than the nations,

Than the countries,

All around her.

She has rejected

My ordinances.

She has not followed

My statutes.”

The God Yahweh spoke to Ezekiel about Jerusalem. Yahweh had put Jerusalem at the center of all the nations and countries that surrounded her. However, she has rebelled against the ordinances and statutes of Yahweh. She now has become more wicked that those nations and countries all around her, because she has rejected the ordinances of Yahweh. She has refused to follow the statutes of Yahweh.