Uncategorized – Page 3 – Charles (Chuck) Kensinger

Construction continues

June 16, 2020

The restating of these activities to dedicate the Temple of Solomon continues in 1 Kings 9. The building of God’s house and the palace took twenty years. Forced labor by foreigners was used to create these structures. Gezer was rebuilt after Pharaoh burned it when he took the area and gave it to his daughter for a wedding gift.

The kings of Tyre and Israel continued their cooperation despite a minor disagreement about methods and quality of payment for services rendered. This included building a fleet of ships for trading.

The building of the cities, walls and gates is also covered in 2 Chronicles 8. This version tells that the Israelites were not made slaves by their King. This was reserved for the Canaanites that still resided in the land. In this account the ships were provided by Hiram.

Capital punishment

February 21, 2020

Leviticus 20 23

Leviticus 19 commands us to be Holy just as Yahweh is. What is meant by this term? To be holy means to be separate or different from what is normal. You can’t be holy when you act like everyone else.
Some of the Ten Commandments and other laws are repeated. God wants the Israelites to remember these and continues to remind them and us of what is expected.

Generosity is encouraged by not harvesting a second or third time in the fields and vineyards. The process of allowing the poor to go onto other’s property to glean or harvest what was left has many valuable aspects. They work for what they receive. The pride of work is maintained even if they have no crops of their own to gather. Today’s harvesting equipment does not contribute to this type of generosity.

Kindness is also demanded. Many other laws are spoken of here. Horticultural laws, piercing, tattoos, and spirituality are dealt with in this chapter. All the law is to be obeyed. This makes it impossible. The number of regulations causes increased difficulty in remembering and obeying everything God commands.

The penalties for sin are specified in Leviticus 20. Capital crimes are sacrificing children to foreign gods, bestiality, homosexuality, dishonoring your parents and committing adultery.

Other sins mean separation from the community, being childless or other forms of discipline. The purpose of these punishments is to make the Israelites different from others who used to live in the land they will inhabit.

Today we want to conform. Being as much like others as possible is the goal. As Christians, we also are to be holy, separate or different. We don’t just separate ourselves physically or be different in ways that involve dress or actions just to be different. There are reasons not to follow the practices of the world at large.

Sin is to be shunned in many forms. Gossip, slander, and backbiting are ways that we follow the world and not Jehovah. Questionable business practices are other ways. While following the law does not save us, not obeying God makes us look like everyone else. This is not being Holy like God.

Uncleanness is dealt with again in Leviticus 21. Touching dead bodies other than immediate family members is restricted to the priests. Shaving hair and beards are restricted. Marriage practices are also covered. Disgrace by children is also specified along with punishment for the children.

The last part of the chapter seems to make God out to be prejudiced against those with handicaps. Yahweh restricts their approaching the altar of sacrifice. He does not cut them off completely or demand their execution as for those who willfully sin. There is a difference in the way these groups are to be dealt with.

The Law of the Lord

February 6, 2020

God tells the Israelites in Exodus 19 that they must follow His instructions because He has shown them great miracles in Egypt and since they left there. To emphasize that Moses is Jehovah’s spokesman an assembly is arranged. God will descend from the mountain and speak to His Servant in view of all the Jews. They washed themselves and their garments and abstained from sex in preparation. Warnings about getting to close to the mountain were also made.

The mountain was covered in smoke and it shook. Moses went to the top and spoke directly to Him. Aaron went up with Moses to show that he also could be a voice for Yahweh.

“I am” is used again as God’s name in Exodus 20. The Ten Commandments are given here for the first time. Many other people have similar laws, but God starts with four rules about our relationship with Him. The balance tells us how to treat each other.

A controversial statement is made about punishing children to the third and fourth generation for the sins of the parents. The blessing from this is that he will show favor to a thousand generations for those who follow Him. If you suffer for previous generations’ transgressions, you also reap the benefits of their obedience. Do not forget this.

Exodus 21 begins with the law that the Hebrews are to follow. Slavery, murder, divorce, kidnapping and other topics are covered here. This is one of the chapters that states “an eye for an eye.”

Many have a problem with the provision for slave ownership that God makes in this and other scriptures. Slavery was a part of the economy of the ancient world. Some slavery talked about in the Bible, but not all, is like our employee/employer agreements today. Work is exchanged for pay. The masters were property owners and the servants or slaves were not. If your family did not have work for you, they would hire you out to someone who did.

Today contracts for sports players and others are bought and sold much as servants were in previous centuries and in other countries. These laws still make sense for ethical treatment of employees and servants.