Sometime
ago I began writing a series
of articles in the
Pastor’s Comments
regarding the new world that
is only a few years away now
and what it will be like
inside the beginning years
of the millennium.
We
know from Scripture, as the
firstfruits of God’s
Spiritual harvest, we will
be assisting Jesus Christ in
preaching the gospel to the
surviving Israelites along
with the teaching of God’s
holy and righteous laws; and
a little later to the
Gentile nations in that new
world.
After
all they have had to endure
through the great
tribulation and slavery to
the Gentile nations, they
will have become very
receptive to all of the laws
of God (Jeremiah 31:2;
Ezekiel 36:24-28, 31).
Like
ancient Israel in Egypt of
old, they will have no real
knowledge of God’s laws
due to their many years of
being in subjection to the
rule of the Pharaoh of Egypt
(Exodus 12:40), and will
have to have them taught to
them, as they were at Mount
Sinai and even before that
time (Exodus 16:4-5, 13-28).
Even
though many of these people
presently belong to the
worldly Christian Churches,
and think of themselves as
Christians, they are not
taught the truth about
God’s laws and know very
little about them or the
true God.
This
will change during that
time. God says through the
prophet Ezekiel over and
over again throughout that
Book the time is soon coming
in which they will come to
know Him as the true God in
contrast to the one they now
worship believing it is the
one to worship.
Presently
they are blinded to the true
God along with the lack of
teaching and understanding
of God’s holy and
righteous laws. The
blindness will then be
removed in all areas and
they will then be taught the
truth by Jesus Christ and
aided by the Firstfruits of
God’s spiritual harvest.
As
the result they will then be
receptive to God’s
teachings and have such a
change in heart as to
want with real desire to
worship the true God, and
learn about Him, His laws,
and His way of life.
It
is so utterly tragic that we
seem to only want to change
and learn when we
undergo pain and suffering
for the transgressions of
God’s laws.
Family
Example ---
To
illustrate, please permit me
to give you insight into the
life of my older brother,
now almost 83 years of age,
as somewhat of an example of
what the attitude of the
captives of Israel will be
after being liberated from
slavery.
He
has cancer and the worst
kind. His life expectancy as
stated by his doctor is no
more than a few months.
He has suffered agonizing
pain with it. Recently he
has been doing some better
though on medication.
While
looking closely into my eyes
this past week, he said the
following with great emotion
and the utmost in sincerity:
“I thank the Lord every
day for my life. I
have told Him that I am His
to do with in whatever way
he sees fit.”
A
Preview of the Attitude of
the Surviving Israelites —
There
are many Scriptures that
speak of this coming time,
but I will only touch on one
passage that reflects a
beautiful picture of the
people of Israel in attitude
and heart toward God after
having been taken to the
ancient promised land and
the then blessings God will
be pouring out on them:
“LORD,
You have been favorable to
Your land; You have BROUGHT
BACK the captivity of Jacob.
You have forgiven the
iniquity of Your people.
You have covered all their
sin. You have taken away all
Your wrath; You have turned
from the fierceness of Your
anger .. I will HEAR what
God the LORD will speak, for
He will speak peace to His
people and to His saints;
but NOT let them turn back
to folly. Surely His
salvation is near to those
to those who FEAR Him, that
glory may dwell in our land.
Mercy and truth have met
together; righteousness and
peace have kissed.
Truth shall spring out of
the earth, and righteousness
shall look down from heaven.
Yes, the LORD will give what
is good; and our land will
yield its increase.
Righteousness will go before
Him, and shall make His
footsteps our pathway”
(Psalm 85:1-3, 8-13).
Scripture
defines righteousness as the
teaching and pathway of
God’s holy and righteous
laws:
“...
All your commandments are
righteousness” (Psalm
119:172).
We
should be able to clearly
see from these quoted
Scriptures the wonderfully
changed attitude of the
liberated survivors of
Israel who will then become
very receptive and desirous
of the teachings of God just
as we were after God singled
each one of us out and
through His goodness brought
us to the same place in
tearful repentance, desire
for true knowledge, and
worship of Him.
God’s
Statutes and Judgments —
In
this current writing I will
resume from where I left off
this last time with the
teachings about the statutes
and judgments of God. Though
we understand and focus on
the 10 commandments and
statutes regarding the Holy
Days and Tithing, there
seems to be a tendency not
to think all that much about
other statutes and judgments
that are also laws of God.
NOTE:
As I have previously written
the only laws that are no
longer binding on us today
are the ceremonial laws,
which were fulfilled by the
sacrifice of Jesus Christ
and the Holy Spirit that was
poured out on the Day of
Pentecost in 31 A. D.
Though
these ceremonial laws are
the only laws that are no
longer required of us today,
they will once again be
required of Israel to
observe in the beginning
years of the millennium
(Ezekiel 40-46; Zechariah
14:20-21).
While
establishing the New
Covenant, Jesus Christ
taught directly and also
through His early apostles
that instead of offering
physical sacrifices, which
includes circumcision, His
people are to offer
spiritual sacrifices in
obedience to His spiritual
laws (Romans 12:1-2;
2:28-29).
NOTE:
An article was written in
earlier years by Dr. Herman
L. Hoeh in which he defined
and made clear the teachings
regarding the statutes and
judgments of God.
Those that are binding on us
today and those that are
not.
He
explained the
difference in the law of
Moses, as referred to
several times in the Bible,
and the 10 Commandments,
is that God spoke the 10
commandments, but allowed
Moses to teach His statutes
and judgments to Israel
(Exodus 18:16).
Luke
2:22,39 speaks of the
law of Moses as being the
law of the Lord . The
statutes and judgments had
no sacrifices connected with
them as they were originally
given (Jeremiah 7:22-23).
However due to their
continued disobedience, and
also to picture what the
Messiah would come and do
for them, God added the
sacrifices at a later time.
The apostle Paul makes this
quite clear:
“What
purpose then does the
(sacrificial) law serve? IT
WAS ADDED because of
transgressions, TILL THE
SEED (MESSIAH) SHOULD COME,
to whom the PROMISE was made
... Therefore the LAW
(rituals) WAS OUR TUTOR
(schoolmaster) TO BRING US
TO CHRIST, that we might be
justified by faith”
(Galatians 3:19, 24).
These
laws were to school them as
to what sin was. And then to
accept the Messiah before
they could be forgiven.
The
apostle Paul wrote about two
different classes of law.
The one is holy and
spiritual (Romans 7:12, 14).
The other is the sacrificial
and ritualistic laws. These
were later added as a
penalty and with a time
limit.
The
law of Moses then had two
parts: Civil and
Ritualistic. The part given
before the sacrificial laws
are required of us as God
people to observe and keep.
My
Purpose In These Present
Writings —
It
has been my purpose in the
last two Pastor’s Comments
to focus on these lesser
known and even less taught
laws that have to do with
everyday life and are yet
binding on us today.
We
should become acquainted
with them for if we are so
blessed as to be counted
worthy to be among the
firstfruits of God’s
coming harvest, we will be
teaching ALL of the laws of
God to the people in that
new world including these
laws.
In
this current writing, I am
continuing my writing on the
subject of the statutes and
judgments, and focusing on
the ones found in Leviticus
19 and Deuteronomy 22.
To
better understand these
laws, along with God’s
command to observe them, I
suggest you review the last
two Pastor’s Comments. In
the event you do not have
them they can be found in
the archives on our website
in the area of Pastor’s
Comments.
At
the same time I find it
necessary to copy and paste
a portion of the one I wrote
last time to aid the reader
to better understand this
current writing. It is
as follows:
Leviticus
19 and Deuteronomy 22 —
Some
of these statutes found here
in these two chapters are
dealing with animals,
clothing, sowing of seed,
and so on. While first
reading about them, we might
wonder – why God would be
so concerned about these
little areas as to make laws
about such little
insignificant things?
Shouldn’t anyone know
better than harness and team
up a donkey and cow
together, etc.?
Sad
to say not everyone does
know better in any of these
areas! These laws reveal
God’s caring love
for proper treatment with
animals, the little birds,
etc. (Matthew 6:26; 10:29).
But beyond this, there is
much greater depth of
meaning to be found in these
laws that God intended to be
carried over into human
life!
Through
intensive study and
mediation along with the
observation of these
physical and graphic
examples, God intends we
come to further understand
though the lessons pictured
by them in human life
whereby we might avoid many
of the mistakes and pitfalls
that could later cause
mental pain and distress.
This would be especially
true in the lives of our
children who often have to
bear the scars from wrong
decisions by their parents.
As
an example, I received
a heart-breaking note some
little time ago from one
such young person who was
hurting deeply because of
the persecution and bias she
has had to experience
because of the mixed
marriage of her parents who
apparently have a happy
marriage otherwise.
When
we think about these laws in
an unbiased manner, they,
along with other related
Scriptural teachings, make a
lot of sense.
It
then becomes easier to see
the implications regarding
the matching decisions we
should make in our marriages
and other areas of life
instead of the mismatching
of them.
The
Physical a Type of the
Spiritual —
We
should have learned that the
physical is a type of the
spiritual; a duality.
And though physical, they
reveal the answers to many
of the questions in human
life that we might not come
to see any other way except
by the teachings of the laws
of God.
This
was a major area to help me
during the apostate years
when we were under pressures
to accept and teach the
protestant teaching that we
are now born again! I
had heard Mr. Armstrong in
earlier years speak of the
physical birth as a type of
the spiritual birth and it
just made sense and still
does.
When
we couple these statutes
together with related laws,
as found in New Testament
teachings, they should
present a clear picture to
the unbiased mind. Laws that
reflect on other laws that
make for perfect unity and
harmony.
The
apostle Paul wrote of the
physical being a type of the
spiritual to the Church:
“For
since the creation of the
world HIS INVISIBLE
ATTRIBUTES ARE CLEARLY SEEN
‘BEING UNDERSTOOD’ by
the things (pattern) that
are made, even His eternal
powers and Godhead, so they
are without excuse”
(Romans 1:20; Psalm 19:1-6)
Study
to Learn —
Too
many of us while reading
about laws, such as these,
and other Scriptures, have
the tendency to read right
through them without really
giving them a lot of
thought. God intends we pull
up a mental picture in our
minds from viewing the
purity and diversity of His
creation and see His purpose
in all of His creation as
well as for the human
family.
In
so doing it becomes easier
to see that by mixing any of
it will only create
confusion and often
heartache.
There
is real depth and treasures
to be found in all of the
Scriptures.
Solomon
expressed this quite well
when he wrote the search for
wisdom and understanding is
much like one searching for
precious treasures (Proverbs
2:1-9). It requires
intensive prayer, study, and
meditation, to uncover much
of the spiritual meaning
contained in these laws as
found here and elsewhere
throughout the Holy Bible.
The
prophet Isaiah also wrote of
the necessity of connecting
Scriptures that are to be
found here and there
throughout the Bible to come
to understand any subject
(Isaiah 28:13). They have to
be put together in context
for correct understanding.
The
Teaming Together —
The
statute we will first
consider is one can be seen
very well by anyone who
knows anything about animals
and teamwork.
“You
shall NOT plow with an ox
and a donkey together”
(Deuteronomy 22:10).
My
marginal reference connects
this Scripture with what the
apostle Paul wrote to the
Church at Corinth about
members entering
“Do
NOT be unequally YOKED
TOGETHER with unbelievers.
For what fellowship has
righteousness with
lawlessness? And what
communion has light with
darkness? And what accord
has Christ with Belial
(Greek: worthliness,
recklessness, or lawliness)?
Or what part has a believer
with an unbeliever? And what
agreement has the temple of
God with idols? For YOU ARE
THE TEMPLE OF THE LIVING
GOD. As God has said: ...”
(II Corinthians 6:14-18).
The
apostle Paul further wrote
to the same Church regarding
the same teaching about
marriage. By studying
this passage of Scripture
one should easily see how
the one ties in with the
other:
“A
wife [applies equally with
wife or husband] is
bound BY LAW as long as her
husband lives; BUT IF her
husband dies, she is AT
LIBERTY to marry whom she
wishes, ONLY IN THE LORD”
(I Corinthians 7:39).
God
makes very clear in these
passages of Scripture His
teachings concerning
marriage and remarriage.
Commentaries
View of This Scripture —
Some
of the Commentaries also
makes the same connections
when writing about the
teaching of God regarding
the mismatching of the
animals to pull hard
together as a team to turn
up the earth to prepare it
for the sowing of seed:
Deuteronomy
22:10 Adam
Clarke's Commentary
“[Thou
shalt not plough with an ox
and an ass] ... there
was a physical reason for
this; two beasts of a
different species cannot
associate comfortably
together, and on this ground
never pull pleasantly either
in cart or plough; and every
farmer knows that it is of
considerable consequence to
the comfort of the cattle to
put those together that have
an affection for each other.
This may be very frequently
remarked in certain cattle,
which, on this account, are
termed true yoke-fellows.
After all, it is very
probable that the general
design was to prevent
improper alliances in civil
and religious life. And to
this Paul seems evidently to
refer, 2 Cor 6:14: Be ye not
unequally yoked with
unbelievers; which is simply
to be understood as
prohibiting all intercourse
between Christians and
idolaters in social,
matrimonial, and religious
life.
And
to teach the Jews the
propriety of this, a variety
of precepts relative to
improper and heterogeneous
mixtures were interspersed
through their law, so that
in civil and domestic life
they might have them ever
before their eyes.”
The
following quoted comments
sheds additional light as to
why these animals should not
be paired together:
Deuteronomy
22:10
Jamieson, Fausset, and
Brown Commentary
“Thou
shalt not plow with an ox
and an ass together. ..
An
ox and a donkey being of
different species, and of
very different characters,
cannot associate
comfortably, nor unite
cheerfully in drawing a plow
or a wagon. The donkey being
much smaller, and his step
shorter, there must be an
unequal and irregular load.
Besides the donkey, from
feeding on coarse and
poisonous weeds, has a fetid
breath, which its
yoke-fellow seeks to avoid,
not only as poisonous and
offensive, but producing
leanness, or, if long
continued, death. And hence,
it has been observed always
to hold away its head from
the donkey, and to pull only
with one shoulder.”
Further
the apostle Paul makes known
that we should be able to
understand some things, such
as choosing the wrong ones
to pair together as a team
in marriage, as well as
preserving the purity of the
races and animals by just
looking at God’s creation
– even without a law –
when he wrote:
“Does
NOT even nature itself teach
you ..” (I Corinthians
11:14).
Mistakes
Already Made —
While
writing about this very
sensitive subject, please
know that all through the
years we always have
accepted such marriages
without bias and with caring
love. Once married such
people are married. We
only teach against new mixed
marriages.
Mistakes
have been made by everyone
of us in one way or another.
In some cases nothing can be
done or should be done about
them if what we are doing is
not violating any of God’s
laws. Rather we should try
and make the best of
whatever we can while
learning from them at the
same time.
It
is also understood that most
of our mistakes were made
prior to being added
to God’s Church. And at
the same time we should know
that God does indeed forgive
any and all mistakes in
judgment as well as all sins
we have committed once we
express our sorrow for them
in repentance..
These
mistakes and sins we commit
are a part of human life
that we as God’s people
come to understand and learn
over time that it is only
His way that works for the
good of all! In their time
all of mankind will learn
this vital lesson!
The
Distinction of Male and
Female ----
In
this same chapter the
apostle Paul is showing
there should also be a
definite distinction between
a man and a woman in dress
and appearance.
First
let us consider the statute
regarding the difference in
clothing men and women are
by God’s law and teaching
to wear as to make a clear
distinction between the two
sexes, after which we will
look at a related Scripture
regarding hair length.:
“A
woman shall NOT wear
anything that PERTAINS to a
man, nor shall a man put on
a woman’s garment , FOR
ALL WHO DO SO ARE AN
ABOMINATION TO THE LORD your
God” (Deuteronomy 22:5).
During
a Bible study in earlier
years in Pasadena,
California, Mr. Armstrong
was asked by a woman member
about a woman having a need
to wear pants to climb up a
ladder where she could be
viewed by others? He
replied by saying a woman
should not be doing this in
the first place since this
was the responsibility of a
man.
An
added note:
Mrs. Herbert (Loma)
Armstrong would never wear
pants of any kind.
Even when she made a visit
to Petra and needed to ride
a horse into the area she
avoided the use of them by
planning ahead and having a
pair of pants made in the
form of a skirt made for her
before going on the trip.
I
well realize there are some
pants that are manufactured
to appear feminine and do
not conflict in the same way
as in earlier years. However
there are the others that do
seem to conflict with this
law. Those that do not seem
to conflict should be
considered casual wear and
as such not be worn in
places where they are
clearly out of place.
However when worn thy should
look neat and dressy in the
presence of others and not
skin-tight and too
revealing.
Many women
have worn such attire so
regularly they have
forgotten the social graces
and it becomes easy to
think of this type of
clothing as being socially
acceptable on all occasions.
This should not be!
Regardless of however dressy
they may appear such attire
is too informal and takes
away from the social
formality that should be
expected as in Church,
funerals, weddings, and such
like.
In
reality they show a lack of
thoughtfulness and respect
in those areas to God and to
the others in such
circumstances.
There
is often another obscure
problem in wearing this kind
of attire too often:
Over the years I have
noticed that by wearing this
kind of attire women like to
cross their legs or spread
them apart while wearing a
shorter dress, and because
of habitual wear, they do
not always think how they
appear before others. When
this occurs it can become
very difficult and
embarrassing to a man who
may be sitting directly in
front of them.
There
have been such occasions
with me over past years when
on a visit or having guests
in our home when I had to
try real hard to keep my
eyes concentrated solely on
the woman’s face or
looking off in another
direction while talking to
them.
Each
time this has happened in my
presence these women did not
realize what they were doing
for this had become so much
a habit with them they just
did not realize what they
were doing. They were
perfectly innocent of any
wrong motives. They
just did not think.
A
Woman’s Natural Beauty —
From
my own personal point of
view such attire never
enhances a woman’s natural
beauty, femininity, and
appeal as does a lovely
right fitting dress.
One that reveals her
femininity, but not too
tight, nor too short (knee
length, or longer), nor too
low in the neck line.
Neither should they wear a
split skirt or split dress
that would go any higher
than the knee.
I
realize that many women in
today’s society wear the
kind of clothing, or the
lack of it, and
do so as to attract the
attention of men. We see
them on the screen and in
public. This has also
been seen within the Church
but in a less revealing
manner.
In
the early 60s I took some
girls in the Church aside
from the boys at a social
function to talk to them
about their very revealing
dresses. One of the young
ladies explained why they
did it to me this way:
“When we go to school we
want to wear sacks (very
loose fitting dresses) for
we know what the boys there
think. But in the Church it
is hard to get the boys
attention so we wear dresses
that are not as they should
be.”
Always,
under any circumstance, a
Christian woman should not
wear any kind of clothing so
as to put lust in a man’s
heart to cause him to commit
adultery in his mind and
heart and thereby sin
(Matthew 5:27-28)!
Nor
should she violate God’s
law by wearing clothing that
would so obscure her gender
as to put a question in the
mind of anyone as to whether
she is male or female. This
is also true with a man.
Based
on the laws and teachings of
God, there is no question
whatsoever, but that there
will be no uni-sex clothing
in that new world! Women
will be true to their
femininity as will the men
to their masculinity!
In
short, both men and women
should want to look like
they would want to appear
before Jesus Christ.
Hair
Length ----
A
little further on in this
writing I will touch on this
area.
For
now we will continue with
teachings of God’s laws
that are intended to
preserve the purity and
diversity of God’s
creation
Interwoven
Clothing —
“You
shall NOT wear a garment of
different sorts, such as
wool (animal) and linen
(plant) mixed together”
(Deuteronomy 22:11).
This
subject is found in
Leviticus along with other
topics already discussed in
this chapter.:
“You
shall keep My statutes.
You shall NOT let your
livestock breed with ANOTHER
KIND, You shall NOT
sow your field with MIXED
seed. Nor shall a garment of
mixed linen come upon you”
(Leviticus 19:19).
God’s
laws will eliminate
confusion whether in animals
or in humankind. If we
notice there is a clear
distinction between the
males and females of all
species in all of God’s
creation which includes men
and women! Men cannot
have babies nor can a woman
impregnate a man.
Note
the further comments from
Commentaries:
Deuteronomy
22:5-11 Matthew
Henry's Commentary on the
Whole Bible: New Modern
Edition
“IV.
Odd mixtures are here
forbidden, v. 9, 10.
2.
That which is contrary to
the plainness and purity of
an Israelite. They must not
gratify their own vanity and
curiosity by putting those
things together which the
Creator in infinite wisdom
had made asunder: they must
not be unequally yoked with
unbelievers, nor mingle
themselves with the unclean,
as an ox with an ass. ...
.”
Let
us further consider the
writing in the same Commentary:
God's
providence extends itself to
the smallest affairs, his
precepts do so, that even in
them we may be in the fear
of the Lord, as we are under
his eye and care. And yet
the significancy and
tendency of these statutes,
which seem little, are such
that, notwithstanding their
minuteness, being found
among the things of God's
law, which he has written to
us, they are to be accounted
great things.
I.
The distinction of sexes by
the apparel is to be kept
up, for the preservation of
our own and our neighbor's
chastity, v.
5.
Nature itself teaches that a
difference be made between
them in their hair (1 Cor
11:14), and by the same rule
in their clothes, which
therefore ought not to be
confounded, either in
ordinary wear or
occasionally. ...
It
