A Nation of laws...the Wayfarer 3/8/15

A Nation of laws
3/8/15

Regard them not that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God.

thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honor the face of the old man, and fear thy God: I am the Lord.

And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not vex him.

But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your  God.

Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in meteyard, in weight, or in measure.

Just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin, shall ye have: I am the Lord your God which brought you out of the land of Egypt.

Therefore shall ye observe all my statutes, and all my judgments, and do them: I am the Lord."

(Leviticus 19:31-37)

Israel was chosen by God to receive His covenants, and to receive the blessings that came with those covenants if and only if those covenants were honored.

To honor those covenants and to receive those blessings required the establishment of boundaries, to be followed by the family of Abraham, that later became the nation of Israel.

The book of Leviticus includes many of these laws handed down to the nation that grew from the seed planted in that one family to cover the earth… Laws that were given for protection and to maintain the purity of those given any blessings by the Creator.

These laws were many, and covered all aspects of life as well as all aspects of worship that were required by God to continue to grow and flourish among the heathen and ungodly that surrounded that once fledgling nation.

As Israel grew in number and in strength, the blessings continued and were intended to be passed from generation to generation, not only for Israel, but for those choosing to “sojourn” among them as well.

As with any nation, in order to sojourn, there was also the requirement to keep and follow the laws of that nation….and the requirement for that nation to treat the sojourners as one of their own as well as long as that law was followed and honored.

There was no room for discrimination nor for segregation, but the reminder that that nation was once itself sojourners and strangers in a land that chose to enslave and persecute them.

As time progressed, the laws were violated, the covenants dishonored and those intended to secure and pass on those laws twisted and contorted them causing the blessings to be removed, the people to become less than intended, and the covenant itself to become inadequate to proliferate the intended blessings.

A new covenant was established through Christ Jesus, who brought that covenant through the purification of that law once more, not negating any of the laws already given, but fulfilling the requirements of further sacrifices as had been ongoing prior to Him giving the ultimate sacrifice to God, the blood of God’s own Son!

That sacrifice freed not only Israel, but all mankind as well by simplifying and purifying the law already given.

Christ came with a simple message of redemption through repentance, and a single commandment that echoes that given in Leviticus, of love.

That love that is required contains the entirety of the Law, because if that love is given, no other violation of that law can occur.

Choice remains as to whether to honor that law, choice given now to each individual that breathes the air created to sustain life by God himself.

Redemption for repentance is still the requirement. That blood that was given is only available through having met that requirement. Without that blood, no sacrifice will suffice to God, and redemption remains impossible for any.

The blood has already been given, but the repentance, and the choice to follow the commandment remains to the individual.

All man’s laws are paltry, and often ignored.

Those laws exist for a reason… safety and security of nations.

Simple violations of traffic laws create dangers and take lives daily. Some are intentionally ignored, some enforced with regard to the individual violating them, and the means available to them to create havoc and destroy the lives of the enforcement officers chosen by those violating them.

Some are simply partially enforced for convenience sake, eg. A friend of mine, a State trooper often quoted in regard to the speed laws, “ five is fine, nine he’s mine.” This meant simply that that law regarding speed on the highways was flexible in the eyes of that particular enforcer.

The laws of God are not so flexible, and never paltry.

A nation’s existence revolves on the axis of its laws.

It is either a nation of laws, or no nation at all. It is either a civilization that predicates those laws on those given by God, or an ungodly, uncivilized nation.

Again the choice is that of the individuals comprising that nation.

I am a sojourner in any nation where I choose to live. I may choose to honor the laws of that nation, or choose to go elsewhere if I do not wish to obey those laws.

I may not choose to obey only those I wish to, but must either obey them all or get them changed or leave, or violate them and expect the punishments exacted and already established.

God’s laws may not be changed, and there is no place to go that they are not enforced in full, not by man, but by God himself.

Redemption for repentance!

Given and accepted by this simple sinner saved by grace through faith in the true Giver of that Law, not Moses, But God Himself, that grace given only through the blood sacrifice of His Son Christ Jesus!

I remain that simple sinner saved by grace through faith in the sacrifice already given, still in fear of compromising that law, not because of any necessity for further sacrifice, but because of the fact that that unchanging law leads to unchanging promise of blessing, and compromise leads to unchanging withholding of that blessing.

I remain the soldier and wayfarer in a world that IS in constant change, constant violation of that law, and even in violation of all the laws expounded and promoted by those in power, reminding them as well of the fact that God’s law applies to all, not just those considered without the affluence and influence necessary to avoid the consequences of man’s laws.

Amen and Amen

2 Timothy 1:12 King James Version (KJV)

¹² For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.

the Wayfarer