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RE: How Trump is following Hitlers playbook
that's the problem. i do know that. many know that. now more truths are coming out. even some of the severely anti-trumpers are starting to speak out.that's how we're able to realize the real criminals are getting free passes while they fabricate and stretch in corrupt systems against one.
it's no secret they called o'biden , basically,too senile to be prosecuted and no secret what killary did with evidence. it's also no secret what type of people were in charge of the "investigations?" and pushing the bogus garbage else where.
many reasons why the demonrats are dropping in popularity. the real threats to democracy have to be removed. if they aren't, things will continue to get worse.
at least some people are finally starting to "see".
How Trump is following Hitlers playbook
All criminal court cases require the prosecution to build a case against the felon, that is creating a case, it’s the law pretty much worldwide.If the judge decides the case holds no merit, or is based on fraudulent evidence it gets thrown out.
I’m surprised you didn’t know that.
What Makes Jesus Unique? No one else made the claims that He did, He is alive...............
So is there a compelling reason? Let's take a look again at the first set of points we made.
The Book of the Covenant speaks to a context Israel wouldn't be in for decades. Therefore, Moses cannot have written it at Mount Sinai. Really? Really. God is incapable of giving Moses a revelation that pertains to Israel's future.
It would kind of seem that the entire biblical genre of prophecy would disprove this idea.
But why would God do it so far in advance? There are honestly lots of good reasons. Perhaps he wanted to give them time to digest his commands. Perhaps most obviously, it's because he wanted these standards to be in place long before Israel ever settled in the land, so that when they finally did, they would have a clear understanding and expectation of how they were supposed to build the society.
Perhaps it's because God just wanted to speak in one authoritative blast at Mount Sinai and cover all the issues that were going to come up for the next several decades, maybe he wanted to give all the instructions he needed to give for society in one go at Mount Sinai.
There's lots of good reasons. Well, why only these very specific random commands. Perhaps while these laws seem random, it's not really about the specific laws themselves, but about the principles that they reveal. Perhaps the point is that these principles and values behind these commands do actually cover all the different examples that can come up in society.
And as BJ and I journey through the Book of the Covenant, we're going to see concepts come into play like personal responsibility for livestock, children respecting parents in greater detail.
And so perhaps when you look at the heart behind all these commands, it really covers everything. And perhaps for the judges of Israel, these are the only examples they would need to begin to figure out.
Oh, this is the pattern of how you apply the Ten Commandments to everyday life. We've got enough examples in the Book of the Covenant. We can spot the pattern and we can begin to do the same thing and apply it.
Well, couldn't some of these commands have been stolen from other law codes that were around at this time?
Yes, but but equally and quite frankly, it's more likely that those cultures were borrowing from Israel and the best dating doesn't actually tell us which came first between the Ten Commandments or the Code of Hammurabi.
But additionally, some similarities in any moral law code are inevitable. Just because two cultures have laws about stealing bread doesn't mean that one stole from the other. Oh, my gosh. You have a command about not stealing. We do too. This is crazy. I don't know if you've noticed this, but sin is super prevalent everywhere. Every people, every point in history, sin everywhere, no shortage of it.
And then lastly, well, well, what about the seemingly contradictory hearts behind the different laws on slavery? As I said, next week, B.J. is going to lead us in a Bible study on the hot issue of slavery. It's so great.
I'm just going to sit back and watch him deal with that.
I'm really, really, really looking forward to it. It's going to be it's going to be a great study, because if you if you don't know, this is still a hot topic. There are people who say I could never be a Christian because the Bible condones slavery. Have you looked into it? No, I'm a spiritual sinner, but it's going to take it on for us.
He's going to walk us through what the Book of the Covenant has to say about slavery. And he's going to deal with the whole issue of slavery in the Bible.
And so I don't want to give away any spoilers, but I am going to tell you before we can address Verse is on the subject of slavery, again, we need a thorough understanding of who wrote it, who he was writing to and the historical cultural context, because we can't offer an opinion on a text we don't even understand yet.
RE: How Trump is following Hitlers playbook
they're creating criminal cases. they don't actually have any. even as the truth that trump offered and wanted reserve troops for jan. 6th has come out, the lies are still trying to be pushed.o'biden is too senile for prosecution. killary has literally gotten away with murder and more. both protected under demonrat regimes when investigations started. both dismissed and white washed under the rug. even the Trump administration didn't enforce or go after killary. she did many felonious actions and no charges. she not only tampered with evidence, she destroyed it and more.
the only one being targeted is the one that fought to keep as many of their campaign promises as they could. also the only one with any executive privilege.
the real criminals keep getting a free pass. they have to stretch and fabricate against the one they're trying to stop.
RE: oregon farming laws
Yikes this is terrible situation there.RE: The 'worm moon' lunar eclipse...
None of that is news. do you want e to post my photos of the event hear. Btw it is mumbling joes puppeteer who wants t eradicate our beloved constitution. Hopefully sleepy joe won’t be reelected to threaten his own people more.How Trump is following Hitlers playbook
I think you will find the criminal cases will start soon, US courts take a long time to get to action.RE: How Trump is following Hitlers playbook
funny. demonrats cause and do the damages and trump gets the blame.pretty much expected. for someone every one says is a criminal it's awful fishy that all they can do push civil suits because they have nothing criminal to uphold. then they put the civil suit damages way over the top when they had no business being brought to begin with. all against one person. the one that had the best policies in over 30 years up to his ADMINISTRATION.
then lie about the current misadministration as being good and democratic as more wars have erupted and economic woes abound. more rights being stricken and the u.s. allowed to be invaded along with other countries to worse degrees.
hitler's playbook is winning. but only among the the people with TDS.
the demonrats started it with their character assassination from the day trump announced his run and the media helped feed the hysteria.
Trump helped the globe while the demonrats are keeping it in chaos. the hysteria plays out and not many can seem to actually think or see for themselves as they deny how much better trump's policies were.
carry on oh great sheeple. carry on. your mouth piece attempts are falling on more and more deaf ears as many others are starting to see the truth for themselves.
RE: New horror movie to my collection and a desire to go on a blind date at some point
Why a blind date Dan? More fun?
RE: How Trump is following Hitlers playbook
Well... Destruction will hit everybody, no matter their political preferences.I do doubt that Trumpistas have so much reflection on their deeds. I don't expect his supporters to be too intellectual a crowd. Then, I have a couple of FB friends from USA, who are totally decent people and anti-Trump. Plus, my Qigong teacher and Qigong group, whom I never will wish anything bad.
This day and age, you don't elect a person: you elect a direction and a team. Honestly, the team from the previous Trump election wasn't that bad (aside someone getting prison time on criminal charges). Now, we don't know who will run the show in case... but it will be the very same thing again: Trump will be uttering his nonsense while someone in the background gets the work done.
That's said, it doesn't mean that I want Trump to win. He's too loathable a figure to read news about him for the whole 4 years.
What Makes Jesus Unique? No one else made the claims that He did, He is alive...............
So write this down, the Bible contains different genres, and we need to be aware of what genre we are studying. We need to be aware of what genre we are studying. You know, you can't just read the Psalms and be like, I am so thankful that the Lord is here to smash the teeth of my enemies. I am so thankful for that.That's my that's my theme verse 8 right. Now, seriously, I got to say, there's like songs out there today, worship songs. Churches still sing about things like God's Smiting My Enemies. And I'm like, you've read the New Testament, right? Where Jesus says, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. Like like, you're aware of this, that this was David's journal. He was having a really, really bad day. And he's like, God, would you just take this person out?
It's not a piece of theology you were supposed to actively apply, OK, genre. Genre matters. Now, when we look at the issue of inspiration, the key verse, of course, is second Timothy 316, which tells us all scripture is given by inspiration of God.
Some of you have like, oh, finally something I can say, amen to all scripture is given by inspiration of God. So write this down. Here's what that statement means. It means that God is the ultimate initiator. He is the ultimate author. He is the ultimate editor. And he is the ultimate preserver of his word. Now, here's what that means when we say the Bible is inspired, it means everything that God wanted to be in there is in there, and there is nothing in there that he does not want to be in there, including the poetry, including depressed Solomon, including all of that stuff.
The history is there because God wants it in there. The poetry is there because God wants it in there. The philosophy, the truth statements, the parables are in there because God wants them in there. When we say that scripture is inspired, we mean that God is the ultimate initiation initiator, author, editor and preserver of scripture.
If you subscribe to the first view of interpreting the book of the Covenant that I've talked about, it does not mean that you don't believe scripture is inspired. It simply means that you believe that the Book of Covenant, the Book of the Covenant, has a different purpose.
You may believe that these commands are recorded in scripture to make the point that God expects us to apply his word to our everyday lives, even though sometimes we get it wrong. So, Jeff. Kind of sounds like you believe this first few. I don't I don't personally, I hold to a second view, I believe that Moses received the Book of the Covenant on Mount Sinai and shared it with the people of Israel at that time. And I'll tell you what it's journey through this.
Write this down. It's wise to start a study of any biblical text by simply reading what the text says. It's wise to start a study of any biblical text by simply reading what the text says. You don't need to listen to somebody talk about a text without actually reading it.
You've got to start by reading it. And when we examine the text itself, in this case around the Book of the Covenant. We find two undeniable truths, undeniable even in the original language. In Exodus 20 22, the first verse of the Book of the Covenant, we read, then the Lord said to Moses and the commands that make up the Book of the Covenant follow. There is no break or interjection that ever changes the subject of who is speaking, it's all got all the way through and then on the other side of it, in Exodus 24/7, as we read at the beginning, we're told that Moses took the Book of the Covenant and read in the hearing of the people.
This is telling us explicitly that Moses read from a list of commands known as the Book of the Covenant at Mount Sinai. That's what the text says, and so remember, the only reason to not interpret the text literally or plainly is if we find what a compelling reason to do so.
RE: How Trump is following Hitlers playbook
Riz, if you are a close friend with Jaccan you write her some nice words in private you recon?
She may need some love.
What Makes Jesus Unique? No one else made the claims that He did, He is alive...............
Objection. So, so. So then, Jeff, after all that. Are you claiming that the Book of the Covenant is not inerrant? Are you claiming that it's not inspired by God or are you claiming it's not true because it may contain man's view and not God's?Now, for those who haven't heard the term ignorant before, when we say that the Bible is an errant, we're claiming that the Bible is without error in its original form, without error when we say that it's inspired.
I think we need to be very clear about what it is that we're claiming, just as we do when we claim that the Bible is true. What are we actually saying when we say that it can't be as simple as we're saying everything in the Bible is true.
It can't be that simple because the Bible contains different genres. In other words, not all of scripture is God declaring absolute universal truth. That's not what all of scripture is. And two of the most obvious examples are Psalms and Proverbs. Psalms is primarily poetry. A lot of it is David's poetry. It's a songwriting journal, and much of it expresses David's heart personally. And therefore, it's not always absolute truth. Not every statement in the Psalms is an absolute truth.
Proverbs and Ecclesiastes contain observations of general truths recorded by the wisest human, not named Jesus, who ever lived Solomon.
But guess what? Ecclesiastes and Proverbs there's still tainted by Solomon's personal emotions and sin. Let me give you an example.
When we read something like Proverbs 22 six, which says train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
Let me ask you, is that an absolute truth? If a Christian set of parents raise a child, do their best to raise that child to love Jesus, is this verse 8 guaranteeing that without exception that child will end up following God? Is it guaranteeing that? Because if it is, then if you know any Christian's parents whose children walked away from the Lord and died in that state, then applying this verse 8 means that you can say to them, you did not raise up your child in a godly way.
That's what it means if this is absolute truth. Now, we all know this is not the case. We all know wonderful people. Unfortunately, wonderful godly parents and some of their children rejected God as adults and sometimes did not come back. What about To verse, where Solomon says Vanity of vanities all is vanity, where Solomon essentially declares life is meaningless?
No, no, don't try and get clever and be like will. I mean, without God, it is no the verse 8 itself. Is that an absolute truth?
Is life utterly meaningless? No, of course not, Solomon is writing this in a dilapidated, sin infused state, his mind is not right when he's writing this. It is not an absolute truth. And so what I'm sharing here to help you understand is the Bible contains genres. And when we say the Bible is true, we do not mean that every single statement in the Bible is an absolute universal truth.
We don't mean that. And if you're uncomfortable, that's because you've been taught something that's not true.
OK, now hang with me and then you're like, OK, everything's going to be OK.
The Bible also contains the genre of history, it records things that are true in the sense that they happened, but not true in the sense that they are right. So when we asked the question, is the Bible true, the answer is more nuanced than we might first realize when the Bible is dealing with issues of absolute truth and reality. Yes, the Bible is absolutely true. When the Bible is recording poetry, it's recording poetry. There may be truth within that poetry, but we would need to discern that by examining the parts of the Bible that are not poetic and that deal with absolute truth.
RE: How Trump is following Hitlers playbook
That's the second time you say that.Noted and yes we're awaiting that destruction.
Do you think it will be much worse this time around
than when he destroyed America last time?
RE: How Trump is following Hitlers playbook
Is that all you've got?Again?
Mind, when you support an adjudicated rapist, it's jolly difficult rationally defending the indefensible.
How Trump is following Hitlers playbook
I actually now hope Trump is elected, I can’t wait to watch and see all the Trump supporters writh in agony when he destroys America.Good luck in your dictator run country.
RE: Did Victoria Nuland resigned under pressure?
@ReconfortadorI agree with most of that, but I do see some hope (I love Trump, even if he can not fix the whole deep state in one day or even in one 4y periode).
How about you, do you see any good guys here or is it pitch black?
What is the way out of this would you say?
RE: Did Victoria Nuland resigned under pressure?
The text might be to long but I did read it. Again it shows us that concerning the use of power, violence and other criminal facts the US isn't better as Russia, China or any power on the geopolitical stage.Since the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors the new immigrants have conquered the American continent by violence, spreading diseases and support of the Catholic church of Rome!! This legacy is still active today. After first have taken the continent from the natives the descendents of the colonists
want to tule the whole world by there philisophy of freedom! Their freedom meaning retrictions for the others. After the WWII the US made Europe a (economical) "vassal" state of the USA. Now they want to go further, after the fall of the USSR. The USA expanded its power by incorporating the independent states into NATO or European community under the guise of freedom of choice for nations, ignoring the agreements made after WW II. American imperialism !! Therefore nothing was to bad to obtain the chosen goals.
There is where people as Victoria Nuland appear, their life is dedicated to bring all the proposed ideas to a good end. Though several presidents of the US did know about her activities but they did nothing to slow her down or condemn her at least, on the contrary they let her do it. The presidents came from both camps democrats and republicans. This shows that there is little difference in the mentality of current American politics. That this leads to reactions and war as in Ukraine and Gaza does n't bother them. As long as the profits from arms sales and from energy export remain guaranteed and make America even bigger. Elon Musk did respond to her resignation but is no better. For him too, the only thing that matters is money and the power over it.
RE: How Trump is following Hitlers playbook
Jac you are one seriously unwell individual. I don't even know where to start with that laundry list of insanity you just spewed. Your mind is clearly VERY, VERY disturbed. Take care. I mean that, sincerely.RE: How Trump is following Hitlers playbook
I have no idea what you are going on about and your hate. If draggrugs is me be proud and pat yourself on your back..
RE: How Trump is following Hitlers playbook
I realise you don't care and think it's irrelevant that Robert Reich is Jewish.That's because you have no understanding of how being Jewish is relevant when evaluating the socio-political dynamic in the US and how it is relevant to your crass suggestion that it's Reich who is a Nazi.
Hitler's playbook is quite literally embedded in our genes and we recognise the same stories told to us as children by the survivors (our parents) with what is in front of us now.
It's clear you don't recognise Hitler's playbook in Trump's actions because you didn't respond to the question in my last comment.
I'm afraid you can't claim that white. male, Christian conservatives are the persecuted minority when not only are they the ones who are in power regardless of who you vote for, but that the constitution was created by the very same largely in their own interests.
It's not the non-MAGA element who have relegated women to breeding mares (Mutterkreuz anyone?).
It's not the non-Maga element who wanted to strip Muslim Americans of their citizenship, deport Muslim people and stop people from Muslim countries entering the US (as Hitler did with the Jewish people).
It's not the non-MAGA element who wanted to shoot BLM protesters in the legs (as Hitler had the Resistance shot in the streets like dogs, likely including my grandfather.)
It's not the non-MAGA element who want to strip LGBTQ+ people of their human rights (as Hitler did even with their rights to liberty and life.)
It's not the non-MAGA element who came up with Jewish space lasers starting forest fires (as Hitler blamed the Jewish people for all ills however ridiculous and fantastical.)
It's not the non-MAGA element who blame anti-fascists for their own fascism (as Hitler did when the Reichstag was burned.)
It's not the non-MAGA element who disparages the differently abled (as Hitler so famously did.)
RE: How Trump is following Hitlers playbook
Well... whatever draggrugs is supporting, it must be shit.What I've heart about opinion in USA, right now Biden is more popular among reasonably healthy Republicans, than Trump. Though, Trump is a populist and given the lowering IQ level in the global population...
Then the low IQ-level individuals will feel the burden of war / inflation / destruction / cover bombing... on their backs. But they don't think in those constructions. The main matter with poverty and deprivation, that it is not capable of thinking a few steps beyond now. Populists use and misuse that. Poverty is their main supporter.
As to Hitler's playbook... Hitler had an ideology. Trump has none. He is going to say what he thinks the crowd wants to hear here and now. Next day he will tell you an opposite story. It's called opportunism.
By the way, rumour has is that there are 3 biggest opportunists in the world, that will survive any kind of catastrophe: rat, cockroach and man. From that point of view, Trump is in his element.
RE: How Trump is following Hitlers playbook
The Democrat bill would have codified 1.8m illegal entries per year into law. It also would have transferred jurisdiction to hyper partisan DC courts. Enforcement actions were optional. In sum, it was a complete and utter joke and slap in the face to the strong majority of Americans who want actual strong border security. Also, House Republicans passed a bill over a year ago on the border. Democrat Chuck Schumer in The Senate refused to take it up for a vote. Lastly, and actually most importantly, the president has all the authority needed to take action. He could shut the border down right now and announce that illegals are no longer being accepted. He could reinstate Trump border policies which he rescinded on his first day in office. But he doesn't. Because 10m+ illegals during his term was always the plan. A cheap new labor base for his multinational donors, and a new voting base (at least that's their hope) in the long term. The Biden administration's destruction of the nation is despicable. The chaos is engineered, there will no doubt be terrorist attacks as a result of the millions of people allowed entry who received no proper vetting. It's a recipe for disaster. Even people in blue cities who have long voted Democrat are rising up and speaking up. They're seeing illegals get preferential treatment. Community centers taken over to accommodate them, multinationals firing American citizens so they can hire illegals for less money instead. At a time when citizens are ALREADY struggling to make ends. The ruling class has complete contempt for the needs and wants of citizen. Power is the ONLY thing they care about.RE: How Trump is following Hitlers playbook
You kniw as well as anyone that biden does not need that legislation to do his job to protect our citizens. Biden is a puppet for marxism. If what you say is true why did joe biden fight Texas for wanting to protect their own border with Mexico. All biden has to do is put back in place the effective policies Trump had in place. It is not hard to see what the democrats end game is.How Trump is following Hitlers playbook
BS, you criticize anyone who disagrees within your warped opinions.You only get your information from conspiracy website, so anything you say here in CS I take as a joke and dismiss immediately, after the usual belly laugh.
Face it Chancer, Your hero is about to be imprisoned, you need to find a replacement, how about Kim, he fits your ideology perfectly.
How Trump is following Hitlers playbook
The republicans under order from Trump, refused to pas a resolution that would have reduced illegal immigration, so don’t blame Biden for something your failed ex president did.RE: He's letting you know...
Hi Bob ..good to see you. Hope everything is going well for you.
Here's clip about Pepsi.
RE: How Trump is following Hitlers playbook
I criticise people based on their actions, not on whatever their faith may or may not be. I had no idea Robert Reich was Jewish - nor do I care, anymore than if he was a Christian, Muslim, Buddhist or atheist. That's irrelevant to me. Trust you to lower yourself to such a despicable accusation and insinuation though. Mr Reich is indeed very much the modern-day propagandist - his deliberate distortions are nothing less than evil. And he will have to answer for such at the end of the day, as we all do for our transgressions.What Makes Jesus Unique? No one else made the claims that He did, He is alive...............
And we hear that and we go, well, that's wrong. That's a crappy way of writing history.
Well, we're really. Really, just because 3500 years ago in the ancient Near East, they didn't deal with history exactly the same way we do in the West in 2020, they're wrong.
It's just different, as we talked about earlier, we have to understand the historical and cultural context in which the author was writing as well as their intended audience.
Well, perhaps you're thinking. But Jeff, Jeff Moses wrote the Torah. Even Jesus said so on this point.
I believe that we know for sure or as close as we can get to sure. That Moses was not the only author of the Torah.
Now, it's true that during his earthly ministry, Jesus quotes from all five books in the Torah.
And every time he does so, he credits Moses as the author.
It's clear from Scripture that Jesus considers Moses to be the primary author of the Torah, which includes Exodus. However, there are places in the Torah, including Exodus, where it's undeniable that somebody else is the source.
Joshua Miriam, if the Ma Lamar and the Levitical priests even during Moses lifetime.
There's also information in the Torah that could only have been added after the death of Moses, for example, the death of Moses in Deuteronomy 34. Now, yes, technically God could have had Moses write about his own death, but how awkward would that be? You think God is like, OK, Moses, sit down. I'm going to give you today's chapter for the Torah. Let's start with the title, The Death of Moses. What?
What now? Yes. Could that have happened? Yes, technically it could have happened.
But I think that suggestion is a little bit of a stretch, and I hope you'll agree with me on that. And so for this reason, I would consider myself to be what's known as a supplementary and when it comes to the Torah.
So a supplementary and agrees with Jesus that Moses is the primary.
He is the core author of the Torah, but a supplementary and believes that the Torah was also added to and edited a little bit later on across the centuries by other qualified writers who were also inspired by the Holy Spirit.
So a supplement, one believes that the Torah is still 100 percent divinely inspired. Just over centuries, rather than the lifetime of one individual, in this case, Moses, this is viewing divine inspiration of the scriptures as a process rather than a singular event. And if you're nervous, let me just point out, we already hold this view regarding the formation of the biblical canon. If you have a Bible in your hands, you're already a supplementary.
And when it comes to how the Bible was formed, collectively, we believe that it was added to it was a process of coming together. Books were selected to be left out and considered extra biblical. And we believe that process unfolded over thousands of years.
We just believe that God was in control of the entries from beginning to end. We're all supplementation when it comes to the formation of the Bible. What I'm just suggesting is I'm also a supplementary.
And when it comes to the part of the Bible, that's the Torah.
The tradition of the Jewish fathers teaches that Moses received the Torah on Mount Sinai. He handed it down to Joshua, who then handed it down to the elders, who then handed it down to the prophets, who then handed it down to the men of the great assembly. And any of those men may have been part of God's divine process in assembling the Torah. Now, just to restate this again, this view does not clash with Jesus's teachings that Moses authored the Torah.
Moses was the main author and editor, and he should be considered as such.
Almost any book you read has an editor that's different to the author, any book, and nobody then says, well, then the author didn't really write it. Of course, he did. He just had an editor involved in the process, often more than one. Or how about this?
RE: How Trump is following Hitlers playbook
Uh huh.Of course that was the irony, not you mis-translating the German, or accusing a Jewish man of Nazism in order to support your favourite adjudicated rapist, fraud and insurrectionist who wanted to strip Muslim Americans of the citizenship.
Now what does that remind you of?
Anybody...?
RE: What Makes Jesus Unique? No one else made the claims that He did, He is alive...............
Hi Jenny ..hope you and Cor are doing well.Interesting information... So many things that people do and that have done are inspired by God or in some cases the Holy Spirit. We don't always know what the out comes will be but the impression is so strong it cannot be ignored. That's why we're not expected to know everything.. just have faith that God knows what needs to be done. Myself I've always wondered why there has to be wars and loved ones dying and the only reasoning that I am told is that God doesn't look at dying as we do. He gives us a memory so we can remember them. But to him death is no different than birth, when you die you go back to where you came from.
What Makes Jesus Unique? No one else made the claims that He did, He is alive...............
And in those verses is, there's this relationship described between a slave and a master that's so wonderful that when the time comes for the slave to be released in the seventh year, the slave doesn't want to leave. Because living and working for his his masters just so wonderful and so the Book of the Covenant prescribes how to walk through the scenario, what do you do with a slave who says, I don't want to leave, I just want to stay with you for the rest of my life?It's a vivid, beautiful, wonderful illustration of a biblical truth and it's clearly from the Lord.
And then later in the same chapter, Exodus 21 versus 20 and 21, we read this. It's on your outlines. And if a man beats his male or female servant with a rod so that he dies under his hand, he shall surely be punished. Notwithstanding, if he remains alive a day or two, he shall not be punished for he is his property.
So those verse is are saying, if you own a slave and you beat them so bad that they die right away, you're going to be considered a murderer. If it takes him 24 hours to 48 hours to die, you're in the clear because the slave is your property.
And that leads some scholars to say there seems to be sort of a different heart between these two laws about slavery, that maybe one is written by God and maybe one is written by a man attempting to apply the law of God and not doing a very good job.
And when some scholars put all this evidence together, they posit that perhaps the Book of the Covenant was written decades after Mount Sinai when Israel was settled in the land and perhaps it wasn't directly spoken commands from God.
Perhaps it's case law, legal verdicts from court cases by godly men in Israel who were appointed as judges and were attempting to apply the values of the Ten Commandments to everyday civil life in Israel, much like the Supreme Court in the United States is charged with applying the Constitution to everyday life.
Now, perhaps at this point in the message, if you're a Bible loving Christian, you're feeling super uncomfortable and you're telling yourself, OK, Jeffs got at least one other view he's going to share, maybe he'll come back from the heretical edge of the cliff and bring everything home.
And I'm going to get to that other view. But I just want to encourage you, if you're tense, remember what we talked about. The truth can handle being questioned, can handle being prodded and poked.
And when it comes to the truth, the solution is never to say, let's just shut down questions that shut it down. Let's not talk about it. The truth doesn't need you to do that.
So I'm going to stretch you further by addressing a couple of obvious objections that people might have to this first few, just as a quick reminder, when I refer to the Torah, I'm talking about the first five books of the Bible, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus numbers, Deuteronomy in Greek.
It's called the Pentateuch. So perhaps you're thinking, well, Jeff, the answer is really obvious. If the Book of the Covenant shows up at this point in Exodus, then it was obviously recorded at this point in history and not decades later. Well, the problem with that is there's lots of stuff in the Book of Exodus and other places in the Torah that's out of order chronologically. And the reason is really simple.
They didn't write history back then the same way we do it right now. They recorded it accurately. They recorded things as they happened.
But when they were putting them in a book or in the Torah, editors would often group things together by theme. So it's entirely possible that an editor of the Torah moved the Book of the Covenant from decades later to this point in Exodus, because the more radically it's connected to the Ten Commandments, it documents the people trying to apply the Ten Commandments to everyday life.
What Makes Jesus Unique? No one else made the claims that He did, He is alive...............
Any more than I can hear someone speak in a foreign language I've never heard before and critiqued their grammar, I don't even know what they're saying yet.And this is going to help us understand what the word of God is saying on this issue next week. And when we do that, I'll tell you this.
You're going to find that a whole lot of these supposed contradictions disappear very, very quickly.
Now, at the same time, even if the contradictions don't disappear and I look at this and I'm like, I don't like what this verse is saying.
Heaven forbid that I read one difficult to verse I can't understand and say this cannot be from God, even though the text says it is. Again, humility is key.
And just because I find it very difficult doesn't mean that it's not from God. So for me, the bottom line is that there is not, in my humble opinion, a compelling reason to not simply take the Book of the Covenant at face value.
That is to say that God gave it to Moses at Mount Sinai and he read it to the people there. But as always, you study, you research, you pray, discuss with mature believers and come to your own conclusions.
I'm going to close with this one point of practical application, no matter what view you take on interpreting the Book of the Covenant.
One thing is eminently clear. God expects his people to live out their daily lives in light of his values. That is crystal clear.
Let me say it again. God expects us people to live out their daily lives in light of his values. What that means is that he expects his word to be the lens through which we perceive reality. He expects his word to be the lens through which we see him ourselves and each other.
And can I tell you, the Lord still expects that from his people, he still expects that from the church, from you and I, but there is a difference for us.
For the Old Testament, Israelite, the law, the Ten Commandments, were to serve as their lens on life for us, for the New Testament church. The gospel is to serve as our lens on life.
So would you write this down?
The gospel is the lens through which the church is to view all of life and all of reality.
It's the lens through which we ought to view all of life and all of reality.
Obviously, you can't know the gospel without knowing the word everything we do, everything we say, everything we think, every person we interact with, our relationship with God.
The goal is to perceive all of that through the lens of the gospel as revealed in the word of God. That's the goal.
And to help us do that moment by moment, day by day, we have his word. But yes, even in those moments where it's not physically with us, we have the Holy Spirit.
Should we choose to be led? The Holy Spirit will in any moment lead us in the way to live in light of the gospel. If we choose for the Christian, the question we must ask ourselves every day is not is this legal? It's not a bad question as a start, though, let me just also say that I saw some people who were like, really? No, no, no, no.
Let me say it's not the only question. OK, I heard Pastor Jeff say the question that we asked primarily should not be how does society say I should live? The question above every other question for the Christian every day is how does the gospel say I should live? How does the gospel say I should respond? How does the Gospel say I should treat them? How does the gospel say I should manage my time, my resources, how does the gospel say my relationship should function?
That's a sermon in and of itself. And because I'm a gracious preacher, I'm not going to preach it right now, but I'll ask you to think on that and pray on that this week. And so we had a lot of academic stuff this week going into the Book of the Covenant. And it's going to be fascinating. It's going to be a blessing. And we are going to get into the thick of some of the most challenging passages in the scripture.