Is the Law of Moses Our Spiritual Guide? (Part 1)

Is the Law of Moses Our Spiritual Guide? (Part 1)
Tim Haile, for the Parkway church of Christ

Many people turn to the Old Testament for their authority for modern religious practices. The most commonly defended practices are those of tithing, Sabbath observance, burning of incense in worship, instrumental music in worship, infant church membership and a separate priesthood. This raises an important question: Are we under the Law of Moses today? Should we seek to justify today’s religious practices by appealing to the Law of Moses? Let us consider some important reasons why we should not.

1. People are often accused of “not believing in the Old Testament” when they teach that the Old Testament is not our standard of authority. However, there is a difference between inspiration and authority. “All Scripture is inspired of God…” (2 Timothy 3:16), and the apostle Paul made it clear that this includes both Old and New Testament “Scriptures.” He wrote, “For the Scripture says, ‘You shall not muzzle the ox when he treads out the grain,’ and, ‘The laborer is worthy of his wages’” (1 Timothy 5:18). The first quote is from Moses (Deut. 25:4). The second quote is from Jesus (Luke 10:7). Paul classified both as “Scripture.” It should also be noted that Jesus broke the Old Testament “Scriptures” down into three parts: the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms (Luke 24:44, 45). No true Bible believer denies the inspiration and legitimacy of the Old Testament. All “Scripture” must be believed, accepted, and considered as “profitable for salvation” (2 Tim. 3:16, 17). The question is not whether or not one should “believe in” the Old Testament, for he must! The question concerns the present purpose and place of those Scriptures. That is, do they constitute an authoritative religious guide for people today?

2. The Law of Moses was given to the Jewish people under a theocratic form of government. This is often overlooked by religious people of today. They fail to consider that many of the Mosaic laws had to do with maintaining the purity of the Abrahamic lineage and the peculiarity of the Jewish people. After summoning the Israelite people, Moses said to them, “The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. Not with our fathers did the Lord make this covenant, but with us, who are all of us alive here today” (Deuteronomy 5:2, 3). This was the nation that God had earlier delivered from Egyptian slavery (Deut. 5:6). Non-Jews before the cross were “alienated from the commonwealth of Israel,” and “strangers to the covenant” (Eph. 2:12). Their acceptance required a change of laws (Eph. 2:14), hence the inauguration of the New Covenant. (more to come…)

View past articles at http://parkwayarticles.blogspot.com. Please join us for worship and Bible study at our building located at 125 Hilltopper Ave, Bowling Green, KY 42101. We meet each Sunday at 10:00AM and 6:00PM for worship, and Sundays at 9:00AM and Wednesdays at 7:00PM for Bible study. Our radio program is aired each Sunday morning at 8:00AM on the WKCT 930AM band. Phone: (270) 842-2049 – Email: timhaile@mac.com.

Barack Obama’s “Pay-Grade” and the Sanctity of Human Life

Barack Obama’s “Pay-Grade” and the Sanctity of Human Life
Tim Haile, for the Parkway church of Christ

In a forum hosted by the Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California, August 16, 2008, Rick Warren asked Barack Obama, “At what point does a baby get human rights?” Obama replied, "Whether you're looking at it from a theological perspective or a scientific perspective, answering that question with specificity is above my pay grade."

Though many of us do prefer that our presidents have at least some knowledge of the Bible, being president does not require one to be a theologian or a Bible scholar. One can serve as president of the United States without being proficient in biblical hermeneutics or skilled in biblical interpretation. However, I propose that one can have a pretty small “pay grade,” and still be able to answer Warren’s baby question!

Obviously, Bible believers have no difficulty answering Warren’s question. The angel told Joseph to not be afraid to take Mary for his wife: “for that which is CONCEIVED in her is of the Holy Ghost” (Matt. 1:20). Mary herself was told, “You shall CONCEIVE in your womb, and bring forth a son, and shall call his name Jesus” (Luke 1:31). Jesus was “Jesus” at the point of conception. Luke 1:36 discusses Mary’s cousin Elisabeth, saying that she had also CONCEIVED a son. That son [John, the Baptist] would later “leap in her womb” upon Elisabeth hearing the salutation of Mary (Luke 1:41). We are told that Rebekah’s children struggled together within her. The Lord told her that, “Two nations are in your womb; And two peoples shall be separated from your body; And one people shall be stronger than the other; And the older shall serve the younger” (Genesis 25:22, 23). While yet in their mother’s womb, these two boys [Jacob and Esau] were identified as the progenitors of two great nations. Specific details were given about their personalities, which would affect their future relationships with one another. Jeremiah was still in his mother’s womb when God ordained him to be a prophet (Jer. 1:5). David spoke of God’s knowledge of his development while he was still in his mother’s womb (Psalm 139:13-16). How much money, if any, does a person have to make in order to understand these plain Bible statements and principles?

There is also the matter of modern medical technology. High-tech ultrasound equipment allows us to observe the behavior of unborn babies, and study their reactions to various stimuli. More and more, medical science is buttressing the Bible in proving that life begins at conception. Barack Obama really needs to reconsider his answer.

View past articles at http://parkwayarticles.blogspot.com. Please join us for worship and Bible study at our building located at 125 Hilltopper Ave, Bowling Green, KY 42101. We meet each Sunday at 10:00AM and 6:00PM for worship, and Sundays at 9:00AM and Wednesdays at 7:00PM for Bible study. Our radio program is aired each Sunday morning at 8:00AM on the WKCT 930AM band. Phone: (270) 842-2049 – Email: timhaile@mac.com.

Days of Creation 2

The Days of Creation (2)
Tim Haile, for the Parkway church of Christ

As we began to discuss in last week’s article, some have attempted to harmonize the Genesis creation account with evolutionary uniformitarianism. This has led some to claim that the “days” of Genesis chapter one are not literal, 24-hour days, or to claim that the days are literal, but that they have long ages between them. There are irrefutable reasons for concluding that the Genesis creation days are literal, consecutive, 24-hour days. Let us consider some of these reasons:

1. A basic rule of interpretation says that text should be interpreted and understood literally unless there are good reasons for it to be interpreted figuratively. A natural reading of Genesis 1:1-31 leads one to think that God created all things in 6, literal, consecutive 24-hour days.

2. The “days” of Genesis one are mentioned in connection with the phrase “evening and morning” (1:5, 8, 13, 19, 23, 31). As a rule, whenever the Bible describes the “evening” or “morning” of a particular day, those “days” are literal, 24-hour days.

3. The Jewish workweek was fashioned upon the creation week. Moses wrote, “It [the Sabbath] is a sign between me and the children of Israel forever: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed” (Ex. 31:17). Moses was clearly describing a normal 7-day week, and he drew a parallel between that week and God’s creation week. Six days were to be devoted to work, and the seventh day was to be devoted to God. The point and parallel are lost if the creation week was not a normal calendar week.

4. Jesus placed the creation of mankind at “the beginning of the creation of God” (Mark 10:6). If the creation days were literal, 24-hour days, then the Lord’s description works. Very little time would have passed from the first day to the sixth. However, how could Jesus’ description be accurate if each day of creation spanned 700 million years? With such an interpretation there is no sense in which it would be accurate to identify human creation with “the beginning of creation!” We shall examine this further in our next article.

View past articles at http://parkwayarticles.blogspot.com. Please join us for worship and Bible study at our building located at 125 Hilltopper Ave, Bowling Green, KY 42101. We meet each Sunday at 10:00AM and 6:00PM for worship, and Sundays at 9:00AM and Wednesdays at 7:00PM for Bible study. Our radio program is aired each Sunday morning at 8:00AM on the WKCT 930AM band. Phone: (270) 842-2049 – Email: timhaile@mac.com.

Days of Creation 1

The Days of Creation (1)
Tim Haile, for the Parkway church of Christ

In spite of its many infallible proofs, including its hundreds of fulfilled prophecies, the Bible is always under assault. These attacks come primarily from people who wish to live their lives as they please, absent of any moral standards or restraints. These people certainly do not want to be told that they are wrong, nor do they even want people thinking that they are wrong! They hope to banish all inhibitions and the stigma that is attached to certain behavior and conduct. The first and greatest hindrance to them is obviously the Bible. They need for the Bible to be destroyed or at least discredited. History records many attempts at both.

Infidels of the past have attempted to prevent the very publishing of the Bible. Henry VIII outlawed the translation of the Scriptures into the English language (1530). In 1535, the famous commentator, William Tyndale was strangled and burned at the stake for smuggling 18,000 copies of the English Bible into England. Incidentally, only 2 of those copies survived! Others have tried similar things and have failed.

Having lost the battle to rid the earth of Bibles, infidels and others now use a more “civil” method in their attempt to destroy the Bible. They seek to discredit the Bible by alleging that it contains errors and discrepancies. One of the most common allegations is that the Bible contradicts “science.” I placed “science” in quotation marks, for true science is knowledge: It has to do with what is factual, observable, provable and demonstrable. The Bible never contradicts true science. This claim that the Bible contradicts science has opened the door for an assault upon the very first chapter of the Bible: Genesis chapter one – the Creation account. The evolutionary THEORY denies creation, and requires a uniformitarian approach to origins. The Bible timeline for origins is entirely inconsistent with their time range. Evolutionists require billions of years for their theory to work. The Bible does not provide for such a long period of time. This has led some people to look for a way to harmonize the statements of Genesis one with certain evolutionary tenets. Consequently, some claim that the “days” of Genesis one are not literal, 24-hour days, but represent eons of time. Others claim that the days are literal, but that they are not contiguous. It is claimed that the days have long ages sandwiched in between them. We shall examine this matter in subsequent articles.

View past articles at http://parkwayarticles.blogspot.com. Please join us for worship and Bible study at our building located at 125 Hilltopper Ave, Bowling Green, KY 42101. We meet each Sunday at 10:00AM and 6:00PM for worship, and Sundays at 9:00AM and Wednesdays at 7:00PM for Bible study. Our radio program is aired each Sunday morning at 8:00AM on the WKCT 930AM band. Phone: (270) 842-2049 – Email: timhaile@mac.com.