-by Belo Alvaran

God’s various JUDGMENTS continued

Section XIV.    JUDGES TO ARBITRATE DISPUTES

Exod 22:9 For all manner of trespass, [whether it be] for ox, for ass, for sheep, for raiment, [or] for any manner of lost thing, which [another] challenges to be his, the cause of both parties shall come BEFORE THE JUDGES; [and] whom the judges shall condemn, he shall pay double unto his neighbor.

Section XV.     ANIMALS ON LOAN

10 If a man delivers unto his neighbor an ass, or an ox, or a sheep, or any beast, to keep; and IT DIES, or be HURT, or DRIVEN AWAY (by itself), no man seeing [it]: 11 [Then] shall an oath of the LORD be between them both, that he has not put his hand unto his neighbor’s goods; and the owner of it shall accept [thereof], and he shall NOT make [it] good.

IF STOLEN

12 And if it be STOLEN from him, he shall make restitution unto the owner thereof.

IF TORN BY WILD BEASTS

13 If it be TORN IN PIECES (presumably by wild beasts), [then] let him bring it (the carcass) [for] witness (evidence), [and] he shall NOT make good that which was torn.

IF BORROWED

14 And if a man BORROWS [ought, a work animal] of his neighbor, and it be HURT, or DIES, the owner thereof [being] NOT with it, he shall surely make [it] good. 15 [But] if the OWNER thereof [be] with it, he shall not make [it] good: if it (the animal)[be] an hired [thing], it came for (or is covered in) his (i.e., the owner’s) hire.

Modern application:  This judgment is may be invoked on hired equipment, such as a taxi. If the driver is with it, any damage to the car should be charged against him. 

Section XVI.     DOWRY FOR VIRGINS

16 And if a man entices a maid that is not betrothed (not yet engaged to be married), and lies with her, he shall surely endow (pay dowry for) her to be his wife. 17 If her father utterly refuses to give her unto him, he shall pay money (nevertheless, apparently as fine) according to (or equivalent to) the dowry of virgins (but she will not become his wife) 

Section XVII.     TREATMENT OF WITCHES

Exod 22:18 You shall not suffer a witch to live.

We cannot identify witches.  But rebellion, in God’s eyes, is tantamount to witchcraft so that a rebel is considered a witch.  We should not support a rebel’s cause.

1Sam 15:23 (KJV, Samuel speaking to King Saul) For REBELLION [is as] the sin of WITCHCRAFT, and stubbornness [is as] iniquity and idolatry. Because you (King Saul) have rejected the word of the LORD, he had also rejected you from [being] king.

Preaching the gospel, when God doesn’t want it done, is tantamount to rebellion in itself and, therefore, as the sin of witchcraft:

Amos 8:11 (KJV) Behold, the days come, says the Lord GOD, that I will send a FAMINE in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD:

Mr. Armstrong had a claim to his being commissioned to preach the gospel to the whole world.  When he died, there was no God-trained successor to take over his Work.  He selected Mr. Joseph W. Tkach Sr. at random before his death.  The God-prophesied ‘FAMINE of the word’ therefore begun at his death.  Those former WCG ministers who stood up to preach the gospel are therefore countermanding God.   By God’s definition of rebellion, they are similar to witches and should be avoided.

Amos 5:13 (KJV) Therefore the prudent shall keep silence IN THAT TIME; for it [is] an evil time.

That evil time is now.  Therefore now is the time to keep silence.

Section XVIII.     BESTIALITY

Exod 22:19 Whosoever (man or woman, see Levi 20:15-16) lies with a beast shall surely be put to death.

Section XIX.    SACRIFICES TO OTHER GODS

20 He that sacrifices unto [any] god, save unto the LORD only, he shall be utterly destroyed.

To see how this was enforced, let’s fast-forward to the time when the Tabernacle was already constructed.  God issued an ordinance to the effect that sacrifices were to be attended to by priests. This ordinance was part of the duties and responsibilities of priests under the Order of Aaron:

Levi 17:3 (KJV, the LORD speaking to Moses) What man soever [there be] of the house of Israel, that kills an ox, or lamb, or goat, in the camp, or that kills [it] out of the camp, 4 And brings it not unto the DOOR OF THE TABERNACLE of the congregation, to offer an offering unto the LORD before the tabernacle of the LORD; blood shall be imputed unto that man; he had shed blood; and that man shall be cut off from among his people: 5 To the end (or for the purpose) that the children of Israel may bring their sacrifices, which they offer in the open field, even that they may bring them unto the LORD, unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, unto the priest, and offer them [for] peace offerings unto the LORD. 6 And the priest shall sprinkle the blood upon the altar of the LORD [at] the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and burn the fat for a sweet savor unto the LORD. 7 And they shall no more offer their SACRIFICES UNTO DEVILS, after whom they have gone a whoring. This shall be a statute forever unto them throughout their generations.

Section XX.     TREATMENT OF STRANGER – 1

Exod 22:21 You shall neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him: for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.

Vex, Heb yanah, means maltreat, abuse, to bully.  Oppress, Heb lachats, means afflict, tyrannize, dominate.

Section XXI.     TREATMENT OF WIDOWS AND ORPHANS

Exod 22:22 You shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child. 23 If you afflict (trouble, cause problems) them in any wise, and they cry at all unto me, I will surely hear their cry; 24 And my wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.

The widow and the fatherless, and strangers, have special provisions in God’s law:

Deut 24:19 (KJV) When you cut down your harvest in your field, and have forgotten a sheaf in the field, you shall not go again to fetch it: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow: that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.

The phrase “have forgotten a sheaf” is important.  What if the reaper “remembers” all the sheaves?  Then the widow has nothing to glean.  It is therefore an indirect command for the reapers to deliberately “forget” some sheaves as an act of kindheartedness:

Ruth 2:15 (KJV) And when she (Ruth, a widow) was risen up to glean, Boaz (the owner of the field) commanded his young men (who were reapers), saying, Let her glean even among the sheaves, and reproach her not: 16 And let fall also [some] of the handfuls on purpose for her, and leave [them], that she may glean [them], and rebuke her not.

17 So she gleaned in the field until even, and beat out that she had gleaned: and it was about an ephah (a dry measure of quantity about 40 liters) of barley.

Deut 24:20 When you beat your olive tree (to harvest the fruits), you shall not go over the boughs again: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow.

21 When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not glean [it] afterwards: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow.

Section XXII.     MONEY LENDING

Exod 22:25 If you LEND MONEY to [any of] my people [that is] poor by you, you shall not be to him as a USURER, neither shall you lay upon him usury (INTEREST).

26 If you at all take your neighbor’s raiment to pledge (i.e., collateral for a loan), you shall deliver it unto him by that the sun goes down: 27 For that [is] his covering only, it [is] his raiment for his skin: wherein shall he sleep? and it shall come to pass, when he cries unto me, that I will hear; for I [am] gracious.

Covering also applies to one’s house.  American bankers foreclosed many houses offered as collaterals by their fellow citizens rendering many Americans homeless. This became prevalent due to the “subprime loan” practice of banks that started in 2007.  By 2015, approximately 8 million houses mostly built on subprime loans in the US were reportedly foreclosed. (Source: https://www.mintpressnews.com/empty-homes-outnumber-the-homeless-6-to-1-so-why-not-give-them-homes/207194/)

There is now a homelessness epidemic in the United States.

U.S. NEWS 

Homelessness Rises For Second Year In A Row In U.S. After Years Of Decline

More than half a million people nationwide were homeless on a given night this year (2019), according to a government report.

By Sarah Ruiz-Grossman

About 553,000 people nationwide were homeless on a single night in January 2018, according to a report released Tuesday by the Department of Housing and Urban Development….Of those who were homeless, about two-thirds stayed in shelters or transitional housing, while about one-third were considered “unsheltered,” meaning they were sleeping on the street, in abandoned buildings, or other places “not suitable for human habitation.”

12/18/2018 06:06 pm ET Updated Jan 22, 2019
Source:https://www.huffpost.com/entry/homelessness-statistics-united-states-2018_n_5c1970a9e4b02d2cae8e322e

Here’s another news from Zerohedge:

Homeless Crisis In Progressive Cities Reaches Fever Pitch 

by Tyler Durden

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-08-20/total-failure-homeless-crisis-progressive-cities-reaches-fever-pitch

“This summer, Fox News‘ Barnini Chakraborty embarked on an ambitious project to chronicle the crisis in four WEST COAST cities; Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Portland, Oregon.

“In each city, we saw a lack of safety, sanitation and civility,” writes Chakraborty. “Residents, the homeless and advocates say they’ve lost faith in their elected officials’ ability to solve the issue. Most of the cities have thrown hundreds of millions of dollars at the problem only to watch it get worse.” 

“It’s the stale stench of liquor and HUMAN WASTE that hits you first, Chakraborti writes of Los Angeles. “Then it’s visual — row after row of dirty tarp tents crammed together on the sidewalk next to piles of rotting trash and broken appliances. There are half-dressed, drugged-out SHELLS OF PEOPLE wandering aimlessly in the middle of the street. Some curse at cars. Others just stare. There are fights, prostitution and rodent burrows. This is the fabled Skid Row in Los Angeles and it’s a disaster…

“Meanwhile, on any given day in San Francisco “you can see souped-up Lamborghinis and blinged-out trophy wives in one part of the city, then walk over a few blocks and see piles of human feces, puddles of urine and vomit caked on the sidewalks. The misery of homelessness, mental illness and drug addiction hits deep in San Francisco and has turned parts of a beautiful city into a public toilet,” according to the report. 

“As the problem grows, residents are finding themselves at a crossroads. The compassion for those struggling is constantly being challenged by a fear for their own safety and quality of life. It never had to get this bad, say critics, who are appalled that it’s getting worse every day. –Fox News” (End of quotes)

It’s the same scenario in other areas where there are homeless people.  These modern Israelites have not yet realized that they are living under curse for breaking God’s covenant, i.e., for God to be their God and they to be his people:

Deut 28:15 (KJV) But it shall come to pass, if you will not hearken unto the voice of the LORD your God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes (and of course the judgments) which I command you this day; that all these curses shall come upon you, and overtake you:

16 Cursed [shall] you [be] in the city, and cursed [shall] you [be] in the field (the residential areas).

17 Cursed [shall be] your basket and your store (the economy).

18 Cursed [shall be] the fruit of your body (physical and mental health), and the fruit of your land (agriculture), the increase of your kine (livestocks), and the flocks of your sheep.

19 Cursed [shall] you [be] when you come in, and cursed [shall] you [be] when you go out (everywhere).

20 The LORD shall send upon you cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that you set your hand unto for to do, until you be destroyed, and until you perish quickly; because of the wickedness of your doings, WHEREBY YOU HAVE FORSAKEN ME. 

We will study in detail all the curses and their fulfillments when we finish the three provisions of the covenant, namely, commandments, judgments and statutes.  We are still in the JUDGMENTS.

Section XXIII.          DUE RESPECT FOR JUDGES

Exod 22:28 You shall not revile (insult) the gods (judges), nor curse the ruler (such as President or Prime Minister) of your people. {gods: or, judges}

Comments:  Mr. Armstrong was once our judge in the Church of God.  It is therefore surprising to hear some of his own converts and ministers revile him.  There are websites dedicated to attacking his person and character.  Character assassination is reviling.  And it is murder.

At this time in the US and almost everywhere, it has become a sport to revile a ruler.  Talkshows deriding the President, comedians making fun of their leader, or even professionals making ridiculous diagnoses on his health, mental state, and even denigrating his physical features have become very common.  In one instance, trolling teen-agers were being blamed for wreaking havoc on the US President’s political campaign.  The West is fast becoming a habitation of devils.  In fact, it would appear that it already is:

Reve 18:1 (KJV) And after these things I (John the Apostle) saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.  2 And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is BECOME THE HABITATION OF DEVILS, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every UNCLEAN and HATEFUL bird.

Section XXIV.          FIRSTFRUITS AND FIRSTBORN SONS

Exod 22:29 You shall not delay [to offer] the first of your ripe fruits, and of your liquors: the FIRSTBORN OF YOUR SONS shall you give unto me. 

Section XXV            FIRSTBORN MALE TO BE REDEEMED

Exod 13:13 (KJV) And every firstling of an ass (unclean animal) you shall redeem with a lamb (a clean animal); and if you will not redeem it, then you shall break its neck: and all the firstborn of man (male) among your children shall you REDEEM.

The first batch of Israelite firstborns was redeemed by the Levites:

Numb 3:12 (KJV) And I, behold, I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel INSTEAD of all the firstborn that opens the matrix among the children of Israel: therefore the Levites shall be mine;

13 Because ALL THE FIRSTBORN [ARE] MINE; [for] on the day that I smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I HALLOWED UNTO ME ALL THE FIRSTBORN IN ISRAEL, both man and beast: MINE SHALL THEY BE: I [am] the LORD.

The LORD’s action was recorded earlier in Numbers 3:

Numb 3:39 (KJV) All that were numbered of the Levites, which Moses and Aaron numbered at the commandment of the LORD, throughout their families, all the males from a month old and upward, [were] twenty and two thousand (22,000)

40 And the LORD said unto Moses, Number all the firstborn of the males of the children of Israel from a month old and upward, and take the number of their names.

41 And you shall take the Levites for me (I [am] the LORD) INSTEAD of all the firstborn among the children of Israel; and the cattle of the Levites instead of all the firstlings among the cattle of the children of Israel.

42 And Moses numbered, as the LORD commanded him, all the firstborn among the children of Israel. 43 And all the firstborn males by the number of names, from a month old and upward, of those that were numbered of them, were twenty and two thousand two hundred and threescore and thirteen (22, 273).

44 And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying, 45 Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of their cattle; and the Levites shall be mine: I [am] the LORD. 46 And for those that are to be redeemed of the two hundred and threescore and thirteen (273) of the firstborn of the children of Israel, which are more than the Levites;

47 You shall even take FIVE SHEKELS apiece by the poll, after the shekel of the sanctuary shall you take [them]: (the shekel [is] twenty gerahs:)

Let’s return to Numbers 18:

Numb 18:16 And those (firstborn of MAN) that are to be redeemed from A MONTH OLD (only eight days for beast, Exod 23:30) shall you redeem (note that this is a COMMAND), ACCORDING TO YOUR ESTIMATION (i.e., Schedule of Fees in Numb 3:47 above), for the MONEY of FIVE SHEKELS after the shekel of the sanctuary, which [is] twenty gerahs.

Five shekels in the Bible equals 100 grams of pure silver, costs US$ 55 in August 2019.

Firstborns given to Aaron the Levitical High Priest:

Numb 18:15 (KJV, the LORD speaking to Aaron the High Priest) Everything that opens the matrix in all flesh, which they bring unto the LORD, [whether it be] of MEN or beasts, shall be yours (Aaron): nevertheless the FIRSTBORN of MAN shall you surely redeem (with five shekels), and the firstling of UNCLEAN BEASTS shall you redeem.

Let’s return to God’s command in Exod 13:

Exod 13:13 (KJV) And every firstling of an ass you shall redeem with a lamb; and if you will not redeem it, then you shall break his neck: and ALL THE FIRSTBORN OF MAN AMONG YOUR CHILDREN SHALL YOU REDEEM (with five shekels).

14 And it shall be when your son asks you in time to come, saying, What [is] this? that you shall say unto him, By strength of hand the LORD brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage:

15 And it came to pass, when Pharaoh would hardly let us go, that the LORD slew all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man, and the firstborn of beast: therefore I sacrifice to the LORD all that opened the matrix, being males; BUT ALL THE FIRSTBORN OF MY CHILDREN I REDEEM.

God the Father redeemed us, the members of the Church of the Firstborn because we are his firstborn. 

Hebr 12:22 (KJV, Paul speaking to his converts) But you are come unto Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, 23 To the general assembly and CHURCH OF THE FIRSTBORN, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,

1Pet 1:18 (KJV) Forasmuch as you know that you were not REDEEMED with corruptible things, [as] silver and gold, from your vain conversation (sinful ways) [received] by tradition from your fathers;

19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

In return, God the Father wants us to redeem our own firstborn son, probably, just probably, as his way of reminding us that we have been redeemed by him from the death penalty of sin. 

Let’s read again the command in Numb 18:16:

Numb 18:16 And those (firstborn of MAN) that are to be redeemed from A MONTH OLD (only eight days for beast, Exod 23:30) SHALL YOU REDEEM, according to your estimation (prescribed by God in Numb 3:47), for the MONEY of FIVE SHEKELS after the shekel of the sanctuary, which [is] twenty gerahs.

We are being called to teach the Israelites this law.  We need to do it first, lest we be like the Pharisees who say and do not (Mat 23:3).  This is probably one of the “least commandments” mentioned by Christ:

Matt 5:18 (KJV) For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these LEAST COMMANDMENTS, and shall teach men so, HE SHALL BE CALLED THE LEAST IN THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN (this is a diplomatic way of saying the person shall not be called at all in the Kingdom of Heaven): but whosoever SHALL DO AND TEACH [THEM], the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

It will be safer for us to do them than to risk being banned from the Kingdom of Heaven.  Let’s play it safe and redeem our firstborn son even if he is already an adult at this time.  It should be included in our tithes and offerings.  The cost is FIVE SHEKELS or 100 grams of pure silver or US$ 55 or Php 2,882 at 1US$:Php 52.46 as of 23 August 2019.  The author of this book had done it himself!

Section XXVI.          FALSE REPORT

EXODUS 23:1 (KJV) You shall not raise a false report: put not your hand with the (hand of the) wicked (in partnership) to be an unrighteous witness. {raise: or, receive}

The Israelite spies gave a false report to Moses:

Numb 13:32 (KJV) And they (Israelite spies) brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, [is] a land that eats up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it [are] men of a great stature.

Numb 14:1 (KJV) And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night.

Joshua and Caleb did not “put their hands” with the hands of the wicked spies:

Numb 14:6 (KJV) And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, [which were] of them that searched the land, rent their clothes: 7 And they spoke unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it, [is] an exceeding good land. 8 If the LORD delights in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which flows with milk and honey. 9 Only rebel not you against the LORD, neither fear you the people of the land; for they [are] bread for us: their defense is departed from them, and the LORD [is] with us: fear them not.

Section XXVII.         MOB MENTALITY

Exod 23:2 You shall not follow a multitude to [do] evil (similar to mob action such as lynching a driver who hit someone by accident); neither shall you speak in a cause to decline (to oppose)after many (meaning join the opposition, such as in a demonstration or violent protest) to wrest [judgment (i.e., to force the issuance of a favorable decision by an authority)]: 

Section XXVIII.        POOR’S CAUSE – 1

3 Neither shall you countenance (give honor to, support) a poor man in his cause.

Note: we should not support someone with a grievance just because he is poor, but we should examine his cause if it is legitimate and, if we can, help him find a solution to it without getting partisan.

Prov 29:7 (KJV) The righteous considers (weighs) the cause of the poor: [but] the wicked regards not to know [it].

Prov 14:31 (KJV) He that oppresses the poor reproaches his Maker: but he that honors him (his Maker) has mercy on the poor.

Prov 19:17 (KJV) He that has pity upon the poor lends unto the LORD; and that which he has given (to the poor) will he (the LORD) pay him again.

Prov 21:13 (KJV) Whoso stops his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard.

Section XXIX.          ENEMY’S OX

Exod 23:4 If you meet your enemy’s ox or his ass going astray, you shall surely bring it back to him again.

5 If you see the ass of him that hates you lying under its burden, and would forbear to help him, you shall surely help with him. {and…: or, and would cease to leave your business for him: you shall surely leave it (your business) to join with him}

Section XXX.           POOR’S CAUSE – 2

6 You shall NOT wrest the judgment of your poor in his cause.

To wrest here could mean to “intimidate” so that the poor would withdraw his complaints.  This could be done through threats, blackmail or bribery.

Deut 16:19 (KJV) You shall not wrest judgment; you shall not respect persons (whether rich or poor), neither take a gift (bribe): for a gift does blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous.

Section XXXI.          JUSTIFYING THE WICKED

Exod 23:7 Keep you far from a false matter; and the innocent and righteous slay you not: for I (the LORD) will not justify (excuse, give good reason for, declare as “just” or righteous) the wicked.

Prov 17:15 (KJV) He that justifies the wicked, and he that condemns the just, even they both [are] abomination to the LORD.

Section XXXII.         GIFT AS BRIBE

8 And you shall take no gift (bribe): for the gift blinds the wise, and perverts the words of the righteous.

Prov 17:23 (KJV) A wicked [man] takes a gift out of the bosom to pervert the ways of judgment.

Section XXXIII.        STRANGER – 2

9 Also you shall not oppress a stranger: for YOU KNOW THE HEART OF A STRANGER, seeing you were strangers in the land of Egypt. {heart: Heb. soul}

This was apparently one reason God sent the Israelites to Egypt: TO KNOW THE HEART OF A STRANGER.

Gene 15:13 (KJV) And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that your seed shall be a stranger in a land [that is] not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;

Section XXXIV.     LAWS ON AGRICULTURE

Exod 23:10 And six years you shall sow your land, and shall gather in the fruits thereof: 11 But the seventh [year] YOU SHALL LET IT REST and lie still; that the POOR OF YOUR PEOPLE MAY EAT: and what they leave the beasts of the field shall eat. IN LIKE MANNER you shall deal with your VINEYARD, [and] with your OLIVE YARD. 

Another law on agriculture is found in Leviticus:

Item XXXIV.  a)        FRUIT TREES:

Levi 19:23 (KJV) And when you shall come into the land, and shall have planted all manner of trees for food, then you shall count the fruit thereof as uncircumcised (unclean): three years (the age of the tree) shall it (the fruit) be as uncircumcised unto you: it (the tree) shall not be eaten of. 24 But in the fourth year ALL THE FRUIT thereof shall be holy to praise the LORD [withal (to be offered to the priests, Numb 18:8, maybe monetized similar to tithes, Deut 14:25)].

This law is explained in the Question Box of The Good News, February 1961 issue:

   “This command concerns a PRINCIPLE that still applies today. The three years in which fruit is prohibited pertains to the age of the tree — from the time it came up, or was rooted — not the number of years it has been bearing.

   “Scripture tells us that in the fourth year — AFTER THREE YEARS OF GROWTH — the fruit is holy, to be used in praising God. In ancient Israel it was given to the priests and Levites, along with the tithes, for their personal use.  Today we praise God with the fruit by giving it to His work.  Verse 25 tells us that “in the fifth year shall YOU (the owner) eat of the fruit thereof.” 

Levi 19:25 And in the fifth year shall you eat of the fruit thereof, that it may yield unto you the INCREASE thereof: I [am] the LORD your God.

Notice, also, in this verse that God promises to bless the INCREASE of our trees — make them more productive — if we obey this command.

The INCREASE is titheable:

Deut 14:22 (KJV) You shall truly tithe all the INCREASE of your seed, that the field brings forth year by year.

Levi 27:30 (KJV) And all the tithe of the land, [whether] of the seed of the land (grains), [or] of the fruit of the tree, [is] the LORD’S: [it is] holy unto the LORD. 31 And if a man will at all redeem (monetize) [ought] of his tithes (grains or fruits), he shall add thereto the fifth (20%) [part] thereof.

Even harvests of small items, like food seasonings, are titheable:

Matt 23:23 (KJV) Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for YOU PAY TITHE OF MINT AND ANISE AND CUMMIN, and have omitted the weightier [matters] of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: THESE (tithes of mint, anise and cumin) OUGHT YOU TO HAVE DONE (indeed), and not to leave the other (weightier matters of the law) undone.

Let WCG continue with the Question Box:

   “This law pertains only to TREES that bear fruit, and does not pertain to small shrubs, bushes, brambles, and grape vines or olives.  These latter types of fruit (from shrubs, bushes, brambles, and grape vines or olives), having a different length of life span and production cycle, are classified with FIELD CROPS, as is shown in the laws of gleaning (Lev. 19:9-10) and of the sabbatical-year rest for the land (Lev. 25:3-5) (which we will discuss under separately).  God makes a clear distinction between these SMALL FRUITS and the TREES bearing fruit, which are dealt with in this law of Leviticus 19:23-25.

   “If we are diligent in obeying God in this matter, and also take proper care in the management of our fruit trees, God will cause them to provide us with fruit for many years.” (End of quotes)

Section XXXV.         MENTIONING NAME OF OTHER GODS

Exod 23:13 And in all [things] that I have said unto you be circumspect: and MAKE NO MENTION OF THE NAME OF OTHER GODS, neither let it be heard out of your mouth.

Expressions mentioning the names of pagan gods, like Zeuss, or Jove, should be avoided.  We should also avoid mentioning the names of Catholic saints, – there are many of them.  

Next:  PART 19 – God’s STATUTES, also called ORDINANCES.

Note: Statutes refer mostly, but not solely, to festivals which prescribe convocations on certain dates during the year.  In view of our conflicting views on the accuracy of the Hebrew Calendar, we will discuss only the significance of each holyday, but NOT their dates of observance. We have posted on this website a separate article on the Hebrew Calendar.

-by Belo Alvaran

GOD’S VARIOUS JUDGMENTS CONTINUED

To remind us, there are three (3) main provisions in the Covenant between God and the Israelites, namely: COMMANDMENTS, JUDGMENTS and STATUTES. 

Deut 7:11 (KJV) You shall therefore keep the COMMANDMENTS, and the STATUTES, and the JUDGMENTS, which I command you this day, TO DO THEM.

The main proviso was, and still is:

Exod 6:7 (KJV) And I WILL TAKE YOU TO ME FOR A PEOPLE, and I WILL BE TO YOU A GOD: and YOU SHALL KNOW (this is a command – they were commanded to know God) that I [am] the LORD your God, which brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.

Jere 4:22 (KJV) For my people [is] foolish, THEY HAVE NOT KNOWN ME (they did not obey God’s command); they [are] sottish (Heb cakal, foolish) children, and they have no understanding: they [are] wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.

Luke 4:4 (KJV) And Jesus answered him (the devil), saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.

We will RE-INTRODUCE the LORD to his people.  But we need to know him first and his laws.

Jere 31:33 (KJV) But this [shall be] the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, said the LORD, I will put MY LAW in their inward parts, and WRITE it in their hearts; and (I) WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE.

34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for THEY SHALL ALL KNOW ME, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, said the LORD (because there will be spirit teachers).

Isai 30:21 (KJV) And your (the Israelites’) ears shall hear a word behind you (from spirit teachers), saying, This [is] the way, walk you in it, when you turn to the right hand, and when you turn to the left (to disobey the LORD).

As future teachers, our job is to get ready for the task.  We were discussing GOD’S JUDGMENTS

Section III.    JUDGMENT ON DAUGHTERS

Exod 21:7 And if a man sells his daughter to be a maidservant, she shall NOT go out as the menservants do.

One meaning of maidservant, according to Thayer’s Concordance, is concubine, or a wife, but not the bride.

Notice that a daughter can be sold by her own father. The payment, called dowry, could take the form of money, goods or services.  Laban sold his two daughters to Jacob in exchange for Jacob’s shepherding services:

Gene 29:16 (KJV) And Laban had two daughters: the name of the elder [was] Leah, and the name of the younger [was] Rachel.

17 Leah [was] tender eyed; but Rachel was beautiful and well favored (beautiful in form)

18 And Jacob loved Rachel; and said, I will SERVE you seven years for Rachel your younger daughter.

19 And Laban said, [It is] better that I give her to you, than that I should give her to another man: abide (stay) with me.

20 And JACOB SERVED SEVEN YEARS FOR RACHEL; and they seemed unto him [but] a few days, for the love he had to her.

21 And (after seven years) Jacob said unto Laban, Give [me] my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may go in unto her.

22 And Laban gathered together all the men of the place, and made a feast.

23 And it came to pass in the evening, that he took Leah his daughter, and brought her to him; and he went in unto her.

…25 And it came to pass, that in the morning, behold, it [was] Leah: and he said to Laban, What [is] this you have done unto me? did not I serve with you for Rachel? wherefore then have you beguiled me?

26 And Laban said, It must not be so done in our country, to give the younger (in marriage) before the firstborn.

27 Fulfill her week, and we will give you this (younger daughter Rachel) also for the service which you shall SERVE with me yet SEVEN OTHER YEARS.

The two daughters felt, and rightly so, that they were sold:

Gene 31:14 (KJV) And Rachel and Leah answered and said unto him (Jacob), [Is there] yet any portion or inheritance for us in our father‘s house? 15 Are we not counted of him strangers? for he had SOLD us….

King Saul asked David a hundred foreskins of the Philistines as dowry for Michal:

1Sam 18:20 (KJV) And Michal (King) Saul’s daughter loved David: and they told Saul, and the thing pleased him…25 And Saul said, Thus shall you say to David, The king desires not any dowry, but an hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to be avenged of the king’s enemies…

We in the CHURCH of God are, collectively, a daughter.  God the Father will “give us away” to Christ as payment for his services.

Paul “espoused” the Corinthians to Christ, but he failed because the Corinthians received “another Jesus”:

2Cor 11:2 (KJV, Paul chastising his Corinthian converts) For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I HAVE ESPOUSED YOU TO ONE HUSBAND, that I may present [you as] a CHASTE VIRGIN to CHRIST. (but the marriage did not push through)

…4 For if he that comes preaches another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or [if] you receive (from him) another spirit, which you have not received (from Paul), or (if you receive from him) another gospel, which you have not accepted (from Paul), you might well bear with [him] (i.e., you might as well follow him, not Paul). 

Paul also matched the Galatians to Christ, but he again failed:

Gala 3:1 (KJV) O foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ had been evidently set forth, crucified among you?

There are misplaced modifiers in Paul’s statement due to grammatical construction.  It should read: “O foolish Galatians before whose eyes Jesus Christ, crucified among you, had been evidently set forth – who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth?”

Only the members of the Church in Philadelphia are promised to be the wife of Christ:

Reve 3:7 (KJV) And to the angel of the CHURCH IN PHILADELPHIA write; These things said he (Jesus Christ) that is holy, he that is true, he that has the key of David, he that opens, and no man shuts; and shuts, and no man opens;

…12 Him that overcomes (among the members of the church in Philadelphia) will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God (we are “begotten” children of God, hence we carry God’s name), and the name of the city of my God [which is] new Jerusalem (Jerusalem is in Judaea, and we are “spiritual Jews” so we shall become inhabitants of Jerusalem), which comes down out of heaven from my God: AND [I WILL WRITE UPON HIM] MY NEW NAME (through marriage; the WIFE acquires her husband’s name after marriage).

Christ promised to give his name only to the Philadelphia Church.  So, if we are among the Philadelphians, then we are to be given to Christ as “favor” of the LORD:

Prov 18:22 (KJV) [Whoso] finds a wife finds a good [thing], and obtains “FAVOR” of the LORD.

The word “favor” items 7521 and 7522, primarily means “to be pleased with” specifically “TO SATISFY A DEBT”; in short, PAYMENT.  We are the Father’s payment for Christ’s services, just as Laban gave his daughters to Jacob as payment for Jacob’s services.

Reve 21:9 (KJV) And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s (Christ’s) WIFE (given him by God the Father as “favor”)

We need to strive hard in overcoming and bible study to become part of the bride of Christ.

Let’s continue with Exod 21:

Exod 21:8 If she (the daughter who was sold) pleases not her master, who has betrothed her to himself (as a concubine), then shall he let her be REDEEMED: to sell her unto a strange nation he shall have no power, seeing he has dealt deceitfully with her. {please…: Heb. be evil in the eyes of, etc} 

The master’s deceit is apparently not deliberate.  It was more a consequence of the woman’s inability to please her master.  The Darby version is clearer:

Exod 21:8 (DBY) If she is UNACCEPTABLE in the eyes of her master, who had taken her for himself, then shall he let her be ransomed (redeemed): TO SELL HER unto a foreign people he has no power, after having dealt unfaithfully with her.

The word “unacceptable” indicates the woman was the one at fault.   It would appear that she had some character flaws, not physical defects.  Note that this law forbids the husband from SELLING his wife.

Young’s Literal Translation (YLT) says she was EVIL in the eyes of her lord, which is more descriptive of character and reason enough for her master to cancel the contract with her father:

Exod 21:8 (YLT) if evil in the eyes of her lord, so that he had NOT betrothed her, then he had (to) let her be ransomed; to a strange people he has not power to sell her, in his dealing treacherously with her.

The master’s refusal to take her may be considered breach of contract or treachery, but she may be redeemed by someone else. 

VERBAL CONTRACT BETWEEN GROOM AND BRIDE’S FATHER

The breached contract is between the woman’s father and the husband, not the marriage contract of the husband and wife.  The account on Jacob and Laban in Genesis 31 indicates a tradition observed in those places prescribing a verbal contract between the wife’s father and the bridegroom requiring the bridegroom to take care of his wife.  The example was the contract between Jacob and Laban:

Here was the CONTRACT, or covenant, between Jacob and his Father-in-Law, Laban:

Gene 31:43 (KJV) And Laban answered and said unto Jacob (after Jacob and his wives left surreptitiously without farewells), [These] daughters [are] my daughters, and [these] children [are] my children, and [these] cattle [are] my cattle, and all that you see [is] mine: and what can I do this day unto these my daughters, or unto their children which they have born?

44 Now therefore come you, let us make a covenant, I AND YOU; and let it be for a witness between me and you.

45 And Jacob took a stone, and set it up [for] a pillar.

46 And Jacob said unto his brethren, Gather stones; and they took stones, and made an heap:and they did eat there upon the heap.

47 And Laban called it Jegarsahadutha: but Jacob called it Galeed.

48 And Laban said (to Jacob), This heap (of stones) [is] a witness between me and you this day…

50 IF YOU WILL AFFLICT MY DAUGHTERS, OR IF YOU SHALL TAKE [OTHER] WIVES BESIDE MY DAUGHTERS, no man [is] with us; see, God [is] witness between me and you.

…52 This heap [be] witness, and [this] pillar [be] witness, THAT I WILL NOT PASS OVER THIS HEAP TO YOU, and that you shall not pass over this heap and this pillar unto me, for HARM (i.e., except when the contract was breached by Jacob, see verse 50).

Expressed in the affirmative, the contract states that one of them, particularly Laban, may pass over the heap unto Jacob for harm if any of the terms of the agreement was broken. 

Let’s see the rest of the contract:

53 The God of Abraham, and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us. And Jacob SWORE by the fear of his father Isaac. (This contract therefore was “under oath” by both parties and therefore binding on both sides)

This contract between the husband and his father-in-law was not specified in the Law of Moses, but was apparently invoked as reference because it is part of the “traditions” handed down from one generation to another.

An example of Jewish tradition is the washing of hands:

Mark 7:3 (KJV) For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash [their] hands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders.

The above tradition, according to scholars, was an application, or more likely misapplication, of Levi 15:11:

Levi 15:11 (KJV) And whomsoever he touches that has the issue (coming out of a man’s wound external or internal, or from a woman with period), and (the one with issue) has not rinsed his hands in water, he (the one who was touched) shall wash his clothes, and bathe [himself] in water, and be unclean until the evening.

In our case, a wife is a “favor” of the Lord.  It is the LORD who will “deal” with the husband if he mistreats his wife:

Prov 18:22 (KJV) [Whoso] finds a wife finds a good [thing], and obtains favor of the LORD.

Deut 32:35 (KJV, (the LORD speaking) To me [belongs] vengeance, and recompense;…

The law prohibits the man to “sell” his wife to another man even if she had character flaws.  God did not “sell” the Israelites when they displeased him.  The Israelites “sold themselves” to other gods when they sinned, hence they were separated from God:

Isai 49:14 (KJV) But Zion (the Church that Christ founded) said, The LORD (God the Father) has forsaken me, and my Lord (Jesus Christ) has forgotten me.

Isai 50:1 (KJV) Thus said the LORD (to Zion), Where [is] the bill of your mother’s (the Israelites) divorcement, whom I have put away? (None) or which of my creditors [is it] to whom I have sold you? (None) Behold, for your iniquities (lawlessness) have YOU SOLD YOURSELVES (to other gods), and for your transgressions is your mother put away.

Whom we obey is our god:

Roma 6:16 (KJV) Know you not, that to whom you yield yourselves servants to obey, HIS SERVANTS YOU ARE TO WHOM YOU OBEY; whether (you yield yourselves servants) of sin unto death, or (whether you yield yourselves servants) of obedience unto righteousness?

It may be mentioned here that God the Father was the Husband of the Ancient Israelites:

Jere 31:31 (KJV) Behold, the days come, said the LORD, that I will make a new COVENANT with the HOUSE OF ISRAEL, and with the HOUSE OF JUDAH: 32 Not according to the COVENANT that I made with their fathers in the day [that] I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my COVENANT (to be God their God and them his people)THEY BROKE, although I was an HUSBAND unto them, said the LORD (this is the one who became God the Father, the one who became Jesus was his Spokesman):

Clearly, from the above indication, it was God the Father who married the Israelites.  The marriage was by proxy.  Christ was his stand-in groom.

Hose 2:16 (KJV) And it shall be at that day, said the LORD (God the Father, not the Son), [that] you (the Israelites) shall call me ISHI (i.e., my husband)…

Mala 3:6 (KJV) For I [am] the LORD, I change not; therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed. 7 Even from the days of your fathers you are gone away from my ordinances, and have not kept [them]. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, said the LORD of hosts…

We in the Church of God are, collectively, Zion, God’s daughter betrothed to Christ. Our mother was the HOUSE OF JUDAH (we were grafted to them and became part of them, Roma 11:17; the House of Israel was lost).  But we may still have some character flaws that are considered unacceptable to Christ because we sold ourselves to sin.  We sold ourselves when we sinned.  Therefore we are servants of sin.

Roma 7:14 (KJV, Paul speaking) For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.

We have been redeemed by Christ, our fiancé, from this unacceptable state:

Titu 2:13 (KJV) Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ; 14 Who gave himself for us, that he might REDEEM us from all iniquity (lawlessness, sinful state), and PURIFY UNTO HIMSELF a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

Let’s continue with Exod 21:9:

Exod 21:9 And if he (the master) has betrothed her (the woman sold by her father) unto his son (just as God the Father has betrothed us to his Son), he (the master) shall deal with her after the manner of daughters. 10 If he (the master) takes him (his son) another [wife] (i.e., other than the woman sold to him by her father); her food, her raiment, and her duty of marriage, shall he not diminish.

The father therefore has the prerogative to give his son other wives.  The parallelism is, God the Father can give more wives to Christ later on, in the same way Laban gave Rachel to Jacob one week after his marrying Leah.  But Leah was the bride.  Rachel was a concubine.

Exod 21:11 And if he (the master) does not these three (obligations) unto her, then shall she (the woman sold by her father)go out free without money.

Marriage is until death, so letting the wife go without money is apparently designed to compel the woman to do her best as a wife. The insecurity of going out without money might constrain her to reform herself and be reconciled with her husband.  The LORD apparently did not want the marriage to fail.

Section IV.  MURDER AND HOMICIDE

Exod 21:12 He that smites a man, so that he dies, shall be surely put to   death.

Exod 21:23 (KJV) And if [any] mischief follows (if the action was planned), then you shall give life for life, 24 Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 Burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.

Accidental killing is not sin:

Exod 21:13 And if a man lies NOT in wait (i.e., unplanned, not premeditated killing), but God delivers [him] into his hand; then I will appoint you a place (of refuge) to where he (the one who killed by accident) shall flee.

Numb 35:14 (KJV) You shall give three cities on this side Jordan, and three cities shall you give in the land of Canaan, [which] shall be CITIES OF REFUGE. 15 These six cities shall be a refuge, [both] for the children of Israel, and for the stranger, and for the sojourner among them: that every one that kills any person unawares may flee there.

Exod 21:14 But if a man comes presumptuously upon his neighbor, to slay him with guile (with deviousness, i.e., premeditated) you shall take him from my altar, that he may die.

Section V.     CHILDREN AND PARENTS

15 And he that SMITES his father, or his mother, shall be surely put to death. (see also verse 17 about cursing his father or mother)

Our human parents represent God.  SMITING ones’ parent is a Satanic act.  Lucifer smote his creator who is God the Father:

Isai 14:13 (KJV, the LORD speaking) For you (Lucifer) have said in your heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above (higher than) the stars of God (i.e., sons of God — Jesus is a star, Reve 22:16): I will sit also upon the MOUNT OF THE CONGREGATION (i.e., congregation of spirit beings), in the sides of the north: 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be LIKE the MOST HIGH.

There can be no two “MOST highs.”  The word “MOST” means only one. Therefore Satan wanted to be THE most high.  Satan wanted to usurp the Father’s position.  Action follows thought.  He eventually rose up in open rebellion against God. 

John 8:44 (KJV, Jesus speaking to the Jews) You are of [your] father the Devil, and the lusts of your father you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning (by discrediting God the Father before the angels), and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him (truth means the Father’s words, John 17:17, meaning Satan did not want to obey God the Father). When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. {of his own: or, from his own will or disposition (meaning he was not speaking for God the Father; he was not serving the Father}

That was Satan smiting his creator and father.  One’s smiting of his own father is a Satanic act.

Section VI.    KIDNAPPING

Exod 21:16 And he that steals (kidnaps) a man, and sells him, or if he be found in his hand, he (the kidnapper) shall surely be put to death.

Section VII. CURSING

17 And he that curses his father, or his mother, shall surely be put to death. {curses: or, reviles (insults)}

Cursing has the same purpose as that of smiting which is to harm, only verbal, so the penalty is the same.  Action follows thought.

Section VIII.  QUARRELS

Exod 21:18 And if men strive together, and one smites another with a stone, or with [his] fist, and he dies not, but keeps [his] bed: 19 If he rises again, and walks abroad upon his staff, then shall he that smote [him] be quit (i.e., will not be charged of any crime): only he shall pay [for] the loss of his time, and shall cause [him] to be thoroughly healed.

Note: Both men are at fault.  Disputes should be brought to the JUDGES for arbitration, not settled through quarrels.

Deut 16:18 (KJV) JUDGES and officers shall you make you in all your gates, which the LORD your God gives you, throughout your tribes: and they shall judge the people with just judgment.

Deut 25:1 (KJV) If there be a controversy between men, and they come unto judgment, that [the judges] may judge them; then they shall justify the righteous, and condemn the wicked.

Exod 22:9 (KJV) For all manner of trespass, [whether it be] for ox, for ass, for sheep, for raiment, [or] for any manner of lost thing, which [another] challenges to be his, the cause of both parties shall come before the JUDGES; [and] whom the judges shall condemn, he shall pay double unto his neighbor.

Deut 1:16 (KJV. Moses speaking) And I charged your JUDGES at that time, saying, Hear [the causes] between your brethren, and judge righteously between [every] man and his brother, and the stranger [that is] with him.

17 You shall not respect persons in judgment; [but] you shall hear the small as well as the great; you shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment [is] God’s: and the cause that is too hard for you, bring [it] unto me (Moses), and I will hear it. 

We will be judges:

1Cor 6:3 (KJV) Know you not that we shall judge angels? how much more (shall we judge) things that pertain to this life?

Reve 20:4 (KJV) And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them…

Section VIII. a)        SMITING A SERVANT

20 And if a man smites his servant, or his maid, with a rod, and he dies under his hand; he (the master) shall be surely PUNISHED. {punished: Heb. Avenged(i.e., fined)} 21 Notwithstanding, if he (the servant) continues (recovers – NIV) (after) a day or two, he (the master) shall not be punished: for he (the servant) [is] his (master’s) money (property – servants are bought, Exod 21:2).

Section VIII. b)        COLLATERAL DAMAGE DURING QUARREL

22 If men strive, and hurt a woman with child (unintentionally), so that her fruit departs (was aborted) [from her], and yet no mischief (like intentionally hitting her) follows: he (the one who hurt her) shall be surely PUNISHED (fined), according as the woman’s husband will lay upon him; and he shall PAY as the JUDGES [determine].

Section VIII. c)   EYE FOR EYE, TOOTH FOR TOOTH, LIFE FOR LIFE

23 And if [any] mischief follows (i.e., the perpetrator’s action was premeditated and intentional), then you shall give life for life, 24 Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 Burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.

This law was clarified in Leviticus 24:19:

Levi 24:19 (KJV) And if a man (intentionally) cause a blemish in his neighbor; as he had done, so shall it be done to him;

20 Breach for breach, eye for eye, tooth for tooth: as he had caused a blemish in a man, so shall it be done to him [again].

Section VIII. d)        AMENDMENT BY CHRIST ON “EYE FOR AN EYE” RULE

Matt 5:38 (KJV, Christ speaking) You have heard that it had been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: 39 But I say unto you, That you resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also.

Comments:  Offering the other cheek could lead to cessation of hostilities.  There is strife because both sides are aggressive. 

Prov 15:1 (KJV) A soft answer turns away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger.

Prov 25:21 (KJV) If your enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink: 22 For you shall heap coals of fire upon his head (an ancient act of repentance), and the LORD shall reward you.

Section VIII.  e)        LOSS OF A SERVANT’S EYE

Exod 21:26 And if a man smites the eye of his servant, or the eye of his maid, that it perished; he shall let him go free for his eye’s sake (but not empty-handed, see Deut 15:13).

Deut 15:13 (KJV) And when you send him out free from you, you shall not let him go away empty:

I Section VIII.  f)      LOSS OF SERVANT’S TOOTH

27 And if he smites out his manservant’s tooth, or his maidservant’s tooth; he shall let him go free for his tooth’s sake (also not empty-handed, see Deut 15:13).

Section IX.    GORING OX – 1

Exod 21:28 If an ox gores a man or a woman that they die: then the ox shall be surely stoned, and his flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox [shall be] quit (i.e., free from any charges)

29 But if the ox was wont (used) to push with its horn in time past, and it has been testified to his OWNER, and he has NOT kept it in, but that it has killed a man or a woman; the ox shall be stoned, and his OWNER also shall be put to death. 30 If there be laid on him a sum of money, then he shall give for the ransom of his life whatsoever (amount) is laid upon him (by the judges, v. 22). 31 Whether he had gored a son, or had gored a daughter, according to this judgment shall it be done unto him.

32 If the ox shall push a manservant or a maidservant; he shall give unto their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.

Section IX.  a)          DIGGING PITS THAT HARM ANIMALS

33 And if a man shall open a pit, or if a man shall dig a pit, and not cover it, and an ox or an ass falls therein; 34 The owner of the pit shall make [it] good, [and] give money unto the owner of them; and the dead [beast] shall be his. (The dead ox may not be eaten.  Its carcass should be given to the dogs, see Exod 22:31)

Section IX.  b)         GORING OX – 2

Exod 21:35 And if one man’s ox hurts another’s that it dies; then they shall sell the live ox, and divide the money of it; and the dead [ox] also they shall divide.

36 Or if it be known that the ox has used to push in time past, and its owner has not kept it in; he shall surely pay ox for ox; and the dead shall be his own.

Section X.     CATTLE RUSTLING

EXODUS 22:1 (KJV) If a man shall STEAL AN OX, or a SHEEP, and kills it, or sells it; he shall restore FIVE OXEN FOR AN OX, and FOUR SHEEP FOR A SHEEP. {or a sheep: or, or a goat}

2 If a thief be found breaking up, and be smitten that he dies, [there shall] NO blood [be shed] (money to be paid) for him.  The words [be shed] are not in the original).

The word “blood” Heb. dam, no. 1818 in Strong’s, means bloodguiltiness.  It refers to “blood money” or compensation to be paid to the relatives of the dead person or to the victims of the crime.  The law clearly says that the next of kin of a thief who was killed in the act is not entitled to blood money.

blood money

Source: https://www.dictionary.com/browse/blood-money

noun

• a fee paid to a hired murderer.
• compensation paid to the next of kin of a slain person.
• money obtained ruthlessly and at a cost of suffering to others.
• money paid to an informer in order to cause somebody to be arrested, convicted, or especially executed.

Example of blood money in the bible:

Matt 27:6 (KJV) And the chief priests took the (thirty) silver pieces (from the Temple left there by Judas), and said, It is not lawful for to put them into the treasury, because it is the PRICE OF BLOOD (it was the fee they paid Judas to betray Jesus)

Exodus 22 continued:

3 If the sun be risen upon him (i.e., the thief was not killed), [there shall be] blood [shed] (i.e., blood money)for him (meaning he shall be required to compensate his victims); [for] he (the thief) should make full restitution; if he has nothing, then he shall be sold (as servant, Levi 25:39, to raise money to pay)for his theft. 4 If the theft be certainly found in his hand alive, whether it be ox, or ass, or sheep; he shall restore double (from the proceeds of his sale)

Section XI.  FEEDING OF ONE’S BEAST IN THE VINEYARD OF OTHERS

5 If a man shall cause a field or vineyard to be eaten, and shall put in his beast, and shall feed in another man’s field; of the best of his own field, and of the best of his own vineyard, shall he make restitution (compensation).

Section XII.  KINDLING A FIRE (arson or not)

6 If fire breaks out, and catches in thorns, so that the stacks of corn, or the standing corn, or the field, be consumed [therewith]; he that kindled the fire shall surely make restitution.

Section XIII.  SAFEKEEPING GOODS FOR OTHERS

7 If a man shall deliver unto his neighbor MONEY or STUFF to keep, and it be stolen out of the man’s house; if the thief be found, let him pay double.

8 If the thief be not found, then the master of the house shall be brought unto the judges, [to see] whether he had put his hand unto his neighbor’s goods (i.e., “inside job”).

Section XIII, Item A.  GOD ENTRUSTS TO US HIS GOODS FOR SAFEKEEPING

Luke 19:11 (KJV) And as they heard these things, he (Jesus) added and spoke a parable…12 He said…A certain nobleman (symbolic of Jesus Christ) went into a far country (heaven) to receive (from God the Father) for himself a kingdom, and to return. 13 And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy (Get busy) till I come. 14 But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this [man] to reign over us. 15 And it came to pass, that when he was returned, having received the kingdom, then he commanded these servants to be called unto him, to whom he had given the MONEY, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading. 16 Then came the first, saying, Lord, your pound has gained ten pounds. 17 And he said unto him, Well, you good servant: because you have been faithful in a very little, have you authority over ten cities. 18 And the second came, saying, Lord, your pound has gained five pounds. 19 And he said likewise to him, Be you also over five cities. 20 And another came, saying, Lord, behold, [here is] your pound, which I have kept laid up in a napkin: 21 For I feared you, because you are an austere man: you take up that you laid not down, and reap that you did not sow 22 And he said unto him, Out of your own mouth will I judge you, [you] wicked servant. You knew that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and reaping that I did not sow: 23 Wherefore then gave not you my MONEY INTO THE BANK, that at my coming I might have required my own with usury? 24 And he said unto them that stood by, Take from him the pound, and give [it] to him that has ten pounds. 25 (And they said unto him, Lord, he has ten pounds.) 26 For I say unto you, That unto every one which has shall be given; and from him that has not, even that he has (i.e., his life) shall be taken away from him. 27 But those my ENEMIES, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay [them] before me.

Comments:  God entrusts to us his tithes and offerings for safekeeping.  We cannot arbitrarily dispose of God’s money for personal use.  Tithing is a way of honoring God.  If we do not honor God, then he is not our God.  Then we are his enemies.

Prov 3:9 (KJV) Honor the LORD with your substance (offering), and with the firstfruits (tithes) of all your increase:

1Sam 2:30 (KJS) Wherefore the LORD God of Israel said (to Eli the High Priest whose sons misappropriated the people’s offerings),…them that honor me I will honor, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.

God is testing our faithfulness:

Luke 16:10 (KJV) He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. 11 If therefore you have not been faithful in the unrighteous MAMMON, who will commit to your trust the TRUE [RICHES]? 12 And if you have not been faithful in that which is another man’s (i.e., God’s), who shall give you that which is your own?

There is therefore “true riches” in God’s kingdom different from our riches today.  Our riches therefore are just like “play money” with God.  Our faithfulness therefore in handling this unrighteous MAMMON is God’s way of testing if we can be trusted with his true riches.  We are being monitored by God.  There are ANGELS watching us.

Matt 18:10 (KJV, Jesus giving instructions to his disciples) Take heed that you despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven THEIR ANGELS do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven (probably to give a report on the behavior of God’s children)..

Next: Part 18 – Judgments, Section XIV – Arbitration of disputes

-by Belo Alvaran

For a brief review, there are three (3) main provisions in the covenant between God and the Israelites, namely: (1) Commandments, (2) Judgments and, (3) Statutes.  We have already discussed the commandments.

We shall now examine the Judgments.

COVENANT PROVISION NO. 2

GOD’S VARIOUS JUDGMENTS

EXOD 21:1 (KJV, the LORD speaking to Moses) Now these [are] the JUDGMENTS which you shall set before them.

It is interesting to note that these are the SAME JUDGMENTS that the LORD gave to King Solomon to execute. 

Deut 4:1 (KJV) Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the JUDGMENTS, which I (Moses) teach you, for TO DO [THEM], that you may live, and go in and possess the land which the LORD God of your fathers gives you….8 And what nation [is there so] great, that has statutes and JUDGMENTS [so] righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?

1Kin 6:11 (KJV) And the word of the LORD came to (King) Solomon, saying, 12 [Concerning] this house which you are in building, IF you will walk in my STATUTES, and EXECUTE MY JUDGMENTS, and keep all my COMMANDMENTS to walk in them; THEN will I perform my word with you, which I spoke unto David your father:

Christ said JUDGMENTS are part of the weightier matters of the law:

Matt 23:23 (KJV) Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you pay TITHE of mint and anise and cumin (all food seasonings), and have omitted the weightier [matters] of the law, JUDGMENT, mercy, and faith: these (tithing even of small things) ought you to have done, and not to leave the other (weightier matters) undone (i.e., judgment, mercy and faith).

Judgments therefore are part of the laws that God will write in the hearts of the Israelite people when Christ returns:

Hebr 8:10 (KJV) For this [is] the covenant (Gr diatheke, decree) that I will (issue for) the HOUSE OF ISRAEL after those days, said the Lord; I will put MY LAWS into their mind, and WRITE THEM in their hearts: and I WILL BE TO THEM A GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE TO ME A PEOPLE:

We, the priests under the Order of Melchisedec, are the ones who will “write” them in their hearts: 

Mala 2:7 (KJV) For the priest‘s lips should keep knowledge, and they should SEEK THE LAW at his mouth (priests are TEACHERS of the law): for he [is] the messenger (Heb malak, Ambassador) of the LORD of hosts.

Here is how we will communicate with the Israelites when we become priests:

Isai 30:20 (KJV) And [though] the Lord (shall) give you (the Israelites) the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, yet shall not your  TEACHERS (who are spirit beings) be removed into a corner any more (unlike the human Levitical priests), but your eyes shall see your teachers: 21 And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, This [is] the way, walk you in it, when you turn to the right hand, and when you turn to the left (away from the LORD).

We were called by God to teach the Israelite people in his coming kingdom, and these are the same judgments that we shall teach them.  We need to learn them by heart now so that we may be able to do them first and teach them later.

To remind ourselves, our purpose in this study is to get ready for our priesthood:

Here are God’s JUDGMENTS

Section I.       HEBREW SERVANT (not slave)

Exod 21:2 If YOU buy a Hebrew servant, six (6) years he shall serve: and in the SEVENTH (7^th) (year) HE SHALL GO OUT free for nothing.

Note that this instruction is for the MASTER.  This is therefore a guideline on “How to be a HEBREW MASTER”. 

Clearly, God allows Hebrews to be sold and bought as servants.  However, they were not slaves.  Their employment was similar to the American and British practice of hiring “indentured workers”. 

Here is the meaning of indentured from a British dictionary on line:

Source: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/indentured

Indentured adjective 

UK ​ /ɪnˈdentʃəd/ US ​​

• relating to an agreement in which someone works for someone else until they have paid back a debt, especially in the past
• when poor people worked for someone in another country in return for being taken to that country (as in the case of American immigrants from Europe)
• indentured labourers/servants/workers
• an official agreement that someone will work for someone else for a length of time, specially as an apprentice

e.g.) He served an indentured apprenticeship in mechanical engineering.

Here is another definition of indentured servant from an American dictionary online https://www.dictionary.com/browse/indentured-servant

indentured servant

noun  American History.

1. a person who came to America and was placed under contract to work for another over a period of time, usually seven (7) years (the Bible prescribes six (6) years), especially during the  17th to 19^th centuries.
2. A person under contract to work for another person for a definite period of time, usually WITHOUT PAY but in exchange for FREE PASSAGE to a new country.  During the 17^th century most of the WHITE laborers in MARYLAND and VIRGINIA came from England as indentured servants.

From these indications, indentured servant means the master pays in advance the servant’s transportation, lodging, food, life and medical insurance, etc. to avail of the services of the servant for a certain period of time.  Note that the purpose of the servant is to immigrate to a new country.

Parallelism:  We are in effect immigrating to God’s Kingdom, and we are God’s indentured servants.

Roma 6:22 (KJV) But now being made free from sin, and become SERVANTS to God, you have your fruit unto holiness, and the end (purpose) everlasting life.

God had paid for our passage:

1Cor 7:23 (KJV) You are bought with a price; be not you the servants of men (but be indentured servants of God).   

Under God’s law, an “indentured” servant may serve a maximum of six (6) years and released on the seventh.   Let’s read again Exod 21:2:

Exod 21:2 If YOU buy a Hebrew servant, six (6) years he shall serve: and in the SEVENTH (7^th) (year) he shall go out free for nothing (i.e., the servant shall be freed of all “debts” to the master).

Servants to be given “SEPARATION PAY” when freed:

Deut 15:9 (KJV) Beware that there be not a thought in your wicked heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of (the servant’s) release, is at hand; and your eye be evil against your poor brother (a servant), and you give him nought (similar to SEPARATION PAY to enable the servant to make a good start after his release); and he cries unto the LORD against you, and it be SIN UNTO YOU.

10 You shall surely give him, and your heart shall not be grieved when you give unto him: because that for this thing the LORD your God shall BLESS you in all your works, and in all that you put your hand unto.

Section II.  AMENDMENT TO LAW ON SERVANTS

Section II, Item A.  SEVENTH (7^TH) YEAR

OR YEAR OF JUBILEE

God’s judgment on servants in Exod 21:2 cited above had been amended in Leviticus 25:38-54 requiring Hebrew servants to serve for six years OR, this was the amendment, until the YEAR OF JUBILEE which was the 50^th anniversary of their exodus from Egypt. 

“Jubilee” means “liberty” discussed at length in the Book of Leviticus. The Jubilee year is proclaimed with the sound of a trumpet on the Day of Atonement.   Men who have worked as servants to pay off their debt must be freed and allowed on this day to return to their own possession, meaning their inherited property, and to their families.  Let’s rewind a little near the beginning of Leviticus 25:

Levi 25:8 (KJV) And you shall number seven Sabbaths of years unto you, seven times seven years; and the space of the seven Sabbaths of years shall be unto you forty and nine years. 9 Then shall you cause the trumpet of the JUBILEE to sound on the tenth [day] of the seventh month, on the DAY OF ATONEMENT shall you make the trumpet sound throughout all your land. 10 And you shall hallow the FIFTIETH YEAR, and proclaim liberty throughout [all] the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a JUBILEE unto you; and you shall RETURN EVERY MAN UNTO HIS POSSESSION, and you shall RETURN EVERY MAN UNTO HIS FAMILY.

11 A JUBILEE shall that FIFTIETH YEAR be unto you: you shall not sow, neither reap that which grows of itself in it, nor gather [the grapes] in it of your vine undressed. 12 For it [is] the jubilee; it shall be holy unto you: you shall eat the increase thereof out of the field. 13 In the year of this JUBILEE you shall return every man unto his possession.

Here is the part where the Hebrew servant goes free:

Levi 25:41 And [then] (at Jubilee or at the end of six years, whichever comes first) shall he (the Hebrew servant) depart from you, [both] he and his children with him, and shall return unto his own family, and unto the possession of his fathers shall he return.

Note that the servant may be released before the end of six years if the master bought him near the celebration of the Year of Jubilee.

Levi 25:48 (KJV) After that he is sold he may be redeemed again; one of his brethren may redeem him:…50 And he shall (be subject tothe master) that bought him from the year that he was sold to him unto the YEAR OF JUBILEE: and the price of his sale shall be (pro-rated) according unto the number of years, according to the time of an HIRED SERVANT (or employee) shall it be with him.

  Section II, Item B.      SERVANT TO BE TREATED AS EMPLOYEE, NOT SLAVE

…53 [And] as a YEARLY HIRED SERVANT (or EMPLOYEE) shall he be with him: [and the master shall not rule with rigor over him in your (Israelites’) sight.

The servant’s release is dependent on “WHICHEVER COMES FIRST,” the seventh year, or the Year of Jubilee.

54 And if he is not redeemed in these (six) [years], then he shall go out in the YEAR OF JUBILEE (if Jubilee is within the six years), [both] he, and his children with him.

Let’s rewind a little to Levi 25:38 which provides that a BROTHER should be treated as HIRED SERVANT, similar to an EMPLOYEE:

Levi 25:38 (KJV) I [AM] THE LORD YOUR GOD, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan, [and] TO BE YOUR GOD.

39 And if your BROTHER (a Hebrew) [that dwells] by you be waxen poor, and be SOLD unto you; you shall not compel him to serve as a bondservant (or slave): 40 [But] as an HIRED SERVANT (employee), [and] as a SOJOURNER (with tenure, not in permanent servitude), he shall be with you, [and] shall serve you unto the YEAR OF JUBILEE:

Section II, Item C.   MODERN APPLICATION OF LAW ON SERVANTS

Christ is a servant of God the Father, and he is hiring more servants like him:

John 14:2 (KJV) In my Father’s house are many mansions (positions of authority): if [it were] not [so], I would have told you. I go to prepare a place (position in God’s government) for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, [there] you may be also.

Christ paid in advance the employment costs for the servants he was recruiting.  We are those servants-to-be.  We are therefore apprentices.  We are therefore “indentured servants”:

Acts 20:28 (KJV, Paul speaking to the elders of the Church in Ephesus, v. 16, before his last journey to Jerusalem where he was to be arrested) Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he had purchased with his own blood.

Section II, Item D.   Parallelism:

Jesus is a Hebrew servant.  God the Father calls Jesus “my servant.”   God the Father therefore is a MASTER. 

Mala 1:6 (KJV) A son honors [his] father, and a servant his master: if then I [be] a father, where [is] my honor? and if I [be] a MASTER, where [is] my fear? said the LORD of hosts (this is the one who became God the Father)…

JESUS NOT SEEKING RELEASE

Unlike the Hebrew servant, Jesus is not seeking to be released.  He agreed to become his father’s servant forever.  As servant, Jesus was not sold, he was simply GIVEN AWAY by His master.

Zech 3:8 (KJV) Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, you, and your fellows that sit before you: for they [are] men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth MY SERVANT the BRANCH.

Phil 2:5 (KJV) Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a SERVANT …

John 3:16 (KJV) For God (the Father) so loved the world, that he GAVE (not sold) his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Further comments on Christ: After his resurrection, God the Father promoted Jesus to the rank of “Lord”.  A SERVANT of GOD therefore has dignity and power.  Another thing, this also proves that there is hierarchy in God’s government.

Phil 2:8 (KJV) And (Jesus) being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient (befitting a servant) unto death, even the death of the cross. 9 Wherefore God (the Father) also has highly exalted (i.e., PROMOTED) him, and given him a name which is ABOVE every name (i.e., a position of authority): 10 That at the name (i.e., by the authority) of Jesus EVERY KNEE SHOULD BOW, of [things (creatures)] in heaven, and [things (creatures)] in earth, and [things (creatures)] under the earth; 11 And [that] every tongue should confess (acknowledge is the more appropriate word) that Jesus Christ [is] Lord, TO the glory of GOD THE FATHER.

Comments:  Verse 10 should read: “…by the authority of Jesus, every knee should bow…to…God the Father”.  This is to fulfill the main proviso in God’s berith (or decree) that God shall be a God, THE ONLY GOD, to the people.

Section II, Item E.   We were called to assist Jesus Christ in his exalted position:

Hebr 12:9 (KJV) Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected [us], and we gave [them] reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the FATHER OF SPIRITS, and live?

Ephe 1:17 (KJV) That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, THE FATHER OF GLORY (meaning, the Father of spirits, which are glorious beings), may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:…18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the HOPE of his calling, (eternal life, Titus 3:7) and what the riches of the gloryof his inheritance (spirit body) in the saints,

19 And what [is] the exceeding greatness of his power TO US-WARD who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, 20 Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and SET [HIM] AT HIS OWN RIGHT HAND (as a SERVANT, similar to a Prime Minister in a monarchy) in the heavenly [places], 21 Far ABOVE all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that (world) which is to come: 22 And has put all [things] under his feet, and gave him [to be] the head over all [things] to the church,

… 2:6 And (the Father of glory)has raised US UP TOGETHER (shall raise us up together – this is a Middle East idiom stating future event in the past tense), and made (shall make)US SIT TOGETHER in heavenly [places (i.e., God-ordained positions)] in (with) Christ Jesus:

Christ confirmed this in Revelation 3:231:

Reve 3:21 (KJV, Jesus speaking) To him that overcomes will I grant to sit WITH me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

We and Christ therefore are fellow servants of God! 

In a democracy, government workers are called PUBLIC SERVANTS.  In God’s Kingdom, which is THEOCRACY, government workers are called GOD’S SERVANTS.

Let’ go back to the case of the Hebrew servant in Exodus 21:

Exod 21:3 (KJV) If he (the Hebrew servant) came in by himself, he shall go out by himself (in the seventh year, or in the year of jubilee, whichever comes first): if he was married (already when he came in), then his wife shall go out with him. 

4 If his master had given him a wife (meaning the wife was also a servant separately indentured to his master), and she had born him sons or daughters; the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out by himself (but not empty-handed, see Deut 15:13).

Section II, Item F.   SERVANTS TO BE GIVEN SEPARATION PAY

Deut 15:12 [And] if your brother, an Hebrew man, or an Hebrew woman, be sold unto you, and serves you SIX YEARS; then in the SEVENTH YEAR you shall let him go free from you.

13 And when you send him out free from you, you shall not let him go away EMPTY: 14 You shall furnish him liberally out of your flock, and out of your (threshing) floor (meaning grains), and out of your winepress (wines in bottles): [of that] wherewith the LORD your God had blessed you you shall give unto him.

15 And you shall remember that you were a bondman in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God redeemed you: therefore I command you this thing today.

Just as employees are given “Separation Pay and other benefits”, so servants are also to be given benefits at the end of their service.

THE LORD DID NOT LET THE ISRAELITES GO EMPTY (they were Egyptian servants, but it was the LORD who sent them there, Gen 15:13.  By command responsibility, God had to supply what the Egyptians did not provide)

Gene 15:13 (KJV) And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that your seed shall be a stranger in a land (of Egypt) that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;

Exod 12:36 (KJV) And the LORD gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent unto them [such things as they required]. And they spoiled the Egyptians.

Deut 15:18 (KJV) It shall not seem hard unto you, when you send him (your Hebrew servant) away free from you; for he had been worth a double hired servant [to you], in serving you six years: and the LORD your God shall bless you in all that you do.

The servant’s wife in Deut 21 verse 4 remains his master’s property. However, she may be redeemed, see verse 7 below under subheading HEBREW DAUGHTER. Or she has to wait for the seventh year OR the year of jubilee, whichever comes first, to be released.

To recapitulate, the focus here is not on the Hebrew servant.  The focus here is on the MASTER who will be deprived of a servant.  The master needs the services of his servant, so it is better if the servant stays.

The parallelism is, God the Father is a master.  He needs the services of his servant Jesus Christ.

Mala 1:6 (KJV) A son honors [his] father, and a servant (honors) his master: if then I [be] a father, where [is] my honor? and IF I [BE] A MASTER, where [is] my fear? said the LORD of hosts unto you, O priests (God’s indentured servants), that despise my name.

Section II, Item G.    WHEN A SERVANT WON’T LEAVE

Exod 21:5 And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free: 6 Then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the door post; and his master shall bore his ear (a part of his body) through with an aul (a boring instrument); and he shall serve him FOREVER.

Definition of aul (also spelled ‘awl’): a tool consisting of a handle and a slim metal shaft with a sharp point, used for punching small holes in leather or wood.

Parallelism:  CHRIST IS A SERVANT WHO WOULD NOT LEAVE HIS MASTER

Zech 3:8 (KJV) Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, you, and your fellows that sit before you: for they [are] men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth MY SERVANT the BRANCH.

Zech 6:12 (KJV) And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaks the LORD of hosts (who became God the Father), saying, Behold the man (Jesus) whose name [is] the BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his (LORD’s) place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD: 13 Even he shall build the temple of the LORD; and he (the LORD) shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he (the BRANCH, Jesus) shall be a priest upon his (LORD’s) throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them BOTH  (there’s two of them, God the Father and Jesus Christ).

CHRIST WAS PIERCED

Christ’s hands (parts of his body) were bored with nails, and his side pierced with a spear. In effect, he agreed to serve God the Father FOREVER as his main assistant.

John 19:34 (KJV) But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.

CHRIST BECAME GOD’S SERVANT FOREVER, A PRIEST

Hebr 7:21 (KJV) (For those (Levitical) priests were made without an oath; but this (priest, who is Jesus, was made) with an oath by him (God the Father) that said unto him, The LORD swore (under oath) and will not repent (irrevocable), You (Jesus) [are] a priest (a servant) FOREVER after the Order of Melchisedec: (meaning, spirit priest).

Isai 52:13 (KJV, the LORD speaking) Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted (promoted in rank, become Lord) and extolled, and be VERY HIGH.

Phil 2:11 (KJV) …every tongue should confess (acknowledge) that Jesus Christ [is] Lord, to…God the Father.

The good news is, we are called to be priests under the Order of Melchisedec, meaning we will be God’s servants, which means employees, like Jesus Christ, FOREVER!

Summary at this point: God’s judgments on servants are applicable to those called of God to be his servants to teach the Israelites.  The Israelites were also called to be God’s servants.  They will in turn teach other nations to be God’s servants.  As God’s government expands to other nations and eventually to other planets, the hiring of God’s servants would continue.

Isai 9:7 (KJV) Of the increase of [his] government and peace [THERE SHALL BE] NO END, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with JUDGMENT and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

Next: Part 10 – Judgments continued

-by Belo Alvaran

COMMANDMENT NO. 6

Exod 20:13 You shall not kill (Heb RATSACH, item 07523, premeditated, intentional, murder).

Cain’s killing of his brother Abel was murder. 

Gene 4:8 (KJV) And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.

They had no argument.  Cain’s action therefore was premeditated. It was planned and intentional.

Accidental killing is not murder.  God provided a place of refuge in the Israelite territories for those who have killed by accident.

Numb 35:11 (KJV) Then you shall appoint you cities to be cities of refuge for you; that the slayer may flee there, which kills any person at unawares. {at…: Heb. by error}

Deut 19:4 (KJV) And this [is] the case of the slayer, which shall flee there, that he may live: Whoso kills his neighbor ignorantly, whom he hated not in time past; 5 As when a man goes into the wood with his neighbor to hew wood, and his hand fetches a stroke with the axe to cut down the tree, and the head (of the axe) slips from the helve (handle), and lights upon his neighbor, that he dies; he shall flee unto one of those cities, and live:

CHRIST AMENDED COMMANDMENT NO. 6: 

ANGER WITHOUT CAUSE IS MURDER

Matt 5:21 (KJV, Christ speaking) You have heard that it was said (to) them of old time (in the Ten Commandments), You shall not kill (murder); and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: 

22 But I say unto you, That (this is the amendment) whosoever is ANGRY WITH HIS BROTHER WITHOUT A CAUSE shall be in danger of the judgment (meaning it has the same effect as murder): and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca (vain fellow, walang kwentang tao, inutil, this is a slander of the person’s character), shall be in danger of the (Sanhedrin) Council (punishable with stripes, Deut 25:1): but whosoever shall say, You fool (or idiot – this is an insult to a person’s anatomy.  God made the person, so he would reflect his Creator), shall be in danger of hell fire (a death sentence from God). {Raca: that is, Vain fellow}

Roma 14:10 (KJV) But why do you judge your brother? or why do you set at naught (belittle) your brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

In argumentation and debate, there is a fallacy called “ad hominem” i.e., attack directed against the person or his character or his beliefs. During our Spokesman’s Club, when we reach the “Attack” lesson, the instruction was “attack the sin, not the sinner”.

Only God can judge whether a person is a vain fellow or a fool.  Here is God’s definition of a fool:

Prov 10:18 (KJV) He that HIDES hatred [with] lying lips, and he that UTTERS A SLANDER, [is] a FOOL.

Note that hiding your hatred, or saying it aloud, is the same with God.

Prov 24:9 (KJV) The THOUGHT of foolishness [is] SIN: and the scorner [is] an abomination to men.

Let Christ continue in Mat 5: 

Matt 5:23 Therefore if you bring your gift (OFFERING) to the altar (to be reconciled to God), and there (you) remember that your brother has anything against you; 24 Leave there your gift before the altar, and go your way; FIRST be reconciled to your brother, and then (SECOND) come and offer your gift (and be reconciled to God).

Character assassination is murder:

John 8:43 (KJV, Christ speaking to the Jews) Why do you not understand my speech? [even] because you cannot hear my word. 44 You are of [your] father the Devil, and the lusts of your father you will do. He was a MURDERER from the beginning (Satan apparently DISCREDITED God the Father before the angels hence Christ called him a murderer), and abode not in the truth (obeyed not the Father whose word is truth, John 17:17), because there is no truth in him (i.e., he was not the source of truth, but God the Father only). When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own (He was God’s Liaison Officer similar to an Ambassador to one third of the angels and he probably told them lies to incite them to rebellion against God): for he is a liar, and the FATHER of it (i.e., the Father of Lies).

Our thoughts are being monitored by God, because “action follows thought”.  WE have no privacy of thoughts with God:

Prov 6:16 (KJV) These six [things] does the LORD hate: yea, seven [are] an abomination unto him: 17 A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, 18 A HEART THAT DEVISES WICKED IMAGINATIONS, feet that are swift in running to mischief, 19 A false witness [that] speaks LIES, and he that sows discord among brethren.

God knows whether we will make a good messenger or not:

Prov 13:17 (KJV) A wicked messenger falls into mischief: but a faithful Ambassador [is] health. (We will be God’s Ambassadors!)

COMMANDMENT NO. 7

Exod 20:14  You shall not commit adultery.

Jesus Christ modified this to include thinking about it:

Matt 5:27 (KJV) You have heard that it was said by them of old time, You shall not commit adultery: 28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looks on a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already IN HIS HEART (or in his thoughts).

Christ’s teaching was not new.  It had been there in the book of proverbs.  It covers not only the command on adultery, but also the other commandments:

Prov 24:9 (KJV) The thought of foolishness [is] sin:…

Action follows thought.

Psal 19:14 (KJV, David praying) Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.

Joseph refused to be defiled by his master’s wife: 

Gene 39:1 (KJV, At Judah’s advise, Joseph’s jealous brethren sold him to the Ishmaelites) And Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the hands of the Ishmaelites, which had brought him down there. 2 And the LORD was with Joseph, and he (Potiphar) was prosperous man; and he (Joseph) was in the house of his master the Egyptian. 3 And his master saw that the LORD [was] with him, and that the LORD made all that he did to prosper in his hand. 4 And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he served him: and he made him OVERSEER over his house, and all [that] he had he put into his hand.

5 …And Joseph was [a] goodly [person], and well favored (i.e., he was handsome!).

7 And it came to pass after these things, that HIS MASTER’S WIFE cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she said, Lie with me. 8 But he refused, and said unto his master’s wife, Behold, my master knows not what [is] with me in the house, and he has committed all that he has to my hand; 9 [There is] none greater in this house than I; neither has he kept back anything from me BUT YOU, because you [are] his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and SIN AGAINST GOD?

Joseph was sexually harassed every day!

10 And it came to pass, as she spoke to Joseph DAY BY DAY, that he hearkened NOT unto her, to lie by her, [or] to be with her. 11 And it came to pass about this time, that [Joseph] went into the house to do his business; and [there was] none of the men of the house there within. 12 And she caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with me: and he left his garment in her hand, and fled, and got him out.

This reminds us of Paul’s admonition to the Corinthians:

1Cor 6:18 (KJV) Flee fornication. Every sin that a man does is without the body; but he that commits fornication sins against his own body.

Prov 25:28 (KJV) He that [has] no rule over his own spirit [is like] a city [that is] broken down, [and] without walls.

Let’s see what happened to Joseph:

Gene 39:19 And it came to pass, when his master heard the words of his wife, which she spoke unto him, saying, After this manner did your servant to me; that his wrath was kindled. 20 And Joseph’s master took him, and put him into the prison, a place where the king’s prisoners [were] bound: and he was there in the prison.

21 But the LORD was with Joseph, and showed him mercy, and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.

BIRTHRIGHT GIVEN TO JOSEPH:

In short, Joseph did not commit adultery out of Godly fear.  He proved himself trustworthy and fit to be recipient of the birthright:

1Chr 5:1 (KJV) Now the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel, (for he [was] the firstborn; but, forasmuch as he defiled his father’s bed (he committed adultery with Bilhah, one of his father’s four wives), his BIRTHRIGHT WAS GIVEN UNTO THE SONS OF JOSEPH the son of Israel: and the genealogy is not to be reckoned after the birthright. 2 For Judah prevailed above his brethren (not to kill Joseph), and of him [came] the chief ruler; but THE BIRTHRIGHT [WAS] JOSEPH’S.

Adultery has a relative; i.e., FORNICATION: 

1Cor 6:18 (KJV) Flee fornication. Every sin that a man does is without the body; but he that commits fornication sins against his own body. 19 What? know you not that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit [which is] in you, which you have of God, and you are not your own?

It would help us appreciate the 7^th commandment by reading 1Cor 6:15-19:

1Cor 6:15 (KJV) Know you not that your bodies are the members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ, and make [them] the members of an harlot? God forbid. 16 What? Know you not that he which is joined to a harlot is one body? for two, says he, shall be one flesh (meaning the man becomes a harlot as well). 17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit (with the Lord).

Another judgment of God on sex is incest which was discussed at length in Leviticus 18:

Levi 18:6 None of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to him, to uncover [their] nakedness: I [am] the LORD.

COMMANDMENT NO. 8

Exod 20:15  You shall not steal.

There are many ways of stealing.  Kidnapping is described as stealing a man in the Bible. 

Exod 21:16 (KJV) And he that steals a man, and sells him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death.

While most thieves steal from their fellowmen, God’s people may be unwittingly stealing from God. As priests-in-training, we will focus on our relationship with God:

Mala 3:8 (KJV) Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed me. But you say, Wherein have we robbed you? In tithes and offerings. 9 You [are] cursed with a curse: for YOU HAVE ROBBED ME, [even] this whole nation.

Tithes are not our money; they are God’s.  According to Christ, unused tithes should be kept in a BANK:

Mala 3:10 Bring you all the tithes into the storehouse (a safe place such as a BANK), that there may be meat in my house (tithes may be consumed by man in God-prescribed manner, which we shall discuss in detail when we reach the provision on tithing), and prove me now herewith, said the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that [there shall] not [be room] enough [to receive it]. 11 And I will rebuke the DEVOURER (e.g.; locusts attacking plantations, or human scammers victimizing investors, or evenfailing bankers) for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, (or destroy our business) said the LORD of hosts.

Luke 19:23 (KJV) Wherefore then gave not you my money into the BANK, that AT MY COMING I might have required mine own with usury (interest)?

There is an interest of 20 percent for misused or unpaid tithes. 

Levi 22:14 (KJV) And if a man eats [of] the holy thing (tithes are holy things) unwittingly (by mistake), then he shall put the fifth [part] (20%) thereof unto it, and shall give [it] unto the priest WITH the holy thing (i.e., with the principal)

God’s reaction is fast and drastic when the law on tithing is transgressed because it has a direct impact on him: he is dishonored when tithes are not paid, or even delayed.  Malachi said not paying tithes makes one a thief.  Thieves and how they are dealt with are discussed at length under the provisions on Judgments. 

1Sam 2:30 (KJV) Wherefore the LORD God of Israel said (to Eli the Levitical High Priest whose sons misappropriated the people’s offerings and dishonored God in the process) …[T]hem that honor me I will honor, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.

We can see that the Commandments, Judgments and Statutes are INTERRELATED.  That is why it is important that we study the basics so that we can connect the dots later on. 

COMMANDMENT NO. 9

Exod 20:16  You shall not bear false witness AGAINST your neighbor.

Here are quotes from the W CG booklet The Ten Commandments, 1972 edition:

     “It is only in seeking and bearing witness to the truth that man is associated with God. For, in literal fact, God is truth! Jesus said: “Thy word is truth” (John 17:17). And again: “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6).

     “No matter what other faults and weaknesses a man may have, if he is willing to speak the truth, live openly and truthfully what he really is, and acknowledge the truth when it is shown to him, that man can be respected and helped to overcome his personal weaknesses…

     “The ninth commandment protects every upright and decent man in that it helps guard his reputation. Perhaps there is no more despicable sin than that of slander, the lie invented and spread abroad with intent to harm one’s fellow man. A thief takes only material goods, which may usually be replaced. But a false witness who slanders may rob one of esteem and reputation in the eyes of his fellowmen — and chances are slim that it will ever be fully regained.

                 The Practical Value of Honesty

     “The immediate value of being able to rely on a man’s word would not only guard every decent man’s reputation and eliminate millions of wasted hours from the burden of investigating every statement and report several times over, it would also prevent unworthy men from ever being placed in high positions of responsibility. It would literally clean up our society!…

     “If you would live forever in the society of God, you are commanded by Him who gives you life and breath: “Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another” (Eph. 4:25).” (End of quotes)

Comments:  WCG members have certainly heard from the pulpit many ways of bearing false witness against one’s neighbor.  And they are all sin. 

So, we will discuss the other side of this commandment, and that is, one can bear false witness FOR, not against, his neighbor and be sinless, such as by telling a lie to someone intent on killing him. Rahab was an example:

Rahab was saved for bearing false witness:

Josh 2:1 (KJV) And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go view the land, even Jericho. And they went, and came into a harlot’s house, named Rahab, and lodged there. 2 And it was told the King of Jericho, saying, Behold, there came men in here tonight of the children of Israel to search out the country. 3 And the king of Jericho sent (men) unto Rahab, saying, Bring forth the men that are come to you, which are entered into your house: for they came to search out all the country. 4 And the woman took the two men (Israelites spies), and hid them, and said thus (to the King’s soldiers) (this was a lie), There came men unto me, but I wist (knew)not whence they [were]:

God allowed Joshua to save Rahab and her family:

Josh 6:25 (KJV) And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her father’s household, and all that she had; and she dwelt in Israel [even] unto this day; BECAUSE she hid the messengers, which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.

Hebr 11:31 (KJV) By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.

The point is: Rahab earned praises by bearing false witness FOR, not AGAINST, the Israelite spies.

Let’s continue with the last of the Commandments in the COVENANT:

COMMANDMENT NO. 10

Exod 20:17 You shall not covet your neighbor’s HOUSE, you shall not covet your neighbor’s WIFE, nor his MANSERVANT, nor his MAIDSERVANT, nor his OX, nor his ASS, nor ANYTHING that [is] your neighbor’s.

The covetousness of King Ahab:

1Kin 21:1 (KJV) And it came to pass after these things, [that] Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard, which [was] in Jezreel, hard by the palace of Ahab king of Samaria (Ahab was a descendant of King Jeroboam who ruled the House of Israel after its separation from the House of Judah). 2 And Ahab spoke unto Naboth, saying, Give me your vineyard, that I may have it for a garden of herbs, because it [is] near unto my house: and I will give you for it a better vineyard than it; [or], if it seems good to you, I will give you the worth of it in money.

3 And Naboth said to Ahab, The LORD forbids it me, that I should give the inheritance of my fathers unto you.

Naboth was telling the truth – an Israelite’s inheritance may not be given away or sold from one tribe to another.

Numb 36:9 (KJV) Neither shall the inheritance remove from one tribe to another tribe; but every one of the tribes of the children of Israel shall keep himself to his own inheritance.

Levi 25:23 (KJV, the LORD giving instructions to the Israelites) The land shall not be sold forever: for the land is mine; for you are STRANGERS and SOJOURNERS with me. 24 And in all the land of your possession you shall grant a redemption for the land...28 But if he be not able to restore it to him, then that which is sold shall remain in the hand of him that had bought it UNTIL the year of jubilee: and in the jubilee it (the land) shall go out (from whom it was sold to), and he (the original owner) shall return unto his possession.

King Ahab went moping like a spoiled brat:

1King 21:4 And Ahab came into his house heavy and displeased because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him:…And he laid him down upon his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no bread.

5 But Jezebel his wife came to him, and said unto him, Why is your spirit so sad, that you eat no bread? 6 And he said unto her, Because I spoke unto Naboth the Jezreelite, and said unto him, Give me your vineyard for money; or else, if it pleases you, I will give you [another] vineyard for it: and he answered, I will not give you my vineyard (but he did not say Naboth’s reason that it was against the law of God!)

7 And Jezebel his wife said unto him, Do you now govern the kingdom of Israel? arise, [and] eat bread, and let your heart be merry: I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.

8 So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name, and sealed [them] with his seal, and sent the letters unto the elders and to the nobles that [were] in his city, dwelling with Naboth. 9 And she wrote in the letters, saying, Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people: 10 And set two men, sons of Belial (be lee uhl, i.e., the Devil), before him, to bear witness against him, saying, You did blaspheme God and the king. And [then] carry him out, and stone him, that he may die.

11 And the men of his city, [even] the elders and the nobles who were the inhabitants in his city, DID AS JEZEBEL HAD SENT UNTO THEM, [and] as it [was] written in the letters which she had sent unto them.

…15 And it came to pass, when Jezebel heard that NABOTH WAS STONED, AND WAS DEAD, that Jezebel said to Ahab, Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give you for money: for Naboth is not alive, but dead.

16 And it came to pass, when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, that Ahab rose up to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it.

17 And the word of the LORD came to ELIJAH the Tishbite (Prophet), saying, 18 Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, which [is] in Samaria: behold, [he is] in the vineyard of Naboth, whither he is gone down to possess it. 19 And you shall speak unto him, saying, Thus said the LORD, Have you killed, and also taken possession? And you shall speak unto him, saying, Thus said the LORD, IN THE PLACE WHERE DOGS LICKED THE BLOOD OF NABOTH SHALL DOGS LICK YOUR BLOOD, EVEN YOURS.

King Ahab died in war, dogs licked up his blood:

1Kin 22:37 (KJV) So the king (Ahab) died, and was brought to Samaria; and they buried the king in Samaria. 38 And [one] washed the chariot (of the king) in the pool of Samaria; and the dogs licked up his blood; and they washed his armor; according unto the word of the LORD which he spoke.

Summary:  The Ten Commandments are still in force today. David said so. 

Psal 111:7 (KJV) The works of his hands [are] verity and judgment; all his COMMANDMENTS [are] sure. 8 They stand fast (enforced) FOREVER AND EVER, [and are] done in truth and uprightness.

We will see that the Commandments are an indispensable provision of God’s covenant.  His covenant is: “I will be to you a God.”  He wants us to know him.  And keeping the commandments is a way of knowing him.  Our objective is, and should be, to get to know God.

1John 2:4 (KJV) He that says, I know him (God), and keeps not his commandments, is a LIAR, and the truth is not in him.

Deut 6:5 (KJV) And you shall love the LORD your God with all your HEART, (meaning with a mind open to receive instructions from God) and with all your SOUL (meaning our DESIRES and worldly pursuits should be subject to God), and with all your MIGHT (meaning we should exert every effort to obey all the provisions of his covenant to make him our God)

Deut 11:1 (KJV) Therefore you shall love the LORD your God, and keep his charge, and (the three main provisions of his covenant, namely: ) his STATUTES, and his JUDGMENTS, and his COMMANDMENTS, always.

We have just discussed the Ten Commandments.  But discussing them is not enough.  We need to exert efforts to know them by heart.  There is a technique to doing that called mnemonics:

Mnemonic ^{[ ni-mon-ik ]}

Source: https://www.dictionary.com/browse/mnemonics

Noun – something intended to assist the memory, as a verse or formula.

We need to create our own mnemonics, or formula, to help us remember the Ten Commandments.  An acronym would be effective.

To begin with our acronym-making, we can see that Commandment No. 1 focuses on “OTHER gods” – Exod 20:3 (KJV) You shall have no OTHER gods before me.

So, let’s use letter “O” to represent the first commandment.

Commandment No. 2 focuses on “IMAGE” – Exod 20:4 (KJV) You shall not make unto you any graven IMAGE,…

We can designate letter “I” for the second commandment.

Commandment No. 3 focuses on “NAME” – Exod 20:7 (KJV) You shall not take the NAME of the LORD your God in vain;…

Letter “N” could represent the third commandment.

Commandment No. 4 is about the “SABBATH” – Exod 20:8 (KJV) Remember the SABBATH day…

The letter “S” sounds natural for the fourth commandment.

Commandment No. 5 is about“HONOR” – Exod 20:12 (KJV) HONOR your father and your mother:….

Let’s designate the letters “HO” for the fifth commandment.  

We have now created the acronym OINSHO for the first five commandments.

Commandment No. 6 focuses on “KILL” – Exod 20:13 (KJV) You shall not KILL.

We can designate “K” for this commandment:

Commandment No. 7 focuses on “ADULTERY” – Exod 20:14 (KJV) You shall not commit ADULTERY.

Let’s designate letter “A” for the seventh commandment:

Commandment No. 8 tells us not to “STEAL” – Exod 20:15 (KJV) You shall not STEAL.

Let’s designate another letter “S” for this commandment:

Commandment No. 9 tells us not to bear false WITNESS — Exod 20:16 (KJV) You shall not bear false WITNESS against your neighbor.

The important word is witness, so let’s designate the letters “WI” for this commandment:

Commandment No. 10 doesn’t want us to “COVET” – Exod 20:17 (KJV) You shall not COVET … anything that [is] your neighbor’s.

Let us designate the letters “CO” for the tenth commandment.  We have now formed the acronym KASWICO for commandments 6 to 10. 

Putting them together, we have created the acronym OINSHO – KASWICO to help us remember the Ten Commandments.

NEXT: Part 16 – GOD’S VARIOUS JUDGMENTS

-by Belo Alvaran

We were discussing the three (3) main provisions of the COVENANT BETWEEN GOD AND THE ISRAELITES, which are 1) COMMANDMENTS, 2) JUDGMENTS and 3) STATUTES. 

For a brief review, the main provison in God’s covenant with the Israelites was:

Exod 6:7 (KJV) And I WILL TAKE YOU TO ME FOR A PEOPLE, and I WILL BE TO YOU A GOD: and you shall know (meaning they should exert efforts) that I [am] the LORD your God, which brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.

And that the Israelites’ main task was:

Exod 19:6 (KJV) And you shall be unto me a kingdom of (royal) priests, and an holy nation.

Then God gave them the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20.  They were supposed to be “a light to the Gentiles”.

Acts 13:47 (KJV, Paul speaking to the Jews) For so had the Lord commanded us, [saying], I have set you to be a LIGHT (i.e., guide, teacher) of the GENTILES, that you should be for salvation unto the ends of the earth.

The Israelites, however, LOOKED TO OTHER GODS and broke the main proviso of God’s covenant:

Judg 2:11 (KJV) And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim: 12 And THEY FORSOOK THE LORD GOD OF THEIR FATHERS, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that [were] round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the LORD to anger. 13 And they forsook the LORD, and served Baal and Ashtaroth.

Hose 3:1 (KJV) Then said the LORD unto me, Go yet, love a woman beloved of [her] friend, yet an adulteress, according to the love of the LORD toward the children of Israel, WHO LOOK TO OTHER GODS, and love flagons of wine.

Jere 7:11 (KJV) Is this house (the house of Israel), which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen [it], said the LORD.

…13 And now, because you have done all these (wicked) works, said the LORD, and I spoke unto you, rising up early and speaking, but you heard not; AND I CALLED YOU, BUT YOU ANSWERED NOT;

14 Therefore will I do unto [this] house, which is called by my name,…15…I will cast you out of my sight…

Jere 31:32 (KJV) …my covenant (to be their God) they broke …said the LORD:

When Christ came, he gave the Israelites a SECOND CHANCE:

Matt 15:22 (KJV) And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, [you] Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. …24 But he answered and said, I AM NOT SENT BUT UNTO THE LOST SHEEP OF THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL.

Christ won only one hundred twenty Israelite converts:

Acts 1:15 (KJV) And in those days (after Christ had gone to heaven) Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, and said, (the number of names TOGETHER were about A HUNDRED AND TWENTY,)

Before he left them, Christ instructed his apostles to “teach all nations”, thus extending the calling to the Gentiles.

Matt 28:19 (KJV) Go you therefore, and teach all nations…

This was the assignment of all Christian converts, both Israelites and Gentiles:

1Pet 2:9 (KJV, Peter speaking to Gentile converts) But you [are] a chosen generation, a ROYAL PRIESTHOOD, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that you should show forth (teach others) the praises (Godly attributes) of him (i.e., God the Father) who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:

As we have already established in previous chapters, PRIESTS are TEACHERS of the law.  God initially appointed the Levitical priests TO TEACH the law, but the priests, being humans, had many imperfections so that they failed to teach neither by word, nor by example.

Mala 2:1 (KJV) And now, O you (Levitical) priests, this commandment [is] for you…7 …the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and THEY SHOULD SEEK THE LAW AT HIS MOUTH: for he [is] the Ambassadorof the LORD of hosts. 8 But you are departed out of the way; you have caused many (Israelites) to stumble at the law; you have corrupted the Covenant of Levi (on priesthood), said the LORD of hosts.

God is now training a new set of priests under the Order of Melchisedec to be made of spirit and therefore perfect.  We are among those priest-trainees and our training is still on-going:

Hebr 7:11 (KJV) If therefore perfection were by the LEVITICAL PRIESTHOOD,… what further need [was there] that another priest should rise after the Order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the Order of Aaron?

1Sam 2:35 (KJV, the LORD reprimanding Eli the Levitical High Priest)…I WILL RAISE ME UP A FAITHFUL PRIEST (who was to be Christ himself), [that] shall do according to [that] which [is] in my heart and in my mind: …

God had already raised up his new priest:

Psal 110:4 (KJV, David describing the appointment of the new High Priest) The LORD had sworn (i.e., the appointment was under oath. This is the New Covenant of the Priesthood), and will not repent (i.e., this covenant was irrevocable), YOU ([ARE] A PRIEST FOR EVER AFTER THE ORDER OF MELCHIZEDEK.

Paul confirmed that the newly appointed High Priest was Christ:

Hebr 6:20 (KJV) 20 Whither (within the veil) the forerunner is for us entered, [even] JESUS, made a High Priest forever after the ORDER OF MELCHISEDEC.

We, Christian converts, are those “us” mentioned above. The Commandments, as well as the Judgments and Statutes were, and still are, the CODE OF CONDUCT for royal priests. 

As priest-trainees, we need to get ourselves ready for the task of teaching other priests-trainees as soon as our High Priest comes down. 

2Tim 2:2 (KJV, Paul speaking to one of his underlings) And the things that you have heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit you to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.

As time is of the essence, let’s make every session count. We were discussing the Ten Commandments and we were on Commandment No. 5.

COMMANDMENT NO. 5

Exod 20:12  Honor your father and your mother: that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God gives you.

Comments:  This is the only commandment with a promise of blessing.  Dishonoring ones’ parents removes the blessing.  Anyone who tells people how that his father is a bungler, or a womanizer, or spreads any derogatory description about him, is dishonoring his father.  Honor means don’t put to shame, cover his sins!

Prov 10:12 (KJV) …LOVE COVERS all sins.

The fifth commandment is also an INDIRECT COMMAND to the fathers and mothers to make themselves honorable. 

Ephe 6:2 (KJV) Honor your father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;) 3 That it may be well with you, and you may live long on the earth…4 And, you FATHERS (the mother is being addressed too because the husband and his wife are one), provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. (That would make them honorable parents)

God is our Father, and we are in effect commanded to practice honoring him by honoring our human father. 

John 20:17 (KJV) Jesus said unto Mary Magdalene, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto MY FATHER, and YOUR FATHER; and [to] MY GOD, and YOUR GOD.

GOD THE FATHER LOVES BEING HONORED BY HIS CHILDREN:

Mala 1:6 (KJV) A son honors [his] father, and a servant his master: IF THEN I [BE] A FATHER, WHERE [IS] MY HONOR?

Let’s see.  How does God want to be honored?

Prov 3:9 (KJV) HONOR THE LORD with your SUBSTANCE (offerings), AND with the firstfruits (tithes) of ALL your INCREASE: 10 So shall your barns be filled with PLENTY, and your presses shall BURST out with new wine.

Tithing is listed under Statutes.  So, why are we discussing tithing?  Because it is a BIBLE-PRESCRIBED way of honoring God the Father!  Here we can see that the provisions in the covenant are intertwined.

God has a claim on one tenth of our incomes, called increase, plus offerings of a reasonable percentage.  We are also expected to give offerings of reasonable amount on our acquisitions.  A lot and house and car are acquisitions and it is a token of gratitude to give God an offering on any of it.  To state very briefly, giving offerings and tithing are the formula to live longer without much worries.

Prov 10:22 (KJV) The blessing of the LORD, it makes rich, and he adds NO SORROW with it.

The tithe-paying Jews in Diaspora are mostly millionaires.  Obviously God is blessing them. Of course they send their tithes and offerings to the State of Israel.

This will show how blessed some Jews are:

Gene 49:11 (KJV, Jacob making prophetic pronouncements for Judah) Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass’s colt unto the choice vine; HE WASHES HIS GARMENTS IN WINE (this is super luxury!), and (washes) his clothes in the blood of grapes:

12 His eyes [shall be] red with wine, and his teeth white with milk (indicating abundant living)

OFFERINGS OF LOW QUALITY OFFEND GOD THE FATHER:

Mala 1:8 (KJV, the LORD speaking) …if you OFFER the blind (animals) for sacrifice, [is it] not evil? and if you OFFER the lame and sick (animals), [is it] not evil? offer it now unto your governor; will he be pleased with you, or accept your person? said the LORD of hosts.

…13 …you (the Levitical priests) brought [that which was] torn, and the lame, and the sick…SHOULD I ACCEPT THIS OF YOUR HAND? said the LORD.

14 …cursed [be] the deceiver, which…sacrifices unto the LORD a CORRUPT THING: for I [AM] A GREAT KING, said the LORD of hosts, and my name [is] dreadful among the heathen.

For this reason, the WCG in 1983 under HWA issued an advisory that holyday offerings should be PLANNED IN ADVANCE, not done at the spur of the moment. 

Here are excerpts from Why Holyday Offering, an article by Mr. Leroy Neff, WCG Treasurer, printed in the September 1983 issue of The Good News magazine:

“The amount we give should be ACCORDING to the amount we have been blessed by God. When God blesses someone in a special or generous way, the person should respond PROPORTIONATELY with a generous offering. If God has not blessed the individual, then God does not expect as large an offering. God does not expect as much from the poor and needy as from those who are comparatively well off. 

   “But remember, after God blesses us, He watches to see how much we believe He has blessed us, by observing the kind of appreciation we show in the size of our offering…

   “Another important aspect about giving is the attitude of the giver: “So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver” (verse 7)… 

   “The end result of giving in a right attitude and as God has blessed us is described in the next verses: “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, HAVING ALL THAT YOU NEED, you will abound in every good work. As it is written: ‘He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.’” (End of quotes)

The main idea of the article seemed to be: “give offerings to God so that you will be blessed”.  That was our motivation during our ELEMENTARY SCHOOL days.  As priest-trainees, our focus NOW should be to keep the 5^th commandment, i.e., to honor God as our Father.  The important thing is the offering must be planned.

Prov 3:9 (KJV) HONOR THE LORD WITH YOUR SUBSTANCE (offerings), AND with the firstfruits (tithes) of ALL your INCREASE:

Offering LOOSE COINS and SMALL BILLS during holydays dishonors God and offends him.  Any small bill is nowadays only fit as tip to a parking attendant.  Like God said through Malachi, he is a Great King.  He does not deserve a small bill, neither loose coins.  There are beggars who do not accept loose coins. 

Another thing we should know is: there are “REQUIRED” and “UNREQUIRED” offerings

These are the REQUIRED offerings:

Deut 16:16 (KJV) Three times in a year shall all your MALES appear before the LORD your God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they SHALL NOT appear before the LORD EMPTY:

The word “EMPTY” means “EMPTY-HANDED” or WITHOUT AN OFFERING, as the next verse indicates.  That means we, males, us SHOULD NOT attend the feast if we have no offering.  

17 Every man [shall give] as he is able, ACCORDING TO (or PROPORTIONATE with, such as a certain percentage of) the blessing of the LORD your God which he has given you (indicating the offering must be planned well in advance of the holyday, not while attending the actual holyday service!)

OFFERINGS can be in “kind,” i.e., something of value.  Today, it can be in cash.

Exod 35:4 (KJV) And Moses spoke unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, This [is] the thing which the LORD commanded, saying,

5 Take you from among you an OFFERING unto the LORD: whosoever [is] of a willing heart, let him bring it, an offering of the LORD; gold, and silver, and brass,

6 And blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen (these were textiles for drapes), and goats’ [hair],

7 And rams’ skins dyed red, and badgers’ skins, and shittim wood,

8 And oil for the light, and spices for anointing oil, and for the sweet incense,

9 And onyx stones, and stones to be set for the ephod, and for the breastplate.

LABOR is OFFERING:

10 And every wise hearted among you shall come, and MAKE all that the LORD had commanded;

11 The tabernacle, its tent, and its covering, its taches, and its boards, its bars, its pillars, and its sockets, etc.

These are the “UNREQUIRED” offerings which God regards as “vain”, i.e., USELESS, without value to him:

1Kin 12:32 (KJV) And Jeroboam ordained a feast (of Tabernacles) in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast (of tabernacles) that [is] in Judah (which was, and still is, in the seventh month), and he OFFERED upon the altar. So did he in Bethel, sacrificing unto the CALVES that he had made: and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made (from the lowest of the people, 1Kings 12:31).  33 So he OFFERED upon the altar which he had made in Bethel the fifteenth day of the eighth month, [even] in the month which he had devised of his own heart; and ORDAINED A FEAST UNTO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL: and he OFFERED upon the altar, and burnt incense.

God was angered by their “unrequired” offerings:

2Kin 17:20 (KJV) And the LORD rejected all the seed of Israel, and afflicted them, and delivered them into the hand of spoilers, until he had cast them out of his sight.

21 …he rent (took away the House of) Israel from the House of David;…Jeroboam drove Israel from following the LORD, and made them sin a great sin.

22 For the children of Israel walked in all the SINS OF JEROBOAM which he did; they departed not from them;

Isai 1:11 (KJV, the LORD rebuking the House of Israel long after Jeroboam was gone, but still observing unprescribed feast days) To what purpose [is] the multitude of your sacrifices unto me?…12 When you come to appear before me, who had REQUIRED this at your hand, to tread my courts (during holy convocation but on the wrong date)?

13 Bring no more VAIN OBLATIONS (oblations are OFFERINGS); incense (symbolic of prayers) is an abomination unto me;…14 YOUR  NEW MOONS (not God’s) and YOUR APPOINTED FEASTS (not God’s) my soul hates: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear [them].

Clearly, giving OFFERINGS, IF REQUIRED, is one way of honoring God who is our Father.  That is why we should not meddle with the task of Levites by re-computing God’s holydays because we might end up keeping them on the wrong dates.  Then our offerings will be “vain”.

Tithing is a PRESCRIBED way of honoring God.  Let’s review just the basics:

Deut 14:22 (KJV) You shall truly tithe ALL the INCREASE OF YOUR SEED, that the FIELD brings forth year by year.

The word “seed”, Heb zera, means offspring, both of plants and animals.  Farmers, small and corporate, INVEST money, time and efforts in the propagation of plants and animals. FARMING therefore IS A BUSINESS ACTIVITY.  Returns from investments of any kind are “INCREASE OF YOUR SEED”.

The word “field”, Heb sadeh, item 7704 in Strong’s, means “to SPREAD OUT”.  It encompasses everything, such as country, LAND, wild, ground, soil.  There are probably very few human activities, if any, that are not LAND-BASED or GROUND-BASED or EARTH-BASED.

The land or field or earth belongs to God and he has not given up his ownership to anybody.  Humans are only ADMINISTRATORS, not owners or even co-owners.

Levi 25:23 (KJV) The land shall not be sold for ever: for the LAND [is] MINE; for you [are] STRANGERS and SOJOURNERS (NOT CO-OWNERS) with me. 

Exod 19:5 (KJV) Now therefore, if you will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant (to be their God), then you shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for ALL the EARTH [is] mine:

We have heard such expressions as “BUSINESS FIELD” or “MEDICAL FIELD” or “RESEARCH FIELD”. The general term is “FIELDS OF ENDEAVOR”.  One’s FIELD therefore is his LINE OF WORK or MEANS OF LIVELIHOOD.  From these indications, all incomes derived from any FIELD OF WORK are subject to tithes.

TITHES AND OFFERINGS DEFRAY OPERATING COSTS OF HOME CHURCHES

In these times of prolonged lockdowns to contain infections, WCG brethren might opt to organize their own “home church” as stop-gap substitute for cancelled services.  In home churches, there are no salaried ministers to collect the tithes.  So, how do we apportion God’s money?  Since the church’s inception, tithes and offerings had been used to defray its OPERATING COSTS. They were used to pay for office rentals, salaries and travel expenses of personnel, provide assistance to indigents, defray cultural shows and even used for sports events. In home churches, we can certainly receive tithes and offerings from those with incomes to defray our basic OPERATING COSTS.  Our examples are the Jewish synagogues which sprung up after the Temple destruction.  Their history was written for OUR admonition.

We will discuss more details on tithing and offerings when we get to the STATUTES. 

<p class="<a href="https://www.w3schools.com">Visit W3Schools.com!NEXT:  PART 15 – Commandment No. 6

• The Covenants, Part 25: Miscellaneous Topics, Are you a stinking sacrifice?
• The Covenants, Part 24: Old and New Covenants Revisited
• The Covenants, Part 23: God’s Berith for Abraham, Accession by the Israelites – Provision No. 3 Continued
• The Covenants, Part 22: God’s Berith for Abraham, Accession by the Israelites – Provision No. 3 Continued
• The Covenants, Part 21: God’s Berith for Abraham, Accession by the Israelites – Provision No. 3 Continued