The revalency of the old testament

I was thinking today, as I was reading my bible, how easy we have it. Right now, I'm mainly reading in the old testament, because that's where my devotions are. But one of the things that I learned when I was reading it, is we today read it, and think, 'oh my gosh, look at all those rules,' and wonder why God would do that. But what I learned, was that that was the first time a people served a god that communicated with them like that; obviously because up until that point people were serving false gods that couldn't talk to them. They had no idea what their god wanted, and their devotion to a false god may have led them into sacrificing their own children. But the God that we serve is not like that. He is very clear about what pleases him and what doesn't. And the more I learn about mosaic law, the more I believe that the church should operate under those principles. I'm not talking about all the sacrificing and sprinking of blood, that now is pointless as the new testament says. But I'm talking about the principles of dealing with issues. Here are some examples:

¹⁶ The LORD your God commands you this day to follow these decrees and laws; carefully observe them with all your heart and with all your soul. ¹⁷ You have declared this day that the LORD is your God and that you will walk in his ways, that you will keep his decrees, commands and laws, and that you will obey him. ¹⁸ And the LORD has declared this day that you are his people, his treasured possession as he promised, and that you are to keep all his commands. ¹⁹ He has declared that he will set you in praise, fame and honor high above all the nations he has made and that you will be a people holy to the LORD your God, as he promised.
Deut 26:16-19
That alone is a powerful statement. It's explaining the covenant that we are entering into with God. We agree to do our part, he agrees to do his part. Our part is to love Him and obey his commands, but not halfway, all the way.


15 One witness is not enough to convict a man accused of any crime or offense he may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.
Deut 19:15
2 If a man or woman living among you in one of the towns the LORD gives you is found doing evil in the eyes of the LORD your God in violation of his covenant, 3 and contrary to my command has worshiped other gods, bowing down to them or to the sun or the moon or the stars of the sky, 4 and this has been brought to your attention, then you must investigate it thoroughly. If it is true and it has been proved that this detestable thing has been done in Israel, 5 take the man or woman who has done this evil deed to your city gate and stone that person to death. 6 On the testimony of two or three witnesses a man shall be put to death, but no one shall be put to death on the testimony of only one witness. 7 The hands of the witnesses must be the first in putting him to death, and then the hands of all the people. You must purge the evil from among you. Deut 17:2-7
If someone hears a rumour, it needs to be investigated. No conclusion can be reached based on one witness. Is God calling them a liar? No, it's just a fact that one person doesn't always have the whole story. But there's a flipside to that: If enough witnesses can testify to something, then the person who first heard about it is the person who casts the first stone. People who lead us astray should not be given a way in, should not be allowed to have influence on us. We need to watch our company, because bad company corrups good character.

8 If cases come before your courts that are too difficult for you to judge—whether bloodshed, lawsuits or assaults—take them to the place the LORD your God will choose. 9 Go to the priests, who are Levites, and to the judge who is in office at that time. Inquire of them and they will give you the verdict. 10 You must act according to the decisions they give you at the place the LORD will choose. Be careful to do everything they direct you to do. 11 Act according to the law they teach you and the decisions they give you. Do not turn aside from what they tell you, to the right or to the left. 12 The man who shows contempt for the judge or for the priest who stands ministering there to the LORD your God must be put to death. You must purge the evil from Israel. 13 All the people will hear and be afraid, and will not be contemptuous again.
Deut. 17:8-13

This is the one I think we all have some problem with. We go to people for advice, we go to our role models, our leaders, our doctors; really anybody in a position to help us. And what do we do? We pick out what we want to hear and throw out what we don't. Today, somewhere in one of my classes I've heard it called doctor shopping. But here God says to carefully do everything that we're told to do.

Naaman Healed of Leprosy
1 Now Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded, because through him the LORD had given victory to Aram. He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy. [a]

2 Now bands from Aram had gone out and had taken captive a young girl from Israel, and she served Naaman's wife. 3 She said to her mistress, "If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy."

4 Naaman went to his master and told him what the girl from Israel had said. 5 "By all means, go," the king of Aram replied. "I will send a letter to the king of Israel." So Naaman left, taking with him ten talents [b] of silver, six thousand shekels [c] of gold and ten sets of clothing. 6 The letter that he took to the king of Israel read: "With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman to you so that you may cure him of his leprosy."

7 As soon as the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his robes and said, "Am I God? Can I kill and bring back to life? Why does this fellow send someone to me to be cured of his leprosy? See how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me!"

8 When Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his robes, he sent him this message: "Why have you torn your robes? Have the man come to me and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel." 9 So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha's house. 10 Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, "Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed."

11 But Naaman went away angry and said, "I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. 12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than any of the waters of Israel? Couldn't I wash in them and be cleansed?" So he turned and went off in a rage.

13 Naaman's servants went to him and said, "My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, 'Wash and be cleansed'!" 14 So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy.
2 kings 5:1-14

See? The man wants a miracle but doesn't want to do any work. He wants to experience the power of God but wants to do it his way. He has trouble listening because he had prior expectations. But if God's thoughts are not our thoughts, we need to have an open mind to listening to him; not questioning him. Let's look at this from another direction. What if this man had comitted a sin, and that was why he had leprousy? Miriam, mother of moses, was punished for leprosy. Here Naanam is given direction on how to make restitution. He doesn't want to do it. Maybe he only wants to wash six times, and not seven, or maybe he thinks he shouldn't have to do anything at all.

The bible says that God forgives our sin. The bible also says that God disciplines us. Which one do you think are we more likely to focus on? How often do we forget that God can take sin away, but sometimes the affect of the sin is still there? If I punched Ed in the face and broke his glasses, the next day they would still be broke. If a disaster destroyed a town, the next day it would still be destroyed. We can repent of our sins and recieve forgiveness, but that doesn't take the work of restoration out of it. The Civil War ended, the north won, slavery was abolished, everybody was a happy camper. What period followed the Civil War? Reconstruction. Reconstructing takes work, far more work than is necessary to destroy. But in the end, which is better and more rewarding?