How do I use a bible concordance and distinguish laws in the OT?

Anonymous0210 said:

I'm trying to get into using an nasb 95 bible concordance and I'm just curious how exactly do you use it? Like do I literally just go through every single time the word is used in the entire bible to compare it? How is it beneficial and what does it reveal? Also how do I distinguish between moral laws and ceremonial laws in the OT? Thanks.

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The NASB already is a pretty good English translation - for personal reading and basic study already very helpful. How detailed are you intending to check the Hebrew/Greek? These days online you can check the interlinear, e.g.:

Bible Hub interlinear

That's easier than manually lookup words. When you study a particular verse in detail a concordance or online tools like the one mentioned allow you to have a look at the Greek text and check what actual words were used - and how e.g. a particular Greek word is used at other places in the NT. That creates a better understanding of the meaning of such a Greek word. For detailed study it is risky to rely on just a translation - because translators have to make choices and sometimes suffer from too much interpretation.

Also free desktop software exists for that purpose:e-Sword: Free Bible Study for the PC or Scripture4All - Greek/Hebrew interlinear Bible software

Do you have particular themes or subjects or sections in mind or a specific interest?

Anonymous0210 said:

I'm trying to get into using an nasb 95 bible concordance and I'm just curious how exactly do you use it? Like do I literally just go through every single time the word is used in the entire bible to compare it? How is it beneficial and what does it reveal? Also how do I distinguish between moral laws and ceremonial laws in the OT? Thanks.

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There are 613 Mitzvot. They are listed here as well as where you can find them in the Old Testament.

Anonymous0210 said:

I'm trying to get into using an nasb 95 bible concordance and I'm just curious how exactly do you use it? Like do I literally just go through every single time the word is used in the entire bible to compare it? How is it beneficial and what does it reveal? Also how do I distinguish between moral laws and ceremonial laws in the OT? Thanks.

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What drives the need to distinguish between moral laws and ceremonial laws?

Anonymous0210 said:

So I don't burden myself with something that doesn't apply to me.

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That is a very interesting reply. I think you will find over time that every law, no matter the type, represents a burden too heavy to bear if approached in the wrong way. The book of Galatians was written to address this very issue. The punchline is, "For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another" (Ga 5:13).

Anonymous0210 said:

I'm trying to get into using an nasb 95 bible concordance and I'm just curious how exactly do you use it? Like do I literally just go through every single time the word is used in the entire bible to compare it? How is it beneficial and what does it reveal? Also how do I distinguish between moral laws and ceremonial laws in the OT? Thanks.

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I chiefly use a concordance 1) to find a passage when I've forgotten where it is; 2) for cross-referencing; and 3) to get some sense of the varieties of meanings of a Greek or Hebrew word.

For (1), I've now mostly replaced it with Google. Where is the parable of the Good Samaritan? If I've forgotten, a quick Google search will usually find it.

(2) is for questions like "What are all the laws in the Pentateuch that list what Jews aren't allowed to do on the Sabbath?" Or, "What are all the things the Bible has to say about the first and second Temples?" Looking up "Sabbath" or "temple" will give some good references to explore.

For (3), I have to note that there's no substitute for learning the original languages. But it can be useful to take an English word in a verse, find the underlying Greek/Hebrew word, and then look at all the English words that are used elsewhere to translate that Greek/Hebrew word, to get a better sense of the variety of meanings that attach to that original-language word.

On moral vs. ceremonial laws, I know that's a common distinction made in the Reformed tradition, but I don't find it a helpful set of categories. The Jerusalem Council in Acts decided that Gentiles don't have to follow the Jewish Law in order to be Christians, and Paul's letters seem to agree with that. If the categories are helpful to you, there might be a Reformed theologian or teacher who has a good set of criteria to use.

Anonymous0210 said:

I'm trying to get into using an nasb 95 bible concordance and I'm just curious how exactly do you use it?

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I haven't seen one. But I use a Strong's Concordance which is for the King James Bible.

This one lists all the words in the Bible, and next to each word is the scripture where it is. So, I can look up "love" and see all the verses which have "love" in them. Plus, there is a Hebrew dictionary in the back and a Greek dictionary. And there is a number code next to each word; I can use this number code to look up the Hebrew or Greek word and its meaning in the back dictionary. The same word in different verses can have different meanings; so you will find different number codes, sometimes, for the same word. And each number tells you which word to look up for its Greek or Hebrew meaning.

"Love", for example can have different meanings in the Greek. And so, when you look up the list of all the verses with "love" in them, you will find different numbers next to different listings for "love". So, you then can look up the dictionary definition in order to find what "love" is supposed to mean, in each verse.

Anonymous0210 said:

Galatians was written because the church in Galatia were putting themselves back under the law of Moses which Paul needed to address

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That's not what the Word in Galatians Says to the Galatians, is it ? Rather, a warning not to give in to the deceivers/ false gospel / liars/ hypocrites who were trying to get them to fall from the truth.

Anonymous0210 said:

I'm trying to get into using an nasb 95 bible concordance and I'm just curious how exactly do you use it? Like do I literally just go through every single time the word is used in the entire bible to compare it? How is it beneficial and what does it reveal? Also how do I distinguish between moral laws and ceremonial laws in the OT? Thanks.

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If a group of people were to create lists of which laws they thought were part of the moral or ceremonial laws, then they would end up with a wide variety of lists and one of those people should interpret the NT as if its authors had in mind a list of laws that they just created, especially when there is no way to establish that they ever considered those to be categories of law. We are free to create whatever categories of law we want and to decide for ourselves which laws we think best fit into our categories, but we should not try to insert our categories back into the Bible. For example, I could categorize God's laws based on which part of the body is most commonly used to obey/disobey them, such as with the law against theft being a hand law, but just because I can do that does not establish that the authors of the Bible used the same categories or that they would agree with me that the law against theft should be considered to be a hand law, so I would quickly run into error if I were to interpret the them as referring to hand laws.

The existence of the category of moral law would imply that we can be acting morally while disobeying the laws that aren't in that category, however, there are no examples in the Bible where disobedience to God is stated as being moral and I see no justification for thinking that it can ever be moral to disobey God. Morality is in regard to what we ought to do and we ought to embody God's likeness through being a doer of His character traits, so all of God's laws are inherently moral laws. All legislators give laws in accordance with their understanding of what ought to be done, so for someone to claim that some of God's laws are not moral laws is to claim that God made a moral error about what ought to be done when He gave those laws and is therefore to claim to have greater moral knowledge than God. By someone claiming that some of God's laws are not moral laws, they essentially saying that they have a disagreement with God about what ought to be done and that they should learn on their own understand of morality by doing what is right in their own eyes instead of trusting in God with all of their heart to correctly divide between right and wrong though His law.

Anonymous0210 said:

So I don't burden myself with something that doesn't apply to me.

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So you are willing to follow God unless He dares to command anything that has an aspect that you consider to be ceremonial, in which case that crosses the line?

Anonymous0210 said:

Galatians was written because the church in Galatia were putting themselves back under the law of Moses which Paul needed to address

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In Matthew 4:15-23, Christ began his ministry with the Gospel message to repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand, which was a light to the Gentiles, and the Law of Moses was how his audience knew what sin is (Romans 3:20), so renting from our disobedience to it is a central part of the Gospel message. Christ also set a sinless example for us to follow of how to walk in obedience to the Law of Moses and we are told to follow his example (1 Peter 2:21-22) and that those who're in Christ are obligated to walk in the same way that he walked (1 John 2:6). So Christ spent his ministry teaching his followers to obey the Law of Moses by word and by example and Paul's problem in Galatians was not with those who were teaching Gentiles how to follow Christ, but with those who were wanting Gentiles to become circumcised in order to become justified.

Anonymous0210 said:

We aren't under the law. We are saved by grace through faith Ephesians 2:8

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In Romans 6:14, Paul described the law that we are not under as being a law where sin had dominion over us, which does not describe the Law of Moses, but rather it is the law of sin where sin had domino over us. In Romans 6:15, being under grace does not mean that we are permitted to sin, so we are still under the Law of Moses.

In Ephesians 2:8-10, we are new creations in Christ to do good works, so while Paul denied that we can earn our salvation as the result of our works lest anyone should boast, God graciously making us into a doer of good works is nevertheless a central part of His gift of salvation. In Psalms 119:29-30, he wanted to put false ways far from him, for God to be gracious to him by teaching him to obey the Law of Moses, and he chose the way of faith by setting it before him, so this has always been the one and only way of salvation by grace through faith and this is the reason why those who are under grace are not permitted to sin.

Anonymous0210 said:

I'm trying to get into using an nasb 95 bible concordance and I'm just curious how exactly do you use it? Like do I literally just go through every single time the word is used in the entire bible to compare it? How is it beneficial and what does it reveal? Also how do I distinguish between moral laws and ceremonial laws in the OT? Thanks.

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This thread might help.

God deemed all of His commandments righteous Psa 119:172Isa 56:1-2 and His righteousness is everlasting Psa 119:142. Sadly man has changed God's times and laws as we were warned Dan 7:25 that most of man follows today instead of obedience to God's commandments- His Testimony Exo 31:18 Deut 4:13, which He personally wrote and spoke. God only numbered one set of Law Deut 4:13 Exo 34:28 and He wrote it Himself. Exo 31:18 Can you imagine telling our perfect God and Savior what He personally wrote with His own finger as not moral? People use 613 laws, but its not a biblical number.

There is a spiritual war going on, I would test everything by Scripture Isa 8:20

Regarding your question, I highly recommend eSword or BlueBible. They are lots of references to the concordances

Anonymous0210 said:

We aren't under the law. We are saved by grace through faith Ephesians 2:8

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Yes, we are saved by grace through faith. Does someone with faith hear God's voice and obey Him or rebel?

Luke 6:46 “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?

Sin is breaking God's law

1Jn 3:4 Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.
Jas 2:11 For He who said, "DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY," also said, "DO NOT MURDER." Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.

You can find the rest of what God said in the Ten Commandments Exo 20:1-17

So while we are saved by grace through faith does grace void the Law?

Rom 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin(breaking God's law) that grace may abound?
Rom 6:2 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?

While we are not saved by keeping any Law, we are only saved by grace through faith obedience to God and His commandments demonstrates our salvation and faith in Christ.

Joh 15:4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
Joh 15:5 "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
Joh 15:6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.
Joh 15:7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.
Joh 15:8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.
Joh 15:9 "As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.
Joh 15:10 If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love.

Rev 14:12 Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.

Eph 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

In Scripture unbelief is the same as rebellion, sin and disobedience.

While we are not saved by the Law, we keep God's Law because we love Him John 14:15 1 John 5:3 and no one is going to be saved in their sins (rebelling against God's Law) Heb 10:26-30 Rom 6:16 Rom 8:7-18 Rev 22:15 Mat 7:23 etc.