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Acts 5:29 says, “...We must obey God rather than men.” In the context of the rest of the Bible, that’s easy to understand, I believe. It DOESN’T tell us to disregard anything a person says to us, but instead to wait for God to tell us what to do. It tells us to obey those who speak to us with God in mind instead of with concern of worldly considerations that don’t conform to what God wants from us.
It’s interesting that the above passage says WE must obey God, NOT you must obey God. “We” denotes a group. Question is, is it a group in and of itself, or is it a group of individuals that the passage addresses? Does the WE mean us, or does it mean EACH of us, individually?
People attend houses of worship, at least on occasion. Many attend regularly. They attend to pray, and perhaps to get guidance from the clergy as to what is good and evil under God. Some may see the light of goodness, while others pay lip service to it, then go on living their lives as before. Some are prominent members of their communities, and perhaps of their congressional districts and of the nation as a whole, who go to houses of worship, then upon leaving services or mass, go on doing what they’ve done before. Those who work for the government may have forgotten or are ignorant that the government they work for is supposed to be an extension of God and everything He stands for, but they’ll proudly tell you they attend a house of worship, with the idea of giving you the impression that they are God-fearing people. They go in and leave services or a mass the same person that they were going in.
Who is the preacher talking to? Is he addressing individuals in his congregation or is he addressing the group as a whole? Who are the politicians in his house of worship obeying? Are the obeying God, or are they obeying man? Are they obeying God through man or are they obeying man in and of himself, full of the earthly temptations and influences? Who are “ordinary” working-class people obeying, who have been going to houses of worship? Who have the rich been obeying? Who have the wannabee rich been obeying?
Anyway, is there any clue as to whether the Bible is addressing individuals or addressing groups? Look at the Ten Commandments. I know, those of us who are wholly in Christ don’t need the Ten Commandments because through our faith in God, we automatically obey them or a facsimile thereof. But I believe many Christians also see the Ten Commandments as the foundation for a righteous society. I mean, there have been a number of government leaders who have been trying, and have in some cases succeeded in, getting the Ten Commandments put on the grounds of government buildings.
When some of those Commandments opens with “Thou shalt not,” are those Commandments addressing each individual or are they addressing a group? In the English language, words like you and thou can be plural as well as singular. If you look at, say, a French translation, that language clearly distinguishes between the singular and the plural “you”. So let’s see... One Commandment says, “You shall have no other gods before me.” Translated into French via Google translate, it says, “Tu n'auras pas d'autres dieux devant moi.” Well, “Tu” is the singular form of “you” in French. The plural form of “you” would be “vous.” Some may say that Google Translate only gives literal translations, not knowing whether the English “you” refers to one person or a group. I asked Google translate to translate “all of you,” and it comes back as “vous”. So, perhaps we can’t rely on Google translate to translate English Bibles. Fair enough.
What possible clues can we get from the Bible? Perhaps it’s found in Ezekiel 18:20 which begins, “The soul who sins shall die.” It doesn’t say something like ‘The souls who sin shall die,’ or ‘The souls of a group who sin shall die.’ The passage seems to put the responsibility of one’s actions on each who undertake such actions, not to whole groups.
Some may say that when God destroyed Sodom, He destroyed a whole group of people. But, as Abraham saw, he couldn’t find even ten people in Sodom who were righteous. Had he found ten people, the city would have been spared. So, there could have been less than ten people in Sodom, or even one who was righteous, but because the city on the whole had sinned, God destroyed it.
Any clue in the New Testament as to whether the Bible speaks to individuals or to groups? In Matthew 6:6, Jesus says “...when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” seems he’s addressing each of us as individuals.
My point? There’s a good indication that the Bible implies that each of us has a responsibility to strive for righteousness if we are to be in God’s favor. Each of us has a responsibility of providing for our households or if we can’t, to seek help. Each of us has a responsibility of helping the needy, and if we can’t help them ourselves then each of us has the responsibility of appointing those who will. And each of us, whether by ourselves or through others, has the responsibility of ensuring that we know that those who are poor and needy would be able to convey to the rest of us what they need without having their voices silenced.
It’s interesting that the above passage says WE must obey God, NOT you must obey God. “We” denotes a group. Question is, is it a group in and of itself, or is it a group of individuals that the passage addresses? Does the WE mean us, or does it mean EACH of us, individually?
People attend houses of worship, at least on occasion. Many attend regularly. They attend to pray, and perhaps to get guidance from the clergy as to what is good and evil under God. Some may see the light of goodness, while others pay lip service to it, then go on living their lives as before. Some are prominent members of their communities, and perhaps of their congressional districts and of the nation as a whole, who go to houses of worship, then upon leaving services or mass, go on doing what they’ve done before. Those who work for the government may have forgotten or are ignorant that the government they work for is supposed to be an extension of God and everything He stands for, but they’ll proudly tell you they attend a house of worship, with the idea of giving you the impression that they are God-fearing people. They go in and leave services or a mass the same person that they were going in.
Who is the preacher talking to? Is he addressing individuals in his congregation or is he addressing the group as a whole? Who are the politicians in his house of worship obeying? Are the obeying God, or are they obeying man? Are they obeying God through man or are they obeying man in and of himself, full of the earthly temptations and influences? Who are “ordinary” working-class people obeying, who have been going to houses of worship? Who have the rich been obeying? Who have the wannabee rich been obeying?
Anyway, is there any clue as to whether the Bible is addressing individuals or addressing groups? Look at the Ten Commandments. I know, those of us who are wholly in Christ don’t need the Ten Commandments because through our faith in God, we automatically obey them or a facsimile thereof. But I believe many Christians also see the Ten Commandments as the foundation for a righteous society. I mean, there have been a number of government leaders who have been trying, and have in some cases succeeded in, getting the Ten Commandments put on the grounds of government buildings.
When some of those Commandments opens with “Thou shalt not,” are those Commandments addressing each individual or are they addressing a group? In the English language, words like you and thou can be plural as well as singular. If you look at, say, a French translation, that language clearly distinguishes between the singular and the plural “you”. So let’s see... One Commandment says, “You shall have no other gods before me.” Translated into French via Google translate, it says, “Tu n'auras pas d'autres dieux devant moi.” Well, “Tu” is the singular form of “you” in French. The plural form of “you” would be “vous.” Some may say that Google Translate only gives literal translations, not knowing whether the English “you” refers to one person or a group. I asked Google translate to translate “all of you,” and it comes back as “vous”. So, perhaps we can’t rely on Google translate to translate English Bibles. Fair enough.
What possible clues can we get from the Bible? Perhaps it’s found in Ezekiel 18:20 which begins, “The soul who sins shall die.” It doesn’t say something like ‘The souls who sin shall die,’ or ‘The souls of a group who sin shall die.’ The passage seems to put the responsibility of one’s actions on each who undertake such actions, not to whole groups.
Some may say that when God destroyed Sodom, He destroyed a whole group of people. But, as Abraham saw, he couldn’t find even ten people in Sodom who were righteous. Had he found ten people, the city would have been spared. So, there could have been less than ten people in Sodom, or even one who was righteous, but because the city on the whole had sinned, God destroyed it.
Any clue in the New Testament as to whether the Bible speaks to individuals or to groups? In Matthew 6:6, Jesus says “...when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” seems he’s addressing each of us as individuals.
My point? There’s a good indication that the Bible implies that each of us has a responsibility to strive for righteousness if we are to be in God’s favor. Each of us has a responsibility of providing for our households or if we can’t, to seek help. Each of us has a responsibility of helping the needy, and if we can’t help them ourselves then each of us has the responsibility of appointing those who will. And each of us, whether by ourselves or through others, has the responsibility of ensuring that we know that those who are poor and needy would be able to convey to the rest of us what they need without having their voices silenced.
