Old testament morality

[Bork]

So, I am having some problems in regards to christianity, and I am sure you have seen this very question raised before, so i'll appreciate the help.

The old testament seems to have a lot of brutallity and "unethical/ immoral" scenarios and what not. A lot seem to be endorsed by God. Most of these are from Leviticus and Deuteronomy.

Why is it like this? Did man taint this? Are these rules not timeless? Why does the old testament advocate things that I feel are just plain wrong?

Thanks
Bork

 

[Dondi]

Can you give some specifics?

 

[Bork]

Can you give some specifics?

Deuteronomy 22:28-29

[BIBLE]
28 If a man happens to meet a virgin who is not pledged to be married and rapes her and they are discovered, 29 he shall pay the girl's father fifty shekels of silver. [a] He must marry the girl, for he has violated her. He can never divorce her as long as he lives.
[/BIBLE]

Leviticus 21:9
[BIBLE] 9 " 'If a priest's daughter defiles herself by becoming a prostitute, she disgraces her father; she must be burned in the fire.[/BIBLE]

Deuteronomy 13:13-19
[BIBLE]
13 that wicked men have arisen among you and have led the people of their town astray, saying, "Let us go and worship other gods" (gods you have not known), 14 then you must inquire, probe and investigate it thoroughly. And if it is true and it has been proved that this detestable thing has been done among you, 15 you must certainly put to the sword all who live in that town. Destroy it completely, [a] both its people and its livestock. 16 Gather all the plunder of the town into the middle of the public square and completely burn the town and all its plunder as a whole burnt offering to the LORD your God. It is to remain a ruin forever, never to be rebuilt. 17 None of those condemned things [b] shall be found in your hands, so that the LORD will turn from his fierce anger; he will show you mercy, have compassion on you, and increase your numbers, as he promised on oath to your forefathers, 18 because you obey the LORD your God, keeping all his commands that I am giving you today and doing what is right in his eyes.
[/BIBLE]


Deuteronomy 13:6-11
[BIBLE]6 If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you love, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, "Let us go and worship other gods" (gods that neither you nor your fathers have known, 7 gods of the peoples around you, whether near or far, from one end of the land to the other), 8 do not yield to him or listen to him. Show him no pity. Do not spare him or shield him. 9 You must certainly put him to death. Your hand must be the first in putting him to death, and then the hands of all the people. 10 Stone him to death, because he tried to turn you away from the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 11 Then all Israel will hear and be afraid, and no one among you will do such an evil thing again.[/BIBLE]

Here are a few. If you have a website to direct me to, or anyhting that might help me understand I will appreciate it.
Thanks,
Willis

 

[Rafael]

Some of those were cultural issues, but some of the issues of life and death are actually very stark. Do this and live, do that and death results. The Bible did not dress up or try to make the face of sin pretty. It is ugly and leads to horrible things that belong to the darkness.
Enemies were destroyed, violations back then were judged, but God promised a New Covenant where even those who had died the first death would be judged under the New One. It is the second death that is to be final. (Rev. 2:11, 20:6, 20:14, 21:8).
I believe and trust that God will use perfect judgment coincerning all people who have ever lived or died because only He truly knows what they have been given as a foundation. We do not know what the "lake of fire" is like or what God is able to do beyond what we are given, but we do know how great His love is towards those that love Him. His great power to create and do good deserves to be trusted, especially with His own creation..

 

[Exonoesis]

What of The Bible have you read?

 

[Dondi]

Deuteronomy 22:28-29

[bible]
28 If a man happens to meet a virgin who is not pledged to be married and rapes her and they are discovered, 29 he shall pay the girl's father fifty shekels of silver. [a] He must marry the girl, for he has violated her. He can never divorce her as long as he lives.
[/bible]

Actually an act of mercy. It puts the responsibility of the rapist to marry and take care of his victim, first by giving a dowery to the father for the unmarried girl, and second, arranging that the girl will be cared for by the rapist for the rest of her life in marriage to him.

Of course, the word "rape" could be statuary, meaning it was consensual, as the words "they are discovered" would connotate.

But even if it is forceful rape, the girl has been violated and if this law was not put into effect, she would never be able to marry or find someone to marry, for the decent men would still seek a virgin. So I see nothing wrong, indeed, everything right with this commandment.

Leviticus 21:9
[bible] 9 " 'If a priest's daughter defiles herself by becoming a prostitute, she disgraces her father; she must be burned in the fire.[/bible]

Notice it says a priest's daughter, not just anyone's daughter. She has not only sinned against God in selling herself for sex, but disgraced her father's reputation as a priest. in the very next verse 10, it says that the preist is consecrated to the Lord:

"And he that is the high priest among his brethren, upon whose head the anointing oil was poured, and that is consecrated to put on the garments, shall not uncover his head, nor rend his clothes;"

By defiling herself, she has defiled the priest as well. Consider that Adam and Eve were punished to death for a seemingly far lesser crime of eating fruit off the wrong tree.


Deuteronomy 13:13-19
[bible]
13 that wicked men have arisen among you and have led the people of their town astray, saying, "Let us go and worship other gods" (gods you have not known), 14 then you must inquire, probe and investigate it thoroughly. And if it is true and it has been proved that this detestable thing has been done among you, 15 you must certainly put to the sword all who live in that town. Destroy it completely, [a] both its people and its livestock. 16 Gather all the plunder of the town into the middle of the public square and completely burn the town and all its plunder as a whole burnt offering to the LORD your God. It is to remain a ruin forever, never to be rebuilt. 17 None of those condemned things [b] shall be found in your hands, so that the LORD will turn from his fierce anger; he will show you mercy, have compassion on you, and increase your numbers, as he promised on oath to your forefathers, 18 because you obey the LORD your God, keeping all his commands that I am giving you today and doing what is right in his eyes.
[/bible]

If you understood what God was doing concerning the nation of Israel, it would be understandable that He was trying to preserve his people from defilement. Hence, any heathen nations that threatened to turn Israel from God was destroyed. Nothing should remain, including engraven idols or reminders of idols, so everything was burned.

God established Israel in order to pave the way for the Messiah, Jesus Christ, who took away the sins of the world. But God had to keep Israel in check until the right time.


Deuteronomy 13:6-11
[bible]6 If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you love, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, "Let us go and worship other gods" (gods that neither you nor your fathers have known, 7 gods of the peoples around you, whether near or far, from one end of the land to the other), 8 do not yield to him or listen to him. Show him no pity. Do not spare him or shield him. 9 You must certainly put him to death. Your hand must be the first in putting him to death, and then the hands of all the people. 10 Stone him to death, because he tried to turn you away from the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 11 Then all Israel will hear and be afraid, and no one among you will do such an evil thing again.[/bible]

Same as above

Here are a few. If you have a website to direct me to, or anyhting that might help me understand I will appreciate it.
Thanks,
Willis

Any more questions?

 

[Bork]

What of The Bible have you read?

Mainly, I flip through Isaiah, Psalms, and the gospels.
I try not to stay ignorant of the bible, though I am sure that I do.

I have taken a year of biblical hebrew to try and help my understanding, but I was pretty loss through the entire course.

I wish I had more time to search the bible out, most of my theological learnings are focused on conversations with professors and other christians.

 

[Bork]

Any more questions?

Nope, I really appreciate your help.
It seems like I look at these verses very superficially, I should be more aware of this next time.

Thanks.

 

[Silent Enigma]

The old testament seems to have a lot of brutallity and "unethical/ immoral" scenarios and what not. A lot seem to be endorsed by God. Most of these are from Leviticus and Deuteronomy.

Why is it like this? Did man taint this? Are these rules not timeless? Why does the old testament advocate things that I feel are just plain wrong?

Thanks
Bork

I'd be inclined to think there was human input in the OT laws, considering the middle eastern cultures and values at that time. Jesus implied this somewhat in saying that "Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning." (Matt 19:8) Implying that God's opinion on things and Moses's were different.

And I would say no, these rules were not timeless.

Rest assured, there's lots of us that feel the same as you.

 

[Calminian]

So, I am having some problems in regards to christianity, and I am sure you have seen this very question raised before, so i'll appreciate the help.

The old testament seems to have a lot of brutallity and "unethical/ immoral" scenarios and what not. A lot seem to be endorsed by God. Most of these are from Leviticus and Deuteronomy.

Why is it like this? Did man taint this? Are these rules not timeless? Why does the old testament advocate things that I feel are just plain wrong?

Thanks
Bork

One thing that may help you understand the differences between laws in the old vs. the new testaments, is a better understanding of the the difference between the church and Israel. This really helped my understandings.

Israel was to function as a self sufficient nation. The church was to function as a community within nations. Israel would be comprised of believers and non-believers. The church is strictly a community of believers. This is the basic idea. When you understand this basic difference it is easier to see why additional commands were needed for the church and why some commands to the nation of Israel would not apply to the church.

Two examples:

Capitol punishment and war are national governmental tasks. These would apply to Israel—a stand alone nation, but not to the church as we are to function within nations and abide by their laws. This is why Paul instructs us to submit to those authorities God put in place (Romans 13). Paul never hints that these authorities do not have the right to assert capitol punishment or war, but these are clearly functions of the government, not the community of believers.

Divorce is another misunderstood issue. God's view on divorce has not changed. He's always hated it.

Mal. 2:16 “For the LORD God of Israel says That He hates divorce, For it covers one’s garment with violence,” Says the LORD of hosts. “Therefore take heed to your spirit, That you do not deal treacherously.”

But God made a legal provision for it in Israel. These legal affairs are the responsibility of nations. Israel was a nation. National legislation does not necessarily always correspond with morality. IOW, legal does not always equal moral. The church is not a nation, however, and therefore does not deal in legalities like this. It deals in moral law and morally acceptable divorces are much more narrow in scope. Does this mean that christians should push for divorce to be illegal in America or the various nations in which they live? I would say no. We are to be concerned with what goes on inside the church, not outside.

1Cor. 5:9 12 For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? 13 But those who are outside God judges....

The God of the Old Testament is identical to the God of the New. His focus has merely changed from Israel to church—from national to individual. Properly understood this sheds light on countless issues, from eye for an eye, to war, to divorce, etc., etc..

Hope that helps.

 

[Dasdream]

Deuteronomy 22:28-29

[bible]
28 If a man happens to meet a virgin who is not pledged to be married and rapes her and they are discovered, 29 he shall pay the girl's father fifty shekels of silver. [a] He must marry the girl, for he has violated her. He can never divorce her as long as he lives.
[/bible]

Whats wrong with this? it just says that if a man "fools around" with a girl, he should get married with her..

Leviticus 21:9
[bible] 9 " 'If a priest's daughter defiles herself by becoming a prostitute, she disgraces her father; she must be burned in the fire.[/bible]

see I read my Bible and it says shall instead of must. Must is a bit hard, but eitherway it makes sence if a girl becomes a prostitute/harlot/[wash my mouth][wash my mouth][wash my mouth][wash my mouth], what's the honor in that?

Deuteronomy 13:13-19
[bible]
13 that wicked men have arisen among you and have led the people of their town astray, saying, "Let us go and worship other gods" (gods you have not known), 14 then you must inquire, probe and investigate it thoroughly. And if it is true and it has been proved that this detestable thing has been done among you, 15 you must certainly put to the sword all who live in that town. Destroy it completely, [a] both its people and its livestock. 16 Gather all the plunder of the town into the middle of the public square and completely burn the town and all its plunder as a whole burnt offering to the LORD your God. It is to remain a ruin forever, never to be rebuilt. 17 None of those condemned things [b] shall be found in your hands, so that the LORD will turn from his fierce anger; he will show you mercy, have compassion on you, and increase your numbers, as he promised on oath to your forefathers, 18 because you obey the LORD your God, keeping all his commands that I am giving you today and doing what is right in his eyes.
[/bible]

Deuteronomy 13:6-11
[bible]6 If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you love, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, "Let us go and worship other gods" (gods that neither you nor your fathers have known, 7 gods of the peoples around you, whether near or far, from one end of the land to the other), 8 do not yield to him or listen to him. Show him no pity. Do not spare him or shield him. 9 You must certainly put him to death. Your hand must be the first in putting him to death, and then the hands of all the people. 10 Stone him to death, because he tried to turn you away from the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 11 Then all Israel will hear and be afraid, and no one among you will do such an evil thing again.[/bible]

yup yup it was Moses words to the people, Not God's word, My Bible has everything jesus said in red text and none of it talks about killing your wife ect. he talks about peace and loving everyone.Deuteronomy
1. These be the words which Moses spake unto all Israel on this side Jordan in the wilderness.

 

[MikeMcK]

Deuteronomy 22:28-29

[bible]
28 If a man happens to meet a virgin who is not pledged to be married and rapes her and they are discovered, 29 he shall pay the girl's father fifty shekels of silver. [a] He must marry the girl, for he has violated her. He can never divorce her as long as he lives.
[/bible]

You think it's wrong for a rapist to pay restitution?

Leviticus 21:9
[bible] 9 " 'If a priest's daughter defiles herself by becoming a prostitute, she disgraces her father; she must be burned in the fire.[/bible]

VV 7-8 tell you why this is.

As you probably have heard, the penalty for many sins in the OT was death by stoning.

Prostitution, as we see in Genesis 38:24, is a little different. It is death by fire.

Now, most prostitution was punishable by death (note that Rahab was a harlot, but is considered a heroine), but the reason that the priest's daughter drawes special attention is that she is the priest's daughter.

Remember, in the OT, the priest was God's representative on Earth and was held to a very strict standard because of who he represented.

This goes along with what Dondi said.

Deuteronomy 13:13-19
[bible]
13 that wicked men have arisen among you and have led the people of their town astray, saying, "Let us go and worship other gods" (gods you have not known), 14 then you must inquire, probe and investigate it thoroughly. And if it is true and it has been proved that this detestable thing has been done among you, 15 you must certainly put to the sword all who live in that town. Destroy it completely, [a] both its people and its livestock. 16 Gather all the plunder of the town into the middle of the public square and completely burn the town and all its plunder as a whole burnt offering to the LORD your God. It is to remain a ruin forever, never to be rebuilt. 17 None of those condemned things [b] shall be found in your hands, so that the LORD will turn from his fierce anger; he will show you mercy, have compassion on you, and increase your numbers, as he promised on oath to your forefathers, 18 because you obey the LORD your God, keeping all his commands that I am giving you today and doing what is right in his eyes.
[/bible]

As others have already told you, the Nation of Israel were God's children. Like any good father, God protects His children.

God made a covenant with Israel: You will be My people, and I will be your God. Keep my laws and I will bless you and use you to be a light unto all the nations.

In other words, as Todd Friel is fond of saying, it was God's first evangelism program: Israel keeps God's laws, God blesses Israel, and the surrounding nations look at Israel and say, "What a good God they serve".

You started at v 13, but perhaps it would be helpful for you to read the previous verses.

They tell us that God had already picked this land out to give to Israel, so that they could glorify Him. Then, it was invaded by His enemies.

In effect, as if it weren't bad enough that the interlopers were stealing from Israel, they were stealing from God, Himself.

Deuteronomy 13:6-11
[bible]6 If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you love, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, "Let us go and worship other gods" (gods that neither you nor your fathers have known, 7 gods of the peoples around you, whether near or far, from one end of the land to the other), 8 do not yield to him or listen to him. Show him no pity. Do not spare him or shield him. 9 You must certainly put him to death. Your hand must be the first in putting him to death, and then the hands of all the people. 10 Stone him to death, because he tried to turn you away from the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 11 Then all Israel will hear and be afraid, and no one among you will do such an evil thing again.[/bible]

See above.

Mainly, I flip through Isaiah, Psalms, and the gospels. I try not to stay ignorant of the bible, though I am sure that I do.

Two things:

First, you know that's less than 10% of the Bible, right?

Second, simply "flipping through" isn't going to help you. In fact, that's probably what's confusing you.

 

[Key]

Deuteronomy 22:28-29
Deuteronomy 13:13-19
[bible]
13 that wicked men have arisen among you and have led the people of their town astray, saying, "Let us go and worship other gods" (gods you have not known), 14 then you must inquire, probe and investigate it thoroughly. And if it is true and it has been proved that this detestable thing has been done among you, 15 you must certainly put to the sword all who live in that town. Destroy it completely, [a] both its people and its livestock. 16 Gather all the plunder of the town into the middle of the public square and completely burn the town and all its plunder as a whole burnt offering to the LORD your God. It is to remain a ruin forever, never to be rebuilt. 17 None of those condemned things [b] shall be found in your hands, so that the LORD will turn from his fierce anger; he will show you mercy, have compassion on you, and increase your numbers, as he promised on oath to your forefathers, 18 because you obey the LORD your God, keeping all his commands that I am giving you today and doing what is right in his eyes.
[/bible]
Thanks,
Willis

One point I want to give you here, is this command was also, and it was common that "You will have No God Before me" this was a command, as such, any type of effort to "Lead Astray" anyone was death. But however, this command was in place, to prevent people in power (Priests, Etc), from using this to try and get personal Gain. Because all was destroyed, it removed an element of Corruption and greed from those in power, so they would be objective in their inqury, as opposed as looking at this as a means of increasing thir hord.

God Bless

Key

 

[marke]

So, I am having some problems in regards to christianity, and I am sure you have seen this very question raised before, so i'll appreciate the help.

The old testament seems to have a lot of brutallity and "unethical/ immoral" scenarios and what not. A lot seem to be endorsed by God. Most of these are from Leviticus and Deuteronomy.

Why is it like this? Did man taint this? Are these rules not timeless? Why does the old testament advocate things that I feel are just plain wrong?

Thanks
Bork

Hi Bork:

There is a reason it is called the Old Testament (OT). Have you noticed? The New Testament has none of the things your soul disagrees with. Gone is the killing, rape, incest, lies, deceit.

The OT is a road map to bring you to the New Testament. Don't get lost in the OT. Many people on these forums will fight you tooth and nail over the OT, but the facts of the matter are... there is a New Testament and in the New Testament are different rules than in the OT so since Christianity didn't exist until Jesus and Jesus brought the new rules with Him, these are the rules we need to study and follow.

According to the end of Hebrews 8, the OT is no longer valid and is meant to fade away so the New Testament may prevail.

For example, on another forum the question was asked "Where exactly did Jesus give His followers permission to kill?"

You know what brother, 1000 views and maybe ten days later after hundreds of posts with opinions and OT scripture, but not a single line of New Testament scripture has been quoted supporting the opinion a Christian may kill. Not one.

So, your soul is speaking to you correctly. If you've come to the fact that there is a God and Jesus is the Christ, come to the New Testament so not to become confused. Jesus clearly gave us new instructions that supersede the OT.

God Bless.

 

[marke]

Some of those were cultural issues, but some of the issues of life and death are actually very stark. Do this and live, do that and death results. The Bible did not dress up or try to make the face of sin pretty. It is ugly and leads to horrible things that belong to the darkness.
Enemies were destroyed, violations back then were judged, but God promised a New Covenant where even those who had died the first death would be judged under the New One. It is the second death that is to be final. (Rev. 2:11, 20:6, 20:14, 21:8).
I believe and trust that God will use perfect judgment coincerning all people who have ever lived or died because only He truly knows what they have been given as a foundation. We do not know what the "lake of fire" is like or what God is able to do beyond what we are given, but we do know how great His love is towards those that love Him. His great power to create and do good deserves to be trusted, especially with His own creation..

What a very nice comment. It's right on.

God bless! II COR 9:15

 

[marke]

Deuteronomy 22:28-29

[BIBLE]
28 If a man happens to meet a virgin who is not pledged to be married and rapes her and they are discovered, 29 he shall pay the girl's father fifty shekels of silver. [a] He must marry the girl, for he has violated her. He can never divorce her as long as he lives.
[/BIBLE]

Leviticus 21:9
[BIBLE] 9 " 'If a priest's daughter defiles herself by becoming a prostitute, she disgraces her father; she must be burned in the fire.[/BIBLE]

Deuteronomy 13:13-19
[BIBLE]
13 that wicked men have arisen among you and have led the people of their town astray, saying, "Let us go and worship other gods" (gods you have not known), 14 then you must inquire, probe and investigate it thoroughly. And if it is true and it has been proved that this detestable thing has been done among you, 15 you must certainly put to the sword all who live in that town. Destroy it completely, [a] both its people and its livestock. 16 Gather all the plunder of the town into the middle of the public square and completely burn the town and all its plunder as a whole burnt offering to the LORD your God. It is to remain a ruin forever, never to be rebuilt. 17 None of those condemned things [b] shall be found in your hands, so that the LORD will turn from his fierce anger; he will show you mercy, have compassion on you, and increase your numbers, as he promised on oath to your forefathers, 18 because you obey the LORD your God, keeping all his commands that I am giving you today and doing what is right in his eyes.
[/BIBLE]


Deuteronomy 13:6-11
[BIBLE]6 If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you love, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, "Let us go and worship other gods" (gods that neither you nor your fathers have known, 7 gods of the peoples around you, whether near or far, from one end of the land to the other), 8 do not yield to him or listen to him. Show him no pity. Do not spare him or shield him. 9 You must certainly put him to death. Your hand must be the first in putting him to death, and then the hands of all the people. 10 Stone him to death, because he tried to turn you away from the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 11 Then all Israel will hear and be afraid, and no one among you will do such an evil thing again.[/BIBLE]

Here are a few. If you have a website to direct me to, or anyhting that might help me understand I will appreciate it.
Thanks,
Willis

You have to ask yourself. Do any of these things apply today? Is anyone stoning people to death or paying off fathers for raping their daughters? No. These things are long gone so there is no reason to give them a second thought. These are laws for jews and they don't even enforce them today. So don't concern yourself with the past, come to the present day agreement.

Come to the New Testament.

God Bless.

 

[marke]

Mainly, I flip through Isaiah, Psalms, and the gospels.
I try not to stay ignorant of the bible, though I am sure that I do.

I have taken a year of biblical hebrew to try and help my understanding, but I was pretty loss through the entire course.

I wish I had more time to search the bible out, most of my theological learnings are focused on conversations with professors and other christians.

No wonder you are lost. You're reading about Jewish history and Gods interaction with the Jews, not Christian teaching.

Pick up the New Testament. It's a joy to read. That's your answer.

God bless.

 

[marke]

One thing that may help you understand the differences between laws in the old vs. the new testaments, is a better understanding of the the difference between the church and Israel. This really helped my understandings.

Israel was to function as a self sufficient nation. The church was to function as a community within nations. Israel would be comprised of believers and non-believers. The church is strictly a community of believers. This is the basic idea. When you understand this basic difference it is easier to see why additional commands were needed for the church and why some commands to the nation of Israel would not apply to the church.

Two examples:

Capitol punishment and war are national governmental tasks. These would apply to Israel—a stand alone nation, but not to the church as we are to function within nations and abide by their laws. This is why Paul instructs us to submit to those authorities God put in place (Romans 13). Paul never hints that these authorities do not have the right to assert capitol punishment or war, but these are clearly functions of the government, not the community of believers.

Divorce is another misunderstood issue. God's view on divorce has not changed. He's always hated it.

Mal. 2:16 “For the LORD God of Israel says That He hates divorce, For it covers one’s garment with violence,” Says the LORD of hosts. “Therefore take heed to your spirit, That you do not deal treacherously.”

But God made a legal provision for it in Israel. These legal affairs are the responsibility of nations. Israel was a nation. National legislation does not necessarily always correspond with morality. IOW, legal does not always equal moral. The church is not a nation, however, and therefore does not deal in legalities like this. It deals in moral law and morally acceptable divorces are much more narrow in scope. Does this mean that christians should push for divorce to be illegal in America or the various nations in which they live? I would say no. We are to be concerned with what goes on inside the church, not outside.

1Cor. 5:9 12 For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? 13 But those who are outside God judges....

The God of the Old Testament is identical to the God of the New. His focus has merely changed from Israel to church—from national to individual. Properly understood this sheds light on countless issues, from eye for an eye, to war, to divorce, etc., etc..

Hope that helps.

Wow. That sure helped me if it didn't Bork. I look at things similar to you, but I never broke it down like that. You were a blessing to me today. Thank you.

Bork, I think this person has a good answer for you and I reassert my answer, come to the teachings of Jesus in the New Testament. Those are the teachings Christians follow.

God Bless.

 

[Calminian]

Wow. That sure helped me if it didn't Bork. I look at things similar to you, but I never broke it down like that. You were a blessing to me today. Thank you.

Thanks for the kind words, marke. Nice to know someone was blessed. Makes it all worthwhile!

 

[Athaliamum]

No wonder you are lost. You're reading about Jewish history and Gods interaction with the Jews, not Christian teaching.

What! I think it is you who is lost with such statements. Jewish history is christian history. There would be no christian history without Jewish history. In fact who is Yeshua without the Tenakh? It is because he fulfills prophecy of Tenakh that he is called Messiah. One does not start reading and understanding the book from the last few chapters, they must start and understand the beginning. Here is a website that will help to understand the Torah of which Lev. and Deut. are part:
http://www.maretsoftware.com/torahtips/account/login.asp