Post a Law and State if it should be followed today

[Leaf473]

Exodus 20
Do not make any gods to be alongside me; do not make for yourselves gods of silver or gods of gold.
Make an altar of earth for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, your sheep and goats and your cattle.

I think this would fall under loving God.

Not making gods of silver or gold is definitely something we do today. I think the interesting play is contrasting that with making an altar of Earth for God. Not something we do literally, but the principle is good.

Peace be with you all

 

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Exodus 20
Do not make any gods to be alongside me; do not make for yourselves gods of silver or gods of gold.
Make an altar of earth for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, your sheep and goats and your cattle.

I think this would fall under loving God.

Not making gods of silver or gold is definitely something we do today. I think the interesting play is contrasting that with making an altar of Earth for God. Not something we do literally, but the principle is good.

Peace be with you all

The curious thing to me when I first encountered this commandment and then read the remainder of the historical books of the Old Testament was how quickly the concept of using an altar of earth was abandoned. By the time Solomon constructed the Temple there was no consideration to limiting the altar to such a basic material as earth. Either God had changed His mind by that time or He merely overlooked the disobedience to this commandment.

 

[Leaf473]

The curious thing to me when I first encountered this commandment and then read the remainder of the historical books of the Old Testament was how quickly the concept of using an altar of earth was abandoned. By the time Solomon constructed the Temple there was no consideration to limiting the altar to such a basic material as earth. Either God had changed His mind by that time or He merely overlooked the disobedience to this commandment.

I've had the same thought. To me, it says that God doesn't need fancy stuff, dirt is just fine.

Also, those expensive Temple objects became a magnet for the empires around Israel. I think Hezekiah stripped a bunch of the gold from the temple to pay off the Assyrians.

 

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I've had the same thought. To me, it says that God doesn't need fancy stuff, dirt is just fine.

Also, those expensive Temple objects became a magnet for the empires around Israel. I think Hezekiah stripped a bunch of the gold from the temple to pay off the Assyrians.

That's right. Temples, in all cultures of the time, served as a sort of national treasury where the precious items were stored. To protect them, there was typically an idol to scare would-be thieves off. A classic case is the Parthenon in Athens where they had a huge statue of Athena to guard their treasure. Then, there was also the great Diana of the Ephesians with her famous temple.

 

[Leaf473]

When you go out and camp against your enemies, then you shall keep yourselves from every evil thing. 10 If there is among you any man who is not clean by reason of that which happens to him by night, then shall he go outside of the camp. He shall not come within the camp; 11 but it shall be, when evening comes, he shall bathe himself in water. When the sun is down, he shall come within the camp.
Deuteronomy 23

I think this falls under both love God and love your neighbor categories.

I don't think it should be followed today. I don't think even the Israel Defense Forces try to follow it.

It's one reason the ultra Orthodox in Israel are exempt from military service. (Last I heard. There are frequent attempts to change that.)

Peace be with you all

 

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When you go out and camp against your enemies, then you shall keep yourselves from every evil thing. 10 If there is among you any man who is not clean by reason of that which happens to him by night, then shall he go outside of the camp. He shall not come within the camp; 11 but it shall be, when evening comes, he shall bathe himself in water. When the sun is down, he shall come within the camp.
Deuteronomy 23

I think this falls under both love God and love your neighbor categories.

I don't think it should be followed today. I don't think even the Israel Defense Forces try to follow it.

It's one reason the ultra Orthodox in Israel are exempt from military service. (Last I heard. There are frequent attempts to change that.)

Peace be with you all

That is a curious translation. Many other English translations are much less delicate. "What happens to him in the night" is a nocturnal seminal emission. This is a simple act of biology which is unintentional but, nevertheless, defiled a man temporarily in God's sight. Needless to say, it has no actual bearing on a man's abilities to wage war on the following day. It is highly doubtful that even the Israeli army adheres to this commandment today.

 

[Leaf473]

That is a curious translation. Many other English translations are much less delicate. "What happens to him in the night" is a nocturnal seminal emission. This is a simple act of biology which is unintentional but, nevertheless, defiled a man temporarily in God's sight. Needless to say, it has no actual bearing on a man's abilities to wage war on the following day. It is highly doubtful that even the Israeli army adheres to this commandment today.

I had the same thought, about the translation. That's the World English Bible. I like it because it's a modern translation and is public domain everywhere.

I have a feeling "that which happens by night" is an idiom. Nearly all translations render the probable meaning, as you say.

This hyper-literal interlinear translation keeps it at the same "bare bones facts" level.

https://biblehub.com/interlinear/deuteronomy/23-10.htm

 

[Leaf473]

Just as a follow-up to the IDF issue, here's the latest article I can find at the Times of Israel. It looks like some were staying in school longer than they otherwise would, just as a way to avoid the draft.

Ministers okay compromise to lower ultra-Orthodox IDF exemption age

Age to drop from 24 to 21 but will gradually rise back to 23, in an attempt to encourage draft dodgers to leave the yeshiva and get jobs sooner

www.timesofisrael.com

I've often wondered what would happen if Israel as a whole carefully followed Torah. Would we see truly miraculous deliverances similar to what happened in the Old Testament?

 

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Just as a follow-up to the IDF issue, here's the latest article I can find at the Times of Israel. It looks like some were staying in school longer than they otherwise would, just as a way to avoid the draft.

Ministers okay compromise to lower ultra-Orthodox IDF exemption age

Age to drop from 24 to 21 but will gradually rise back to 23, in an attempt to encourage draft dodgers to leave the yeshiva and get jobs sooner

www.timesofisrael.com

I've often wondered what would happen if Israel as a whole carefully followed Torah. Would we see truly miraculous deliverances similar to what happened in the Old Testament?

Interesting idea. Thank you!

 

[Leaf473]

Here's another law, kind of related to the last one:

Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel. 24 For I will drive out nations before you and enlarge your borders; neither shall any man desire your land when you go up to appear before the Lord, your God, three times in the year.
Exodus 34

I think this falls under the Love God category.

It would be a real act of faith for Israel to keep it today!

 

[bbbbbbb]

Here's another law, kind of related to the last one:

Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel. 24 For I will drive out nations before you and enlarge your borders; neither shall any man desire your land when you go up to appear before the Lord, your God, three times in the year.
Exodus 34

I think this falls under the Love God category.

It would be a real act of faith for Israel to keep it today!

Islam has a similar law requiring men to make the pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their life, but not three times every year. Logistically, it is becoming an extreme nightmare to maintain health and order in Mecca during the annual pilgrimage. It is also extremely lucrative. I met the son of the director for logistics for the annual Haj. He had some interesting stories.

 

[Leaf473]

Islam has a similar law requiring men to make the pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their life, but not three times every year. Logistically, it is becoming an extreme nightmare to maintain health and order in Mecca during the annual pilgrimage. It is also extremely lucrative. I met the son of the director for logistics for the annual Haj. He had some interesting stories.

Absolutely! Stupendous crowds gather there in Mecca. I think I heard something like there is a preferred time of the year to go?

Anyways, the law has a similar thing for all Jewish males three times a year. I think most Jews today get around it by saying that God's name doesn't currently dwell in Jerusalem, as in no Temple.

 

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Islam has a unique calendar, which is lunar rather than solar, as ours is. Thus, their calendar does not align with seasons as we know them. The pilgrimage time in the Islamic calendar could fall in the middle of summer as easily as it could fall in winter.

There are two possible fallback positions for modern Jews. All agree that without a Temple there is no compulsion to go to Jerusalem, such that the synagogue serves as a stand-in for the temple. As a result, most Jews do not attend weekly services, but definitely attend High Holiday Services which, interestingly are the chief form of income for the local synagogues. The seats are ticketed and sold as in any theater with the best seats going for the most money.

The other fallback is that this law will come into play when Messiah comes and establishes His worldwide reign from Jerusalem. Orthodox Jews believe this, but most Reform Jews do not.