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    Was the law God's idea? Or was it what the people asked for??

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    Earnest_lee_Cking


    Posts : 9
    Join date : 2011-03-10

    Was the law God's idea? Or was it what the people asked for?? Empty Was the law God's idea? Or was it what the people asked for??

    Post  Earnest_lee_Cking Tue Mar 15, 2011 12:35 pm

    Hey y'all...

    I was curious how this is viewed from a Jewish perspective.

    A couple years ago I picked up on something when reading the OT. God told Moses to prepare the people, that He was going to make them a nation of priests. The people's response was sort of:"Hey moses, we will do.everything the Lord has said"

    What apparently happens next seems a little odd. He said He was going to make them a nation of priests, but almost in the next sentence says don't get close or you will be consumed.

    I guess my question is: Did the C.O.I. automatically going to the "tell us what to do" sort of approach change what God intended?? He didn't ask for anything but to prepare themselves, and HE would do the work of making them priests, which seems to fall in line with much of the rest of scripture where God says I will cleanse, I will clothe, I will make you righteous. But instead of them becoming the nations of priests, immediately a set of rules came into play. Am I viewing this wrong? I guess I have always thought this was a strange way for God to relate to the people. Especially considering that He had:Guided them through the desert as their light and their shade, provided them safe passage, stayed close to the camp, and talked to Moses face to face as a man talks to a friend.
    Arik
    Arik
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    Was the law God's idea? Or was it what the people asked for?? Empty Re: Was the law God's idea? Or was it what the people asked for??

    Post  Arik Wed Mar 16, 2011 9:47 am

    A good question, hopefully i will give you an equally good answer.
    G-d intended to give them the Torah. When they were to prepare for the giving of the Torah, they were to cleanse themselves as well as abstain from sexual relations lest they become ritually impure. G-d wanted them in a pure state in order to receive the spirit of Prophecy. Every man, woman, and child standing there at Sinai recieived that spirit of Prophecy, therefore they perceived the voice of G-d and behold the signs and wonders. This was how nobody could contest what Moses said because everyone was there and saw and heard. National Revelation. No other religion can lay claim to it. The Entire nation received the Revelation at Sinai, not just one, lone man.

    The set of rules that came into play? Well let me ask you this. If I said to you Eric, i want to make you a priest, would you feel you could be one without instructions? The Torah that they came to receive were those instructions, on how to live, on how to be fair in business, property disputes, what was socially acceptable, etc...
    Contrary to the view of Pauline Xtianity, the Torah is not just a set of arbitrary laws "That worketh death" as Paul wrongfully claimed. On the contrary, "Do not forsake my Torah, for they are your life and length of years. "It's ways are the ways of pleasantness, and all it's paths are peace.

    The "rules" in the Torah are how one goes from being an Am haaretz to becoming a Tzaddik.
    G-d would make them righteous by giving them the knowledge through His Torah to become so, otherwise, how would they know what constitutes what is holy or unholy, what is clean or unclean, etc...
    When the people claimed "we will hear and we will do" it showed their willingness to accept the Torah without even knowing at that point what was in it and that was in their merit. According to one Midrash, all of the 70 gentile nations at one point or another were offered the Torah but first they wanted to know what was in it, and all had rejected it. Israel was the last nation to accept it, and they were willing to accept it before they even knew what it contained.

    Hope this answer helps you out

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