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Jesus Did Not Say That He Will Fill Us With Righteousness

Apologetics, , ,

JESUS DID NOT SAY THAT HE WOULD FILL US WITH RIGHTEOUSNESS

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. (Matt. 5: 6-8)

Just as we learned yesterday, these three statements are connected because they are all part of the second chiasm; (you will understand if you read yesterday’s post).

The problem with understanding this chiasm is that we westerners do not understand what righteousness is. O we love the word because it sounds so “holy” but from our perspective it is abstract and therefore we can’t connect it with action.

Hebrews thought, expressed in their language, in terms of action. They experienced life through their senses. Abstract words meant nothing to them. So then, what is righteousness? Throughout the Old Testament, the word “righteousness” is used interchangeably with “generosity”. Here are a few examples:

The wicked borrow and do not repay, but the righteous give generously. (Psa. 37: 21)

I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread. They are always generous and lend freely; their children will be a blessing. (Psa. 37: 25-26)

Righteousness, then, is doing the right thing i.e., doing what God would do in every situation. God’s attitude towards people is always to be generous and to show mercy, therefore, to hunger and thirst for righteousness really means to be passionate about being generous towards people in need, not only with our resources but with our attitudes and behaviour.

With what then, will we be filled? Not with righteousness but with what we gave away. In the original, the meaning is “herbage”. In other words, God will fill us with whatever we gave away. God always responds to our generosity by multiplying what we give away. Consider these words of Jesus:

Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. (Luke 6: 38)

Because we are dealing with a chiasm, we must first look at the corresponding statement at the end of the chiasm, and then consider the central thought.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

Of course we will have no idea what this means if we try to interpret it literally. How is it possible to “see” God when He is spirit? The Hebrews had a word, zikkut, for the kind of generosity that goes beyond what is expected. Every Hebrew person had a duty to give a percentage of his income away – 20% to be exact. A part of his duty was to bring, every third year, the tithe that was meant for his family to enjoy, to the “storehouse” – the tabernacle or temple – for the poor, the widow, the orphan and the alien. This was the least he could do to support the needy.

Anything he did to meet the needs of others above his duty was regarded as zikkut. It was this kind of generosity, based on an understanding of, and in gratitude to God for His generosity, that gave the giver an insight into the heart of God. He was able to “see” God with the eyes of a greater understanding than just doing his duty. His heart was “pure”, unmixed with selfishness, putting God and others first, which enabled him to experience God more intimately than those who just did their duty.

It is this kind of attitude that constitutes hunger and thirst for righteousness. These are the people who will experience the abundance of God’s generosity because He can trust them not to consume what He gives on themselves,  but share it with those in need.

The central thought of this chiasm is mercy. God revealed to Moses, in response to his request (Ex. 33: 18-19), that the weightiest part of His name – His character – is mercy. God’s mercy has been fully revealed in His Son. Jesus’ death on the cross was the pinnacle of God’s mercy and should be the motivation for all our deeds of “righteousness”. We show mercy to others, not because we are benevolent but because of His mercy to us.

Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment. (James. 2: 12-13)

The bottom line is: when we understand the magnitude of God’s mercy, we cannot help but be generous towards others. Then we will be the recipients of God’s abundant generosity towards us with all the material things we need.

So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear? For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  (Matt. 6: 31-33)

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

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Rotten Through And Through

Bible Study, , , ,

ROTTEN THROUGH AND THROUGH 

“Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind so that they do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant, and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve those who practise them.” Romans 1:28-32.

What am I reading, the Bible or the newspaper? Who is Paul writing about, the people then or now? Nothing has changed, has it? What a description of dehumanised people and a dehumanised society!

In my country, the decision was made by parliament to write into our constitution that we are a secular country. God is no longer welcome or acknowledged. The results are obvious; many wicked practices have been written into our law books as legal; abortion and homosexual marriages, for example; human rights now tip in favour of the criminal and the lawless ones; parents are losing their right to discipline their children and there is now a move to disallow parents the right to have a say in their children’s education.

Lawbreakers, thieves, fraudsters and corrupt public servants simply disappear from one portfolio and turn up somewhere else, as arrogant as ever. Convicted criminals who happen to be public figures are let out of jail on trumped up health issues.  They quietly move back into society as though nothing happened.

The prophet Habakkuk had the same complaint about society in his day. He took his problem to God: “Therefore the law is paralysed, and justice never prevails. The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted.” Habakkuk 1:4.

Although God seems silent and inactive; He is actually righteous and just by simply allowing the wicked to go their own way. Their judgment is written into their choices and actions. God does not have to do anything because they have done it to themselves. They have become incapable of living decent human lives. Their minds have become so depraved and perverted that they call right “wrong” and wrong “right” and applaud those who do what they do.

There is no place in God’s presence for those who think and behave contrary to the nature of God. They are rotten and putrefying in their sin and the only place that will accommodate them in the end will be the rubbish dump. They enjoy their wickedness now, but they have no idea what it will be like to live forever in complete darkness, physical and moral darkness so dark that they cannot even see a finger in front of their faces and can only think evil thoughts always.

Hebrew people described hell as a boundary less place. Boundaries are never intended to be restrictive, but protective. When people deliberately overshoot the boundaries, they have to face the dangers that lie on the other side. To deny them does not make them any less real. God had clearly stated His boundaries and when they are ignored, the consequences come into play.

Why did Paul paint such a gloomy picture of his society and ours? For two reasons: firstly, because it was accurate and secondly, because it formed the backdrop to God’s amazing answer, His grace revealed through His righteousness. But first of all, Paul had to show his readers that the whole world is guilty before God. There is not one sector of society or of the world that escapes God’s judgment. Before he can give them God’s answer, he has to ensure that they understand their plight.

No amount of religious fervour or rule-keeping can change the heart of a human being. Of what use is it to eat or not to eat certain foods since food only influences our bodies? What can the “holy” water do to cleanse a polluted conscience? It only touches the skin but leaves the soul unchanged. How can doing good alter our debit balance in God’s books? Even good works are done by people rotten with selfishness.

Paul is building up to a solution so breath-taking that only God could have thought it up!

Acknowledgement

THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.