Book of James - Part 4
October 30, 2022Pastor Patrick continued this series on the Book of James. A video of the message is here. Our Conversation Starter for this week is here.
It's interesting to note that in Biblical times, belief in God, or at least god(s), was not an issue. There was no such thing as an atheist. Atheism is a relatively new thing. The term was first used in the 16th Century but there was no significant atheistism until about 200 years ago. And there certainly has never been an atheistic/secular (related, but not the same) movement such as exists in the West today which began sometime in the 20th Century.
Certainly for the Israelites coming out of Egypt, there was no doubt that God or gods existed. The question was which one(s) and could they be trusted. Until the God of Abrahama, Isaac, and Jacob came to be known, gods were definitely not trustworthy. They were entirely capricious. Like the people James was talking to, it was not that they didn't believe, it was that the early Israelites had trouble seeing God as trustworthy and behaving accordingly.
People of the Torah were tested all the time regarding their faith, but not about whether they believed in God or not. Rather, whether their actions followed their beliefs. Sometimes God tested them directly. Sometimes circumstances became tests. The story of Abraham and Isaac may be the most well remembered of these tests. By the way, just so you know, this was a test all along. God never intended for Isaac to be sacrificed, and he said so in the very first verse of the story (Genesis 22:1). According to the Torah, God cares more (but not exclusively) about how you behave than if you believe in Him. I can see James nodding. Or, as it's put in Exodus 24:7, "we will do and will hear (often "obey")." You DO first, then you UNDERSTAND. Isn't that true? You often don't fully understand something until you've done it. It's interesting that while James goes one way, faith to action, and the Torah goes the other way, action to faith, both want both.
Bonus
Leviticus does not contain many stories. It's mostly ritual and law. One odd and disturbing exception is the story in Chapter 10 of how two of Aaron's sons, in the midst of being ordained as priests, were struck down on the spot by God. They had improperly brought "foreign fire" into the sanctuary during the ordination ceremony. Their own ordination ceremony!
It's not clear what the "foreign fire" was exactly, but it is clear that this was an un-commanded act. It was not part of the proscribed process. It is further unclear why they did it. Deliberate? Simple mistake? Inadvertent? As was discussed elsewhere, the Torah doesn't believe in accidents. Whether deliberate or unintentional, the act happened and someone is responsible.
Prager has a unique take on what the real problem was. Immediately following the incident, God speaks directly to Aaron (rare in the Torah and the only time in Leviticus), telling him "You and your sons are not to drink wine or other fermented drink whenever you go into the tent of meeting, or you will die. This is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, so that you can distinguish between the holy and the common, between the impure and the pure, and so you can teach the Israelites all the decrees the Lord has given them through Moses." (Lev. 10:8-11)
Did you wonder why a rule about intoxicating beverages immediately follows the incident? Aaron's sons may well have been drunk when they brought in the "foreign fire"! The word "distinguish" is very important. The Torah is obsessed with distinguishing things: male/female, evil/good, life/death, etc. And when you're drunk, your ability to distinguish things is impaired. Consider how many people commit the worst of crimes while under the influence. They lose their ability to pay attention to the separation of right from wrong.
Separations are a big deal. Did you realize that God didn't exactly create anything on the 2nd day of Creation. He separated things on the 2nd day! He separated things with space, as in space between objects. This is often translated as firmament or expanse.