Wednesday, July 14

Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD. - Leviticus 19:18

You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. – Matthew 5:43-44

Did you notice the difference between the Old Testament law and the interpretation of the Pharisees in Jesus’ day? It seems pretty straight forward in Leviticus 19, so why all the confusion on divine commands? It came about due to rabbinic reinterpretation. "YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and hate your enemy." The first half of the command was a direct quotation from Leviticus 19:18 but with parts left out. The original states, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." But the rabbis added a second half: "you shall...hate your enemy."

Search the Old Testament and you will not find this command. It is just not there. Instead, it was either inserted by the rabbis or construed by them due to passages inferring divine judgment. We know that there are those commands that the Lord gave Joshua and others to destroy certain peoples. There is also what has been called "imprecatory psalms" in which the psalmist calls upon the Lord to bring justice for his people and to protect the glory of his holy name among the nations by judging particular enemies of the Lord. In each of these cases there are clear reasons for divine judicial action. None are examples of personal animosity in which a person tries to take revenge upon his personal enemy.

But the Pharisees did not want to be bound by such a narrow understanding of loving others. So they reinterpreted the Scripture to fit their motives. Their "neighbor" was only their Israelite brother, their fellow Jew, and certainly not a Gentile. They deduced that since the Gentiles did not believe in the Lord that they were therefore to hate them as their enemies. They felt quite spiritual in doing so due to their reinterpretation of Scripture. They were fully convinced in their minds that their hatred was just as pleasing to God as that of loving his family.

The ancient Pharisees are not the only ones who are guilty of reinterpreting the Scriptures to fit their worldview. This happens still today, and many Christians are consciously and unconsciously guilty of distorting or ignoring God’s word.

Sometimes this happens simply because we have not read, studied or reflected enough on what the Bible actually says.

Sometimes this happens because we are led astray by the inaccurate interpretations of others and we do not stop to prayerfully consider how well their teaching really matches up with the Scriptures.

Sometimes we overemphasize one aspect of Scripture to the exclusion of another and we distort God’s word (even without realizing it).

Sometimes we just don’t want to hear what God’s word has to say because we know it will mean we have to make changes in our lives, and we stubbornly don’t want to change.

Prayer:
Lord, open the eyes of our heart so that we might see clearly the truth of your word. Keep us from ignoring, neglecting and distorting your commands and give us the humble courage to obey them – Amen.

Jeff Frazier