EVERY KING NEEDS A QUEEN

Introduction

As many thoughts turn to the birth of Christ, it is important to remember that He was born to be a king and every king needs a queen. Matthew 2:1-2 reads, "Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, 2Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him." Wise men still seek the one that is born King. The queen of this King is the church. To be the queen of King Jesus requires a righteous character.

Application

To properly understand the Bible, we need to use what is known as applied theology.

The seventh commandment deals with representation or hierarchy. Image or representation is an inescapable concept. This commandment has to do with marriage or the thought of two becoming one. To prevent the breaking of this commandment the character of the future marriage partner becomes of the utmost importance. It can, in the final analysis determine our eternal future. 2 Corinthians 6:14-15 says, "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? 15And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?" Marriage partners are never to be taken from pagans. They have a covenant with death and the Christian has just the opposite. It comes down to dating versus courting. Try and find any Bible verses regarding dating. There are none. Dating is the invention of man and it does not work very well.

Abraham was a righteous man. Notice his attitude toward dating and his son being married to a heathen. Genesis 24:1-5 reads, "And Abraham was old, and well stricken in age: and the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things. 2And Abraham said unto his eldest servant of his house, that ruled over all that he had, Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh: 3And I will make thee swear by the LORD, the God of heaven, and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell: 4But thou shalt go unto my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac." Question, Would parents know better than their children regarding potential marriage partners? Abraham did not ask Isaac’s opinion regarding a wife, but took matters into his own hand. When looking for a husband and wife, marry them only if their character checks out. If they are of Canaan (a type of the world), you know automatically that they do not qualify. It is better to start out right than to have to go back and try to make things work out.

Let us notice some characteristics of Rebekah, Isaac’s chosen bride. Genesis 24:16 says, "And the damsel was very fair to look upon, a virgin, neither had any man known her: and she went down to the well, and filled her pitcher, and came up." She was a pretty young woman (she cared about her outward appearance). A virgin (purity) and one willing to accomplish her assigned tasks (not lazy). These are good qualities when looking for a wife.

Here is the account of Isaac meeting Rebekah for the first time. Genesis 24:62-67 reads, "And Isaac came from the way of the well Lahairoi; for he dwelt in the south country. 63And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the eventide: and he lifted up his eyes, and saw, and, behold, the camels were coming. 64And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she lighted off the camel. 65For she had said unto the servant, What man is this that walketh in the field to meet us? And the servant had said, It is my master: therefore she took a veil, and covered herself. 66And the servant told Isaac all things that he had done. 67And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her: and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death." Isaac was meditating which is an admirable quality for any young man. Notice Rebekah’s response to seeing Isaac. She covered herself with a veil. In other words, she was not forward but rather shamefaced in the presence of men. Another excellent virtue. Husbands are to love their wives as Christ loves His church. This is what Isaac did. Rebekah represents here a type of the bride of Christ, the church. She was a fit queen for a king.

The same could not be said for Esau, Isaac’s son. Genesis 26:34 says, "And Esau was forty years old when he took to wife Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Bashemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite: 35Which were a grief of mind unto Isaac and to Rebekah. He married heathen women. It displeased his parents, but he did it despite them. To get back at his parents regarding the incident with Jacob, Esau purposely violated his father’s command in regard to marriage. Genesis 28:6-9 reads, "When Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob, and sent him away to Padanaram, to take him a wife from thence; and that as he blessed him he gave him a charge, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan; 7And that Jacob obeyed his father and his mother, and was gone to Padanaram; 8And Esau seeing that the daughters of Canaan pleased not Isaac his father; 9Then went Esau unto Ishmael, and took unto the wives which he had Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebajoth, to be his wife." Esau was a man of weak character and his choice of wives reflects his lawlessness. He was told to stay away from the women of the world, but having no admirable characteristics, he chose those who would lead him astray.

Conclusion

Making the right choice in marriage will keep us from breaking the seventh commandment and displeasing God. Look for excellence of character when choosing a marriage companion.

THE CONCEPT OF PRIVATE PROPERTY

Introduction

The eighth commandment mirrors the third commandment in regard to the covenant model. They both deal with ethics or law in this conceptual framework. Since God is the Creator of the earth, this means that He is the ultimate owner of all things. Psalm 24:1 declares, "The earth is the LORD’S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein." This means that God has original jurisdiction. Psalm 50:10-11 reads, "For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.11I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are mine." All animals belong to God. Haggai 2:8 says, "The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the LORD of hosts." Everything ultimately belongs to the Lord. We just borrow the earth’s resources for a time.

Application

To properly understand the Bible, we need to use what is known as applied theology.

Exodus 20:15 four words read, "Thou shalt not steal." Once again, this commandment is straightforward. This is a negative command. On the positive side is the recognition that there is private property. What belongs to me does not belong to you and vice versa. Micah 4:4 says, "But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the LORD of hosts hath spoken it." Notice here the personal pronouns showing possession. Each man is to have his own possessions. Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary’s fourth definition of "property" is "The exclusive right of possessing, enjoying and disposing of a thing; ownership. In the beginning of the world, the Creator gave to man dominion over the earth, over the fish of the sea and the fowls of the air, and over every living thing. This is the foundation of man’s property in the earth and in all its productions...The labor of inventing, making or producing any thing constitutes on of the highest and most indefeasible titles to property. Property is also acquired by inheritance, by gift or by purchase..." In other words, property has to do with ownership. Ownership is a legal concept which ultimately becomes a religious practice.

The eighth commandment is inherently tied to work, productivity, capital, and money. Property is obtained by different methods, but God intends that we obtain the majority of our possession through gainful employment. This leads us to why do men steal? Stealing issues from the heart of man. It ultimately is the desire to get something for nothing or without working for it. Proverbs 20:13 reads, "Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty; open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread." Laziness is one the main reasons for a person having the desire to take someone else’s property. They do not want to put the effort to get something for themselves through labor, so they decide that they will simply take what someone else has labored for. Another example is found in Proverbs 24:30-34, "I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding; 31And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down. 32Then I saw, and considered it well: I looked upon it, and received instruction. 33Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: 34So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth; and thy want as an armed man." Those who love sleep and are slothful are thieves because they refuse to work to supply the needs of their families. They are stealing from their own family members.

The Proverbs are filled with axioms concerning be diligent in labor and the consequences about being indolent. An example is found in Proverbs 28:19, "He that tilleth his land shall have plenty of bread: but he that followeth after vain persons shall have poverty enough." Here is someone who is diligent in their work and the result is that they have property that will provide for their needs. In fact, they have plenty which gives us the idea of abundance. Hard work produces results and prosperity. Those that follow after worthless people will come to poverty and may in the end of it have to steal.

Proverbs 30:7-9 reads, "Two things have I required of thee; deny me them not before I die: 8Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me: 9Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the LORD? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain." Here we have the example of the poor being tempted to steal and take the name of the Lord in vain. This is the tie in between the third and eighth commandments of the covenant model being ethics or law. If you steal, you are taking the name of the Lord in vain by saying that God does not bless those who are industrious in their labors. They are saying that the world is governed by chance not providence.

Conclusion

We as Christians are to be obtain property legally. We are not to take something that does not belong to us. In other words, we are to uphold the concept of private property. What someone has legitimately labored for is theirs to enjoy and dispose of as they see fit. If we want something, we are to labor at honest activity providing for our necessities. To not labor is the workshop of the devil. It is theft.

NO ONE TAKES THEOLOGY SERIOUSLY

There are reasons that things are not taken seriously. This does not mean that they are not important. It means that the majority of people are not able to see the tie in. We live in a time when the predominant thought pattern is visible orientation. This means that people are only concerned with what they can see with their physical eyes. They can only understand effects, not causes. In other words, they are mentally stunted.

Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 4:17-18, "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh fo us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal." Paul is giving us a perspective concerning priorities. He is telling us what is most important.

The "seen" that Paul is talking about are effects. The effects are temporary. They will not endure forever and therefore to put all of our trust in these temporary things is to become an idolater. It is what Paul described in Romans 1:25, "Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen." Another way of saying this would be that "they worshiped and served the effect more than the cause." Being visibly oriented thus leads to being an idolater just as the night follows the day. It is effect worship.

Only the spiritual understand the law of cause and effect. The spiritual worship the Cause and not the effect. This is because they have understanding. The natural man (man without the Spirit), as Paul described him, cannot see the spiritual realm and therefore to him this invisible world is a myth and yet, this world is the underlying basis for all things that the natural man sees with his physical eyes. The invisible world is as real as the visible world.

The world that God created is based upon ethical cause and effect. The problem for the idolater is that he does not understand ethical cause and effect because this is spiritually discerned and the natural man lacks discernment. When someone does not understand anything, it is going to cause spiritual problems. Visibly oriented thinking is circular thinking. Once they begin to think in terms of what they see with their physical eyes, they cannot then jump to seeing things spiritually. They are stuck in an endless loop that keeps leading them back to where they started from.

For this reason the natural man (idolater) does not take theology seriously because he is incapable of understanding it. He is a dolt. This is why there must be a spiritual transformation before someone can be open to the invisible realm. Likes beget likes. Idolatrous thought begets idolatrous actions. The one precedes the other every time. The spiritual always precedes the physical because the cause always precedes the effect. The natural man must be born again spiritually. He will then begin to take theology seriously.

UNDERSTANDING THEOLOGY

The Bible is God’s word or if you will God’s testimony concerning Himself and truth. Truth is an absolute that can never not be truth. Basically, man can only think in one of two ways. When man thinks in that particular way, he cannot think in the opposite direction. Man can only think one thought at a time. Man is limited in his thinking ability. The only way that man can think in the opposite way is for there to be a transformation. A transformation is the changing of the cause.

Man will either think in spiritual or visible terms. The spiritual thinker thinks in terms of cause and effect and understand that the spiritual precedes the physical. The visible thinker thinks in only what he can visibly see. He thinks only in terms of effects. These two types of thinking will obviously have two different results. The spiritual will look at the world through the lens of absolutes, while the natural man (Paul’s word for the unspiritual) will think that there are no absolutes and therefore, the world is relativistic.

There is no third alternative available. To understand where the truth lies, all one has to do is to know what mode of being God is. John 4:24 reads in part, "God is a Spirit..." God is Spirit and therefore all truth will be spiritual, not physical. In other words, all causes are spiritual. Effects are a result of the preceding spiritual reality. When someone thinks in spiritual terms, they are thinking like God, who is Spirit. When man thinks in terms of effects, his thinking is false and dead, which is the definition of idolatry.

Hebrews 11:3 reads, "Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear." Faith is spiritual and through faith we have understanding. To understand means to comprehend. Comprehension means to grasp with the mind the significance of truth. To understand a topic means one must think in terms of cause and effect. God created the world by uttering it into existence. Words are not visible. Words are spiritual. It is through words that effects come into existence. Once again, the axiom is that the spiritual precedes the visible or the cause comes before the effect, every time.

Man can only be an imitator of God. He can never be God. There always will be a distinction between God and man that can never be bridged. Understanding who God is enables us to be in accord with His world that He has created. Only those who think in spiritual terms can operate effectively in His world because they think in terms of absolutes. God has preordained how His world is to operate. He has predefined the world. Understanding theology means knowing what these definitions are and making the necessary adjustments to be in accordance with these predefined limitations. This demonstrates our understanding and wisdom.

JUSTICE DEMANDS IMPARTIALITY

Introduction

In any civil case, it is essential that the truth about the matter come to the forefront. Civil law is designed to punish evildoers. This means that the one guilty must be guilty of the crime and not falsely accused. Impartiality is therefore paramount in biblical law. Truth telling is absolutely necessary in a court of law. Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:25, "Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another." This would even mean being witnesses against our family members and church members if we are witnesses against them. There are many secret societies that are forbidden to turn in fellow members even if they have committed murder. This is a perversion of justice and a Christian will have no part with this evil.

Application

To properly understand the Bible, we need to use what is known as applied theology.

Exodus 23:1-3, 6-7 reads, "Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness. 2Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment: 3Neither shalt thou countenance a poor man in his cause. 6Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor in his cause. 7Keep thee far from a false matter; and the innocent and righteous slay thou not: for I will not justify the wicked." These are case laws under the ninth commandment against bearing false witness. The ninth commandment prohibits false testimony and therefore on the positive side encourages telling the truth regardless of who is involved.

Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary defines "impartiality" as, "1. Indifference of opinion or judgment; freedom from bias in favor of one side or party more than another; disinterestedness. Impartiality is indispensable to an upright judge. 2. Equitableness; justice; as the impartiality of a decision." An impartial jurist is one who will hear the testimony of the witnesses and look at the evidence and make a determination based upon what has been presented no matter who is involved. An impartial witness is important for the jury to make an impartial decision.

James 2:1-7 says, "My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. 2For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; 3And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool: 4Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts? 5Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him? 6But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats? 7Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called?" Here is an example of partiality. This is showing favoritism to the rich over the poor. This is showing a respect of persons. This is not in keeping with God. He is not a respecter of persons.

Proverbs 14:20 show a disparity between the rich and the poor, "The poor is hated even of his own neighbour: but the rich hath many friends." Poor men do not possess much so they are often excluded especially from being able to obtain justice because the of the expense involved. The rich are able to gain access to judgments because of their wealth. Biblical law grants access to the civil courts regardless of financial ability. Proverbs 29:14 reads, "The king that faithfully judgeth the poor, his throne shall be established for ever." This means that this king has not despised a man because of his financial wherewithal. God will ensure him staying on the throne. Job 34:19 says, "How much less to him that accepteth not the persons of princes, nor regardeth the rich more than the poor? for they all are the work of his hands." Whether rich or poor, God expects us to uphold justice by testifying truthfully and impartially.

Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 6:6-8, "But brother goeth to law with brother, and that before the unbelievers. 7Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, because ye go to law one with another. Why do ye not rather take wrong? why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded?" For a brother to take another brother to law before unbelievers is showing a partiality against that brother by thinking that one could get better justice from an unbeliever than from believers. This is clear violation against God’s law. Matters pertaining among believers are to be resolved within the church, not in the civil courts.

Conclusion

We are to be truthful in our dealings with our fellow man. This means not perverting justice by showing respect of persons. Even in testifying against a family member that tries to lead one into following a false god, Deuteronomy 13:8 says, "Thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him." Even such must be exposed for their wickedness. Justice demands it.