Author	Thread: Help me explain to my friend this please
Admin	Help me explain to my friend this please Posted : 17 Jan, 2010 12:20 AM Hi guys,am having a problem explaining to my friend abt the laws of Moses.He says that God commanded Moses that a wrong should be punished an eye for an eye that is from lev 24:10-23.According to him when Jesus came He tried to contradict God or rather Himself coz He is God coz He said you should nt pay a wrong with a wrong be kind to your enemies.My friend also says that Jesus said says its nt wat goes into your mouth bt what comes out while in old testament God warned His people against eating some foods.My friend says This shows that God changes His mind abt wat He says and He does not belive in the Bible becoz the new testament contradicts the old Testament and for that reason he does not belive in the Bible.Can you please help me explain dis to him? Post Reply
GlendoraMike View Profile History	Help me explain to my friend this please Posted : 17 Jan, 2010 09:34 AM It should be noted that this is a guideline for the administration of justice, not a "make my day" revenge thing. The laws given to Moses had many purposes. Worship rules were in some, health in others. For a nomatic people the eating of animals like pigs was a health risk. In Acts 10, God gave Peter a vision in which He told Peter to kill and eat. The vision was to show Peter that the rule against being with Gentiles was ended. Post Reply
klmartin62 View Profile History	Help me explain to my friend this please Posted : 17 Jan, 2010 12:15 PM It has been my experience that most people who question the Bible to the extent you are speaking of, either don't care to learn, or are angry at God for some reason. Do not cast your pearls before swine. You do need to ask yourself why as you read the bible, though. God has a reason for everything He does. Like the health laws-once new ways of curing meats were discovered, pork was safe. God doesn't change, but you can find a verse or two to back any possition, if you already have made up your mind. Spend some good fellowship time with other believers for a few weeks and you will be ready to go again. This time, concentrate on those you can help, Satan loves to steal our time like that. Blessings, Leon Post Reply
View Profile History	Help me explain to my friend this please Posted : 17 Jan, 2010 03:14 PM Jesus himself said he had come to fulfill the Law and the Prophets. It may indeed seem contradictory to someone who has not taken the time to read it or be in a Bible study. It is important to always read verses in their contexts. Jesus was teaching the heart of the Law, the spirit in which it was meant to be followed. Such as -- do not use "eye for an eye" as literal and vengeful. It was meant to be a way to get fair compensation. The Jews were to separate themselves from the surrounding cultures in many ways -- foods they ate being one of them. It was not the only reason God gave those directives, but that was one of them. Jesus, as the fulfillment of the Law, was teaching that what God made was good -- all of it. Whatever goes into you does not make you "clean" or "holy". The food God put on this earth for us is all good and meant for our nourishment and enjoyment. I would encourage your friend to keep seeking and asking and not to give up on the Bible or God. Post Reply
DontHitThatMark View Profile History	Help me explain to my friend this please Posted : 18 Jan, 2010 09:42 AM Yeah...the law of Moses was like...an administrative law for the Israelites. They were under the direct rule of God, living in God's holy presence. Called to be a holy priesthood on the earth. They were suppose to be "a cut above". An outward witness to the world. When Jesus died on the cross, that distinction was removed from them and the covenant that was made with them was replaced because of their great failures. We are now under the law of liberty. The law of Moses was more of a secular governing law, meant to keep the Israelites holy in the direct presence of God(otherwise they would be consumed by His presence, which is apparent by how many of them were destroyed in their sin). They failed so quickly that the law of Moses was referred to as a "witness against them", before they even got started on their journey. So...while the law of Moses still exists, we are now covered by "grace/faith" where "works" were once applied. The law was outward in the old testament, and now it's inward...written in our hearts and minds. We don't need the figurative rituals that were in effect for the Jews. Our circumcision is spiritual instead of literal. Our sacrifice is looked back on instead of forward to. The diet laws were symbolic, the bread of heaven(mana) instead of "food of the flesh"(meat/unclean food). And while we should still follow those laws, they have met their spiritual fulfillment. Now we feed on the word of God, now we are marked by how we live instead of a physical mark, now our true lamb has been sacrificed. Anyway...if you look at the laws of Moses you can see that they were laws for a government and laws that were symbolic. Paul talks about this a lot. They are gone. Don't throw the baby out with the bath water though. The 10 commandments still apply, and it is not hypocritical to say that the law of Moses is gone and the commandments are not. Jesus taught it, the apostles taught it. There is evidence of all the commandments being lived and taught by the apostles/disciples. We are supposed to strive for the character of Christ, and we know the character of Christ through the commandments. Anyway...I believe the Law of Moses was symbolic/prophetic and pointing to the spiritual fulfillment in the law of grace/liberty. When Jesus died the veil that was dividing the physical from the spiritual was torn in two. :peace::peace: Post Reply
View Profile History	Help me explain to my friend this please Posted : 21 Jan, 2010 10:16 AM HI Nitah, One way to consider approaching your friend is to explain to him that while God's moral character is unchanging, He does deal with man in different ways over time for different purposes. There are no contradictions in scripture only a lack of understanding on our part. There is a really good little book out there called "More than a Carpenter" by Josh MacDowell. It costs around 5.00. It is a very good book that really causes a person to think really deep on the Bible and Jesus. It addresses how we know we can trust the Bible as being God's word and how we can know for certain that Jesus really is who He claimed to be, God the Son. It even talks about the study MIT University did sowing the odds of Jesus being just a man and fulfilling a couple of Old Testament prophesies was 10 tot he 17th power. That is one in like 1 trillion. Consider that Jesus fulfilled around 300 Prophesies makes a really good case that He was no mere mortal man as only God could have done this. I could go on. Get the book. Read it first yourself and then give it to him. Blessings! Walter Post Reply