The title of this lesson is enough to make those who don’t believe in God to ask how anyone can determine what is right or wrong. Truthfully, it isn’t any human who has made that determination, it is God and that determination is found in the Bible. Millions of people around the world view the Bible as a collection of stories about religion, thinking that all that the Bible contains is just another religious belief amongst many others in the world. Even if that is true, which it isn’t, it is the first one introduced to the world that has stood the test of time, while many others that arrived later have disappeared. But the Bible doesn’t contain what the world calls religion. Rather, it contains the blueprint for the type of life God wants each person to live, and in that blueprint we find the right order of things for a good life.

It all began in the Garden of Eden, After God created all that man would need to sustain physical life, he created Adam. Then he created Eve, a help meet for him. (Help meet means one who helps, is parallel to, but is opposite of the man.) There is no doubt that the Hebrew word for woman used in Genesis 2:23 means female as opposed to a male; it denotes a wife, a woman, (female) married to a man. Thus with that understanding we gain insight to Leviticus 20:13: If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them. The verse absolutely makes homosexual relations (the opposite of that which is natural with a woman) a sin for the Jews and the offenders shall be put to death for their wickedness (abomination).  So early on, God gave the right order for how mankind was supposed to behave.

The Jews had a responsibility that very few understood then, and now in this day and age, neither the Jews nor the Gentiles understand the order God has given to us. The primary purpose for the Jews was to prepare the way for Jesus Christ to enter the world and to make it possible, bringing his way for salvation to fruition. The Laws of Moses were given to teach that mankind couldn’t avoid sin even though those who adhered to the law tried to live righteously. Even though they followed the law, they still sinned and acted in unrighteous ways, including sexual sins.

After creating Adam and Eve, Genesis 1:28 reveals to us: And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. Not only does the word multiply teach that men and women are to fill the earth with other humans, it also means to bring up or rear up children. The verse teaches that there is a right order that includes children and a proper way to raise them: Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. (Proverbs 22:6) This verse can be understood that children will become older and mature as the years pass by due to parents being dedicated to the upbringing of their offspring: Thus, the training is remembered as the individual grows older. Proverbs 22:15 teaches: Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him. Proper correction puts an end to the child’s foolish ways. Then Proverbs 23:13-14 speaks to discipline of children with what can be called switching or spanking: 13 Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. 14 Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.

It is readily apparent that God created men and women and gave to them the responsibility of bringing children into the world. They were also given instruction on how to make the children behave to facilitate bringing them up so that they could grow into God loving, productive, law abiding, mature adults. These weren’t just rules for the Jews under the law, but were also general principles that all peoples could use to keep society stable.

© 04-27-2007 DEC

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