Scriptures:
Psalm 119:105
Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.
Dichotomy – one meaning (per www.dictionary.com) is:
division into two mutually exclusive, opposed, or contradictory groups: a dichotomy between thought and action.
God has shown me where He is not just an “either / or” God, but (at least in many cases) an “And God.” I am grateful for the ways and the times that He enlightens me, when I am struggling to understand something in His Word that appears to be a dichotomy to me and I can’t find a resolution to reconcile the different viewpoints in my mind. (Another reason to be mindful of and let God monitor what I see, read, hear, etc. – to avoid confusion.)
Psalm 18:28
For You will light my lamp; The LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.
For example, I read something the other day that puzzled and disturbed me. Someone had said that the traditions of men were more powerful than the Word of God, based on Matthew 15:6 which says in part (NKJV),
“Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition.”
I took issue with the notion that traditions were more powerful than God’s Word, but just dismissed what I had read and went on to something else. Well, tonight, I guess the Lord wanted me back at that, because when I opened my Bible to look up a different (and to me entirely unrelated) verse, I was at Matthew 15 and looking at verse 6. I decided to read the whole chapter but was still pretty much in the dark. Then, in looking up the verse in my Jewish commentary (Jewish New Testament Commentary: A Companion Volume to the Jewish New Testament by David H. Stern), I saw reference to the parallel in Mark 7, and headed over there. That’s when I got it. The first part of verse 13 (NKJV) says: “making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down.”
“Through.” What a difference another word makes! The light came on. “…of no effect through your tradition…” It was the traditions, which were supposed to reflect practical application of God’s Word, which were polluted (defiled) and keeping the people from being obedient to God / effective in the Word of God. The true meaning of God’s Word was not included with or honored – “of no effect” – in or through the traditions of which Jesus spoke. Mark 7 in the God’s Word Translation says, beginning at verse 7:
GWT - It is no use for them to worship me, because they teach human rules as though they were my laws!' 8 "You put aside God's command and obey human teachings." 9 And Jesus continued, "You have a clever way of rejecting God's law in order to uphold your own teaching…. 13 In this way the teaching you pass on to others cancels out the word of God. And there are many other things like this that you do."
Verses 8 and 9 in the Amplified version state:
8You disregard and give up and ask to depart from you the commandment of God and cling to the tradition of men [keeping it carefully and faithfully]. 9And He said to them, You have a fine way of rejecting [thus thwarting and nullifying and doing away with] the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition (your own human regulations)!
Once I got it, then I really saw verse 3 of Matthew 15 (NKJV):
He answered and said to them, “Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?
So again, it is the disobedience to God’s laws, under cover of (and to follow man-made) tradition – not that the traditions were more powerful. And some other translations of Matthew 15, verses 3 and 6:
NCV - Jesus answered, "And why do you refuse to obey God's command so that you can follow your own teachings?... You rejected what God said for the sake of your own rules.
NIV - Jesus replied, "And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition?... Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition.
AMP - He replied to them, And why also do you transgress and violate the commandment of God for the sake of the rules handed down to you by your forefathers (the elders)? …So for the sake of your tradition (the rules handed down by your forefathers), you have set aside the Word of God [depriving it of force and authority and making it of no effect].
NLT - Jesus replied, “And why do you, by your traditions, violate the direct commandments of God? …And so you cancel the word of God for the sake of your own tradition.
GNT - Jesus answered, "And why do you disobey God's command and follow your own teaching?...In this way you disregard God's command, in order to follow your own teaching.
HCSB- He answered them, "And why do you break God's commandment because of your tradition?...In this way, you have revoked God's word because of your tradition.
NAS - And He answered and said to them, "Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?... And by this you invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition.
Phillips - Tell me," replied Jesus, "why do you break God's commandment through your tradition?...And so your tradition empties the commandment of God of all its meaning.
So it seems then, that what God wanted me to know is powerful (besides Himself) is the fact that He - in His wisdom and power, His mercy and grace - has given us the choice (in the way we experience the lives we have been given) to obey Him, or not:
Psalm 62:11-12 (NKJV)
God has spoken once, Twice I have heard this: That power belongs to God. Also to You, O Lord, belongs mercy; For You render to each one according to his work.
Deuteronomy 30:19 (NKJV)
14 But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it. 15 “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, 16 in that I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the LORD your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess….19I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live;
Psalm 119:11(NKJV)
Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.
Hebrews 4:12(NKJV)
For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
J. B. Phillips Translation, Romans 9:9-26:
9:18 - It seems plain, then, that God chooses on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will harden in their sin.
9:19-20 - Of course I can almost hear your retort: "If this is so, and God's will is irresistible, why does God blame men for what they do?" But the question really is this: "Who are you, a man, to make any such reply to God?" When a craftsman makes anything he doesn't expect it to turn round and say, 'Why did you make me like this?'
9:21-26 - The potter, for instance, is always assumed to have complete control over the clay, making with one part of the lump a lovely vase, and with another a pipe for sewage. Can we not assume that God has the same control over human clay? May it not be that God, though he must sooner or later expose his wrath against sin and show his controlling hand, has yet most patiently endured the presence in his world of things that cry out to be destroyed? Can we not see, in this, his purpose in demonstrating the boundless resources of his glory upon those whom he considers fit to receive his mercy, and whom he long ago planned to raise to glorious life? And by these chosen people I mean you and me, whom he has called out from both Jews and Gentiles. He says in Hosea: 'I will call them my people, who were not my people, and her beloved, who was not beloved'. 'And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them, You are not my people, there they will be called sons of the living God'.
1 John 3:1(NKJV)
Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.
Exodus 19:5(NKJV)
Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine.
Jeremiah 7:23(NKJV)
But this is what I commanded them, saying, ‘Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people. And walk in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well with you.’
Isaiah 40:8(NKJV)
The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.”
... and my journey with Him continues ...
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