Week 1 Day 4 - Into the Word Pt 1

I didn’t think that this part would be so long but seeing all these wonderful meanings and how much deeper what is written is to what is read was an eye opening experience. I might even go so far as to say a revelation.

Now that we have an idea of what the commandments are so as to not break them, how about we go ahead and get a clearer idea of what keeping the commandments means for us.

So what are the key words in the verse?

3 And thus we see that the commandments of God must be fulfilled. And if it so be that the children of men keep the commandments of God he doth nourish them, and strengthen them, and provide means whereby they can accomplish the thing which he has commanded them; wherefore, he did provide means for us while we did sojourn in the wilderness.

Keep
verb 

 

1. Have or retain possession of.
• Retain or reserve for future use
• Put or store in a regular place
2. Continue or cause to continue in a specified condition, position, course, etc.
•  continue doing or do repeatedly
• (of a perishable commodity) remain in good condition
• retain one's place in or on (a seat or saddle, the ground, etc.) in spite of difficulty
• be in a specified state of health
• cause to be late; delay
• make (someone) do something for a period of time
• archaic continue to follow (a path or course)
3. Provide for the sustenance of (someone).
• provide (someone) with a regular supply of a commodity
• own and look after (an animal) for pleasure or profit
• own and manage (a shop or business)
• guard;protect
4. Honour or fulfil (a commitment or undertaking).
• observe (a religious occasion) in the prescribed manner
• pay due regard to (a law or custom)
5. Make written entries in (a diary) on a regular basis.
• write down as (a record)

I was going to only include the one that was the intended meaning in this verse, but as I kept reading the definitions, I found it amazing that keep meant so many things that can be related to our relationship with God.

In this verse, the fourth definition is the one meant, but it didn’t necessarily need to be. For instance, number 2 has to continue doing, can’t this be a grammatically correct definition in this context as well?

What about definition number three’s last variant meaning guard;protect? Do we guard and protect the commandments of God? I would say yes.

In truth, by knowing all these meanings and the full definition of this one word, of keep, what this verse is saying got much deeper, much more important and serious. These are the commandments of God, and it only now has sunk in how big the magnitude is.

We must reserve the commandments for future use and store them in a regular place. The regular place being the Bible, our churches, temples, chapels, and other houses of God, and reserve them in ourselves and our children.

We must repeatedly do what is written in the commandments. Follow the path of God. Retain our place in the seat of our faith in spite of difficulty.

We must provide everyone with access to the commandments and the teachings and lessons of God.

 We must guard and protect God’s commandments.

We must honour and fulfill the commandments and commit to following them. We must observe them, and pay them due regard.

And we must continue to study them, record them, write them down, and have them close.

We must keep the commandments and it is so much more than just doing as you’re told.

And in return, doesn’t God try to keep us as well?

Nourish
verb

1. Provide with the food or other substances necessary for growth, health, and good condition;
2. Keep (a feeling or belief) in one’s mind, typically for a long time

From Latin nutrire – feed, cherish

Another great multilayered word meaning.

God will nourish those who keep his commandments

We can gather from what Nephi receives from God during his sojourn to the Promised Land, the first meaning is on point with the context. Note the other substances that are also provided.

Nourish isn’t just about providing the basic means in which one can grow physically health, but to also keep in good condition. The nourishment provided by God is greater than food and water, He also gives us what we need to grow, and be healthy and in good condition spiritually. By doing this He also allows for mental and emotional nourishment as well, for in times of great stress or hardship, who better provides relief than faith in God?

I speak as a third party though. I know many religious people who have gotten through much thanks to their faith. I would normally say in part to their faith but when everything they are and all that happens to them is God’s will, then attributing it to other things like personal strength, loving family, and supportive environment, kind of feels like someone trying to make certain things unrelated to God or not attributable to Him. Seeing as these people have faith, I won’t do that as it would be undermining the incredible and all-encompassing affect that faith has in their lives.

God is provides the balance in life.

What about that second one? There’s that keep, but again we see how knowing the meanings of words can deepen our understanding.

Nourish to keep a feeling or belief in one’s mind, typically for a long time.

Is it just me, or is that telling us that keeping the commandments will strengthen your belief and faith in God? One of the main obstacles Nephi experienced in the beginning was his older brothers, and then eventually in-laws and extended family, lack of continual faith in God.

Many times they were shown God’s love and protect, and also punished for their sins, and yet they continued to waver, their grip on the iron rod weak, slipping constantly, and over and over again Nephi had to humble them and he longed that they would stay the course to God.

What commandments weren’t Laman and Lemuel keeping?

They spoke badly of their father, perhaps they were not honouring him?

Often they spoke of and planned to kill Nephi or Lehi. Is thinking about killing someone the same? It may very well be, as it is for adultery.

They wanted to go back to Jerusalem, to their material possessions. Perhaps this was coveting what others had, what they had given up?

Strengthen
verb

Each link in the chain is a commandment kept

1. Make or become stronger
• Nourish
• Reinforce, make stronger, buttress, brace, shore up, underpin
• Toughen, temper, anneal
• Intensify, pick up, heighten
• Fortify, bolster, make stronger, boost, harden; increase, fuel; renew, vitalize, give new energy to, hearten
• Step up, escalate, scale up
• Support, back up, confirm, bear out, substantiate, corroborate, authenticate; consolidate

Man, look at all those synonyms and minor definitions. 

A few of these refer to engineering or trade jargon, like buttress and underpin, but they serve as good analogies to the strengthening of God.

Let’s try and look at the verb meanings, if we can.

Buttress is to increase the strength of or justification for. He will justify us.

Brace is to make (a structure) stronger or firmer with wood, iron, or other forms of support. God will brace us with love, purpose, divine protection, and other forms of holy support.

Temper is to act as a neutralizing or counterbalancing force to (something). God is the perfection to our imperfection. If that is not close enough then Jesus Christ, the Lord and Saviour, died so that we could be with God. He suffered our sins so that we could be forgiven. He gave us the chance to be redeemed by returning us to neutral in the eyes of God, so that our choices would determine our worth and that we could be saved from ourselves and the flesh.

Anneal is to heat (metal or glass) and allow it to cool slowly, in order to remove internal stresses and toughen it. It baffles me that if you look for meanings of God, then you will find them. We are baptized by water and by fire. By the flame of the Holy Spirit will our internal stresses, our weaknesses and faults, be removed or made into strengths.

He will renew us, vitalise us, substantiate and corroborate and consolidate us.

Such is what it means to be strengthened by the Lord.

Hope you enjoyed this (late) entry. Will most likely be trying to get in 2 or 3 tomorrow as Sunday is the last day of Nephi 17:3!

Then it's a whole new wallpaper for my phone and desktop and a whole new verse to ponderise, study, and analyse and apply to modern day life!

Ponder, Away!

 

 

 

 

Sources

Picture One - Keep them together

http://www.stjsumneytown.org/offerings/youth-program/

Picture Two - Called to Serve

http://www.cafepress.com/+missionary+posters

Original Art by CaptainCanada 

http://captaincanada.deviantart.com/art/called-to-serve-97412430

 

Picture Three - Mind, Body, and Soul

http://blog.shareitfitness.com/2013/mind-body-and-soul-workout/

Picture Four - Balance

https://www.waldeneatingdisorders.com/aly-raismans-tips-to-nourish-your-mind-body-spirit/

Picture Five - Strengthen

http://www.muscleandfitness.com/workouts/workout-routines/strengthen-your-grip

Week 1 Day 3 - What are the Commandments? Pt 3

The Final commandments entry, then we can go back to the actual verse XD

Number Seven 

"Do not commit murder."

Exodus 20:13

These last few are fairly straight forward.

The only issue one could have with this commandment is that while murder relates specifically to the killing of a fellow human, You shall not kill, opens up a whole bunch of questions and issues. The main one being 'You shall not kill... what?' 

To kill something is to end its life, so the hunting of animals and the extermination of insects can plausibly fall into the area of breaking a commandment.

If we wanted to go the extra mile, one could even, though weakly, argue that it may also be applied to video games in which virtual killing is necessary goes against this commandment.

  

It should be clear in context that 'murder' is the better choice here, as these are rules to which the Hebrew nation would be built upon, and so would be about how the people should live. There is a whole section about what to eat and how to kill to, so it goes without saying that this commandment is referring solely to the intentional taking of the life of another human being.

Though my Mum had an interesting variation as her definition of murder was killing for pleasure. We came to the agreement that since animal abuse and inhumane killing of animals is also murder that a more satisfactory definition of murder is the taking of life for pleasure, for selfish or self beneficial reasons, or when there are other courses of action and it is unnecessary.

Number Eight 

"Do not commit adultery."

- Exodus 20:13

 In My Tanach and the JPS Bible, commandments seven through ten are in the one verse, Exodus 20:13.

The King James Version gives each it's own verse though. So this commandment, in the KJV is Exodus 20:14.

The only differences here are the choice of "Thou shalt not", "Do not", and "You shall not".

The definition of adultery varies, but the most widely known definition is having an affair. So having intercourse with someone while being married to another person. In countries where it is still seen as a crime, there is a much greater severity placed on a married woman committing adultery to when a married man does.

Christian Answers says that an adulterer is a man who had sexual intercourse with a woman he was not married to, either a married woman or one who was engaged to be married. 

This is a strange definition though, as it goes to say that it would be something different if the woman he slept with wasn't married or engaged.

The same rules apply to a woman. 

From what I can see, the crime falls upon the married person in the affair. 

There is also an ongoing issue of cases in which the person has had an affair with someone of the same gender. In cases where it has been the woman, adultery charges were dropped as it was deemed that it didn't constitute as adultery. Some countries laws even specify that adultery is only committed when the extramarital relations are between people of the opposite gender.

Despite all this, adultery can safely be said to be extramarital sex, or sex with someone other than ones spouse and a strong backer for the keeping of chastity before marriage.

 Number Nine

"Do not steal."

- Exodus  20:13

According to navigating the Bible 'Do not steal' is primarily a commandment against kidnapping, however it does forbid all sorts of dishonesty.

Going by the time in which this was written, it makes a lot of sense for there to be a rule against kidnapping. It never even really occurred to me that none of the commandments guarded against that sort of crime, even though human trafficking would have been a legal industry back then.

And as much as it is horrible to say so, since women were property back then, it is also a commandment against some situations of rape, though not in a very meaningful way :/

Number Ten

"Do not testify as a false witness against your neighbour."

- Exodus 20:13

The wording here can also mean answer, respond, or speak up. However, it is also used specifically for testimony.

This is the "Don't lie" rule. Where Number Eight and Nine address dishonest actions, Number Ten addresses dishonest words, or speaking falsely.

Number Eleven

"Do not be envious of your neighbour's house. Do not be envious of your neighbour's wife, his slave, his maid, his ox, his donkey, or anything else that is your neighbour's."

- Exodus 20:14

The differences here are basic things. Slave or manservant, maid or maidservant, covet or be envious.

Be envious is easier to understand than covet, but both mean the same thing; wanting something that isn't yours.

Envy is more general, simple wanting things that others have, were coveting does deeper in that you don't just want what others have, but you want it especially because someone else already possesses it.

It is specifically wanting what someone else has. To clarify, say I had a nice bag. If you saw it and wanted one, then you would go out and get one. In this case, you aren't coveting my bag, because while you do want a bag like mine, you don't want to take my bag and make it yours.

I was surprised to see that there are Eleven commandments, but I'm sure that there is going to be one that I've taken as two when it is really the same one. It might even be the two I said should be one commandment in the first place. That would be cool.

And thus we end the third day's entry and see that it is good. See what I did there? Am I allowed to do that? <.< >.>

Have a great day everyone and see you tomorrow! 

Ponder, Away! 

Sources

Navigating the Bible II

http://bible.ort.org/books/torahd5.asp?action=displaypage&book=2&chapter=20&verse=2&portion=17

The featured verses are from here.

Bible Gateway

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus+20&version=KJV

King James Version verses.

Jewish Bible (JPS 1917)

http://www.breslov.com/bible/Exodus20.htm#2

JPS Bible verses

Babylonian Talmud

http://www.come-and-hear.com/shabbath/shabbath_73.html

Further insight into the 39 categories of work in regards to the Sabbath day.

Christian Answers - Adultery

http://www.christiananswers.net/dictionary/adultery.html

Adultery - Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adultery

Google - definitions

www.google.com.au

Picture One - Murder

https://pastorjesusfigueroa.wordpress.com/2012/12/21/day-37-you-murder-and-burn-with-envy/

Picture Two - Adultery

https://drintimacy.wordpress.com/2011/11/15/non-sexual-adultery/

Picture Three - Theft

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/8-products-targeted-by-shoplifters-2013-11-22

Picture Four - False Witness

http://www.hannaharendtcenter.org/?tag=lying-and-politics

Picture Five - Coveting

http://www.examiner.com/article/thou-shalt-not-covet