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Along the way of going into these principles non-Jews must learn and do, I have found out a great many things. One of these things is the link between scripture and logic. Once something is learned from revelation, i.e., the Creator revealing (revelation) his will and actions to humanity, then there is a logical follow-on. It is as if scripture/revelation becomes a foundation for us to build upon, rather than simply being a text we are confined to. Also along the way, we can see that logic is a great tool. Sometimes a person can think and think in a deep or realistic way and come up with some conclusions, only to find that it coincides with or agrees with divine revelation or scripture.
In this little chapter, I still do my utmost to stay in scripture, and yet within that scripture, we find a foundation, in fact I've already written about it, and a logical follow-on still within the scriptures. And all this is with the purpose of answering the question of what would Deity want for us and how we as non-Jews, as people of different nationalities, can serve him.
The foundation has already been laid before that as our Creator, the Deity of the Hebrew Scriptures is our ultimate king and ruler, the ultimate standard of right and wrong. And, as has been asked before, how should it affect us if we find out that there is something that he finds to be hateful or abominable? What about if we find out something that he loves? And what about things that he requires or routinely does, his modus operandi, his way of dealing with us humans? Let me give some scriptural examples.
(26) With the kind [person] You show Yourself [to be] kind, with the man of integrity You deal in integrity, (27) With the pure You show yourself [to be] pure; and with the perverse You deal crookedly. (2 Samuel 22:26-27)
(16) There are six [things which] YHWH has hated, and seven [which are] an abomination unto Him:
(17) Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood;
(18) A heart that deviseth wicked/vain thoughts, feet that are swift for running to evil;
(19) A false witness who breathes out lies, and he that shoots [like an arrow] discord/contentions among brethren. (Proverbs 6:16-19)(6) 'How shall I approach YHWH, and bow myself to the Deity on high? Shall I approach Him with ascent-offerings, with calves of a year old? (7) Will YHWH be pleased with thousands of rams, with a multiplicity of rivers of oil? Shall I give my first-born for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?' (8) It hath been shown to you, O man, what is good, and what YHWH requires of you: only to do judgment, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your Deity. (Micah 6:6-8)
(5) He [YHWH] loves righteousness and justice;... (Psalm 33:5)
In each of these passages, we have different aspects of what we are looking into. We have the Lord's modus operandi, his way of dealing with people (2 Samuel 22:26-27); what he hates (Proverbs 6:16-19); what he requires (Micah 6:6-8); and what he loves (Psalm 33:5).
In previous chapters, I dealt with things in the Law which the Almighty sees as an abomination, something detestable to him. I could add some more to those:
(5) The gear of a man shall not be upon a woman, neither shall a man dress in woman's clothes; for any who do these things is an abomination to YHWH your Deity. (Deuteronomy 22:5)
(13) You shall not have in your bag diverse weights, big and small. (14) You shall not have in your house diverse measures, big and small. (15) A perfect and just weight shall you have; a perfect and just measure shall you have; that your days may be long upon the land which YHWH your Deity gives you. (16) For any that does such things, any that does unfairly, is an abomination to YHWH your Deity. (Deuteronomy 25:13-16)
(15) He who declares the wicked to be righteous, and he that condemns the righteous as wicked, even both of them is an abomination to YHWH. (Proverbs 17:15)
It is reasonable to say that if such things are hateful and detestable to the Most High, then it would be wise for anyone and everyone, Jew or Gentile, to avoid such things. Since Yahweh is King of everyone, all who wish to serve him and do what is pleasing in his eyes would avoid the things that he hates. There is nothing contextual to make us think that these things are disgusting only if Israel does it. Because the scripture only deals with the Almighty's perception of such actions, then that is the important point - his perception of the deed - not necessarily the person who is doing it. That is to say, irrespective of who is doing the deed that Deity hates, the very fact is that Deity hates it. Thus, we as his subjects, in order to please our king, must avoid these things.
But what about these other things that I've mentioned above, i.e. what Deity loves, does, hates and requires? Well, one of them is easy because it is synonymous with abomination or detestable, namely, what Deity hates. Whatever Deity hates, we should avoid like the plague.
What about what he does? Sometimes, within certain contexts, we can find out how to act by how Deity acts concerning an action or characteristic, i.e., his modus operandi. We see this in 2 Samuel 22:26-27, where we see he acts favourably with those who act favourably to others and who conduct themselves well. And He also treats those who act in unrighteous ways with particular nastiness, showing punishment of sorts. This tells us how we should act. In this case, we should act kind to others, and show ourselves to be people of integrity (consistent and mature in the way we act), and be pure (leaving evil and trying to absorb and reflect righteous things). And we are not to be perverse or crooked, or unstable in our ways, in order to avoid the negative aspects of the Almighty's judgment.
What about what Deity loves and requires? Well, if our King is asking these things of us, then we should comply simply out of our acknowledging him, not only as our ruler and the authority over us, but also as someone who knows what is best for us since he created us and knows us through and through. So what does Deity require of man (humanity in general, as written in Micah, not just Jews or Israelites)? To do proper judgment, to love kindness and to walk humbly. Also, it is not simply to walk humbly, but to do so with Deity, i.e., with him [his words and laws] in mind, and with a mind to revere, obey, serve and love him.
And lastly, what Deity loves. Again, if we know that someone we love or respect has a great fondness for something, then surely we would want to give it to them in order to show our acknowledgement of their feelings and our devotion to them. Such is the case for our Deity and Creator. One thing that he loves is "justice": the protection of rights and the pursuing of the carrying out of obligations; making sure that there is order and proper conduct in the world, making sure the afflicted, the widow, and the orphan has a voice, whilst making sure that that there is no partiality or favouritism; the wicked are punished and the righteous or innocent are protected. In all these things there is justice, and that is what our Deity loves. This is what we should work on in order to make it flourish on this earth.
Why even do this section? Because keeping the principles and laws of Deity isn't just about servitude, but it is also about encouraging a relationship. It isn't about bending to a taskmaster, but about appreciating our place, the order of things, understanding the characteristics of the one we serve, and making life full by doing all we can to fulfil our purpose in it. And what greater purpose can there be other than living in line with the One who chose to make us and give us so many opportunities and choices, even the choices we cannot presently see?
This section just is there to give incentive to look deeper in his word, his revelation, and find out how to further fulfil our purpose and do his will.
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