This is going to be a short blog this month as we are preparing to move homes and the work involved seems to be never ending as I am sure most of you will know.
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False Witness Christian or not this applies to you.
When God created Adam and Eve He gave them the gift of speech, which was one of the ways He distinguished them from the rest of His creatures. The gift of speech was distorted and corrupted at the fall. It was not long after the fall that falsehood raised its ugly head in the Scriptures. It is appropriate that the first falsehood in the Bible should be spoken by Satan, the “father of lies” (8:44). He assured Eve that partaking of the forbidden fruit would not result in death, as God had said (Gen. 3:4). Cain lied to God, insisting that he did not know where his brother was (Gen. 4:9). Abraham lied about his wife, passing her off as his sister (Gen. 12:11-13). Jacob was a master of deceit (e.g. Gen. 27). Joseph’s brothers deceived Jacob, their father, into thinking he had been killed by a wild animal (Gen. 37:20, 32-33). The midwives were not completely truthful with Pharaoh, when he asked why the Hebrew boy babies were not put to death (Exod. 1:18-19). Moses was not forthright with his father-in-law about his reasons for returning to Egypt (Exod. 4:18).
We live in a world that is quite different from that of the ancient Near East. Our laws are made by men, not given by God. Our laws are carried out by Law-enforcement professionals. When we speed, a radar-equipped policeman may pull us over and give us a ticket. When our house or car is broken into, or when we are robbed, we very often do not know the criminal. The automobile has given the criminal great mobility, and consequently anonymity.
In ancient Israel, there were no policemen. Society was not very mobile. Courts were much less formal. If a man was robbed, it was frequently by a neighbour, someone the victim knew and associated with day after day. One did not call the police if one was victimized illegally; it was that person’s obligation to press charges. These charges were most often presented to the group of the elders or leaders of the town or city in which the victim (or the villain) lived. The accused and the alleged victim both produced their witnesses and the leaders passed judgment. The sentence was frequently imposed immediately, initiated by the one who had pressed charges (cf. Deut. 17:6-7).
In our society, Law cases are usually divided into two categories: criminal and civil cases. In Israel, criminal, civil, and religious violations were considered by the same “court.” A man could not only be accused of murder or rape (a criminal case), but of damaging property (a civil case), or of idolatry or witchcraft (a religious violation, something which our courts would not consider). Some crimes, like theft, were dealt with more as civil cases, because restitution was the prescribed punishment. There were no prisons, and so one either made restitution in some way, or paid for his crime with his life, or the loss of some member of his body.
At first thought, the prohibition of perjury (which is really what the Ninth Commandment does) would seem to be rather unimportant—not important enough to make a part of the Ten Commandments, at least. Our culture would seem to agree, since perjury is an offence which merits little more than a “slap on the wrist,” at least in comparison with the penalties prescribed in the Old Testament (cf. Deut. 19:16-20). There are several reasons why perjury should be viewed as a serious offence, not only in Old Testament times but in our own as well.
“A rascally witness makes a mockery of justice, And the mouth of the wicked spreads iniquity” (Prov. 19:28). Essentially, there were three components in Israel’s judicial system, which are common to most judicial systems, including our own.
First, there is a body of laws, which distinguish the evils which a society wishes to punish and to prevent.
Second, there are the judges, who apply the Law to the specific facts of the particular case.
Third, there are the witnesses, who by their testimony, make certain claims as to the facts of the case. (In our own judicial system, the duty of the jury is to determine what the facts of the case are, on which the judge will rule, applying the Law. The jury must determine which testimony is true and which is not, since testimony constitutes a large part of the evidence.)
In Exodus God was giving Israel the Law, to serve as His perfect standard for men’s conduct. Since this Law was written by God, it was untainted by man’s sin. It was, as the psalmist wrote, perfect (Ps. 19:7). The “judges” varied. Sometimes judgment was rendered by the “elders” of the particular city in which the trial was held. Later, when Israel had a king, he could render judgment, especially on appeal (cf. 1 Ki. 3:16-28). Even though the Law was perfect, justice could be perverted by unjust judges, of which there were many. The Old Testament has much to say about rendering just judgment
I think we as a society have forgotten that man corrupts Gods law to suit himself. Or do we just turn a blind eye and ignore it saying ‘what can I do?’
Just recently we had the USA electing a new president, surely one of the most important roles in American society. This man is a role model for millions. His decisions will have ramifications world wide.
Did we hear a reasoned honest argument from ANY candidate, or was it a campaign of twisted truth and lies?
The UK had its referendum, stay or leave the EU? Was this an honest referendum where the people were given the truth?
Look at ANY political campaign in any country and you will find corruption, lies and distorted facts.
God's law is being ignored in our world and we will surely pay the price for this.
Why do we lay down and do nothing? Why when so many are hurting in this world do we allow some to have vast sums of money and yet let so many starve?
Why do we allow liars and frauds to take the places of honest men to govern us?
Why does the church do nothing? God's representatives on earth……really?
Corruption rules this earth, greed is king, perjury a convenient truth, honesty is forgotten in favour of expediency.
Why do we allow it? Why do we rave on social media but do nothing to change the world?
Thousands sign petitions but how many turn out to protest?
All we do is complain, this isn’t fair, this isn’t what I voted for, they have lied to me.
And our society just goes on ignoring this crime against God and his people.
I truly believe that if we don’t act to change our world soon then it will be too late, for us and our hope for a decent honest world where the Lords word holds sway.
The choice lays with all of us. What will your excuse be for doing nothing when you are judged as you will be.
I pray He can forgive us for what we do, and have done, often in His name.
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| My first sponge cake in India |
Warm Aid 2016
new winter blankets.
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| A simple smile says it all. |
Building the new chicken coop.
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Our kitchen garden
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| The kitchen garden begins to be removed |
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| Some of the growing heap of old wire. |
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| Nothing is wasted. Free heat. |
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| I found a warm spot. |
In some ways this is sad. All the work we did to improve the soil and
monkey proof our crops, all now gone.
In many other ways, it is satisfying, we are moving to what we hope will
be our long term home. Christine will I hope recover her health when she
gets out of this damp environment.
Most of this month has been spent running between houses to check on work being done
before we move in.
Amla, Indian Gooseberry.
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| For scale, a bit bigger gooseberry than we are used to. They also have a 'stone' rather than 'pips. |
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| Fresh ginger |
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| Our jam pot |
Take 2Kg of Amla, 2.5Kg sugar, 1Kg of fresh ginger and a lemon, the end result is 5Kg of truly delicious gooseberry and ginger jam.
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| 'Whats he doing in my tree?' |
Republic day
This year we attended the flag raising at our college. Buddha Group of Institutions, Architectural college.
IBRMC were the guests of the faculty.
After this was a ride out that included the compulsory
'breakfast' stop. Each year the club goes to a different flag raising ceremony to pay respects to those that made it possible for India to become a republic and to celebrate the same. After this a short ride to breakfast then a longer ride out to a memorial.
Baby naming ceremony.
At six weeks old babies are named in a lovely ceremony where family and friends give gifts and welcome the new addition to the family. Eva is the first child of our friends.
After the naming everyone is invited to eat with the family.
A very happy day.
Comments from Kris.
None this month, her comment to me when I asked her was not suitable for publication. To be fair she was packing boxes at the time........
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| Under this lot is the bed in our guest room! |
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| Air con..gone! Since we are moving into a fully ac house we sold our old units. This move is being financed by this sale |
Well, guys, that's it for this month.
May God be with you all
Chris and Kris.
