OK, so one day last week during our family devotions, Hannah's verses she was discussing were about judging others. This is not a subject we discuss often so Bruce and I were surprised at how both Justin and Hannah had a secular view on the whole "judge not" issue. Surprisingly, even among "the church" Christians have a tendency to turn their eyes away from their Brother's and Sister's sins. So for my own devotions and to make sure my children understood the Biblical view of righteous judgement, I decided to do a study on it. That way when we have family devotions and we have our discussions, I can teach them what I've learned. Plus, it's one of those situations where I know what I believe, but why? So I'm looking forward to studying about this.
For sake of time, I'll just share the key verses and you can look up the other references if you like.
Today's study began with the History and Rules.
History: Exodus 18:13-26 &Deuteronomy 1:9-17
Judging was established by Moses. His father-in-law found him one day, obviously weary and worn and wondered what he was doing. Moses explained that he had been listening to the children of Israel and passing judgements for them. You have to understand that there were not a few Israelites. There were thousands of them. Jethro was concerned that it would be too much for Moses and advised him to divide the matters between different judges. They would judge the greater matters and Moses could judge the smaller ones. These judges would instruct God's people on how they must walk and what they must do.
Then were the Rules: Deuteronomy 16:18-20 & Deuteronomy 17: 2-13
In chapter 17, speaking of those that began to worship other gods, in verse four, they were told to DILIGENTLY seek the truth to find out if someone was really chasing after false gods. If they found out it was true, the one that had turned their eyes away from God, in verse 5, was to be STONED to DEATH! It was vitally important that the people of Israel understood that God was serious about them staying focused on Him!
And the punishment of stoning was not something done behind closed doors, unlike putting someone to death today. It was out in the open and the reason it was out in the open is explained in verse 13, "And ALL the people shall HEAR, and FEAR, and DO NO MORE, presumptuously."
One other thing I gathered from this today is that Moses wasn't out to judge anyone but the children of Israel. He judged the camp. This sort of confirmed something I say often and that is you can not expect an unsaved man to live a saved man's life. There is nothing that unsaved man can do that will be pleasing in God's sight. It doesn't matter if he is a good husband, hard worker, loves his family, good son, etc. God will only be pleased with him when he accepts His Son as Saviour. And once that happens, that man is part of the camp. A child of God. Then, and only then, can you expect him to live a saved man's life.
