PSALM 75
Thanking the LORD for HIS wondrous works verse 1- 3
To YOU – O God – do we give THANKS
to YOU do we give THANKS
for that YOUR name is near
YOUR wondrous works declare
When I shall receive the congregation I will judge uprightly
the earth and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved
I bear up the pillars of it. SELAH
Psalmist warns wicked not to be defiant verse 4- 6
I said to the fools
Deal not foolishly
And to the wicked
Lift not up the horn – lift not up your horn on high
speak not with a stiff neck
For promotion comes neither from the east – nor from the west
nor from the south
Psalmist states that the LORD is the JUDGE verse 7- 8
BUT God is the judge
HE puts down one – and sets up another
for in the hand of the LORD there is a cup
and the wine is red
it is full of mixture
And HE pours out of the same – BUT the dregs thereof
all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out
and drink them
Psalmist praises LORD for HIS promise verse 9- 10
BUT I will declare forever
I will sing praises to the God of Jacob
All the horns of the wicked also will I cut off
BUT the horns of the righteous shall be exalted
COMMENTARY:
DAILY SPIRITUAL BREAKFAST: Young Believers
: 1 To YOU, O God, do we give thanks, to YOU do we give thanks, for that YOUR name is near YOUR wondrous works declare. (6381 “wondrous works” [pala] means a marvelous event manifesting a supernatural act of a divine agent, often deviating from the normal course of nature, extraordinary, show oneself marvelous, to be beyond one’s power, or be difficult to do.)
DEVOTION: Asaph wrote a Psalm or Hymn that gave praise to the LORD who is Most High. He wanted to thank the LORD for his wondrous works that HE had done in the past and is doing in the present.
He wanted the children of Israel to sing the praises of the LORD with their voices. He wanted all those who heard the song to realize that God was the one who created the world and all that was in it.
We sing today of the greatness of the LORD. We look at nature and see all HIS beauty that HE created for us to enjoy. We see all the wonders of the world and realize that HE had a purpose in all that HE created.
It was to declare HIS greatness to HIS creation. We have to realize how great HE is and worthy of our praise. All we have to do is look at the things that HE has created and realize that HE did a great job.
HE gave us the animals for food and the water to drink. HE gave us the material we needed to build our houses. HE gave us health and strength to do the work that we enjoy doing to bring glory to HIS name.
We have to ask ourselves if we are a thankful people or a people who always want more than HE has provided for us? Are we individuals who like to complain or praise? It is a gift from God that we can praise HIM for daily.
CHALLENGE: Are we praising the LORD for HIS supernatural acts?
DAILY SPIRITUAL LUNCH: Transitional Believers
: 2 “When I shall receive the congregation I will judge uprightly.” (“Uprightly,” 4339 מֵישָׁרִים [meyshar] 19 occurrences; AV translates as “equity” four times, “uprightly” three times, “uprightness” three times, “right things” twice, “agreement” once, “aright” once, “equal” once, “right” once, “righteously” once, “sweetly” once, and “upright” once. 1 evenness, uprightness, straightness, equity. 1a evenness, level, smoothness. 1b uprightness, equity. 1c rightly [Strong, J. (2001). Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon. Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software]).
DEVOTION: This psalm of Asaph deals with God’s role being the judge of the whole world. What distinguishes God is that He is the one who will judge righteously. We often think that we deserve better than what we get, yet God is in the business of giving us much more than we ask or think (Ephesians 3:20). This declaration of God’s perfect justice is a way of giving praise to Him.
God is the only perfect judge that there is. We cannot fully look into someone else’s heart and tell what he is thinking. God promises that He is the one who will separate the sheep from the goats at the final judgment (Matthew 25:31-46). Even in this passage we see that those who are rewarded for their service to Christ are not fully aware of the fact that they had served Him when they had served others.
What differentiates God’s judgment, then, from ours is that God knows how to judge without being judgmental. We struggle with our own preferences and biases, and yet God has only two categories of judgment, the wicked and the righteous. Only He knows perfectly what each of us is. We need to leave our judgmental attitudes at the door and ask Him to judge perfectly.
CHALLENGE: Are you in a position where you struggle with judging someone else? Realize that He alone can judge uprightly. Ask Him to help you see the other person from His perspective and then be willing to allow Him to use you to as a servant to that person. (Dr. Marc Wooten – board member)
________________________________________________________________________
: 3 The earth and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved: I bear up the pillars of it. Selah. (4127 “dissolved” [muwg] means to waver, to become or cause to become soft or liquid, often of people losing firmness or courage, to melt, collapse, or to melt away.)
DEVOTION: Here we find choice. There is a choice to serve the LORD and remember HIS place in the creation of the world or we can chose to serve self and think that we are the creators of the world.
The choice is made by every human being that comes into this world. They will either honor the LORD or they will dishonor HIM by not giving HIM the proper place in their life. The choice is theirs!
Most of the people that come into this world chose to not honor the LORD. They see creation and think that man did it on his own or it just stated with a one celled animal and then to a two celled animal and they it kept going into a human being. Life is just a work of science.
The problem with this is that it doesn’t work in a lab and it doesn’t work in our world. There is coming a day when everyone will see this fact and realize that most of them made the wrong choice.
God is the one who is bearing up the pillars of the earth. HE is the one who created our world. HE is the one who wants us to realize this fact. HE is the one who is offering salvation to every person who repents of their sins and turns their lives over to HIM.
The choice was given in the garden of Eden and Adam and Eve chose wrong.
What is our choice? This world is going to end one day whether by death or by the return of the LORD. We have to chose what we believe and act on it.
CHALLENGE: Choose wisely!!!
DAILY SPIRITUAL SUPPER: Mature Believers
: 6 For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. (7311 “promotion” [ruwm] means to be high, to rise, raise, bring up, exalt, extol, lift up, set up, increased in power or hold up.)
DEVOTION: Is bragging a sin? Is it wrong to promote ourselves? What is wrong with giving a positive testimony about what we have done for the LORD? We find in our world people who are good about telling others about their great achievements.
The Psalmist is warning the inhabitants of the earth not to exalt themselves. He would like everyone to exalt the LORD. He would like everyone to thank the LORD for the blessing they have received. He wants people to only give testimonies of what the LORD is doing in their life and through their life.
There has always been people who want to move up the ladder to fame and fortune. It seems like those who want leadership in the church are the ones who shouldn’t get it. It is those who wait on the LORD that should receive the call to greater responsibility.
The psalmist is stating the fact that the LORD is the one who lifts up leaders and brings down leaders. Some of the bad leaders are in power because the LORD is working HIS plan for our world. HE used evil nations to judge the children of Israel for their sin. HE is the judge. HE informs us that whatsoever we sow, we will also reap. The children of Israel had to deal with this fact as well in their nation’s history.
This verse informs us that when someone looks to be lifted up, he will not be able to find it in any direction but through the LORD. East and west nations could not lift up rulers in Israel. The desert or south could not lift up leader in Israel. The north is not mentioned because that is where the enemies of Israel lived and they were not going to lift up a good leader for Israel.
The next verse instructs us that God is the judge of all men. HE alone sets people up or brings them down. We need to look to the LORD for the place HE wants us to be in an organization. Too often we look at others and think our actions will always promote us. Our actions have to be Biblical.
Remember that followers of Christ are not to be stiff necked and think everything comes their way by their own efforts. Look to the LORD for increased power!! We need to realize that we are weak sinners that deserve a place reserved in hell for eternity. It is only by the grace of God that we don’t receive what we do deserve and receive what we don’t deserve – a place reserved in heaven because of the blood of Jesus Christ.
CHALLENGE: Fulfill the responsibility that the LORD has gifted us with and let HIM be the one who moves us to a place of leadership. Don’t try to become a leader by our own efforts
__________________________________________________
: 10 “All the horns of the wicked I will also cut off, but the horns of the righteous shall be exalted.” The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982). (Horn – 7161 קֶרֶן, קַרְנַיִם [qeren /keh·ren/] n f pr loc (BDB). From 7160; TWOT 2072a; GK 7967 and 7969; 76 occurrences; AV translates as “horn” 75 times, and “hill” once. 1 horn. 1A horn. 1B of strength (fig). 1C flask (container for oil). 1D horn (as musical instrument). 1E horn (of horn-like projections on the altar). 1F of rays of light. 1G hill. 2 a place conquered by Israel probably in Bashan. James Strong, Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2001).
DEVOTION: God’s judges righteously and always correctly. There are only two groups of people and they are the righteous and wicked. God knows which group each person is in and will therefore judge them accordingly. We may assume someone is righteous because we like them or they are good to us. They may give generously to the church and appear holy and good. We may also think someone is wicked because they make tough decisions and they are unpopular yet they do what must be done in spite of the outcry of everyone affected. While we see the outward horns, God is inspecting the heart and the decisions based on His commands and principles. Sometimes our judgments are erroneous and selfish instead of godly. May we be slow to judge and quick to pray to the one who knows the innermost parts of people’s lives!
CHALLENGE: Before judging, check your motives and attitudes as God is the final judge! Our horns may be the ones cut down to size! (Dr. Brian Miller – board member)
___________________________________________________________
DISCIPLINES OF THE FAITH:
BODY
Chastity (Purity in living)
Fasting (Time alone with LORD without eating or drinking)
Sacrifice (Giving up something we want to serve the LORD)
Submission (Willing to listen to others and LORD)
Solitude (Going to a quiet place without anyone)
SOUL
Fellowship (Gathering together around the Word of God)
Frugality (wise use of resources)
Journalizing (Writing down what you have learned from the LORD)
Study and Meditation (Thinking through your study in the Word)
Secrecy (Doing your good deeds without others knowing but God)
SPIRIT
Celebration (Gathering around a special occasion to worship LORD)
Confession (Tell the LORD we are sorry for our sins on a daily basis)
Prayer (Conversation with God on a personal level)
Silence (Letting the LORD deal with some problems and needs)
Worship (Time to praise the LORD alone or in a group)
Give thanks verse 1
Sing praises verse 9
____________________________________________________________________
DOCTRINES OF THE FAITH:
Scripture (66 inerrant books of the Bible)
God the Father (First person of the Godhead)
God – Elohim (Creator, Sovereign) verse 1, 7, 9
Name – give thanks verse 1
Wondrous works verse 1
I bear up the pillars of earth verse 3
Promotion comes from the LORD verse 6
Judge (puts down and sets up) verse 7
Hand of the LORD verse 8
LORD – Jehovah (Covenant keeping, Personal) verse 8
God of Jacob verse 9
God the Son (Second person of the Godhead –God/man, Messiah)
God the Holy Spirit (Third person of the Godhead – our comforter)
Trinity (Three persons of the Godhead who are co-equal = ONE God)
Angels (Created before the foundation of the world – Good and Evil)
Man (Created on the sixth twenty-four hour period of creation)
Wicked of the earth verse 8
Sin (Missing the mark set by God on man and angels)
Fools verse 4
Wicked verse 4, 8, 10
Stiff neck verse 5
Salvation (Provided by Christ’s death on the cross for our sins)
Thanks verse 1
Witness verse 1
Judge uprightly verse 2
Promotion verse 6
Sing praises verse 9
Righteous verse 10
Exalted verse 10
Israel (Old Testament people of God)
Congregation verse 2
Jacob verse 9
Church (New Testament people of God)
Last Things (Future Events)
Earth and all inhabitants are dissolved verse 3
Horns of the wicked will be cut off verse 10
________________________________________________________________
QUOTES regarding passage
Joy in God’s great reversals, his ‘putting down one and lifting up another’ (7), is a note which this psalm shares especially with the Magnificat and the Song of Hannah. It is happily placed to follow the plea of 74:22f. that God will bring his case to court. Here he is no reluctant plaintiff but the Judge: the case will open when he chooses (2), and be settled without compromise. (Kidner, D. (1975). Psalms 73–150: An Introduction and Commentary (Vol. 16, p. 299). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.)
____________________________________________________________
4, 5. After the reassurance, the warning; for those who think themselves ‘pillars’ of society (3) may be only the pushers in the herd. neb brings 5a to life, with ‘toss not your horns against high heaven’; but in 5b it unnecessarily follows lxx and Vulg. in finding a reference to God (‘arrogantly against your Creator’). The ‘insolent neck’ (rsv, as mt) is well suited to the figure of the tossing horns; it refuses the yoke, as the wicked refuse God. (Kidner, D. (1975). Psalms 73–150: An Introduction and Commentary (Vol. 16, p. 301). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.)
__________________________________________________________
75:4–6. God warns the wicked to change their heart attitude toward Him. They should not arrogantly defy God. Lifting up … horns, a metaphor from the animal world, signifies a defiant, strutting, self-confidence. Moreover, the wicked should not speak with a stiff neck, that is, in stubborn rebellion against God. The wicked should realize that when He judges, no help comes from any earthly direction. (Ross, A. P. (1985). Psalms. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, p. 849). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
_________________________________________________________
If we expect the Lord to receive our words of praise, we must pay attention to His Word of truth as it is read, sung, and preached. The message delivered here was twofold: a word of encouragement for believers (vv. 2–3) and a word of warning to the godless (vv. 4–5). As we see the wicked prosper in their evil deeds, we often ask God “How long?” (See 10:6; 74:9–10; 79:5; 89:46; 94:3–4; and Rev. 6:9–11.) God assured His people that He had already chosen the appointed time for judgment and that His people could wait in confidence and peace because He had everything under control. The Lord has His times and seasons (102:13; Acts 1:7), and He is never late to an appointment. It may seem to us that the foundations of society are being destroyed (11:3; 82:5), and the “pillars” of morality are falling down, but the Lord knows what He is doing (46:6; 1 Sam. 2:8). Jesus Christ is on the throne and holds everything together (Col. 1:17; Heb. 1:3).
But there is also a message for the godless (vv. 4–5), and it warns them not to be arrogant and deliberately disobey the will of God. Before it lowers its head and attacks, a horned beast proudly lifts its head high and challenges its opponent, and the ungodly were following this example. The Hebrew word translated “lift up” is used five times in this psalm (vv. 4, 5, 6, 7, 10), and in verses 4–5, it is associated with arrogance that leads to trouble. A “stiff neck” and proud speech are marks of an insolent and rebellious person, not one who is bowed down in submission to the Lord (Deut. 31:27; 2 Kings 17:14; 2 Chron. 36:13; Jer. 7:26). (Wiersbe, W. W. (2004). Be worshipful (1st ed., p. 245). Colorado Springs, CO: Cook Communications Ministries.)
___________________________________________________________
75:4, 5 On the basis of God’s determination to wait until the “proper time” (v. 2), there are strong warnings to boastful and wicked people who misinterpret God’s delay and think there will be no judgment. The horn is an ancient symbol of strength. The wicked strut around like powerful animals, brandishing symbols of power with no thought of God. But the power of the wicked is feeble compared to the strength of the Almighty (v. 10). (Radmacher, E. D., Allen, R. B., & House, H. W. (1997). The Nelson Study Bible: New King James Version (Ps 75:4–5). Nashville: T. Nelson Publishers.)
___________________________________________________________
75:4 Do not lift up the horn. The horn symbolized an animal’s or human’s strength and majesty (cf. Dt 33:17; Am 6:13; Zec 1:18–21). Lifting up the horn apparently described a stubborn animal who kept itself from entering a yoke by holding its head up as high as possible. The phrase thus symbolized insolence or rebellion. (MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (2006). The MacArthur study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (Ps 75:4). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers.)
__________________________________________________________
Ver. 4. I said unto the fools, &c.] To the vain gloriosos, proud boasters, mockers, and scoffers at the day of judgment, and burning of the world: deal not foolishly; by glorying in themselves, boasting of their riches, and trusting in them; singing a requiem to themselves on account of their abundance, and by putting away the evil day far from them: and to the wicked, lift not up the horn; of power, grandeur, and wealth, and use it to the injury of others; or be so elated with it as to look with disdain on others; or imagine they shall always continue in this exalted state, as antichrist the horned beast does, Rev. 18:7 the allusion is to horned beasts, particularly harts, which lift up their heads and horns in great pride: the phrase signifies to behave proudly and haughtily. (Gill, J. (1810). An Exposition of the Old Testament (Vol. 4, p. 15). London: Mathews and Leigh.)
___________________________________________________________
4. “I said unto the fools, Deal not foolishly.” The Lord bids the boasters boast not, and commands the mad oppressors to stay their folly. How calm is he, how quiet are his words, yet how divine the rebuke. If the wicked were not insane, they would even now hear in their consciences the still small voice bidding them cease from evil, and forbear their pride. “And to the wicked. Lift not up the horn.” He bids the ungodly stay their haughtiness. The horn was the emblem of boastful power; only the foolish, like wild and savage beasts, will lift it high; but they assail heaven itself with it, as if they would gore the Almighty himself. In dignified majesty he rebukes the inane glories of the wicked, who beyond measure exalt themselves in the day of their fancied power. (Spurgeon, C. H. (n.d.). The treasury of David: Psalms 56-87 (Vol. 3, p. 294). London; Edinburgh; New York: Marshall Brothers.)
__________________________________________________________
FROM MY READING:
(Remember the only author that I totally agree with is the HOLY SPIRIT in the inerrant WORD OF GOD called THE BIBLE! All other I try to gleam what I can to help me grow in the LORD!!)
__________________________________________________________
THE NAME OF GOD
I have manifested thy name…
John 17:6
In Scripture the name always stands for the character; it represents what a person really is. Let me remind you of some of the names that are used for God in the Scriptures. God is given the name Jehovah-nissi the Lord Our Banner in Exodus 17:15. That is the name He revealed to the children of Israel after a great victory, a victory won not by their own strength, nor by their own military prowess, but because God enabled them to obtain the victory the Lord Our Banner.
You and I have enemies to meet in this world sin and temptation. The world is full of these subtle enemies, and behind them all is the devil himself with all his power. Do you know what it is to be attacked by him? Do you know, for example, what it is to have blasphemous thoughts insinuated into your minds? The saints of God have had to experience that. The devil hurls fiery darts, says Paul, and who are we to meet such a foe? We are small and weak and helpless, but thank God, we know One whose name is Jehovah-nissi, the Lord Our Banner, who can help us smite every foe and rout and conquer every enemy.
But let me give you another: Jehovah-shalom The Lord Is Peace. That was the name by which God revealed Himself to Gideon. Gideon was fearful and unhappy, but God told him that He was Jehovah-shalom (Judges 6:24), and this is one of the most precious promises. It does not matter what kind of turmoil you are in or how heart-sore you may be. If you are beside yourself and cannot understand why things are happening to you, go to Him. He has promised to give you peace. Remember that noble statement in Hebrews 13:20, “…the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus.” Jehovah-shalom—The Lord Is Peace—He makes peace with His people.
A Thought to Ponder – We know One whose name is Jehovah-nissi, the Lord Our Banner. (From Safe in the World, pp. 46, 51-52, by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones.)
__________________________________________________________
A Still, Small Voice
“And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.” (1 Kings 19:12)
Elijah was in hiding for his life, even though God had spectacularly answered his prayer with fire from heaven. Jezebel, however, had not been intimidated by Elijah’s victory and swore she would kill him. He fell into such depression that he wanted to die. If Jezebel could not be impressed with fire from heaven, how could Elijah ever hope to defeat her and her armies? Not even an angel could remove his doubts.
But then was sent “a great and strong wind,” and “after the wind an earthquake” (1 Kings 19:11). But the Lord was not in the wind or the earthquake or the fire. God finally reached Elijah with “a still small voice,” and that voice assured him that God was well in control of all circumstances. Similarly, Moses told the children of Israel, as they faced the Red Sea: “Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD” (Exodus 14:13).
It was prophesied of the Lord Jesus that “he shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street.” Nevertheless, it was also promised “he shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth” (Isaiah 42:2, 4; see also Matthew 12:19-20).
In our human impatience, we think God should always move immediately in great strength. Unless there are large numbers of converts and displays of power, we grow discouraged, like Elijah. But God more often speaks in a still, small voice and works in a quiet way. “And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you, . . . And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left” (Isaiah 30:18, 21). (HMM, The Institute for Creation Research)
______________________________________________________________
Leviticus in the New York Times: What’s the Real Story Here? By R. Albert Mohler Jr. He is president of Southern Seminary & Boyce College)
Even in this secular age, the conscience of Western civilization continues to be haunted and shaped by the Bible. The inherited moral tradition of the West was explicitly formed by the Bible — both the Old and New Testaments — and the moral power of the Bible continues as the main source of the principles, intuitions, impulses, and vocabulary of modern times.
But if European and American cultures have been morally shaped by the Bible, these same cultures are now haunted by the Bible. The Bible haunts all the modern efforts to push a vast revolution in morality — specifically sexual morality. The main restraint on the sexual revolution has been the abiding power of Judeo-Christian moral instincts drawn from Scripture. The intellectual elites declare themselves liberated from the Bible, and express frustration at the millions of their fellow citizens who remain under the Bible’s explicit or implicit sway.
And yet, those same elites are not so distant from the Bible as they may insist. From time to time, they provide their own evidence of how the Bible haunts their supposedly secular worldview and conscience.
Consider this past Sunday’s edition of The New York Times. The most influential newspaper in the world, secular to its core and situated in the Gotham of secular New York, ran a opinion essay in its weekly “Review” section entitled “The Secret History of Leviticus.” Leviticus . . . in Sunday’s edition of The New York Times? Indeed.
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, former Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom, was absolutely right when he identified Leviticus, among all the Mosaic books, as “the one most out of step with contemporary culture.” Leviticus is that great book of law right at the center of the Pentateuch, the five books of Moses. As Rabbi Sacks noted, Leviticus is the “axis” on which the other books of Moses (Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy) turn.
In Leviticus, Israel’s priesthood is given its roles, responsibilities, and regulations that set the nation and its priests apart from all other nations. Israel is to be God’s personal possession [Exodus 19:6], set apart as a holy nation: “You shall be holy to me, for I the Lord am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine” [Leviticus 20:26]. As God’s holy nation, a nation of priests, Israel is to have a priestly role among the nations, revealing holiness in a world of sin.
Just about every verse of Leviticus is offensive to the modern secular mind. Leviticus reveals a God who is both omnipotent and holy, a God who chooses Israel as his particular and personal covenant people, a God who drives out other nations in order to fulfill his promises to Israel, and a God who lays down commands about every dimension of human life, including human sexuality. Especially human sexuality.
As you might expect, sexuality was the issue at stake in the essay on Leviticus that appeared in Sunday’s edition of the Times.
Idan Dershowitz, identified as “a biblical scholar and junior fellow at the Harvard Society of Fellows,” began by stating: “No text has had a greater influence on attitudes toward gay people than the biblical book of Leviticus, which prohibits sex between men.”
Indeed, Leviticus 18:22 is about as clear a prohibition of male homosexuality as can be imagined: “You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.”
An abomination is an object or act that God detests. It is the strongest word of divine judgment found in the Bible.
The prohibition of sex between men is found in a series of commands related to sexuality and marriage given by God to Israel. The list of prohibitions includes various forms of incest, bestiality, and other sexual acts that God said were common to Egypt and among the Canaanites:
“I am the Lord your God. You shall not do as they do in Egypt, where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not walk in their statutes.” [Leviticus 20:3]
But Idan Dershowitz now argues–in The New York Times, no less–that the prohibition of men having sex with men is all based on the fact that a later editor (or redactor) changed the text of the Bible here. By the time Dershowitz has finished his argument, Leviticus 18:22 is explained away as being a deliberate effort by a redactor to change what had been permission for sex between men into a prohibition.
All this, he assures the Times’ readers, is possible “with a little detective work.”
What Dershowitz means by “a little detective work” is just the next step in liberal biblical scholarship. By the nineteenth century, liberal scholars, first in Germany, began to take apart the Old Testament. Partly, this was due to the European embarrassment of the character of God and divine laws revealed in the Old Testament in general. At the center of the liberal offense was the Pentateuch, the Torah, the five Books of Moses.
Liberal scholars began to argue that the Bible is merely a human book, written and edited and edited again, its various documents edited by the human beings (“redactors”) with clear theological agendas. The divine inspiration and Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch were simply set aside as supernatural claims beneath the dignity of modern scholarship.
By 1878, Julius Wellhausen of The University of Greifswald in Germany would publish his Prolegomena to the History of Israel, in which he would argue that the five Books of Moses were actually authored by at least four different sources (he identified them as J,E,P, and D), with much of the material written centuries after Moses was dead. The effect in the scholarly world was massive. The Bible could now be treated as mere “ancient Near-Eastern literature.” Wellhausen, by the way, would resign his teaching position in theology within five years, admitting that he was only interested in “the scientific treatment of the Bible,” and not in theology or teaching future pastors. He later became a professor of philology.
Idan Dershowitz just picks up on the story. He told readers of the Times: “Like many ancient texts, Leviticus was created gradually over a long period and includes the words of more than one writer. Many scholars believe that the section in which Leviticus 18 appears was added by a comparatively late editor, perhaps one that worked more than a century after the oldest material in the book was composed. And earlier version of Leviticus, then, may have been silent on the matter of sex between men.”
But Dershowitz is far from finished. He pushes the argument further:
“But I think a stronger claim is warranted. As I argue in an article published in the latest issue of the journal Hebrew Bible and Ancient Israel, there is good evidence that an earlier version of the laws in Leviticus 18 permitted sex between men. In addition to having the prohibition against same-sex relations added to it, the earlier text, I believe, was revised in an attempt to obscure any implication that same-sex relations had once been permissible.”
Don’t miss what he is claiming here. He argues that, in his view, the original text of Leviticus, written long after the death of Moses, was revised even later by yet another editor in order to turn what had been permission for males having sex with males into a prohibition.
All this, he says, by “a little detective work.” What kind of detective work?
In the academic article he mentions, Dershowitz lays out his case in far greater detail, but with an interesting twist. In the academic version, he argues that the older version of Leviticus 18 “reflected acceptance” of males having sex with males as was typical of some ancient cultures.
It is interesting that the website for the Harvard Society of Fellows states simply that Dershowitz is “currently researching redactional errors in the Bible.” In another academic essay, Dershowitz argues that Noah was never originally associated with the account of the flood, and that the original tragedy of divine judgment was drought and famine, later associated with Noah and changed into a flood. Get the pattern?
An Associated Press article from 2011 reported that Idan Dershowitz, then at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, was at work with a team that included his father, Nachum Dershowitz of Tel Aviv University, that was trying to apply artificial intelligence to reveal hidden patterns of authorship and editing in the biblical text.
The use of this new technology known as “authorship attribution” was, as the AP reported, “giving intriguing new hints about what researchers believe to be the multiple hands that wrote the Bible.”
In the academic article behind the Times essay, Dershowitz argues that the later redactor (‘H”) was likely influenced by the Videvdad, “a collection of diverse Zoroastrian material,” and that his insertion of a prohibition of males having sex with males in Leviticus 18:22 turned the text into “the principle prooftext for homophobia and its antecedents.”
The conclusion of his essay in the Times is even more revealing: “One can only imagine how different the history of civilization might have been had the earlier version of Leviticus 18’s laws entered the biblical canon.”
Indeed, one can only imagine. Of course, Dershowitz’s entire argument is imagination disguised as scholarship.
As New Testament scholar Robert Gagnon said of similar efforts: “Only in our day, removed as we are from ancient Near Eastern conventions, are these kinds of specious connections made by people desperate to find the slightest shred of support for homosexual practice in the Bible.”
Every single text in the Bible that speaks of same-sex sexual desire and same-sex sexual behaviors condemns them. In Leviticus 18:22, the condemnation extends to the use of the word abomination. Dershowitz argues that Leviticus 18:22 is “the principal prooftext” against homosexuality, and that is true for the Old Testament. In the New Testament, Paul takes the argument far beyond Leviticus. Trained as a rabbi and a teacher of the Scriptures, in Romans 1:18-32 Paul goes beyond a condemnation of males having sex with males. He also condemns women who have sex with women, exchanging “natural relations for those that are contrary to nature,” even as in male homosexuality the natural use of the woman is exchanged for “shameless acts with men.” Paul also makes clear that same-sex passion and desire is also sinful, contrary to both nature and divine command. For Christians, the most significant realization is that the crucial moral teachings of the Old Testament Holiness Code that are binding upon us are repeated, and often amplified, in the New Testament. Christians may eat shrimp without sin, for example, but are fully bound by laws against any sexual activity outside of marriage, the covenant union of one man and one woman.
There is no real question about what the Bible teaches about human sexuality and gender. There is also no question about the influence of the Bible on Western civilization. Even now, the Bible exerts a powerful hold on the modern conscience, even when it is not acknowledged. That is extremely frustrating to the moral revolutionaries.
It is interesting to remember that the older Protestant liberals wanted to deny the inspiration and authority of the Bible and yet, at the same time, retain a Christian morality. But their project of undermining the Bible also undermined Christian morality. The theological grandchildren of the early Protestant liberals are as embarrassed by the moral teachings of their grandparents as their grandparents were embarrassed by the moral teachings of the Old Testament.
It is also interesting to note that the moral revolutionaries, horrified as they are by Leviticus, still insist that they want to retain some of the prohibitions of Leviticus 18 — prohibitions against incest and bestiality, for example. But, for how long? The modern secular reduction of moral concern to “consent” would indicate that these prohibitions cannot last for long.
For Christians, all of this just points back to the question of the inspiration and authority of the Bible. As B. B. Warfield rightly insisted, the “Church Doctrine of Scripture” comes down to the formula, when the Scripture speaks, God speaks.
Leviticus 18 has indeed exerted a massive influence on Western society. We can only imagine, as Idan Dershowitz argues, “how different the history of civilization might have been” without it.
The really stunning thing is that The New York Times ran this article on Leviticus 18 — Leviticus — in the year 2018!
Perhaps that makes you think of Isaiah 40:8. “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.”
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
We now have a Facebook page for Small Church Ministries – please invite others to join us on Facebook. Thank you. Look for the logo from the devotionals.