Josiah Concept Ministries

An atheist site once said:

Ask yourself this simple question: Why, when you read the Bible, are you not left in awe? Why doesn’t a book written by an omniscient being leave you with a sense of wonder and amazement? If you are reading a book written by the all-powerful, all-knowing, all-loving creator of the universe, wouldn’t you expect to be stunned by the brilliance, the clarity and the wisdom of the author? Would you not expect each new page to intoxicate you with its incredible prose and its spectacular insight? Wouldn’t you expect the author to tell us things that scientists have not been able to discover yet?

First of all, reading the Bible does leave me with a sense of awe. I am stunned by the simple brilliance with which the Bible presents its insights into human nature. I would certainly not expect the Bible to reveal things that science has not discovered for the simple reason that the Bible is a revelation of God, not of the earth. The theme throughout this book is that God is the center of everything, and worthy of worship and devotion. Atheists, however, assume a man-centered, humanistic view of the earth.

That view will never reconcile with the view the Bible presents, and therefore I can understand the difficulty they have with certain Bible passages.

The first passage often concerning atheists is Leviticus 20:1-13, then Exodus 20:2-21. Why? Confusion over which parts of the Old Testament still apply, why slavery is condoned, and why owners are allowed to beat their slaves. Also, it seems that the penalty for adultery and disobedience of parents is pretty steep.

Jesus has settled for us which parts of the Old Testament still apply. He said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them” (Mat 5:17).

In the Sermon on the Mount (Mat ch. 5-7), Jesus expounded the Law, making following the letter of the Law much more difficult than His listeners imagined. Murder became not just the physical act of ending another human being’s life, but simply being angry with them as well (5:22). Merely looking at woman in a lustful fantasy is the same as adultery (5:28). Jesus forbade divorce (5:31-32), a practice allowed by Moses and continued to that day. Jesus commands us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us (5:44). He demanded perfection in all of this from us (5:48).

Jesus’ own brother affirmed for us the importance of keeping the law. James wrote

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does. [Jms 1:22-25]

James also recognized the difficulties presented by the Law. He wrote that “. . . whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it” (2:10). As Paul asked the Galatians, “Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?” (Gal 3:3)

Paul answered for us how we are really to attain righteousness in God’s sight.

So, does that mean that the Old Testament is moot and now we only live by the New Testament?

Jesus said that “until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished” (Mat 5:18). We are stil bound by the Law, Jesus has made this very clear.

Paul went on to say this about the Law and God’s promise. We are free of the Law. James famously states, however, that “As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead” (Jms 2:26).

Are, maybe, both of them right? Could we not obey the spirit of the Law without getting bogged down in the letter of it? Is that not a compromise that both Paul and James could live with, while still understanding the words of Jesus in Matthew 5:18?

Living right, living by God’s standard, is outlined for us in the Old Testament. The New Testament states our salvation comes from faith in Jesus. The Old Testament now becomes our guide for living right by God’s standard. Good works are not what save us; they should flow naturally from our desire to live according to God’s Word.

Now, what about other passages that concern atheists, such as the condonement of slavery?

Glenn Miller from Christian Think Tank has answered the issue of slavery in the Old Testament times very well here, offering a comparison to our Western paradigm. In summary, “slavery” in the Old Testament is similar to an indentured servitude. Yes, the slave is property; so beatings are allowed as punishment. That was not outside of cultural norms of the day. What was outside the norms was calling it murder if the slave died as a result of the beatings. No one else cared enough to have that rule.

What is the difference if the slave dies a few days later versus immediately after? Well, in today’s world of modern forensics, we can actually prove beyond a reasonable doubt that someone died as a result of a beating sustained months prior to the date of death. We’re looking at this passage from that point of view, through our modern eyeglasses. But, 4000 years ago, when this was written, no one would be able to tell with certainty that a beating that occured a few days prior to the death was the actual cause of death or not. Understanding that, ask yourself if we would want to punish a person if we couldn’t be for certain that they were the criminal. Of course not!

The “slave” was usually a poor person who owed a rich person money. Instead of paying the rich person that money, that person offered himself as a worker for no salary until the debt was paid. This system existed in lieu of bankruptcy laws and debt collection agencies.

However, there should not be any poor among the Isrealites (Deut 15:4). Therefore, invoking the laws our skeptical friends harp on would be the exception, not the rule!

It does not surprise me that the beating regulations are continuously harped upon by skeptics, since it makes Christians all over look bad. It also does not surprise me that one particular regulation is never cited by skeptics, because it is outside of the cultural norms of that day (for both slavery and indentured servitude). In fact, citing this regulation with the understanding that slavery was indentured servitude and was offered in payment of a debt completely destroys this charge against God’s word.

The passage in question:

At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts. This is how it is to be done: Every creditor shall cancel the loan he has made to his fellow Israelite. He shall not require payment from his fellow Israelite or brother, because the LORD’s time for canceling debts has been proclaimed. You may require payment from a foreigner, but you must cancel any debt your brother owes you. [Deut 15:1-3, emphasis added]

And:

If one of your countrymen becomes poor among you and sells himself to you, do not make him work as a slave. He is to be treated as a hired worker or a temporary resident among you; he is to work for you until the Year of Jubilee. Then he and his children are to be released, and he will go back to his own clan and to the property of his forefathers. Because the Israelites are my servants, whom I brought out of Egypt, they must not be sold as slaves. Do not rule over them ruthlessly, but fear your God. [Deut 15:39-43, emphasis added]

Granted, this applies only to the Jewish people. Foreigners were a different animal altogether, and could be sold as slaves, treated as slaves, made slaves for life, and were not released in the Year of Jubilee. Until the apostle Paul gave the command that “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal 3:28).

Now we may apply the spirit of the passages freely to all. The Law itself still exists; it is the distinctions have passed away. And, since all of our sins will be forgiven by God if we seek true repentance (1Jn 1:9), we need not obey anything by compulsion. We obey by choice the Laws contained in the Bible.

Under this new covenant, we are not granted the same enforcement power that the Jews had in Deuteronomy and Leviticus. This means that the penalties, steep as they are, are the sole domain of God. We exist to love and encourage our fellow man to obey the Law of God; we are not allowed to enforce that Law ourselves. This fact alone should render objections to the steep penalties obsolete.

Jesus made it clear that we are not allowed to pick and choose which rules we obey. God is now considered the only enforcer of the penalties since Jesus has made His intervention on behalf of humankind. This doesn’t mean that the Old Testament is irrelevant; it means that we are no longer compelled to obey it and that we have no ability to enforce the Law it contains. As followers of Christ, we choose to obey the spirit of each command and trust God, the Perfect Judge, to punish sinners as He sees appropriate. Since that could mean eternity in Hell, it is our duty from Christ Himself to preach His gospel to the world so that none will have to suffer that terrible fate (Mk 16:15; 2Pet 3:9).