26 February 2015

EJ&T - Ezra and Nehemiah: Abandon your strange wives and their strange children

In the Every Jot and Tittle project, I am listing all of the Bible's commandments from Genesis to Revelation, in accordance with Jesus's words in Matthew 5:18-19. I have no idea how many commandments I'll find, but Jewish tradition claims there are 613. See here for a list of those that I've found so far.

  1. Don't tax priests, Levites, singers, porters, Nethinim, or ministers of the house of God.
  2. Also we certify you, that touching any of the priests and Levites, singers, porters, Nethinims, or ministers of this house of God, it shall not be lawful to impose toll, tribute, or custom, upon them. ... Blessed be the LORD God of our fathers, which hath put such a thing as this in the king's heart. Ezra 7:24-27

  3. Set magistrates and judges to judge and teach the people according to God's commandments.
  4. And thou, Ezra, after the wisdom of thy God, that is in thine hand, set magistrates and judges, which may judge all the people that are beyond the river, all such as know the laws of thy God; and teach ye them that know them not. ... Blessed be the LORD God of our fathers, which hath put such a thing as this in the king's heart. Ezra 7:25-27

  5. Kill, banish, imprison, and/or confiscate the goods of anyone who refuses to obey the commandments of God or the law of the king.
  6. Whosoever will not do the law of thy God, and the law of the king, let judgment be executed speedily upon him, whether it be unto death, or to banishment, or to confiscation of goods, or to imprisonment. Blessed be the LORD God of our fathers, which hath put such a thing as this in the king's heart. Ezra 7:26-27

  7. If you wrongly take any strange wives, abandon them, along with your sons and daughters that were born of your strange ex-wives.
  8. Now therefore let us make a covenant with our God to put away all the wives, and such as are born of them, according to the counsel of my lord, and of those that tremble at the commandment of our God; and let it be done according to the law. Ezra 10:3

  9. Don't buy any food on the Sabbath or holy day.
  10. If the people of the land bring ware or any victuals on the sabbath day to sell, that we would not buy it of them on the sabbath, or on the holy day. Nehemiah 10:31

  11. Give one third of a shekel each year for the service of the house of God.
  12. Also we made ordinances for us, to charge ourselves yearly with the third part of a shekel for the service of the house of our God Nehemiah 10:32

  13. Cast lots to determine who will bring the wood offering to the house of God.
  14. And we cast the lots among the priests, the Levites, and the people, for the wood offering, to bring it into the house of our God, after the houses of our fathers, at times appointed year by year, to burn upon the altar of the LORD our God, as it is written in the law: Nehemiah 10:34

1 comment:

subgenius73 said...

You'd think the Lord would have taken inflation into account when issuing these commandments. A third of a shekel doesn't go very far these days.