Luke 6:35 But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Be ready by the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to me on the top of the mountain. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. To love your enemy means to try and understand them and behave toward them as you would like them to do to you. The Lord said to Moses, Cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. 20. What Every Christian Should Know about the Protestant Reformation. He knows the Bible pretty well. I did a proximity search in my online Bible of hate+ enemy / enemies and could find only one passage even suggesting hatred of enemies: St. Paul cites and further interprets this teaching: Furthermore, not only is this ethical teaching found in the Old Testament and Judaism, but also in virtually all of the major world religions: C. S. Lewis noted that these affinities with other religions, along with various pagan precursors to Christianity far from being a, Definition of "Radical Catholic Reactionary": Dialogue, "This is, obviously, a very detailed paper on parallels for Solomon's Temple. When you need guidance, turn to God. So, when Jesus challenges what the people have heard, love your neighbor and hate your enemy, He is not twisting the Old Testament to attack it. Proud member Jesus said the greatest commands were to love God and to love our neighbor as ourself ( Matt. I talked about previously on little lessons about how all of Gods moral commandments all emanate from his own character. Do not even pagans do that? Jesus teachings were in deep continuity with the Old Testament. You dont have to love them like you love your parents or children or best friend. These are people who are under the oppressive regime of the Roman empire. Pray.com is the easiest way to incorporate prayer into your daily life and grow your faith journey. When Jesus says, Youve heard it said, then he says, You shall love your neighbor, hate your enemy, hes smart enough to know that the second part of that is not in the Old Testament anywhere. In the Old Testament the enemy is our neighbor. More insights from your Bible study - Get Started with Logos Bible Software for Free! A simple way to look at it is everybodys got something. Yet, there are those who cry foul here, saying that Jesus statement is predicated on a misquotation of the Old Testament and a false assumption that the Old Testament taught people to hate their enemies. Matthew 5:43-48 - Love your enemies; Old Testament references. Has anyone in your life constantly annoyed you or upset you in some way? God bless you. Jesus is demonstrating what God really commands over against the teachings and practices of his day. Is Ephraim my dear son? Used by permission. 19. "But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. But Jesus doesnt stop there. Such accounts certainly are not to be used in any modern context in such a way. I prayed to the Lord my God and made confession, saying, O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments. Interestingly, Jesus considered this the second-highest commandment in the law. All the law and the prophets hang on these two commandments.. Dont misquote me on that. On the other hand, there are passages that come quite close to what Jesus said about love of enemies: The prophet Elisha counseled mercy towards Syrian prisoners of war. Hes correcting the false beliefs, the false ideas, false interpretations, things taught by scribes and Pharisees. Today, the hatred we feel for other people is a universal problem.. 32:35; 1 Sam. You shall follow my rules and keep my statutes and walk in them. Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his steadfast love endures forever; to him who alone does great wonders, for his steadfast love endures forever; to him who by understanding made . Save 15% for life! Just have loving feelings toward them and, if possible, express that through words, by doing something nice, or even with a smile. First, seek to understand their side and try hard to understand where they're coming from. That youre only obligated to love the people who love you, but you have no obligation to ever show mercy and grace to undeserving people? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Now, therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love, let not all the hardship seem little to you that has come upon us, upon our kings, our princes, our priests, our prophets, our fathers, and all your people, since the time of the kings of Assyria until this day. Amen. The Lord appeared to him from far away. Some critics challenge, however, that this creates a problem with Jesus ' own teaching, which seems . Geocoding 1123573), Ali Blacklee Whittall Seeing the Women of the OT, Ruth Perrin and Ed Earnshaw Student Ministry, Jasper Knecht Reading the Scriptures with the Early Church, Christine Westhoff Reframing the Prophetic, Tim Mackie Biblical Studies and Christology, The Bible as Narrative Tobias Siegenthaler, The value of friendship in the Christian life Andy Hudson, Tobias Siegenthaler The Bible as Narrative, Bridging the funding gap for deaf students Janey Lawry-White, The Bible and Culture by Ben Witherington. But showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. 6:35). Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world. That they may not teach you to do according to all their abominable practices that they have done for their gods, and so you sin against the Lord your God. He will love you, bless you, and multiply you. 30 Give to everyone who asks you, and if . The gospel is, like C.S. What did Jesus mean when He instructed us to turn the other cheek. No one shall come up with you, and let no one be seen throughout all the mountain. What happens next is crucial, for Elisha (as if in the persona of Jesus)[2] responded as follows: You shall not strike them down. D The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation.. Every evil of theirs is in Gilgal; there I began to hate them. Yet as Jesus implied, it's similar to the first. And I said, O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments. Why will you still be struck down? This is the proof right here. Because of the love of God in Christ and the transforming power of the gospel, many who curse God today will be preaching His Word tomorrow. Thank you! As Martyn Lloyd-Jones taught, we should not be surprised when unbelievers are converted to Christ. Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying helpless under its load, you shall refrain from leaving it to him, you shall surely release it with him, (Exodus 23:4-5). But one of his most notable teachings was his thoughts on loving your neighbor., Its easy to remember Matthew 5:44, But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you., First, in order to understand why Jesus said this, we have to go further back into the Bible, to the Old Testament., In ancient times, there was something known as the Lex Talionis, or the law of retaliation. It was basically An eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth type thinking. Unless otherwise indicated, all content is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License. To learn more visit and subscribe: https://michaelmilton.org/about/. Either you can hate what happened in the past and not change a thing, or you can accept it and move forward., Its one thing to feel love for someone, even if you consider that person to be an enemy. U S And that is not only how to love your enemies, but also why we must love them. They have forsaken the Lord, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they are utterly estranged. By providing my email I agree to allow Pray.com to use my email for marketing purposes, and I agree to the. To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame. Each time the Syrian King tried to attack Israel, Elisha used his prophetic radar to anticipate his attacks. Now, lets keep reading. They wanted more teaching, more application for living, more understanding, and, thus, more hope. Surely youd want the person to do the same when you voice your opinion., Can you truly forgive an enemy for what theyve done in your heart?, Jesus makes it clear many times in the Bible that we must model our forgiveness of others on God's forgiveness of our sins., In Matthew 6:14-15, the Bible says, "If you forgive others the wrongs they've done to you, your Father in heaven will also forgive you. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. It is what Jesus did on the cross; it is the Gospel. Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations. He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love. W Contact me: openbibleinfo (at) gmail.com. Photo credit: GettyImages/Tinnakorn Jorruang / EyeEm. Now we will come back to the third and the fifth but Im looking at the ones First of all, theyre the most obvious that make it so plain to us that the ethic that Jesus was subscribing to and conveying to his disciples was in every case Old Covenant ethics of morality. We skipped over the third one, looked at the fourth one last time. B 4:12; 1 Pet. According to David E. Holwerd in The Lectionary Commentary, Lukes sermon is much shorter (30 verses to Matthews 107), and it contains only four beatitudes compared to Matthews eight.Yet, both of these divine sermons have the same goal. They and other unscrupulous figures who use their delegated authority from Rome to fleece their own people represent an existential threat to Israels identity. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (John 3:16-18), God saves because we need saving! If possible, take a look at their history and try to understand how they ended up the way they did. He keeps saying something and he says, And hate your enemy. In my Bible, And hate your enemy is not in all caps. Meditate on the truth that is proclaimed throughout all of the Bible and personified in the person of our Lord: But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Rom. When you are facing obstacles, Jesus is always in your corner. Jesus says: You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. I am the Lord your God. It exemplifies the deep love that God has for us. Im not implying that God is telling anyone to kill anybody today. As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.". First, just as a beginning, it should be noted that the Israelites were not always commanded to annihilate all their enemies, only certain ones. You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. Z. Or is it exclusively a New Testament innovation? Listen to ourDaily Bible Verse Podcast Now! J When we follow the rich, life-giving teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ, we become spirits set free, free from yesterdays pain, free from the ugliness of sin that stains and infects our relationships, free from the life-crippling burden of unforgiveness. The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Verse Concepts. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. -Matthew 6:43-45. First of all, Jesus Himself said that His teachings were a development of existing ones in the Old Testament: This looks bad at first glance, but upon close examination, I think it is simply expressing the thought that those whom God judges, I also judge [in agreement with Gods prior decision]; they deserve their condemnation. Its expressing the notion of judgment or proper justice or righteous indignation at those who indeed are among the reprobate, on their way to hell. Dr. Lukes Sermon on the Plains, is shorter than the Sermon on the Mount. There is only greater pain. The very core of the heart of God is summed up in three words: "love your enemies" ( Romans 5:10 ). He believed it was nearly as vital as loving God with your whole heart. Thanks for joining me. Matthew 7:12. But the casual, easy interpretation by the Pharisees and the Sadducees led the people of Israel to see all the Gentile nations as prominent and perennial enemies. You shall love your neighbor.. To continue hating, resenting, or holding a grudge against another person is to remain on the cross. Humans have feelings of hate, motivated by an idea that another person has harmed us in some way. Pray that God will help you to love them and forgive them as you remember how God loved and forgave you. F Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. You see example after example of God showing underserved mercy and grace and long-suffering. Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob. All rights reserved. Loving your neighbor vs. loving your enemy. We'd love to keep you up to date with what is happening at CARM. If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. When Jesus said we are to love our enemies, He was creating a new standard for relationships. How long has God been loving his enemies? To subscribe to David Servant's periodic e-teachings, click here. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. The practical implication of this teaching is clear: There is great reward in loving our enemies and forgiving them for their sins against us. You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord. Interestingly, Mormonism alters Jesus words here and accidentally creates the very problem for which Jesus is falsely accused! And he prayed to the Lord and said, O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? If you meet your enemy's ox or his donkey going astray, you shall bring it back to him. There is no other alternative for one who knows such love in ones own life. Typically, theyd expect hatred in response to their hatred, and when you respond to an enemy with kindness, it throws them off their rhythm., The adage, hurt people, hurt people, is not far off. This humbling situation is magnified by the appointed Jewish governors and other public officials who are seen as turncoats. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If we look upon those who oppose, hurt, or persecute us as irredeemable, unchangeable Creatures of the Black Lagoon that are undeserving of our love and our forgiveness, then we must quickly run to the cross! Oops! Copyright 2002-2023 Got Questions Ministries. Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his sons, because he was the son of his old age. This remains a challenge for our generation, as well. He is defending the actual teaching of the Old Testament against this popular misrepresentation of its intent! Discover 12 of the most powerful quotes on prayer from the worlds most notable figures. In other words, Gods character is loving and merciful. Police officers do a dangerous, but necessary job. I think its a valid question. No, the Old Testament never teaches to hate our enemies any more than the New Testament does. In overflowing anger for a moment I hid my face from you, but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you, says the Lord, your Redeemer. [2] John the Baptist, the forerunner of Jesus, was identified as a new Elijah, who was the forerunner of Elisha. Love for ones enemy even extended to his animal. "1 Samuel 25-26: Love Your Enemies," Old Testament Seminary Student Study Guide (2002), 98 "1 Samuel 25-26," Old Testament Seminary Student Study Guide, 98 1 Samuel 25-26. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. But if we keep reading what Jesus said here in the context of the fact that hes correcting pharisaical teaching seems pretty safe to conclude that the scribes and Pharisees had determined your neighbor is the person who loves you. Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. For as often as I speak against him, I do remember him still. Because if its a new ethic, a new standard, what youre saying is it cant be found in the Old Covenant anywhere. Labs Verse Concepts. In addition to the obvious point that the OT nowhere states that one ought to hate their enemy, and the fact that Jesus describes His teachings as law-fulfilling (Matt 5:17), there are serious problems with this view. Its human nature., When you provide someone with that basic need, you can often help thaw their cold heart., We can always pray for our enemies because praying is an act of mercy. Hes expecting more out of them than God expected out of anyone before them. Leviticus 19:9-18 ESV. These are just a few ways to go about it. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. Like the man in Luke 10, religious people have compartmentalized who gets God's love through us. How easily a unified people become Balkanized (broken into competing groups, divided) when pride and self-interests supersede love and a common heritage in God. That is a valid question because under the Old Covenant, God told Israelites in some cases to wipe out people and to be separate from certain people, not to associate with certain people because of their incredibly sinful cultures and lies. H [47] And if you salute only your brethren, what more are you doing than others? 1 John 4:16; Mal. 1 John 4:7. "If you come across your enemy's ox or donkey wandering off, be sure to return it. Praying is loving, as our Heavenly Father loves. Matthew 5:35: Psalm 48:2 . You shall not fall in with the many to do evil, nor shall you bear witness in a lawsuit, siding with the many, so as to pervert justice, nor shall you be partial to a poor man in his lawsuit. 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, . And of course, Jesus also condemns wickedness and is appointed by the Father to judge the world at the end of the age. Launched in 2017 with a mission to grow faith and cultivate community, Pray.com is the worlds No. Love letters are expressions of love in the form of writing, whether with a paper and pen, an email, or even a text message to a . Thank you for your interest in supporting CARM. Sign up now for the latest news and deals from Bible Gateway! Lewis Aslan, on the move! When faced with the enemies of God, it is best to take those who have hurt us or even persecutors and leave them at the foot of the cross in prayer. God adopted His enemies to be His sons and daughters. To help you pray for them, here are six police officers' prayers. Well that's the Old Testament. 13:9; Gal. To the choirmaster: according to The Doe of the Dawn. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and . Instead, it seems that Jesus draws upon an ethos of enemy love that is already present in the Old Testament. Say nice things to them, have an open discussion about whats happened or your feelings give them a hug, do something nice for them, smile, make a joke. 44 But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. There was such a big problem with escalating vendettas that this law of retaliation was a way to limit those crimes., The sentencing was carried out by a court of elders, who assessed the damage done and distributed a monetary punishment to the guilty party., In the Old Testament, there is a verse in Leviticus 19:18 that states, Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people.. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? We can learn how to apply Jesus command in our own lives by following the fullness of the teaching. We will seek to understand the presenting issues and context that brought about that statement from our Lord Jesus and discover the meaning for our lives. How can we know this? That would be strange that God would correct himself and so who is he correcting? Love for one's enemy even extended to his animal. The Twisting and Truth About Jesus' Olivet Discourse Parables, Surprising Biblical Truths About Grace and Works, The Hyper-Grace Twisting of Paul's Teaching About Salvation. If thine enemy be hungry, give . Everybody thinks about it very long because, well, obviously not everybody is not my neighbor that Im supposed to love because how can I be loving to kill somebody under the orders of God? You can love your enemies too. All right, so you've got tradition in Jesus time. Think on what is, perhaps, the most famous verse in the Bible: John 3:16. Yet the Lord set his heart in love on your fathers and chose their offspring after them, you above all peoples, as you are this day. Of course I have already talked in previous little lessons about how confusing that must have been if it were true to his disciples because often times people who hold to that premise will say, Well, this is the New Covenant law, but yet Jesus was ministering under the Old Covenant. Of course hes quoting from the Old Covenant law, the Law of Moses and hes making counterpoints but hes not correcting himself. So what about those enemies in the Old Testament? Werent they all to be stoned or run through with swords? OpenBible.info God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. Proverbsand we have to remember that these were popular sayingseven states that those who rejoice over anothers misfortune will not go unpunished (17:15). During the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus told the listeners: You have heard it said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy' but I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you that you may be children of your Father in heaven. Your submission has been received! However, we need to stop hating one another because hating one another is the easy way out. But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

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