THE RABBI'S YOKE

Can you quote scripture? Me too! But so can the devil-he's the great deceiver. Confused? Don't be, I'm just about to say something you might not like.
Have you ever quoted scripture to make a point? Was it your point or God's? In whose honor were you defending-God's or your defensiveness or eagerness to defend a set of convictions you have?
Don't get me wrong, it's not bad to use scripture, but it does matter in regards to how you use it. Too often we find ourselves and others using scripture to back their own philosophies and arguments in hopes to prove themselves at the expense of totally missing the point of what God really intended.
Rob, in his book, said that when he hears people quote scripture like that he wants 'to throw up'. He's sick of people misusing and misrepresenting scripture to prove that they're right and someone else is wrong-God never intended it to be totally exclusionary or a tool for isolating others.
He gave an excellent example really-back when slavery was legal and even when it was on the downhill slide of acceptance or the norm...those who owned slaves used scripture to back their justifications or needs. Again, as mentioned in previous blogs, they were caught defending a wall of doctrines and only wanted to prove they were right.
He also went on to talk about the verse many denominations and males have misused from 1st Corinthians chapter 7-they often stop after verse three where it talks about how a woman must submit to their husband, but purposely leave out verse four which talks about how the husband should do likewise. Interesting huh? You can quote scripture for your own twisted use and leave out the true context for what it was used for.
Now, the Bible is meant to be interpreted because it's 'open-ended'. Here's a classic example and I've used it before: Jesus Heals On The Sabbath. The issue was that Jesus' definition of work was different from the definition and convictions of the religious leaders that were there to witness. He calls them out and asked a simple question-what do you think God would want us to do today...nothing (evil) or something (good)? Of course, I paraphrased there, but more or less that was the issue.
I mean who defines work and who defines rest? What if work to one person is considered rest to another or visa-versa? And what does it mean to make a day 'holy'? Interesting questions huh?
Jesus was called 'rabbi' which means teacher. And a rabbi was supposed to interpret the scripture-their role was to pray and study the Word and make decisions concerning what God was saying through the text and how to put it into action/application for everyday life.
Now, different rabbis had different sets of rules which basically outlined what was permitted and what wasn't. Now these rules were considered a rabbis 'yoke'. When you followed a rabbi, you followed him because you believed in his rules and his interpretations of God's Word.
The Rabbi and his student(s) would spend time discussing what it meant to live out a certain text and if a student made a suggestion and the rabbi thought they missed the point they would say 'you have abolished the Torah,' which basically meant in their opinion the student was way off in regards to what God really meant. If they felt the student got it right, they would say 'you have fulfilled Torah'.
So who calls you out in regards to your use of scripture? Do you study, pray, and mediate on God's Word in hopes that He might reveal to you the true nature of what it is meant to live out His commands?
When Jesus came He warned them not to misunderstand Him. So in closing I have one question for you...who's yoke are you representing day to day-yours or God's?