A screenshot from LogAndSpeck Appendix 1:
You can look up the references listed above. How does this apply to our last entry, Your Commandment (singular)?
Deuteronomy 26:11-14
11 And you shall rejoice in all the good that the LORD your God has given to you and to your house, you, and the Levite, and the sojourner who is among you.
12 “When you have finished paying all the tithe of your produce in the third year, which is the year of tithing, giving it to the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, so that they may eat within your towns and be filled, 13 then you shall say before the LORD your God, ‘I have removed the sacred portion out of my house, and moreover, I have given it to the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, according to all (h3605. כֹּל ḵôl) your commandment that you have commanded me. I have not transgressed any of your commandments, nor have I forgotten them. 14 I have not eaten of the tithe while I was mourning, or removed any of it while I was unclean, or offered any of it to the dead. I have obeyed the voice of the LORD my God. I have done according to all that you have commanded me.
Psalms 119:95-96
95 The wicked wait for me to destroy me,
(But) I will consider Your testimonies.
96 I have seen the consummation/goal (h7093. קֵץ qêṣ) of all (h3605. כֹּל ḵôl) perfection(h8502. תִּכְלָה ṯiḵlâ), (the measure of striving to attain)
(But) Your commandment is exceedingly broad.
Psalms 119:96
96 לְֽכָל תִּ֭כְלָה רָאִ֣יתִי קֵ֑ץ רְחָבָ֖ה מִצְוָתְךָ֣ מְאֹֽד׃
GV p.119 כלל complete [by including everything]; p.118 כלה strive [to attain]; p.118 כלאrestrain [prevent]; p.116 כול contain [a measured quantity]; p.104 יכל prevail; p.156 נכל plot [harm; endanger through veiled acts]
DV p.9 אכל – p.119 כלל complete [by including everything]; p.118 כלה strive [to attain] > p.9 אכל consume No other DVs
CM כלל encircle (C26); כלה and כלא contain/expose (C25); כול express control (C5); יכל(none listed); נכל (none listed); אכל move directly/circularly (A11)
Matthew 6:24
24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.
Is the connection clear between the commandment to give to those in need and the statement about the two masters?
Two examples should help, but remember from the screenshot above, though mammon is often riches, it is really that in which we place our confidence. We either place our confidence in God or in something else, including our own ability to achieve righteousness on our own. Two passages may help. You have undoubtedly heard messages about the two passages. This may be a somewhat different slant, for your consideration.
This parable The Rich Man and Lazarus
Luke 16:19-31
19 “There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. 20 But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, 21 desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
24 “Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. 26 And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.’ Some versions “chasm.”
27 “Then he said, ‘I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house, 28 for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.’ 29 Abraham said to him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’ 30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 31 But he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.'”
First, the last comment, “though one rise from the dead,” is an obvious reference to writings about what later transpired.
Second, the name Lazarus is from the Hebrew h0499. אֶלְעָזָר ’el‘âzâr; from 410 and 5826; God (is) helper.
▸ h0410. אֵל ’êl; shortened from 352; strength; as adjective, mighty; especially the Almighty (but used also of any deity): — God (god), x goodly, x great, idol, might(-y one), power, strong. Compare names in “-el.”
▸ h5826. עָזַר ‘âzar; a primitive root; to surround, i.e. protect or aid: — help, succour.
AV (82) – help 64, helper 11, holpen 3, succour 3, variant 1
עזר is famous as the “helpmate/helper” in Genesis 2:18 and 2:20.
Next notice the highlighted word mercy, which is what the singular Commandment is all about, justice and mercy for the less fortunate.
Matthew 5:7
7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” (See references Mt18:33 in context; Pr19:17; Lk6:36.)
And there is undoubtedly more, but do take note of the reference to Moses and the prophets.
The other passage to point out also relates to “rich,” and to the mammon not only of the rich man’s wealth, but his being convinced that he can earn the kingdom by following the commandments, and confirms following some of the Ten Commandments. Yeshua/Jesus opens all eyes by challenging the man to give to those in need the very thing in which he places his confidence.
Luke 18:18-23 – (NKJV Jesus Counsels the Rich Young Ruler – seen in each of the synoptic gospels – Matt. 19:16–22; Mark 10:17–22)
18 Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
19 So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. 20 You know the commandments: Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.'”
21 And he said, “All these things I have kept from my youth.”
22 So when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”
23 But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich.
The life circumstances that people find themselves in (widowed, fatherless, disabled, sojourner, many possibilities) do not always allow them the means to be focusing on striving for eternal life as this man suggests he is doing; sometimes survival is one’s only horizon. Are we the judge? (Mt7:1-5)
And perhaps you may have overlooked the “and come, follow me.” Following might mean giving up what one has confidence in, one’s comforts, one’s securities:
Matthew 8:19-20
19 Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.”
20 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”
It also means taking up the cross, which is a denial of self:
Mark 8:34-37 – (NKJV – Take Up the Cross and Follow Him – again, in each of the synoptic gospels – Matt. 16:24–27; Luke 9:23–26)
34 When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 35 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. 36 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? 37 Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
Is the connection clear? The One Commandment, which is exceedingly broad, to which the Prophets repeatedly referred (Is1:17, 1:23, 9:17, 10:22; Jr 5:28, 7:6, 22:3; Mal3:5; Ek23:7; note from Ex22:22; and referred to numerous times in the GS: Mt23:14; Mk12:40; Lk4:25 in context, 20:47; Ac6:1 for example). The singular Commandment must not be ignored; it is a “summary command,” in a manner of speaking. And oh, by the way, it has also been re-worded.
Matthew 7:12
12 “Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”
This IS the Torah and the Nevi’m.
Some call it “The Golden Rule.” Mercy and Justice.
And the “giving” may be of riches, it may be of your time, it may be showing others how to discover in Scripture, a way, a means to faith in the one who can bring Life.
December 2021 logandspeck.com please cite if copying