LAW VS. LOVE
LAW VS. LOVE
Haman the Agagite hated the Jews. The Agagites were apparently descendants of King Agag whom Samuel put to death at Gilgal (1 Sam. 15:33). But Haman had a more recent reason to hate the Jews. King Xerxes had elevated Haman to a seat of honor and commanded all the royal officials at the king’s gate to kneel down and pay him honor (Est. 3:2). Mordecai the Jew, however, disobeyed the king’s command and refused to kneel before Haman (Est. 3:3-6). Therefore Haman devised a plan to not only kill Mordecai, but also all the Jews throughout the whole kingdom.
Haman put 10,000 talents of silver in the royal treasury, made a malevolent law and sealed it with the signet ring of the king,. It was then sent it by couriers to every province and every people in the kingdom. The law said to “destroy, kill, and annihilate all the Jews – young and old, women and little children – on a single day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, and to plunder their goods” (Est. 3:12-14). We remind you that “no document written in the king’s name and seal with his ring can be revoked” (Est. 8:8). It was this kind of law of the Medes and Persians, as you know, that put Daniel in the lion’s den (Dan. 6:1-28).
When King Xerxes learned that his beloved Queen Esther was a Jew, however, his love for her devised a way to save the Jews and punish their enemies (Est. 9:1-32). His love triumphed over his law. The deliverance of the Jews is celebrated every year to this very day in the Feast called Purim!
The triumph of love over law is nothing new. The entire book of the prophet Hosea is a commentary on how the love of God transcended the laws broken by Israel. When Jesus was criticized for eating with publicans and sinners he told His critics to go and learn from the prophet Hosea (Matt. 9:9-13). The same was also true of doing good on the Sabbath. Jesus was Lord of the Sabbath and His love for those in need took precedence over the “Law of the Sabbath” (Matt. 12:1-14). The Law of Moses was clear that someone caught in the act of adultery was to be stoned (Lev. 20:10). Jesus, however, loved a woman caught in the act of adultery, His love triumphed over the Law (Jn. 8:1-11).
Scientism is a relatively modern movement that “believes” that the scientific method has few limits and can successfully be applied to almost every aspect of life. It is essentially a religion where its followers “believe” that science is the only way to truth. Strict scientism as a worldview, of course, is self-refuting since scientism cannot be proven to be true through science. It should be immediately evident that the “laws of science” are not a problem with God.
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Science has discovered the “law of gravity” but this did not keep Jesus from ascending into heaven (Acts 1:10).
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The first law of thermodynamics states that matter cannot be created or destroyed. God, however, not only created the universe but has also promised to destroy it (2 Pet. 3:10). •
Astronomers using the laws of motion can predict the appearance of Haley’s Comet. This does not keep God, however, from causing the sun to stand still (Josh. 1O:13) or the shadow on a sun dial to go backward (Is. 38:7,8).
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The late Stephen Hawkings was an atheist who claimed: “Because there is a law such as gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing.” Scientist John Lennox correctly points out that laws merely describe what happens in nature and do not create anything. He also notes that it is a flat contradiction to insist that a universe can create itself from nothing. •
Atheist Richard Dawkins sums up scientific materialism by saying: “The universe we observe has … no design, no purpose, no evil and no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference. … DNA neither knows nor cares. DNA just is. And we dance to its music”.
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The Bible emphasizes love, not law. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life”. •
“This is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another”. •
THE DIFFERENCE IS DRAMATIC – TAKE YOUR CHOICE!