Oh, how many sermons have we all heard that have only mentioned half of this verse! Building programs. Youth ministry outreaches. Sunday School teaching planning committees. Mission fundraisers. VBS themes. Pastoral search teams. Women’s Prayer retreats. The list is endless.
The issue of blatant misuse of Scripture is probably never more evident than in our verse today. I’m 52 years old and was in church (attending and serving) for over thirty years and I have absolutely no memory of anyone ever reading and teaching this verse in its entirety. Why not? Well, in modern dispensational belief, only half of the verse is applicable to the modern church. As ludicrous as it is, this bad doctrine teaches that the first half of the verse is for the “New Testament church” and the second half somehow “only applies to the Jews.”
An incredible amount of people are waking up to these fallacies that have gone unnoticed for far too long. Modern doctrines of men mishandle the Word immensely and we need to continue to point this out.
But let us not stop there. What *does* the text say? It’s not complicated. When there is no vision/divine revelation, the people are lawless and unrestrained. Not coincidentally, we then see a contrast – a distinction. But, the one keeps (shamar: retains, preserves, treasures) the Torah is blessed. There are always two camps and which one we dwell in is up to us.
Let’s do better, friends. Do you believe the Word or not? Do you read this entire verse and say “amen!” or do you rationalize and dispensationalize yourself out of the latter half of it?
For my church-going acquaintances, the next time you’re sitting in a pew and hear someone stand behind a pulpit and mishandle this specific text yet again, stand for truth. Rightly handle the Word. It’s time that we stand for truth and put an end to the mishandling of Father’s Word. Blessed is the one who keeps Torah. True or false?
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