Sabbath School Lesson - Sunday, January 11, 2015 The Law in Our Lives Read Proverbs 6:21 and 7:3. How are we to understand the bodily images used in these texts regarding how we should relate to God’s law? As we saw in an earlier lesson, in Proverbs the heart represents the seat of emotions and thoughts. By telling us to bind the law upon our hearts ( Prov. 6:21), the teacher means that we should always be in close connection with the law. There is no moment we may lose contact with the law, because the law is what defines sin ( Rom. 7:7). The teacher also insists that this law should even be written on the tablets of the heart ( Prov. 7:3), just as the Decalogue was written by God on the stone tablets ( Exod. 24:12). To speak about the law written on the heart means that the law is not just an external set of rules imposed on us. The law should penetrate our motivations, our secret intentions, and so be part of our intimate self. It’s another expression of having the Pauline promise of “Christ in you, the hope of glory” ( Col. 1:27), be a reality in our lives. To tie the law around the neck also means that we should keep it close to ourselves. Ancient people used to tie their precious belongings around their necks. The neck is the place through which air travels to the lungs, allowing breath and life, an association of thoughts that is attested in the Hebrew word nephesh (“soul”), which refers to “life” and is derived from a word meaning “throat” and “breathing.” To bind the law on one’s fingers means to bring the law into the domain of actions. The teacher focuses on the fingers to suggest the most delicate and intimate actions. The law should affect not only the grand choices we make but the smaller ones, as well (see Luke 16:10). Although the biblical intention of these images was purely symbolic, it is noteworthy that these symbols have been taken literally in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim traditions. It is seen through the use of the Jewish tefillin around the head and the fingers, the Christian crosses around the neck, and the Muslim (and Christian) rosaries around the fingers. Symbols can be helpful, but why must we be careful not to mistake the symbol for the reality it represents?
Posted on: Mon, 12 Jan 2015 01:21:33 +0000
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