October 25, 2013
The Law Myth – part 3: Grumpy Old God
NOT AN ACCURATE REPRESENTATION OF GOD
We’ve been looking at some of the myths about the Law and the 5th Dispensation. In this final post on the subject we’ll discuss a set of myths that are both pervasive and controversial – the idea that God’s Law is meant to make us feel bad about stuff that makes us feel good.
The myth is that God is a cosmic kill joy who gets perverse pleasure out of telling us “Thou shall not…” And the perception is that all the stuff God doesn’t want us to do are things we find enjoyable. It’s almost like He set us up to fail by telling us not to do things we are naturally inclined to do. But is this true?
Is God the world’s biggest wet blanket?
We’ve seen over the last two posts that the rules of the Law are not meant to be repressive or religious. But they actually have positive intentions – namely helping prepare the world for the advent of the Redeemer.
So where does this myth come from? Frankly, much of it is self-serving. Because of our nature and our tendency toward pride, we tend to desire things that are evil. Evil leads to destruction. God is not being repressive; He’s trying to protect us from destruction by identifying our evil tendencies and steering us away from them.
But since we don’t like anyone telling us that we are wrong, it’s easier to cast God in a negative light than admit that we like being evil.
The myth is also acerbated by religion. Mystics heap up additional religious laws on men in order to stifle uniqueness and retain their power. But these superfluous rules aren’t from God. Worse, since people ascribe them to God (because they believe the mystics who claim to speak for Him), they begin to believe that in order to follow God they have to be in constant compliance with innumerable arbitrary rules.
Sometimes well intentioned non-mystics are guilty of this too. Ever hear your grandmother say things like “cleanliness is next to Godliness”, or “God helps those who help themselves”, or “an idle mind is the devils workshop”? Being tidy, self-reliant, and focused are nice attributes, but these rules didn’t come from God, and ascribing His name to them doesn’t make them Biblical.
What does God have against sex?
But let’s focus on the area that has been the biggest source of the “God is a big ol’ prude” myth – Sexuality. The myth is, that generally speaking, God doesn’t like it when we have sex. It’s a low, dirty desire that we mammals are cursed with and He’d just as soon we not even speak of it. It should only be done for the express purpose of procreation. And even then, it should only be done in a locked room.
In the dark.
Missionary style.
Completed as quickly and quietly as possibly.
And we should bathe ourselves in bleach afterwards.
To be fair, the source of this myth is rooted in the very detailed sexual morality rules of the Law. Its clear that God only approves of sex in the marital relationship. BUT within the confines of marriage, sex is encouraged!
Sadly, well-intentioned (and some not so well-intentioned) people made the myth that “God hates sex” even more pervasive by going overboard in enforcing sexual morality and vilifying the sex act in any form.
So if this is a myth, how does God really feel about sex?
I would contend that God thinks sex is pretty damn awesome!
Why? Well, first of all He created it! He created it to feel good to us! And He created us to desire it!
After God created the first man and woman, He told them to “be fruitful and multiply”. He commanded them to have sex! He basically said “Adam, here’s your wife. Eve, here’s your husband. Now go get some!”
Moreover, the fact that the Song of Songs is even in the Bible proves that God delights in the joy of our sexuality. The entire book is about a bride and groom who physically desire one another and delight in sex. Here’s a snippet of the grooms description of his bride’s body.
How beautiful are your feet in sandals,
O prince’s daughter!
The curves of your thighs are like jewels,
The work of the hands of a skillful workman.
Your navel is a rounded goblet;
It lacks no blended beverage.
Your waist is a heap of wheat
Set about with lilies. – Songs of songs 7: 1-2
To get the full impact of this passage, it’s worth mentioning here that the word “navel” is mistranslated due to the desire of the translators to be polite. Notice that he’s working his way UP her body in the description. There is an… “opening” on the female body between the thighs and the waist. . . but it ain’t her navel. I’ll just leave it at that.
But if God thinks sex is so awesome, why are we ONLY allowed to do it with the person we’re married to?
That’s actually not a valid question. God doesn’t see sex and marriage separately. The “marriage ceremony” we do today is a man-made tradition. To God, sex isn’t something you do with the person you’re married to. The sex act is what makes you married!
Technically there is no such thing as “sex before marriage” because sex IS marriage. The act of sex is the consummation of the marriage covenant. So technically, in God’s eyes, you married the first person you had sex with (I’ll give you a moment to recover from the horror). And you are committing adultery with any person you have sex with subsequently. So you see why God wants us to take sex seriously?
God is strict about sex because of the tremendous value he places on marriage and what it symbolizes. The joy and ecstasy of sex is God’s earthly representation of what Heaven is going to be like!
Kind of makes you anxious to get there, doesn’t it?
And as mentioned above, the rules of the Law are God’s way of protecting us from ourselves. Again our tendency is toward evil so we have strong desires to be sexually immoral. But the consequences of that immorality is destructive.
Sex is the ultimate drug
Promiscuity, infidelity, and adultery are emotionally devastating. They break hearts, break up families, and ruin childhoods. Sexual immorality can also lead to physical damage (disease) and physical dependency – the neurochemicals released during sex are identical to the ones released when addictive drugs are used. God intended this function to bond you physically and emotionally to your spouse. But illicit sex leaves you empty and constantly in search of your next “fix”, be it at the local bar or in front of a computer screen.
How does God REALLY feel about homosexuality?
Lastly, let’s tackle the big controversy (at least in the eyes of contemporary society) – homosexuality. I’m not going to sugarcoat the subject, because God doesn’t. God calls it an abomination. It’s listed as one of the effects of intentionally disregarding God and our inherent knowledge of Him. Is this because God “hates” homosexuals as some zealots proclaim?
No, it goes back to how important marriage is to God, and how He defines it. God defines marriage as the sexual covenant between a man and a woman. Period. And He considers anyone or anything that intentionally perverts that definition an affront to Him.
I know that’s not politically correct, but I kind of doubt God is terribly concerned about popular opinion. The question is, should God conform to the whims of His creation, or should His creation conform to Him?
I won’t argue with someone who says they were born with a desire for someone of the same sex, any more than I would argue with someone who says they were born with a bad temper, or a predisposition to substance abuse, or even a desire for heterosexual promiscuity. The issue is not the desire. It’s what you choose to do with that desire. We are creatures with free will – AND the responsibility that goes along with it.
The bottom line is that homosexuality is a sin in God’s eyes – like every other sin we all commit. It has the same source, the same consequences, and the same remedy. Presenting it as anything more or less than that is misrepresenting God.
Now that we’ve addressed some of the major myths of the Law, it’s time to focus on the major outcome of the Law – the advent of the Redeemer. Considering the extraordinary and eternal impact of the event, it’s safe to say that the Redemption of man is the most important even in our history. Understandably, this advent is the most well described event in the bible. In fact, much of this description was detailed hundreds of years before the Redeemer even arrived! We’ll begin to explore all this next time.
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