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Exodus 22: 28 ( the command)
God's command about other gods
The bible is one of the Holy Scriptures. It is recorded in the bible that Moses brought the children of Israel out of Egypt so that they can serve their God, the God of their father. Moses is also known as a law giver because he did not only receive the Ten Commandments from God for the people of Israel but he also gave them many other laws. Moses was able to do that because he heard the voice of God. That is Moses was a prophet of God so he served as a link between God and the Children of Israel.
As we read the scripture, it is important for us to know the instructions that were from Moses as a person and that which he got from God.
The first part of the Ten Commandment in Exodus 20 is, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” The first commandment, may be said, acknowledges that the God of Israel is aware that there are other gods. God went further to say why he would not accept such. He said that he is a jealous God.
Then in Exodus 22:28 God instructed, “Thou shalt not revile the gods nor curse the ruler of thy people.” That is same God told Moses despite that you and my people should not worship other gods yet do not revile the gods. It shows that the God of Israel wants his people to respect the gods of others even though they are forbidden to worship such gods. Many religious and biblical scholars seem to ignore that command in an attempt to prove the supremacy of their God and they can so easily use same scripture to defend their claims. Isn’t it surprising?
No matter how surprising it can be, what should surprise us most is why God would give Moses such instruction even why he is against those other gods. That is what many people today fail to think about. Those that understand why God said that are those that understand the need of religious tolerance and what it really means to do unto others as we would want others to do to us.
Just as it was mention in the hub “King Solomon and his God’s given wisdom,” it can be said that King Solomon followed this divine direction but he moved his God to jealous when he worshiped those gods. The writer was not even aware of this command before he began his global call for religious tolerance, religious freedom, to end hate speeches for religious reason, and the urgent need for us to obey the golden rule. However, the only thing that kept him going even when he was ignorant of this verse and when some religious men/ women and even his family were against his stand in life was that he was certain that it was his primary reason of existence, the reason he came to dwell among men and there was nothing he could do about it. That is why he earnest welcomes the friendship of those men and women that understand the need of such movement in this current age of globalization.
Now God, himself, instructed do not revile the gods.
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AuthorThanks for your comment but it is obvious that you were bias in your comment/observation. This is because I did mention the first commandment which prevented the Israelite from worshipping other Gods moreover I did not give Moses the command in Exodus 22:28 but you call it my doctrine while it is part of the same scripture you use. Your point confirmed the point made in the hub that most Christians choose the part of the bible to believe or use in defense of their stand and they ignore other portions of the bible. The main issue in the hub is why did God instruct Moses not to abuse other gods which you call devils? It is interesting that you note that the Israelite deserve to be punished if they disobey their God likewise other tribes are punished for same reason. This is what we never knew until I journeyed with an unborn child. Then it can be said that the gods knew their own people and it takes more than a mere conversion for any tribe to leave the God of their ancestors without some consequences even when they do not know that it is they disobedience that make them suffer. In all, nobody or tribe lives a sorrow free life. Men are uniting in this current generation and the Gods are not left out of it.
The only thing that got my interest is why God gave that instruction to Moses and you said nothing about it but you still maintain.
The hub did not ask that Israel or other should switch Gods so I wonder why you mentioned it.
Hello David.
Sorry but your doctrine is wrong.
Any other God except Jehovah is another form of worshipping the devil.
That does not mean we are to be unloving to their followers, but niether are we to be acepting of other gods. That is what lead Isreal to depart from Jehovah and if you read your Bible you will know how Jehovah delt with them.
Do not give the devil a foothold.
God bless you.