Question about Deut. 14

[Vladimir]

14:21 You may not eat any corpse; you may give to the resident alien who is in your villages and he may eat it or you may sell it to a foreigner, for you are a people holy to the Lord your God. Do not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.
(Deut. 14:21 - NET bible www.bible.org)

Why does God allow resident aliens to eat that, which is prohibited for his own people?

ALso, another tough question I am struggling with is

13:6 If your own full brother, your son, your daughter, your beloved wife, or your closest friend should seduce you secretly and encourage you to go and serve other gods that you have not previously known, either you or your ancestors, 13:7 the gods of the surrounding people (whether near to or far from you, from one end of the earth to the other), 13:8 you must not give in to him or even listen to him; do not feel sympathy for him or spare him or cover up for him. 13:9 Instead, you must kill him without fail! Your own hand must be the first to put him to death, and then the hands of the whole community afterward. 13:10 You must pelt him to death with stones because he tried to entice you away from the Lord your God, who delivered you from the land of Egypt, the place of slavery. 13:11 Thus all Israel will hear and be afraid; no longer will they continue to do evil like this among you.

Now, in the verses above, God tells his people to kill those who is a sense challenge their beliefs.... I don't know how to interpret this. :argh:

THanks and God bless,
V-

[BrianB]

Re:
http://theologyweb.com/forum/showthread.php?postid=47721#post47721

Hi Vladimir,

Since no one has offered any comments, I’ll throw in mine on the question of the food prohibition. To answer why God allowed resident aliens to eat what was prohibited for the Israelites we must understand the reason for the food prohibitions in general. Some have suggested that there are health benefits associated with the prohibitions, but this is off the mark. One point to think about, if certain foods were more harmful than others, then why were believers post-Jesus allowed to eat these more-harmful foods?

The reason for the food distinctions is to illustrate on a daily basis the nature of Israel as a holy nation, separate from the nations. God chose Israel to be his unique and covenant people. They were to respond by acting in accordance with God’s will so that they might be a light to the nations.

Dt 7:6
For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. He has chosen you to be a people prized above all others on the face of the earth.

Dt 4:5-8
Look! I have taught you statutes and ordinances just as he told me to do, so that you might carry them out in the midst of the land where you are headed to take possession. So be sure to do them, because this will testify of your wise understanding to the people who will learn of all these statutes and say, “Indeed, this great nation has a very wise people.” In fact, what other great nation has a god so near to them like the Lord our God whenever we call on him? And what other great nation has statutes and ordinances as pure as this whole law that I am about to share with you today?

So, the food distinction constantly drove home the idea that Israelites were clean while non-Israelites were unclean. Since resident aliens were not Israelites (though they could become Israelites) they were under no covenantal obligations to observe the food distinctions. It was sin for an Israelite to eat because he was commanded not to, but the non-Israelite was under no such command, so they could freely eat.

Hope this helps,
Brian

Biblical citations from the NET bible - www.netbible.org

[Vladimir]

it makes sense.

In Christ,
V-

[Hitch]

Today @ 11:06 PM post located here (http://www.theologyweb.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&postid=#post)
Vladimir:

it makes sense.

In Christ,
V- That is does, good work Brian.

take care

Hitch

[Vladimir]

for the second question....:brow:

[Hitch]

sense challenge their beliefs.... I don't know how to interpret this.



Literally.

Take care

Hitch

[BrianB]

Hi again Vladimir,

Regarding your second question:

Perhaps a little perspective on the nature of Israel as a nation might be helpful for how to understand this text. Begin with God’s creation of Adam and Eve in the garden. The garden was a theocratic state, wherein there was no separation of the church and the state. It was man’s duty to guard this holy land from pollution by anything unclean. This parallels the job of the priests and their duties in the tabernacle (and temple). They were to work and guard (same two words used to describe man’s job in the garden) the holy sanctuary. When the time came for man to guard the garden and judge the unholy intruder (Satan, in an angelophany as a serpent), he failed to carry out the judgment, and you know the rest.

Sometime later in history, Yahweh comes along and forms a covenantal community that is to display his own holiness and be a type (a prefigurement, though incomplete) of the future kingdom of God that will also be a theocratic state. The command to kill those who reject the rule of God is to be a part of the typological nature of Israel, because the kingdom of God cannot tolerate anything unholy. Of course, being a type it isn’t perfect, but types are intended to convey meaning in a symbolic way without being perfect. Since rejection of Yahweh as Lord God of all was the worst thing one could do, it required death. Those who led a rebellion must be put down by the sword. Since the Israelites were blessed with such immediate and objective evidence that Yahweh was who he said he was, they had no excuse. It wasn’t a matter of questioning ones beliefs, but a matter of allegiance.

Hope this helps, even if it is a ‘hard teaching.’

Regards,
Brian