I was always taught to be courteous even when I was treated with utter disrespect. Regardless of how I was treated, I was expected to remain courteous at the very least.
However, I think I have found a great deal of selective courtesy and it offends me because it is the level of how we treat God.
We are very happy to say that God wrote the Ten Commandments on two occasions and we agree the words on the palace wall of Belshazzar in Daniel’s day were written by God’s own hand. They are accepted as authentic even though we do not have the originals, only written copies.
When it comes to Paul, he tells us that his eyesight was so bad he had to get someone else to do the physical writing for him. He dictated his God-inspired words to a secretary, but we gladly accept them as Paul’s own writing and accept them as authentic.
God did something similar when he dictated the book of the law to Moses. ‘Write these words down,’ [he said,] ‘because the covenant I make with you and with Israel is on these terms.’ Exodus 34:27.
The words written by Moses in that interview with the Lord were placed beside the Ark of the Covenant, the Ten Commandments, Deuteronomy 31:24-26. God would not have allowed it to be placed anywhere near the Ark of the Covenant unless it was genuine and approved by him!
It generally agreed that the ‘book of the law’ referred to is, in today’s Scriptures, the first five books of the Old Testament.
However, we take a curious turn of logic in our assessment of God’s writings compared with Paul’s. We subscribe Paul’s writings to Paul even though the actual physical writing was done by a secretary. Then when we come to the books that God dictated to Moses, we do not treat them as authentic God, instead it is sometimes said we don’t really know who wrote them!
Why are we more courteous to Paul than to God? I am glad God gave me the Scriptures to read so that I might know the truth. I am also glad he is always courteous even to those who treat him with utter disrespect.
By Just a Minute team writer Elizabeth Price.
You can contact Elizabeth direct at mailto:reprice@dragnet.com.au