When God's Commands Overlap (part 1)
Introduction. Every command from God creates an absolute boundary that must be respected! When God told Adam and Eve that the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil must not be touched or eaten, it was an absolute boundary. The day they crossed that line they died. But what happens when, after looking at two different commands we see that the boundary of one is pushing against the boundary of another to the point that one must to be moved in order to fulfill the other?
An example would be our command to assemble on the first day of the week. This command draws a clear boundary around our worship to God every Sunday. There is nothing more important than assembling with the saints to worship God. God called it a willful sin if we choose to violate it (Heb, 11:19-31). But there are other commands that can overlap it. While driving to services, we come upon an accident. Jesus taught in the parable of the good Samaritan that to love our neighbor as ourselves we must show love by stopping and helping (Lk. 10:30-36). But in this case, we are on our way to fulfill the command to assemble. When the choice to show love and mercy overlaps the command to worship, which one should be set aside? Some would choose the mandate of love and mercy to stay and help, while others would leave them to worship God. Which would be right and why?
Jesus had several debates regarding this exact issue. The Pharisees rightly preached: “Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh day shall be a holy day for you, a Sabbath of rest to the Lord. Whoever does any work on it shall be put to death.” (Ex. 35:2). This was a clear boundary. The first time it was crossed by someone picking up sticks, God said: “The man must surely be put to death.” (Num. 15:32-36). The boundary of the 4th commandment must be kept. (Ex. 20:8-11).
Yet some used this command to condemn Jesus and His disciples. When they observed His disciples “pluck heads of grain and to eat,” they told Jesus “Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!” Comparing picking up sticks to plucking heads of grain we might have concluded they were right, but Jesus stripped away the argument because there were clearly overlapping commands: “Have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless (break the Sabbath and are innocent - NASB)?”
Jesus plainly said that priests were “profaning/breaking the Sabbath!” Yet they were blameless/innocent because two commands overlapped. The offering of sacrifices forced the command to keep the Sabbath to be set aside (profaned/broken). Later Jesus used circumcision in the same manner: “If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath, so that the law of Moses should not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made a man completely well on the Sabbath?” (Mt. 12:1-14; Jn. 7:23-24). Jesus stated that if they did not profane the Sabbath, they would “break the Law of Moses.” The command to circumcise on the eighth day would be broken if they kept the Sabbath. So the Sabbath was set aside to avoid breaking the Law of Moses.
Jesus was also condemned for healing on the Sabbath: “The ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath; and he said to the crowd, ‘There are six days on which men ought to work; therefore come and be healed on them, and not on the Sabbath day.’” Jesus accused this man of hypocrisy because he did exactly the same thing for his animals. “Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or donkey from the stall, and lead it away to water it?” The work of loosing a donkey was not a violation of the Sabbath because it was done out of mercy for the life of the beast. He also said: “What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out?” “Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” So the command “not do any work on the Sabbath” was not absolute when it overlapped with mercy. “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath” (Lk. 13:10-13; 14:1-6; Mk. 2:27-28). As “Lord of the Sabbath” all that He said is right!
Clearly this is a subject filled with danger and peril. It must be approached with extreme caution and humility, asking for wisdom and pleading with God to help us make the right decision. It should be an agonizing decision to us, even to the point of praying for forgiveness if we have erred.
Jesus twice quoted Hosea to reveal a vital truth to guide us. “But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless.” (Mt. 12:7). Jesus knew exactly what that meant! God is much more interested in mercy in the hearts of His servants than in their sacrifices. If the Pharisees had truly understood this, they would have known that what Jesus and His disciples were doing was not violating anything. They would not have condemned those who did nothing wrong. Jesus later rebuked them again: “Woe to you, ... you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.” (Mt. 23:23). They still did not understand that without the weightier matters of justice, mercy, and faith, tithes meant nothing!
Have we ever been guilty of “condemning the guiltless?” When godly Christians seek to make the best decision based on two commands earnestly trying to be kept, it must be approached with mercy and compassion. “For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.” (Jas. 2:12-13). Just as God desired mercy over sacrifice, He also desired mercy over judgment. This is a very grave threat we should always be aware of and seeking to avoid. The manner in which we judge others will have a direct effect on our own judgment. If we want God to be merciful and show pity, we need to be merciful and show pity. When we keep clearly in mind that the exact way we assess and make decisions is how we will be assessed, we will avoid “condemning the innocent.” If we forced to choose between showing mercy or being strict in judgment, we would be fools not to accept and follow James’ guidance. James was only making a direct application of Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount: “With what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.” (Mt. 7:2). The more mercy we show, the more will be measured back to us. The more we strictly judge others the stricter our own judgment will become. What an amazing opportunity to increase God’s mercy!
The Pharisees also condemned Jesus for eating with tax collectors and sinners. “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus gave two answers. First, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.” Just as doctors spend much time with the sick in order to heal them, Jesus came to spend time with sinners so He could bring them to repentance. Second, “go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.” (Mt. 9:10-13; Lk. 5:29-32). Motive is everything! But motives can’t be known. “Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts.” (1Cor. 4:5). Spending time with “tax collectors and sinners” in order to bring them to repentance is very different from spending time with them for enjoyment. The Pharisees judged the motives and condemned the innocent, and increased the strictness of their own judgment.
Yet, we still face the same issue today. We are commanded to “come out from among them and be separate.” (2Cor. 6:14-18). In its absolute sense we should not spend our free time around evil people. Yet we are also commanded to “preach the gospel to every creature” (Mk. 16:15-16). These two mandates put us in the same position as Jesus. We have overlapping commands that we must fulfill. When Christians have sinners into their home for dinner, or socialize with them by taking them golfing, fishing, or any other hobby to “become all things to all men,” both commands are being kept. But some, as the Pharisees, will judge them weak and sinning as they did Jesus. As we seek to chart our own course, we must also guard ourselves against judging others who do it differently. If we are not careful, we too might condemn the innocent.
Conclusion. There are many commands in the Scripture that overlap in some way or another. Godly Christians, faced with the decision of how to find the narrow path, will not always agree, but they will always show mercy instead of judgment. Mercy and compassion triumph and glory over strict judgment. Each of us must “work out our own salvation with fear and trembling.” We must humbly and mercifully take each Scripture and do our very best to fulfill them. With all this taken into our hearts, it is always better to leave it to God than to force someone to do what we think is right. This is a principle set forth by Moses. “The hard cases they brought to Moses but they judged every small case themselves” (Ex. 18:25-26; Deut. 17:8-9). We need to be humble. There are still hard cases today. When we are unsure, we leave it to God on the final day. It is better to defer to God and let Him pass the final judgment than to condemn the innocent, or cause our brother to stumble.
An example would be our command to assemble on the first day of the week. This command draws a clear boundary around our worship to God every Sunday. There is nothing more important than assembling with the saints to worship God. God called it a willful sin if we choose to violate it (Heb, 11:19-31). But there are other commands that can overlap it. While driving to services, we come upon an accident. Jesus taught in the parable of the good Samaritan that to love our neighbor as ourselves we must show love by stopping and helping (Lk. 10:30-36). But in this case, we are on our way to fulfill the command to assemble. When the choice to show love and mercy overlaps the command to worship, which one should be set aside? Some would choose the mandate of love and mercy to stay and help, while others would leave them to worship God. Which would be right and why?
Jesus had several debates regarding this exact issue. The Pharisees rightly preached: “Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh day shall be a holy day for you, a Sabbath of rest to the Lord. Whoever does any work on it shall be put to death.” (Ex. 35:2). This was a clear boundary. The first time it was crossed by someone picking up sticks, God said: “The man must surely be put to death.” (Num. 15:32-36). The boundary of the 4th commandment must be kept. (Ex. 20:8-11).
Yet some used this command to condemn Jesus and His disciples. When they observed His disciples “pluck heads of grain and to eat,” they told Jesus “Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!” Comparing picking up sticks to plucking heads of grain we might have concluded they were right, but Jesus stripped away the argument because there were clearly overlapping commands: “Have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless (break the Sabbath and are innocent - NASB)?”
Jesus plainly said that priests were “profaning/breaking the Sabbath!” Yet they were blameless/innocent because two commands overlapped. The offering of sacrifices forced the command to keep the Sabbath to be set aside (profaned/broken). Later Jesus used circumcision in the same manner: “If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath, so that the law of Moses should not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made a man completely well on the Sabbath?” (Mt. 12:1-14; Jn. 7:23-24). Jesus stated that if they did not profane the Sabbath, they would “break the Law of Moses.” The command to circumcise on the eighth day would be broken if they kept the Sabbath. So the Sabbath was set aside to avoid breaking the Law of Moses.
Jesus was also condemned for healing on the Sabbath: “The ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath; and he said to the crowd, ‘There are six days on which men ought to work; therefore come and be healed on them, and not on the Sabbath day.’” Jesus accused this man of hypocrisy because he did exactly the same thing for his animals. “Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or donkey from the stall, and lead it away to water it?” The work of loosing a donkey was not a violation of the Sabbath because it was done out of mercy for the life of the beast. He also said: “What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out?” “Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” So the command “not do any work on the Sabbath” was not absolute when it overlapped with mercy. “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath” (Lk. 13:10-13; 14:1-6; Mk. 2:27-28). As “Lord of the Sabbath” all that He said is right!
Clearly this is a subject filled with danger and peril. It must be approached with extreme caution and humility, asking for wisdom and pleading with God to help us make the right decision. It should be an agonizing decision to us, even to the point of praying for forgiveness if we have erred.
Jesus twice quoted Hosea to reveal a vital truth to guide us. “But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless.” (Mt. 12:7). Jesus knew exactly what that meant! God is much more interested in mercy in the hearts of His servants than in their sacrifices. If the Pharisees had truly understood this, they would have known that what Jesus and His disciples were doing was not violating anything. They would not have condemned those who did nothing wrong. Jesus later rebuked them again: “Woe to you, ... you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.” (Mt. 23:23). They still did not understand that without the weightier matters of justice, mercy, and faith, tithes meant nothing!
Have we ever been guilty of “condemning the guiltless?” When godly Christians seek to make the best decision based on two commands earnestly trying to be kept, it must be approached with mercy and compassion. “For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.” (Jas. 2:12-13). Just as God desired mercy over sacrifice, He also desired mercy over judgment. This is a very grave threat we should always be aware of and seeking to avoid. The manner in which we judge others will have a direct effect on our own judgment. If we want God to be merciful and show pity, we need to be merciful and show pity. When we keep clearly in mind that the exact way we assess and make decisions is how we will be assessed, we will avoid “condemning the innocent.” If we forced to choose between showing mercy or being strict in judgment, we would be fools not to accept and follow James’ guidance. James was only making a direct application of Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount: “With what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.” (Mt. 7:2). The more mercy we show, the more will be measured back to us. The more we strictly judge others the stricter our own judgment will become. What an amazing opportunity to increase God’s mercy!
The Pharisees also condemned Jesus for eating with tax collectors and sinners. “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus gave two answers. First, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.” Just as doctors spend much time with the sick in order to heal them, Jesus came to spend time with sinners so He could bring them to repentance. Second, “go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.” (Mt. 9:10-13; Lk. 5:29-32). Motive is everything! But motives can’t be known. “Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts.” (1Cor. 4:5). Spending time with “tax collectors and sinners” in order to bring them to repentance is very different from spending time with them for enjoyment. The Pharisees judged the motives and condemned the innocent, and increased the strictness of their own judgment.
Yet, we still face the same issue today. We are commanded to “come out from among them and be separate.” (2Cor. 6:14-18). In its absolute sense we should not spend our free time around evil people. Yet we are also commanded to “preach the gospel to every creature” (Mk. 16:15-16). These two mandates put us in the same position as Jesus. We have overlapping commands that we must fulfill. When Christians have sinners into their home for dinner, or socialize with them by taking them golfing, fishing, or any other hobby to “become all things to all men,” both commands are being kept. But some, as the Pharisees, will judge them weak and sinning as they did Jesus. As we seek to chart our own course, we must also guard ourselves against judging others who do it differently. If we are not careful, we too might condemn the innocent.
Conclusion. There are many commands in the Scripture that overlap in some way or another. Godly Christians, faced with the decision of how to find the narrow path, will not always agree, but they will always show mercy instead of judgment. Mercy and compassion triumph and glory over strict judgment. Each of us must “work out our own salvation with fear and trembling.” We must humbly and mercifully take each Scripture and do our very best to fulfill them. With all this taken into our hearts, it is always better to leave it to God than to force someone to do what we think is right. This is a principle set forth by Moses. “The hard cases they brought to Moses but they judged every small case themselves” (Ex. 18:25-26; Deut. 17:8-9). We need to be humble. There are still hard cases today. When we are unsure, we leave it to God on the final day. It is better to defer to God and let Him pass the final judgment than to condemn the innocent, or cause our brother to stumble.