October 9, 2012

• How to Dress Like a Jew: Deuteronomy 22:11

  Originally posted October 8, 2012.

  You must not wear clothing made of wool and linen woven together. – Deuteronomy 22:11 (NLT)

  Spiritually Fashionable
  The Bible is full of commands, statements, and references that seem to make absolutely no sense. Especially to us today, as we are technologically, agriculturally, geologically, temporally, culturally, politically, religiously, and linguistically (and probably a few more ally-ishes I can’t think of) greatly removed from the Old Testament days. So it’s really no surprise that a verse like Deuteronomy 22:11 (also Leviticus 19:19) would seem so odd. Just why is wearing wool and linen together such a no-no? Is God against fashionable creativity?

  Certainly not, but the purpose for this command does seem arbitrary to the casual mind at a passing glance. The Bible doesn’t offer any explanation. What, if any, relevance does it have for us today? (And why did it matter to the Israelites back then?) After all, this is the Old Testament we’re talking about. Didn’t we do away with all those odd (and to some, even barbaric) traditions?

  Stop! … Funnel Time
  (Yeah, my headers can get really odd.) I think it would be prudent to do a “little” overview before diving into the details about this fashion conundrum. It’s important to make sure everyone is in on the basic foundation the Law is set upon.

  But, because of the grand scope of themes and subjects that the Bible addresses, it’s no easy task (certainly not in my mind) to summarize what the Bible is all about. Is it about love? Is it about God? Salvation? Being good? Is it about Heaven and Hell? We could ask an endless number of questions, and the short answer would almost always be yes. Just how do we narrow it down, though?

  Perhaps the best summary answer is that the Bible is about our relationship with God, and how Jesus came to die on the Cross to buy our pardon from the consequences of our sins so that our relationship with the Father in Heaven could be restored.Skipping past all the explanation, that leads us into a little thing called “sanctification”.

  I’d Like a Cup of Muddy Water…But Hold the Mud
  Sanctification is one of those weird Christianese words that can confuse many people – even Christians – unless its definition is clearly explained. I’ve been a Christian since I was five and it wasn’t until within the last several years did I finally come to a clear understanding of it, myself. It’s just not one of those words that are common amongst most people’s daily vocabulary.

  I’ll give you the short of the long of it, though (I’m nice like that, no?). To sanctify, or to be sanctified, basically means to “(be) set apart (from)”.

  Let’s say you have a bag of M&M’s and you have the strange habit of separating the colors from one another (admit it! You did this as a kid). You are, in effect, “sanctifying” them. Nooo, you’re not making them holy candies and God won’t strike you down for eating them. You’re setting apart the greens from the reds from the blues…and so on. You are keeping them from mixing from one another. (Trivia: Since 1941, there have been a total of eight standard colors in an M&M’s bag, not including holiday novelties. Presently, there are seven in use.)

  A brown M&M would look silly amongst the greens because the standard for that group is that the candy shell must be green. You couldn’t pick up the brown M&M from the greens and say, “Here’s a green M&M!” That’s why God’s Laws were so important. God wanted His people to be easily recognizable as those who reflected God’s image and character, distinct from the other nations who were disobeying God. People looking from the outside in could say, “Yes, those definitely are God’s people,” or “Those people are living exactly as their religious texts say what their God is like.”

  • 1:38 am
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