Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
How could "good" King Asa have a "perfect heart" and still lose his temper, throw God's true prophet into jail, oppress his people, and end up rebelling against God in his old age? Kind of scary for anyone who thinks he/she is okay (story is in 2 Chron. 15, 16).
But the Bible makes the problem clear. There were two main words for "perfect" in Hebrew as our Bibles translate them. King Asa's heart was shalem (the root related to "Jerusalem," city of peace). The idea in the word is to be at peace, no inner conflict, live in good conscience, not going contrary to your own sense of duty. Asa's "perfect heart" was totally dedicated to Old Covenant ideas inherited from Mount Sinai.
The other Hebrew word for "perfect" is tawmim, meaning absolutely complete, right (related to tawmid, "continual," perpetual," "daily"). Thus tawmim meant morally perfect, not just living up to all the light you have or according to your own conscience (which can be enlightened or not). It really means perfect. Abraham's faith vs Mount Sinai.
King Asa's heart was not tawmim, but shalem. He did all the Old Covenant good he could think of. He did not violate his conscience. He followed his own inner sense of duty. Thus he could reason that God blesses the kingdom if they obey His laws perfectly. Therefore, you people, line up, promise to obey, toe the mark; anyone who doesn't join our "revival and reformation" gets killed (2 Chron. 15:13). And yes, the Lord blessed. Yes, He rewards you if you pay tithe; but what's your motivation--Old or New Covenant?
Asa's "perfect heart" meant that he lived up to Israel's Old Covenant ideas right to the letter. A wise writer says the Old Covenant was "obey and live." The New Covenant is "believe and live." How many more decades must we be confused about the two?
Copyright © 2009 by Robert J. Wieland.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
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