The Position of the Creator and the Creature
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- Noach – Gen. 6:9-11:32
- Lech Lecha – Gen. 12:1-17:27
- Vayishlach – Gen. 32:3-36:43
- Vayigash – Gen. 44:18-47:27
- Shemot – Ex. 1:1-6:1
- Va’era – Ex. 6:2-9:35
- Bo – Ex. 10:1-13:16
- Beshalach – Ex. 13:17-17:16
- Yitro – Ex. 18:1-20:23
- Mishpatim – Ex. 21:1-24:18
- Terumah – Ex. 25:1-27:19
- Ki Tisa – Ex. 30:11-34:35
- Vayak’hel/Pekudei – Ex. 35:1-40:38
- Vayikra – Lev. 1:1-5:26
- Tzav – Lev. 6:1-8:36
- Sh’mini – Lev. 9:1-11:47
- Metzora – Lev. 14:1-15:33
- Acharei Mot – Lev. 16:1-18:30
- Emor – Lev. 21:1-24:23
- Bamidbar – Num. 1:1-4:20
- Beha’alotcha – Num. 8:1-12:15
- Shelach – Num. 13:1-15:41
- Korach – Num. 16:1-18:32
- Chukat – Num. 19:1-22:1
- Balak – Num. 22:2-25:9
- Pinchas – Num. 25:10-30:1
- Mattot/Massei – Num. 30:2-36:13
- Devarim – Deut. 1:1-3:22
- Va’etchanan – Deut. 3:23-7:11
- Ekev – Deut. 7:12-11:25
- Re’eh – Deut. 11:26-16:17
- Shoftim – Deut. 16:18-21:9
- Ki Tetze – Deut. 21:10-25:19
- Ki Tavo – Deut. 26:1-29:8
- Nitzavim – Deut. 29:9-30:20
- Vayelech – Deut. 31:1-31:30
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In order for there to be proper harmony in a relationship, religious or otherwise, there must be a correct order in it. Any time the proper order is challenged or gets out of balance, the relationship is in jeopardy. In the same way, if we do not understand the difference between who the Creator is and who the created is in both real and experiential terms, our entire relationship with Him is at risk of spiritual cancer. If we truly want to have a dynamic and spirit-filled life we must first understand how our relationship is supposed to work.
It seems that many of us find it difficult to simply take God for Who He is and how He is. Instead, we do our best to mold Him into the God we WANT Him to be, fashioning Him after how we WANT to see Him. But just like a manager must be reminded that although he manages the company’s employees that he’s not the owner, sometimes we need to remember that we have been bought with a price and are not our own. We have no right to tell our Employer what we’re going to do or where we’re going to go. Our wills must be completely and totally in conformity with His. The moment we decided to be in full surrender to His Will and Way is the moment we stepped out of the world’s circus that has paraded us around on high wires day after day.
We say that we love God, but we don’t realize how much we enjoy being in the circus. In the words of one of my favorite authors, “Let [the man who thinks he loves God] be forced into making a choice between God and money, between God and men, between God and personal ambition, God and self, God and human love, and God will take second place every time.” 1
When the Bible says that we should love Yahweh with all our heart and love our neighbor as ourselves, that presupposes that we understand the hierarchy within those commands: God, then neighbor, then self. Unfortunately we tend to reverse the order, causing self to take the commanding position instead of understanding that once we surrender to the King, we are bondservants, doing what our Master commands without question. And His first command is love.
Jim Staley
November 2017
1 Tozer, A.W. The Pursuit of God. Harrisburg, PA: Christian Publications, 1948.