Why did God seek to kill Moses in Exodus 4?  Was it because Moses didn’t circumcise his boys?  I have also read comments that Moses himself was not circumcised, and this is why God sought to kill Moses.  Can you clarify the account for me?  Thank you!

Sincerely,
Wincing

Dear Wincing,

Ex 4:24-26 is an odd little anecdote in Moses' life.  We don't get many details, so everything that we understand about it is from putting very few pieces of information together.  Here is what we know:

1. God was angry enough with Moses to kill him.
2. Zipporah, Moses' wife, circumcised their son, and she wasn't happy with the fact that she had to perform emergency surgery on her son.
3. After the circumcision, Moses' life was spared.

Using these meager pieces of information, our understanding is that God was mad at Moses because he hadn't obeyed God's command to circumcise his children.  Remember, circumcision was the sign of God's covenant with Israel (Acts 7:8).  The fact that Moses, God's chosen leader for Israel, wasn't keeping that covenant with his children was a big deal.  There is nothing to indicate that Moses wasn't circumcised.  Our understanding is that the issue was Moses had not circumcised his son.

In the Bible, does it state that at least two witnesses had to agree to the charges before the trial could be declared valid?  If so, where and what section?

Sincerely,
Legal Advice

Dear Legal Advice,

The verse that you are looking for is Deut 19:15.  In the Old Testament, God made the laws for the courts.  The nation of Israel, like all other societies, had people that broke the law.  God designed the law, so someone couldn’t be accused of a crime unless there were multiple witnesses.  Incidentally, America’s court system was originally modeled after Israel’s court system.  Why?  Because God’s ways work.

The fourth commandment clearly states to remember the Sabbath day and to keep it holy.  Why do so many churches not keep this command?

Sincerely,
For The Fourth

Dear For The Fourth,

The Sabbath was a holy day for the Jews, not for Christians.  The Old Testament has a myriad of laws that are no longer binding in the New Testament: animal sacrifice, clean and unclean foods, and various festivals… just to name a few.  2 Cor 3 is an entire chapter devoted to explaining how the Old Law has been surpassed by the New Law.  2 Cor 3:3 especially clarifies the issue when it states that our law is “not in tables of stone”, a direct reference to the Ten Commandments that were written on stone tablets.

Gal 3:24-25 makes it clear that the Old Law was a tutor to bring mankind to Christ, but now that Christ has come, we are no longer under that tutor.  The Sabbath is a part of that Old Law.  In the New Testament, christians meet on the first day of the week to worship, take the Lord’s Supper (Acts 20:7), and take up a collection (1 Cor 16:1-2).  In short: different covenants, different days.

The Old Testament law given by Moses was a covenant with the Jews (Deut 5:1-5).  The New Testament law given in Christ is for all of mankind (Acts 2:38-39).

Who changed the law?  God did.

When did it change?  When the church began.

I was wondering if it is worth studying Scripture on a deeper level given my Bible is written in English.  From what I understand, the New Testament was originally written in Greek.  Since I am not a scholar or speak that language, I might not understand the fullest meaning behind the passages.  Is the Bible meant for average folks to study in their own native language?

Sincerely,
It’s All Greek To Me

Dear It’s All Greek To Me,

The Bible is definitely meant to be understood and studied by average folks!  There is quite a lot of chatter that the Bible has been mistranslated or that a translation leaves you unable to truly understand what the Bible writers intended – this is not true.  When Jesus quoted the Old Testament, He quoted from the Septuagint, which is the Greek translation of the Old Testament.  The Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew, but Jesus felt comfortable quoting from the Greek language version.  This tells us that God has no problems with using translations to convey His wisdom to every culture and language on the planet.  As long as you have a good word-for-word translation (read “What’s The Best Translation” for details on what that means), you will be just fine.

Every day, vital documents are translated into other languages without mishap.  Peace treaties, corporate contracts, wills, trusts, and many other legal arrangements are made from one language to another.  Linguists are skilled professionals that are able to properly convey the same ideas from one language to another, and major Bible translators are especially circumspect and fastidious to properly translate from the original Greek and Hebrew.  Never fear, you have God’s Word just as much as the first-century christians did.

Are emotions in the heart or mind?  God reads the heart, but man says emotions are in the mind.  I am somewhat confused.

Sincerely,
The Thinker

Dear The Thinker,

The Bible uses the terms 'heart' and 'mind' as synonyms.  Mk 7:21 talks about thoughts proceeding from the heart, and 2 Pet 3:1 says that your mind is what thinks and remembers.  The term 'heart' is most often used when referring to the emotional aspects of the human thought process, and the word 'mind' is typically used to refer to the analytical thinking process... but that isn't always the case.  Truthfully, the two terms mean basically the same thing.