Commentaries on the Laws of the Bible

By James A. Carter

What does the individual gain by observing the Laws of Moses? In a word, completeness. By completeness it is meant, the individual’s spiritual side is awakened, and becomes harmonized with his or her physical self. At the ultimate state of spiritual awakening and harmony, the individual acquires supernatural abilities, all of which are innate, but lie dormant. These supernatural abilities reside with his soul, which is eternal. In addition, observing the Laws of Moses allows the individual’s ancestral spirits to guide him or her. Otherwise, he or she is estranged.
‘Supernatural abilities’ does not only mean the capability to turn water into wine and walk on water as Jesus did, or to strike rock and bring forth water like Moses. It means realizing those abilities that are unique to the individual at a supernatural level. However, the problem with aspiring to supernatural capability through observing the Laws is that the practice has to be absolute and regimented.
But here are 613 laws of Moses. An individual may not be able to observe all of them, and he or she may not be able to observe some of them to the letter, or to do so consistently. The extent to which the individual observes the Laws is the extent to which he or she is empowered. Put another way, the closer to perfection in practicing the Laws, the closer to supernatural power. Thus, attaining perfection in accordance with the laws should always be aspired to, as the individual grows spiritually.
Returning to the concept of guidance from ancestral spirits: When the apostate is ‘cut off from his people’ the trans-generational bonding is severed. There are several effects of this severance. Individuals whose trans-generational bond is severed do not generally concern themselves with societal issues; with the welfare of the next generation, or the harm done to others by his or her actions. Thus, failure to live in accordance with the Laws of Moses results in overall societal degeneration.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Feb 26, 2021
• ISBN: 9781664159259

James A. Carter

James A. Carter is an author, a motivational public speaker, and an entrepreneur. His mission is to help people realize their inner potentials and greatness and to make them see that they can do anything in life that they set their minds to do and achieve greatness.

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Copyright © 2021 by James A. Carter.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Scripture taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 02/17/2021

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CONTENTS

Acknowledgement

BOOK ONE

Know God

Section 1 Fundamental Laws of Moses

Section 2 Personal Character

Section 3 Study the Laws of the Bible (Books of Moses)

Section 4 Idolatry and Paganism

Section 5 Repentance

BOOK TWO

love of God

Section 1 Reading of the commandments or Shema

Section 2 Prayer and Priestly blessing

Section 3 Identifying yourself as the Lord’s

Section 4 Tizitzis

Section 5 Blessings

Section 6 Circumcision

BOOK THREE

Book of Seasons

Section 1 The Sabbath

Section 2 Yum Kippur Rest

Section 3 Festival Rest

Section 4 Chometz and Matzah

Section 5 Shofar, Succah, Lulav

Section 6 Shekalim

Section 7 Sanctification of Months

Section 8 Fasts

BOOK FOUR

Book of Woman

Section 1 Marriage

Section 2 Divorce

Section 3 Yivyum and Chalitzah

Section 4 Young Maidens

Section 5 Sotah

BOOK FIVE

Book of Holiness

Section 1 Forbidden Relations

Section 2 Forbidden foods

Section 3 Slaughtering

BOOK SIX

Book of Pledges

Section 1 Oaths

Section 2 Vows

Section 3 the Nozir

Section 4 Estimated Values and Vows of Intradiction (dedication)

BOOK SEVEN

Book of Seeds

Section 1 Mixed species

Section 2 Gifts to the poor

Section 3 Ma’aser

Section 4 The Second Tithe and the Fourth Year Produce

Section 5 First Fruits and other Cohanic (Priestly) Gifts

Section 6 The Sabbatical and Jubilee Years

BOOK EIGHT

Book of Temple Service

Section 1 The Temple

Section 2 Temple vessels and Employees

Section 3 Entering the Temple

Section 4 Restrictions concerning Sacrifices

Section 5 Sacrificial Procedure

Section 6 Constant and additional offerings

Section 7 Disqualified offerings

Section 8 Yum Kippur Service

Section 9 Misusing sacrificed properties

BOOK NINE

The Book of Sacrifices

Section 1 The Pascal Sacrifice

Section 2 Pilgrim offerings

Section 3 First born animals

Section 4 Offerings for Unintentional Transgressions

Section 5 Lacking Atonement

Section 6 Substitution of Sacrifice

BOOK TEN

Book of purity

Section 1 Impurity of human dead

Section 2 The Red Heifer

Section 3 Impurity through Tzora’as

Section 4 Impurity of reclining and sitting

Section 5 Other sources of Impurity

Section 6 Impurity of Food

Section 7 Mikveh (Ritual bath)

BOOK ELEVEN

Book of Damages

Section 1 Property damages

Section 2 Theft

Section 3 Robbery and lost objects

Section 4 Assault and Battery

Section 5 Murder and Preservation of life

BOOK TWELVE

Book of Acquisition

Section 1 Sales

Section 2 Slaves

BOOK THIRTEEN

Book of Civil Laws

Section 1 Hiring

Section 2 Borrowing and Depositing

Section 3 Creditor and Debtor

Section 4 Plaintiff and defendant

Section 5 Inheritance

BOOK FOURTEEN

Book of Judges

Section 1 Sanhedrin and the Punishments within their Jurisdiction

Section 2 Evidence

Section 3 Insurgents

Section 4 Mourning

Section 5 Kings and their wars

Epilogue

Acknowledgement

The tradition that there are 613 commandments began with Rabbi Simlai in the third century, AD. Rabbi Simlai was a student of Rabbi Judah II, who was the grandson of Rabbi Judah I, of the Davidic line. Rabbi Judah I lived in Judea under Roman rule.

In the twelfth century, Moses Ben Maimon, commonly referred to as Maimonides, enumerated and organized the commandments into the now commonly accepted format. Maimonides’ list of the commandments was translated and compiled by Rabbi Alon I. Tolwin into The 613 Mitzvos, a study guide, which was copyrighted in 1983 and published by Aish HaTorah Publications.

The commentaries provided in this volume follow Maimonides’ and Rabbi Tolwin’s enumeration and format for continuity and easy reference. The enumeration is not wholly agreed with by this writer. Many of the Laws could be consolidated, he thinks. Also, he does not agree with the interpretation of some of the citations referenced in the study guide. Most importantly, an attempt is made in this volume to answer the question of relevancy (of some of the Laws) to our age and circumstances.

Thinking of God as a person has its limitations. A better way is to think of God as a force: The Supreme Force of Good, which has brought about our reality and masters all worlds and times. What God requires of humanity is the restoration of sacredness to life; the application of the principles of justice to our endeavors, and the protection of the defenseless and the innocent. He requires that we dedicate our combined efforts to the enhancement and unification of all His creation, even of other worlds.

While there have always been wars, and the mass killings that wars entail, there has never been this pervasive an immorality, particularly in the West. It’s an era in which the Laws of Moses are deliberately challenged. Modern society terminates singular life (as with abortion); promotes unnatural sexual relationships; allows injustice, disorder and mayhem, and incarcerates sizable populations. It facilitates the creation of unnatural lifeforms, and compromises our existence by allowing the misuse of our domain and resources. If only we were guided by His laws, population pressures would be regarded as motivation to organize life better and to find other worlds to exploit.

Clearly, planetary life cannot continue as it is. And since Blacks are the people abused most, then only through them, in their efforts the redress their grievances, can humanity realize the moral re-alignment God requires. Therefore, the most important objective of these commentaries is to show that the Laws of Moses are laws that govern our spiritual nature.

On the subject of ‘our spiritual nature’, let us consider Genesis 2:7. It states, And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. To be completely literal, there can be only two possible interpretations of this verse. The first is that man existed as a soul before creation. The second is that by breathing the breath of life into man after he was created, God imparted to him a soul, which he would not otherwise have had.

If the first interpretation (that man’s soul existed before creation) is accepted, then man has had an existence (in the form of a soul) even before creation; i.e., an infinitely eternal existence. If the second interpretation (that by breathing the breath of life into man, God gave him a soul) is accepted, then that is how man is made; it is his nature. Thus, either man’s soul is eternal, or it is the nature of man to have a soul. Or, both scenarios apply. But most importantly, this citation speaks to the affinity of man’s soul, or inner self, to the creator. After all, the breath of life, which gave man a living soul, came from God.

One final point on this subject: If, as is promised by Christendom, that being godly results in eternal life, why is ‘eternal life’ limited to the future? Eternity is as applicable to the future as it is to the past, if only an individual who lives repeatedly godly lives would have had a past existence at some point. Again, what this indicates is that spiritual man is eternal. This conclusion is inescapable.

As stated previously, the Inner or Spiritual Man has an affinity to the Supreme Force, and the awakening or the realization of the Inner Man brings the physical and spiritual selves into harmony. An individual whose physical and spiritual selves exist in harmony with the Supreme Force, is an individual who exists in his superior form. Wouldn’t such an individual be cured of his dysfunction?

God, in his infinite wisdom, has created a perfect world. What most people do not take into account is the function of time in the human experience. Over time, God chooses a people through which he achieves his objectives. Thus, civilizations come and go, and empires rise and fall, but human nature never changes. The physical man may be conquered; persons and evil forces in history may have altered human behavior. But through it all, man’s natural self, even when subdued, remains constant.

Most people serve their own self-interests, sometimes to the detriment of the general good. However, some of us are naturally aligned with the Force of Good. Ideally, this means living in accordance with the Laws of Moses.

The Laws of Moses define the relationship between man and the spiritual world, and they prescribe how an eternal and purposeful existence can be achieved. Further, they specify how physical man is awakened and how the inner or spiritual man can be cultivated. This allows man to restore his natural self and to become aware of his natural inclinations. In other words, innate knowledge is revealed thereby, and the individual becomes aware of his or her purpose in life. Ultimately, one who obeys the Laws of Moses to perfection realizes supernatural power.

Only through the Laws can an individual achieve the fullest possible self-actualization. And only through the Laws can Black redemption be achieved. The effort here is to make the black community familiar with the requirements of righteousness (i.e., the Laws of Moses) so that individual spiritual selves can be awakened, and the trans-generational bond (affinity with our ancestors and subsequent generations) can be re-established en masse.

BOOK ONE

Know God

SECTION 1

Fundamental Laws of Moses

1. To know there is a God

Exodus 20:2

I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

Commentary 1

Look around you, and ask the questions: What has caused all this into being? What has caused this reality of ours? What brought about the earth, and that which is in the heavens? What has given rise to living things, including human beings? Granted, human beings have had their own effect on creation over time, but it all must have started somewhere. It must have had an origin. Even if the origin were instantaneous, i.e., The Big Bang, or created in seven days; whatever brought it all into being, and/or to evolve, must be regarded as a good thing and of good omen.

For those of us who have a problem with who or what begot God, if God created everything, and are partial to science-based evolution theories, let us explore that concept: the concept of evolution. Let us begin by acknowledging that our reality was caused by some force; like the force of the wind causing the limbs of trees to sway. If the narrative of science is true, that once there was a special species of apes, and, over millions of years, that species of apes evolved into human beings, then there was a process through which that evolution took place. Certainly, this constitutes a trend. And indeed, evolution is the very definition of a trend.

Minor trends (or progressive change) could be discerned in the development of knowledge, technology and the environment, for example. And we must acknowledge that, over time, there might have been trends (here and there) which were negative. But overall and in general, the evolutionary trends in our reality were, and continue to be, positive. Thus, we are forced to conclude that the origin and the trends of our reality are good, and therefore, the overall force behind them must be good.

Let us take, for example, the force of weather: No one can deny the effects of weather, or its role in human culture and history; particularly when we consider the effects of weather on agriculture, for instance. Wars too, have been one of the great forces in human history. But forces like the weather and wars are secondary forces, and all secondary forces (whether natural or caused by man) are subordinated to an all-encompassing force, which created our reality. So, it matters not whether the universe was created in an instant (even if seven days) or evolved over time, be it ten or twenty million years. It is reasonable to conclude that the force which created the universe, or caused it into being, also created the minor forces as well; even the forces of wars, weather and of evolution. Therefore, by reasoning, the minor forces are parts of the overall, the all-encompassing and the ultimately powerful force.

We have acknowledged that there have been negative trends, phenomena and forces in our past. But because the positive trends far outnumber and out-weigh the negative ones, we concluded that the positive forces are superior. And, further, we have reasoned that there is an all-encompassing or an over-all general force that encompasses the minor forces, even negative ones. So, if we conclude that our reality is good, then we must conclude that the combination of all forces (good and bad) is firstly supreme and secondly of good omen. Therefore, we can call the combination of all forces the Supreme Force of Good.

The concept of force in this context is a vague one; too vague for under-developed minds (i.e., the minds of ancient peoples, or those of children) or for the minds of persons under stress. Over time, human beings regarded this concept of force in the human experience as a spiritual entity, which they personified. And they came to regard those personified spiritual forces as having human attributes. Relatively recently, some cultures assigned different names to what was conceived as the Supreme Force. But in our culture, we call it God.

Now that we’ve resolved to personify the Supreme Force of Good, one may ask, Is God a man or is he not a man? What about the biblical instances when patriarchs and profits experienced the presence of God (i.e., he appeared to them) did he not appear to them as a man?. The possible answers are: Yes, although in the form of a spirit, God is a man, according to the biblical record. Or No, he is not a man, only that the minds of those who experienced his presence conjured him as a man.

Mostly, the bible reports God’s (The Lord’s) appearance as The glory of the Lord. However, to say, God is a force does not do the concept justice. It is better to say, The Supreme Force of Good is an all-powerful spirit entity because the ‘Supreme Force of Good’ is just that; a mere force. It is not a physical entity; it is not a man; it is not anything in existence or that has existed. In short, it is an all-encompassing, all powerful spiritual force.

Humans can only feel the effects of the Supreme Force and our minds can only conjure (whether under hallucination) its form. On the other hand, God, the Supreme Force of Good, in order to make manifest his will, has, according to biblical evidence, presented himself to the human consciousness in various forms.

God, The Supreme Force of Good, is the determinant. Nothing happens, which is not His will, and what He wills is foregone. Humans may act in their own interests, and some have acted very negatively at times. There have been great men of history (some enlightened and others demonic) who have considered themselves masters of the world in their times. Some of their actions have been beneficial and others calamitous. But, over time, even the most destructive events of history have had their positive sides and have advanced the human experience. In short, it’s all in His plan.

This Supreme Force (God) operates in accordance with specific ‘natural laws’. Over time, men of wisdom, who studied the human experience, aligned themselves with the forces of good. Separately, various cultures developed dogmas and rituals to explain those spiritual forces and to live in harmony with them. By the time of Moses, those laws, dogmas and rituals were tried and tested, and he (Moses) was inspired to codify them into the laws contained in the first books of the Bible.

We, ‘The People of the Word’, must submit to the Supreme Force (to the Supreme God) by living in compliance with Laws of Scripture as defined by Moses. Faithfulness to the Righteous is one of the principles of the Laws of Moses, which are ‘laws of nature’, taking into account our spiritual reality. As in science, where to every action there is a reaction, so too with the ‘laws of nature’ or ‘natural laws’ every action has its consequences. God, The Supreme Force, is forever faithful in that he would reward good for good, punish those acts which contradict his will. And, as it is stated, actions taken today have consequences to the third and fourth generations.

Without the ‘natural laws’ which govern the universe, progress in the human experience could not have been sustained. Righteousness, therefore, is actions consistent with (and in support of) the ‘natural laws’. The ‘natural laws’ make the human experience self-correcting in its progress. Therefore, justice must be one of the over-riding principles of the ‘natural laws’; another being ‘Devine Will’. Because of these and other principles, the righteous shall be vindicated against the unrighteous.

The ‘unrighteous’ are those who worship other gods, by methods other than through the ‘natural laws’ and those who contend with ‘Divine Will’ or the ‘Supreme Force of Good’.

[By now it should be noted that Supreme Force, Divine Force, Divine Will and God are used interchangeably.]

Since we affirm our allegiance to God through worship, any form of worship other than through the laws of Moses is contradictory to the ‘natural laws’ and therefore, those forms of worship must be in service of other and lesser gods, however those gods are conceived and/or made manifest.

Now, getting back to the first Law (Law 1): To fulfil its purpose, the Supreme Force, or God, performed miracles through its righteous servants such as Moses, Aaron, and Joshua. Miracles through which the once mighty empire that was Ancient Egypt was forced to set free the people of the scripture. So too, through the righteous, ‘the people of the word’ shall be delivered from their current circumstances.

2. Not to entertain thoughts of other gods besides Him

Exodus 20:3

Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

Commentary 2

To continue in the vane of commentary 1: There are minor (lesser) forces and lesser gods; even inferior concepts of god. And because of impatience, we may want to turn to spiritual methods other than The righteous worship of the Supreme God, to achieve our objectives. But we should worship no god other than the Supreme God, because the worship of one God unifies and focuses our consciousness.

It is warned in Exodus 34:14: "For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. In Hosea 12:6: Therefore turn thou to thy God: keep mercy and judgment, and wait on thy God continually. And in Psalm 37:34: Wait on the LORD, and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it".

3. To know that he is one

Deut. 6:4

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord:

Commentary 3

There can be only one supreme force; and therefore, only one Supreme God. He is indivisible, because to divide him is to divide one’s consciousness, or better said, burden one’s consciousness and scatter one’s focus on multiple and varying conflicting thoughts. The Supreme God cannot be multiplied; he cannot be added to, nor can he be subtracted from or be diluted. Certainly, God may have servants who may take the form of a person, or a spiritual force. They may be called angels or Spirit of the Lord, but never God.

4. To love Him

Deut. 6:5

And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

Commentary 4

Love is frequently regarded as a state of weakness. So, let us take a minute to define the concept of love: In our society, and in our era, love is an emotional manifestation of need. In other words, when one needs something and finds it difficult to attain, one is likely to get emotional about it.

You might say that two young people, mutually attracted to each other, can be genuinely in love. But think about it: A boy sees a girl to whom he is attracted, and he gets her. Once he gets her, he goes on to the next because his need for her never reached an emotional stage. If getting her were to be near impossible, he would become emotional about it and then his lust becomes love. Similarly, God is a thing of need. One turns to God only when nothing else works.

So, what are your needs? Is there something about which you are desperate; something without which you cannot live? Then turn to God by ordering your way aright. Make your vows and stick to them.

Without a doubt, it is difficult to live righteously in our society, in times like these. So, one should define a limited length of time during which one would be righteous. One may have to specify the things that are within one’s control and about which one can be right for a pre-determined length of time. These too, can be specified in vows. But the more steadfast and whole-hearted are one’s effort at being righteous, the more responsive will be the Force of Good.

As it is stated in Deut. 11:13-15: "And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, 14That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil. 15And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest eat and be full."

This means that God is faithful to those who demonstrate their love for him by diligently obeying his commandments. They must regard nothing as more important than God. According to the Law of Moses, God is faithful to those who are faithful. They shall never want!

5. To fear Him

Deut. 10:20

Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God; him shalt thou serve, and to him shalt thou cleave, and swear by his name.

Commentary 5

To swear by the name of the Lord is to take an oath or make a vow. And not fearing God is to always be mindful of the consequence of not fulfilling your part of the bargain. As in the natural law of gravity, by which ‘what goes up must come down’, so too with the law of faithfulness. Think of it as making a deal with an all powerful God who is righteous and eternally faithful. He would always grant your wish, but you