What Were The Customs of That Time

Chapter 5

Day 3

It is customary in the United States to party hardy, look out for number one, try to out do than the Jones’, cheat on your taxes, worship your children, exploit children, help only those who deserve help, hire only perfect people, hire only college graduates, go to church one hour per week, lie to people about their appearance, take a vacation every year you can’t afford, buy the cheapest product, show no loyalty to your country, etc. These are just a few of the customs of our country today. Very few, if any of these customs existed 50 years ago.

The customs are dictated by the people not by God. Unfortunately, customs are a part of every life. This was also true in the lives of the writers of the bible. God inspired the scriptures and there is no doubt about that, however, a human being wrote it down. The terminology of the scriptures was greatly influenced by customs, their travels were influenced by customs. Unless we understand the customs that existed at the time the scriptures were written, we could, and do, misinterpret some of the scriptures.

There are many preachers who will tell you to only read the bible and let God tell you what it means. Yet in the same dissertation they will tell you God only helps those who help themselves. They must think God has a magic wand that He waves every day to help people. Where do they think people get the idea to write these books. I am not saying that God inspires every book written, but I will tell you, God will tell you which books not to read (John 16:5-16). God does not dictate every word of every book, but he does put the idea in a writer's heart that a book is needed on certain subjects.

People, even Christians, sometimes think the bible was written in English and the people at that time were just like us and lived the same way. Well they weren’t. The customs and lives of the people then were much different. Sheep Herding was the primary income at that time. How many of you have even seen a real sheep? There are many references in the Old Testament to the customs connected with sheep herding.

These writers were not only influenced by their countries customs, but other countries as well. Remember, Israel was ruled by many different countries. The Jews not only obeyed their own customs, but had to adapt to the customs of the countries who ruled them. Do you know the customary greeting on the island of Guam? What are the wedding customs in Butte Montana?

In my years in the Navy, too many times I have seen our young military personnel get into trouble in foreign countries because they would do or say something to violate the laws or customs of that country. Did you know that in Spain if you are caught stealing they cut off the hand that committed the offence? Did you know that, in England, our expression of thumbs up is the same as giving them the finger? To know and understand people from other countries, we must know their customs. When in Rome do as the Romans do.

Paul, in his writings, was writing to people all over the world and tried to use terminology they would understand because of their different customs (Galatians 5:7). The custom Paul was referring to here still exists today throughout the world and even, unfortunately, in our Christian communities. It was the worship of the Greek god “Apollo.” Each year a torch was lit at the temple of the Greek god Apollo and a runner carried it to the city where the games of the gladiators were being held. Today we call these games the Olympics. Check it out for yourself.      My point here is that in order to understand the bible, we must know what the writer was talking about. We must be aware of the customs of the times.

Daily Bible Reading:

Read Galatians 5:1-15