Blasphemy!!!

Blasphemy is considered a serious offense in many religious traditions and may be subject to punishment or condemnation. But do we stop to consider whether we do it unknowingly.

Here is a "joke" I wrote as example:

A Rabbi, a Pastor, and two Torah followers have a competition of who hears best from the Holy Spirit to determine when Passover should be kept. The Rabbi says:

"Well, you see, it was Rabbi Hillel II who was led by the spirit of G_d, back in the 4th century CE, established the fixed calendar for Passover according to the Gregorian calendar. He figured we needed some predictability, you know, so we could plan our matzah baking sessions in advance."

The Pastor then chimes in, saying, "Ah, but my dear friends, it was the Holy Spirit who put it on the heart of none other than the venerable Church Father, Constantine the Great, who decided that Easter should be celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the vernal equinox. He wanted to align it with the spring season, you know, a time of new life and renewal."

Finally, the two Torah followers speak up, both claiming, "Well, actually, the Holy Spirit placed it on our hearts that we celebrate it on the 10th day of Abib, according to Scripture. We just can't seem to agree on when Abib starts! One of us is led by the Holy Spirit that it's determined by the first sliver of the moon, while the other is led to believe it's from the dark moon. Oh yeah, and then there are others who say it's on the full moon. Oy vey!"

Does that by any chance sound familiar?

So many people claim to have heard or was led by the Holy Spirit to keep Torah in a specific way and yet these ways are all different.

Is there any lie found in the Holy Spirit and will He lead us astray?

Could this mean that we are often ascribing an incorrect action or decision of ours to "being led by the Holy Spirit" to do so; which by its nature is blasphemy?

How often do we disagree with others and claim that the Holy Spirit has led us? Shouldn't we rather confess that we do what we do because it `feels and seems right` at that moment?

Judges 21:25 comes to mind: "In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes."

I was always judgemental of the Hebrews for being lawless in those days, but this verse might not just be referring to civil law, but also Torah enforcement.

Might it just be that we are also living during such lawless/Torahless times as each of us are implementing Torah in our own lives the way we understand it at present?

#blasphemy #lawless #torahless #arabbiapastorandtwotorahfollowers