Pearl on Mount Zion
A Layman’s Exposé of the Law of Life and Knowledge
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THE SUMMATION OF THE LAWS “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” Matthew 22:37-39 The Summation is Love The summation of the Pearls on Mount Sinai is LOVE. Love is the interpretation, summation and fulfilment of the Ten Commandments. To this end, the summation of the Pearls on Mount Sinai is Pearl on Mount Zion. This is the reason why Jesus described love as the greatest commandment. “God is love” (1 John 4:8, 16), Summation of the commandment is love, and its fulfilment (Jesus) is Love, because Jesus is God (John 1:1). Do you remember the story of the Pharisee who wanted to test Jesus by asking which was the greatest of the Ten Commandments? Jesus pointedly answered: ““You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” It is necessary to note that in His unchanging nature, God was not introducing a new law, but having manifested as man through Jesus, He was teaching the same thing in a way never done before. Jesus was actually quoting the scripture to drive the meaning He sought to provide by repeating the law passed on to humans through Moses. “Hear, O Israel: The LORD is our God, the LORD alone. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.” By quoting the above passage, Jesus was highlighting usually overlooked details that will aid every student of morality, spirituality and true meaning of the ways and knowledge of God. Jesus pointed out what other teachers overlooked and thus was able to simplify the law for man to comprehend easily. This quote had always been part of the Hebrew declaration of faith, done on the Sabbath in the synagogues even before the birth of Jesus. It is in fact part of the Shema, a central prayer in the Jewish prayer book (siddur). Although this prayer was basic to the Jewish religion even among children and recited twice daily, the import was not understood until Jesus came. The second law of love was also quoted directly from the book of Leviticus: “You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbour as yourself: I am the LORD.” Is this not a clear testimony to the unchanging nature of God, and Jesus’ testimony to the truth? This lucid teaching sparks of one who understands and who actually instituted these laws and have the authority to teach like no other. Jesus thus summarized the Ten Commandments into two laws: LOVE GOD and LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOUR, an earlier overlooked or misunderstood structure of the law. Both commandments go together and one cannot be obeyed without the other. They are united and indivisible. Can a person Love God and hate His Image? No, you should truly Love your neighbour to be able to love God, and must love God to be able to love your neighbour. This constitutes the immutable triangle of love, bonded in an immutable circle of God’s love. Just as true love will not discriminate between a person and his photograph, true love would not discriminate between God and his image (man – your neighbour). Apostle John put it more succinctly when he said: “Those who say, ‘I love God’, and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.” Love stems from God in whose Image humans were created. One cannot hate in his heart and yet lay claim to the image of love, because one who does not love does not know God and God is not in him. If God so loved us to the extent of sending His only begotten Son to be humiliated and slain like a common criminal for our sake, are we not bound by conscience to love one another? Can we Love and not love as God loves? To love our neighbour is thus to love God, for true love of God is expressed in our love for our neighbours and love for our neighbours is expressed in our love for God. By extension, we break the first law of love by breaking the second commandment of love and break the second by breaking the first. Thus the two laws of Love are intertwined and inseparably one unit. We may ask, how the law of love as espoused in the new covenant relate to the Ten Commandments as expressed in the old covenant. In the following sections, we would attempt to answer this question as simply and un-theologically as possible.
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About the Book
Understand the Ten Commandments, their summation, and the new commandment of Jesus in plain language! God continues to teach in new ways and often gives several twists to the same words and teachings in order to enable His children understand Him. The Ten Commandments were not intended to punish; they were given to enable the children of God to live a more fruitful life. However, our lack of understanding wrapped the ten precepts of life in complexities that made it difficult for us to thread the path of life. In response, God sent his only begotten son, Jesus, to unwrap their meaning and untangle us from the shackles of the law. Pearl on Mount Zion (PoMZ) unpacks the Ten Commandments, the summation, and the new commandment given by Jesus Christ. It traces the origin of sin and unpacks each commandment in plain language. The style adopted by Gabriel Pidomson enables the reader to deal with and appreciate why these laws are captured under the law of love (divided into the love of God and the love for one’s neighbour) and how they transform into the new commandment given by Jesus in John 13:34. The book is packed with covenant truths, supported with 809 references from various versions of the bible, depositories, sermons, pastoral letters and other scholarly sources that are not only informative and spiritually nourishing, but also interesting. It should be read with the understanding that human knowledge of God’s ways and commandments can only scratch the outskirts of the ways of God (Job 26:14), and we cannot understand the thunder of His power. In this context, the book is an inspired effort at the outskirts of God’s love, wisdom, meaning, and personality. As our dear friend, brother, creator, and saviour rightly said, “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of Truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth” (John 16:12).
About the Author
The author is a lifelong Catholic who have had personal encounters with Jesus, both in the scripture and through personal visions. He is committed to good Christian living founded on love, grace and faith; but with sight focused on the laws, commandments, and the fear of God. A politician, academic, knight of the Church, and philanthropist, Gabriel Pidomson had two close encounters with death (illness and assassination attempt) that drew him closer to Jesus and His mother, the blessed Virgin Mary. These encounters offered the opportunities for self-examination and increased belief in Christianity and religion. Gabriel is the author of three other books: Nigeria the Bleeding Giant, National Service Strategy for Integration, and Ogoni at Crossroad. He was a former member of the Rivers State House of Assembly, and later Secretary to Government (SSG), Rivers State, Nigeria. Like David, his motto is “Lead in the Fear of God, Do not Deprive the Needy”. He leverages every opportunity to teach leaders to draw on the grace and teachings of Jesus Christ to lead in fear of God, and never to ignore those in need when it is in their power to help. Gabriel believes that preaching the gospel is not an exclusive domain of the clergy, and he is committed to helping leaders discover how they can release their full potential as teachers, political leaders and workers in the vineyard of Jesus Christ.