Within Judaism there is a belief that some laws only apply to Jews while Gentiles have their own set of laws to obey that requires less obedience than what God expects from Jews. Because the Torah tells of righteous people such as Noah who lived long before the law was declared to Israel from mount Sinai it is commonly assumed that laws spoken of or implied before that time applied to humanity as a whole while any moral laws spoken of during the time of Moses was only for Jews. (“Jewish Concepts: The Seven Noachide Laws” n.d.)

 The Torah says, “Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to tend and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, ‘Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.’” Genesis 2:15-17

“‘“A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am the Father, where is My honor? And if I am a Master, where is My reverence? Says the LORD of hosts to you priests who despise My name. Yet you say, ‘In what way have we despised Your name?’ “You offer defiled food on My altar, but say, ‘In what way have we defiled You?’By saying, ‘The table of the LORD is contemptible.’ And when you offer the blind as a sacrifice, Is it not evil? And when you offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? Offer it then to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you favorably?” says the LORD of hosts. “But now entreat God’s favor, that He may be gracious to us. While this is being done by your hands, will He accept you favorably?” says the LORD of hosts.

Have you ever been a 'foreigner?' In a foreign country, you're constantly aware that you are different. Your customs and your language mean that you never quite 'belong' in the same way as someone who was born into that country and culture. It's a persistent and slightly uncomfortable feeling.

It's curious that Adonai required Abraham to be a foreigner. Abraham was originally from Ur of the Chaldees, a place famous for its culture and it's idolatry. Yet the land Adonai sent Abraham into was also a place where idolatry was practiced.

Hezekiah reigned as king of Judah for 29 years and he followed God.  In his first month as king he cleared out all the idols his wicked father King Ahaz placed in the sanctuary.  He had the Temple repaired and prepared for worship.  The people confessed their sins, accepted God's righteousness to cover their lives, and they celebrated the Passover for the first time in a long time.

We live in a world full of distractions. Dictionary.com defines distraction as that which distracts, divides the attention, or prevents concentration. Distractions can be annoying, time consuming, and dangerous. Annoying: You're trying to read something and that little gnat is tickling your ear. Time consuming: You sit down at your computer, determined to start that overdue project and the phone starts ringing. Dangerous: You're driving on the freeway and your text alert goes off. All of these things are dividing our attention and preventing concentration.