The Title: The Purpose of the Law
Scripture: Matthew 5:18, Romans: 7-12
Reason for this sermon: Twice I have lead Bible studies through the 613 laws in the Pentateuch. It was amazing. The people “ate the studies up” for much of what Jesus said came directly from the Law. The studies strengthened our Christianity. It is my hope that this sermon will encourage you to study of the laws in your church.
How important is the Law: Jesus said, Matthew 5:18, “For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.” Another translation: “Truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.” Jesus here is saying keep the Law until the universe is no more and do not modify it in even the least way.
What is the purpose of the 613 laws found in the first five books of the Bible: Paul wrote, Romans 7:7-12, “7 What then are we to say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet, if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, ‘You shall not covet.’ 8 But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law sin lies dead. 9 I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived 10 and I died, and the very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. 11 For sin, seizing an opportunity in the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. 12 So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and just and good.” The Law sets standards, though it does not mention every possible sin, it guides us to proper civil and moral behavior. Most importantly, the Law establishes loyalty between God and His people. When we Christians read the Old Testament laws, we ought to be humbled to appreciate how unworthy we are to belong to Christ. Note: The word “Law” refers to all of the laws collectively. The word “laws” refers to the 613 laws that the LORD expects the Israelites to keep evidencing their loyalty to Him.
Since Jesus and Paul say that the laws are important, do we need to study and know them? Yes. It is very important for the growing Christian. Do note that Jesus did differentiate between the importances of the various laws for example saying there are two greatest laws: Deuteronomy 6:5, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” And, Leviticus 19:18, “You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.” The first five Books of the Bible, the Pentateuch or Torah, contain the laws. Those five Books and the rest of the Old Testament are the Word of God. However, nowhere in the Bible does it say that obeying the laws will save your soul. Israel’s problem in the Old Testament was not its inability to keep the laws; it was with their choosing not to do so. The Law, all of the laws, is a gift from God, a gift to live by.
The Law is an instruction manual for life. Obeying the Law sets us apart from godless people setting stipulations and boundaries for our conduct. It explains how to live morally and have kind relationships with others. Following the Pentateuch’s commandments are the means through which we apply these values to our lives and create a society with more happiness and harmony.
God, through Moses, gave the Pentateuch to the Children of Israel at the Mount Sinai. The Pentateuch goes from the Creation though to the Israelites prepared to enter the Promised Land. God had to take His people who, for hundreds of years, had been suffering under the horrors of slavery and make them into a Nation. The Israelites had to shed the ways and culture of Egypt and be prepared not to adopt the ways and culture of the Canaanites.
God did this with the laws recorded throughout the first five books of the Bible particularly from chapter 19 of Exodus through to the Deuteronomy 34. However, the Law is far more than instructions for former slaves; it presents a way of life for all peoples.
Again, I say, the Pentateuch’s laws are God’s gift to His people Israel and to us living in the Twenty-First Century. These laws establish the ways the Israelites were to live with one another and provide the same civil and moral guides for us. Following these laws provides for the security (food, protection) of all. Further, the Pentateuch provides ceremonial laws that tell the Israelites how to worship God Almighty. God’s instructions begin with the Ten Commandments. Next, the other 603 laws provide detail to the first Ten and give instructions for Levites and Priests.
These laws cover three main groups: civil, moral and ceremonial. The first group, civil laws have to do with disputes between individuals. Examples of civil laws: justice to the poor, dress, rebellious children, landmarks, murder, robbery and warfare. The second group, moral laws have to do behaving in a Godly manner. Examples of moral laws: idolatry, love God, love your neighbor, lying, stealing and sexual sins. The civil and moral laws are laws to live by. The third group, ceremonial laws have to do with the duties of the Levites and Priests. Examples of ceremonial laws: the Levites executed the duties associated with worship, singing and playing music on the Temple Mount. They were also the gatekeepers, guards, Temple officials and judges. The Priests worked in the Temple. While Rabbis and Cantors follow guidelines set out by the ceremonial laws, most ceremonial laws will go unfulfilled until the rebuilding of the Temple.
It is the goal of this sermon to spark interest in the laws by giving you a taste for them. Examples follow:
Know that God exists. The existence of I AM is a foregone conclusion. If you need proof, look to the miracles in the Bible. Look to the magnificence of the universe. Look to Christ forgiveness of sin. Exodus 3:14, “God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM.’ He said further, ‘Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” Exodus 20:2 & Deuteronomy 5:6, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.” God is.
Love God. Deuteronomy 6:5, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” “All your heart” refers less to the emotions than to the mind: in biblical language, the intellect is located in the heart, the inner aspect of the human personality. “With all your soul” means “with all your being”; the Hebrew nefesh, translated as “soul”, it refers in the Bible to what we would call the person rather than the “soul.” God is Almighty and thus we are to forsake even the temptation to love anyone, or anything more than we love Him.
Hallowed be God’s name for He is holy, sacred and to be revered. Exodus 20:7 & Deuteronomy 5:11, “You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.” When you are talking about or to God, you are to be reverent, to show the utmost respect.
Learning and teaching the Word of God. Deuteronomy 6:6-7, “6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” In Verse 6, the Words of God must lay upon your heart as if you are in danger of losing something most precious. Our thoughts on them must be daily. We must live by God’s words and thereby our whole soul will come under the influence of Him. In Verse 7, the Hebrew word “shinnantam” means to repeat, iterate, or do things again and again. We must teach our children the Word diligently, earnestly and daily. The study of the Word and instruction of our children is a command!
Love all human beings. Leviticus 19:18, “18 You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.” “You shall not take vengeance”, this verse forbids us to avenge the wrong done us by a person even when the person that harmed us will not apologize. “Bear a grudge against any of your people”, the law goes further still; it enjoins the injured person is to banish from his or her memory the injury he or she has suffered even though the offender has made no reparation. “You shall love your neighbor as yourself”, this precept formed the center around which clusters the ethical systems of the Divine Law in the least number of words. Paul adds depth to these scriptures in Romans 13:8-10, “8 Owe no one anything, except to love one another, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 The commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery; you shall not murder; you shall not steal; you shall not covet,’ and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.” Christ summed this law in its positive form in Matthew 7:12 & Luke 6:31: “What thou dost not wish that others should do to thee that do not thou to others; this is the whole Law, the rest is only its interpretation. Now go and learn.”
How to treat special needs people. Leviticus 19:14-18, “You shall not revile the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind; you shall fear your God: I am the LORD.” Literally, one who cannot hear cannot vindicate his or her character. Harming or making sport of the blind is the epitome of human callousness and cruelty. Furthermore, “deaf” and “blind” have second meanings. With power comes accountability. The strong are accountable for their actions over the weak, the employer over employee, the educated over the unlettered, the experienced over the innocent, the worldly over the morally weak, even the clever over the not so bright. The godly person approaches power and authority humbly for God holds those in power and authority to very highest standards.
Help for the poor and foreigner. Leviticus 19:9-10, “9 When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. 10 You shall not strip your vineyard bare or gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the alien: I am the LORD your God.” Poverty has the effect of consuming so much of one’s efforts that a person has no time for those things that make us godly for poverty can make us act like animal hunting for our next meal rather than being men and women serving each other and serving God. Indeed, with “gather the gleanings” the poor and the stranger sill have to pick-up the gleanings and process the produce. Thus, we are not depriving our brothers and sisters of the dignity of work, the missing link in modern welfare programs.
The Sabbath is a day to heal the heart. Exodus 20:8-10 & Deuteronomy 5:12-14, “12 Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the LORD your God has commanded you. 13 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 14 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your ox, your donkey or any of your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns, so that your male and female servants may rest, as you do.” Sabbath day, shabbath in Hebrew means desisting from work. Underlying the spirit of the Sabbath is the radical notion that human beings have worth even when they are not working. Rich or poor, we are alike on the Sabbath. Many in our society take this notion of rest too far. We forget that while the Sabbath is a day of rest, its ultimate goal is holiness. How do we do that, first, ‘Observe the Sabbath day” we are to be with friends and family and enjoy one another. Second, “keeping it holy,” means to treat it as a day unprofaned by workaday purposes. In addition to being a day of rest, the Sabbath is to be a holy day, set apart for the building up of the spiritual elements in humans. Religious worship and religious instruction—the renewal of human spiritual life in God with song and shouts of joy—form an essential part of the Sabbath. Third, “you shall not do any work.” Working is six days of the week is as essential for human welfare as is one day a week of rest. We are to prepare for that day. Men are to do any work that may be necessary on the Sabbath the day before and women prepared food the day before. The only time the Sabbath laws are to be suspended is when there is danger to human life.
Build a safer world. Deuteronomy 22:8, “When you build a new house, make a parapet around your roof so that you may not bring the guilt of bloodshed on your house if someone falls from the roof.” In ancient Middle Eastern countries, homes had flat roofs. During the day, these roofs became work areas for chores such as drying grain and, on hot summer nights, families used them as a cooler place to sleep. To prevent people from accidentally falling off roofs, parapets had to be high enough and strong enough to prevent misfortunes. This law requires that the person in charge of a property is obligated to remove or make harmless anything that might cause injury. God would have His people build a safe world for His people to work and play. We are our brother’s keeper.
I started this sermon quoting Jesus, “For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.” It always amazes me how many American Christians look at laws, like those above, as great rules to live by, but quickly say of some laws, like the one below, that, “We now know better than that law.”
We are to maintain distinctions between men and women in clothing. Deuteronomy 22:5, “A woman must not wear men’s clothing, nor a man wear women’s clothing, for the LORD your God detests anyone who does this.” God has purposefully distinguished the sexes. Thus, He forbids the confounding of that distinction. Any garments that carry with them a sign of effeminacy for men or masculinity for women may occasion evil. An interchange of attire between man and woman promotes immodesty and, as a consequence, immorality. Regardless of our understanding or approving of a law, God gave us these laws for our own good and the good of the societies in which we live.
Summation, Hebrews 8:10, “I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” The Word of God proclaimed Jesus sinless because He perfectly obeyed the laws. Our goal as Christians is to become more and more Christ like. Understanding the laws is as much a foundational piece of Christian growth as are the stories of Abraham, Moses and David. From the Sermon on the Mount to Christ teachings His Disciples, Jesus often quoted the laws. I have but given you but a small slice of the Law. I hope that this slice will encourage you to make the study of the Law a primary piece of your Bible study. You will find Jesus there; accepting Him as your LORD will save your soul.
