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There was only one
law God gave to Israel (Exod. 19; Lev. 26:46; Rom. 9:4). It was a total of 613 laws
made up of three parts: the Ten
Commandments, the ordinances, and the very
elaborate system of worship that included
the priesthood, the tabernacle, the
offerings, and the annual festivals (Exod. 20-40; Lev. 1-7; 23).
God wrote the
Decalogue (the Ten Commandments), on tablets
of stone (Exod. 34:28; Deut. 4:13), and then
spoke all of the additional laws to Moses
personally because the people feared hearing
from their God, Yahweh directly.
Exodus 20:18-19 says, “Now when all the
people saw the thunder and the flashes of
lightning and the sound of the trumpet and
the mountain smoking, the people were afraid
and trembled, and they stood far off and
said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will
listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest
we die.”
As part of the Old
Covenant, the people at Mount Sinai also
agreed to obey all the laws in Exodus 20-24.
These additional laws became part of the
covenant God made with Israel, and the
covenant was then ratified with blood.
Exodus 24:6-8 says, “And Moses took half
of the blood and put it in basins, and half
of the blood he threw against the altar.
Then he took the Book of the Covenant and
read it in the hearing of the people. And
they said, “All that the LORD has spoken we
will do, and we will be obedient.” And Moses
took the blood and threw it on the people
and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant
that the LORD has made with you in
accordance with all these words.’”
The Ten Commandments were called the
‘words’ of the covenant. As the Words of the
covenant, they represented the entire
covenant.
Exodus 34:27-28,
“And the LORD said to Moses, “Write these
words, for in accordance with these words I
have made a covenant with you and with
Israel.” So he was there with the LORD forty
days and forty nights. He neither ate bread
nor drank water. And he wrote on the tablets
the words of the covenant, the Ten
Commandments” (cf. Exod. 20:1; 34:1, 4;
Deut. 4:13; 9:9; 5:2-3; 1 Kings 8:9, 21;
2 Chron. 6:11).
The Mosaic
Covenant contained all of the 613 laws
listed in the Pentateuch (the five books of
Moses).
Both Leviticus and
Numbers have laws concerning Israel’s
worship and the book of Deuteronomy contains
additional laws and regulations for Israel
regarding how they were to conduct
themselves in the Promised Land, but those
laws were still considered part of the same
covenantal agreement or relationship between
God and Israel. [1]
Notice
that God gave ALL of the commandments,
statutes and laws through His servant Moses.
Nehemiah 9:13-15 says, “You came down on
Mount Sinai and spoke with them from heaven
and gave them right rules and true laws,
good statutes and commandments, and you made
known to them your holy Sabbath and
commanded them commandments and statutes and
a law by Moses your servant. You gave them
bread from heaven for their hunger and
brought water for them out of the rock for
their thirst, and you told them to go in to
possess the land that you had sworn to give
them.”
The Old Covenant also included
more than just what was given in Exodus 20-24. Hebrews 9:1-4 tells us that it also
included directions for the tabernacle.
Instructions for the altar, Levitical
priests and animal sacrifices were given in
Exodus 25-31.
Hebrews 9:1-4 says,
“Now even the first covenant had regulations
for worship and an earthly place of
holiness. For a tent was prepared, the first
section, in which were the lampstand and the
table and the bread of the Presence. It is
called the Holy Place. Behind the second
curtain was a second section called the Most
Holy Place, having the golden altar of
incense and the ark of the covenant covered
on all sides with gold, in which was a
golden urn holding the manna, and Aaron’s
staff that budded, and the tablets of the
covenant.”
The scriptures
tell us that God gave the Law of Moses and
Moses gave the Law of God.
Scriptures
that say God gave the Law of Moses:
Ezra 7:6 says, “this Ezra went up from
Babylonia. He was a scribe skilled in the
Law of Moses that the LORD, the God of
Israel, had given, and the king granted him
all that he asked, for the hand of the LORD
his God was on him.”
Nehemiah 8:1
says, “And all the people gathered as one
man into the square before the Water Gate.
And they told Ezra the scribe to bring the
Book of the Law of Moses that the LORD had
commanded Israel.”
Scriptures
that say Moses gave the Law of God:
Nehemiah 10:29 says, “join with their
brothers, their nobles, and enter into a
curse and an oath to walk in God’s Law that
was given by Moses the servant of God, and
to observe and do all the commandments of
the LORD our Lord and his rules and his
statutes.”
2 Chronicles 34:14 says,
“While they were bringing out the money that
had been brought into the house of the LORD,
Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Law
of the LORD given through Moses.”
There was no distinction made
between the moral and ceremonial laws in the
Mosaic Covenant. The “Law of God” and the
“Law of Moses” are the same Law.
Nehemiah used the different terms
interchangeably. He wrote these verses with
an almost prophetic eye toward the future
when some groups would come along and
falsely claim that there were two different
covenants when in fact, there is just one.
The Jews have always known this and it has
been the consistent teaching of the Church
throughout most of its history. Only a few
small groups have come along (mostly
Sabbatarians) that teach that there are two
separate laws. The Seventh-day Adventists
have a special need for this to be true
since their entire system stands or falls on
its meaning.
Nehemiah 8:1 says, “And
all the people gathered as one man into the
square before the Water Gate. And they told
Ezra the scribe to
bring the Book of the Law
of Moses that the LORD had commanded
Israel.”
Nehemiah 8:2 says, “So
Ezra
the priest brought the Law before the
assembly, both men and women and all who
could understand what they heard, on the
first day of the seventh month.”
Nehemiah 8:3 says, “And he read from it
facing the square before the Water Gate from
early morning until midday, in the presence
of the men and the women and those who could
understand. And the ears of all the people
were attentive to the Book of the Law.”
Nehemiah 8:8 says, “They read from the
book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they
gave the sense, so that the people
understood the reading.”
Nehemiah 8:18 says, “And day by day, from the first
day to the last day,
he read from the Book
of the Law of God. They kept the feast seven
days, and on the eighth day there was a
solemn assembly, according to the rule.”
The Jewish feast days were also
called part of the Law of the Lord.
2 Chronicles 31:3-4 says, “The
contribution of the king from his own
possessions was for the burnt offerings: the
burnt offerings of morning and evening, and
the burnt offerings for the Sabbaths, the
new moons, and the appointed feasts,
as it
is written in the Law of the LORD. And he
commanded the people who lived in Jerusalem
to give the portion due to the priests and
the Levites, that they might give themselves
to the Law of the LORD.”
What
was the Book of the Law?
Deuteronomy 31:24-26 says, “When Moses had
finished writing the words of this law in a
book to the very end, Moses commanded the
Levites who carried the ark of the covenant
of the LORD, “Take this Book of the Law and
put it by the side of the ark of the
covenant of the LORD your God, that it may
be there for a witness against you.”
Deuteronomy 31:24-29 says the Book of the
Law was placed beside the Ark so it could be
read regularly. No one was allowed to open
the Ark in which was the actual covenant
containing the “words of the covenant”, the
Ten Commandments. The Book of the Law had
two written copies of the Ten Commandments
and all of the rest of the 613 Laws of Moses
to be read to the people (Exod. 20; Deut. 5). Ancient treaties specified that a copy
of the treaty was to be placed before the
gods at the religious centers of the nations
involved. For Israel, that meant to place
“the Words of the covenant” (the Ten
Commandments), inside the Ark of the
Covenant (cf. Deut. 33:9; Exod. 16:34; 31:18).
“These arrangements were
again consistent with ancient practices
concerning a covenant between an overlord
and his subject people. The covenant
document was kept in the people’s sanctuary,
and the leaders conducted periodic public
readings to remind the people of their
covenant obligations. Finally, God provided
a record of the law so that future
generations could know God’s will (Deut. 31:24-29). The Lord, true to ancient treaty
form, invoked heaven and earth as witnesses
to the promises that Israel had sworn.”
[2]
The reason the Book of the Law was placed
beside the Ark was so it could be read
regularly. No one was allowed to open the
Ark in which was the actual covenant. The
Book of the Law had all of the 613 Laws of
Moses to be read to the people.
Some
groups make an artificial distinction
between the Law of God (the Ten
Commandments), and the Law of Moses. There is
no distinction ever made in the Bible. They
are one and the same law! They were the Old
Covenant that was replaced by the New
Covenant of Jesus Christ. There is no
difference between the “Law of God” and the
“Law of Moses.” [3]
Jesus
viewed the laws of the Mosaic Covenant as a
unit. There is no distinction between the
laws of Moses and the laws that the Lord
gave. In fact, Jesus taught that the
greatest commandments were from what some
people call, the ceremonial law.
Matthew 22:34-40 says, “But when the
Pharisees heard that he had silenced the
Sadducees, they gathered together. And one
of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to
test him. “Teacher, which is the great
commandment in the Law?” And he said to him,
“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 neighbor as yourself. On
these two commandments depend all the Law
and the Prophets.”
Jesus
proved that the Law of God, and the Law of
Moses were the same law when He said that
Moses gave the law, “You shall not kill”
which comes from the Ten Commandments.
John 7:19 says, “Has not Moses
given you the law? Yet none of you keeps the
law. Why do you seek to kill me?”
Israel failed in their mission to reach the
Gentiles with God’s message of love and His
superiority over all the other gods until
they reached the point of no return. The
nation repeatedly broke their covenant with
God until they received the curse of
captivity (Deut. 28:64-68). Israel was
restored to their homeland 70 years after
their Babylonian captivity in 586 B.C., but
once again broke the covenant and received
the final curse, they were destroyed as a
nation. God brought the Old Covenant to an
end when Israel rejected Jesus as their
Messiah and King (John 19:15). Shortly
before He died, Jesus declared the soon
coming destruction of the nation with all of
its temple services (Jer. 12:14-17; 18; 26:1-6;
Dan. 9:26-27; Matt. 23:37-39; 21:42-44;
Luke 13:34-35; cf. 1 Kings 9:7;
Jer. 22:5; 1 Pet. 2:9).
According to
the New Covenant, all of the requirements
and ceremonies of the Old Covenant were
fulfilled by Christ and brought to an end
(Rom. 6:14-15; 7:1-6; 14:5-12; 2 Cor. 3:4-18;
Gal. 3:15-4:10; 4:21; 5:1-4; Eph. 2:11-16;
Col. 2:14-17; Acts 15:1-28; Heb. 7-10).
The Ten Commandments
are “the Law” that we are “released from”
according to Romans 7:4-7.
Romans 7:4-8 says, “Likewise, my brothers,
you also have died to the law through the
body of Christ, so that you may belong to
another, to him who has been raised from the
dead, in order that we may bear fruit for
God. For while we were living in the flesh,
our sinful passions, aroused by the law,
were at work in our members to bear fruit
for death. But now we are released from the
law, having died to that which held us
captive, so that we serve in the new way of
the Spirit and not in the old way of the
written code. What then shall we say? That
the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had
not been for the law, I would not have known
sin. For I would not have known what it is
to covet if the law had not said, “You shall
not covet.” But sin, seizing an opportunity
through the commandment, produced in me all
kinds of covetousness. For apart from the
law, sin lies dead.”
The Old
Covenant was the Law of the Ten Commandments
and the entire Mosaic legal system.
2 Corinthians 3:7-11 says, “Now if the
ministry of death, carved in letters on
stone, came with such glory that the
Israelites could not gaze at Moses’ face
because of its glory, which was being
brought to an end, will not the ministry of
the Spirit have even more glory? For if
there was glory in the ministry of
condemnation, the ministry of righteousness
must far exceed it in glory. Indeed, in this
case, what once had glory has come to have
no glory at all, because of the glory that
surpasses it. For if what was being brought
to an end came with glory, much more will
what is permanent have glory.”
The Old Covenant Law was only meant
to be a guardian until Christ came.
Romans 10:4
says, “For Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness to everyone who believes.”
Galatians 3:24-25 says, “So then, the
law was our guardian until Christ came, in
order that we might be justified by faith.
But now that faith has come, we are no
longer under a guardian,”
And Hebrews 9:11-15
says, “But when Christ appeared as a
high priest of the good things that have
come, then through the greater and more
perfect tent (not made with hands, that is,
not of this creation) he entered once for
all into the holy places, not by means of
the blood of goats and calves but by means
of his own blood, thus securing an eternal
redemption. For if the blood of goats and
bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons
with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the
purification of the flesh, how much more
will the blood of Christ, who through the
eternal Spirit offered himself without
blemish to God, purify our conscience from
dead works to serve the living God.
Therefore he is the mediator of a new
covenant, so that those who are called may
receive the promised eternal inheritance,
since a death has occurred that redeems them
from the transgressions committed under the
first covenant.”
Those who truly follow Jesus Christ have
died to the Old Covenant Law.
Romans 7:4 says, “Likewise, my brothers,
you also have died to the law through the
body of Christ, so that you may belong to
another, to him who has been raised from the
dead, in order that we may bear fruit for
God.”
The Old Covenant has
served its purpose. Jesus Christ, our great
High Priest has given us His new,
sanctifying covenant to live by.
Hebrews 10:8-10 says, “When he said
above, “You have neither desired nor taken
pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and
burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these
are offered according to the law), then he
added, “Behold, I have come to do your
will.” He does away with the first in order
to establish the second. And by that will we
have been sanctified through the offering of
the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”
Jesus Christ has set us free
from the Old Covenant law of sin and death
to live by the Spirit.
Romans 8:1-2 says, “There is therefore now
no condemnation for those who are in Christ
Jesus. “For the law of the Spirit of life
has set you free in Christ Jesus from the
law of sin and death.”
We are
said to be ministers of the New Covenant,
not the Old Covenant that came to an end.
2 Corinthians 3:4-6 says, “Such is the
confidence that we have through Christ
toward God. Not that we are sufficient in
ourselves to claim anything as coming from
us, but our sufficiency is from God,
who has
made us sufficient to be ministers of a new
covenant, not of the letter but of the
Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit
gives life.”
When the Bible says the
Old Covenant law has come to an end, it
means all of the 613 laws of the Mosaic
Covenant. All of the commandments, statutes
and laws ended with the New Covenant that
Jesus Christ gave in its place.
Telling people to keep some of the laws from
the Old Covenant is teaching the same false
message that the Judaizers preached in Jesus and
Paul’s day. You cannot mix laws from the
Bible without any regard for the covenant
they appear in. When you tell people to keep
some of the laws from the Old Covenant you
are preaching a false gospel! The New
Covenant contains everything we need to know
about salvation and eternal life that is
only found in our Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ.
You have the choice to live
by the law of the Spirit of life or, the law
of sin and death. Which do you choose?
References:
1. See:
A List of the 613 Mitzvot (Commandments).
2. See: The Concise Bible Commentary:
Deuteronomy 31:1-34:12.
3. For further
study, see: “What
was the law placed beside the ark of the
covenant?”
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