Law of the Old Testament

What to do with the Law of the Old Testament?

Many people are taught from an early age to both respect and dismiss the Old Testament. Nowhere is this more evident than in the Law of ancient Israel. The Law is not just the Ten Commandments which are in our reading from Exodus 20 but include all those other laws found in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy covering moral behaviour, property laws, justice, sacrifices, treatment of foreigners, war and obligations to God.

Our love-hate attitude comes from a number of sources:

• Jesus loved and respected the Law therefore so should we Matthew 5:17-20

• Paul the apostle and the writer of Hebrews pointed out that we didn’t need to do that part of the Law that obliged sacrifices because Jesus death on the cross replaced them. So there are parts of the Law that we don’t have to listen to anymore. “But he has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself” Heb 9:26

• Paul the apostle pointed out that the moral laws contained in the Law were ineffective in giving us a right relationship with God because our sinful nature gets in the way. Paul argues that knowing what is good and right is not enough because our selfish nature (“the flesh” as he terms it) undermines our best intentions. Instead Paul says we have to put our trust in Jesus whose death makes us right with God- we should give up on the idea that our good deeds will achieve that. Galatians 2:15-21

• Jesus says that he is “the way, the truth, and the life; no-one comes to the Father but through me” (Jn 14:6). Many Christians think mistakenly that we only have to look at Jesus and we can dismiss the Old Testament

• Many people think mistakenly, that the Old Testament is all about rules and the New Testament is all about God’s grace and love. In fact all of these are found in both parts of the Bible!

• Paul and Jesus describe the Christian life and Church community as being all about a change of heart that comes from within, not external conformity brought about by rules compelled from without. The Spirit brings change and freedom, laws are for those who must be compelled to stop sinning. Galatians 5

• In more recent times, readers have become more aware of how many Old Testament rules were specific to the time and culture of 3000 years ago. For instance the laws about how to treat slaves fairly; laws about when to apply the death penalty in a society that had no prisons; laws about not eating pork and other animals; laws that dealt with marriage, adultery and rape. More controversially, some people include the laws on homosexuality here.

So what are we to do with the Old Testament Law?!

Some people say that they have nothing to teach us because they were not intended for us in 21st Century Australia.

Some people want to pick and choose depending on what fits in with their ideas of good and right. Many laws about Social Justice are honoured like this while dismissing the laws in the verses before and after. Many people love the verse “love your neighbour as yourself” (Leviticus 19) but reject the punishments for sexual immorality in Leviticus 20.

Some say that we can dismiss all these smaller laws but we must keep the Ten Commandments. (Usually, these same people decline to obey the fourth commandment about the Sabbath and are frantically busy every day of the week!)

Some say that as long as we love people we will naturally live out the good intentions of the Old Testament Law. There is good basis for this in the New Testament in Romans 13:8-10. Unfortunately, we frail human beings are also subject to deception. Every society pressures its people to conform to its values. We are pressured to be materialistic, individualistic, and superficially tolerant. It is when we read the Scriptures including the Law that we see that there are deeper truths and we must question what society tells us.

For instance. Leviticus 19:33

‘When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. 34 The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the LORD your God.’

I wonder if this has anything to tell us about asylum seekers in 21st Century Australia?
Perhaps, those Old Testament laws do have a thing or two to teach us about life even if we are not compelled to obey them? Perhaps there insights into justice and community life that we might benefit by even if there is other stuff we don’t know what to do with.

Go on; have another look!

Graeme