The Law of Moses

Session 14 ... transcript

The Law of Moses

4,000 years ago, God called Abraham out of Ur of the Chaldees. Abraham obeyed and went (see Genesis 12:1,4).

God made unconditional promises to Abraham that He would bless him and make his name great, and that in him all the families of the earth would be blessed (see Genesis 12:2-3). God also promised the land of Canaan to Abraham and his offspring (see Genesis 12:7).

The promise was passed to Abraham's son, Isaac, and then to Isaac's son, Jacob. God renamed Jacob "Israel". Jacob had twelve sons ... the twelve tribes of Israel.

About 400 years later, the descendants of Israel were in slavery in Egypt. God sent Moses to rescue them.

Israel came out of Egypt under the blood of the Passover lamb. The event was also symbolic of the salvation that is available through faith in the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.

God brought Israel through the waters of the Red Sea. Israel was "baptised".

Israel came out of slavery in Egypt, but few came into all that God had for them. Even though they had seen and experienced the supernatural power of God, most didn't trust God to complete what He'd started.

In unbelief, they complained. They complained about the enemy. "Why did you do this to us", they cried to Moses (see Exodus 14:9-12).

They complained about the lack of water. "The people grumbled at Moses. 'What shall we drink?'" (see Exodus 15:22-26).They complained about lack of food. "The whole congregation of the sons of Israel grumbled. 'You brought us here to kill us with hunger', they moaned." (see Exodus 16:1-8).

They complained against Moses (see Exodus 17:1-3).

God considered their complaints to be a demonstration of their lack of belief in His willingness to take care of them. "They put God to the test" (see Psalm 78:18). "They did not believe in God and did not trust in His salvation" (see Psalm 78:22).So God imposed The Law ... on Israel.

The Law was a conditional covenant. God said: "If you obey all The Law, I will bless you. If you disobey, I will bring curses on you."

The Law was added because of unbelief (see Galatians 3:19).

The Law was imposed on Israel, and the people of Israel said they would obey.

Moses delivered The Law to Israel at Mount Sinai. The Law was not just Ten Commandments. The Law has 613 commandments which had to be obeyed completely.

All the people of Israel said, "All that the Lord has spoken, we will do" (see Exodus 19:8 and Exodus 24:3,7).

Three times, all Israel responded: "We will do it. All of it. Everything that the Lord has told us to do."

When Moses summed up The Law before Israel crossed into the Promised Land, he said: "It will be our righteousness if we are careful to obey all the commandment." (Deuteronomy 6:25)

Israel did not obey The Law. They failed. With two exceptions (Joshua and Caleb), the entire generation died out during 40 years of wandering in the wilderness.

The second generation came into the Promised Land. God stopped the waters of the Jordan River and Israel passed over. The new generation was baptised.

On entering the Promised Land, the new generation was circumcised. And immediately, they celebrated the Passover. God gave them victories. But they still failed to obey all The Law.

Israel failed to obey all The Law because it's impossible for fallen man to meet the perfect standard of The Law.

The Law is perfect, but man is not.

Why did God give The Law?

First, to show that His standard is perfection (see Psalm 19:7).

Second, to show that nobody measures up (see Romans 3:20). In other words, God gave The Law to make sin obvious (see Romans 7:7).

Third, to show that man is unable to achieve righteousness by his own efforts. We need a Saviour (see Hebrews 8:7-8).

Fourth, to point to that Saviour. "Christ is the end of The Law for everyone who believes" (Romans 10:4).

Fifth, to lead people to the Saviour, so that we may be justified by faith in Him (see Galatians 3:24). Jesus has done for everyone who believes in him what we could never do for ourselves.

The Law was a shadow of the good things that were to come in Christ (see Hebrews 10:1). The Law hinted at the salvation of God.

Jesus obeyed The Law – the letter and the spirit of The Law. And righteousness is by faith in Him.

There is no other name given among men by which we may be saved (see Acts 4:10-12).

The Law was made with Israel. Gentiles were never under The Law. But Gentiles can come into right relationship with God through the New Covenant.

Let's understand the New Covenant. Go now to the next session.