The law is something that binds. Every nation, culture, and people group have a Law. It is either written down or it is an unspoken law. Some people hate it, some people try to find loop holes through it, but law is everywhere.
The Israelite nation were slaves. They were forced to work. The law said that they were property and needed to work for Pharaoh for the rest of their lives. Today we would call that an unjust law, but that’s what happened.
Well in the book of Exodus we see that God brings the people of Israel out of Egypt and out of slavery. He gives them their freedom and He also gives them the Law. Why the Law? Well not only does the law give them an idea of right and wrong, it also protects the people, but more than that it protects the nation. Many of the laws seem ridiculous or pointless but many we can see value in today. But every law had a purpose. I can’t tell you the purpose of every law because it would take too long to write and because I don’t know them all ;) I believe that God does everything for a purpose.
For example, in Leviticus 12 there are laws about purification after giving birth. Looking at that, one could think that God is being sexist against female’s because if a girl is born then the woman and child are unclean for a longer time period than if a boy is born. But looking at the context we can see that God is protecting the child. In Canaan, people worshipped a god named Molech and it was common practice to have human sacrifice’s to this god. The Canaanites would sacrifice babies to Molech and it was more common to sacrifice female babies. This was because the Canaanites had an agricultural society where males were more highly valued than females because of the hard physical labor it took to work the fields. God of course is against human sacrifice in regards to worshipping Him or any other supposed god. Many scholars say that these laws of purification after giving birth were to contradict this practice of sacrificing babies to the god Molech. By separating the child and mother from the rest of society for a time period, it gives them a time to not only recuperate physically, but also gives the mother and child more time to bond which would make the family less likely to sacrifice their child to Molech.
God made and gave the Law to protect the people. Everyone was under the Law. There were even laws for future kings even though God was to be the King. God said that when the day came and Israel would choose to have man as king instead of God, that that man was to obey the law. He was meant to have his own copy of the law which meant that he was also under the law. We see an example of this with Saul and David, even though David broke the law with Bathsheba he still had consequences, he still had to answer to the law.
This is because the Law was above everyone. It’s because God made the Law. God didn’t want His people to come under the rule of another tyrant like Pharaoh! No! He made everyone under the Law so that the people would be protected against tyranny. In history we see many examples of kings or dictators making the law so that they are above the law because they made it. But with Israel it was God who made the Law, so no man was above the law but everyone had to answer to it.
To me this shows God’s incredible foresight and wisdom in regards to human nature. Sin would eventually corrupt and the people would once again be left with nothing, either by someone else's doing or by their own.
Today we are also ruled by law. We often do things that aren’t necessarily “illegal”, but I wonder what would happen if we looked at it in the light of God’s Law. Jesus of course fulfilled the Law, but there are still moral standards to live by. If anything, Jesus intensified the Law (Matthew 5). So my challenge? As a follower of Christ I am supposed to follow the example that Jesus gave. However, sometimes I put man’s law ahead of God’s law when I should be following God first. I know there is grace, but I do not want to take grace for granted. The Law was meant to protect the people, but it was also meant to protect a sacred relationship - the relationship that God always intended us to have, the relationship between God and man. That relationship is harmed when we sin, so by putting God first I am actively trying to protect that relationship as well. God is someone that I can not afford to lose touch with. After all, it’s relationship with God that brings freedom!
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