2/20/14

From Steve Singleton... What is the Law of Moses, and what are its commands?

What is the Law of Moses, and what are its commands?

Definitions:

At the outset of our consideration of the Law of Moses, we have to define three terms: Law of Moses, the Law, and Torah.
  • “Law of Moses”: This phrase in Scripture refers to two things: the stipulations of the Mosaic Covenant and the entire Pentateuch (the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy). Of course, the Mosaic covenant is contained within the Pentateuch, specifically, from Exodus 20 through Deuteronomy 33.
  • “The Law”: This phrase has the same flexibility of the “Law of Moses”: sometimes it refers to the Mosaic Covenant, and sometimes to the entire Pentateuch. In the New Testament, the Greek word translated “law” (nomos) can also mean principle, as in “the law of the Spirit of life in Christ,” or “the perfect law of liberty” (Romans 8:2 and James 1:25), or simply “law” (Romans 7:21). You have to determine from the context which meaning “law” has.
  • “Torah”: This is the Hebrew word translated “law,” but is actually means “instruction.” Its meaning varies according to the context.

Points of controversy: When we discuss the Mosaic Covenant, disagreement immediately arises concerning the origin of the Pentateuch, the written record of the Law. Some hold to what we could call a naive viewpoint, that we should take the books of the Pentateuch at face value as having been produced by Moses during the period of the wilderness wanderings after the Exodus from Egypt. Others believe that these books were not composed until hundreds of years later, as late as the Persian period (536 to 333 BCE). A more likely view is one that lies between these two alternatives: the five Books of Moses do go back to the prophet whose name they bear, though they have undergone minor editing in later generations. This, I believe, is the most likely explanation, addressing both the objections to the naive view and the observations regarding stylistic differences within the documents. This view also takes seriously the weighty evidence of the validation of the Books of Moses by both Jesus and Paul.

Characteristics of the Law of Moses:
  1. The stipulations of the Law are bound up in the narrative of the Exodus from Egypt.“ Beginning with the Ten Commandments themselves (see Exodus 20), the laws and ordinances of Torah are interspersed with the historical narrative of the events of the Israelites’ departure from Egypt and their wanderings in the desert of Sinai before entering Canaan to conquer and take possession of it. This means that the laws are not recorded in any kind of systematic order though sometimes similar laws appear together.
  2. The Decalogue (Ten Commandments) is foundational to the rest of the Law.“ The Ten Commandments cover in a general way the relationship the people of the covenant have with their God, with other members of their own families, and with the other members of the covenant community and the world at large. God gave these Ten Commandments to Israel near the beginning of the 40 years of wandering. Also at its end, Moses reminded the people of these same Ten Commandments (Deuteronomy 5). They were written on tablets of stone and placed within the ark of the covenant as a reminder of the covenant the people had with their God (Deuteronomy 31:26).
  3. Many of the ordinances are casuistic.“ That is, they seem to be the results of judgments involving particular cases. For example, immediately after God struck dead Nadab and Abihu, Aaron’s two sons, for disobeying His commands regarding the kind of fire proper for sacrifices (Numbers 10:1-7), God delivers a command prohibiting on-duty priests from getting drunk (Numbers 10:8-11). A lengthy cluster of such laws occurs at Exodus 21:18 through 22:17, each paragraph having the form of “If x happens, then do y.”
  4. It is difficult if not impossible to separate the ethical portion from the ritual parts of the Law.“ The Bible in neither the Old Testament nor the New Testament makes a distinction between the ethical or moral parts of the Law (e.g., Don’t kill, don’t steal, don’t commit adultery, don’t give false testimony, etc.) and the ritual parts of the Law (e.g., the priest should wear this garment, manufacture incense with this formula, offer this kind of sacrifice for that kind of offence, etc.). To make such a distinction is not only arbitrary and unjustified, but subjective.
  5. The essence of the Law of Moses is described by Jesus“ According to Jesus, the entire Law of Moses can be summed up in two of the commands, Deuteronomy 6:4-5 and Leviticus 19:18, which he calls the greatest and second greatest commands, to love God with everything you are and to love others as you love yourself (Mark 12:28-34 and parallels). Another key verse is Leviticus 19:2: in which God says, “Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy.” In other words, God told his people that in order for them to have a relationship with Him, they had to have a lifestyle in keeping with His character. The sacrificial system helped them to maintain the holiness so important to the human-divine relationship. Under the New Covenant, God arranged for the ultimate sacrifice, Jesus’ willing death of the cross, the take away sins once and for all (Hebrews 10:1-10).
Topics in the Law of Moses
Here is a quick topical summary. For all of the details, including book, chapter, and verse for each, see my Multi-Index to the Law of Moses.
  1. Preamble: The Ten Commands
  2. Laws of worship
    1. Idolatry & paganism
      1. No idols
      2. No sacrificing to other gods
      3. No consorting with other peoples
      4. No sorcery or augury
      5. No human sacrifices
      6. No pagan superstitions
      7. No cult prostitution
    2. Sacrifices, offerings, tithes, and vows
      1. Sacrifices
      2. Burnt offerings
      3. Grain offerings
      4. Fellowship offerings
      5. Sin offerings
      6. Guilt offerings
      7. Acceptable & unacceptable offerings
      8. Giving of produce
      9. Giving of firstborn
      10. Tithes
      11. Vows
      12. Nazirite vow
    3. Priestly duties & privileges
      1. Consecration of priesthood
      2. Purity of priesthood
      3. Priest’s duties in sacrificing
      4. Rules for killing sacrifices
      5. The eating of holy things by priests
      6. Duties of Levites
      7. Levitical cities
    4. Special religious occasions
      1. Jubilee year
      2. Sabbath year
      3. Feast days
      4. Day of Atonement
      5. Sabbath day
    5. Special, religious articles
      1. Tabernacle and furnishings
      2. Revering the sanctuary
      3. Place for the altar
      4. Kind of altar
      5. Altar on Mt. Ebal
      6. Tassels of remembrance
    6. Other religious duties
      1. Consecration of the people
      2. Loving God and teaching Him to children
      3. True and false prophets
      4. Putting God to the test
      5. Reviling God
      6. Punishment for blasphemy
      7. No mixing of breeds, grain, cloth
      8. Those excluded from the LORD’s assembly
      9. Acceptance of Egyptians and Edomites
      10. Confirm the Law by doing it
      11. Blessings of obedience
      12. Curses of disobedience
      13. Keeping the covenant
      14. Promise of restoration
      15. Choice: life or death
  3. Laws of physical purity
    1. Foods
      1. Clean and unclean animals
      2. No eating of blood
      3. Eating sacrifices on the same day
      4. No eating of meat torn by beasts
    2. Diseases
      1. Leprosy
      2. Isolation of unclean
      3. Camp sanitation
    3. Normal human processes
      1. Secretions of man
      2. Secretions of woman
      3. No sexual relations during menstrual period
      4. Purification of woman after childbirth
  4. Laws concerning buisness dealings & politics
    1. Land ownership
      1. Division of the land
      2. No removing of landmarks
      3. Safety requirement for buildings
      4. Inheritance rights
      5. Levirate marriage
      6. Redemption of property
    2. Slaves & hired servants
      1. Concerning slaves
      2. Redemption of slaves
      3. Oppressing a hired servant
    3. Ecology
      1. Preserving the fruit trees
      2. Preserving the wildlife
      3. Preserving the domesticated animals
    4. Lending laws
      1. Things taken in pledge
      2. No charging of interest
    5. Business practices
      1. Using just weights & measures
      2. Restitution
    6. Civil justice
      1. No perverting of justice
      2. Oppressing the widow, orphan, or poor
      3. Oppressing the stranger
      4. Oppressing one’s neighbor
      5. Oppressing the physically disabled
      6. Judicial system
    7. Laws protecting the poor
      1. Oppressing the widow, orphan, or poor
      2. Gleanings for the poor
      3. Rights to eat of anyone’s crops
    8. Cruelty
    9. Military laws
      1. Choosing a king
      2. Military service
      3. Besieging hostile cities
      4. Command to exterminate Amalek
    10. Liability for accidents
  5. Laws of morality
    1. Sex crimes
      1. Incest
      2. Adultery
      3. Homosexual practice
      4. Cross-dressing
      5. Fornication with a slave
      6. Bestiality
      7. Seduction of a virgin
      8. Rape laws
      9. Making one’s daughter into a prostitute
      10. Seizing a man’s sex organs to prevent a beating
    2. Marriage, divorce, & remarriage
      1. Marriage of free to slave
      2. Marriage of free to captive
      3. No remarrying of original spouse after intervening marriage
      4. Trial of the suspected adulteress
      5. Trial of the bride suspected of pre-marital promiscuity
    3. Violent crimes & their punishments
      1. Murder & other violent acts
      2. Atoning for the unknown murderer’s guilt
      3. Cities of refuge
      4. Kidnapping a man to enslave him
      5. Punishment of forty stripes
      6. Burial of an executed criminal
      7. No hatred for one’s brother
      8. No personal vengeance
    4. Other offences
      1. Testimony in trials
      2. Reviling a ruler
      3. Stoning of a rebellious son
      4. Treatment of enemies
    5. Crimes that carried the death penalty
      1. Striking or reviling a parent
      2. Blasphemy
      3. Sabbath breaking
      4. Witchcraft
      5. Adultery
      6. Rape
      7. Incestuous & homosexual relations
      8. Kidnapping
      9. Idolatry
      10. Touching Mount Sinai
      11. Murder

Want to go deeper? 

The following are useful resources for pursuing your study of the Law of Moses. Including these resources in my list does not necessarily constitute an endorsement of everything they teach. Do your own thinking and evaluate whether a teaching is in harmony with the revealed Word of God or not!

Recommended for purchase:

Steve Singleton. Multi-Index to the Law of Moses (2007).

William Barclay. The Ten Commandments (This edition, 1999). Contains a wealth of
background material – Jewish, Greek, & Roman – for the commandments that constitute the basis for ethics in the Western world.

Stanley N. Gundry, ed. Five Views on Law and Gospel (1996). Appoaches the relationship between Law and Gospel as a colloquium: each scholar presents his view, to which the other scholars response, then adds a rejoinder. This is an excellent way to study any controversial biblical subject.

Online resources:

The 613 Commandments of the Torah, with book, chapter, verse, and quotation of each.

List of essays on Law & Gospel (Reformed viewpoint)

Law & Gospel (Lutheran viewpoint)

Many thanks to brother Steve Singleton, for allowing me to post from his website, deeperstudy.com.

From Jim McGuiggan... 1 Peter 3.21 once more

1 Peter 3.21 once more


A couple of readers complained that my remarks on 1 Peter 3:21 shed more shadow than light. Could I summarise? I’m good at making simple things complex so the complaint is legitimate no doubt.

Peter obviously believes that baptism is part of the saving process in which God brings people to himself in Jesus Christ. Because that’s true, he says "baptism saves you."

Peter says that baptism saves people "by the resurrection of Jesus Christ." Saving power and virtue lie only in the once dead and now living and glorified Jesus Christ. It’s him and that power that baptism links believers to.

Peter says baptism saves (there’s no denying that) but it doesn’t save in the way some might think. It doesn’t save by taking away "the filth of the flesh." What did he mean by that? That’s where my smoke was especially dense, apparently.

The physical descendants of Abraham through Jacob were the elect of God.

They were Abraham’s heirs "after the flesh" (see 1 Corinthians 10:18, KJV and other versions, Romans 9:1-5 and elsewhere).

They consistently polluted themselves and violated the covenant.

God brought that covenant to an end and re-defined "the elect," bringing judgement and an end to a fleshly standing before God.

John came baptizing, aiming to bring Israel after the flesh back to God on terms of the existing Mosaic covenant. (See Malachi chapter 4.)

That’s not how baptism in the name of Jesus Christ functions in faith. Those who were baptized in the name of Jesus Christ were baptized into someone who was the end of "the flesh" (see Romans 6 and early 7). NT baptism didn’t cleanse "the flesh" and make it acceptable as flesh. It proclaimed the end of it because Christ was put to death in the flesh and resurrected in Spirit. So NT baptism was nothing like John’s baptism (hence Paul re-baptized Ephesians in Acts 19).

"The flesh" and "the Spirit" are two ways of relating to God. Israel’s profound need wasn’t met by cleansing the flesh in some baptism that kept the Old Covenant structure alive. As in the "baptism" of Noah, God ended "all flesh" so in NT baptism, which proclaims God’s work in Jesus Christ, God brought an end to "the flesh".

Peter is writing to Jews and reminding them that their life with God didn’t rest in their being born after the flesh. They were not baptized to purge them as a fleshly nation of their apostasies. They were born again by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead (1 Peter 1:3).
That’s the best I can do. It might be no improvement.


From Mark Copeland... Profitable And Unprofitable (Titus 3:8-11)

                         "THE EPISTLE TO TITUS"

                  Profitable And Unprofitable (3:8-11)

INTRODUCTION

1. Toward the end of his epistle to Titus, Paul gives him several
   exhortations...
   a. Things for Titus to affirm - Tit 3:8
   b. Things for Titus to avoid - Tit 3:9-11

2. In doing so, Paul describes things that are...
   a. Profitable and good - cf. Tit 3:8
   b. Unprofitable and useless - cf. Tit 3:9

[In this lesson, we shall examine what Paul describes as profitable and
unprofitable, beginning with...]

I. WHAT IS PROFITABLE

   A. CAREFUL TO MAINTAIN GOOD WORKS...
      1. Something Paul wanted Titus to affirm constantly - Tit 3:8
      2. Something which Paul himself did, while writing Titus - Ti 2:7,14; 3:1,14
      -- Are we careful to maintain good works?

   B. THE ROLE OF GOOD WORKS...
      1. We should not misunderstand the purpose of good works
         a. They are not done to buy or earn our way into heaven
         b. God saves us by His grace, not by our works - Ep 2:8-9; Ti 3:4-7
         c. Yet we have been created in Christ Jesus to do good works!
            - Ep 2:10; Tit 2:14
      2. Why then are we to do good works?
         a. They bring glory to God! - Mt 5:16; 1Pe 2:11-12
         b. They can prepare unbelievers to be more receptive to the
            gospel - 1Pe 2:12; 3:1-2
         c. They demonstrate the living nature of our faith - Jm 2:14-17
         d. They are necessary if we are to be like Jesus - cf. Lk 6:46
            with Ac 10:38
         e. They are good and profitable to men - Tit 3:8
      -- Do we understand the role of good works in our lives?

   C. GOOD WORKS WE CAN DO...
      1. Good works that are spiritual in nature
         a. Telling others of God's grace - 1Pe 2:9-10
         b. Encouraging other Christians - He 3:12-13
         c. Restoring weak brethren - Ga 6:1-2; Jm 5:19-20
      2. Good works that are physical in nature
         a. Jesus did not limit His good works to things spiritual - Lk 7:22
         b. Nor did He expect His disciples to so limit their good works
            - cf. Mt 10:7-8; 25:34-40
         c. Just as some may be gifted in talent and opportunities to
            teach, so others are gifted to in areas of physical service
            - cf. Ro 12:3-8
         d. Women can be especially fruitful in this area - e.g., Ac 9:
            36-39
      -- What kind of good works are we doing?

[Good works are certainly profitable, and should be a major focus in our
service to God as disciples of Christ.  On the other hand, there are
things we should diligently avoid.  So let us now consider...]

II. WHAT IS UNPROFITABLE

   A. ENGAGING IN FOOLISH DISPUTES...
      1. Involving genealogies, contentions, and strivings about the law
         - Tit 3:9a
      2. Such are described as unprofitable and useless - Tit 3:9b
      -- Could we be guilty of engaging in such foolish disputes?

   B. THE HARM OF FOOLISH DISPUTES...
      1. They leads to divisiveness, and those who refuse to repent of
         such are to be rejected after the first and second admonition
         - Tit 3:10
      2. For such become warped, sinful, and self-condemned - Tit 3:11
      3. Paul warned Timothy repeatedly against such "word battles"
         a. They cause disputes rather than godly edification - 1Ti 1:
            3-4
         b. They create envy, strife, reviling, evil suspicions - 1 Ti 6:3-5
         c. They have caused some to stray from the faith - 1Ti 6:20-21
         d. They lead to the ruin of the hearers - 2Ti 2:14
         e. They increase to more ungodliness - 2Ti 2:16
         f. Their effect spreads like cancer, and overthrow the faith of
            some - 2Ti 2:17-18
         g. They generate strife - 2Ti 2:23
      -- Can we not see the grave danger of foolish disputes?

   C. ALTERNATIVES TO FOOLISH DISPUTES...
      1. Godly edification that produces love from a pure heart, a good
         conscience, and a sincere faith - cf. 1Ti 1:4-6
      2. Wholesome words, such as the words of our Lord, and doctrine
         which accords to godliness - cf. 1Ti 6:3
      3. Correcting those in opposition with gentleness, patience, and
         humility - cf. 2Ti 2:24-26
         a. Disagreeing without being disagreeable
         b. Contending for the faith without being contentious
      -- Will we engage in godly edification with godly character
         instead of foolish disputes?

CONCLUSION

1. Paul's words in our text relate especially to Titus' role as an
   evangelist...
   a. Charged with setting in order the things that are lacking - Tit 1:5
   b. Charged with speaking things that are proper for sound doctrine
      - Tit 2:1
   -- Preachers do well to take Paul's words to heart as they carry out
      their ministry

2. But Paul's words should not be heeded only by evangelists...
   a. All Christians should see the value of good works, and be diligent
      in them
   b. All Christians should see the harm of foolish disputes, and seek
      to avoid them
   -- Every disciple of Christ does well to take Paul's words to heart
      as they follow Jesus

May we all be careful to maintain good works, and to avoid foolish
disputes...!

Executable Outlines, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2011


From Gary... When I see a chipmunk...


Some time ago, my friend of several decades, Walter Vogt, sent me this picture. To him it was probably just a picture of a chipmunk in a tree, but to me, it is far more than that!!!   Whenever I see a chipmunk, I think of my wife Linda, because that was my pet name for her in high school.  But, nicknames can be both a description of a person as well as a term of endearment. Read on to see where I am going with this...

Mark, Chapter 3
 13  He went up into the mountain, and called to himself those whom he wanted, and they went to him.  14 He appointed twelve, that they might be with him, and that he might send them out to preach,  15 and to have authority to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons:  16 Simon, to whom he gave the name Peter;  17 James the son of Zebedee; John, the brother of James, and he called them Boanerges, which means, Sons of Thunder; 18 Andrew; Philip; Bartholomew; Matthew; Thomas; James, the son of Alphaeus; Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot;  19 and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.

Matthew, Chapter 16
 13 Now when Jesus came into the parts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” 

  14  They said, “Some say John the Baptizer, some, Elijah, and others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” 

  15  He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 

  16  Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 
  17  Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.   18  I also tell you that you are Peter,  and on this rock I will build my assembly, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.

Simon Peter, now there is one impetuous man!!!  But, perhaps that quality about him was just a habit of sizing things up and making a quick decision- the mark of a true leader.  Peter (whose name means rock, as like a pebble) was chosen by Jesus and when the twelve were asked who the Son of Man was, responded with the famous statement of verse 16.  Jesus' reply has been misinterpreted by many to give Peter more power than he really had.  For, the "rock" Jesus talks about is Peter's confession of Jesus as the Christ (verse 16), not Peter himself.  How do it know this? Well, common sense, because there can be only one head of the Church and Jesus alone holds this position. Also, Peter is a masculine word and the "rock" is a feminine one, so the two cannot be tied together. In reality, he is ONE of the apostles, not THE HEAD APOSTLE. Peter's alternative name means a lot, but the real designation that is important is that he was a follower of Jesus, a CHRISTIAN!!!  Now, if you could choose one nickname for yourself- I wonder what you would pick??? For me, most nicknames I have had over the years aren't very flattering, so I have liked very few of them. I guess I like disciple Rose the best, because here I am retired and still learning (and of course, the word disciple means a learner).  The only other nickname that I ever enjoyed was given to me in 1973 by a Methodist minister named Jim Lundin- He used to call me "Moses BEN Rose".  Cute, but somehow it doesn't seem to fit anymore. What is really important in all this is WHO DO YOU SAY JESUS IS!!!!  Only you can answer that...