The Giving Of The Law

by Micky Galloway

Almost immediately after the children of Israel came out of Egyptian bondage, they began to complain. God responded by miraculously giving them water to drink and food to eat. In about three months (Exodus 19:1-2), they came to Mt. Sinai, where God reminded them of the plagues they had seen in Egypt and of His care for the multitude in the wilderness. He said that, though the whole world is His, they could be His special treasured possession if they would obey Him and keep His covenant. God Himself said, “ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:6). “And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and set before them all these words which Jehovah commanded him. And all the people answered together, and said, All that Jehovah hath spoken we will do” (Exodus 19:8-9). The covenant was offered in Exodus 19 and in chapters 20-23 a summary of the Law of God was given.

When Moses went into the mount to receive the rest of the Law, the people became restless and told Aaron, “Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is become of him” (Exodus 32:1). Less than six weeks after they had vowed their obedience to God, they were building a golden calf to worship and were engaged in the revelry of idol worship. God was determined to destroy them, but Moses interceded on behalf of the people. God heard Moses’s plea and promised to continue the covenant so long as the people would serve him and offer the designated sacrifices for their sins.

To whom was this law given? It is important to note that the law containing the ten commandments was not given to everyone. This Law was given to the children of Israel. Note the text, Exodus 20:1-4 says, “And God spake all these words, saying, I am Jehovah thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image…” Read on from this passage and you will note the ten commandments were given to those whom God brought out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Further read, Deuteronomy 5:1-8, “And Moses called unto all Israel, and said unto them, Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the ordinances which I speak in your ears this day, that ye may learn them, and observe to do them. Jehovah our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. Jehovah made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day. Jehovah spake with you face to face in the mount out of the midst of the fire, (I stood between Jehovah and you at that time, to show you the word of Jehovah: for ye were afraid because of the fire, and went not up into the mount;) saying, I am Jehovah thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image…” In this text we learn that this law was made with the house of Israel, not even their fathers, but those whom God brought out of the land of Egypt.

If the law of Moses, containing the ten commandments, was not given to everyone, then what is the Christian’s relationship to the Law? Nine of the ten commandments are repeated in the New Covenant, but we are not commanded to remember the Sabbath day.

1. Exodus 20:3 “Thou shalt have no other gods before me…” Acts 14:15,17; I Thessalonians 1:9
2. Exodus 20:4-5 “Thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image…” Acts 17; I Thessalonians 1:9; I John 5:21
3. Exodus 20:7 “Thou shalt not take the name of Jehovah thy God in vain; for Jehovah will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain…” James 5:12
4. Exodus 20:8 “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy…” SABBATH IS NOT COMMANDED TODAY.
5. Exodus 20:12 “Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long in the land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee…” Ephesians 6:1-2
6. Exodus 20:13 “Thou shalt not kill…” Romans 13:9; Matthew 5:21-24
7. Exodus 20:14 “Thou shalt not commit adultery…” I Corinthians 6:9-10
8. Exodus 20:15 “Thou shalt not steal…” Ephesians 4:28
9. Exodus 20:16 “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor…” Colossians 3:9
10. Exodus 20:17 “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his man-servant, nor his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor’s…” Colossians 3:5

Every commandment of the Ten Commandments, save one, is restated in substance in the New Testament. We are to follow the Law of Christ, rather than the Law of Moses.

Let us notice now, an instance in which the Old Testament plainly declared that there would come a time when it would be done away. This quotation that declares the Law is to be done away is found in Jeremiah 31:31-34, and Paul quotes it in Hebrews 8:7-13, “For if that first (covenant) had been faultless, then would no place have been sought for a second. For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, That I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah; Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers In the day that I took them by the hand to lead them forth out of the land of Egypt; For they continued not in my covenant, And I regarded them not, saith the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel After those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, And on their heart also will I write them: And I will be to them a God, And they shall be to me a people: And they shall not teach every man his fellow-citizen, And every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: For all shall know me, From the least to the greatest of them. For I will be merciful to their iniquities, And their sins will I remember no more. In that he saith, A new (covenant) he hath made the first old. But that which is becoming old and waxeth aged is nigh unto vanishing away.”

Paul used these statements from Jeremiah’s prophecy to show that the Old Covenant was done away. Therefore those who maintain that the Old Testament Law is still binding upon men today deny the teaching of the Old Testament itself. Paul said the first Law was faulty; therefore a second was given. In Ephesians 2:14-16 Paul writes, “For he is our peace, who made both one, and brake down the middle wall of partition, having abolished in the flesh the enmity, (even) the law of commandments (contained) in ordinances; that he might create in himself of the two one new man, (so) making peace; and might reconcile them both in one body unto God through the cross, having slain the enmity thereby.” In Colossians 2:14-16 he said, “…having blotted out the bond written in ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us: and he hath taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross.”

We learn that the law was done away in Christ. So one who does not believe that the Old Testament Law was temporary, and is therefore abrogated, must reject the teaching of both the Old and New Testaments.