Day 1
In chapter three we
discussed the difference between a law and a commandment. In this lesson we need
to know the difference between a law and a promise.
In
the book of Genesis, the laws of God had not yet been established. There were no
laws to govern the people and everyone was simply doing what they felt was right.
God chose to establish for Himself a people. This He accomplished through
Abraham. When God inspired Moses to write this book He wanted to give a
historical record of how He established His people and His love for
them.
In the book of Genesis, God made certain
promises to Abraham concerning his descendants. These were not to govern the
people, these promises were laws for God to govern Himself. These promises were
things He must do for the descendants of Abraham because He said he would. For
God to have broken these promises would have been devastating. There would be no
Israel and no hope of salvation for the world.
What is the difference between laws and
promises?
Law: A
rule of action.
(1.)
The Law of Nature (a commandment) is the will of God as to human conduct,
founded on the moral difference of things, and discoverable by natural light
(Rom.
1:20; 2:14, 15).
This law binds all men at all times. It is generally designated by the term
conscience, or the capacity of being influenced by the moral relations of
things.
(2.)
The Ceremonial Law prescribes under the Old Testament the rites and ceremonies
of worship. This law was obligatory only till Christ, of whom these rites were
typical, had finished his work (Heb.
7:9, 11; 10:1; Eph. 2:16).
It was fulfilled rather than abrogated by the gospel.
(3.)
The Judicial Law, the law which directed the civil policy of the Hebrew
nation.
(4.)
The Moral Law (commandment) is the revealed will of God as to human conduct,
binding on all men to the end of time. It was promulgated at Sinai. It is
perfect (Ps.
19:7),
perpetual (Matt.
5:17, 18),
holy (Rom.
7:12),
good, spiritual (Rom.
7:14),
and exceeding broad (Ps.
119:96).
Although binding on all, we are not under it as a covenant of works
(Gal.
3:17).
Promise: A proclamation we make to someone else
declaring our intentions to govern ourselves. Remember this when you break a
promise.
In the other four books of the Pentateuch, we
see that God had fulfilled His promise and the descendants of Abraham had grown
to a large number.
The book of Exodus begins with God delivering the Israelites out of bondage in Egypt. The Israelites wandered in the desert for 40 years. Some say this was because they were bad and God was punishing them. Well let us see what took place in the desert.
At first the people
rebelled against God and gave up so they wanted to go back. At this time they
didn’t know God and His intentions. God knew He would establish Israel as a
nation before He allowed them to enter the land of Canaan. They had to have laws
not only to establish punishment for certain acts, but to give them hope and
guidance for their future.
The
first thing God gave the Children of Israel was the Ten Commandments. These were
spiritual laws for the people to use that would bring them together as one body.
It gave each person a moral obligation by which they were to govern themselves
and become one mind. God knew if they were to become a nation they would need
laws to govern each other as well, therefore, He gave them the laws contained in
Leviticus. These laws not only set behavioral guidelines, but guidelines for
punishment as well.
These laws also contained the order of worship
and established a place of worship for the people. By this accomplishment, God
was able to bring them together as a nation.
If they had entered Canaan as just a body of
people, there would have been chaos and nothing would have been accomplished.
However, they entered as a nation governed by laws that firmly established them as a nation
which gave them the hope and the strength to accomplish they things they need to
do.
I want us to look for a moment at the primary
difference between the Ten Commandments and the Levitical
Laws.
Ten
Commandments: A proclamation
given to the descendants of Abraham as a spiritual/moral guide for each persons
use to give them hope and to govern themselves.
Levitical
Laws:
A proclamation given to the nation of Israel to be used to govern their
nation.
Throughout the Old Testament you will find more
promises God made and new laws and commandments God gave. What you must
determine which of these were given to the descendants of Abraham and which were
given to the nation of Israel. Remember, all Christians are descendants of
Abraham.
Daily
Bible Reading
Read Exodus 20:
1-17
I want you to keep two things in mind while
reading these commandments.
1. These commandments were inspired in
Aramaic not English
2. These commandments were written for
spiritual guidance for the descendants of Abraham.
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