Bringing the Scriptures to Life
THE FIVE CATEGORIES OF THE LAW
These laws existed before Moses wrote them down as part of
God’s law for Israel as a theocracy and these laws are still in effect, with
the exception of the "SACRIFICIAL"
law.
Heb 10:4 For
it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of
goats should take away sins.
The Ceremonial Law
(Holy Days and Feasts)
The Ceremonial laws
(ordinances), which also included sabbaths, circumcision, sacrifices,
offerings, purification and holy days associated with the Hebrew sanctuary
service (Leviticus 23)
The Moral Law
(How We Treat Each Other)
Moral laws in the Old Testament were not given only to the
theocracy of Israel but these were laws based on God’s character and his design
for his creation in this world. Many of
these laws were known orally for thousands of years before Moses ever wrote
them into the laws of the Mosaic Covenant.(Exodus 20:12-17)
Exo 20:12 Honour
thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the
LORD thy God giveth thee.
Exo 20:13 Thou
shalt not kill.
Exo 20:14 Thou
shalt not commit adultery.
Exo 20:15 Thou
shalt not steal.
Exo 20:16 Thou
shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
The Civil Law
(Preventing Undesirable Behavior , Rendering Judgment & Paying
Restitution)
Israel's Civil Law Goes Hand in Hand with Their Moral Law
Israel's Civil Law Goes Hand in Hand with Their Moral Law
Murder (Exodus 21:12-14; Leviticus 24:17,21)
Striking or cursing a parent (Exodus 21:15,17)
Kidnapping (Exodus 21:16)
Failure to lock up a dangerous animal that results in
someone’s death (Exodus 21:28-29)
Sorcery and Witchcraft (Exodus 22:18, Leviticus 20:27,
Deuteronomy 13:5, 1 Samuel 28:9)
Bestiality (Exodus 22:19, Leviticus 20:16)
Working on the Sabbath (Exodus 31:14, 35:2, Numbers
15:32-36)
Incest (Leviticus 18:6-18, 20:11-12,14,17,19-21)
Human sacrifice (Leviticus 20:2-5)
Adultery (Leviticus 20:10; Deuteronomy 22:22)
Homosexual acts (Leviticus 20:13)
Blasphemy (Leviticus 24:14,16, 23)
False prophecy (Deuteronomy 18:20)
Refusal to obey a decision of a judge or priest (Deuteronomy
17:12)
Perjury in capital cases (Deuteronomy 19:16-19)
A woman falsely claiming to be a virgin before marriage
(Deuteronomy 22:13-21)
Sexual relations between a woman pledged to be married and a
man other than her husband to be (Deuteronomy 22:23-24)
Rebellion against parents (Deuteronomy 21:18-21) ...etc
God does not allow close relatives to marry
“And if a man shall take his sister, his father’s daughter,
or his mother’s daughter, and see her nakedness, and she see his nakedness; it
is a wicked thing; and they shall be cut off in the sight of their people: he
hath uncovered his sister’s nakedness; he shall bear his iniquity.” ~ Leviticus
20:17 (KJV)
Our modern incest laws only apply to close blood relatives
like a mother or father trying to marry their child or blood brothers and
sisters marrying. But as we can see in the Scriptures – God’s incest laws are
much wider than just blood relatives marrying.
“11 And the man that lieth with his father’s wife hath
uncovered his father’s nakedness: both of them shall surely be put to death;
their blood shall be upon them.12 And if a man lie with his daughter in law,
both of them shall surely be put to death: they have wrought confusion; their
blood shall be upon them.” ~ Leviticus 20:11-12 (KJV)
So, in this case this is talking about a man having sex with
his father’s wife (not just his mother – but any wife of his father) and it
also forbids a man from having sex with his daughter-in-law (not a blood
relative).
A man can override
his wife and daughter’s decisions
“3 If a woman
also vow a vow unto the Lord, and bind herself by a bond, being in her father’s
house in her youth; 4 And her father
hear her vow, and her bond wherewith she hath bound her soul, and her father
shall hold his peace at her; then all her vows shall stand, and every bond
wherewith she hath bound her soul shall stand.
5 But if her father disallows
her in the day that he heareth; not any of her vows, or of her bonds wherewith
she hath bound her soul, shall stand: and the Lord shall forgive her, because
her father disallowed her.
6 And if she had
at all an husband, when she vowed, or uttered ought out of her lips, wherewith
she bound her soul; 7 And her
husband heard it, and held his peace at her in the day that he heard it: then
her vows shall stand, and her bonds wherewith she bound her soul shall stand. 8 But if her husband disallowed her on
the day that he heard it; then he shall make her vow which she vowed, and that
which she uttered with her lips, wherewith she bound her soul, of none effect:
and the Lord shall forgive her.” ~ Numbers 30:3-8 (KJV)
Here we see that a daughter’s decisions can be overridden by
her father and a wife’s decisions can be overridden by her husband.
Some have tried to point to the phrase “being in her
father’s house in her youth” as saying this only applies to minor women living
in their father’s home. So, they maintain
that if a woman were to become an adult or just decide to leave her father’s
home he can no longer override her decisions. But this passage tells us the
only women who could make their own decisions without the ability to be
overridden by their father or their husband:
“9 But every vow
of a widow, and of her that is divorced, wherewith they have bound their souls,
shall stand against her.” ~ Numbers 30:9 (KJV)
A widow or a divorced woman would have her decisions stand. Also, a woman whose parents were dead and had no male relatives to inherit her father’s estate would inherit his estate waiting for a kinsman redeemer to take on the property. She could choose the man she married and make her own decisions until she was married (Numbers 36).
This principle of a father overriding his daughter’s
decision of marriage or having his daughter to marry a man is seen here:
“16 And if a man
entice a maid that is not betrothed, and lie with her, he shall surely endow
her to be his wife. 17 If her father
utterly refuse to give her unto him, he shall pay money according to the dowry
of virgins.” ~ Exodus 22:16-17 (KJV)
So here we have a daughter being romanced and seduced by a
man. He may even truly love her and ask
for her to marry him and gives herself to him in marriage. The fact that she has willingly given herself
to him and they have sex does not make this marriage valid if she was still
under her father’s authority and ownership.
Not only could her father invalidate such a marriage made
without his consent – but he could demand reparations as his property – his
daughter, had been wrongly taken without his consent.
Now the father could decide not to and refuse to give his daughter to this man and if he did not refuse, her vow of marriage to this man would then stand and the marriage would now be valid.
Now the father could decide not to and refuse to give his daughter to this man and if he did not refuse, her vow of marriage to this man would then stand and the marriage would now be valid.
A man has more authority over the woman, he has
ownership over them. There are many types of authorities in the Bible. There are
priests, prophets, pastors, governors, masters, parents and husbands among
others.
But there are some people that are more than just
authorities over others. Some
authorities actually own those under their authorities.
“45 Moreover of
the children of the strangers that do sojourn among you, of them shall ye buy,
and of their families that are with you, which they begat in your land: and
they shall be your possession.
46 And ye shall
take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them for a
possession; they shall be your bondmen for ever: but over your brethren the
children of Israel, ye shall not rule one over another with rigour.” ~ Leviticus
25:45-46 (KJV)
So, there is no evidence that we can dismiss the authority
of men over their women as simply a cultural aspect of the Israelites. The New Testament only strengthens the idea
that women are to be under the headship of men in all aspects of God’s
creation.
“But I would have you know, that the head of every man is
Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.” ~ I Corinthians 11:3 (KJV)
The concept of men’s authority or ownership over their wives and children
was an accepted truth in just about every culture both before the Mosaic law
and for thousands of years after the fall of the Israelite theocracy. It was only in the 19th century that the
concept of men owning their wives and children first began to be questioned.
When feminism fully took root in western culture in the 20th century the authority of men over their wives and children was rejected by both American culture and eventually American law.
When feminism fully took root in western culture in the 20th century the authority of men over their wives and children was rejected by both American culture and eventually American law.
Today it is common in Christian circles to dismiss the concept of men owning their wives and daughters as the cultural byproduct of a backward age of humanity. There are two reasons for this. One is the moral opposition to one human owning another as this reminds us of the horrible treatment of the Hebrew slaves in America.
The other is that the feminist ideals of our culture make it completely incompatible for a man to own or have complete authority over his wife or daughter.
Men and women are now considered social equals in spite of Scriptural assertions to the contrary. In fact, in the Bible women are called to wear a badge of chastity and submissiveness under the authority of righteous men pursuant to the order of God's design from the beginning; starting with our patriarch Adam and our matriarch Eve.
“7 For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man. 8 For the man is not of the woman: but the woman of the man. 9 Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man. 10 For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels.” ~ 1 Corinthians 11:7-10 (KJV)
The Bible is clear from the Old Testament to the New that God never intended for men and women to be social equals or for women to have the shared authority assigned to them by The Most High God.
The Dietary Law
(What We Should Eat)
(What We Should Eat)
Meat
Meat was restricted by dietary laws. “You may eat any animal
that has a split hoof completely divided and that chews the cud” (Leviticus
11:3). The key word is “and,” for Leviticus 11 continues to describe the
animals that have one or another attribute, but not both at the same time,
e.g., the camel, coney, rabbit, and pig. Of them, it says, “You must not eat
their meat or touch their carcasses” (Leviticus 11:4-8). This leaves the sheep,
goat, ox, steer, and wild game, e.g., gazelle, deer, roebuck, wild goat, wild
ox, and chamois. Even ritually fit animals, however, were subject to certain
regulations and methods of preparation.
Meat was usually boiled, but was also roasted as prescribed
for the paschal lamb at Passover, or cooked in a stew. At no time could a kid
be boiled in its mother’s milk (Exodus 23:19; 34:26; Deuteronomy 14:21). The
regulation was later extended to include the prohibition against even eating
meat and milk products together at the same meal. Archaeology has proved it to
have been a ban on a pagan practice. Findings at Ugarit [an ancient city whose
ruins are located on the Syrian coast] have shown that it was the custom there
to boil a kid in its mother’s milk as a lucky charm.
Fowl
Certain kinds of fowl were forbidden, including birds of
prey (eagle, osprey, hawk, falcon, owl); those that feed on carrion (vulture,
buzzard, raven); certain waterbirds (pelican, stork, heron, swan, sea gull);
and other birds (ostrich, bat, lapwing). Poultry (goose, chicken, duck), pigeon
and doves, and wild birds not on the above list were permitted (Leviticus
11:13-19; Deuteronomy 14:12-18). Only the eggs of clean fowl could be eaten.
Fish
Fish could be eaten if it had fins and scales. This excluded
all shellfish and fish that had fins but no scales, e.g., shark, catfish, and
eels (Leviticus 11:9-12; Deuteronomy 14:9-10).
Insects and creeping things
Certain insects were acceptable as food, including the
locust, katydid, cricket, and grasshopper. “All other flying insects that have
four feet shall be an abomination to you” (Leviticus 11:20-24). Creeping things
that crawl upon the earth are considered unclean, including worms,
caterpillars, snakes, snails, lizards, chameleon, and moles (Leviticus
11:30,41-43).
According to Mosaic law, if any of the unclean creeping
things dies and falls into a clay water pot, the water is to be considered
unclean, and a source of contamination. The clay pot must be broken and if the
carcass of a creeping thing touches the oven, it must be broken as well
(Leviticus 11:33-35).
Origin of the Dietary Health
Laws
The biblical health laws are usually referred to as the Laws
of Moses. Many scholars assume that Moses collected primitive taboos to form a
code of laws. Some claim that the reasons for clean and unclean foods are
purely arbitrary, irrational or unexplainable. Some anthropological
speculations suggest that unclean animals are imperfect members of their
species—tell that to a pig and you will probably get a well-deserved snort of
disgust! Educated scholars also claim that the biblical laws have nothing to do
with health but were merely rituals to separate the Israelites from their pagan
neighbors, and that only Jews need to observe these laws today. However, all
these attempts to explain the biblical health laws are inadequate, as we will
see in this article.
In Leviticus 11–20, where these laws are first outlined in
detail, we find that "the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying to them,
'Speak to the children of Israel, saying, "These are the animals which you
may eat"'" (Leviticus 11:1–2). This same introductory statement
precedes the enumeration of other health laws in the book of Leviticus.
According to the Bible, the author of the biblical health laws was not
Moses—but God Himself! God explained to the Israelites that if they obeyed His
commandments they would experience "none of the diseases" that
plagued other nations (Exodus 15:26). God gave these laws to His chosen people
so they could be an example to the world! God wanted their better health to be
noticed by surrounding nations who could then inquire how they, too, could gain
the same results (see Deuteronomy 4:1–8). While some theologians have naively
suggested that these "regulations" were given to Israelites to punish
them for their disobedience, these laws were actually given by a God of love to
show human beings a better way to live. The health laws were to be taught by
the priests, because of their fundamental importance!
It is quite instructive to read what Bible reference books
have to say about the health laws. Halley's Bible Handbook states: "Moses'
Law… [including] its Health and Food regulations, was far purer, more rational,
humane and democratic than, and showed a wisdom far in advance of, anything in
ancient legislation, Babylonian, Egyptian or any other" (24th edition, p.
138). Eerdmans' Handbook of the Bible states: "Today we are able to
understand and appreciate the sound principles of diet, hygiene and medicine
which these laws express\ (p. 176). The Expositor's Bible Commentary,
commenting on Leviticus 11, states that \the Levitical laws of cleanness have no
known extensive parallels in surrounding cultures," so the idea of Moses
borrowing primitive taboos does not hold up, because "surrounding cultures
exhibit little of this sort of law."
While some scholars assert that the biblical laws were not
given for reasons of health, this same commentary states that "the
spiritual and hygienic reasons for the laws may still be affirmed. They are
remarkably valuable in the area of public health… These laws protected Israel
from bad diet, dangerous vermin and communicable diseases... These were
rule-of-thumb laws that God gave in His wisdom to a people who could not know
the reason for the provision" (ibid.). Thus, the idea that these biblical
laws are outdated and old-fashioned and have nothing to do with health is simply
nonsense!
Dietary Laws
The most familiar biblical health laws define clean and
unclean meats—creatures that are acceptable to eat and those that are not—yet
most people (even theologians!) have little or no understanding of the
medically sound reasons behind these instructions! The scientific wisdom behind
the biblical dietary laws is seldom taught today; instead, these laws are
commonly viewed as Old Testament regulations that are no longer applicable.
However, as Eerdmans' Handbook of the Bible comments: "These lists [of
clean and unclean creatures] have a significance often ignored. Far from being
based on fad or fancy, these lists emphasize a fact not discovered until late
in the last century… that animals carry diseases dangerous to man" (p. 176).
In fact, the same animals labeled unclean in Scripture still carry parasitic
diseases that are still dangerous to human beings today!
"Clean" land animals are ruminants—grazing animals
such as cattle, sheep, deer and elk—whose digestive tracts are designed to turn
grass that human beings cannot digest into meat that we can digest. Most
unclean animals are carnivores or scavengers that can transmit dangerous
diseases to human beings. Pigs eat roots and grains, rather than grass, and
thus are ecological competitors to human beings. Clean fish have fins and
scales. Unclean aquatic organisms like clams and oysters are filter feeders
that purify water, and that concentrate poisonous chemicals and pathologic
bacteria and viruses in their tissues. Eating an oyster is like eating your
vacuum cleaner bag—yet modern connoisseurs do not like to think about this!
Crabs and lobsters are scavengers that eat dead things on the bottom of bodies
of water. Most unclean birds are carnivores or scavengers. God in His wisdom inspired
laws that protect humans from contracting dangerous diseases, but also protect
"nature's clean up crew" by making them "off limits" as
food for mankind (for more information on this subject, request our free
reprint article, Do You Really Want to Eat That?). These biological principles
still operate today. As a point of illustration: the SARS outbreak was traced
to an area in southern China where civet cats (an unclean animal) are eaten as
a delicacy!
However, the laws of clean and unclean meats are not the
only biblical instructions that concern diet. In Leviticus 3:17, we read that
"you shall eat neither fat nor blood" (cf. Leviticus 7:23–27). One of
the most significant discoveries in the last century was that high fat diets
are linked to increased levels of heart disease, stroke, cancer of the colon
and breast and a host of other pathologies—including obesity—that bring
additional complications. Our challenge is to learn to recognize major sources
of fat in our diet (visible fats on meat, fatty cuts of meat—like bacon,
generous amounts of heavy dressings, spoonfuls of oil, etc.), and reduce our
intake of fats that are high in calories and often high in saturated fats. It
has also become painfully obvious in recent decades that contaminated blood and
blood products can transmit AIDS and hepatitis. The simple principle of
avoiding fat and blood is a powerful principle of prevention—if it is
followed—because it still works today!
Biblical principles also cover the use of plant
foods—carbohydrates. Ezekiel was instructed to make a nutritious bread from
"wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet and spelt" (Ezekiel 4:9). This
was a multigrain bread containing complex carbohydrates for energy, different
kinds of fiber and multiple amino acids for proteins and bodybuilding. It was
not a highly refined product like today's common breads that have most of their
nutrients removed, then are misleadingly called "enriched" when a few
nutrients are added back.
The Bible advises us to use sweets like honey or other simple
sugars sparingly (Proverbs 25:16; 27). We are warned against
overeating—gluttony (Proverbs 28:7). Modern books on health give the same
advice! The biblical dietary guidelines are not old-fashioned, burdensome
regulations—they are divinely inspired guidelines that have taken mankind's
science thousands of years to understand!
Liquid Refreshment!
Many sincere religious people believe it is evil and sinful
to drink alcohol. Yet, when we look at the biblical health guidelines, we find
that drunkenness is what is sinful—not the use of alcohol. Warnings against the
misuse of alcohol run throughout the Bible (Genesis 9:20–21; Ephesians 5:18; 1
Peter 4:3). Yet, it is worth noting that Jesus' first miracle was turning water
into wine at a wedding feast (John 2:1–11). He would not have done this if
drinking alcohol were a sin! However, priests were forbidden to drink on the
job (Leviticus 10:9). Paul advises Timothy about the medicinal value of wine
for an upset stomach (1 Timothy 5:23). The beneficial effects of moderate
amounts of alcohol have been one of the surprises of modern medical studies.
People who use alcohol in moderation—a glass of wine a day—have fewer heart
attacks than alcohol abusers or total abstainers! Elderly people with digestive
problems caused by a lack of stomach acid experience improvement when they take
a small glass of wine with meals. Biblical instructions about alcohol are in
harmony with scientific evidence, and are still applicable today. We may use
alcohol, but we must develop character to use it properly.
DID JESUS ABOLISH THE DIETARY HEALTH LAWS?
Acts 10 describes Peter's vision of a sheet coming down from heaven containing unclean animals that he is told three times to kill and eat. Peter, who had been trained by Christ for more than three years, understood that this was wrong and resisted! While Peter pondered the meaning of the vision (Acts 10:17), several Gentiles arrived at his home. On hearing their mission, Peter grasped the meaning of the vision:
"God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean" (Acts 10:28). According to Scripture, Peter did not conclude from this vision that the laws of clean and unclean foods had been eliminated. This is confirmed by a prophecy that indicates when Christ returns He will bring judgment on idol worshipers and those who persist in eating unclean animals (Isaiah 66:15–17).
The Sacrificial Law- Faith In the Lamb
(Christ's Blood Is
Sufficient Today)
Jhn 1:29 The next
day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh
away the sin of the world.
Jhn 1:29 The next
day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh
away the sin of the world.
Isa 53:7 He was
oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is
brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her
shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
Isa 53:10 Yet it pleased
the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul
an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his
days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
Isa 53:11 He
shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge
shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
Act 8:32 The
place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter;
and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth:
1Pe 1:19 But with
the
precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
Sacrificial Law is the Only Part of the Law We're not Required to Do Anymore...
Mat 5:17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come
to destroy, but to fulfil.
Act 3:18 But
those
things, which God before had shewed by the mouth of all his prophets, that
Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled.
Mat 5:18 For
verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall
in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
Luk 24:44 And
he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet
with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the
prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.
Mat 5:19 Whosoever
therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall
teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven:
but whosoever
shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of
heaven.
Rev 22:14 Blessed are
they that do his commandments,
that they
may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the
city.
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