The Laws of God – Understanding the Laws - Part I
When we go through the Old Testament, it is worth noting how much God cares for and loves us. For our own good, He put into place a strong normative social and religious structure with far-reaching ramifications buttressed by sound laws, which are often referred to as the ‘Mosaic Laws’. These laws laid norms of behaviour right from individual to individual, to society as a whole. They are the best examples of governance.
“Traditional Reformed theology has distinguished God’s law revealed in the Old Testament Scriptures into three parts, moral, ceremonial, and civil. It teaches that the moral element in the law focused on the ten commandments, is of permanent application, while the ceremonial and civil elements were for the duration of the Old Testament only. The ceremonial was a shadow of Christ which became obsolete with his coming, and the city a model of legal arrangements for any society, though not of such a status as to demand exact replication.” The threefold division of the law JONATHAN F. BAYES
The main differences between the civil, ceremonial, and moral aspects of the Law of Moses as given in the first five books of the Bible (Pentateuch Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy) are in their purposes. Civil law deals mainly with relationships between individuals, the settling of disputes, and the code of proper behaviour, livelihood, and societal behaviour. The ceremonial law deals with the priesthood initiation and the priestly procedures as they related to the various sacrifices through which the people of the Old Testament were cleansed of their sins. The moral law is based on the character of God and extends from the Old into the New Testament. The precepts such as lie, which were wrong in the Old Testament, it is still wrong in the New Testament. They are thus a logical extension of the Old Testament and clearly spell their perpetuity.
Moral Law: The moral laws are direct commands of God. A good example is the Ten Commandments (Ex 20:1-17). The moral laws reveal the nature and will of God, and still apply to us today. We do not obey this moral law as a way to obtain salvation, but to live in ways pleasing to God.
Ceremonial Law: This type of law is related to Israel's worship. (Lev 1:1-13) The laws pointed forward to Jesus Christ (The Lamb of God) and were no longer necessary after Jesus' death and resurrection. Though we are no longer bound to them, the principles behind the ceremonial laws, to worship and love God, still apply.
Civil Law: Civil law deals mainly with relationships between individuals, the settling of disputes, and the description of proper behaviour. Some examples are: Be just with the poor, Leviticus 19:15; Cattle, of neighbour Deuteronomy. 22:1-4; Children, rebellious Deuteronomy 21:18-21; Debt Leviticus23:34-43; Deuteronomy 31:10); Divorce (Deuteronomy 22:19); Murder and killing Deuteronomy 21:1-4); Robbery, extortion, false witness, and restitution (Leviticus 6:1-7).
Thus, we see that the governance of God rests with these laws. It becomes obligatory for us to observe them in truth and spirit.
Dr Ashwin Drummond