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Collection of Articles on the Law
Christians regularly have questions on the Law and how Christians should think about it. Because I have written quite a few articles on the subject of the Old Testament Law, and more specifically the Ten Commandments, this post will serve as a summary of these posts. Anyone who is interested in the Law or the Ten Commandments specifically may find the following articles interesting. The OT Law in Its Narrative Context This post was an analysis of the Law as it appears in the Pentateuch. Oftentimes we miss some of the significant applications of the Law because we neglect the context in which it occurs. Unsurprisingly, the narrative context of the Law becomes very important to interpretation and understanding. The Purpose of the Old Testament Law In this post we discuss the overall purpose of the Law. We discuss how some people have wrongly attributed other purposes to the Law.…
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Israel’s Prohibition against Coveting and the Need for Contentment
As noted in other articles dealing with the Ten Commandments, the first four commandments relate to God’s relationship with man, a vertical component. The next six commandments pertain to man’s relationship with man, a horizontal component. The tenth (and last) of the Ten Commandments is a little different than the others, specifically targeting an attitude, not an action. The Tenth Commandment prohibits a wrongful desire, “You shall not covet.” Coveting in the Old Testament Compared to the Ancient World It is interesting that other ancient Near Eastern civilizations did not have laws prohibiting an attitude like coveting. There were many laws prohibiting wrongful action, but none that prohibited a desire for something that was prohibited. Coveting can be thought of as internal desire for something forbidden. It is not the action that is in view in the tenth commandment, but the implicit desire for what does not belong to you.…
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Should Christians Keep the Sabbath?
Historically, many Christians have assumed that it is a Christian obligation to keep the Sabbath. Both the Westminster Confession of Faith and the London Baptist Confession of Faith include language which obligates Christians to observe the Sabbath. Although both of these confessions move the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday, they both are adamant that keeping the Sabbath is an obligation on all of humanity. But, is keeping the Sabbath for today? In order to answer that question, we need to discuss what the Sabbath was along with its purpose. What did the Sabbath look like? The Sabbath was observed each and every Saturday and was to be a day of rest for Israel. They were prohibited from doing extraneous work. A good summary of the prohibition is found in Deuteronomy 5:14: “You shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your…
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When Did God Establish the Sabbath Command?
There are many questions a New Testament believer is faced with when thinking through the Sabbath. For example, why was Israel commanded to keep the Sabbath? This is perhaps the most important question, and as I have written elsewhere, I believe the purpose of the Sabbath command was to give visible demonstration of the fact that Yahweh is Creator and Redeemer. When Israel kept the Sabbath, they were demonstrating that, as Creator, God had the right to dictate how one is to function in the created world. But another important question arises concerning the timing of the Sabbath. When did God institute the Sabbath? Did the Sabbath predate Moses? Evidence for a Pre-Decalogue Sabbath Some theologians argue that the Sabbath has always been an obligation for mankind since creation. To arrive at this conclusion, some have appealed to passages like Genesis 26:5 which says Abraham obeyed the voice of Yahweh,…
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You Shall Not Bear False Witness
The ninth commandment prohibits bearing false witness (Exod 20:16). In many Christian circles this prohibition ends up simply being summarized as, “Don’t lie.” But there is a depth behind the ninth commandment that goes beyond just how we speak. The ninth commandment is intended to promote an entire lifestyle. Most people understand the prohibition against bearing false witness as a simple prohibition against speaking falsehood, yet this commandment is centered in a very specific context. The language which is used in this commandment centers around the legal setting in a court case. In Israel, as with the rest of the ancient Near East, a witness was essential to ensuring justice was carried out. In fact, the penalties for many ancient Near Eastern civilizations were harsh for any witness that construed the facts wrongly. Death was even a possible consequence for a false witness. On the other hand, some civilizations prized…
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You Shall Not Steal—Respecting Ownership
In the series of Ten Commandments, the 8th commandment often seems very simplistic. However, like the other commandments, the commandment, “You shall not steal” has an entire theology behind it. As we have seen in other commandments, one way we can helpfully discern the principle behind a commandment is to reverse it. If we reverse the negative command to a positive command we could summarize the prohibition “You shall not steal” as follows: You must respect the right of lordship in the created order. Lordship carries the ideas of authority and ownership. A man is the lord of his household, and a boss is the lord of his company. In Genesis 3 Adam and Eve did not respect God’s lordship in His right to withhold the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They took, they sinned. In addition to the concept of lordship in the…
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God’s Design for Sexual Purity in the Law
The seventh commandment is a well known part of the Ten Commandments, partially due to its brevity, “You shall not commit adultery” (Exod 20:14). Sexual purity is often viewed by the culture as an outdated ethic, but the concept of purity has an even greater significance today as the culture fails model any semblance of purity, duty, or devotion. If there was ever an appropriate discussion for the current generation of Americans it has to do with the seventh commandment. The theological reality behind the seventh commandment is purity. Purity has the idea of being unmixed. In the case of adultery, a husband or wife is not completely devoted to his or her spouse. Adultery is the absence of complete devotion. In adultery there is a mixing of different desires and lusts. The absence of purity (i.e., unmixed devotion) is why Israel is commonly condemned in the prophets. Israel is…
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The Law and the Sanctity of Life
When thinking about the issue of the sanctity of life, the Law is a welcome teacher. When one explores the Ten Commandments, one quickly realizes that there is a depth and profundity to them that extends beyond mere prohibitions. After all the laws themselves embody principles which reflect God’s character and His design for creation. Thus, it should come as no surprise that the command “You shall not murder” is a guideline for acting in light of the sanctity of human life. The Sanctity of Human Life in Matthew 5 An illustration of the depth of the sixth commandment, and its relationship to the sanctity of human life is found in Matthew 5:21-26. Some people think that Jesus is changing the Law in this passage and raising the standard. However, Jesus is simply redirecting people from a narrow view of the Law to the true purpose of the Law. This…
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Connecting God’s Authority and Human Authority
Within the Ten Commandments, commandments 1-4 deal with God’s relationship with man, a vertical component; and commandments 5-10 deal with man’s relationship with man, a horizontal component. The fifth commandment specifically is a bridge which connects the authority of God with human authority. Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the Lord your God gives you. Exodus 20:12 God’s Delegated Authority The essence of the fifth commandment is that God has created the world and has designed authority structures inherent within it. Thus, Israel is to respect those authority structures. The most foundational and important of which is the parent-child relationship. A good way to illustrate that this commandment is broadening its scope beyond just parent-child relationships is to examine Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy’s structure is in the form of a suzerain-vassal treaty, which contains general stipulations (Deut 5-11) and specific stipulations (Deut…
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The Purpose of the Sabbath Commandment
The Sabbath commandment is the subject of many controversial debates. Those who hold to the Ten Commandments as the standard of God’s moral law have difficulty explaining how this commandment fits into that system because the command to keep the Sabbath does not have a moral nature intrinsic to it. We need to remember that the Ten Commandments are not a moral standard. Rather, they are specific applications of creation principles that are built into the fabric of creation. Further evidence that this command is not inherently moral is a comparison of Exodus and Deuteronomy. Note that both texts discuss the Sabbath command differently. Exodus 20:8-11 Deuteronomy 5:12-15 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son…