The Purpose of God’s Moral Law Given to Israel?

When God created humanity at the beginning, He did not give them a moral law to govern the affairs of their life. Rather, He gave them complete freedom with one restriction: Do not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:17). Once Adam and Eve had broken this command, they were separated from God. They were no longer known as God’s people. They had separated themselves from God’s rule and went their own way.

In this fall from God’s glory, humanity had suffered a transformation in nature. Our nature was no longer reflective of God’s nature. We did not just commit a crime of eternal proportions. Indeed, what we did was wrong. But we also became something other than what God had created. We became sinners with a sinful nature. Just as it is the nature for a dog to bark or a kangaroo to jump, our fallen nature is to sin. And so, as more and more people were born, the earth became filled with evil.

Years later, God would re-establish His rule and Lordship over another people called the Israelites. He called them through their father Abraham. He saved delivered from slavery in Egypt by Moses. He established them as His people by guiding and protecting them daily as they followed Him through the wilderness. He set them aside from all the people of the earth to be His holy people. He was their God and they were His people.

Before giving them the Ten Commandments and the other 600 plus societal laws that would govern their life, God made a covenant with them. He made this covenant first with Abraham. The promise was this: “to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.” (Genesis 17:7) God desired a relationship with the people. His first move in the establishment of the relationship was to say, “I will be your God.” His second move in establishing this relationship was to give the Israelites an opportunity to respond. Would they submit themselves to His rule as their God?

In Exodus 19:5-6, God said to the people through Moses, “Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” He prefaced the establishment of their relationship with, “if you.” If they would obey Him and keep His covenant, then He would be their God. Like any relationship, both parties must come to an agreement. If a husband and wife are to be married, they both must agree to upholding the marriage. They must say, “I do.” And in that moment, they agreed. Verse 8 says, “The people all responded together, ‘We will do everything the Lord has said.’” Upon this agreement, God gave them the law to govern their life. God wrote with His very finger upon two stone tablets Ten Commandments. This was the moral law governing their existence. He then gave them over 600 more laws governing the affairs of their society as a nation.

In this, the question arises, why did God give them the law? Wasn’t it enough for them to called God’s people? Why did He give the nation of Israel these laws when He had not given them to Adam and Eve? More importantly, being that God knew the sinful nature of human beings, why would God give sinful people a law He knew they could not obey?

There are five main reasons for the for the law centering around one great purpose. Let us discuss these together. They are as follows:

1) Justice
2) Identity
3) Righteousness
4) Exposure
5) Ministry

1) The law was given to administer justice among the people.

In the giving of the law, God told the people to appoint judges. He then commanded them, “Follow justice and justice alone, so that you may live and possess the land the Lord your God is giving you. (Deuteronomy 16:20)” The ultimate goal of justice is that righteousness might reign so that the people might live in peace and prosperity. Justice, as indicated by Isaiah 59:8, is the way of peace. When wrong has been committed, justice seeks to balance it with righteous punishment in order to maintain peace. As such, justice demands an equal punishment to the crime committed. (Exodus 21:24; Deuteronomy 19:21) If a criminal steals a car, they only have to pay according to the loss caused to the victim.

The law, as Paul says in 1 Timothy 1:9, is made for lawbreakers. If everyone did what was right, there would be no need for laws. We make laws because people do wrong things. This is why we have only a limited set of laws. There is no need to analyze every possible deed and outline whether it is right or wrong. We only make laws in accord to the wrong being committed. If no one ever stole, there would be no laws against theft. However, because people steal, there are laws concerning theft.

The law, therefore, serves two important purpose in administering justice: accountability and restraint. Firstly, the law holds people accountable for their actions. Without the law, we could not administer justice. We could not send a person to prison for wrongdoing because there would be no clear statement indicating such action was wrong. The Bible affirms this truth in Romans 3:19 by saying, “Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.” When a criminal stands before a judge, they cannot claim make a plea of ignorance. Their mouth is silenced knowing they have broken the law. In addition, they are held accountable for their actions. The law said “Do not” and yet, they disobeyed. As they stand before the judge, they must give an account of their actions.

Secondly, the law provides restraint. The restrains people from committing wrong as it outlines the consequences of such actions. Through fear of punishment, the people restrain themselves. For example, in excessive anger we might feel compelled to attack a person and kill them. However, because we know the severity of this crime and how weighty the punishment, we will restrain ourselves from following through. As such, the law helps to maintain justice by restraining people from breaking the law.

2) The law was given to define the nation of people so as to separate them from all the other nations of the earth.

In Deuteronomy 4:6, 8, when Moses reiterated the law to the Israelites, he said this, “Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’” And then in verse 8 he says, “And what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I am setting before you today?”

God did not set before them arbitrary laws. This was God’s Word coming forth to them in the form of commandments. God wrote the Ten Commandments with His own finger on two stone tablets (Exodus 31:18). As such, God was revealing something of His nature. They were His people and by their obedience to Him, they would show they were His people. They would walk in His ways and reflect Him. In Leviticus 20:26, God said to them, “You are to be holy to me because I, the Lord, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be my own.” By obedience to the law, the nation of Israel was distinguished from other nations.

3) The law was given to demonstrate righteousness.

As shown above, the law is given to lawbreakers. For those who are righteous, the law makes no difference. The righteous already do what is right. To illustrate, it would be like commanding a dog not to meow. The dog would continue to bark and not even worry about the command.

While the law makes no difference for the righteous, it does demonstrate righteousness. People that are righteous will keep the law in full. They will not break a single command. In Deuteronomy 6:25, Moses told the people to remind their children when asking about the law, “And if we are careful to obey all this law before the LORD our God, as he has commanded us, that will be our righteousness.” By keeping all the law, it shows righteousness. However, if a person breaks just one law, they have become a lawbreaker. James 2:10-11 says, “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. For he who said, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ also said, ‘Do not murder.’ If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker.” By keeping the law in full, we prove that we are righteous. However, by breaking just one law, we prove that we are sinful.

For people that are sinful, the law presents a problem in regard to righteousness. Scripture says in Romans 3:11-12, “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” Because of this, Romans 3:20 says, “Therefore no one will be declared righteous in [God’s] sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.”

4) The law exposes sin and sinfulness.

By outlining what deeds are wrong, the law makes sin known. In discussing the law, Romans 7:7 says, “What shall we say, then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, ‘Do not covet.’” We know what is wrong according to what the law says. The law says, “Do not murder, steal, lie, or covet.” These actions clearly indicate sin.

In addition, the law exposes sinners. If a person is righteous, they will keep all of the law. They will not break any law. However, a sinner will break the law. If we have broken just one law, we prove that we are sinful. To illustrate, the law acts like a mirror. When we look into the mirror, we see ourselves. When we look into the law, we see what is really in our heart. If our heart is righteous, the law will show that we are righteous. If inwardly we are sinful, the law will show that we are sinners.

Romans 7:14-24 “We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do--this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members.”

The greatest misconception concerning the law is that it can make a person righteous. We often think that by doing good deeds, we can erase the bad ones. If we gain more good deeds than bad ones, then we become righteous. The problem with this theory is that the law does not provide rewards for those who obey it, rather, it only provides punishment for those who break it. For example, if you have been a law abiding citizen for over ten years of your life, the law does not give you any sort of reward for this goodness. This is because righteousness and goodness are expected of the citizens. You are supposed to be good. You are supposed to do what is right. The law was instituted to restrain people from doing evil. It was to given to administer justice so that those who are doing good would have retribution for crimes against them.

The law cannot make a person righteous. The emphasis is on the word “make” which implies a change in character, nature, and being. You are either right or wrong, good or bad. In order to cross over from bad to good, a change must take place within the person. For example, a dog is a dog and a cat is a cat. A dog can meow and a cat can bark, but this does not change their being. They will still remain a cat or a dog. Their actions do not change their being. Likewise, a change in action does not change our being. If we are sinners, then we sin by nature. We can accomplish countless good deeds and never become a good person, just as a dog can meow endlessly and never become a cat. The law cannot change our nature or being. The law cannot “make” us righteous. The only thing the law can do is tell us whether we are sinful or righteous.

5) The law was created, not to rule us, but to serve us; in order that we might be lead to Jesus Christ.

The law was created for our own good. God did not give the law to harm us. If we had been righteous, the law would have given us life and prosperity. However, because of our sinfulness, the law became for us a heavy burden. The law exposed our sinfulness and gave death power to condemn us. If we would obey, we would have life. In our disobedience, we have earned eternal death. (Romans 7:9-13) The law, though it was good, could not set us free from our sins. For this, we need Jesus.

God’s purpose for the law was not to rule us. God’s desire is to rule over us in love as His children, not as robots. If God wanted to force everyone into obedience, surely He could. He is God almighty. However, God’s desire is that we will obey Him willingly by our own choice. The law affords us this choice. It gives us responsibility and accountability.

When we encounter the law, we have a chance to respond. Will we accept the law? Or will we reject it? Will we obey it or disobey it? In other words, the law affords us a question: will we follow God who gave the law or will we follow ourselves? At the heart of this response is a question of whether or not we want to be under God’s authority and rule. Do we want to obey Him?

While under the law, we are held accountable. If we break the law, we must answer for our actions. Will we accept accountability? Will we admit guilt? The law holds us accountable and we must give reason for our actions. In addition, if we are at fault, we must own our mistake. We must be willing to admit that we have sinned. The law holds us to this.

In seeking to obey the law, we quickly discover our sinfulness. The law exposes the human condition. Who lives that does not break at least one of the Ten Commandments? We are all sinners. We have all broken the law. And so, in recognizing our sin, we should also recognize our need for forgiveness. The law demands justice. Sinners must be punished. The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). How then can anyone live? How can we survive judgment without being condemned to eternal death?

Jesus Christ came to offer eternal life by His death and resurrection. Jesus Christ lived under the law being born as a Jew (Galatians 4:4). He was sinless (Hebrews 4:15) and this was proven by His keeping the law. Jesus fulfilled the law (Matthew 5:17). He did what no one else could do. He kept the entire law all the way to His death thus proving that He alone is righteous. Jesus never sinned, and instead, gave His righteous life in exchange for our sinful lives that we might be ransomed from death.

The purpose of the law, therefore, is to lead us to Christ. The law exposes our sin and shows that we are sinful. The law shows that Christ alone is righteous. We should, therefore, be lead to Christ for salvation. Galatians 3:19-25 affirms this:

What, then, was the purpose of the law? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come. The law was put into effect through angels by a mediator. A mediator, however, does not represent just one party; but God is one. Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law. But the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe. Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed. So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.

In conclusion, the law was not given at our creation. Rather, the law was given years later to God’s people of Israel that they might lead us to Christ. The law was like a babysitter put in place until the parents came home. The law was not meant to control us (we are to be controlled by the Spirit – Romans 8:9), but was given for our own good. The law administers justice by holding people accountable for their actions and restraining people through fear. The law reveals to us the desire of God for us. The law exposes sin and righteousness. Finally, the law leads us to Christ. The law has serves an important purpose in God’s plan. And as Christ said in Matthew 5:18, “I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.”