This is going to take two post from ELM....
Some people feel the Law can never be changed, even to the crossing of a “t” or the dotting of an “i.” Those who believe this will be shocked at what the Bible says. The Law of God can be changed and parts abolished if God so desires. This is
Progressive Revelation in action.
To show that the Law of God can be changed, or even abolished, it is necessary to see how historically the Law of God started, developed, and finally became the Old Covenant. We need to see how the Law was changed and altered from time to time from Adam to Noah. It later changed:
from Noah to Abraham, again
from Abraham to Moses, and
from Moses to Samuel, then
from Samuel to Ezekiel the prophet, and
from Ezekiel to John the Baptist, and finally
to Christ before His crucifixion.
The former Law of God changed quite often, with additions and/or deletions, throughout the various periods associated with the men just mentioned.
Some people, however, have the mistaken notion that the Law of God can never change in any way. That belief is sheer nonsense and has not the slightest validity in the biblical revelation. Why, God can change and alter His Law any time He pleases. He can change whole sections, or He can revise small and minor points. God is not restricted in matters dealing with His Law and assumes all authority to add to, or eliminate precepts from His Law at any time.
The Law of God in the Old Testament was a very flexible piece of legislation that changed dramatically when God saw the need for such alterations. The Law of God is not the universally consistent piece of legislation (with an eternal permanence associated with it) that a few “law-keeping” Christians have erroneously taught. The Law of God changed dramatically, and often, from Adam to Christ.
The Law of God Starts in Genesis
To understand this matter clearly, we need to be reminded that when the apostle Paul talked about the Law of God, he plainly stated that Christians were no longer “under the law.” He then gave an illustration from that Law, of Sarah and Hagar recorded in Genesis (Galatians 4:21–31). This reference of Paul to the Law was long before Moses established the Old Covenant at Mount Sinai. The Book of Genesis itself was reckoned by Jews and by biblical authorities as the first book of the Law. The Law of God, commands of God given to man, begins with the first chapters of Genesis, not with the twentieth chapter of the Book of Exodus where the Ten Commandments and subsidiary laws were given for the nation of Israel.
What is the very first Law of God found in Holy Scriptures? The first Law is found in Genesis 2:16–17, with both a positive and a negative command. It is,
“And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, ‘Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil [bad]
, you shall not eat of it: for in the day that you eat thereof you shall surely die.’”
Genesis 2:16–17
God also recorded a judgment upon man if he would ever disobey God’s command and eat of the forbidden tree. That was
“For in the day that you eat thereof you shall surely die.” Paul said that mankind found that this Law (indeed, any Law of God) was impossible to keep or to save a person. Before long, Adam and Eve were eating of the forbidden fruit and the Law, meant to keep them alive, espoused death for them. Spiritually that “death” of Adam spread to embrace the whole human race (Romans 5:12–21). This doctrinal fact is a prime teaching of the apostle Paul.
In the period from Adam to Noah, there were a few other laws of God recorded in the Holy Scriptures. There were laws against
murder (Genesis 4:15, 23; 9:6),
immodesty (Genesis 9:23),
wrong marriages (Genesis 6:1–4), and
wickedness in general (Genesis 6:5).
Jewish theologians put these early laws into one package, with a few other laws and called them the “Laws of Noah.” These laws, mentioned especially around the time of Noah, were the only ones that Jews in Christ’s time (and even today) felt that all Gentile nations were specifically required to observe for a right relationship with God. In the time of Noah, no other laws were mentioned in the Scriptures as necessary to be kept. For example, the Sabbath was not a requirement during the first 2,500 years of man’s existence. There was no command in Genesis 2 that said that humans were required to observe the Sabbath day as God did on the seventh day of creation.
From the records found in the Bible, there were very few requirements in the worship of God until the time of Abraham, and even then it was only when Abraham was given the circumcision covenant at 99 years of age that real physical ritual became a necessity. However, the selection of Abraham and his family as a special group demanded that distinct laws regulate their lives before God.
Thus Abraham and his family (along with his later descendants) came into a unique relationship with the creator. No longer could Abraham or his seed act like their neighbors around them. They were set apart and sanctified as special people in the eyes of God. This meant that the simple laws revealed before the time of Abraham which allowed mankind to be in a proper relationship with God were no longer sufficient to please God as far as Abraham and his family were concerned. This is a clear example of God changing His mind about His Laws. The Law of God began to take on new proportions with extra and different commands and laws from the time of Abraham to Moses. The differences are very great.
With the introduction of the covenant of circumcision between God and man (specifically with Abraham and his seed), religious requirements became more ritualistic and distinctive. Later, when Moses was commissioned by God to give the Israelites His Old Covenant revelation, elaborate ceremonialism became even more pronounced with a vast amount of new laws coming into existence.
Let us look at the dissimilarities and see how God altered His laws many times. So, when you ask about the need to keep God’s Law, you first must determine what period of Law (and what laws) you mean. In no way are “laws of God” eternal or for application at all periods of time or for all people. One must be careful and not make such erroneous evaluations. Note some major differences.
The Vast Differences between the Patriarchal and Mosaic Legal Systems
Under the Abrahamic covenant, God allowed his people to offer sacrifices anywhere they pleased (Genesis 12:7, 35:1; Job 1:5).
Moses changed this law by commanding only the family of Aaron to attend to the sacred rites (Exodus 40:1–16) and those sacrifices could only be offered on the altar in the Sanctuary (Deuteronomy 12:13–14).
Abraham planted a grove (or sacred tree) in Beersheba (Genesis 21:33),
but under Moses the use of groves became prohibited (Exodus 34:14; 2 Chronicles 14:3; Isaiah 17:8).
Jacob set up a pillar (Genesis 28:18),
but this was later forbidden by Moses (Deuteronomy 16:22, margin).
God said in the time of Noah:
“Every moving thing [
i.e., all animals]
that lives shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things” (Genesis 9:3),
but with Moses only the beasts mentioned in Leviticus chapter 11 were allowed or disallowed.
There were no official feast days commanded in the time of Abraham,
but with Moses, ordained festivals became required periods for attendance by all Israelite males (Leviticus 23).
There was no commanded Tithing at first. Tithing was not a law in the patriarchal period.
None of the patriarchs wore phylacteries (at least we have no record of such),
but with Moses their use was commanded (Numbers 15:37–41).
The land did not have to rest every 7th year under the patriarchs (Genesis 41:34–35), but
with Moses, the land rest was commanded (Leviticus 25:1–7).
Abraham married his half-sister with God’s full approval (Genesis 20:12), but
this became illegal in the time of Moses (Leviticus 20:17).
Abraham was confederate with his Canaanite neighbors (Genesis 14:13), but
no leagues with the Canaanites were allowed in the dispensation of Moses. Indeed, the Canaanites were to be exterminated (Deuteronomy 20:17–18).
There was also no commanded Sabbath law in the patriarchal period.
However, in the time of Moses the Sabbath was first introduced as a law for Israelites to obey (Exodus 20:8; Nehemiah 9:14; Ezekiel 20:12) with stringent requirements that changed the very character of the 7th day of the week. Moses had now emerged on the scene and a profound change in religious essentials had come into existence for Israel.
The differences between the religious system of the patriarchs and that of Moses were dramatic. If a religious Israelite after the time of Moses could have been transported back to Abraham’s time and witnessed Abraham (not knowing who he was) performing his religious duties, he would have called him an unconverted heathen. And though it is made clear in the Scriptures that God knew Abraham “obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws” (Genesis 26:5), those laws (the Law of God in Abraham’s time)
were very different from those later laws commanded to Moses and to the Israelites at Mount Sinai.
Part 1
