What is the Law of Moses?
The phrase "the law of Moses" runs through the whole Bible, but readers often shrink it to the ten commandments alone. Commentators treat it as something wider — a whole body of legislation given to one nation through one man — and they press two questions on it: why did God give it, and what has it to do with Christ?
What the Name Covers
The title reaches further than the two tablets of stone. One writer states the scope plainly:
Robert F. Kingscote"The law of Moses" does not mean merely the ten commandments, but the first five books of the Bible.
Scripture itself uses several words for the different parts of that legislation, and they hold together as one system:
F. B. HoleVerses 1-17 of Exodus 20 put on record the ten commandments which specially summarised the demands made by the holy law of God. The next chapter opens with the "judgments," which were to be set before them. If we turn to Malachi 4:4, we find both "statutes" and "judgments" mentioned as well as the "law." The three words evidently cover all the legislation that reached Israel through Moses.
Given to One Nation
The law was not handed to the world at large. It was addressed to a single people, and other nations are described differently:
Morrish Bible DictionaryIt was given to Israel only, the one nation which was under God's special dealings, and in which He was trying man in the flesh. The heading of the ten commandments is "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery," and this could apply only to the Israelites... The Gentiles are described as not having the law, Rom. 2:14, though they had the work of the law written in their hearts, and a conscience which bore witness when they did wrong.
Why It Was Given
If the law could never be kept, why give it? Writers answer from Scripture's own explanation — it was a mirror, and it was temporary:
W. W. Fereday"It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come" (Gal. 3:19). "Through the law comes knowledge of sin" (Rom. 3:20). These statements show that the law was intended to show up man's evil, as a mirror may reveal one's outward uncleanness. The law was thus intended to prepare the way for Christ, in bringing home to men their deep need of a Saviour... The sound of the ten commandments had scarcely died away when God began to speak of another principle altogether. His mind passed from Sinai to Calvary.
Good in Itself, Powerless to Save
The fault never lay in the law. It lay in the people it addressed, and that is why a good law produced a bad result:
C. H. MackintoshThe legal system speaks of life, righteousness and sanctification by law; the Scripture, on the contrary, speaks of "offence," "transgression" and "wrath." Why? Because we are sinners and the law is holy. It demands strength and we are weak; it demands life in order to keep it, and we are dead; it demands perfection in all things, and we are perfect in nothing... It tells him what he ought to do for God, and since he has not done that, it curses him: it cannot do anything else.
Moral and Ceremonial — A Disputed Split
Some writers use the labels "moral law" for the ten commandments and "ceremonial law" for the tabernacle, priesthood and sacrifices, and call the distinction one of convenience. Others deny that the law can be cut in two at all:
Samuel RidoutIsrael's law was a unit; it was one and indivisible. The ten commandments summarised it, and all that followed them was simply the unfolding, enlarging and application of that law. Sometimes people make a distinction between the moral and ceremonial law... I ask, where will you find any such division? ... Enshrined in the ten commandments is one — the fourth — which is a ceremonial one.
Its Whole Meaning in Christ
What the law demanded, the Lord condensed into love for God and love for neighbour — the standard for man, not yet the display of God's heart toward man:
J. N. DarbyTo love God with all the heart, such is the first commandment. The second is like it, "You shall love your neighbour as yourself." ... It is the summary of what man ought to be, the root and the measure of human righteousness. It is not in any way a revelation of divine love; it is not at all a question of grace.
And its sacrifices were pictures waiting for the reality:
Morrish Bible DictionaryThe law in its enactment of sacrifices and feasts was essentially typical and foreshadowed what was to be fulfilled in Christ... the Lord said, "If you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me." John 5:46... After that faith was come believers were no longer under a guardian. Gal. 3:25. A converted Jew was no longer under the law — how much less a Gentile believer whom God had never put under the law!
Commentators differ over Romans 10:4: some read "the end of the law" as the law's termination, others as the object it was always aiming at.
Summary
- Scope — "The law of Moses" covers the first five books, not just the ten commandments; commandments, statutes and judgments together form one body of legislation.
- Recipient — It was given to Israel alone, the nation in which God was testing man; Gentiles are described as not having it.
- Purpose — It was added because of transgressions, working like a mirror to expose sin and drive people to their need of a Saviour.
- Limit — Holy, just and good in itself, it demands strength from the weak and life from the dead, so it can only curse and never save.
- End — Its sacrifices foreshadowed Christ, Moses wrote of Him, and once faith came the believer stands no longer under the guardian.