Expert: Rev. Stuart Woodward - 9/26/2005

Question
Two Part Question:

How do we decide which OT laws to follow today and which ones to discard?

In the Old Testament, there are many laws we no longer follow.  For instance, various laws that merit death when transgressed: a rebellious son (Due 21:18-21), a bride that cannot prove she is a virgin (Due 22:20-21), those who do not honor the Sabbath (Num 15:32-36), blasphemers (Lev. 24:16), etc.

In the OT, father's were permitted to sell their daughters to pay debts (Ex 21:7-11), bastard children (down to the tenth generation) were not permitted in the Assembly of the Lord (Due 23:2), Israel was commanded to kill those who worshipped other gods (Due 13:6-11) and those who dabbled in sorcery (Lev 20:27).

God in the OT permitted polygamy.  Many of the great OT prophets had multiple wives and concubines.  Correct me if I'm wrong, but concubines were a type of female servant that their owners were permitted to sleep with.  

Of course, presently we pick OT laws that we should follow such as the Ten Commandments, but completely discard others like those featured above.  As per my initial question, what are the criteria to discern which ones we will and will not follow?  In Psalms 119, we learn that God's statutes are to stand forever (vs 111, 152).

My second question: how do we relate God's natures between the OT and NT?

It seems that most denominations focus on God's qualities that most match what we as humans view to be positive: loving, caring, concerned, empathetic, and supportive. But as I read the Bible, God seems to have a lot of characteristics that we would consider negative: jealousy (Ex. 34:14), vengeance (Ps. 94:1), wrath (Deu 9:7), and hatred (Deu 9:28, Mal 1:2, 3).

God, in the OT, commanded Israel to kill absolutely everything that breathes including women, children, newborns, and  the sick and elderly before they could enter the Promised Land (Due 20:16, 1 Sam 15:3).  Also, if an Israelite found a woman that was still alive after a battle and found her to be attractive, he was allowed to take her and partake of marriage rights, and then get rid of here if he didn't like her all that much.

How should commandments like this affect our modern view of God?


Answer
Hello Aaron and thanks for your questions.
I will try to answer them as best I can but there are limitations on time responding through email.
We know from Peter's vision in Acts 10 that the Old Testament food laws are no longer applicable in the New Covenant. Cleary then there are some laws of the Old Testament that have no relevance to us. We also see a decision made in Acts 15 concerning what the early Christina leaders required of Gentile converts. They were to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood. However, elsewhere Paul teaches that the issue of eating meat that had been offered to idols is a matter of conscience.
The Old Testament law was given to Moses as that which would see the children of Israel across the desert and establish them wisely and healthily in the Promised Land. It is clear that some of these laws have a timeless application. It is likely that the 10 Commandments themselves were not specified in Acts 15 because firstly, the worship of the one true God was intrinsic to Chrsitianity anyway and secondly, the other commandments had their equivalent in every society. Each society believed murder, stealing, false testimony, adultery and the like were wrong. Thus these did not have to be spelt out.
Most scholars draw a distinction between moral law and ceremonial law, the one being timeless and the other temporary. For the most part it is clear which is which but there are one or two areas of uncertainty.
Although God did not seem to punish polygamy and the keeping of concubines there is no law which states it is OK rather there are procedures for managing it. Divorce was legislated for as well but Jesus makes it clear in His teaching that God only did this because of the hardness of human hearts.
As Christians, of course, we are not judged by the law but stand in a state of grace, all the righteous requirements of the law having been met in Jesus and applied to us through His death and through faith. Thus God writes His law on our hearts by His Holy Spirit. Paul tells us that the law was the taskmaster, the restraining influence and the guilt bringer that leads us to Christ. Its purpose for the Chhristian is over except insofar as it provides a kind of checklist to ensure we are not deceiving ourselves in our walk in the power of the Spirit.
I hope this helps in some way though I am sure it probably prompts many other questions in your mind.
Now for the second question.
Jealousy (He accepts no worshio but of Him), vengeance (He only has the right to exact it), wrath (a burning anger against sin) and hatred (of Satan and all His deceptions) are clearly attributes of God in the New Testament as well as Old. A quick read through the book of Revelation should make that clear. Although the dominant message of the New Testament is the love and grace of God, His anger and the reality of judgment are also strongly present. My own view is that the church has to a large extent lost its nerve making these truths clear and so lost a great deal of understanding and experience of the holiness of God.
The issue of God commanding the wholesale slaughter of people is troubling to the modern mind, but we have to remember that God is God. He brings people into the world and decides the times of our death. There is much about Him and His ways that are far above our ability to discern but we must be in no doubt that the whole of creation including humanity is His to do with as He chooses.
Having said that the fullest revelation of God is in His Son Jesus Christ. We see God's personality there in ways we can begin to understand. His love and grace are clear. Also God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself. He is no aloof despot but a God who has entered the human experience and shared our sorrows. The cross means God has identified Himself with us in the most profound of ways and in the process dealt with our sin and guilt.
Again I hope all this is of some value to you and wish you God's blessing in your studies.
Stuart Woodward.