Expert: LEBoyd - 7/24/2007

Question
Why was the Law so important to the Hebrew people?

Answer
Deborah,

This is a very interesting question.  As you probably already know, once the Exodus occurred, God gave the law beginning in Exodus 20.  From this point until Christ, the period is referred to as the Mosaic period - meaning that the people were under the Law and God spoke to the nation through the prophets, judges and kings.

Prior to this, God spoke to the family leaders (for example, Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, etc.).

From the beginning of creation God required obedience to His commands.  Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden and mankind was cursed for eating of the Tree of Life.  Cain was first rejected for his sacrifice, and then for the murder of Able.  Mankind was destroyed, except for Noah and his family, because every thought of man was evil - except Noah who was "righteous".

The Law laid out the commandments of God.  Generally, throughout the history of the Hebrews, some attempt was made to follow the law.  However, they often sinned by not following it, and when they left the Law by too much God punished the nation.

The primary sin of the nation was idolatry.  This occurs over and over, and God punishes them for it over and over.  Finally, God destroys the nation and enslaves the nation under the Babylonians.

After the return of the people to Israel and Jerusalem, the leaders of the nation appear to have received the message.  They became more and more strict in their observance of the Law, so that by the time of Christ they actually had counted the number of commands and had written man-made guidelines around the Law.  Effectively, they attempted to build a hedge around the Law in an effort to not disobey what they saw as +600 commands.

This was one of the main arguments Jesus had against the priest of His time.  They made the Old Law burdensome to the people.

Today, we are under the New Law as described in the New Testament.  These Laws are not the same, because Christ (The Anointed One) has come and brought the Good News.

Against many beliefs, the New Law does exists and there are commandments.  These commandments tell us how we become a child of God and how to live our lives.  In 1 John there are a number of places that discuss this.  My favorite is chapter 5, where we are told to follow God's commandments and His commandments are "not burdensome".

While we should always be careful not to build hedges with man-made laws and traditions around the New Law, we should always be careful to follow that Law.

And when we do - become a child of God through water immersion and live our lives earnestly trying to "walk in the light" (1 John 1:7) - we have the assurance of eternal life with God (1 John 5:13).

I hope this answered your question.  If not, let me know.