“They have prepared a net for my steps;
My soul is bowed down;
They have dug a pit before me;
Into the midst of it they themselves have fallen. Selah” (Psalm 57:6)
When David wrote these words, as he reflected on his need for escape from Saul and his army, he did so long after the Law of Moses had been established. David, though an imperfect man, is known as “a man after [GOD’s] own heart.” (1 Samuel 13:14)
Why did David write these words, and why did GOD love him so much? This question leads us to another: Why did GOD bring the Law to the Hebrews if they’d never manage to keep it?
The Law of Moses
The Law of Moses was introduced to the Hebrews while they wandered the desert, so that they would look to GOD and His Law rather than try to determine right from wrong on their own.
Why was Adam sent out of the garden? For disobeying GOD. Eve and Adam ate of the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, knowledge they immediately acquired and knowledge they were never meant to have nor to use.
GOD gave the Law to Moses, so that people would not use the knowledge of good and evil to live, but would use GOD’s Law instead. Right and wrong were to be determined by GOD’s Law; hence the people were protected from the knowledge of good and evil if they chose to follow the Law. In other words, GOD gave the Law to protect the innocence of GOD’s Hebrew people.
So David sinned and yet…
In spite of David’s sins and Saul’s, and so many others, GOD loved and chose the Hebrew people… and to help them stay in relationship with Him and to help them prosper, He gave them a set of laws to live by.
These laws would keep them healthy, safe and secure in a relationship with the Creator of the Universe.
Exodus 19:5 shows an example of GOD’s blessing:
“Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine.”
And Leviticus 26 lists some of the blessings and curses including the following listed in verses 14-16, as a result of disobedience:
“‘But if you do not obey Me, and do not observe all these commandments,
and if you despise My statutes, or if your soul abhors My judgments, so that you do not perform all My commandments, but break My covenant,
I also will do this to you:
I will even appoint terror over you, wasting disease and fever which shall consume the eyes and cause sorrow of heart.
And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it….”
Blessings and yet, why such punishment?
I reckon these consequences were a result, in some measure, of GOD’s natural law. But GOD’s sharing it with them was meant to have acted as a deterrent to disobedience.
Following GOD v self-sufficiency
Right from the beginning, GOD created mankind to be in relationship with Him.
We are called to be innocent as doves rather than sophisticated and self sufficient.
Following GOD is the opposite of self-sufficiency. We see this in Abraham’s simple obedience and faith. He could have used the knowledge of good and evil to protect Isaac rather than to trust GOD. But he did not, and he was rewarded the Promise for that.
Abraham followed GOD with childlike faith. And for his faith and obedience, he became the father of many nations. Ultimately, this led to the giving of the the Law to Moses in the desert, and the eventual inheritance of the Promised Land.
Law
The Law has always offered protection, not punishment. It is not intended as a barrier but as a guide to keep us safe, whether it’s GOD’s Law or a law within a society.
Just as Solomon demonstrated divine wisdom when two mothers approached him arguing over a baby, to expose the rightful mother, so too does GOD’s Law expose the heart of man, whether he loves GOD or loves himself. We see it with the Hebrews long ago, we see it with the Jews today, and we see it within ourselves as well.
Why did GOD bring the Law to the Hebrews? To protect them from themselves, to protect them from the curses of GOD. It preceded the coming of the Messiah, the Saviour of the world, who protects all who choose to believe and follow Him from self-sufficiency, the knowledge of good and evil, and spiritual death.
Trust GOD, Obey GOD, and Live
Deuteronomy 7:25-26 says:
“You shall burn the carved images of their gods with fire; you shall not covet the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it for yourselves, lest you be snared by it; for it is an abomination to the Lord your God. Nor shall you bring an abomination into your house, lest you be doomed to destruction like it. You shall utterly detest it and utterly abhor it, for it is an accursed thing.”
GOD asks for the obedience and faithfulness of the Hebrews before they enter the Promised Land. He tells them what to do to protect themselves. Ultimately, they fail, which will eventually bring the Messiah to them. The Law distinguishes between right and wrong, and provokes — eventually — the realisation that man cannot achieve goodness on his own.
Jesus came to deliver the Hebrews from their failure, just as He comes to rescue us today. The Law made it obvious man needed Him… and the distinction between right and wrong helps anyone today to know their need for salvation.
Jesus raises the standard to show us the impossible task to do righteously on our own but more importantly, faith in Him releases us from the burden to try. We are saved by His grace, rather than by our works (Ephesians 2:8-9). Instead, we live to love the Lord and our neighbour, and in that, we obey, we live in faith and we honour GOD in the ways that He has always wanted us to be: in right relationship with HIm.