The Social and Family Mitzvot
19:1 to 26:15
Moses now speaks of the second part of the Ten Words (to see link click Bk – The Ten Words), our relationship with others. We can summarize what is said here by the words of Paul: For the whole Torah can be summed up in a single saying, ”Love your neighbor as yourself” (Galatians 5:14). This means that a proper understanding of the Torah will bring people to love their neighbor as themselves. Any understanding of Torah without this great principle will make Torah harsh, legalistic, and therefore, hard to understand.
This section deals with individual mitzvot, and to today’s readers they might appear irrelevant at first, but the very principles behind these commandments were the ones that have brought dignity to mankind. We need to examine these mitzvot in depth to discover the spirit in which they were given, so that we can still live in obedience to the Word today. For example, in Numbers 18 the Israelites were to bring their tithes to the Tabernacle because the priests and Levites had no inheritance. But today we have no Temple and no priesthood, however, we bring our tithes to our place of worship. That is the spirit of the mitzvah.
These commandments form the basis for many of the laws that we live under in the western world today. As a result, they are a school of wisdom. It is as if we are sitting with, and learning from, our Great Judge who gently brings us from case to case. The key verse for this whole section can be found in Deuteronomy 23:14, “For ADONAI your God walks in the midst of your camp.” God is here. He is omnipresent. He walks in your midst. He is aware of every case. So, on the one hand, this whole section gives us a sense of comfort because it reminds us that God is aware of our plight. He knows our difficulties. He knows our pain, and there is absolutely nothing that evades His eye.412
On the other hand, it is important to remember that these commandments were never meant to save, but to make the Israelites aware of their sin as clearly as possible. These commandments only pointed to their need of a Savior. As Paul teaches us in the book of Galatians, the guardian was not the teacher (see the commentary on Galatians Bm – The Torah Became our Guardian to Lead Us to Messiah), he only brought the student to the teacher. Therefore, just as the guardian brought the student to the teacher, the Torah brought the Jewish people to their Messiah.
Dear Great Heavenly Father, Praise Your wisdom in giving the mitzvot that we might see our sinfulness and need of a perfect Messiah to rescue us from our inability to be perfect. Before the coming of this faith, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed. So, the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian (Galatians 3:23-25). You are a perfectly holy God and only those who have perfect righteousness can enter your holy home of heaven. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (Second Corinthians 5:21). We love, praise and worship You. In Yeshua’s holy name and power of His resurrection. Amen
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