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Law of Moses
A law is a rule that people must obey. It is usually written down. It is written or spoken by someone with authority. This person also has the authority to make people obey these laws. This person is usually the one who governs the people in the area.
In the Bible, “law” usually means the law of Moses. This was also called God’s Law or the law of Yahweh. The law of Moses is the list of things God told the Israelites to do to honor him. He gave these rules to Moses. That is why it is called the law of Moses. This law is written in the first five books of the Old Testament. These books are also called the Torah or the Pentateuch. These books are Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.
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God took Moses and the Israelites to Mount Sinai after they came out of Egypt. On Mount Sinai, God made a covenant with the Israelites. God told them that if they obey his laws, they would be his special people (see: Exodus 19:5-6). The Israelites agreed to obey God (see: Exodus 19:7-8; 24:1-8). So Moses traveled up Mount Sinai, and God gave him the law (see: Exodus 20-23).
God gave Moses many laws. The law of Moses contains the Ten Commandments, laws about the Sabbath, the Tabernacle, the priesthood, sacrifices, clean and unclean food, sexual conduct, circumcision, festivals, and many other laws. Jesus said the greatest of these laws was to love God completely (see: Deuteronomy 6:5; Matthew 22:37).
The Israelites needed to love and honor God’s laws. They needed to always think about them. And they needed to teach them to their children (see: Deuteronomy 6:6-9; see also: Psalm 119). God promised to bless the Israelites if they obeyed his laws. He said he would give them all the food they needed, they would live in peace, and he would stay with them (see: Leviticus 26:1-13; Deuteronomy 28:1-14).
However, God also said that he would punish the Israelites if they did not obey his laws (see: Leviticus 26:14-46; Deuteronomy 28:15-68). A large part of the Old Testament is about the Israelites and their kings not obeying God’s laws. God sent prophets to them so that they would think about these laws again. But usually the people did not listen to these prophets or they persecuted them (see: Acts 7:52). Because Israel did not obey God, they were defeated by other nations and exiled to foreign nations.