The Law of Moses (2 of 4)
Series: Something Old, Something New
Jeff Strite
Galatians 3:9-14
OPEN: Why do laws exist? Why do we have them? I thought about that a lot this week...and this was my conclusion: ''Laws exist to modify behavior and to help us know what is acceptable and what isn't.''
Now, if that's true, why were these laws written?
- In Michigan, it is illegal to paint sparrows to sell them as parakeets. Why would they write such a law? Well, someone apparently had painted sparrows to sell as parakeets but there was no law that said they couldn't... so now there is.
- In Birmingham, Alabama, it is illegal to drive a car while blindfolded. Seriously? Why make a law like that? Well, apparently someone tried it! Someone drove blindfolded but there was no law against it at the time. Now there is.
But these next two laws were ones I found particularly interesting:
1) It's illegal to ride a camel on a Nevada highway;
2) in Arizona, it is illegal to hunt camels.
What? Why would anybody even write a law about Camels in Nevada and Arizona? Well because, at one time there'd been camels out west. Back in the 1850's the US Calvary experimented with camels in desert and they proved to be useful. But, the Civil War ended the experiment. Ultimately 81 camels were sold at auction, and somebody had to write some laws concerning them.
My point is this: laws are written to modify behavior and help us know what is acceptable. And that brings me to the Law of Moses. A lot of Christian theologians and preachers spend a great deal of time attacking the Mosaic law, implying that the Law of Moses wasn't a good thing... but that contradicts what Paul said ''... the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.'' Romans 7:12
The Mosaic Law was a GOOD THING - it's just that it had a few drawbacks. But we need to remember that these Laws were from God, and when God created the Mosaic Law He had reasons for why He did that. George Faul ...
Series: Something Old, Something New
Jeff Strite
Galatians 3:9-14
OPEN: Why do laws exist? Why do we have them? I thought about that a lot this week...and this was my conclusion: ''Laws exist to modify behavior and to help us know what is acceptable and what isn't.''
Now, if that's true, why were these laws written?
- In Michigan, it is illegal to paint sparrows to sell them as parakeets. Why would they write such a law? Well, someone apparently had painted sparrows to sell as parakeets but there was no law that said they couldn't... so now there is.
- In Birmingham, Alabama, it is illegal to drive a car while blindfolded. Seriously? Why make a law like that? Well, apparently someone tried it! Someone drove blindfolded but there was no law against it at the time. Now there is.
But these next two laws were ones I found particularly interesting:
1) It's illegal to ride a camel on a Nevada highway;
2) in Arizona, it is illegal to hunt camels.
What? Why would anybody even write a law about Camels in Nevada and Arizona? Well because, at one time there'd been camels out west. Back in the 1850's the US Calvary experimented with camels in desert and they proved to be useful. But, the Civil War ended the experiment. Ultimately 81 camels were sold at auction, and somebody had to write some laws concerning them.
My point is this: laws are written to modify behavior and help us know what is acceptable. And that brings me to the Law of Moses. A lot of Christian theologians and preachers spend a great deal of time attacking the Mosaic law, implying that the Law of Moses wasn't a good thing... but that contradicts what Paul said ''... the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.'' Romans 7:12
The Mosaic Law was a GOOD THING - it's just that it had a few drawbacks. But we need to remember that these Laws were from God, and when God created the Mosaic Law He had reasons for why He did that. George Faul ...
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