Insight into Old Testament Laws
PART 3
Continuance from previous posts …
This entry is the last one of three on seeking understanding of the Old Testament Laws … Again, I’m addressing these because we know God doesn’t change, and when we read these “nonsensical” laws it can be confusing to why He did what He did. Learning about God is an on-going search and discovery. It’s a process, and in that process of seeking Him we are changed.
Specifications on trimming men’s hair Lev. 19:27
This rule reminded the Israelites that they belonged to God. The Israelites were different and to be set apart from other nations. Their appearance was a reminder to them and other nations that they were special. We do the same today in that we dress to associate ourselves within certain groups of people. It was an outward symbol that others could see to know what group they belonged.
God’s people are to be separate from the world. We are to in the world but not of it. True separation starts in the heart.
Menstrual uncleanliness – Lev. 15:19-24
Menstrual flow is symbolic of blood covering death for there to be life again. It’s a reminder/ symbol of God’s design, that when there is death, blood is needed as a covering for there to be life. The un-cleanliness of a woman was due to the death of the seed in her. This rule is similar to the one in which someone was considered unclean if he touched a dead person. Physical death teaches us about spiritual death. A woman was unclean because death (spiritual) isn’t good. It’s contrary to God, who is life. In Jesus Christ spiritual death was destroyed, as signified by His resurrection. When we are in Him, we overcome spiritual death.
The uncleanliness of death is to teach us spiritual death isn’t good and the blood to remind us that blood (blood of Christ) when it covers us brings life.
Punishment of death for Adultery Lev 24:14
Over and over in the Bible, adultery is used to illustrate what we are doing spiritually when we have idols or put our trust in other things other than God. If we commit spiritual adultery, we will face spiritual death. However, in Christ we are forgiven and thus delievered from spiritual death.
Spiritual adultery is a VERY serious matter. Therefore, physical adultery was very serious; the physical points to the spiritual. When we have this kind illustration, we gain a deeper understanding of the seriousness of spiritual adultery, a seriousness we have lost today.
Homosexuality
As for Homosexuality, the original issue brought up along with these other laws, is also not allowed in the New Testament – therefore it still stands. Romans 1:27 The other laws Christ altered with His fulfillment of the law and the anointing of the Holy Spirit.
Throughout the Bible marriage and the relations between a man and a woman are symbolic of our relationship with God. Sexual laws are ones that point to spiritual purity. One man (who represents Christ) is to be united to one woman (who represents the church). Not man to man or woman to woman. As woman is united to one man, we each are to be united to only One, Christ, in purity and holiness.
Further Reading … Man of Love, Man of War
We need to have the humility and understanding that we aren’t God and seek truth and understanding from Him as to His ways. His ways are so far above ours that we won’t ever fully understand for we don’t have His mind, but if we seek then God promises to enlighten us as best as we can understand at the time.
Living Light 
October 18, 2010 at 6:41 pm
Hello. I was just visiting the readomatic feature and this post was at the top with a time of “2 minutes ago.” I have to leave for work in a few minutes, so I’ll have to read this later. I wanted to say “hi” nonetheless.
Blessings always in Jesus name
timbob
October 19, 2010 at 2:22 pm
hello again. It’s incredible how, the more one considers the significance behind many of these old testament laws, the more one sees how perfectly the whole thing (old and new testaments) fit together. The one which hit me the most as I read this was “spiritual adultery.” Serious because we can engage in it without even realizing it. Something gets our attention and before we know it, that thing is consuming countless hours of our time while our first love sits on the sidelines of our heart.
It’s so dangerous and we know in the book of Revelation that it placed the Ephesian church in a perilous situation. One where spiritual death was knocking at the door; despite an outward appearance that suggested a healthy, Spirit-filled and discerning group of saints.
Many of us spend too little time in seeking the deeper meaning behind these old testament precepts. Just as Jesus never spoke a word that lacked significance, we can be assured that every “jot and tittle” in the old testament is profitable for doctrine and understanding.
Sorry about the weird comment yesterday. I was running late when I realized that I hadn’t been by here in a while. Blessings always in Jesus name.
timbob
October 19, 2010 at 4:24 pm
Hi Timbob — love how you expounded on spiritual adultery. It’s like physical adultery in so many ways. No one sets out to do it; it is little by little until it consumes and destroys. Our ability to fall speaks of the importance of being in the Word daily in spending time with God and seeking His face. We need to be inundated with the truth so the little lies don’t settling in and lead us down the wrong path.
An excellent point about how nothing in the Word is without significance. When you believe that truth, then you seek and keep seeking until you find. When you find it will astound you in the depth of connectedness and perfection of God’s Word.
Thanks for your comment – I look forward to reading your thoughts.
March 2, 2013 at 7:15 am
Dear Rachel, i need your guidance and prayer. Please help me. please contact me my email. i need to share my burden to you. Thank you.
May 3, 2013 at 6:05 am
These are just wonderful intelligent exchanges of wisdom and I am glad to have finally found such a site. In this commentary regarding old testament laws, you simply apply the spirit when reading any material. The spirit being loving kindness will guide you as to which scripture came from God. We are told that Moses was weak of words and the spirit tells us that because he was raised in the kings courts Moses only spoke and read in Egyptian. This explains why he relied on his brother Aaron to “translate” the word of God to the Hebrews. However Aaron was corrupt and he altered the words of Moses which is the scripture that we have now. The new testament provides evidence that Moses never accompanied the Hebrews in their 40 years of dwelling in the desert. With Moses out of the picture the Hebrews could now have a king and enter politcs like the surrounding nations. They adopted Hammurabi’s Code that is allegedly nearly 300 years older than the laws of Moses or the laws that Aaron attributed to Moses. The laws of Hammurabi are cruel and heartless, making it permissable or legal to kill another human being for what they considered transgressions. The spirit will tell you that God is incapable of demanding death, torturing a person to death with stones or fire. Owning slaves, tooth for a tooth, eye for an eye. These did not come from my Creator of loving kindess. These laws came from Israel’s adoption of Hammurabi’s Code. It was men who put value on a stone creating our monetary system that supports Babylon. Making the entire earth slaves to money, electricity, laws, taxes, fuel and so forth. The so called laws of Moses or old testament laws cannot be be attributed to God or Moses.
May 4, 2013 at 4:13 pm
Blindly excepting scripture as being from God makes it harder to truly hear the voice or spirit of God. When a person arrives to this road they are faced with the decision to accept a God of loving kindess, compassion, and always attainable or a God of wrath, death, war, nationalism, violence and always distant from us. Sadly, most Christians deny a God of love and make Him into a God of vengeance, demanding human sacrifice, death penalties and so forth. Christ never taught that our Creator was any of these things. In His parables Christ or as I call Him my brother, always protrayed a God who was a loving father that never hated or cast out His children but always waiting for His children to return home to Him. The true challenge here is will you accept a God of love or a God who is both hate and love. Has a God of both hate and love been benificial to mankind for the past 2000 years?
May 6, 2013 at 2:19 pm
Enjoyed your comments.
It breaks my heart when the Father is portrayed so wickedly by those who profess to know him. They profess great wickedness – and attribute it to our loving and merciful Father. It makes me wonder how our Father bears with such continual hurt.
Yet I rejoice to hear one speak the truth of God’s character, because I know that one has been taught by God.
May 12, 2013 at 6:46 pm
God is bigger than we know, He is pure love, anything that is pure, good, loving and benefits Christ is from God. Plain and simple.
May 7, 2013 at 2:17 pm
Hi Leaf, There are so many false images of the true heavenly Father, who is perfect love. Thank you for sharing your words. I have found that if you trust God to teach you about Him, that He does and what you learn is what you have described. The Old Testament was a view of God from mankind’s perspective who saw all in death, that was the veil over their minds and understanding … that death perspective covered all they understood; even about God. It is the veil that Christ tore to reveal a better understanding of God; which affects all our perspectives and beliefs.
May 18, 2013 at 2:42 pm
Hello, the laws of Moses do exist as there is evidence of that with King Josiah. Israel supposedly adhered to the laws of Moses during King Josiah’s reign but then a record is found and Josiah mourns for his people, who have never observed a single law from Moses after the record is read or translated. Again if Moses only spoke Egyptian then his writings would be in Egyptian explaining why the record had to be read or “tranlsated” to Josiah I would not be suprised if the laws of Moses resembled that of Christianity and nothing like the temple religion that Israel borrowed from Hammurabi or Babylon.