Maybe because of that message, the other night when I was at the gym on the elliptical machine I began to think about why God gave the Israelites the law. It's a question that I get from time to time, and it usually is phrased something like this: "why would God give the Israelites the law when He knew from the beginning that they would not be able to keep it?"
Without a doubt one of the dominant themes of the Old Testament is the inability of the Israelites, time and time again, to obey the law. And, it is also true that God knew this would be the case. So, maybe the better question is "why didn't God just start with grace?"
I mean, think about it. What a great time we live in relatively speaking! The Israelites had to spend their days trying meticulously to comply with hundreds of laws in the hope of pleasing God. But, because of Jesus, our salvation comes by the Grace of God as a result of our faith in Him. Its tempting, isn't it, to think that if God had started with grace life could have been a lot easier for all those people over all of those centuries who tried -- sometimes with great conviction (think the Pharisees) -- to strictly adhere to the law.
But, I don't think that is actually true. You see, I think if the Israelites had been offered God's grace without the law they would not have accepted it. They wouldn't have accepted it because they would not have known that they needed it.
Think of it this way. Without the law, we would not even know what sin is. The law both gives definition to sin and, indeed, was added so that trespass might increase. See Romans 5:12 - 20. And, if we don't know what sin is, we can't know that we need grace!
In fact, this is the very problem that non-believers face. I often hear non-believers make the argument that it should be enough to be good people. They argue that they just can't get behind a God who (1) would condemn "good people;" and (2) has such an ego that salvation is all about Him. What they are really saying is that they just don't think they should need God's grace.
This, of course, is precisely the point. The Israelites went through "hell" (so to speak) time and time again to show us that sinful man cannot adhere fully to the law. It is a history of a people that shows us that no matter how hard we try we will never be able to save ourselves. We will never be good enough to be able to claim a righteousness sufficient to spend eternity in the presence of a just God. It is a history that shows us that we desperately need the gift of grace.
You see, what the Israelites went through is a great gift to the generations that followed. If we understood their history early enough in our individual lives it would save us a lot of heartache. Of course, most of us need to learn the hard way!
It's funny, but even the world knows that those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it. And, therein lies part of the value of the Old Testament. Thank God that we are without condemnation!
