Digging into the Mosaic Law (Sinaitic Covenant) Part 1

There are different kinds of covenants. I didn't know this until I started studying. There are 7 covenants in the Bible. How fitting!! Isn't 7 the number for COMPLETE? Well the NEW Covenant is the last one and it completes God's plan. For Example:

1)The Noahic Covenant: An unconditional divine covenant; rainbow was its sign
2-A) Abrahamic-A: (I can see Abraham stretched out between two trees, napping as he sways back and forth with a stripped pillow at his head...just kidding. There are no hammocks involved.) Unconditional divine promise to grant land.
3-B) Abrahamic-B: Conditional divine pledge of total consecration to the Lord as symbolized by circumcision.
4) Sinaitic (Mosaic) Covenant: Conditional divine pledge that God will be Israel's God symbolized by following his rules and serve His purpose in history. This covenant was also called a Suzerian-Vassal. This means this covenant regulated the relationship between God and his followers. God claimed absolute right of sovereignty, demanding total loyalty and service. God pledged protection conditional on the faithfulness and loyalty to him. People pledged absolute loyalty to God whatever service God demanded. This IS the 613 laws of the Mosaic Law.
5) Phinehas Covenant (Aaron's grandson): Unconditional divine promise to maintain the family of Phinehas in a "lasting priesthood".
6) Davidic: Unconditional divine promise t establish and maintain the Davidic Dynasty on the throne of Israel.
7) New Covenant: An unconditional divine promise to unfaithful Israel to forgive her sins an establish his relationship with her in a new basis by writing his law 'on their hearts'--a covenant of pure grace. This is a Royal Grant covenant promised to rebellious people. It is unconditional if the people remain in God. IF you remain in me, I will remain in you (John 15:4,7,9)

Mosaic Law is conditional and New Covenant is unconditional! Whoop whoop!

A List of the 613 Commandment took 34 pages to print. If you are interested: www.jewfaq.org/613

The list is divided up into 34 categories.

Each sections has ‘To do’s” and ‘Not to do’s’. 218 Dos vs. 395 Don'ts

(This may be more technical than you ever wanted to know, but I enjoy digging deep.)

1. God: 6 dos; 4 not to dos—10
2. Torah (law): 3 dos; 3 not to dos—6
3. Signs and Symbols: 5 dos—5
4. Prayers and Blessings: 3 dos; 1 not to dos— 4
5. Love and Brotherhood: 4 dos; 9 not to dos—13
6. The Poor and Unfortunate: 6 dos; 7 not to dos—13
7. Treatment of Gentiles: 3 dos; 3 not to dos—6
8. Marriage and Divorce and Family: 11 dos; 12 not to dos—23
9. Forbidden Sexual Relations: all do nots—25
10. Times and Seasons (Sabbath, Festivals,Passover, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur: 21 dos; 15 not to dos —36
11. Dietary Laws: 7 dos; 20 not to dos—27
12. Business Practices: 3 dos; 11 not to dos—14
13. Employees, Servants and Slaves: 7 dos; 12 not to dos—19
14. Vows, Oaths and Swearing: 3 dos; 4 not to dos—7
15. The Sabbatical and Jubilee Year: 8 dos; 9 not to dos—17
16. The Court and Judicial Procedure: 16 dos; 20 not to dos—36
17. Injuries and Damages: 2 dos; 2 not to dos—4
18. Property and Property Rights: 3 dos; 8 not to dos—11
19. Criminal Law: 7 not to dos—7
20. Punishment and Restitution: 15 dos; 9 not to dos —24
21. Prophecy: 1 do; 2 not to dos—3
22. Idolatry, Idolaters and Idolatrous Practices: 2 dos; 44 not to dos—46
23. Agriculture and Animal Husbandry: 1 do; 6 not to dos—7
24. Clothing: 3 not to dos—3
25. The Firstborn: 3 dos; 1 not to do—4
26. Kohanim and Levites: 9 dos; 21 not to dos—30
27. T’rumah, Tithes and Taxes: 10 dos; 14 not to dos—24
28. The Temple, the Sanctuary and Sacred Objectives: 15 dos; 18 not to dos—33
29. Sacrifices and Offerings: 47 dos; 55 not to dos—102
30. Ritual Purity and Impurity: 16 not to dos—16
31. Lepers and Leprosy: 2 dos; 2 not to dos—4
32. The King: 2 dos; 5 not to dos—7
33. Nazarites: 2 dos; 8 not to dos—10
34. War: 7 dos; 9 not to dos—16

Total: 218 Dos and 395 Do Not Dos

Interesting things to mention: 

“If you have stumbled at just one point…you are guilty of breaking it all,” (James 2:10) I don’t think you can pick and choose what Mosaic Laws you follow according to this verse.  The author of the list admitted “commandments that cannot be observed today are related to the Temple, its sacrifices and services because the Temple does not exist” and criminal procedures “because the theocratic state of Israel does not exist”. Either follow all 613 or choose grace from Jesus Christ. It is impossible to follow all 613, but it is possible to follow Jesus and be called/led to follow some of the 613 while accepting grace at the same time. It depends on how you are motivated and carried along by the Holy Spirit. I don't think the Holy Spirit leads people in all the same way. For example, I am led to remove trash from the ditches on my country road. If all Christians were led to do that, the world would be a beautiful place all the time, but it is not and they are not. (that is just one silly example) We are not all led to do the same things; we use out unique gifts to glory God.

1 Corinthians 3:16, 6:19 2 Cor 6:16’ Eph 2:22) says, “You yourselves are God’s temple and God’s Spirit dwells in your midst.” The temple from Moses has transitioned from a physical place the Hebrews moved from place to place to our internal hearts. The temple is our body, and the body of believers as a whole now. God/Christ/HS does not live in the manmade temple any longer, He indwells inside of us. In the Old Testament and before Pentecost, the Holy Spirit or Spirit of the Lord was ON people for a time, not IN them. Now, we are the temple of the living God and the Spirit is IN us. It is futile to rebuild the actual, physical temple when it is here on earth, in us already. The commands along with the Mosaic Law were a dividing wall of hostility, but Jesus ‘set aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations…to create a new humanity…making peace…reconciling both [law and faith] through the cross…For through him we both [Jews and Gentiles] have access to the Father by one Spirit,’ (Eph 3:14-18). 

Everyone is supposed to write all these rules on a scroll for themselves according to the law. And when a man becomes king, he has to write another one. (Laws #16 and #587) If you think about it, that would mean millions of copies of the law are somewhere. Where are they? Has anyone found evidence of this?

According to law #598, people in war shall not fear their enemies nor be panic stricken by them during battle. I think this is impossible…just ask those who have been in war. Our human nature is to fear. There is a healthy fear like of snakes so you can protect yourself and be on guard. There is an unhealthy fear that implies you don’t trust God. 

Lastly, Jesus said, “Obey everything I have command you,” Matthew 28:18. This is a transition statement right here. He did not say obey everything Moses command you. Jesus trumps Moses. 

Next week, I will look every word of Jesus in my red letter version and list what Jesus taught. I’m interested to know how many of the 613 Mosaic Laws Jesus really taught his followers. Jesus spoke of the heart attitude manifesting its love for others but Moses Law focuses on if person is doing it right or wrong based on a command/rule on the books; it almost leaves the heart out completely just as long as you are following the written code.

So, come back next week and see what I found out.