Hebrews 8.10 This
is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel after that time,
declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their
hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. – God
If the Law had worked, we wouldn’t need Jesus. If the Law
had worked then we wouldn’t need the Church. If the Law had worked, John Lennon
would have been happier…Imagine. Although man was not made for law, he sure
loves it. Law is predictable: just keep the rules pilgrim, and you’ll be okay.
Man, was made for relationship. We fall short in limiting
our understanding of God to His relationship with the Jews in the desert under
Moses. We want to, because it is
there we see Law established, and as previously stated, we love law. It gives us a sense of achievement and a sense of
production. But we weren’t made for law but for relationship.
The Bible is the Bible and the accounts and histories of
the Bible are there to show us a better way; a way with God as our Friend, not as
our Lawyer. The Bible shows the history of the ancient Jews who failed
miserably in their attempt to keep the Law. They were chosen to walk with God
and obey His rules. They didn’t, and they couldn’t. But the chose law over
love; appeasement over friendship.
We however, must remember that the Jews were (and are)
the Jews. To them the Law was given. To them the Commandments were chiseled in
stone. But that is not how the whole process started and God never meant to
leave them in the Law; He meant for the Law to lead them to longing for Christ.
When the writer of Hebrews wrote, “I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts.”,
he was indicating to us that God’s laws
are different than THE LAW – the Law that was prescribed for the Jews under
Moses. The quotation above is taken from Jeremiah the prophet’s writings. God
has always intended to be our Friend – not the Lawyer. God knew the Law was a
temporary thing for a temporary time. It was not for all mankind but for a
certain people; and only for a certain reason.
But how we love the Law! It would be simpler than
self-rule under God’s watchful eye. The difficulty for most is not the
rule-keeping, but knowing God. How can we know a God who seems to alternate
between love and wrath depending on the moment? Who can we know a God who calls
for judgment, and punishment, and death, and hell? How in the world can we
appease such a One?
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