There are many reasons to read the Old Testament Law, but the most important reason is that Jesus read all of it. He not only thoroughly learned the Law, but he obeyed it perfectly. The Old Testament Scriptures shaped his mind and heart and taught him about his Father as he grew from an infant to a man. This is what he said to his disciples about the Law and the Prophets:

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”  Matthew 5:17-19

When Jesus explained his life, death and resurrection to his disciples, he used all of the Old Testament Scriptures.

“And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.” Luke 24:27

The Apostle Paul told us that we can have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16), but to think like Jesus we need to read what he read. We need to “get” God’s story in the first three-quarters of the Bible.

Jesus’ Perspective

If you find reading the Old Testament boring or confusing, try reading it from the perspective of Jesus. What did he learn as he read the same passage you are reading? What did he find there that guided his life and built his relationship with his Father? These are good questions to ask as you explore the Mosaic Law.

Things to Know About the Law

The Mosaic Law has three categories:

• Moral Laws that teach us how to be holy and love God and other people
• Civil Laws that teach us how to deal with disputes and crime
• Ceremonial Laws that teach us how to approach God and worship him

Here are some other important things to know about the Law:

1. It came from God. It didn’t come from the mind of Moses and no king in Israel ever wrote a different set of laws for the nation to follow. The Law was from the mind of God, and it has never been revised.
2. The Law was delivered directly to the people of Israel. It was not the property of an elite group of lawyers, stored in some court archive or hidden in a law library. As soon as God gave it to Moses, it was passed on to the people. Man, woman, or child, everyone in Israel was accountable to know the Law and abide by it.
3. The people of Israel were expected to regularly read and recite the Law. Mothers taught it to their children from infancy. Fathers discussed it with their families when they sat down or walked along the road together. Teachers read it aloud at community gatherings and kings were required to read it from beginning to end every year of their reign.
4. The Law (and the rest of the Old Testament) show us the depth of the problem of sin and its consequences. God’s wrath and justice against sin are revealed. We see what we have been delivered from through the grace that is ours in Christ.
5. We learn about the power of faith from Old Testament believers who were made righteous without knowing Christ. They looked forward to a salvation they could not explain and they believed and trusted God to save them, even before the plan of salvation was fully revealed in Christ.

The God of the Old and New Testaments

It’s a mistake to think that “the God of the Old Testament” and “the God of the New Testament” are somehow different. That’s like saying the tender father of a newborn baby and the disciplinarian father of a teenager are different fathers. Dads reveal different sides of themselves as needed to raise their children well.

God has always dealt with his people according to what they needed in the time in which they lived. In the Old Testament he gave the Law to teach and correct them. In the New Testament he sent his Son to save them. But it’s all part of the same plan to redeem sinners and bring them safely home.

Good Promises from God

Exodus 23:20-33 in today’s reading is full of loving promises from Israel’s powerful and protective God. He promised to guard them as they moved toward Canaan and he assured them that he would deal with all of their enemies. He gave instructions so they knew what their responsibilities would be, but he promised to more than compensate their obedience with good health, abundant provisions, and long lives. He had a good land waiting for them and when they got there he would establish its borders for them.

No father was ever better to his family than God was to Israel.

Ratifying the Covenant

In return the people of Israel agreed to do everything God told them to do. Moses wrote down all the laws God gave him and the next day he built an altar and set up twelve stone pillars to represent the twelve tribes of Israel. He sent young Israelite men to bring burnt offerings and they sacrificed young bulls to the Lord. Moses sprinkled half of the blood from the animal sacrifices on the altar, and the other half he sprinkled over the people and said,

“This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words” Exodus 24:8

After Moses read the Law, Israel unanimously ratified it with a voice vote and the ceremony of animal sacrifice. The same offering of blood that sanctified the altar also sanctified the people.

God on the Mountain

Then an unusual thing happened. God invited the elders and leaders of Israel to share a meal with him. They went up the mountain and saw the God of Israel. There was a clear, blue pavement under his feet, much like the crystal pavement the Prophet Ezekiel saw later in Ezekiel 1:4, 22-28, and John the Apostle saw in Revelation 4:1-6.

Bob Deffinbaugh at Bible.org, believes the elders were standing on the earth gazing upward through the celestial pavement under God’s throne and his feet were all that was visible over their heads. The meal was a celebration of the covenant God made and Israel ratified and there has never been another event like it in history.

After Israel confirmed their covenant relationship with God, God called Moses to come up the mountain and receive more of the Law. Moses placed the people in the care of Aaron and Hur, and with his aide Joshua he climbed part way up the mountain. A cloud of glory settled over the cliffs above him and he waited for six days for something to happen. On the seventh day God called to Moses from within the cloud and he entered the cloud and was gone for forty days and forty nights. To Israel it looked like Moses had disappeared into a consuming fire on the mountain.

Awesome God

Earthquakes, fire, smoke and thick clouds, loud trumpet blasts that came from an invisible source – all these things signaled that Israel was dealing with the Almighty. But these powerful signs were not meant to frighten Israel, they were meant to produce awe and a life-sustaining fear of God.

As we read these great accounts in Scripture I pray that we, too, will be awestruck by God.

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/old-testament-important/

https://bible.org/seriespage/24-magnificent-meal-mt-sinai-exodus-241-18