Hermeneutics Session 10: How God’s Commands Should Be Understood

God’s Law often feels unfamiliar, uncomfortable, or unusable to modern readers, not because it is unclear, but because it comes from a different covenantal and cultural world. When read in context, the Law stops sounding arbitrary and continues to reveal God’s character, purposes, and care for His people.

Consideration

Reading Old Testament Law without context is like trying to function in an unfamiliar culture with unknown customs. 

Many people approach biblical law with confusion or anxiety. Some assume they must obey every command literally or risk being unfaithful. Others dismiss the laws altogether as outdated and irrelevant. Both reactions miss the point. God did not give His commands randomly or carelessly. He intentionally gave them within a covenant to shape a people who belonged to Him.

The real issue is not whether the law matters, but how it functions within the story of Scripture.

“I will keep your law continually, forever and ever.” – Psalm 119:44

Information

What Biblical Law Is

• God’s revealed will for His covenant people
• Instruction given to Israel after redemption, not as a means of earning it
• A reflection of God’s holiness, justice, and care

Why the Law Was Given

• To show Israel what it meant to live as God’s distinct people
• To establish covenant expectations, not general moral advice
• To shape daily life around worship, obedience, and trust

Categories Within the Law

• Conduct: Timeless instructions governing how God’s people are to live in light of His holiness
• Ceremonial: Religious practices marking Israel as distinct and pointing forward
• Civil: Instructions for governing Israel as a nation

Common Misreadings of the Law

• Treating every command as directly binding today
• Ignoring the law as irrelevant or obsolete

What the Law Was Never Meant to Do

• Crush God’s people under impossible standards
• Replace faith with rule-keeping
• Function independently of God’s grace

Demonstration

Exodus 23:19 – “You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.”

Why This Command Feels Strange

• It addresses a practice most modern readers have never encountered
• It appears disconnected from daily Christian life
• It is easy to dismiss as arbitrary or outdated

What the Context Reveals

• The command was associated with pagan fertility rituals
• Surrounding nations used this practice in worship ceremonies
• The issue was allegiance, not cuisine

What the Law Is Doing

• Drawing a boundary between Israel and pagan worship
• Training ethical instincts about life and provision
• Reinforcing Israel’s covenant identity

Application

• The law still teaches us about holiness, worship, and trust
• Christ fulfills the law, but does not render it meaningless
• Nowhere in Scripture do we see God recommend the opposite of a previous command

Summation

Biblical law was never meant to confuse or burden God’s people. It was given to shape them. God’s commands reveal not only what He requires, but how deeply He cares about forming a people who reflect His holiness in everyday life. Understanding how the law functions protects us from two common errors: rigid literalism that crushes life and casual dismissal that ignores God’s voice. 

Next week, the focus shifts from commands to counsel as we explore Wisdom: How God Shapes Skillful Living. Wisdom literature does not offer guarantees or rigid rules, but God’s guidance for navigating life faithfully in a complex world. Learning to read wisdom rightly helps us live with discernment, humility, and trust in the God who orders all things well.