Law

The Law Was Given to Show Their Inability

As the people of Israel leave Egypt and begin their journey toward the Promised Land, something important happens along the way. God gives them His law.

But notice the order. God did not give them the law in Egypt. He does not say, “Keep these commandments, and I will rescue you.” If that were the case, they would still be there. The same is true for us. If God said, “Live this way, and I will save you,” none of us would make it.

Redemption comes first. Then comes instruction.

Before giving a single command, God reminds them of what He has already done. “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” In other words, “I rescued you. Now live like it. I redeemed you. Now walk like it.”

The law was never meant to earn salvation. It was given to a people who had already been saved. God’s commands were not prerequisites for a relationship. They were the pathway for those already in one.

And yet, as soon as the law is given, something becomes clear.

They cannot keep it.

God lays out His standard. No other gods. No idols. Do not misuse His name. Keep His day holy. Honor your parents. Do not murder. Do not commit adultery. Do not steal. Do not lie. Do not covet. And beyond those ten, hundreds of additional laws guide their worship, their community, and their daily life.

The purpose was not confusion. It was clarity.

God’s law reveals His holiness. And in doing so, it exposes our inability.

The people agree quickly. “All that the Lord has spoken we will do.” It sounds confident. It sounds committed. It does not last.

Almost immediately, they begin to wander. Not just geographically, but spiritually. What should have been a direct journey becomes forty years in the wilderness. Why? Because they cannot consistently obey God’s commands.

They complain. They doubt. They disobey. And yet, God remains faithful.

At one point, they cry out because they have no water. Their fear turns into accusation. “We should have stayed in Egypt.” Moses goes before the Lord, worn out and overwhelmed. “I cannot take these people anymore.”

God responds in a way that reveals something deeper.

“Take the staff and go before the people.”

Moses likely assumes judgment is coming. Finally, consequences. Finally, accountability.

“Strike the rock.”

The rock? The only thing in the wilderness that has done nothing wrong?

Moses obeys. He strikes it. And water pours out, sustaining the people who had just been complaining against God.

The innocent is struck so the guilty can live.

That moment is not random. It is a pattern. God is showing them something they will not fully understand yet. Their survival does not depend on their obedience. It depends on the provision that comes from outside of them.

Again and again, the same lesson appears.

At one point, the people rebel, and God sends judgment in the form of venomous snakes. As people are bitten, they begin to die. The solution God gives is unexpected. He tells Moses to lift up a bronze serpent on a pole. Anyone who looks to it will live.

The instrument of judgment becomes the means of salvation.

It is not logical. It is not intuitive. It requires faith.

Run toward the very thing that represents your problem, and trust that God will save you through it.

Jesus later connects that moment directly to Himself. Just as the serpent was lifted up in the wilderness, so the Son of Man would be lifted up. Salvation would come not through human effort, but through looking in faith to the One God provides.

Even Moses, the leader of the people, understands his own limits. At one point, when God speaks of judgment, Moses offers himself as a substitute. “Take me instead.” It is a noble thought, but it is not enough.

Moses cannot be the sacrifice. He needs one too.

The law makes that unmistakably clear. It shows God’s standard in full clarity. It shows human inability in equal clarity. It teaches that effort, intention, and proximity to God’s people are not enough.

Something more is needed.

The law was given not to prove that we can measure up, but to prove that we cannot. It reveals God’s holiness and drives us to dependence. It shows us what is right while exposing that we cannot consistently do what is right.

And yet, through all of it, God does not abandon His people. In their wandering, in their complaining, in their failure, He continues to provide, to lead, and to love.

The law was given to show their inability.

And in doing so, it points forward to the One who would finally fulfill it.