There are 613 laws in the Mosaic law. Many arrive at this section of Scripture and groan, considering it irrelevant since we are no longer under the law but under grace with sections of Scripture like Romans 8:3-4, "For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit." But the law is good (1 Timothy 1:8). Rather than looking at this list of laws as a series of rules that we no longer follow and don't need because we are saved by grace, step back and consider just how much better our world would be if we applied them rather than what the world now considers right and good.

Our current justice system revolves around incarceration. In fact, with over 2 million people filling our prison system we represent the most jailed system in the world. But God's law emphasized restitution, not incarceration. In our system the victim simply loses. We read in Exodus 22:1, "If a man steals an ox or a sheep, and slaughters it or sells it, he shall restore five oxen for an ox and four sheep for a sheep." Notice what happens in 22:3, if the man cannot pay back his debt, "...He should make full restitution; if he has nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft." In God's system you either paid the victim back or became his slave for six years (this is not the same as American slavery, there were rules of treatment and a finite period of servitude (six years). If this was still not enough, then your wife and children would also become slaves. Just step back and reflect for a second on how much more of a deterrent this would be for today's criminal.

We live in a very promiscuous society. The average number of sexual partners in the lifetime of a woman is 7, and the average number for a man is 9. In fact, practically every couple who does not follow God lives together prior to marriage. These are the norms of our current society. To coincide with this "better way" comes the ravages of these decisions: sexually transmitted diseases, abortion, infertility, brokenness, feelings of being used, etc. We read in Exodus 22:16-17, "If a man entices a virgin who is not betrothed, and lies with her, he shall surely pay the bride-price for her to be his wife. If her father utterly refuses to give her to him, he shall pay money according to the bride-price of virgins." The bride-price represented a significant portion of one's income. This price would often render the man unable to marry in the future for lack of funds. Today's equivalent of casual sex on the part of both men and women had no equivalent in the Bible for "good" women and men. In fact, these women who engaged in casual sex only existed in the pagan cultures in the form of temple prostitutes. God wanted people to think long and hard prior to engaging in sexual relations.

It is also very important to not take verses out of context. We will get to the kosher or dietary laws in the book of Leviticus specifically the many animals which are prohibited. But we come to a verse in Exodus 23:19, "...You shall not boil a young goat in its mother's milk". Realize that in the original Scripture there were no chapters or verses (inserted in the 1200's (chapters) and the 1500's (verses)). So, we must follow the theme of the writer. In Exodus 20:3-6, 20:23, 22:20, and 23:13,24, and 33, God is very specific about having nothing to do with foreign gods. From writings from 1300BC, we find that the practice of boiling a young goat in its mother's milk was done as a fertility rite to false gods so that these gods would bless the people with children. God was simply warning the people to avoid these pagan practices. From this one verse, completely isolated from the kosher laws evolves the entire kosher practice of not mixing meat and dairy. This has resulted in separate sinks, separate dishes, separate restaurants, etc.

So, as we enter into this long section of laws, may we not rush through them deeming them irrelevant but take the time to reflect and see just how good they really are. Our entire legal system was founded on the Word of God, written by men who all respected the Word of God. The problems we now find in our legal system is because the law has continually changed under the hand of many who have no respect for the Word of God. These "expert" judges and lawyers who do not respect or revere God are really not in a position to properly interpret the law, which is why we in this world are in such trouble. This is why we can see decisions like the one that passed in New York permitting abortion until the moment of birth, including full-term babies. May we, unlike these judges, read these laws in reverence to the Ultimate law-giver, and see the world through the beauty of His eyes. He is the only One who truly knows the difference between right and wrong.