Generally speaking, the Law of Moses is the first five books of the Bible, or the Torah (Hebrew for “law”), also called the Pentateuch (Greek for “five books”). More strictly speaking, the Law of Moses refers only to the 600-plus commandments and regulations in the second through fifth books of the Torah. We often refer to the commandments as “the Law of Moses”; of course, they are actually the Law of God. Moses was the one through whom God gave Israel the law.The foundation of the Law of Moses is the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:2–17), as dictated to Moses by God Himself on Mt. Sinai (Exodus 31:18).
The Law of Moses is often divided into three broad categories: moral laws, civil (or judicial) laws, and ceremonial laws:
Moral laws reflected God’s holy, unchanging character. The moral laws included the Ten Commandments.
Civil laws were regulations on the day-to-day life of the Hebrew people. These laws governed such things as marriage and divorce, sexual conduct, and property rights and set the penalties for various crimes ranging from theft to kidnapping to slander.
Ceremonial laws related to the manner that the Israelites were to worship God. The ceremonial laws instructed on the proper way to offer sacrifices, perform rituals, and celebrate festivals. The laws governing what was “clean” and “unclean” were in this category.
The Law of Moses was an earthly copy of an eternal, heavenly, unchanging standard of holiness. “Your word, Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens” (Psalm 119:89). Jesus taught the unbending character of the Law of Moses: “It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the least stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law” (Luke 16:17). God’s law is unchanging because God is unchanging (Psalm 55:19; James 1:17). Jesus Himself kept the law and often referred people to it (see Matthew 5:27–28; 22:37–39; Mark 3:4; Luke 10:25–28; 22:7–8).
The Mosaic Law was given specifically to the nation of Israel (Exodus 19; Leviticus 26:46; Romans 9:4). It was made up of three parts: the Ten Commandments, the ordinances, and the worship system, which included the priesthood, the tabernacle, the offerings, and the festivals (Exodus 20—40; Leviticus 1—7; 23).
God gave His laws to help people love God with all their hearts and minds. Throughout Israel’s history, however, these laws had often been misquoted and misapplied. By Jesus’ time, religious leaders had turned the laws into a confusing mass of rules. When Jesus talked about a new way to understand God’s law, he was actually trying to bring people back to its original purpose. Jesus did not speak against the law itself but against the abuses and excesses to which it had been subjected (see John 1:17).
When Christ came, He fulfilled the Law and with His death paid the penalty for our breaking it (Galatians 3:24; Romans 10:4). By faith in Him, the believer has the very righteousness of Christ imputed to him.
The purpose of the Mosaic Law raises these questions: “Are you trusting in yourself to keep all the Ten Commandments all the time (which you can’t do)?” OR “Have you made the choice to accept Jesus as your Savior, realizing that He has fulfilled all the commandments all the time for you, even paying your penalty for breaking them?”
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