The Law, the Pharisees, and Christ — Why Did God Give Israel the Law? – Part 1

The Law, the Pharisees, and Christ · Article 1 · Why Did God Give Israel the Law?

Main passages: Exodus 19:3–6; Exodus 20:1–17; Leviticus 19:1–18
Anchor verse: Exodus 20:2

“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt.”

Exodus 20:2, NIV

When many of us hear “the Law,” we instinctively brace ourselves. The word can suggest rigidity, guilt, or a religious system too ancient and complicated to matter in ordinary life.

Yet Scripture does not present the Law as a cold set of rules imposed on people trying to earn their way to God. It was given within a relationship God had already established. The Law revealed His holiness, ordered Israel’s life as His covenant people, exposed the depth of human sin, and prepared the way for Christ.

Rescue Came Before Command

Before God gave Israel the Ten Commandments, He reminded them who He was and what He had done:

“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt.”

Exodus 20:2, NIV

Israel did not receive the Law as a way to escape Egypt. God had already delivered them, claimed them as His people, and brought them to Himself (Exodus 19:3–6).

Rescue came before command.

N. T. Wright’s description of Torah as Israel’s “covenant charter” is helpful here. The Law gave shape to Israel’s life with the God who had redeemed them. It addressed worship, justice, sexuality, sacrifice, economics, rest, family life, and care for the vulnerable. Together, these commands taught Israel what it meant to live as a holy people in God’s presence (Leviticus 19:1–18).

This did not make obedience optional. The covenant included blessings for faithfulness and serious consequences for rebellion (Deuteronomy 28). Israel could not earn redemption through obedience, but obedience was the fitting response of a people who belonged to God.

God’s Character Appears in the Details

Some commands in the Law express God’s moral will directly. Others governed Israel as a particular covenant nation or established temporary patterns later fulfilled in Christ. We should not treat every command as though it applies to Christians in the same way.

Even so, the whole Law reveals something about the God who gave it.

The gleaning laws protected the poor and the foreigner (Leviticus 19:9–10). Sabbath rest extended to servants, immigrants, and animals (Deuteronomy 5:12–15). Widows and orphans received particular protection (Exodus 22:21–24). Laws concerning debt, property, and servitude restrained human power and reminded Israel that the land and the people ultimately belonged to God (Leviticus 25:23, 35–43).

God’s holiness was not confined to the tabernacle. It reached into fields, homes, courts, marketplaces, bodies, and relationships.

The prophets later confronted Israel for preserving religious ceremonies while neglecting justice, mercy, and covenant faithfulness (Isaiah 1:11–17; Amos 5:21–24; Micah 6:6–8). The problem was not that God’s commands were unjust. The problem was that sinful people could observe parts of the Law while resisting the God whose character it revealed.

The Sacrifices Revealed Holiness and Mercy

The sacrificial system can feel distant to modern readers, but it revealed both the seriousness of sin and the mercy of God.

A holy God could not be approached casually. Sin brought guilt, corruption, and death. Yet God did not leave His people without a way to seek cleansing and restoration. He gave them priests, sacrifices, and appointed times of atonement (Leviticus 16).

These sacrifices were real gifts of grace within the covenant, but they were not the final answer to human sin. Hebrews explains that the blood of animals could not finally cleanse the conscience or perfect the worshiper (Hebrews 9:9–14; 10:1–4). Their repetition showed that a greater sacrifice was still needed.

The sacrifices taught Israel that fellowship with God required atonement, and that God Himself would have to provide it.

The Law Exposed the Need for a New Heart

The Law did more than describe righteous living. It revealed how far God’s people fell short.

Paul calls the Law holy, righteous, and good (Romans 7:12). Its inability to produce a faithful people was not a defect in the Law. The weakness was in sinful humanity (Romans 8:3). The Law could command what was right, identify evil, and pronounce judgment against disobedience, but it could not create the obedient heart it required.

Israel’s history made this clear. The people turned to idols, corrupted worship, abused power, rejected the prophets, and eventually experienced the covenant judgment of exile (2 Kings 17:7–23; 2 Chronicles 36:15–21).

They needed more than further instruction. They needed forgiveness, inward renewal, and the work of God’s Spirit. The Old Testament itself looks toward that hope. Moses spoke of God circumcising His people’s hearts (Deuteronomy 30:6). Jeremiah promised a new covenant in which God would write His Law within them (Jeremiah 31:31–34). Ezekiel looked forward to a day when God would cleanse His people, give them new hearts, and put His Spirit within them (Ezekiel 36:25–27).

The Law was good, but the human heart needed to be made new.

Christ Fulfills the Law

Jesus did not come to dismiss the Law as a failed religious experiment.

“I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”

Matthew 5:17, NIV

To say that Christ fulfills the Law means more than saying that scattered commands contain hidden predictions about Him. The covenant as a whole, its commands, sacrifices, priesthood, institutions, promises, and unresolved tensions, reaches its intended goal in Christ.

What the Law commanded, Jesus perfectly obeyed. He loved God without reservation and His neighbor without failure (Matthew 22:37–40; John 8:29). He is the faithful Israelite, the obedient Son, and the righteous King Israel had long needed.

What the sacrifices anticipated, Jesus accomplished through His death. He offered Himself once for all, bearing sin and securing lasting forgiveness for His people (Hebrews 9:24–28; 10:11–14).

What the priesthood pictured, Jesus fulfills as the eternal High Priest. He enters God’s presence on the basis of His finished sacrifice and represents His people before the Father (Hebrews 4:14–16; 7:23–28).

The tabernacle expressed God’s desire to dwell among His people. In Christ, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). Sabbath and Jubilee carried patterns of rest, release, and restoration. Jesus brings the deeper freedom of God’s kingdom and gives rest to those who come to Him (Luke 4:16–21; Matthew 11:28–30).

Christ also bore the covenant curse brought by disobedience. Paul writes that He redeemed His people from the curse of the Law by becoming a curse for them (Galatians 3:10–14). Jesus fulfilled the Law not only by living the righteousness it required, but by bearing the judgment lawbreakers deserved.

How Christians Receive the Law

Christians are not under the Mosaic covenant as Israel was. We belong to the new covenant established through the death and resurrection of Jesus (Luke 22:20; Hebrews 8:6–13).

This means we do not apply Israel’s covenant laws directly to the church or to modern nations. The sacrifices, priesthood, purity regulations, festivals, and national judgments must be understood in light of their fulfillment in Christ (Colossians 2:16–17; Hebrews 10:1).

But the Law is not irrelevant. It remains Christian Scripture. It reveals God’s holiness and wisdom, exposes sin, and helps us understand sacrifice, priesthood, cleansing, justice, rest, and covenant faithfulness (Romans 3:20; 15:4; 2 Timothy 3:15–17).

We read the Law through Christ, under the new covenant, and by the Spirit. We do not obey in order to earn redemption. We obey because we have been redeemed (Ephesians 2:8–10).

That pattern was already present at Sinai: God rescued His people and then taught them how to live. In Christ, the pattern reaches its fullness. God forgives His people, gives them His Spirit, and begins forming in them the life His holiness requires (Romans 8:3–4).

The Law cannot save us, but it helps us understand the salvation Christ has accomplished. It shows us the holiness of the God who draws near, the seriousness of the sin He forgives, and the grace by which His people are brought home.

Small Group Discussion Questions

1. Why is it important that God rescued Israel before giving them the covenant commands?
2. What do the Law’s protections for the poor, foreigner, servant, widow, and orphan reveal about God’s character?
3. Why could the Law expose sin but not create the obedient heart it required?
4. What does it mean to say that Jesus fulfills the Law rather than abolishing it?
5. How should Christians read and receive the Mosaic Law under the new covenant?

Sources and Further Reading

• N. T. Wright’s discussions of Torah and covenant are helpful for understanding the Law as instruction shaping Israel’s life as God’s redeemed covenant people.

Study References

• Exodus 19:3–6 and Exodus 20:1–17, concerning redemption before covenant command.
• Leviticus 19 and Deuteronomy 5:12–15, concerning holiness, justice, mercy, love of neighbor, and rest within Israel’s covenant life.
• Exodus 22:21–24 and Leviticus 25:23–43, concerning protection of vulnerable people and restraints upon property, debt, and servitude.
• Isaiah 1:11–17, Amos 5:21–24, and Micah 6:6–8, concerning religious observance separated from justice, mercy, and covenant faithfulness.
• Leviticus 16, Hebrews 9:9–14, and Hebrews 10:1–4, concerning atonement and the need for a greater sacrifice.
• Romans 7:12 and Romans 8:1–4, concerning the goodness of the Law, the weakness of sinful flesh, and new life through the Spirit.
• Deuteronomy 30:6, Jeremiah 31:31–34, and Ezekiel 36:25–27, concerning inward renewal, the new covenant, a new heart, and the work of the Spirit.
• Matthew 5:17, Galatians 3:10–14, and Hebrews 10:11–14, concerning Christ’s fulfillment of the Law, His bearing of the covenant curse, and His once-for-all sacrifice.
• Colossians 2:16–17 and Hebrews 8:6–13, concerning the fulfillment of covenant shadows and the establishment of the new covenant.
• Ephesians 2:8–10, concerning salvation by grace and obedience as the fruit rather than the cause of redemption.
• Christians are not under the Mosaic covenant as Israel was. The Law remains Christian Scripture, but its commands must be interpreted through Christ, the new covenant, and the teaching of the apostles.
• Scripture quotations and linked passages are from the New International Version.