As far back as the days of Noah, God prescribed the death penalty for murder. And He explained why: human beings are made in the image of God. Killing a man or woman thus not only involves taking someone’s life. It is also an attack on God Himself. Christians are…

Why does the Law of God prescribe the death penalty for all these crimes? In the book of Deuteronomy, Moses tells us why – to “purge the evil from among you” (Deuteronomy 13:5; 19:19, 22:21, 24; 22:24). And in the days when the people of God were defined largely by…

In the ancient world, most people became slaves either because they prisoners of war or because they had incurred tremendous debts. But the Law of Moses made it clear that, regardless of the reason for anyone’s slavery, it was not to be considered a permanent situation, at least not for…

How do the particular rules found in the Law of Moses flesh out the universal, eternal principles found in the Ten Commandments? To begin answering that question, today’s passage takes a look at part of the ceremonial law, which spells out the way that God’s Old Testament people were called…

Right after Jesus repeated the first part of the Great Commandment, quoting from Deuteronomy chapter 6, He said this, quoting from Leviticus 19:18: “The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:31). So, if the first four commandments…

The foremost commandment of all is “Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength” (Mark 12:29-30). That’s what Jesus said, quoting…

It’s easy to undertake any study of God’s law in a sullen way, balking at the idea that anyone else has the right to tell us what to do. Yes, the sinful nature we have inherited from Adam makes all of us hesitant to submit to anyone else’s authority. So…

“What? Take a whole day off every week just to worship and praise God? There’s no way I could possibly do that. I have way too much to do!” Well, today’s passage shows us that observing the Sabbath isn’t just a problem for modern Americans in general or for workaholics…

Although God’s people had made offerings and sacrifices to Him as far back as the time of Cain and Abel (Genesis 4:3-4), today’s passage is the first time that God commanded everyone to make an offering at the same time and for the same reason. The celebration of the Passover…

However painful circumcision may have been, it wasn’t the hardest thing God asked Abraham to do. Not even close. For after God kept His promise to Abraham and Sarah, after their miracle baby was born when Abraham was 100 years old and Sarah was 90, God asked Abraham to give…