Advent, Day 6
THE LIGHT OF GODS LAW
Ever since the earliest days, men and women had been choosing, each one for himself, what was right or wrong. The results were terrible. For example, one man would decide something should be his, but another thought it should be his instead. They would fight over it until one hurt or killed the other. This cycle continued until nobody felt safe. The people forgot how to be human. They forgot the ways of love that God had designed. They lived half-alive, scraping for scraps in the twilight.
Then God spoke into the darkness and once again made light.
God gave brilliant laws to Moses—laws that stood tall and illuminated the path toward true life. God’s laws taught the people to honor God, love their neighbors, protect the vulnerable, and share food with them. God taught them that all the Earth belonged to him, so they should not horde land or wealth. He taught their nation to give everyone the opportunity to use their God-given creativity.
God taught them to restrain and punish evil, but also to show mercy and offer refuge, and to break the cycles of violence that were so common in their world. Some of God’s laws are tricky to understand today. The world has changed, and the dangers in the world have shifted. Our place in God’s story has also changed because we live in a later chapter. But every law God gave had a brilliant purpose, and by understanding those purposes, God’s people could discover incredible clues about who God is and what He is like.
For example, God told them to build small fences called parapets on their roofs to prevent accidental falls. This might seem odd today because we don’t walk on our roofs like they used to, but it showed how God valued life and safety and wanted his people to carefully build homes that were safe. It turns out, then, even laws about parapets have a lot to teach us today if we take the time to ask ourselves, “What did this law mean back then?” and “What does this law tell us about who God is and what He values?”
The laws were like little puzzle pieces offering clues about God, showing what He is like. But the problem was, the pieces didn’t add up to a complete picture.
The laws shed precious light on certain aspects of God, but they weren’t able to lead people to really know him.
They restrained evil and they offered a partial picture of what God is like, but they could not offer God himself. To really get to God, the people needed something more.
They needed God to come down and show himself to them.
DAILY SCRIPTURE READING
When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God. You shall not steal; you shall not deal falsely; you shall not lie to one another. You shall not swear by my name falsely, and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord. You shall not oppress your neighbor or rob him. The wages of a hired worker shall not remain with you all night until the morning. You shall not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall fear your God: I am the Lord. You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor. You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not stand up against the life of your neighbor: I am the Lord. You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him. You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.
-Leviticus 19:9-18
REFLECTION QUESTIONS
– As you read these laws from Leviticus 19, what stands out to you about God’s priorities and concerns?
– Romans 13:8-10 describes love as the summary and fulfillment of the law. As you read each law, how do you think love is at the root of it?
– What principle from this small sample of God’s law can you apply to your life today?
PRAYER
Father, thank you for your law. Thank you that you did not leave us to wonder and guess what human flourishing should really look like—each person coming up with a different and contradictory answer. You gave us your laws to show how human life should be lived. Help us to understand your commands as we read them. Help us to apply your wisdom to our lives so that we might see your ways as good.
