“613 Commandments?!”

“Six hundred and thirteen commandments?! Forget it! I couldn’t even remember that many rules, let alone obey all of them!”

That is often a typical response when a Christian learns that the Law God gave to Moses contains 613 commandments. Does God (or did God) really expect His people to obey that many rules? It seems unrealistic and unreasonable to some people. But let’s consider a few things.

GOD’S RIGHT TO COMMAND HIS CHILDREN

First, consider the fact that God is sovereign. He is the LORD, the Boss, the Owner of everything. As the Creator of all things, He has the right to command His creatures. He can give as many commandments as He wants. He does not need our approval.

MAN-MADE CIVIL LAWS

Second, consider how many federal, state, and local laws there are. In the July 23, 2011 Wall Street Journal, Gary Fields and John R. Emshwiller wrote an article about how many federal criminal laws there are in America. The title of the article was “Many Failed Efforts to Count Nation’s Federal Criminal Laws.” In effect, they concluded that there are far too many to count. It is estimated that there may be as many as 300,000 laws.

And those are just federal criminal laws. Add to that estimated number of 300,000 all of the thousands of state, county, and local laws that exist, and you will realize that you live with hundreds of thousands of man-made civil laws, with new ones being added every year. Yet you are expected to somehow be a law-abiding citizen. Why then should it seem unrealistic and unreasonable to live with 613 God-given commandments?

77 + 194 = 271

77 + 194 + 26 = 297

Third, Consider the fact that God does not expect you to obey all 613 commandments. He only expects you to not disobey any of the 613 commandments. Let me explain.

According to The Concise Book of Mitzvoth, by the Chofetz Chayim, the Torah contains 77 positive commandments (things we are commanded to do) and 194 negative commandments (things we are commanded not to do). In addition to these, there are 26 commandments that can be obeyed only in the land of Israel. That makes a total of 271 commandments if you live outside Israel, and 297 commandments if you live in Israel. That is a lot fewer laws than all the federal, state, and local laws you live with!

613 - 297 = 316

But the Torah has 613 commandments. What happened to the other 316 commandments?

There are 316 Torah commandments that cannot be kept today - which explains why the subtitle of the Chofetz Chayim’s book is The Commandments Which Can Be Observed Today.

TEMPLE & SACRIFICIAL COMMANDMENTS

Most of the 316 commandments that cannot be observed today pertain to the Tabernacle and Temple services and the sacrifices that were offered by the Levitical priests.

Even if we wanted to bring animals or produce to Levitical priests to offer as sacrifices to the LORD, we could not do it, because God said that those sacrifices were to be offered only in one specific place, the Temple in Jerusalem. With no Temple and with no functioning Levitical priesthood, the commandments pertaining to sacrifices cannot be kept. As Hebrews 8:13 explains, that system of sacrifices and burnt offerings decayed, waxed old, and vanished away.

COMMANDMENTS THAT REQUIRE A THEOCRACY

If a commandment prescribes stoning or some other punishment, this is not observeable for two reasons: 1) because we are not currently living under a theocracy and therefore we must let the civil courts punish lawbreakers, and 2) because “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law” (Gal. 3:13), i.e., from the punishment we deserve for breaking the law.

OTHER COMMANDMENTS THAT CANNOT (OR NEED NOT) BE KEPT TODAY

Some of the commandments in the Torah were obviously intended only for the Israelites during their forty years in the wilderness. For example, Deuteronomy 23:12-14 says to carry a spade to bury your dung in the desert outside the camp. If you currently live in the desert and have no toilet or outhouse, this might still be a useful commandment for you to follow, but otherwise you do not need to carry a paddle to bury your dung.

Some of the commandments were obviously intended only for the Israelites during the conquest of Canaan. For example, Deuteronomy 20:17 says to utterly destroy the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. Most of us do not even know any of those folks, and even if we met some of them, I do not believe the LORD wants us to take up weapons and utterly destroy them. That was a job for Joshua’s generation.

Some people might disagree with me, but I also believe that the instructions in Deuteronomy 21:10-14, which tell a soldier how to take a beautiful woman from among a conquered enemy to be his wife, was a commandment intended only for the generation that conquered Canaan. I could be wrong; maybe God still approves of a soldier forcing a beautiful woman to be his wife if she is a captive among a defeated foe, but I have my doubts. I think that was just for Joshua’s generation.

“271.... THAT’S STILL A LOT OF RULES TO REMEMBER”

Yes, 271 rules is a lot to remember. However, we are not required to memorize and recite a long list of 271 commandments. No individual person is required to do all 271 commandments. Let me explain.

How do you manage to be a law-abiding American citizen in a country that has hundreds of thousands of man-made civil laws? By memorizing and reciting all the laws? Of course not. You realize that many of our government’s laws pertain only to specific people who do specific things.

You are able to live with thousands of civil laws because most of these laws are situation-specific. The laws apply only to people in a particular situation, and only while they are in that situation.

For example, building codes apply only to people who are constructing buildings. If you are not constructing a building, you do not even need to be aware of the many laws that regulate building codes.

Laws that regulate the collection and payment of retail sales tax apply only to retailers who sell retail merchandise. If you are not a retailer, you do not need to familiarize yourself with those laws. Driving laws apply only to people who drive, gun laws apply only to people who own guns, and so on.

Many of the commandments of the Torah are likewise situation-specific, so nobody is expected to do them all. Even Yeshua/Jesus did not do all 613 commandments, because some of the commandments are specifically for women, some for lepers, some for Levites, some for married people, some for bastards, Moabites, and Ammonites. Yeshua was not a woman, nor a leper, nor a Levite, nor any of those other things, so He did not do all 613 commandments. Yet He never once disobeyed any of the 613 commandments.

CHRISTIANS DO BELIEVE IN KEEPING THE LAW

If they are honest, Christians will admit that they do believe in obeying the commandments of the Torah - at least those commandments which they believe are still valid. Christians believe that God still expects them to obey the commandments that forbid murder, adultery, theft, and lying.

In the Appendix of the Aramaic English New Testament, Andrew Gabriel Roth does the math, and concludes that Christians already obey up to 87% of the Torah commandments which can still be kept (page 846).

Whether they realize it or not, Bible-believing Christians believe in keeping most of the Torah commandments which can still be observed. For most Christians, the commandments they have a problem with are commandments that deal with the Sabbath, the Feast Days, the dietary laws, and a few other miscellaneous things that are dismissed as “Jewish rituals, just for the Jews to do until Christ came.”

However, the Bible nowhere singles out these commandments from the rest of the Torah and says that they are just for the Jews. Nor does the Bible say that these commandments would be abolished by the coming of the Messiah. People think of these things as Jewish practices only because Christians abandoned them centuries ago, and Jews have continued to practice them. But the Bible does not give one set of rules for Jews and a different set of rules for non-Jewish believers. “Ye shall have one manner of law, as well for the stranger, as for one of your own country: for I am the LORD your God” (Lev. 24:22).

TORAH PRINCIPLES

Christians also believe in principles that can be derived from Torah commandments. For example, Deuteronomy 22:8 says to build a battlement (i.e., a parapet or fence) on the roof of your house. In Bible times people used their flat roofs for living space or work space. This commandment was given to prevent people from falling off the roof. All other codes and safety regulations in the building industry come from the principle that is embedded in this commandment. Most Christians believe in the basic principle of safety regulations in the building industry. Even if they do not have a flat roof that requires a parapet, they believe in safety measures like the parapet.

In Exodus 21:28-36 God declared what sort of penalties a man should pay if his ox gores someone. A Christian today might say, “I don’t own an ox, so this commandment is irrelevant to me.”

You might not own an ox, but maybe you own a dog. If your dog bites someone, the principle of the goring ox would require you, as the owner of the dog, to compensate the victim for any medical treatment and for any loss of income due to time off work during his recovery.

Maybe you do not own a dog, but you probably own a car. If you accidentally hurt a person or their property with your car, the same principle applies. You pay for the damages. That’s why we have car insurance.

So even if a Christian does not own an ox, he believes in the principle of the goring ox.

Leviticus 19:9f and Deuteronomy 24:19-21 give instructions for leaving part of your harvest in the field so the poor can come and gather the gleanings, i.e., the leftovers and the forgotten sheaves of grain. Today most poor people do not know that they are entitled to come and glean from the farmers’ fields after the harvest. Many farmers also do not know about this. Some farmers might shoot gleaners, mistaking them for trespassers and thieves.

A Christian farmer today might not make the gleanings of his harvest available to the poor in the exact same manner as it was done in ancient Israel, but a Christian farmer can help provide for the poor by sharing some of the profits he makes from his harvest.

These are just a few examples of principles that can be derived from various Torah commandments. There are many more. You might not use the ephah and the hin (Lev. 19:36) as units of measure anymore, but if you sell something, the Lord expects you to give a true measure of merchandise, regardless of what units of measure you use. In other words, truth in advertising.

You might not have an uncovered pit on your property (Ex. 21:33), but if someone is injured on your property because of some other careless neglect on your part, the Lord expects you to make compensation.

You might not carry a spade with you to bury your dung (Deut. 23:13), but the Lord expects you to flush the toilet, or use an outhouse, or have some other means to dispose of your sewage.

PEOPLE WHO ARE JUSTIFIED BY FAITH SHOULD HONOR GOD’S LAW

Our justification does not come by obeying God’s Law. (See Acts 13:39; Rom. 3:20 & 28; Gal. 2:16 & 3:11.) We are justified by our faith in Yeshua/Jesus. We believe that He paid the penalty for our sins.

“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,” Paul said in Romans 5:1. Yet in the very same Epistle, Paul says “For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified” (Rom. 2:13).

If a person is truly justified by faith, he will do the law. He will begin to walk in the instructions of the Torah. If he doesn’t, then his non-doing of the Torah is evidence that he is not really justified by faith. He only thinks he is, or he is just pretending that he is, because it is “the doers of the law” who “shall be justified.”

Even though no man is justified by the law in the eyes of God (Rom. 3:20; Gal. 3:11), James says that “by works a man is justified, and not by faith only” (James 2:24). You are not justified in the eyes of God by keeping the law, but your keeping of the law is proof that you are justified. Or, if you are not a doer of the law, that is proof that you are not really justified by faith.

So if you are justified by faith, prove it by being a doer of the law, because “the doers of the law shall be justified.”

| DB

Image: Psalm 68 by Daniel Botkin from his Psurrealistic Psalms art gallery. See all the Psalms Daniel has painted here: DanielBotkin.com.