In the beginning, when God made humanity upon the earth, there was no written law. At first, there was no need for law, because no one had sinned. Even then, God established a pattern for human life. We call it the Divine Institutions (God's fixed patterns to protect the human race). There were four:
1. Volition--free will as a part of the individual soul.Besides the divine institutions, there were other patterns established early which had meaning in the lives of people. Some of these things had to do with relationship to God, some had to do with living; physical survival.
2. Marriage-- Genesis 2:21-24 One man, one woman united for life.
3. Family-- Genesis 1:27-28, 2:16 Parents and children in the household.
4. Nations--Genesis 10-11 Groups of people with common language and culture under the protection of common government and boundary.
We've already noted the original marriage; one man, one woman in Genesis chapter 2. Even though people later on started to marry many mates and practice other forms of marriage, God never authorized any other than one man, one woman as in the beginning. Eventually, large portions of the law had to be devoted to the regulation of marriage and divorce because of the sinfulness of man.
The first blood sacrifice was made in the Garden of Eden. Genesis 3:15,21, and Genesis 4:1-5 show that God taught Adam and Eve about the coming Savior and killed an animal (probably a lamb), shedding its blood to give them coverings for their shame. Genesis 3:15:
"And I will put enmity Between you (Satan) and the woman,
And between your seed and her seed (the Messiah) ; He shall bruise you on the head (neutralizing blow), And you shall bruise him on the heel (temporary injury)."
21: The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them. Their fig leaves were human good. NO good. They wanted to cover their embarrassing nakedness. Genesis 3:11 "“Who told you that you were naked? (probably Satan. "Just look at you. Aren't you ashamed? Put on some clothes.") God covered their sin, which was the real cause of their shame.
They apparently taught their sons to worship God through such offerings. Abel understood the significance of the blood sacrifice. Cain disregarded it. Unbelievers never respect the blood of Christ. They find this part of the gospel disgusting. In later times, many chapters of the law gave instructions to God's people about blood sacrifices and other offerings which symbolized the person and work of Jesus Christ. These sacrifices made vivid impressions on the minds of people who had to participate in them. This was an important teaching method for people who didn't have books.
In Genesis 1:29-30 we see that in the beginning animals and humans ate only vegetation. This changed after the flood, when in Genesis 9:3-4 God told Noah that all animals were acceptable as food along with vegetation. He was warned not to eat the blood, for the blood represents the life of the animal. When God gave the law, he narrowed the variety of acceptable foods, placing certain types of animals in a category called unclean. This was for specific reasons that had to do with the purity of the people He called His own. There may have been health reasons, also, but at any rate, the law included these lists of clean versus unclean animals that the Israelites were supposed to observe, as well as ways of preparing some of them. We need to note here that in the New Testament, Acts 10:5-10, God gave specific instruction to Peter that these rules no longer applied. All foods are ok and we should be thankful for them. Acts 10:15 "Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”
Other evidence in Genesis that there were rituals to express man's relationship to God are found in chapter 14:18 (communion) and 15:9-10 (covenant ritual). Also, in the life of Abraham it is notable that he made an alter to the Lord wherever he went.
It is apparent that for many hundreds of years after God created the earth and after the fall of man, the relationship of men with God was on an individual and/or family basis. There were these institutions and rituals we've noted, indicating that God did make Himself known to certain men and was worshipped by them, but until the Jews came out of slavery in Egypt there was no written law from God, no system of rules and ordinances that spelled out exactly what He expected from His people on an individual AND national scale. Indeed, there was no nation of God's people until He brought Abraham's descendants out of Egypt and made of them a "people for His name."
It is the written law that God gave His people that we will be studying for the next few blogs. Fallen man has a self-righteous morality based on emotion and sentiment. Only through God's Word can we know His standard of true righteousness. Many people think that only by keeping the law can we have hope of eternal life. God's Word reveals to us we can receive righteousness ONLY through believing in the perfect sacrifice of the Lamb of God Who is illustrated in the blood sacrifices of the Old Testament. Not through the law.
If the law of God is beyond our human understanding and beyond our human ability to keep, why are we studying it? Because in God's law we can come to see the answers to a lot of questions that are being asked today. Such as: why does God allow war, famine and disease? Why should I obey rules I consider dumb and unnecessary? What's wrong with horoscopes? drugs? homosexuality? premarital sex? How should I feel about AIDS? What's all this stuff got to do with me?
God knows the human soul very well. He created it. All this stuff has EVERYTHING to do with us.
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