Yes, I agree. The Law of Moses has a lot of negatives. That's an established fact.

But while doing the readings last year, I got curious. After all, the Law of Moses was included in the Bible for a reason. What was that reason? What was the instruction we were to gain from a list of negatives? I felt clueless, so during the readings, I paid special attention to those "negative" commandments. Perhaps I could find a clue?

There were the familiar negative laws:

• don't murder

• don't steal

• don't deal falsely
  

But as I carefully read through the Law, I noticed another type of negative commandment. There were a lot of them. And something about these surprised me.

• Lev 19:9-10 "When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge... You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God."

• Deut 12: 8-12 "You shall not do according to all that we are doing here today, everyone doing whatever is right in his own eyes,... but when you go over the Jordan and live in the land,... then to the place that the Lord your God will choose, to make his name dwell there, there you shall bring all that I command you... and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God..."

• Deut 13:3-4 “You shall not listen to that [false] prophet... you shall walk after the Lord your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and hold fast to him.” (simply beautiful)
  

These commandments began with a you shall not, but then followed with an eye-opening you shall, and then what to do, which all provide a strong principle.

Would you call these second sorts of commandments negative? I guess you could, except that these commandments are filled to the brim with beautiful concepts of justice, mercy, and compassion - all things we need to integrate into our daily lives today.

Consider further: what was the outcome of following this law?

• The faithful Kings of Judah: David, Josiah, Hezekiah. These all had righteous reigns which were the high points in the histories of the nations they led.

• Tremendous prophets like Elijah, Micah, Malachi, through whom messages - intended to be life-changing - were sent to Israel, Judah, and the surrounding nations (I'll discuss these prophets in later posts).

• Faithful people, such as Nehemiah, Daniel, Joseph and Mary. The noble wisdom of Nehemiah, the tremendous boldness of Daniel, and the quiet fearlessness of Joseph and Mary are all marvelous examples for us.
  

Makes perfect sense. Because what's the purpose of the law?

To instruct.

What was the intended end?

Righteousness. 

"And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh." Ezekiel 36:26.

What was Jesus teaching people from?

The Law and Prophets.

Notice how the law, particularly in Deuteronomy, is centered on doing what's right, what's holy, and caring for those who needed it the most in society. The law was unique in its day, and still is. The principles of the Law are timeless, so they still apply, even (or especially) in today's culture.

It really makes sense then, when Paul says in Rom 7:12, "So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good." Paul further explains in Galatians (3:24) the law was a tutor, an instructor to bring them to Jesus, through faith. The Law taught and led people to our wonderful King and how he wants us to live. 

And it worked when people did what God said they should. 

It worked beautifully. 

Look at how Obadiah risked his life hiding 100 faithful men in caves while serving the morally defunct Ahab, how Ezra reinstated Temple worship despite monumental difficulties, or how Mary didn't waver despite getting an uncomfortable reputation of being an immoral woman. 

Powerful stuff.

So don't be too quick to disregard the law simply because it's old. Or because a lot of the commandments start with "don't". So do our own laws today. The layout of the Law of Moses may have a different format than some of the laws in use today, but we still can learn a great deal from the principles.

And may the power of the Word - the whole Word - transform us all. 

"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."  Rom 12:2.

Go ahead. Read the don'ts. And search for the principles accompanying the don'ts. Then go implement those don'ts. I daresay you'll risk feeling inspired and motivated.

Have fun with don't.

Ruthanne and Alan Giordano are Section Leaders for FaithLaunch starting this Fall. To find out more check out https://wcfoundation.org/faithlaunch