{"id":9509,"date":"2023-08-18T01:49:00","date_gmt":"2023-08-18T01:49:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/?p=9509"},"modified":"2026-10-02T01:32:47","modified_gmt":"2026-10-02T01:32:47","slug":"the-law-instructs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/?p=9509","title":{"rendered":"THE LAW INSTRUCTS"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Why was God\u2019s Old Testament Law so harsh?<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For instance, did God really command that children who cursed their parents be put to death? (Lev 20:9) How is that just? How often was the death sentence meted out for disobedient children?<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Maybe such questions have nagged at your faith as well.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bible scholar Michael Jones has put together a fascinating video on this topic and it can be found <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=jfr4Q-t1Hy0\" target=\"_blank\">HERE on YouTube<\/a>. (28 minutes)<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Here\u2019s a summary of some key points Jones makes:<\/p>\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\n<li>Ancient Near Eastern cultures and worldviews were very different from our own. This distance can create misunderstanding on our part.<\/li>\n\n\n<li>The Law was most concerned with establishing and maintaining order.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n<li>The Hebrew word \u201cTorah\u201d that is translated as \u201cLaw\u201d means \u201cInstructions\u201d or \u201cTeachings\u201d. It was meant to shape the priorities and ethics of God\u2019s people after His own; it didn\u2019t necessarily determine the rulings of judges.<\/li>\n\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In other words, the Old Testament Law was meant more for the classroom than the courtroom. It is meant to be delighted in and meditated on.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, or set foot on the path of sinners, or sit in the seat of mockers.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>But his delight is in the Law of the LORD, and on His law he meditates day and night.<\/i> &#8211; Psalm 1:1-2<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Why was God\u2019s Old Testament Law so harsh? For instance, did God really command that children who cursed their parents be put to death? (Lev 20:9) How is that just? How often was the death sentence meted out for disobedient children? Maybe such questions have nagged at your faith as well. Bible scholar Michael Jones [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9509","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9509","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9509"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9509\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9510,"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9509\/revisions\/9510"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9509"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9509"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9509"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}