LESSON3

THETENCOMMANDMENTSVERSUSTHECEREMONI
ALLAWS

Youar
ewelcometoanot
heredi
ti
onofI
nsight
sfr
om God'
sWord,aBibl
estudypr
ogr
ammet
hat
i
scommit
tedtoshar
ingGod'
sWordbyall
owingt
heBibl
etospeakf
oritsel
f.

I
nt hi
sedi
tion,weconti
nuewithourseri
esonTheLawofGod.Thet opi
cfort
hisst
udyis:
The
TenCommandment sVersustheCeremonialLaws.Inthi
sst
udy
,wearegoi
ngtoconsi
derbr
iefl
y
fr
om Scri
pturether
elat
ionshi
pandmaj ordif
ferencesbet
weent
heTenCommandmentsandt he
Ceremoni
al Law.

Ev enthoughtheBiblerecor dssev erallawst hatwer ebeingkeptbyt

hepeopl eofancientIsr
ael,
twopar ti
cul
arlawsdost andoutamongt hel ot
.Theset wolawsaretheTenCommandment s
andt heCeremonialLaw.TheTenCommandmentl awisalsocall
edtheMor alLawort he
Decalogue.Itwasor i
ginallywritt
enont wot abl
etsofstonebyGodHi msel f
,andpr ovi
desa
framewor kthatgovernst hemor al l
i
f eoft hepeopl eofGod.TheCeremoni al l
awisalsocal l
ed
theLawofMoses, theSacr i
fi
cialLawort heOr dinances.TheCeremonialLawwaswr ittenby
Mosesonpar chments, andpr ovi
dest hebl uepr
intfortheatonementofvarioussins.

Dur i
ngt hetimeofanci
entIsrael,t
her eexistedani mportantworki
ngr elati
onshipbetweent he
TenCommandment sandt heCer emoni alLaw.WhenanyofGod' speopl esinned,heorshe
broket heTenCommandment s.Toobt ainfor gi
venessforthesincommi tt
ed, t
hetransgressor
hadt opr ov
ideanoffer
ingasspeci f
iedbyt heCer emonialLaw.Howev er,t
hedeat hofChr i
st
broughtt oanendtheCer emonial Lawandi tsvari
ousrequirements.Now, t
het r
ansgressorof
God'shol ylawhastoonlybelieveint heshedbl oodoftheLambsl ainatCal vary'
scrossforthe
forgiv
enessofhi ssi
ns( 1John1: 7-9).

Fri
ends,
despit
ethewor ki
ngr
elat
ionshi
pthatexi
stedbetweentheTenCommandmentsandt
he
Ceremonial
Law,thetwolawswerehoweverdiff
erent
iat
edinsever
alrespect
s.Her
ear
esome
ofthemajordi
ff
erences:

1)TheTenCommandment
sdeal
swi
thmor
alpr
ecept
swhi
l
etheCer
emoni
alLawdeal
swi
th

1
var
iouspur
ifi
cat
ions,
ordi
nances,
rit
ual
s,sacr
if
ices,
andf
east
s(compar
eExodus20:
3-17wi
th
Levi
ti
cus1;Levi
ti
cus4;Levi
ti
cus5;Lev
iti
cus23).

2)TheTenCommandment
sgiv
esknowledgeofsi
nwhil
etheCer
emoni
alLawprescr
ibes
off
eri
ngsf
orsi
ns(
compareRomans3:
20;Romans7:7wit
hLevi
ti
cus1;
Levi
ti
cus4).

3)TheTenCommandment si
sref
err
edtoastheRoy alLawort heLawofLi
bert
ywhil
ethe
Ceremoni
alLawi
scall
edthel
awcontai
nedinordinancesorthehandwri
ti
ngofordi
nances
(compar
eJames2:8,
12;James1:25wi
thEphesians2:15;Colossi
ans2:
14).

4)TheTenCommandmentsweret
obemagnif
iedandmadehonourabl
ebyChr
istwhi
lethe
Ceremoni
alLawwast
akenoutoft
hewaybyChri
st(compar
eIsai
ah42:
21wit
hColossi
ans
2:
14).

5)TheTenCommandment
sistostandf
astf
orev
erandeverwhil
etheCer
emoni
alLawwas
nai
ledt
othecr
oss(
comparePsal
m 111:
7-8wi
thCol
ossi
ans2:14).

6)TheTenCommandmentsisdescr
ibedasper
fectwhi
let
heCer
emoni
all
awmadenot
hing
per
fect(
compar
ePsal
m 19:7;James1:25wi
thHebrews7:
19)
.

7)TheTenCommandment
swasnotdest
royedbyChri
stbutt
heCer
emoni
all
awwasabol
i
shed
byChri
st(
compar
eMatt
hew5:
17withEphesians2:
15)
.

8)TheTenCommandmentswasspokenbyGodHi
mselfwhil
etheCer
emoni
all
awwasspoken
byMoses(compar
eDeut
eronomy4:
12-13wi
thLev
iti
cus1:
1-3)
.

9)TheTenCommandmentswer
eor
igi
nal
l
ywri
tt
enbyGodont
wot abl
esofstonewhi
let
he
Ceremoni
alLawswer
ewri
tt
enbyMosesi
nabook(
compar
eExodus24:12;
Deuter
onomy4:
13
wit
hColossi
ans2:
14)
.

2
10)TheTenCommandmentswer
eplacedi
nthear
kbyMoseshimsel
fwhilet
heCeremoni
al
Lawswerepl
acedbythesi
deoft
hearkbyt
heLevi
tes(
compar
eDeuteronomy10:
5with
Deuter
onomy31:
26)
.

Fri
ends,thedi f
fer
encesbetweent heset wocommandment sar eclear.TheCeremoni alLaws
wereonlyt y
pes, f
igur
esorshadowst hatwerepoint
ingfor
wardt ot heGreatAnti
type,Jesus
Chri
st.AfterthedeathofChrist
,theCer emonial
Lawsoft hesanct uaryceasedandbecame
unnecessary.Ont hecontr
ary,t
heTenCommandmentl awwhi chist heexpresscharacterof
God,andpr ov i
desamor alf
ramewor kforHischil
drenwast ostandf astfor
everandev er.I
nfact
,
i
tisthisl
awt hati
sgoingtobet hestandardofGod'sjudgementf orthehumanr ace( seeJames
2:
8-12).

Exhor
tat
ion:
Inr
elat
iont
otheTenCommandment
s,wer
eadt
hef
oll
owi
ngf
rom t
hebel
oved
apost
le:

i
)"Her
eisthepati
enceofthesai
nts:
herear
etheyt
hatkeept
hecommandment
sofGod,
and
t
hefai
thofJesus"(Rev
elat
ion14:
12).

i
i)"
Blessedar
etheythatdohi
scommandment s,
thattheymayhav
eri
ghtt
othet
reeofl
i
fe,
and
mayenterint
hroughthegat
esint
otheci
ty"(
Revelat
ion22:
14).

I
nournextstudy,wewi l
lconsiderthetopi
c:Ar
ewesav edbygr
aceort hekeepingoft
helaw?
TheBibl
eStudyrefer
encesf orthisst
udyareEphesi
ans2:8-
10,
Titus2:11-14,
Romans3:20,
I
saiah64:
6,Romans3: 31,James2: 26,1John3:4andRomans7:7,12.Pleasedowellt
ogo
thr
oughthesepassagesbeforet henextst
udyisrel
eased.

St
aybl
essedandkeepshi
ningf
orKi
ngJesus.

Mar
anat
ha!

Power
edbyWhi
teThr
oneMi
nist
ri
es

3
4