Consult the Prophets – The Rule of Law: Interpreting God’s Law (5)

Consult the Prophets

The Rule of Law: Interpreting God’s Law (5)

The Old Testament continues the trajectory of justice in God’s Law.

Moses brought their case before the LORD. And the LORD said to Moses… Numbers 27:5, 6

As Moses sought the Lord concerning the inquiry made by the daughters of Zelophehad, he believed that God would reveal a solution to this question. He was not mistaken. God responded to their seeking Him by providing additional revelation which clarified the intent of His Covenant, secured the promises to rightful heirs, and prevented injustice against godly women.

As we are seeking the Lord in order to understand His Law, we must begin by searching the Prophets, or the entire corpus of Old Testament revelation. By reading the histories, prophecies, and writings of the Old Testament in the light of God’s Covenant and Law, we are able to discern ways in which God’s holy and righteous and good intent in His Law takes further shape and development.

Jesus, for example, justified David’s eating of the showbread as a way of discovering to His interlocutors that God’s intention in His Law is to liberate His people to well-being, not to enslave them to burdensome and petty obligations (Matt. 12:3, 4). In the book of Ruth (chapter 4) we are given an example of how local authorities, seeking the Lord together, must extrapolate beyond the letter of the Law in order to discern its true spirit and just application. In Haggai 2 God Himself uses His Law to enlarge and clarify the thinking and practice of His people concerning their work before Him. And all the prophets, as well as all the writings and psalms, reinforce the plain teaching of the Law and insist on the universality of its demands. As Solomon put it at the end of Ecclesiastes, the Old Testament makes clear that fearing God and keeping His Law are the fundamental and defining characteristics of what it means to be a human being (Eccl. 12:13).

So as we pursue understanding the Law of God and learning how to apply it to our everyday lives in the Kingdom of God, we, like Moses, turn to the Lord for additional revelation, beginning with Spirit-directed insight into His Word to the Prophets (Ezek. 36:26, 27), to clarify our thinking and guide us in the paths of justice, righteousness, and love.

For a practical guide to the role of God’s Law in the life of faith, get The Ground for Christian Ethics by going to www.ailbe.org and click on our Bookstore, then Church Issues.

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In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore, editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001, 2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.