This is part eight of Written on the Heart, a series on how a Christian lives with the law of the Old Testament under the New Covenant. We began with a bookmark stuck in Leviticus. We end by opening the book.
Seven weeks ago we said that every jot and tittle of the law matters, and that the question is never whether a law still matters but how it has been fulfilled in Christ. We have seen the law as a guardian with an end date, the new covenant writing it on the heart, the shadows pointing to the body, and the righteous requirement fulfilled in those who walk by the Spirit. All of that is worth very little if Leviticus stays closed. So this last post is practical. How does an ordinary believer sit down with Leviticus or Deuteronomy on an ordinary Tuesday and come away fed?
Paul assumed we could.
For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.
Romans 15:4 (NKJV)
Whatever things. That includes the mildew chapter. And when Paul told Timothy that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable (2 Timothy 3:16), the Scripture Timothy had known from childhood was the Old Testament.
Three Questions
Here are three questions you can bring to any law in the Old Testament. They will not answer every puzzle, but they will keep you on the road.
What does this show me about God? Every law was given by someone, and it reveals what He is like. Leviticus 19 opens with the reason behind everything that follows. You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy (19:2). Holy is qadosh (קָדוֹשׁ), Strong’s H6918, sacred, set apart. Peter quotes the line to Christians (1 Peter 1:16). Before you ask what a law requires, ask what kind of God would give it. The earlier study The Loving, Gracious, and Forgiving God of the Old Testament gathers passages that show how much mercy runs through these books.
How is this fulfilled in Christ? If the law is a sacrifice, a priestly duty, a purity rule, or a feast, look for the substance in Him, as we did in part five. If it is a command of justice or mercy, look at how Jesus kept it perfectly and how He deepened it.
What does this teach me about loving God and my neighbor now? All the Law and the Prophets hang on those two commandments, Jesus said. So every law, even one tied to an ancient farm or courtroom, was teaching Israel something about that love. Find it, and ask what it looks like in your own life.
Paul and the Ox
We do not have to guess whether that third question is legitimate. Paul does it in front of us. Deuteronomy 25:4 says, You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain. It is a law about farm animals. Here is what Paul does with it.
For it is written in the law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain.” Is it oxen God is concerned about? Or does He say it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written, that he who plows should plow in hope, and he who threshes in hope should be partaker of his hope.
1 Corinthians 9:9-10 (NKJV)
Paul does not say the ox law is binding on Corinthian farmers. He does not say it is cancelled either. He reads it for the principle underneath, that a worker should share in the fruit of his work, and he applies it to the support of gospel ministers. God does care about oxen. But the law was written for our sakes too.
Trying It Out
Take Leviticus 19:9-10. When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and the stranger. What does it show about God? He builds care for the poor into the ordinary workings of an economy. How is it fulfilled in Christ? Think of Ruth gleaning in the field of Boaz, a Moabite stranger gathered into Israel and into the family line of David and of Jesus. What does it teach about love now? That generosity can be planned into how we run a business or a household budget, leaving margin at the edges on purpose so someone else can eat.
Or take Deuteronomy 22:8. When you build a new house, then you shall make a parapet for your roof, that you may not bring guilt of bloodshed on your household if anyone falls from it. Israelites used flat roofs as living space. Our roofs are different, but the God who cared about a guest falling off a roof cares about the pool without a fence, the deck with a rotten rail, and the car keys we hand to a friend who has been drinking. Love takes responsibility for the safety of the people who come under our roof.
The Ten Commandments in the New Testament
Christians often ask whether the Ten Commandments still apply. The New Testament answers command by command. The warnings against idolatry run all through it, down to the last line of 1 John, Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Paul quotes the fifth commandment to children in Ephesians 6:2-3. He quotes the commandments against adultery, murder, stealing, false witness, and coveting in Romans 13:9. Reverence for God’s name runs from the Lord’s Prayer onward. Nearly every one of the ten is restated or plainly assumed as the will of God for believers.
The Sabbath is the one commandment the New Testament does not repeat as a command to Christians. That is where faithful believers differ.
The Sabbath, Fairly
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.
Exodus 20:8-11 (NKJV)
Sabbath is shabbat (שַׁבָּת), Strong’s H7676, from the verb shabath (שָׁבַת), Strong’s H7673, to cease or rest. The commandment is rooted in creation itself, which is part of why Christians weigh it so carefully.
Three main positions are held by Bible-believing Christians. The first, found in the Westminster Confession and much of the Reformed and Puritan tradition, holds that the moral principle of one day in seven set apart for worship and rest still binds believers, and that since the resurrection the day has moved to the first day of the week, the Lord’s Day (Revelation 1:10). The early church gathered on the first day of the week (Acts 20:7, 1 Corinthians 16:2). The second, held by Seventh Day Baptists and others, holds that the seventh day itself remains the Sabbath and should still be kept. The third, common among many Baptists, Lutherans, and others, holds that the weekly Sabbath belongs with the shadows of Colossians 2:16-17, that its true rest is found in Christ (Hebrews 4:9-10), and that Romans 14:5-6 leaves believers free in their observance of days, while still affirming that gathering for worship on the Lord’s Day and regular rest are wise and good.
All three agree on more than we usually admit. God made us to rest, and anyone who never stops working is not trusting Him. Believers must not forsake gathering together (Hebrews 10:25). And the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath (Mark 2:27). Whichever view you hold, Romans 14 tells you how to hold it. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind, and do not despise the brother who sees it differently.
The Tithe, Fairly
Tithe is ma’aser (מַעֲשֵׂר), Strong’s H4643, a tenth. The law said all the tithe of the land is the LORD’s (Leviticus 27:30), and it supported the Levites, who had no inheritance of land (Numbers 18:21). Deuteronomy describes a tithe the worshiper ate in celebration before the LORD (14:22-23) and a third-year tithe stored up for the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow (14:28-29). Scholars disagree on whether these describe one tithe used in different ways or more than one tithe, which would have made Israel’s giving well above ten percent. Malachi 3:10 calls Israel to bring all the tithes into the storehouse, the temple, where they had been withheld.
Abraham gave a tithe to Melchizedek centuries before Sinai (Genesis 14:20). Jesus told the Pharisees they should have kept the weightier matters of the law without leaving the tithe undone (Matthew 23:23). The word there is apodekatoo (ἀποδεκατόω), Strong’s G586, to pay a tenth. But the epistles never command a tithe. They teach giving that is regular, proportional, generous, and cheerful. On the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper (1 Corinthians 16:2). Let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity, for God loves a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:7).
Some Christians teach the tithe as a standing obligation, pointing to Abraham and to Jesus’ words in Matthew 23. Others teach that the tithe belonged to the Mosaic covenant and that New Testament giving has no fixed percentage, though many in this group still see a tenth as a wise place to start. Both sides agree that a believer who has received grace should give freely and gladly, that churches and gospel workers should be supported, and that the poor should not be forgotten. If anything, the shadow of the tithe should make a Christian ask whether a tenth is the ceiling of grace or only the floor.
| Word | Original | Strong’s | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| qadosh | קָדוֹשׁ | H6918 | Holy, sacred, set apart. Leviticus 19:2 |
| shabbat | שַׁבָּת | H7676 | Sabbath, a ceasing, an intermission |
| shabath | שָׁבַת | H7673 | To cease, to rest, to stop working |
| ma’aser | מַעֲשֵׂר | H4643 | A tenth, a tithe |
| apodekatoo | ἀποδεκατόω | G586 | To pay a tenth, to tithe. Matthew 23:23 |
Back to the Bookmark
In the first post I asked you to put your bookmark back where your reading plan died. Many of us put it at Leviticus 1. If you have been reading along, you may be a few chapters in. If not, there is no shame in starting now.
Here is the last assignment. This week, read Leviticus 19 with three columns on a sheet of paper, one for each question. What does this show me about God? How is it fulfilled in Christ? What does this teach me about loving God and my neighbor now? You will not fill every box. But before the week is out, choose one law from the chapter whose love you can see clearly, the corners of the field, the wages of the hired man paid before morning, the deaf man you must not curse, the stranger you must love as yourself, and do one concrete thing because of it. Pay someone promptly. Leave margin for someone in need. Speak kindly of someone who cannot hear you. Learn the name of a newcomer in your town.
That is a Christian keeping the law of Moses, not as a covenant to earn God’s favor, but as Scripture written for our sakes by the God who has written His law on our hearts.
Discussion Questions
- Which of the three questions do you find most helpful? Which is hardest to answer?
- How does Paul’s use of Deuteronomy 25:4 in 1 Corinthians 9 give us permission to read Old Testament laws for their principles?
- Choose a law from Leviticus 19 or Deuteronomy 24 and work it through with the three questions.
- Which Sabbath view were you taught? What do the other views help you see that you might have missed?
- Is a tenth the ceiling or the floor of your giving? What would it look like to give as you purpose in your heart?
Going Deeper
Read Deuteronomy 24:10-22, a passage full of laws about loans, wages, widows, and orphans, and work through it with the three questions. Then read the book of Ruth in one sitting and watch Leviticus 19:9-10 and the laws of the kinsman-redeemer come to life in an ordinary harvest. Finally, go back through the eight posts in this series and write one sentence for each in your own words. Keep that page in your Bible at Leviticus 1. The next time someone asks why Christians do not keep kosher, or whether the Ten Commandments still matter, you will have more than a drawer to open. You will have a Person to point to.
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