Picture source: commons.wikimedia.org
I documented, categorized, and counted all the Laws of Moses
and this document is to show my findings.
In all, I found there to be 518 laws all together. Many of the laws are mentioned more than
once; therefore, if the redundancies were removed there would be less. For example, of the 518 laws there are 7instances
of the law instructing us to not eat blood.
I have seen in others document that there are 613 laws, I am
not sure how that count was derived. I
did not attempt to reconcile my count with anyone else’s count. I would suspect that I did not break down the
laws as much as they did. So, I am not
stating the 613 count is wrong.
Of the 518 laws, I categorized and made a count of the
following:
·
98 laws that either would be easier to follow if
they were nationwide laws or laws that are required to be nationwide in order
to be able to follow them (i.e. Money is gold and silver).
·
181 laws are required only if the situation
presents itself or if our current situation prevents us from following the
law.
·
22 laws regarding tithing.
·
33 laws that state they are in affect forever.
·
36 laws that the penalty is capital punishment
(I may have missed a few of these).
·
107 laws regarding food.
·
132 laws were either referred to or mentioned in
Genesis (385 laws that I found no mention in Genesis).
·
333 laws were either referred to or mentioned in
the New Testament (184 were not mentioned that I am aware).
·
146 laws were not mentioned in both Genesis or
the New Testament.
·
94 laws were mentioned in both Genesis and the
New Testament.
·
67 laws were mentioned in Revelations.
Here is a link to my spreadsheet for your review and analysis: Laws of Moses Spreadsheet
As you review this spreadsheet, I am sure you might find
things wrong with it or that you would have done it differently. I know this since I changed my mind on a few
things a few times.
Commandments, Ordinances, Statues and Judgements
In the
verse below, we learn that Abraham kept God’s laws even before the laws were
given in Exodus. This is because most of
the laws were already in existence prior to be given in Exodus. As shown above, 132 laws were referred to or
mentioned in Genesis proving they were in existence prior. These verses below show that Our Father in
Heaven had commandments, ordinances, and statutes in effect during Abraham’s
lifetime.
“And I will multiply thy seed as the stars of
heaven; and I will give to thy seed all this land, and all the nations of the
earth shall be blest in thy seed. Because Abraam thy father hearkened to my
voice, and kept my injunctions, and my commandments, and my ordinances,
and my statutes.” LXX Gen 26:4-5
“I will multiply your offspring as the stars
of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And in your
offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because Abraham obeyed
my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my
laws.” ESV Gen
26:4-5
Our
Father in Heaven begins telling the law to Moses in Exodus, then continues to
tell him the law in Levitus, Numbers and Deuteronomy where these laws were
recorded. This is where the Israelites were
given additional laws in preparation for Jesus’ birth. The verses below show the Israelites agreed
to follow our Father in Heavens’ commandments, statutes, ordinances,
judgements, rules, etc.
“On this day the Lord thy God charged thee to
keep all the ordinances and judgments; and ye shall observe and
do them, with all your heart, and with all your soul. Thou hast chosen God this
day to be thy God, and to walk in all his ways, and to observe his ordinances
and judgments, and to hearken to his voice.” LXX Deu 26:16-17
“This day the LORD your God commands
you to do these statutes and rules. You shall therefore be
careful to do them with all your heart and with all your soul. You have
declared today that the LORD is your God, and that you will walk in his ways,
and keep his statutes and his commandments and his rules,
and will obey his voice.” ESV Deu 26:16-17
So based on these verses we know that our Father in Heaven
gave commandments with statutes and ordinances.
Below are the English definitions for the words the translators choose.
·
Commandments; from
Old French comandement, from comander. A divinely ordained
command, especially one of the Ten Commandments. Something that must be obeyed;
a command or edict.
·
Statutes; from Old French statut, from Late Latin statutum (“a statute meaning
established, erected”). A law or decree made by a sovereign, or by God.
·
Ordinances; from Old French ordenance (“decree,
command”) (modern French ordonnance),
from Medieval Latin ordinantia,
from ordinans (“arrange,
put in order”), the present participle of ordino (“put in order”). Latin meaning to arrange, put in order,
organize, to rule, govern, and to ordain, appoint to office.
·
Judgments; from rom Old French jugement,
from Late Latin iūdicāmentum,
from Latin iūdicō.
Latin meaning to examine judicially, judge, pass judgement, decide; condemn. In English the meaning is the final award;
the last sentence. The conclusion or result of judging; an opinion; a decision.
·
Law;
from Old Norse lǫg (“law”, literally “things laid down or firmly
established”), originally the plural of lag (“layer, stratum, a laying
in order, measure, stroke”), from Proto-Germanic *lagą (“that which is
laid down”), from Proto-Indo-European *legʰ- (“to lie”)
Our Father in Heaven’s laws, statutes and ordinances are all
aligned to the 10 Commandments. In other
words, the 10 Commandments are the high-level commandments and the other laws,
statutes and ordinance provide instruction on how God wants each commandment
followed. During Jesus’ ministry he
informed us of these two greatest commandments and that the laws guide us on
how to do both of these.
“Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord
thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This
is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt
love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and
the prophets.”
KJV Mat 22:37-40
Jesus was quoting these two laws (two different versions for
each):
“And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all
thy mind, and with all thy soul, and all thy strength. “ LXX Deu 6:5
“And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all
thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.” KJV Deu 6:5
“And thy hand shall not avenge thee; and thou
shalt not be angry with the children of thy people; and thou shalt love thy
neighbour as thyself; I am the Lord.” LXX Lev 19:18
“Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge
against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as
thyself: I am the LORD.” KJV Lev 19:18
The table below reflects the 10 Commandments and the number
of laws that hang under each of them. Some
laws actually fall under two commandments, therefore were counted under both.
The first commandment has the most laws; therefore. the most
important since it includes how to worship and love our Father in Heaven, Jesus
as stated in the verse from Matthew above.
Laws for All Israel, Farmers and Priests
I categorized all of the laws to show who is responsible for
each law, as reflected in the table below.
There are only 274 laws that all of Israel must follow day to day. Included in these day-to-day laws are the feast
days, of which there are 40 laws. There
are 170 laws that all of Israel must follow if the situation arises or if our current
laws change so that we can follow these laws. You will notice this table states
there are 519 laws and above I stated there are 518 in the spreadsheet – that is
correct. I apparently broke one of the laws
further in my document below and forgot to update the spreadsheet accordingly. Please forgive this issue since the real
point I am trying to get across is that day to day, we do not all have 613 laws
to follow.
Below is a further break down of the 274 laws that all
Israel should concentrate on following throughout the year. If you remove or combine redundant laws, then
there are only 212 laws, meaning there are only 212 laws to concentrate on
throughout the year. Within these laws
there are 40 holy feast day laws of which if you remove the redundant laws
there are only 33 feast day laws.
Below are links to the following documents that show the
laws referred in the table above.
·
274 Laws for All of Israel, 212 laws when the redundant
laws are removed/combined (link
to PDF).
·
170 Laws for All of Israel that only apply if
the situation arises, 44 of these laws require changes to our current government
laws and 17 of these laws require capital punishment (link
to PDF).
·
Laws for Farmers only (link
to PDF)
·
Laws for Priest only (link
to PDF).
Conclusion
Year to year, day to day most of us only have to focus on
about 212 laws and should be familiar with the 170 additional laws that only
apply if the situation arises. If you
are a priest and a farmer then you have about 337 laws to focus on and 182 laws
that apply when the situation arises. Some of the 182 laws require our
government to change the laws to agree with the bible and that should be a
focus.
It really is best to read the laws directly from the bible
and not these documents to ensure you are not taking the law out of content. Again, this spreadsheet and documents are to
show stats, counts and categories.
Feel free to make comments in the comment section below letting
me know if you can follow the 212 laws.
Many at church think there is too many to follow. Are these 212 laws to hard for you to follow?
Jesus said “If
you love me, you will keep my
commandments.” ESV John 14:15
“Anyone who has set aside the law
of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses.” ESV Hebrews 10:28
“If one turns away his ear from
hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination.” ESV Proverbs 28:9
“You and the sojourner shall be alike
before the LORD. One law and one rule shall be for you and for the stranger who sojourns with
you.” Numbers 15:16
“Those who forsake the law praise
the wicked, but those who keep the law strive against them. Evil men do not understand justice, but those
who seek the LORD understand it completely.” ESV Proverbs 28:4-5
Also see:
The Children of Israel & Gentiles must follow the
Laws https://kingdomhereamerica.blogspot.com/2021/06/the-children-of-israel-gentiles-must.html
