The Difference Between The Commandments and The Law

August 1, 2013 by S. Weeks

Here is what I have learned, regarding the difference between the Commandments and the Law. I hope you will consider reading the word with 'new eyes' and noticing when 'Law' is spoken of, and when it is referring to the 'Commandments' . . .

There is a difference between 'The Law' and The Commandments -- which were a part of The Law. God Himself, with His own finger, wrote The Ten Commandments on tablets of stone--signifying that they were to endure for all time. The rest of the laws and ordinances were written, by Moses, in a book.

'And they shall make an ARK [of] shittim wood . . . And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, within and without shalt thou overlay it,and shalt make upon it a crown of gold round about. . . AND THOU SHALT PUT INTO THE ARK THE TESTIMONY which I shall give thee.' (Exodus 25:10, 11, 16)

'And thou shalt make a mercy seat [of] pure gold . . .And thou shalt make two cherubims [of] gold, [of] beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat. And make one cherub on the one end,and the other cherub on the other end: [even] of the mercy seat shall ye make the cherubims on the two ends thereof. And the cherubims shall stretch forth[their] wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces [shall look] one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be.

And thou shalt PUT THE MERCY SEAT ABOVE UPON THE ARK;and IN THE ARK THOU SHALT PUT THE TESTIMONY that I shall give thee. And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat,from between the two cherubims which [are] upon the ark of the testimony . . .'(Exodus 25:17-22)

We can see that the testimony God was going to give Moses, was what He had promised in Exodus 24:12 . . .

'And the LORD said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there: and I WILL GIVE THEE TABLES OF STONE, **and a law**, AND COMMANDMENTS WHICH I HAVE WRITTEN; that thou mayest teach them.'

So we can see the importance of the Ten Commandments. Equally important at that time, but not a permanent part of the covenant, were the statutes and judgments . . . over 600 of them, including the dietary restrictions, etc.

'And it came to pass, when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book, until they were finished, That Moses commanded the Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, saying,Take this book of the law, and PUT IT IN THE SIDE OF THE ARK of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee.' (Deut. 31:24-26)

It is important to see the distinction between The Commandments and The Law. The Ten Commandments, written by God, in stone, were placed INSIDE the Ark of the Covenant. The Ten Commandments were placed inside the Ark of the Covenant, thus we can infer that the Ten Commandments ARE God's Covenant with man. (The book of The Law was placed IN THE SIDE of the Ark.)

When a man asked Jesus how he could obtain eternal life, Jesus didn't say: follow The Law. But He did say 'keep the commandments', and He goes on to enumerate a few of them, showing unmistakeably that He was referring to the Ten Commandments.

'And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master,what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him,Why callest thou me good? [there is] none good but one, [that is], God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the COMMANDMENTS.

He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Honour thy father and [thy] mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.' (Matthew 19:16-19)

'If ye love me, keep my COMMANDMENTS.' (John 14:15)

'If ye keep my COMMANDMENTS, ye shall abide in my love;even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.' (John15:10)

'And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his COMMANDMENTS.' (1 John 2:3)

Also

'And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the COMMANDMENTS God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.' (Rev. 12:17)

'Here is the patience of the saints: here [are] they that keep the COMMANDMENTS of God, and the faith of Jesus.' (Rev. 14:12)

A search of 'keep commandments' is eye opening;

http://www.blueletterbible.org/search/translationResults.cfm?criteria=keep+commandments&page=3&t=KJV

A careful reading of Acts 15 should confirm what I am saying. The issue of whether or not the Gentiles had to be circumcised (and thereby be 'under the LAW') was settled long ago. The Jewish Apostles also affirmed that neither they nor their fathers had been able to keep the Law--past tense (see verse 10).

The Commandments vs. The Law:

• The Commandments were written in stone, The Law was written in a book.
• The Commandments were written by the finger of God, The Law was written down by Moses.
• The Commandments were placed IN the Ark of the Covenant, under the Mercy Seat, the book of The Law was placed in the SIDE of the Ark.
• Jesus said 'keep my Commandments', Paul said 'Christ [is] the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.'

One last reminder . . .

Keeping The Commandments means keeping all TEN of them--that includes keeping the Sabbath holy.  Those who have taught you that we do not need to keep the Sabbath because Jesus is our Sabbath are missing the point.  Jesus is also the bread of life, but you still eat bread don't you?