LESSON 6

Covenant Law

   From the day of our birth we are faced with a challenge to adapt to the basic, fundamental laws governing this physical realm. An infant's primary desire is to satisfy the vital physical needs of hunger, thirst and comfort. He voices his protest with cries of frustration and lament. The maturing infant must learn to adapt to laws of gravity and physics as he grows and begins to sit and walk.

   The universal laws that guide and direct our physical life are for our own good. Without gravitation, thermodynamics, optics, mechanics and other laws of physics that were designed to keep this earth functioning, we could not rely upon our responses to resolve the problems we meet. The laws governing the physical realm are constant and reliable. Under the same conditions our actions and reactions are consistent and predictable because the laws governing such reactions are uniform and steady.

   All through life we conform to laws affecting our physical body. We must learn to sit, stand, then walk in harmony with the law of gravity. As toddlers, we burned fingers and took many a bump until we developed a sense of the dynamic principles of heat and inertia. This is a part of growing up that we all go through as we adapt to our environment and then move on to maturity--and a more complex interaction with our world.

   Besides being able to cope with physical laws, we soon learned that there were other laws in operation that were set by society. Every culture has a code of behavior governing the conduct of its people. These social aspects of behavior become more complex as society matures. Acceptance by society demands an adherence to various rules that reach into all parts of life. These include an acceptable dress code, which may vary from minimal standards to high fashion and proper attire for a given occasion.

   Interaction between individuals is also governed by proper response and is looked upon as possessing politeness or having good breeding. These all must be learned individually and begun early in life. Man-made codes of behavior, however, are not the same in every society. What is politeness in one culture is unacceptable in another. In certain tribal nations, for example, burping at the table after a meal is taken as a compliment of satisfaction. In Western society, it is considered crude and vulgar.

   Man's rules of behavior are not constant and may vary from country to country. In a given culture or society, what is today considered acceptable may have been taboo a few years ago. Consider the number of couples living together without the benefit of marriage, as opposed to the norm a few decades ago. Man's laws affect our behavior and our rule of conduct.

   While man's laws often change or take on new meaning the laws of the physical universe do not change. They have been the same since creation. Gravity still draws things to the earth. The forces of erosion still plague our planet. The cleavage properties of minerals still produce the same result. The speed of light is still the same as it was thousands of years ago. Even though man has been able to invent superior ways to overcome inertia and gravity to travel faster, the basic laws governing rocketry were always in force. Man has merely been able to achieve a higher understanding of these laws and thereby apply higher technology to overcome these limitations. Even the fundamental qualities of the atom remain unchanged.

UNIVERSAL      CONTROL
	Without the physical laws that direct it our universe would cease to exist--and so would we.

Bible Laws Firm and Apply to All

   Unchangeable as His laws governing the universe are, Yahweh's laws governing human behavior are just as immutable. His laws do not change. His standards of righteousness are the same for you and me as they were when given to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. We live according to the standards Yahweh has set governing our relationship with Him and the same standards with our fellow man. There is no shortcut. Yahweh expects the same pattern of behavior from us as He received from the patriarchs. The same standards for them are applied to us as well. We are all judged by the same yardstick.

   The laws of the Bible cover not only the doing or external act, but also extend back to the thinking and inclinations of our mind. Sin begins in the heart and thoughts when we begin toying with an idea or desire contrary to Yahweh's law. If we do not rid ourselves of wrong thoughts and desires we may eventually commit the external act. In Yahweh's eyes, harboring such thoughts is already sin.

   In this lesson we will be studying the spiritual aspects of behavior that Yahweh has embodied in the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments are a part of both the Old and New Covenants.

   Being our example, Yahshua came to fulfill the law. An illustration of His fulfilling the law is the story of the small town, Somewhere, USA. All the people of this town complained about the unfair traffic laws that they were expected to obey. At a city council meeting one day, the officials of the town decided to prove to the people that they were wrong.

   Joining their Police Department was a recent graduate of the state police academy. As part of his job requirements this young man was to go into town and take up residence living among the citizens for three years and obeying all of the same laws that they were being told to obey.

   After three years, the young man was called in for a meeting with the entire town. At this meeting, the officials of the town showed that the young officer had obeyed every law that was on the books in connection with traffic. He had successfully fulfilled the traffic laws of that town.

   Because the young officer had fulfilled the law, did that mean the town would go out that very day and remove all the laws from the books? Do you think that they removed all the stop signs in town and did away with all the speed limits in town? Of course not! That young man proved that those laws were not too hard to obey. He proved that those laws were put there for the good of the people and they could be obeyed if the people cared and would make the effort.

   Yahshua did the same with Yahweh's laws. He did not do away with them. He proved that they could be obeyed if one cared and really loved the Heavenly Father.

   Yahweh redeemed His people form the bondage of Egypt and brought them to Mount Sinai. There He described the covenant that He was proposing to them. Israel was to forget the laws and worship of Egypt and not take up the ways and idol worship of the nations of Canaan. Yahweh was now giving them laws and rituals of worship that were to be a part of national Israel. He set apart days for the worship of Himself. He gave the pattern for the construction of a tabernacle where He promised to meet with His people.

   His redeemed people were now to become a holy people, a special people set apart or sanctified through obedience of His laws and way of worship. Yahweh gave national strength and unity to Israel through the way of life He prescribed for them. He inaugurated religious, civil and moral codes of law of such breadth and comprehensiveness that they form the very basis of modern civilization, and our laws today.

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