Les Feldick Bible Study

What did God include in the Law besides the Ten Commandments?

God included in the Law, beyond the Ten Commandments, rituals, regulations, rules, and commandments governing how people dealt with one another—the civil law—plus stipulations for the priesthood, called the ecclesiastical part. He also gave Moses instructions for building the tabernacle, which Israel constructed in the wilderness of Sinai.

Les explains that to bring in the religious system of the Law, God had to add to the Ten Commandments all the rituals: the regulations, rules, and commandments for dealing with each other, which are called the civil law, and the stipulations for the priesthood, which are called the ecclesiastical part of the Law. God also gave Moses the instructions for building the tabernacle, and Israel accomplished that while still in the wilderness of Sinai. When the tabernacle was finished, the Shekinah glory came down upon it, and whenever the glory lifted and moved, they took down the tabernacle and followed it. This was the giving of the Law, and they carried it into the Promised Land after the 40 years of wilderness. For years it sat as a temporary little tent north of Jerusalem, until God gave David, and then through his son Solomon, permission to build a permanent dwelling place, Solomon's Temple. Les emphasizes that this was all part of the giving of the Law to the nation of Israel; the Law was never given to the Gentiles, though it covered the whole human race.