Did God remove Israel from the world when He gave them the law at Mount Sinai?
No, God did not lift Israel out of the world when He gave them the law at Mount Sinai. They still had to live, move, eat, and sleep amid paganism. The world system continued operating even though Israel was under the law. God did not transport them into a separate spiritual world, which is why they failed so often.
Les explains that the law became a yoke neither the forefathers nor the Jews of Peter's day could bear. It demanded an impossible standard to show mankind there was no way to measure up to God's holiness. The law could not bring a person out of sin; it only convinced him of sin. When Israel came out of Egypt, they were surrounded by pagan culture. At Mount Sinai, God did not lift them out of the world. They had to still live and move and eat and sleep in the midst of all that paganism. The whole world system was still working even though Israel was now under the law. God did not suddenly transport them into a whole spiritual world all their own, and that is why they failed so often.