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Lesson 44 Hope of Israel Ministries BIBLE Correspondence Course 15

TEMPORARY ritualistic laws for them to keep? did NOT, at first, contain the rigmarole of laws
Leviticus 1:1-9. of burnt offerings, sacrifices and washings. They
COMMENT: These new laws WOULD were ADDED LATER -- within two years -- as a
HAVE BEEN UNNECESSARY if Israel had SEPARATE PART of the civil statutes because
obeyed. The Israelites brought these upon them- the Israelites had begun to transgress YEHO-
selves because of their disobedience to VAH’s laws.
YEHOVAH’s Ten Commandments and His The keeping of these ritualistic laws
statutes. These rituals were added to TEACH REQUIRED MUCH LABORIOUS WORK, as
them A LESSON AFTER they began to act can be seen by the first three chapters of Levit-
DISOBEDIENTLY. icus. That’s why it came to be known as “The
When a husband and wife perform their law of WORKS” in New Testament times.
“vows” of marriage, the wife promises to OBEY
her husband. But the SPECIFIC things she is to Man’s Human Weakness Impressed Upon
obey are not mentioned at the time of marriage. Him
At that time she promises to have the ATTI-
TUDE of obedience. As problems come up in 1. Doesn’t Jeremiah 7:22, 23 also verify
their married life, the husband tells the wife the fact that this rigmarole of ritualistic laws was
other things she must do. added after the Israelites had begun to transgress
The same is true of the marriage of the Ten Commandments and various statutes
YEHOVAH God to Israel. YEHOVAH, the hus- YEHOVAH gave them at Sinai? Doesn’t
band, ADDED these new TEMPORARY ritual- Galatians 3:19 also prove this?
istic laws in accordance with the terms of the 2. Then what was the PURPOSE of all
original Old Marriage Covenant agreement the hard work of making burnt offerings, per-
AFTER ancient Israel had begun to transgress. forming various washings, and making various
And she, as a wife, was bound by her marriage other sacrifices? Galatians 3:24. Was it a
“vow” to obey them as a wife is to obey her hus- SCHOOLMASTER? Same verse. How was it a
band. “schoolmaster”?
But ancient Israel continued to be dis- COMMENT: Remember that the law
obedient and unfaithful to her husband. She that is being spoken of HERE is the law that was
broke her part of the marriage contract! She ADDED (Galatians 3:19). It was the burden-
turned from worshipping YEHOVAH God, and some sacrificial law that YEHOVAH God had
followed the customs of the heathen -- serving Moses ADD AFTER the Israelites were begin-
other gods. She broke her part of the marriage ning to show they could NOT keep merely the
covenant by committing SPIRITUAL “adul- LETTER of the law. How WEAK they PROV-
tery.” ED to be!
2. What did all these NEW, temporary Each time an Israelite transgressed the
laws, which were commanded after the Israelites law, his sin -- if not punishable by death -- now
began to break the covenant they had made with had to be acknowledged with BURDENSOME
YEHOVAH God, command them to do? Skim work. Yet, even this work could not forgive the
rapidly over chapters 1, 2, and 3 of Leviticus sin, but served only to REMIND them of their
just to get the GENERAL TREND of thought. transgression of YEHOVAH’s laws and the pen-
COMMENT: When YEHOVAH made alty for sin -- death. Paul refers to this added la-
His covenant with ancient Israel, He wrote the bor as “works” (Galatians 2:16). This consisted
Ten Commandments on two tables of STONE. of a rigmarole of sin offerings, washings, and
At that time He also had Moses write His civil other laborious and time-consuming rituals so
statutes and judgments in a book. But this book they would REALIZE their INHERENT

The Meaning of Marriage -- Part One