What is the story of The Law Books in the Old Testament?

from the old testament

• The story begins in Genesis, which is primarily history. It starts with God creating the world and Adam and Eve's sin, then Adam and Eve's descendants to Noah (Genesis 1–5). Noah's flood (Genesis 6–9) is followed by the Tower of Babel (Genesis 10–11). In the middle of chapter 11, God called Abraham to follow Him and promised Abraham his obedience would result in the establishment of several nations. Abraham obeyed God by moving his family from Ur to Canaan (Genesis 11–25). Abraham's son, Isaac, had two sons, Esau and Jacob, who didn't get along at first (Genesis 25–36). Jacob was also called "Israel," and his descendants were called the Israelites. Jacob's older sons sold his second-youngest, Joseph, into slavery. Joseph was taken to Egypt and, after spending time as a slave and a prisoner, became the second-in-command after the pharaoh. When Canaan had a terrible drought, Joseph invited his father and brothers to live in Egypt (Genesis 37–50).
• Exodus picks up the story 400 years later. The pharaoh Joseph had worked for died, and the new leadership had made the Israelites slaves. When the Israelites had enough people to make a good-sized nation that could hold their own land, God sent Moses to rescue them from slavery. The current pharaoh wouldn't let them go at first, until God sent ten plagues to punish Egypt. Pharaoh said the Israelites could go but changed his mind and followed them with his army. God parted the Red Sea, and the Israelites got away. When the Egyptian army tried to follow, God collapsed the walls of water and the pharaoh's army drowned (Exodus 1–14).
• At first, the people were grateful to have been freed from slavery, but the nomadic life quickly wore thin, and they began a habit of complaining about food and water. Moses still led them to Mt. Sinai, where God gave him the Law (Exodus 15–18).
• Afterward, Moses led the people to the southern border of Canaan (Numbers 10–12). The Canaanites indulged in such horrors as child sacrifice and sex-worship of their pagan gods. Despite God's readiness to destroy them and their evil practices, the Israelites were scared when they learned how big the Canaanites were and refused to take the land. Because of this, the current generation was rejected from inheriting the Promised Land (Numbers 13–14). The Israelites wandered around the desert for forty years until the older generation had died. God took them around to the east side of Canaan (Numbers 16–25). Moses died, and Joshua took over (Numbers 27). The Israelites conquered an area east of the Jordan River and prepared to cross into Canaan—the land God had promised Abraham (Numbers 31–32).
• The books of the Law are a mix of story and rules. God gave Moses most of the Law when the Israelites were camped around Mt. Sinai (Exodus 19–24). Sometimes, when new situations came up, God added appropriate legislation (Leviticus 18–20; Numbers 15). God used the Law for two purposes: to show the world that people who follow Him act differently than people who don’t (Deuteronomy 6:5–9; Leviticus 20:26), and to show the world that no one can ever be good enough to earn God’s love. Both served as preparations for the coming of Jesus. Of course, law is also a practical necessity for any nation. Israel had never been a nation before. The Law showed them that God was altogether different from the pharaoh, and they were to be altogether different from the pagan nations that surrounded them (Exodus 23:23; Leviticus 18:3–4). They were to worship the living God, love and rely on Him, and love others (Deuteronomy 6:5; Leviticus 19:18).
• We’ve broken the Law into three categories, although in the Bible, they are not explicitly categorized. The civil laws were what we think of when we think “law.” Some of their civil laws covered the same things ours do, like murder and stealing (Exodus 21:12–14; Leviticus 19:11). But some covered other things, like what to do if you accidentally killed your neighbor’s donkey (Exodus 21:28–32). And the punishments were different. Where today we would send people to jail, the Israelites would have to pay back what they stole or destroyed, or sometimes, endure physical punishment (Exodus 22:1–15; Leviticus 24:19–20). There are many of their civil laws that we don’t have to follow because we have a different country and a different government.
• The ceremonial laws were used to tell the Israelites how to worship God. There were a lot of them. They explained who should take care of the tabernacle or temple, how to give sacrifices and when, what the feasts were for, and even what the people were allowed to eat (Leviticus 1–7; 23; 11). We don’t follow these laws because we are a part of the Church and not Judaism (Hebrews 10:1–18).
• The moral laws we do need to follow—sort of. Moral laws define what is right and wrong. They include the Ten Commandments and how exactly to treat others (Exodus 20:1–17; Leviticus 19:18). The difference is, where the Israelites were given very specific rules, Jesus tells us to be kind, to love others, and to love and respect God (Matthew 22:37–40). Although the New Testament does not include step-by-step rules to tell us what to do, we are actually held to a higher standard, as the Holy Spirit guides our hearts (Romans 8:14; Galatians 5:22–23).

from the new testament

• The New Testament affirms the Law’s importance but reveals its fulfillment in Jesus Christ (Matthew 5:17).
• Jesus summarized the Law as loving God and loving others, emphasizing the heart behind the commandments (Matthew 22:37–40).
• The Law exposes human sinfulness and our need for a Savior, as no one can perfectly keep it (Romans 3:20; Galatians 3:24).
• Christ’s sacrifice fulfilled the ceremonial aspects of the Law, ending the need for animal sacrifices (Hebrews 10:1–18).
• Believers are now guided by the Spirit, living by the moral principles of the Law through faith and love (Romans 8:2–4; Galatians 5:16–25).

implications for today

The Books: By mixing up the story with the Law, God shows us how much the Law was supposed to be a part of the Israelites' lives.

Genesis: This book covers creation, Adam and Eve, Noah, the Tower of Babel, Abraham, Ishmael and Isaac, Esau and Jacob, Joseph, and the move to Egypt.

Exodus: "Exodus" means "leave." The book covers Moses and his leading the Israelites out of Egypt to Mt. Sinai; the Law; and building the Ark of the Covenant, the tabernacle, and the tabernacle equipment.

Leviticus: "Leviticus" means "book of the Levites." The Levites were the tribe that took care of the tabernacle and temple and included the priests. Most of Leviticus deals with the ceremonial law, which the Levites would have been in charge of.

Numbers: This book is called Numbers because it starts and ends with a census of each tribe. The book includes laws and the story of Israel traveling from Mt. Sinai to Canaan.

Deuteronomy: "Deuteronomy" means "second law." It starts with a recap of the end of the story in Numbers. Before the people went into Canaan, they reviewed the Law given in Leviticus and Numbers.

Canonicity: All five books are attributed to Moses, although Joshua probably wrote the account of Moses's death. There is a theory called the documentary hypothesis, which states the books were written over several centuries from 900–450 BC, as opposed to sometime around 1400 BC (when Moses died). The argument is that a handful of passages seem to have been written sometime after the events (Genesis 12:6; Numbers 21:14; Deuteronomy 34:6), but the theory doesn't take into consideration that the books were written for posterity, not as daily news reports. The documentary hypothesis also downplays or rejects the supernatural elements of the books. The figures of the New Testament, including Jesus (Mark 12:26), Peter (Acts 3:22), and Paul (Romans 10:5) affirm Moses's authorship.