The Rule of Law: Government of the Mind (5)

“You shall keep my statutes. You shall not let your cattle breed with a different kind. You shall not sow your field with two kinds of seeds, nor shall you wear a garment of cloth made of two kinds of material.” Leviticus 19.19

These and similar statutes doubtless had practical benefit. Cross-breeding between kinds of animals can lead to sterility, as with mules. Planting different kinds of seeds together can complicate harvest. And making clothes of two kinds of material might possibly cause them to be not as durable.

But I rather suspect that these strange precepts were intended as much to remind the people of their high calling as to give them practical advice for daily life.

Israel was called to be holy, separate and distinct from the peoples around them. She must learn God’s Law and resist the temptation to embrace the precepts and practices of pagan nations. Statutes such as these would have had the cognitive effect of reminding Israel of her calling to be holy. Every day, as the people of God dressed, worked their fields, and tended their animals, they would be reminded by having learned these statutes that all the Law of God is for their holiness.

Thus the Law itself served to call to the minds of God’s people both their purpose as the redeemed of the Lord and the value of the Law of God in helping them to fulfill that purpose.

For a practical guide to the role of God’s Law in the life of faith, get The Ground for Christian Ethics by going to www.ailbe.org and click on our Book Store.