Exodus 21:33-36 (NKJV)

“And if a man opens a pit, or if a man digs a pit and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls in it, the owner of the pit shall make it good; he shall give money to their owner, but the dead animal shall be his.

“If one man’s ox hurts another’s, so that it dies, then they shall sell the live ox and divide the money from it; and the dead ox they shall also divide. Or if it was known that the ox tended to thrust in time past, and its owner has not kept it confined, he shall surely pay ox for ox, and the dead animal shall be his own.”

In 1986, when the Maryland legislature was debating the state’s first mandatory seat-belt law, the bill proposed was virtually unenforceable. The law did not allow a policeman to stop a car for a seat-belt violation; the stop had to be for something else. Only then could a ticket be given for failing to wear a seat-belt. Opponents argued that virtually no tickets would be written.

But the law passed because experts said that the ethical standard set by the law would lead to a significant increase in seat-belt use and thus save many lives.

It did. Even an unenforceable law teaches.

Here we see laws that teach people not to be negligent. If you do something irresponsible and things go wrong, then you are responsible for the damages – even if you didn’t intend for those things to happen. Preventable accidents are the fault of the person who created the hazard.

But the key principle introduced here is that the law will be more than just a schedule of penalties for various crimes. The law teaches people how to think.

That’s what fathers do.

Christians rarely study the Old Testament law. Jesus fulfilled it, so we are liberated from it. In some ways (like with the dietary laws) that’s the end of it, but knowing the law can still be useful.

“But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” – Jeremiah 31:33 (NKJV)

This passage is quoted three times in the New Testament (Rom. 2:15, Heb. 8:10 and Heb. 10:16) and assumed elsewhere (e.g., 2 Cor. 3:3). It’s obviously important, but how should we respond? Are we supposed to study the law so as to write it on our hearts?

Jeremiah 31:33 says otherwise. Memorizing the Old Testament law is the Old Testament way. We get something better. The Holy Spirit writes the law on our hearts.

Still, all scripture is God breathed. So we are called to study it, under the illumination of the Holy Spirit.

The weekly study guides, which include discussion questions, are available for download here:

https://www.ailbe.org/resources/itemlist/category/91-deep-studies