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Article List: Are You Born Again?; Can You Believe It?; The Commandments Of Jesus, Part One; The Commandments Of Jesus, Part Two; The Commandments Of Jesus, Part Three; Am I Confused By Your Delusions?; On Dying; On The Flood's Lesson; The Gates Of Hell; Geography; The God And Father Of Jesus; The Gods Of The Gentiles; The Gospel Of Christ; Lesson From Isaiah #8; Is Jesus Good Enough?; On Knowing The Bible; The Law And The Future; On Learning; The Lusts Of The Devil; Making A Deal; The Manner Of Beer-sheba; Martin Luther: The Midwife; I'd Like You To Meet My Father; Nebuchadnezzar’s Image; On The Question; On The Rest; On Works; Some Other Way; The Law Part 1; The Law, Part Two; The Law, Part Three; The Law, Part Four; The Law, Part Five; The Law, Part Six; The Sabbath; The Time Draweth Near?; Trinity Or Travesty?; Unknown Tongues

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The Law and the Future

by John David Clark, Sr. - May, 2001

Last night in a conversation with Brother Wendell, the Lord gave me a new thought concerning the Law of Moses. It makes me more excited than ever to read the Law again.

As most of you already know, the Old Testament Law was from God. The guidelines for civil government included in it revealed to the judges and rulers in Israel what true justice is. Governments of earth would do well to pay close attention to God's Old Testament Law when developing and operating their legal systems, and the governments of earth that have been influenced by the Law of Moses have been far better governments than those which have not been so influenced.

The value of the Law, however, is more than that its civil laws revealed the mind of God for rulers of Israel, or that its ceremonial laws prophesied about the coming Messiah. The value of the Law is also that the civil laws are prophetic of Jesus' future reign on earth. Jesus will reign "with a rod of iron" on this earth for a thousand years. Anyone interested in knowing ahead of time what kind of judgments he will implement (through his saints appointed to their positions throughout the earth) need only read the Law of Moses. The Law tells us beforehand what kind of king that Jesus will be, and it is both frightening and comforting.

Think about it. The Law of Moses is not merely an historical document; it is a prophecy of the manner of Jesus' future reign on earth. So, Jesus has not finished fulfilling the Law in this sense: he still must reign on earth and impose upon this wicked world the justice that God revealed to Israel. Israel failed to institute the judgments of the Law according to the pattern of justice that God gave to them, but Jesus will not fail. The earth has never seen such pure justice, but it will . . . and it will not like it!

Here are some of the harsh judgments contained in the Law:

The death penalty for kidnappers.
The death penalty for owners of an animal known to be dangerous, if that animal kills someone.
A thief must repay at least fourfold the value of what he steals.
Harlots, adulterers, and adulteresses must be executed.
Witches and wizards are to be burned alive.
The nearest kinsman of a murdered man is allowed personally to put the murderer to death.
The nations of earth will be required to honor Jesus the King. If they refuse, their rain will be stopped. If they still refuse, the plague will begin within their territory.

The Law has its very tender moments as well. God would not allow His people to take the eggs from a bird's nests to eat if they also took the bird. Cooking the eggs along with the mother who laid them was too cold-hearted for the Lord to allow. He allowed His people to kill and eat young calves, but He would not allow them to boil the meat in milk taken from that young calf's mother. The Law required God's people to show great kindness to any foreigner who happened to be in their land. And if a man saw his neighbor's animal wandering away, he was required by the Law to return it, even if he hated the man who owned the animal. So, the Law demanded gentleness from men, even though it could be severe in its judgments against transgressors.

The reign of Jesus will not be welcomed by this world because there will be no "back-room deals". The guilty will be found out and punished every time, according to the will of God, whether they be rich or poor, learned or ignorant, great or small. And no innocent person will ever suffer for a crime he did not commit. There will be no need for skilled trial lawyers, because the judges will be led by the Spirit, not bound by legislation designed and voted on by a body of sinners. There will be no legal text books by which the earth's judges must judge the people of earth. There will be no evidence needed because the judges of earth will not judge by "the hearing of their ears or the sight of their eyes." The holy Ghost will reveal to the hearts of the judges the innocence or guilt of every accused person. Praise God!

The world has never known true justice, where no plea bargains can be negotiated on behalf of the rich and powerful, where no loopholes exist, and where money has absolutely no influence on the system. And because the world has never seen true justice, the world cannot believe it will ever exist on earth. But it will thrive here, after Jesus returns to earth in great power and glory and appoints his saints to their places around the earth.

Daniel prophesied that Jesus' reign would be a completely new form of government, not employing any element of the forms of earthly government that preceded it. And if a person wants to get a preview of the kinds of judgments that will mark the reign of the Savior, he can just pick up the Bible and read that often overlooked and sometimes belittled section of God's Book called the Law. The Law of Moses retains to this day its value for the saints who want to know God.