‘The Law Is Holy, Righteous, and Good’

7, 8. (a) How could the Israelites ‘prove themselves holy’? (b) Contrast Jehovah’s Law with the Babylonian Code of Hammurabi.

⁷ ‘Proving themselves holy’ meant neither perfection nor an assumed air of false piety; it meant obedience to an extensive law code given to Israel through Moses. (Exodus 19:5, 6) Unlike any other national law, God’s Law could be described as “holy and righteous and good.”​—Romans 7:12.

⁸ True, the Babylonian Code of Hammurabi, which is said to predate the Mosaic Law, covered a similar span of subjects. Some of its statutes, such as the law of ‘eye for eye,’ or talion, are similar to Mosaic principles. Critics thus claim that Moses merely borrowed his laws from Hammurabi’s code. Hammurabi’s code, however, did little more than glorify Hammurabi and serve his political interests. God’s Law was given to Israel ‘for their good always, that they might keep alive.’ (Deuteronomy 6:24) There is also little evidence that Hammurabi’s law was ever legally binding in Babylon, serving as little more than “legal aid for persons in search of advice.” (The New Encyclopædia Britannica, 1985 edition, Volume 21, page 921) The Mosaic Law, though, was binding and carried just penalties for disobedience. Finally, Hammurabi’s code focuses on how to deal with wrongdoers; only 5 out of its 280 laws are direct prohibitions. The thrust of God’s Law, however, was toward preventing, not punishing, wrongdoing.

9. What impact did the Mosaic Law have on the lives of the Jews?

⁹ Because it was ‘holy, righteous, and good,’ the Mosaic Law had a powerful impact upon the personal lives of the Jews. It regulated their worship, provided for Sabbaths of desisting from work, controlled the nation’s economic structure, outlined some requirements as to clothing, and gave beneficial guidance in matters of diet, sexual activity, and hygienic habits. Even normal body functions came under the scrutiny of the Mosaic Law.

“The Commandment of Jehovah Is Clean”

10. (a) Why did the Law concern itself with so many areas of life? (b) How did the Law promote physical cleanness and good health? (Include footnote.)

¹⁰ Such detailed regulations covering day-to-day living had a lofty purpose: to make the Israelites clean​—physically, spiritually, mentally, and morally. For example, laws requiring them to bathe themselves, bury their excreta, quarantine the contagiously ill, and avoid certain foods all promoted health and physical cleanness.a​—Exodus 30:18-20; Leviticus, chapter 11; Le 13:4, 5, 21, 26; 15:16-18, 21-23; Deuteronomy 23:12-14.

11. What did it mean to be ceremonially unclean?

¹¹ Yet, good health and sanitation were really secondary to spiritual cleanness. That is why one who perhaps ate one of the prohibited foods, engaged in sexual relations, or touched a dead body was also declared unclean in a ceremonial way. (Leviticus, chapters 11, 15; Numbers, chapter 19) Such an unclean one was thus barred from participation in worship​—in some cases under the pain of death! (Leviticus 15:31; 22:3-8) But what did such prohibitions have to do with spiritual cleanness?

12. How did the laws of ceremonial cleanness promote spiritual cleanness?

¹² Pagan worship was characterized by prostitution, the worship of the dead, and revelry. But The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia points out: “No sexual act was permitted as a means of worshiping Yahweh. All such activity in this regard, therefore, rendered one unclean. . . . In Israel the dead received their proper honor, but in no way were they given undue veneration nor did they become objects of worship . . . Further fellowship at the festivals of pagan neighbors, which would include banqueting, was impossible for an Israelite, because their food was unclean.” The regulations of the Law thus constituted a “wall” of separation from unclean religious elements.​—Ephesians 2:14.

13. How did the Law promote mental cleanness?

¹³ The Law also worked for the mental cleanness of the Israelites. Its statutes regarding marital intimacies, for example, served to elevate man’s thinking. (Leviticus 15:16-33) Israelites learned self-control in sexual matters, not giving in to unrestrained passion like the Canaanites. The Law even taught its adherents to control their feelings and desires, condemning covetous thinking.​—Exodus 20:17.

14. How was God’s Law unique as to promoting moral cleanness?

¹⁴ Most remarkable of all, though, was the Law’s stress on moral cleanness. True, Hammurabi’s code also condemned such wrongs as adultery. However, an article in The Biblical Archaeologist observed: “Unlike the Babylonians and the Assyrians who viewed adultery only as a crime against the proprietary rights of the husband, the Old Testament legislation considers adultery also as a grave offense against morality.”