Going Deeper - Week 2 - Strange Bible Laws

Stephen Sutton
Apr 20
3 min read

Strange Laws, Customs… and Slavery?

This week in our God’s Book series, we move into one of the places where many people get stuck. Because if you’ve ever tried to read the Bible from the beginning…this is often where it starts to feel confusing.

A whole bunch of laws. Rules. Strange customs.

And then…stuff about slavery.

And the question that naturally comes up is

If God is good… why are these things in the Bible at all?

Rather than avoiding that question, we’re going to dig into it together.

Read Ahead This Week

These passages will help you prepare for Sunday:

Exodus 20 - The Ten Commandments
Exodus 21 - Laws about everyday life (including slavery)
Deuteronomy 4:1–14 - The purpose of the law
Matthew 5:17–20 - Jesus and the law
Hebrews 10:1–18 - The law pointing to something greater

A Helpful Starting Point

One of the most important things to understand is this:

The law was never given to save people.

God rescues Israel first (out of slavery in Egypt)…and then gives them the law.

So the law is not about earning God’s love. It’s about learning how to live in it.

What Was the Law For?

The Bible presents the law in a few key ways:

1. A guide for human flourishing - The Ten Commandments are not random rules, they are a way of life that leads to freedom, not restriction.

2. A way of forming a people - Israel was called to be distinct, a people shaped by God, living differently to the nations around them.

Some of the laws that feel strange to us (clothing, food, rituals) were boundary markers, ways of saying,“We belong to God.”

Why Do Some Laws Feel So Difficult?

Some of these laws don’t just feel strange…they feel uncomfortable.

Especially things like slavery, violence, or punishment.

A really important idea to hold onto is this:

God was working within a broken world.

The laws we read were given into a specific time and culture, over 1000 years before Jesus. Jesus himself said:

“Moses allowed this because your hearts were hard…”

In other words:

Some things in the law reflect God meeting people where they were,not necessarily his final word on how things should always be.

Watch (Helpful Overview)

If you want a helpful visual explanation, these videos from the BibleProject are the best

“The Law” (Torah Series) What the law is and how it works in the story
“Holiness” Understanding why God calls his people to be set apart

These will help you see how the law is part of a bigger story, not just a list of rules.

The Big Shift: Jesus

One of the most important things to understand is this:

We are not living in the same chapter of the story as Exodus.

Jesus doesn’t ignore the law…but he fulfills it.

The New Testament teaches that the law was; a guide, a signpost, a preparation

pointing forward to Jesus.

So we now read these laws through him.

A Simple Practice This Week

Instead of trying to resolve every difficult question…

Try this:

When you come across something confusing or challenging, pause and pray:

“God, help me see what this reveals about your heart.”

This series is not about having all the answers.

It’s about growing in confidence to engage with the Bible honestly…and discovering God within it as we read.

Blessings over you all as you dig into this stuff.

Stephen