Understanding God’s laws for Israel

Oct. 4, 2026

This week’s questions: Why did God have so many rules for Israel to follow, especially the nonreligious or moral rules? What should we make of them?

This is a fairly common question and point of contention that gets twisted against Catholics whenever we express opposition to something by citing scripture. Someone will always retort: “it says this and this as well in the Bible, why aren’t you doing that etc..” Generally something from Leviticus, like the prohibition against eating shellfish, and the fact that many Catholics might enjoy eating shellfish is used as an ignorant and failed “gotcha” moment. The simple fact is that there are different laws in scripture. The basis of everything starts with the natural law – do good and avoid evil. This is the beginning and we see that in Genesis. Moving on, we have the 10 commandments, which are short summarizations of moral and religious laws. Later, we find what are called Levitical laws and the other societal laws for the Jewish people of the Old Testament. There is a difference between laws concerning eating, style of dress and other outward things and laws that deal with the religious practices and laws that deal with behaviors and moral attitudes.

If we wonder why the laws in the Old Testament were so far reaching and governed almost every aspect of their lives, we have to remember that this is a people that had been in Egypt and amongst pagans for almost 500 years by that point. They had begun to assimilate some of those behaviors and attitudes. The Egyptians and many others of that time were known for having many immoral and even evil behaviors that were not only tolerated in their societies but also were integrated into many religious practices. The Jews were a people that very easily fell back into the idolatrous and immoral ways of paganism – think of the golden calf and such on the journey from Egypt. So, it is necessary for the Lord to be very strict with them about many things for those purposes. He Himself told Moses in Leviticus 18,3: “You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you once lived, nor shall you do as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you; do not conform to their customs.”

The departure from many of these laws happens when St. Paul brings to the forefront the problems that are faced by the newly converted gentiles in regard to the laws of the Old Testament. It wasn’t that a level of moral conduct was being insisted upon and that one’s dress and behavior and choices should give an image of propriety. Those things were required by the ten commandments which were before Levitical laws. One issue was the thought process of keeping these laws only out of the desire to separate oneself from the gentiles and the idea that the laws gave salvation – you were saved by the law, not the source of the law. The problem was not that for them pork was unclean for instance, but that they considered those gentiles who raised or ate pork to be practically subhuman in the time of New Testament. In some areas of the gentile world, that was their main food. See how they looked down on shepherds of sheep even in Israel in the time of Christ. When St. Peter makes the decision for the early Church to formally depart from some of the Old Testament laws, notice that it is not the moral laws, but laws dealing purely with outside things – foods, fabrics etc. St. Paul himself still insisted upon morality and even called us to a higher level of moral behavior. The only laws that were set aside were those which were meant to keep the Jewish people isolated from other cultures, as God’s plan had required until then to ensure that the Messiah would come from a race that was not governed by the modes and caprices of the pagan world. When He came, that task was finished and that separation ceased to be important as He came to call from all nations.

God love you, Fr. Anthony