Why Are There So Many Weird Laws in the Bible—And Do They Still Apply?

Bacon was off the menu—along with sausage, pork chops, and Jell-O (all pork products). Shrimp was a no-no, as was mildew in your shower, polyblend garments, and building a flat roof without a railing around it. Huh? What gives with all the weird laws in the Bible—and do I still have to follow them?

(Side note, I went to brunch with three friends yesterday at First Watch. One of them had 8 pieces of Million Dollar Bacon as her meal. 8?! It was, perhaps, the most inspiring thing I’ve seen since Kerri Strug nailed her second vault at the 1996 Olympics with a broken ankle. I mean, wow.)

Like it or leave it, the Bible is without a doubt the most influential book in history. It has been purchased and published, read and studied, burned and banned, more than any other book—it’s actually not even close. Its importance is incalculable.

The Bible is a collection of lots of different types of literature, with 30+ authors, spanning some 1,000 years or so. It contains poetry and wise sayings; prophecy and personal correspondence; ancient history and four biographies of Jesus.

But nothing stumps modern readers of the Bible quite like the ancient law (and that’s saying something, since the final book has a dragon). Making up approximately 50% of the first five books of Scripture, the law was a God-given standard of living, handed down to His people as they left slavery in Egypt and looked to establish themselves in their new homeland.

Some of the ancient law makes a lot of sense (“You shall not steal.” Exodus 20:15). Some of it seems rather harsh (“You shall keep the Sabbath, because it is holy for you. Everyone who profanes it shall be put to death.” Exodus 31:14). And some of it seems, well, pretty freakin’ weird (“No one whose testicles are crushed or whose male organ is cut off shall enter the assembly of the LORD.” Deuteronomy 23:1).

Scholars have counted 613 different regulations and guidelines for living in the ancient law, which dates to about 1,400 years before the birth of Christ. As a modern follower of Jesus, what am I supposed to do with those old laws? Do I pick and choose? Do I throw them all out? God forbid, do I have to try to keep them? Where do I even begin?

To me, this is a question I have to wrestle to the ground. You are welcome to think what you want about the Scriptures, but personally, I believe the Bible is the inerrant, all-powerful word of God. Besides the person of Jesus, and the presence of the Holy Spirit, I believe the scriptures are the greatest gift God has given to His people. I read the Bible. I study it. I endeavour to do what it says—with varying degrees of success. I believe it wasn’t put together by accident, and everything in that old book is “breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16).

It’s when I hit the ancient law that things can get confusing. The same book that tells me to “love my neighbor” and “pray for my enemies” also has sections that prohibit boiling a young goat in its mother’s milk and leaving my poop unburied (Exodus 23:19 & Deuteronomy 23:12-14). Am I really supposed to put all these biblical commands on the same level?

Like most questions, a little history can help us get to a better place. Time to jump in the time machine.

Why Did Ancient Israel Need a Law In The First Place?

At the time the law was given to the ancient Israelites, they were in a transitional (and possibly precarious) moment in their history.

God’s people didn't just spring out of the ground as a fully formed nation. He started with a family: an old guy named Abraham, and his nearly-as-old wife, Sarah. God promised them that if they followed Him, he would grow their family into a nation that would bless the world. They did, and in her old age, Sarah gave birth to a son named Isaac. Isaac had a son named Jacob. Jacob had 12 different sons. Birds, bees, and a couple of generations later, Abraham’s family was getting pretty large. So large that they became a threat.

After uprooting to Egypt in order to survive a famine, the God’s people were enslaved by a wily Pharaoh, the greatness of Egypt built on their backs. And yet the people of God continued to multiply like rabbits in a locked box. After 400 years of enslavement, God sent a man named Moses to set his people free for good. Plagues, and DreamWorks Animation's best movie of the 90s, followed. Finally, Pharaoh relented and let the people go.

As the people followed Moses through the desert to the land promised generations before to Father Abraham, God began to reveal the law to them. Knowing it would be a lot to digest in one setting, God seemed to do this in chunks, speaking to their leader Moses, who then conveyed it to the people. This law included the top ten, known today as the 10 Commandments—stuff like “don’t steal,” “don’t kill,” and “don’t worship idols.” But the law also gets into the nitty-gritty of ancient living: cleanliness standards, how to handle skin rashes, and what to do if an Israelite has sex with an animal. (Which, I guess, was a thing?! Gross.)

There are three big reasons why ancient Israel needed a law in the first place.

1. To Detox Egypt
   Live for 400 years in the same place, and it would be nearly impossible to not pick up some of the customs, habits, and ways of living that surround you—even if you’re enslaved. If the Israelites were actually going to fulfill their original mandate, representing God to the entire world, they’d need a hard reset. Coming from a dog-eat-dog world in Egypt, things that seem obvious to us (don’t steal, for example) were likely quite commonplace in Egypt, especially when you are a slave with no rights of your own. The Law was meant to teach God’s people how to live with themselves, each other, and most importantly, Him. It was fresh water designed to push the poison of Egypt out of their bloodstream.

2. To Set Them Apart
   While the Bible describes God as love (1 John 4:8), the source of justice (Deuteronomy 32:4), compassionate and faithful (Exodus 34:6-7), those aren’t his defining characteristics. More than any other adjective, the Bible describes God as holy. In the original languages of the Bible, that word doesn’t necessarily mean “perfect,” but rather “set apart” or “different.” God is unlike us in many ways—He is all-powerful, all-knowing, standing outside time. And while we can’t do all the things God can do, His people were also designed to stick out. Put another way, they were supposed to be weird. It’s baked into their original design, and their adherence to the Law was just one way that their holiness (or set-apart-ness) found expression. The Law was a dividing line between the people of God and everyone else on earth. “Thou art a holy people unto the LORD… [who] hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth” (Deuteronomy 14:2, KJV).

3. To Put Them In Their Right Place
   Modern humanity gets squirrely around the concept of authority, and maybe rightfully so. History is full of leaders who have abused their position and power, to the detriment of everyone but themselves. And yet, I can’t get around the fact that if I believe God is my creator (check), holds all of time in his hands (check again) and is good (check x3), that gives Him authority to tell me what to do.

   I also know I'm prone to letting unrestrained freedom go to my head. As a new driver, I used my laminated ID and my parents’ car keys to go way too many places I shouldn’t have. And that’s how I got my car stuck in a field… with my girlfriend inside… and had to call her dad to come rescue us. But that’s a story for another day.

   Based upon Biblical evidence, scholars believe somewhere in the ballpark of 2-3 million Israelites followed Moses out of Egypt. Even the most ardent optimist can see, unleashing that many people without any guidelines for living could be catastrophic. God implements the Law to give his people guardrails, and to remind them to not get drunk on freedom. He was to be their authority—whether in slavery, in the desert, or in their long-awaited promised land.

Old Laws and Modern Readers

As a modern reader, it is true, some of the ancient laws not only sound weird, they appear downright backward. When I come to a confusing passage, especially in the Law, I have to remember that I was not the original, intended audience. Yes, I believe reading all of God’s word, even the oldest bits, is integral to growing and living out my faith. And I have to accept the fact that many of these Laws really only make sense when read as a nomadic tribesman trying to follow God in the late Bronze Age. Case in point: tattoos.

Growing up in a very strict religious tradition, I heard time and again that God was against tattoos, with support coming from the ancient law. God says in Leviticus 19:28:

“You shall not make any cuts on your body for the dead or tattoo yourselves. I am the Lord.”

Sounds pretty cut and dry, right? Actually, not really. In our modern world, the reasons for getting a tattoo are as diverse as the types of art you’ll find adorning people’s bodies. But in the ancient Middle East, tattoos really only served one purpose, alluded to in that same verse—worshipping the dead. God was clear that He alone was to be the object of His people’s worship. Therefore, tattoos were off the table. But in our modern world, where tattoos are very rarely tied to ancestral worship, I don’t think that same prohibition applies. Of course, everyone who follows Christ should decide for themselves how God is leading them—on every topic, not just tattoos—and then do that thing (1 Corinthians 10:31).

All that being said, as I read through the ancient Law, I see them falling into one of three categories:

• Holiness Laws: As we touched on above, these laws focus on the set-apart-ness of both God and His people. Laws about worship, practicing the Sabbath Day, what is (and isn’t) an appropriate sacrifice, and honoring God’s name are all examples of Holiness Laws designed to set God’s people apart from the pagan cultures surrounding them.

• Health Laws: There weren’t Little Clinics, antibiotics, or WebMD on the route to the Promised Land. So God baked in some laws centering primarily around maintaining his people’s health and stopping the spread of disease. The ancient law goes into detail about such lovely topics as skin rashes, bodily discharges, and mold (what a fun trio!). While it might seem harsh to us that someone with a skin rash had to be quarantined for 7 days, at its heart, this law and so many others like it is just another example of God looking out for the welfare of His people.

• Humanity Laws: Coming out of four generations in exile and slavery, God’s people needed direction on how to live with each other and the people around them. Many of the ancient laws fall into this camp—everything from requiring more than one witness for conviction of a crime, to leaving some of your crops behind for the poor, to returning a lost ox even if it belongs to your enemy.

When I read a law that seems odd to me, I try to see if it could feasibly fit into one of these three categories. When it does, it helps me begin to see the “why” behind a regulation I might have otherwise written off.

Does This Actually Matter Now?

Enough preamble; it’s time for the brass tacks. Do these 3,000 year-old laws still apply to us today? Well, yes. And, also, no.

A millenium and a half after God spoke these laws to his people, His son was born in Bethlehem. For Christians, Jesus fundamentally changes how we engage with the old law. In short, He brings freedom.

Jesus, of course, was Jewish. He grew up learning the ancient law and living by it. In fact, Jesus is the only person in history to actually keep the law perfectly. As God’s son, and equal with the Father, Jesus understood (and practiced) the law in a completely different way. While most people focused on practice, Jesus drilled down past it to intent.

From the time of Moses until Jesus was born, following the ancient law was key to the identity of God’s people. As time passed, different religious sects within Judaism formed around their interpretations and practice of the law. The Pharisees, for example, religious leaders in the time of Jesus, were known for their strict and literal adherence to the law, and then pushing that to extremes. Over the years, different Pharisees handed down “fence laws.” These were oral traditions, not written in the ancient text of the original law, that were intended to keep you from accidentally breaking the law. The original law commanded observation of the Sabbath, while a fence law dictated exactly how many steps you could take before what you were doing was considered “work.” The original law mandated generosity and tithing crops to God’s house of worship; fence laws took that to the extreme of even tithing spices. The original law outlined steps for hand washing; fence laws demanded that you wash not only your hands but up to your elbows.

Jesus routinely called the Pharisees to the carpet for hypocrisy, and for elevating the traditions of men above the laws of God. They focused on keeping the law while ignoring the intent behind it. They had clean hands, but dirty hearts. They tithed their spices, but hoarded public opinion. They observed the Sabbath, but didn’t encounter the God who instituted it.

Jesus came with a hard reset, saying things that shocked the crowds around Him. For Jesus, it wasn’t good enough to not murder; you had to drive anger from your heart. It wasn’t good enough to not commit adultery; you had to leave lust behind. It wasn’t good enough to love your neighbors; you had to learn to love your enemies.

Jesus sets his perspective early on:

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them” (Matthew 5:17).

Jesus lived under the demands of the law, and actually met them all perfectly. But he was the only one.

Even within the law, God made provisions for when His followers would fall short. A perfect lamb could serve as a substitute, taking the place of anyone who broke God’s laws. The lamb would take on the punishment that person rightfully deserved, dying in their place to clear their debt before God.

This is what happened with Jesus. Recognized as the Lamb of God, Jesus willingly stepped into the punishment each of us deserved. We couldn’t pay what the law asks, but He could. His death, and then resurrection, fulfilled what the ancient law demands, granting freedom to all who would call on His name.

Paul, an early church leader, and a man who spent much of his life as a Pharisee pursuing the most extreme interpretation of the law before meeting Jesus, explains it this way:

“The law is binding on a person only as long as he lives… for a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage.

Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God…

But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.”

Elsewhere, Paul explains the law by describing it as a guardian, put in place to oversee us until our true father, Christ, would break us out of the orphanage and set us free:

“The law was our guardian until Christ came… but now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.”

In the original language of Paul’s letter, Greek, the word “put on” means “to be clothed” or “dressed.” In a very real sense, God has taken the righteousness of Christ—the way he perfectly kept God’s law—and wrapped it around us like your favorite sweater. You wear Christ’s goodness, and the demands of the old law roll off it like rain on that waterproof jacket you’ve been eyeing at REI.

That doesn’t mean the law is meaningless. The rain that rolls off that jacket still causes spring flowers and summer tomatoes to grow, but with Christ wrapped around you like a jacket, it doesn’t have to weigh you down.

As I read the ancient law, I use three filters to help me determine if what I’m reading applies to me today:

1. Did Christ Elevate It?
   As a follower of Jesus, I take my cues from Him. What he elevated, I should also elevate. Jesus spent plenty of time talking about how we treat our neighbors, how we handle conflicts, and how we honor God. On the flip side, there’s no record of Jesus discussing the dangers of mildew, eating shellfish, or planting more than one seed in your field at a time. If it was important to Jesus, it should be important to me. I generally find the things that Jesus elevated are the laws specifically designed to honor both God and His creation—all of the 10 Commandments, for example. The rest, like not cutting the sides of your beard, we can call fulfilled in the life of Christ.

2. How Did The Church Handle It?
   The first major speedbump the Church had to navigate after Jesus left earth was whether Gentile converts to the faith had to try to keep the Old Testament Law. As you can imagine, grown men weren’t exactly looking forward to circumcision. Ouch.

   After convening together in Jerusalem, the apostles and elders of the faith, led by the Holy Spirit, outlined only four things early believers needed to do: avoid idols, sleeping around, blood, and food that has been strangled. Finding that circumcision was not on the list, the Gentile believers “rejoiced because of its encouragement” (Acts 15:31). That’s the understatement of the century.

   A few chapters earlier, Peter, a man who spent time with Jesus and was an early leader in the church, had a vision where God revealed that all food was now clean. Not only did those Gentiles get to keep their foreskins, but bacon came back on the menu. All in all, it was a good day.

3. Does It Make Sense?
   This is the last filter for a reason. What Jesus taught is most important. How the early Church handled it comes next. At the bottom is my intellect. I’m an imperfect being, with a heart that scripture says is easily led astray. But, at the same time, God speaks to us, and gives us reason for, well, a reason. Sometimes, it's obvious that an ancient law was meant solely for the traveling Israelites and not for a 21st century believer. Meaning, I don’t think God is angry that my t-shirt is 60% cotton and 40% polyester, even though polyblend garments are prohibited by the law. Like we outlined earlier, much of the ancient law was designed by God to help his people pursue holiness, health, and humanity. Again, if it doesn’t help me do any of those things today, I think we can put it into the “Christ took care of it” category and move on.

Read. Wrestle. Run.

Take a deep breath. Not everything in the ancient law is meant as a demand on Jesus-followers today. But at the same time, it would be unwise to completely ignore it. Just like a relationship, you’ll get out what you put in.

So even though it might seem archaic, confusing, or downright weird, the law has value. Just like the rest of the Scripture it’s part of, we would all do well to read it. Wrestle with it. And then run toward the God behind it.

Once, an expert in the ancient Law asked Jesus which of the 613 rules was most important. What Jesus said feels like a breath of fresh air.

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” - Matthew 22:36-40

The entire Law hangs on just two things—loving God and loving others. As you read through the ancient law, use that as a filter. If an old law helps you love God and others better, then it’s something worth hanging on to. If it doesn’t, feel free to let it drop. Remember, Jesus has permanently paid the debt the law left behind. His gift to you is freedom.

613 laws replaced with one Savior? That’s some math I can get behind.

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Disclaimer: This article is 100% human-generated.

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