In his book, “How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen,” David Brooks writes this: “We do not see things as they are, we see things as we are.” And he writes, “She who only looks inward will find only chaos, and she who looks outward with the eyes of critical judgment will find only flaws. But she who looks with the eyes of compassion and understanding will see complex souls, suffering and soaring, navigating life as best they can.” 

The Book of the Covenant is a section of Exodus that begins, “These are the rules that you shall set before them.” God instructed Moses how to apply the Ten Commandments, especially the last six which refer to how we love our neighbors as ourselves. Some of these rules seem strange to us and some of the penalties as well. But remember, there were three divisions of the Old Testament laws or rules. The ceremonial laws pertained to the sacrifices, the tabernacle or temple, and the priests. These included laws of purification and dietary laws. The civil laws mainly dealt with disputes among individuals and gave instructions on how to mete out justice when there are violations. That’s primarily the scope of the Book of the Covenant. The moral law includes abiding moral principles which point us to God’s character and our need to love him and our fellow man. Which set of rules still fully apply today? The moral law.

The ceremonial laws were fulfilled in Christ. He pronounced all foods clean. He is our sacrifice so we don’t need any other. The Holy Spirit indwells us so we don’t need a tabernacle or temple; we gather as the body of Christ. We don’t need a high priest: that’s Jesus. The civil laws of the Old Testament are helpful pictures for us, and we can certainly learn from them. But remember, they were primarily given for Israel which at that time was a theocracy, governed by God through his prophets and leaders. We are not a theocracy in the strictest sense, but Jesus is building his church and raises up leaders to help the covenant community walk together in the grace of God. What happens when a believer is not walking properly? The leaders of the church, and I believe in the New Testament that is a plurality of elders, are charged by God to love them enough to hold them accountable, to speak the truth in love, so that in all things they may grow up into the head, Christ Jesus. 

How would I summarize the rules in the Book of the Covenant? Love your neighbor as yourself. There are rules that deal with murder and manslaughter, personal injuries, property damage more. Most of those today are handled by the courts. But the rules that deal with negligence which leads to injury or even death apply to us today. For example, if you have a dog that likes to bite people, keep it away from people. I worked in a factory in college during the summer and will never forget one of the guys in the breakroom telling all of us about his dog. He said, “Yeah, he is just as friendly as he can be when you come see us. But as soon as you get up to leave, he will bite you!” One old guy sitting next to me looked the man dead in the eye and said, “You need to kill that dawg.” I laughed but thought, Or maybe put the dog up when company comes? Loving your neighbor means you don’t text and drive. Or drink and drive. Loving your neighbor means when you shoot a rifle on your property, you make sure there is no way you will hit a car, a house, or a neighbor! Loving your neighbor also means you keep you word, you show up on time, you look for ways to serve, you go out of your way to love others even when you feel like others are not doing that with you. 

Or, loving your neighbor is to look with eyes of compassion and understanding at those around you, people made in God’s image who are navigating life as best they can.