When was the Law Established?

The written law came 400 years after Abraham’s time, but does that mean that there wasn’t a law prior to that? If there was a law, did Adam, Noah, and Abraham follow it? The short answer is that the Bible doesn’t explicitly say one way or the other. However, many verses bring clarity to this issue and we are able to deduce that it was indeed followed.

If we read through Genesis carefully, we will notice many instances where the law is being established and observed. First, we have to keep in mind that Adam and Eve, Abraham, and many others spoke directly to God, which would be a perfect way to relay the law. The Sabbath, in particular, was established as a holy day in Genesis 2:2 and 2:3. Adam and Eve would have been directly aware of this as they were still in the Garden of Eden at that time. Next, Cain was cursed for killing his brother even though there was no official written commandment against murder at the time. And if God didn’t somehow tell Adam and Eve that murder is against the law of God, how can a God of Justice hold Cain accountable for his action? The implication of the story of Cain and Abel isn’t that Cain didn’t know God’s Law, but that he willfully broke it. Likewise, Cain and Abel brought sacrifices to Yahweh in Genesis 4, long before the written laws on sacrifices were established with Moses. There is no record in Genesis or anywhere else that Yahweh commanded Cain and Abel to bring offerings to him, yet Abel perfectly followed the law that was later recorded in Leviticus 27:26, “But the firstborn among animals, which as a firstborn belongs to Yahweh, no man may dedicate it; whether an ox or sheep, it is already Yahweh’s.” Abel brought the firstborn of his flock to God in obedience to the commandment. Cain offered fruit, which is not what God required.

In light of these things, I would argue that the law was well-known by those who walked with God, and those people were then alive for nearly 1,000 years to pass that knowledge on to countless others. From the moment Adam and Eve sinned, the sacrificial system was introduced to them (the animal that was sacrificed to make a tunic for Adam and Eve out of the animal’s skin in Genesis 3:21 also served as a sin offering). Prior to Adam and Eve sinning, nothing died, including the animals. It wasn’t until after the flood that we were commanded to eat meat.

We now know that the law was given to Adam and Eve, directly from God, then passed down through the generations orally. This worked for a time, until 2,000 years after the fall, when the Devil, through his demons, had completely corrupted the world with the Nephilim. At that time, the only one who still listened to God was Noah, who would have continued to train up his household after the flood. Then came Abraham, who lived while Noah was still alive, and the book of Jasher records that Abraham, after searching for the true God, came to receive training from Noah. In Genesis 26:5, Yahweh reveals to Isaac why he blessed Abraham, and says, “Abraham listened to my voice and kept my requirements, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.” 

There is no doubt, then, that the law was established from the beginning and Adam, Noah, and Abraham followed it. It was laid out again by Moses at Mount Sinai, and it was reaffirmed by Jesus during his ministry (Matthew 5:17-19, 19:17). Jesus explained that all of the law can be summed up into loving God and loving your neighbor (Matthew 22:37-40; Romans 13:9). Many misinterpret this to mean that whatever loving God and loving people means to them are the new commandments. But if we allow Scripture to interpret Scripture here, we will have a Biblical understanding of what was meant. 1 John 5:3 explains what it means to love God, “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome.” The verse right before that one explains what it means to love others, “This is how we know that we love the children of God: when we love God and obey his commandments” (1 John 5:2). We are told that this is nothing new, that this is what has been asked of us from the beginning, starting with Adam and Eve, “And now I ask you, O lady, not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but that which we had from the beginning: that we love one another. And this is love: that we walk according to his commandments. This is the commandment, just as you heard from the beginning, that you are to walk in it” (2 John 1:5-6).

Today, it is commonly taught that no one can follow the commandments, that it is not possible, but we are told to be holy just as God is holy (Matthew 5:48; 1 Corinthians 7:34), and the Bible gives many examples of people who lived a righteous life and “walked without blame in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord”, such as Elizabeth and Zechariah (Luke 1:5-6). Now, this is not to suggest that we can be absolutely perfect in following the law to the point where we never make a mistake our entire lives. It is not us who follow the law anyhow, but the holy spirit in us that enables us to. On our own, we would have no chance. Still, that does not excuse us from trying. The Bible is clear that Jesus did not come and suffer the way he did and die on the cross so that we could have a free pass to sin. In fact, the Bible warned against such false teachers who would infiltrate the church, “For certain people have crept in unnoticed, those who were written about long ago for this condemnation; they are ungodly, perverting the grace of our God into immoral indulgence and are denying our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ” (Jude 1:3-4). Hebrews 10:26-31 supports this point by making it clear that Yahweh does not tolerate willful sin:
“For if we keep on sinning deliberately after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but only a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire, which is about to devour the adversaries. Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment do you think will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God and has considered the blood of the covenant by which he was made holy to be a common thing, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, vengeance belongs to me; I will repay.[From Deut. 32:35] And again, the Lord will judge his people.[From Deut. 32:36] It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

Some will say it is legalistic to follow God’s law, but there is a difference in being legalistic and in trying your best to grow with God and become more like Him. Following His law will only benefit us in the end and prove our faith. It is not about doing works to earn your salvation, it is about showing you have faith by your works (James 2:18, 20, 26). It is the same as when you are in a relationship with someone and because you love them, you try to do the things that please them. That is how our relationship with our Father in heaven should be. With the new covenant, God has written His law on our hearts because he wants us to know and follow it. There has never been a time in human history where the wisdom of God, or God’s law, has become irrelevant to us. Even in Revelation, speaking of a time that is still future, the Bible identifies true Christians as those who “keep the commandments of God, and their faith in Jesus” (Revelation 14:12; 12:17).