By Randall L. Broad
Read: 1 Chronicles 28-29:30; Romans 5:6-21; Psalm 15:1-5;
Proverbs 19:18-19
The tendency is to think of two distinct periods of biblical
sovereignty: one under the Mosaic Law and one under the covenant of the cross.
Today’s reading reveals another:
12 When Adam sinned,
sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone,
for everyone sinned. 13Yes, people sinned even before the law
was given. But it was not counted as sin because there was not yet any law to
break. 14 Still, everyone died—from the time of Adam to
the time of Moses—even those who did not disobey an explicit commandment of
God, as Adam did.
Romans 5:12-14
Paul is talking
about the generations between Adam and Moses which predates written language.
After Moses the law became systemized and led to the rise of the Scribes, Pharisees,
and Sadducees who interpreted and represented “order” during the Second Temple period
and the time of Jesus. Of course today, we have the timeless canons of the Old
and New Testaments that provide not only the law, but also the promises and
grace of the Messiah. Before there was either, there were generations of
Israelites who lived under no law and no understanding of things to come.
Remember the
only commandment God had given Adam was not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
16And the LORD God
commanded him, “You may eat freely from every tree of the garden, 17but you
must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day
that you eat of it, you will surely die.”
Genesis 2:16-17
Eve had not yet
been created (Genesis 2:18-25) and of course Genesis chapter 3 tells us both
Adam and Eve broke that one commandment (Genesis 3:1-7) and were banished from
the garden for their disobedience (Genesis 3: 16-24). From this point to the
flood, from Adam to Noah the human race had no law code other than those decreed
by kings and strong men. What exactly was the faith of the descendants of Seth?
Little is written in Genesis of the true faith of Enosh, Kenan … and Lamech.
Lamech was the father of Noah and a clear picture of Noah’s faith can
be discovered in Genesis:
8Noah, however, found favor in the eyes of the LORD.
9This is the account of
Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation; Noah walked with
God. 10And Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
11Now the earth was
corrupt in the sight of God, and full of violence. 12And God looked
upon the earth and saw that it was corrupt; for all living creatures on the
earth had corrupted their ways.
Genesis 6:8-11
It is safe to assume,
without a written language and canonized scripture there was no real law
outside of the community and common tradition, both of which were very wicked
in many places (Genesis 6:5). The proof of this rests in God’s decision to
destroy everything and start fresh (Genesis 6:6-7).
After the flood,
the story takes us through Shem, the descendants of Noah, to a new covenant
revealed to Abraham. During this time there is still no code of law, only the
promise made to Abraham. Of course many of Abraham’s descendants lived under
the law of the Egyptian Pharaoh’s awaiting the coming of a deliverer. During
this period they began to formalize their traditions and faith; possibly even recording
them in a crude written form predating the Old Testament. Nevertheless, their
behavior and lives fell under the control of the Egyptians.
Moses would
deliver them from bondage but more important he gave them the first of the
divine laws of God that would sustain them through periods of conquest and
exile. Remember this most basic premise, all the generations between Adam to
Moses lived without the Ten Commandments–the foundation of biblical law. They
lived without the Pentateuch (The Hebrew Book of Laws …) or even the most basic
understanding of God’s revelation other than revealed to each person through
their own conscience and the collective traditions of the community.
This is the
blessing of the One Year Bible. We can know the truth of God’s Word. We can
know the truth of His transcendence and the standards by which He expects us to
live our lives and treat each other. The Bible is more than a book; it is a
guide to life that many generations were not as fortunate to have had …
Walk with the Lord …
Ephesians 1:17
(RLB230719)
© Copyright 2018: Randall L. Broad
Disclaimer: This commentary is written by Randall L.
Broad. It is in no way affiliated with or represents any denomination, university, church, or pastor. Any errors or omissions are purely my responsibility.
