Gary North

People in the West have all heard of the Ten Commandments. Some of them even know where these commandments appear in the Bible. One place is in Exodus 20. (The other is in Deuteronomy 5) Now, where would you suppose that we might find God's rules and regulations for self-government, family government, and civil government?

How about in Exodus 21? This is exactly where the case laws of Exodus appear. Also in Exodus 22 and 23. Three brief chapters, plus a few rules and regulations in the remaining eighteen chapters-yet look at the size of this book!

Case laws are the specific applications of one or more of God's Ten Commandments in specific areas of life. Case laws are where "the rubber meets the road" for those who claim that they are doing their best to obey the Ten Commandments. Will our political leaders ecourage us to honor the Ten Commandments by honoring the case laws, or will they encourage us to break the Ten Commandments by ignoring the case laws?

For over three centuries, American Christians and humanists alike have agreed: there is no need to enforce the case laws. At most, only the "moral laws" of the Bible should be enforced. What are these "moral laws"? In practice, they are whatever laws the voters are familiar with and satisfied with. People baptize the status quo with the designation, "moral laws of God."

God is not mocked. Societies that think they are being progressive by ignoring the specifics of God's law discover that they cannot provide justice. Individuals find themselves at the mercy of unjust rules. They pursue freedom from God and gain bondage under men.

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