But what do we actually mean by the word “law”? When we talk about the law, we could be referring to a number of things. We could mean: a specific commandment, “the ten” commandments, all of the 613 commandments, the first five books of the Bible, known as the “Torah”, or even extending beyond that to include the entire Tanach (Old Testament). In general terms, however, the word “law” comes from the Hebrew word “torah” which means “instruction”.
Much like a parent will give instructions to a child, God has given us His instructions. If we follow those instructions, our life goes better. If we do not follow them, our life does not go as well. God has not just given us a few instructions on a small sheet of paper; rather, he has given us an entire instruction manual. If we really want to know how to live our lives in the best possible way, all we have to do is read the manual.
The problem is: we generally do not pay much attention to instructions or directions until something isn’t working right. Then, and only then, do we take the time to read them; and, as soon as we are past whatever crisis we are in, we put the manual away until the next crisis.
What an amazing blessing we have. God’s instructions for our lives are readily available for any of us to read and apply. You would think that we would all jump at the chance of knowing what these instructions are, and follow them as close as we could. Yet we, like children in adolescence, do not even seem to recognize the value and preciousness of the “instructions” we have been given.
Rabbi Pinchas Winston, in the book
Bible Basics writes:
The commandments were given by God and are all in the Bible to teach mankind to achieve the ultimate satisfaction in life, through acquiring the character traits that are essential to living a fulfilling life.