Throughout Scripture—but especially in the Torah (the Pentateuch)—we find laws and commandments that, at first glance, seem difficult to understand. Some may even appear arbitrary. Indeed, many of the decrees Yehovah gave His people are not fully explained. Yet every one of them has a purpose. Even when we cannot immediately understand that purpose, we can be certain that, at the very least, they reveal something about our willingness to obey—that is, our willingness to follow the instructions of our Creator.
We need only return to the Garden of Eden. There, Yehovah gave Adam a simple command:
And Yehovah Elohim commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
Genesis 2:16–17
Now imagine for a moment what today’s culture might have said had it witnessed that scene. Some would argue, “If the tree is there, why shouldn’t he eat from it?” Others might call it psychological abuse to deny access to something desirable. Some would even claim that warning Adam of death was manipulation or bullying.
Yet there was a reason for that command. Humanity was created to live in dependence upon Yehovah, trusting Him completely. Adam needed the opportunity to demonstrate that trust by choosing whether or not to follow his Creator’s instructions. After all, Yehovah had given him life and provided everything he could possibly need. Obedience was never intended to limit his freedom; it was the natural expression of his trust in the One who had created him. Sadly, we know the rest of the story. Instead of trusting Yehovah, mankind chose independence from its Creator.
The Purpose of Learning Obedience
In many respects, the entire story of Scripture is the account of what Yehovah has done to give humanity another opportunity to return to the place where our forefather Adam first turned away from Him. Through the work of Yeshua, each of us is now invited to make a different choice—to place our own ideas of good and evil back into Yehovah’s hands and acknowledge that His wisdom is greater than ours.
That restoration includes something many people find difficult to accept: learning to obey instructions whose purpose we do not yet fully understand.
For example, why was the fire on the altar to burn continually even when no sacrifices were being offered (Leviticus 6:12)? Why was the grain offering to consist of one-tenth of an ephah of flour (Leviticus 6:20) instead of one-quarter, one-half, or a full ephah? What is wrong with eating pork when modern farming follows strict sanitary standards? Why should we observe the Shabbat or Yehovah’s appointed times? Wouldn’t sincere intentions be enough?
Questions like these can be raised about almost every commandment in the Torah. Yet they all overlook the central issue. As Yehovah’s people, we must be trained to follow His instructions. We must learn obedience.
This is far more important than many realize, because the entire universe operates according to the order Yehovah established. Every part of creation functions within that order and faithfully follows the boundaries He has set. The only exceptions are HaSatan, the rebellious hosts that followed him, and fallen humanity.
The principle is no different from raising children. Loving parents teach their children to obey and respect authority, not because they enjoy imposing rules, but because they understand that a child who is never taught self-control eventually becomes a danger both to himself and to everyone around him.
Free Will and Our Ultimate Choice
Free will was given to us for precisely this reason: so that we might have the opportunity to make the right choices. But those choices cannot be based on our own opinions about what is good or evil. We must learn to discern right from wrong according to the standards Yehovah established in His Torah. Our opinions are not the measure of truth.
As our Creator, the Owner of all things, and the Supreme Judge of the universe, Yehovah has every right to establish the rules by which those who live in His creation should live. More than that, He lovingly tells us what the consequences of our choices will be, because as the Designer of life itself, He alone understands the cause-and-effect relationship built into everything He has made. When we choose not to obey Him, we do not harm Him—we only harm ourselves.
In the end, the choice remains ours. We can embrace His instructions and walk according to His standards, or we can dismiss them as unreasonable—even label them as bullying—and create standards of our own.
What cannot be avoided, however, is that one day every one of us will stand before Him. And if we have chosen the latter path, we will have to convince the Creator of the universe that He was wrong, that His laws were unjust, and that our judgment was wiser than His.
That will be an argument no one will ever win.
The choice is yours.