One Mediator

Galatians 3:19-20. “Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made: and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.  Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one.”

(Image from StephenRicker.com)

If the just shall live by faith, then what purpose is there in the Law?

I suppose this is a somewhat crude analogy, and I am sure there are better ones out there, but I like to think of the Law  as the “skin” that held everything together.

The human body is made up of hundreds of different parts.  Bones, organs, arteries, muscle, zillions of cells.  The skin, also an organ, covers all the parts of the body and keeps them neatly contained.  That’s kind of what the Law did for Israel. It kept God’s  standards of cleanliness, holiness, purity, and protection all neatly contained and accessible.

Of course, man went on to complicate God’s Law by adding myriads of details,  Man always does that to religion, constantly refining and perfecting so it is more acceptable.  To whom?  Well, they would tell you, “To God, of course!” The problem with that is that God’s Word nowhere asks us to improve upon that which is already given. But man needs to meddle, and he needs to control.  He can’t just leave well enough alone.

The Law was given to teach people how to live until the Seed that was promised should appear.  It was “ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.”  What is that all about?

Every source I checked supports the idea that the Law was given to Moses by God, through angels, and that Moses was the mediator at that time between God and the people. Now, we know that Christ is the One mediator between God and Man. We have no need to seek priests or other clerical people to go to God in our behalf. We have the privilege of approaching Him through the One Mediator, Who is Christ Jesus (I Tim. 2:5).