Understanding the Existence of God's Law Before Moses

Romans 5:13-14

13 (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.

14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.

The understanding that God's law existed and was known before the time of Moses is perfectly consistent with the scriptural record of the antediluvian world. While the formal proclamation of the law occurred at Sinai, God had given His commandments as a rule of life to the earliest generations of humanity, and it was the open, daring transgression of this law that resulted in every conceivable sinPP 91.2.

The Law Before Moses

It is a profound truth that God did not leave the world without a standard of righteousness during its infancy. From the very beginning, God established His order for humanity, such as the divine arrangement of marriage between one man and one wife Genesis 2:24PP 91.3. When men chose to follow their sinful desires and introduced polygamy, they were acting contrary to this divine arrangementPP 91.3. The fact that the earth became corrupt and filled with violence before the Flood proves that a standard of justice existed which was being trampled in the dust Genesis 6:11-13PP 91.2.

Understanding Romans 5:13-14

The passage in Romans 5:13-14 does not suggest that there was no moral law before Moses, but rather highlights the specific period before the law was formally codified at Sinai.

• Sin Implies Law: Scripture defines sin as the transgression of the law 1 John 3:4. Since "sin was in the world" from Adam to Moses, a law must have existed, for "sin is not imputed when there is no law" Romans 5:13PP 91.2.

• The Law in the Heart: Even without the tables of stone, the wickedness of man was great because they chose to put God out of their knowledge and worship the creatures of their own imaginationPP 91.2.

• The Result of Transgression: The "every conceivable sin" that led to the Flood—including murder, theft of property, and the violation of the marriage relation—was a direct result of transgressing the commandments God had given as a rule of lifePP 91.2+1.

The Depth of Antediluvian Iniquity

The inhabitants of the old world did not sin in ignorance; they deliberately rejected the light they had.

• Worship of Idols: They set up altars to false gods in green fields and groves, ministering to voluptuous desires and debasing their own charactersPP 91.1+1.

• Violence and Cruelty: The rejection of God's law led to a total disregard for the rights of othersPP 91.3. Men took the wives and possessions of their neighbors by force and exulted in their deeds of violencePP 91.3.

• Indifference to Life: Their cruelty extended even to the animal kingdom, and the use of flesh for food contributed to a bloodthirsty nature that eventually regarded human life with astonishing indifferencePP 91.3.

God’s Mercy and Warning

God did not destroy the world without warning or a call to return to His law. He sent His Spirit to strive with the guilty race and provided a period of 120 years for repentancePP 92.1+1. Faithful men like Methuselah and Noah labored to keep alive the knowledge of the true God and to stay the tide of moral evilPP 92.2. Noah's preaching was a call to reformation—a return to the rule of life God had established—so that those who believed might find pardon and be savedPP 92.2. 🌸