Commandments Before Moses

Question:

Is there clear evidence that God provided His law to the people before Moses or that anyone followed the commandments prior to that time?

Answer:

There is plenty of evidence that we can briefly outline.

1. God is ever the same, possessing an unchangeable and righteous character (Malachi 3:6; James 1:17). Therefore, His law and requirements must be consistent throughout all ages.
2. He asks men in all dispensations to be like Him. When He said to Israel of old, “Ye shall be holy; for I the Lord your God am holy” (Leviticus 19:2), He intended the same standard of holiness as when He said through Peter, “Be ye holy; for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:15-16). Similarly, when God told Abraham, “I am the Almighty God; walk before Me, and be thou perfect” (Genesis 17:1); and when it was recorded that “Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God” (Genesis 6:9), or when Israel was instructed, “Thou shalt be perfect with the Lord thy God” (Deuteronomy 18:13); and when Jesus commanded, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48); and when Paul advised, “Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind” (2 Corinthians 13:11) — all of these references signify the same kind of perfection, the same standard, and the same way of living. After all, “can two walk together, except they be agreed?” Therefore, all were required to keep God’s perfect, holy law (see Psalms 18:30; 19:7; Romans 7:12). These scriptures clearly demonstrate that God’s requirements remain constant through all dispensations.
3. The negative side supports this view as well. “Sin is the transgression of the law” (1 John 3:4). “Nay, I had not known sin but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet” (Romans 7:7). “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). “Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death” (James 1:15). Therefore, wherever there is death, there is sin; and wherever there is sin, there is law. “And so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned,” meaning all have transgressed the law (Romans 5:12). The phrase “Until the law,” found in the next verse, refers to the time until it was given at Sinai. Paul demonstrates that the law existed before it was given, evidenced by the fact that men were counted as sinners and died, since “sin is not imputed when there is no law.”

Every commandment of the Decalogue can be traced back before Sinai, either by its observance or by its violation. Here are the commandments noted in order: (1) Joshua 24:2; (2) Genesis 31:30, 34; (3) Jacob’s family must have taken God’s name in vain when they worshiped idols (Genesis 35:2, 4); (4) Exodus 16:4, 25-28; (5) Genesis 9:21-25; (6) Exodus 1:16, 17; 2:14; (7) Genesis 39:7-9; (8) Genesis 31:32; (9) Genesis 31:30; (10) Genesis 3:6, 6:2. All the law of God was broken by the people before the flood (Genesis 6:5, 11), and most of its principles were transgressed in the Garden of Eden.

Additionally, there is more evidence. God declared of Abraham, “the father of all them that believe,” that “Abraham obeyed My voice, and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws” (Genesis 26:5; see also Genesis 18:19).

This evidence undoubtedly shows that God gave His law to people before it was formally presented at Sinai.