Mitzvot: God’s Commanded Rules, or a Father’s Instructions?

Deep Summary

When people hear the word “commandments,” they often think of rules, obligations, and laws. It can conjure the image of a God who issues regulations and then checks whether people carry them out exactly right. But is that really the picture the Bible gives us?

The Hebrew Bible shows a far more relational picture. God is not only King, Judge, and Creator. He also reveals Himself as Father. From that perspective, His commandments take on a different meaning. They are not meant as cold rules that limit freedom, but as instructions from a Father who loves His children, protects them, and points the way to life.

The Hebrew word mitzvot does indeed mean commandments or precepts. But the meaning of a commandment is not determined by the word alone. The relationship in which it is given also matters. A police officer who says, “Stop,” gives an order from his authority. A father who tells his child, “Don’t touch that hot stove,” also gives an order, but his motive is protection and love.

We may learn to view God’s commandments this way too. The Torah is not merely a legal code. The Hebrew concept of Torah carries within it the idea of teaching, instruction, direction, and guidance. God teaches His children how to live.

Psalm 119 then shows how someone can experience God’s commandments once he comes to know God’s heart behind His words. The psalmist does not speak as though God’s precepts are an unbearable burden. He rejoices in them, longs for them, and loves them.

Yeshua, too, connects love and obedience. Obedience is not how we earn God’s love. Obedience is the response to a love already given. That changes everything.

When we read God’s commandments only through the lens of a law book, they can seem heavy and restrictive. When we read them from within the relationship with the Father, we discover something else: the commandments become signposts. They show a child how to walk in the way his Father has pointed out.

Key Conclusions

Mitzvot really does mean commandments or precepts.
Torah carries the meaning of teaching, instruction, direction, and guidance.
God’s commandments are not separate from the relationship between God and His children.
The Father does not give His instructions to oppress His children, but to guide and protect them.
The Bible does not set love and obedience against each other.
Obedience is not the cause of God’s love, but the response to His love.
Yeshua did not come to replace the Father, but to make Him known.
Whoever comes to know God’s Father-heart learns to read His commandments differently.

In-depth explanation

1. The Problem with the Word “Commandment”

The English word “commandment” can sound heavy. We quickly think of an order that must be carried out. That can easily create a legalistic picture:

God gives rules.
The person must carry them out.
Whoever fails to carry them out stands guilty.

But when we read the Bible only in this way, we miss something essential: the Father behind the words.

God is indeed holy and has authority. His commandments are not optional suggestions. But His authority is not separate from His character. The God who commands is the same God who loves, teaches, protects, and wants to give life.

So the question is not only: “What does God command?”

But also: “Out of what relationship does God give this commandment?”

2. What Does Mitzvah Mean?

The Hebrew word for commandment is:

מִצְוָה — mitzvah

The plural is:

מִצְווֹת — mitzvot

The word refers to a command, instruction, or precept. So it is not accurate to pretend that mitzvah literally means “loving advice.” A commandment remains a commandment.

But that does not yet tell us why the commandment is given.

The character of the One who gives the commandment shapes how we come to understand it.

When a loving Father warns His child, His instruction may sound like an order.
But behind that order stands love.

3. A Simple Example: The Hot Stove

Suppose a police officer says to you:

“Stop.”

That is an order. You obey because the police officer has authority.

But now suppose a father says to his small child:

“Don’t touch that hot stove.”

That, too, is an order. Yet we do not normally experience this as an abuse of power. On the contrary. The father knows something the child does not yet understand.

He wants to protect the child.
He wants to prevent the child from getting hurt.
He wants to preserve his child’s life.

The child may not understand why it may not touch the stove. But the father already sees the danger.

This helps us learn to look at God’s commandments differently as well. God sees what we do not always see. His instructions are not arbitrary. He gives direction because He knows what is good for His children.

4. Torah Is More Than Just “Law”

A second important concept is:

תּוֹרָה — Torah

Torah is often translated as “law.” But the concept also carries the idea of:

teaching
instruction
direction
guidance

This matters, because the image of a modern law book does not fully do justice to the way God’s Torah functions.

A good father teaches his children how to live:

He gives them direction.
He warns them of danger.
He teaches them what is right and wrong.

We may look at God’s Torah this way too.

The Torah does not only tell us what is forbidden. It teaches us how to walk.

When we read the Torah only as “law,” we can easily forget
that behind the instructions stands the Father speaking to His children.

5. God’s Commandments Are Aimed at Life

In Deuteronomy, Moses speaks continually of God’s commandments as instructions aimed at the well-being of God’s people.

There we repeatedly see themes such as:

life
blessing
protection
wisdom

God does not give His commandments because He wants to keep His people small. He gives His instructions because He knows which path leads to life.

God’s commandments are not random obstacles on our path.
They are instructions from the One who knows the way.

That makes a fundamental difference in our attitude. We do not obey to purchase love. We learn to obey because we discover that the Father is good.

6. Psalm 119: Love for God’s Commandments

Psalm 119 is remarkable because the writer speaks continually about God’s Torah, commandments, statutes, and testimonies.

But what stands out is his attitude.

He delights in God’s commandments.
He longs for God’s commandments.
He loves God’s commandments.

That is hard to understand when we see God’s commandments only as cold precepts.

The psalmist sees something else:

He sees that God’s words are good.
He sees that God’s instructions are trustworthy.
He sees that God’s Torah gives him direction.

He sees the Father behind the instruction.

That is why his attitude toward God’s commandments changes. What might seem a burden to someone else
becomes for him a source of joy.

7. Yeshua Connects Love with Obedience

Sometimes people think the Gospel frees us from obedience and that love takes its place. But Yeshua does not set love and obedience against each other.

“If you love Me, keep My commandments.”

The order matters.

Love comes first.
Obedience follows.

Yeshua does not say, “Obey Me so that I can come to love you.”

That would turn the relationship into a system in which a person is constantly trying to earn love.

But the Gospel shows precisely that God’s love comes first. Obedience is then the response of someone who has come to know this love.

Obedience is not the price of love.
Obedience is the fruitful response to love received.

8. The Relationship Between Father and Child

A child who trusts his father looks at his instructions differently.

The child knows:

My father loves me.
My father wants to protect me.
My father has more experience than I do.
My father sees things I cannot yet see.

That trust changes the meaning of an instruction.

The father’s words are no longer experienced as a chain, but as a signpost.

That is precisely the shift needed in how we relate to God’s commandments.

9. The False Opposition Between Law and Grace

Through religious traditions, over the course of history, an opposition has often arisen between things that Scripture does not so simply set against each other:

law versus grace
commandments versus love
Torah versus Gospel
obedience versus faith

But when we understand God’s Father-heart, this opposition becomes far less self-evident.

The Gospel reveals the Father. And when the Father becomes more clearly seen, His instructions also find their rightful place.

Not as a means to earn our salvation. Not as a system by which we can
purchase God’s love. But as wisdom for life.

10. God’s Commandments Are Not a Burden

The apostle John writes that God’s commandments are not heavy or burdensome.

“His commandments are not burdensome.”

That is a remarkable statement.

When someone sees God only as a strict ruler, obedience can easily be experienced as slavery. But when someone comes to know God as Father, obedience takes on a different meaning.

A child who trusts his father does not see a good warning as oppression. He may not always understand everything, but he knows:

My father wants my well-being.

We too may learn to trust God’s wisdom in this way.

11. The Gospel Does Not Change God’s Character

Sometimes the impression is given that God was strict in the Old Testament and became loving in the New Testament.

But that is not a correct way of understanding God’s revelation.

God’s character does not change.
His love does not change.
His wisdom does not change.
His holiness does not change.

What the Gospel does is make the Father even more clearly known to us.

Yeshua did not come to replace the Father.

He came to make Him known.

That is why we must not play the Old and New Testaments against each other, as though the one God were different from the other:

The same Father speaks.
The same God leads.
The same God desires what is good for His children.

12. How Then Should We Read God’s Commandments?

Perhaps we need to learn to read one word differently.

The next time you come across the word “commandment” in Scripture, don’t immediately think of a legal precept.

Think of a Father.

A Father who:

Warns His children of danger.
Teaches them how to live.
Gives them direction.
Wants to protect them.
Wants to give them wisdom.
Seeks their well-being.
Wants to lead them to life.

This does not mean that God’s commandments are less serious. On the contrary. It means we come to understand them from within the right relationship.

The commandments are not chains.
The Torah is not a prison.
Obedience is not an attempt to earn God’s love.

They are the instructions of a Father teaching His children to walk in His ways.

13. Practical Application

This way of viewing God’s commandments has consequences for our daily lives.

Read God’s Commandments from Relationship

Don’t ask only: “What must I do?” but also: “What does this show me about God’s wisdom and His heart?”

See Obedience as a Response

Obedience is not the means by which we earn God’s love. It is the response of someone who trusts God.

Trust That God Sees Further Than You Do

Just as a child does not always understand why a father gives a certain warning, we do not always immediately understand why God points out a certain path.

But trust means recognizing that the Father sees more than we do.

Let God’s Instructions Give Direction

A signpost is not a prison. It does not limit you or take away your freedom. It shows you which direction to follow.

That is also how God’s commandments can be read: as signposts on the path He has pointed out.

14. A Different Way to Read the Bible

When we read God’s commandments only through the lens of a law book, we can easily get stuck on the question of how many rules there are and whether we’re carrying them all out correctly.

But when we read the Bible as children listening to their Father, something fundamental changes.

The commandments become instructions.
The Torah becomes teaching.
Obedience becomes a response to love.
And God’s instructions once again find their place within the relationship between Father and child.

Don’t read God’s commandments only as the precepts of a Judge.
Read them as the instructions of a Father.

Conclusion

The Hebrew mitzvot really are commandments. We don’t need to explain the word away or change its meaning. But we must avoid detaching the commandments from the One who gave them.

God’s commandments are not arbitrary rules. They come from the Father who loves His children, teaches them, protects them, and wants to lead them to life.

That is why we can learn to see God’s commandments differently.

God’s commandments are not barriers between the Father and His children.
God’s commandments are the signposts the Father gives to His children.

Perhaps that is the very key needed to learn to read the Bible anew.

A child who does not know his father’s love may experience his instructions as rules.
A child who knows his father’s love will experience the same instructions as care.
So it is also with God’s mitzvot — His commandments.

So the question is not only what God commands.
The deeper question is whether we know the heart of the Father who speaks.

The end

biblehub

Mitzvot vs Commandments