CHAPTER VIII.

NATURE AND OBJECT OF THE LAW.

The Israelites safely landed on the wilderness side of the Red Sea, a new epoch in their experience begins. Here the true foundation of their national history has its commencement. Moses found himself at the head of an unorganized mass of homogeneous elements, a crowd of illiterate fugitive slaves. If this was the people through whom God designed to ultimately bless the nations, it is evident that a systematic course of educational enlightenment would be required; for as regards moral ideas, responsibilities, and spiritual conceptions they were only in an infantile state. It is certain that they possessed no exalted idea of God himself, and it is highly probable that they regarded him merely as a tribal or national God. The idea that "Jehovah is the God of Israel," and "Israel is his people," was the center of their theology and the foundation of their national unity. Under the circumstances they were unable to entertain a lofty and universal conception of the Almighty. Although some of the later prophets had broader views of God, it was reserved for the gospel of Christ to make known the true spiritual

essence of his nature and its universal character, which were clearly revealed for the first time in that notable discourse delivered to the woman at the well-side in Samaria. John 4.

Before the nation could become solidified in a permanent form, it was necessary that a revelation of God's will should be made known unto them; for among all primitive peoples the relations that are believed to exist between them and their gods-that is, their systems of religion-form the basis of the administration of law and government. Now, at this period Israel could scarcely be said to possess any definite religion. They had received from their fathers a faint remembrance of the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob; but even those ideas had been more or less confounded with the popular mythology of Egypt, as the words of Moses in Ex. 3: 13, 14, taken in connection with the subsequent history of this people, show. The marvelous manifestations coincident with their deliverance from bondage were sufficient to give them the idea of his mighty power, and the benevolent nature of that act doubtless convinced them of his goodness towards them. Aside from this, however, they probably knew nothing of his moral character or of the relations existing between him and man.

That they were in utter ignorance in regard to a proper manner of worshiping God is shown by their experience at Sinai at the time of the giving of the law. While Moses was delayed in the mount, the people became impatient and said unto Aaron, "Up, make us gods, which shall go before us"; and he complied with their request by making them a molten calf. It appears from the record given that it was not their intention to revert entirely to the idolatry of Egypt, but that they sought, under this similitude, to worship the God who had delivered them; for they said, "These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt," and Aaron set apart the following day as a "feast to the Lord." On that day they "offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play." But God refused to accept the worship offered to him under the corrupt Egyptian form, and he was highly displeased. Ex. 32.

In all systems of religion men seek to offer up acceptable worship unto the beings they adore, and therefore their religious customs and acts are conformed to their conception of the character and will of the gods. In the human systems, however, as we have seen, men see in their gods only the projected

shadows of themselves, and therefore they attribute to their deities the faults, the failings, and the sins, that characterize fallen mankind; and, as a result, their forms of worship are frequently vile and pernicious in character. Now, if a superior religion—a divine religion-was to be established among the Jews, it is manifest that such could be instituted only through a lofty conception on their part of the moral character and will of Jehovah. But how could such an exalted view of the divine be obtained? Evidently, the only course was through a process of revelation. And all such revelation, we have previously shown, must of necessity be made known gradually and in accommodation to the human understanding. Ideas of an abstract nature can not be communicated directly to an untutored mind. An infant can not understand mathematics, the nature of sound, nor the velocity of light; but the young mind is soon able to comprehend something, and with proper development the person may become an able mathematician or scientist. We wish to note the process by which such individual enlightenment is made possible, because of the bearing it has on the case of the Israelites under consideration.

All instruction must come to the person through the medium of the senses. The first efforts to con

vey ideas to the undeveloped mind is not by the use of words alone, but by a proper exhibition of external and visible objects designed to reveal the thoughts intended and make them impressive. Almost every one is aware of the value of images, pictures, and the like, in imparting instruction to young children. But when the ideas first conveyed through the use of these external means are definitely formed in the mind, they become the subject of reflective thought independent of all physical objects. Thus, it is a difficult matter to convey instruction of an abstract nature to one who has never possessed the ability to see or hear; while a person who has enjoyed these senses for a sufficient length of time to acquire certain definite ideas is capable of the most abstract and reflective thought even after losing sight and hearing. In other words, all individual enlightenment must proceed primarily through a medium temporary in its nature, just as the construction of the most imposing edifice requires the employment of temporary scaffolding.

Now, it is evident that the instruction of a nation in an infantile state must proceed along lines similar to those which are required in enlightening the individual. National ideas can be originated only through some external medium. If God,