בס"ד
Vol. X. No.
4 Tamuz 5612 July 1852 |
<<188>> |
Bible Truths. |
By S. S. No. VI In discussing the Laws of Sinai, I shall not fatigue the reader by quoting them at length; for they are, or ought to be, familiar to all believers in revelation, whether they bow in worship before the ever present, but unseen “I am;” whether they believe in the atoning power of the Son of Joseph; or acknowledge Mahomet as a prophet of God; but I shall merely discuss their bearings upon the human race, as regards their duties towards God, their duties towards society, and their duties towards themselves. And first, as regards their Duties Towards God. From the midst of a soul-debasing bondage had the Lord redeemed the descendants of the last of the patriarchs, and, from an abject state of poverty, had raised them to one of affluence; He had also on their wearisome journey from Egypt to the plains of Sinai, supplied the daily wants of their numerous hosts; and for these great benefits He expected them to show a grateful spirit and an obedient heart. But yet the Most High did not demand a blind obedience from our forefathers—He placed no mysteries before them, which their minds could not comprehend; He asked for no exercise of faith, which reason would not sanction; but spread before their view a Law and a Covenant, which they had the liberty of accepting or rejecting. A contract it was, which they entered into without any coercion of the will, but, of the binding force of which, having once accepted it for themselves and their children they could not afterwards divest themselves unless released by God himself; yet this release, if such was ever granted, is not found recorded in the Sepher Torah. <<189>> Thus spoke the beneficent Father of mankind, to that race, whom He had chosen as the receptacle of his law—whom He had chosen as the instruments of civilizing and humanizing mankind. It is true a civilization had made some progress amongst the nations of antiquity; but it was of an indurating kind,—the heart had no share in it; even that tendency of the mind, its spiritual longing, had but a dwarfish growth; for its worship was one of fear, not of love. But the void in the heart of humanity was now to be filled; a voice, gentle as the soul of music, floated around the mighty host encamped before the holy mount, proclaiming “thou shalt love the Lord thy God, with all. thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy might.” And who was this Being, whom we might thus love with the whole intenseness of our natures? was it a being endowed with all the frailties of the heathen deities? was it one over whom life or death had power? No! it was the Creator of the heavens and of the earth; it was the uncreated and eternal God; it was an all-powerful and ever-present Being, who promised to cheer the captive in his dungeon, to protect the monarch on his throne, to garland the <<190>> portals of the tomb with flowers, if we would but love Him. Dear to the heart of man is the bride of his bosom, unselfish is the affection he bears to his offspring; but a dearer, a more soul-subduing, and a less selfish love was he to offer to the Omnipresent. It required no words to utter forth this love; it required no offerings to prove it; for the all-seeing Eye could behold it germinate and bloom;— it was blighted by no doubts or difficulties; for however humble our station, however poor our abilities, however unpolished our manners, we were assured of a return. It demanded but one thing of us, “to keep our lips from uttering evil, and our hearts free from guile.” As the Holy Spirit was invisible to our mortal sight, our daily walks of life were to be surrounded with mementoes, that should recall, at all times, such parts of his law as would place our duties ever before us. These duties, however, required no self-denial on our part for their performance. They were indeed the lighteners of existence. The first was the sanctification of the seventh day; a day kept in memorial of the time, that the finishing hand of the Creator had placed the crown of beauty on this fair and lovely earth. It was to be spent in calm rejoicings. Part of it should be passed in communing through the voice of prayer, with our heavenly Father; part in the enjoyment of social delights. Care and sorrow were banished from its presence; and on it we were to have a foretaste of that eternal Sabbath that reigns evermore in the shadow of the throne of God. Another duty was performed by obeying the command “Ye shall be holy, for I am holy.” We were told that in the image of God was man created, and that he was formed, not called into being, by the Creator. To be at all times ready to enter into our Maker’s presence, we were to rule our appetites, and keep our nature pure. This purity, the law informed us, could not be obtained so long as we gave our imagination a free scope, and indulged in all sensual delights. We were restricted the free partaking of such animal food (Leviticus xi.) as was pronounced unclean; and though allowed to deprive a certain part of the sentient creation of life, to satisfy our desires, we were to do it <<191>> in such a manner that the blood, the principle of life, should flow freely forth, so that the animal should suffer no unnecessary pain. Another duty was performed in commemorating, in a proper manner, those times and seasons, wherein the providence of the Most High had either blessed us with plenty, or those which recalled some period in our history, when the Omnipotent had stretched out his arm to redeem us from peril, or to ward off danger. And these seasons were to be hailed as periods of glad delight; they were to be spent in prayer and rejoicing,—deeds of good fellowship and social joys. They were to bind more strongly together the family circle; they were to impress upon our minds more forcibly the watchful care of God’s providence; they were to revivify our faith, and strengthen our trust in the Most High, and inspire us with such feelings of love towards our beneficent Protector, as can alone emanate from a pure and grateful heart. Another great duty we had to
perform, was, to be ever ready to bear testimony to
the unity and incorporeality of God (Exodus chap.
xx.), even to the sacrifice of life itself. Of all
the errors of mankind, none seem more prevalent,
than a belief in a plurality of the Godhead, or
rather I should say, in the belief that the powers
of the “one God” are divided amongst a number of
beings possessing more or less energy, and this
notwithstanding the Most High so often declares
throughout the Sepher Torah, that He is the sole,
undivided, incorporeal God, and this in language so
plain and forcible, that human thought is at a loss
for terms of a more explicit weight. Yet has this
heathen belief still such force and hold upon the
human mind, that a portion of those who believe in
revelation, have not been able to divest themselves
of it. And as in the ancient superstition prevailing
amongst the Canaanites and Tyrians, it was said that
their god Baal, the god of the Sun, and the god of
the fire (the Moloch of the Bible), sacrificed his
son to heaven: so in a more modern creed has it been
set forth, that the God of heaven required a human
sacrifice, and that sacrifice, his son and equal. So
abhor rent was this sin, “the bowing down and the
worshipping of other gods” (Exodus xx. 5) to the
Eternal One, that the evil attending it was even to
be visited upon the children of the third and
<<192>> fourth generation. The idea of the greatness
of God, would indeed lose much of its sublimity and
grandeur, were we to acknowledge, that He had
coequals; that the glorious creations which science
has opened to our view, coursing through the fields
of space, had other architects, than the sole “I
am.” But fortunately for man, the belief in the
unity of God, was placed beyond the reach of
accident or time; for when the Eternal proclaimed it
from amidst the thick clouds which veiled his glory,
when He descended on And have not the powers of
earth used all their might for the extirpation of
this belief? Have not the rack, the fire, and the
sword, each striven to pluck it forth from out the
hearts of the sons of |