And the Lord said unto Moses, Write thou these words: for after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel.- Exo_34:27.
1. The Book of the Covenant seems to be in a sense the foundation of the polity of Israel, the laws in it dealing with (1) religious worship, (2) persons, (3) property.
(1) Sacrifices are assumed to be so natural a part of the religion of the Hebrews that it is not necessary to enjoin the practice of offering them. They are divided into two classes, burnt-offerings and peace-offerings. The Israelites are instructed to make their altars of earth or of unhewn stones, and without steps (Exo_20:24-26). No special place is set apart for sacrifices, but a promise is given by Jehovah: “In every place where I record my name I will come unto thee and I will bless thee” (Exo_20:24). Jehovah claims as His right the firstborn son, the firstborn of all cattle (Exo_22:29-30), the seventh day (Exo_23:12), and the seventh year (Exo_23:11). The Sabbath is to be kept as a day of rest, “that thine ox and thine ass may have rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger may be refreshed” (Exo_23:12). Only three feasts are mentioned, at which all males are ordered to appear before Jehovah: that of Unleavened Bread, in memory of Israel's coming forth from Egypt in the month of Abib; the feast of Harvest, “the firstfruits of thy labours”; and the feast of Ingathering (Exo_23:14-17). Three precepts are added: (1) No leavened bread may be used in sacrifices (Exo_23:18); (2) firstfruits are to be brought to the house of Jehovah (Exo_23:19); (3) “Thou shalt not seethe a kid in its mother's milk” (Exo_23:19). The Israelites are warned: “Ye shall be holy men unto me”; and in token of this they must scrupulously abstain from animals killed by wild beasts (Exo_22:31). Such are the simple directions for religious observance in the earliest code of ancient Israel's “Sermon on the Mount.” They are conspicuous alike for plainness and simplicity and for a complete absence of insistence on any elaboration of ceremonial.
(2) The laws affecting persons recognize as necessary institutions both slavery and polygamy, as well as the duty of exacting personal vengeance for injuries, but precautions are taken to modify any undue severity in their operation. The slave is acknowledged to be his owner's “money,” yet he is by no means without rights. He may be beaten; but, if during chastisement he loses an eye or even a tooth, he is to be set free (Exo_21:26-27). If a master kills a slave he is liable to punishment, though the loss of a man's services is deemed a sufficient penalty, if the death should take place some days after the blow that caused it (Exo_21:20-21). No Hebrew might be kept as a slave for more than six years, except of his own free will. If, however, his master had given him a wife during the period of servitude, he could retain her only by consenting to continue in bondage for life. In this case the master had to place the slave against the door or doorpost of his house, and, in the presence of the judges, bore his ear through with an awl (Exo_21:1-6). The honour of female slaves was scrupulously guarded; under no circumstances might a Hebrew woman be sold to a foreigner (Exo_21:7-11).
(3) The laws of property suppose the people to be settled in their own land, and relate mainly to injuries done to cattle, or to crops (Exo_21:28-36; Exo_22:1-15). Thieves were to be punished by a fine of double the value of the stolen goods (Exo_22:4). It is not certain whether disputes concerning property were to be submitted to the judges or to be decided by an appeal to God, as the word Elohim is used in both senses (Exo_22:8). It was forbidden to lend money to the poor on interest, and the garment taken as a pledge had to be restored at nightfall.
The most instructive feature of the code is its insistence on mercy and humanity towards the stranger and the helpless; and the meting out of even justice to rich and poor alike:-“Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt. Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child. If thou afflict them in any wise, and they cry at all unto me, I will surely hear their cry.”1 [Note: A. R. Whitham, Old Testament History, 92.]
2. All these words were first delivered orally by Moses to the people, and accepted by them, and then written down. The next day a remarkable ceremony followed-the ratification of this “covenant” between God and His people by the blood of sacrifice and by a sacrificial banquet in God's immediate presence. An altar was erected at the base of the mountain, and twelve pillars to represent the twelve tribes. Burnt-offerings and peace-offerings (evidently existing institutions of the earlier worship) were offered at Moses' command by chosen young men.
Moses, Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, the two sons of Aaron, and seventy of the elders of Israel, were now summoned to ascend the mount of terrors. A vision of God Himself was vouchsafed to them; no similitude is described; but the framework of what they saw was the beauty of an unclouded heaven, a vivid contrast to the darkness and the fire which had gone before: “there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness.” They ate and drank on the mount, evidently of the sacrificial banquet which concluded the peace-offering, according to ancient custom, and God “laid not his hand upon them.” Instead of the fear and peril which had overawed them at the giving of the Covenant, they recognized the mercy and forbearance of God. God and man were reconciled. Moses and his servant Joshua were a second time summoned away from the rest, Aaron and Hur being left in charge of the people. The cloud again covered the mountain, and for forty days the lawgiver was alone on the height, shrouded in mystery, and receiving further revelations from the God of Israel.
3. By the conditions of the Covenant which Jehovah purposed to make between Himself and the ransomed people, and which were communicated to them by Moses, they were taught the real meaning and object of their deliverance from Egypt; at the same time there dawned upon them a new and worthier conception of the God of their fathers. The experience of the Exodus had taught them that Jehovah was an incomparable Being, unique among gods (Exo_15:11). The redemption of an enslaved race from the bondage of Egypt had manifested both His grace and His holiness; His pity for the oppressed, and His unapproachable majesty. But at Sinai Israel learned the further lesson that this God of grace and power was also a Being who delighted in justice and humanity, a defender of the cause of the poor and helpless, the chastiser of falsity, cruelty, and oppression. There were doubtless many elements of imperfection in Israel's idea of Jehovah. He was popularly conceived as Israel's tribal Deity, marching with His people to battle against their enemies, more powerful indeed than the deities of the heathen, but having stern attributes akin in some respects to theirs. But the arm of Jehovah had, as it were, been laid bare in the marvels of the Exodus, and the legislation of Sinai formed the foundation of higher and purer moral ideas, which the great prophets of later ages expanded and developed. Thus the revelation of God's essential character and requirement was progressive, and it is the teaching of the gospel that finally crowns and completes the gradual disclosure of the Old Testament.
(1) The natural thought of God is precisely that which first met Israel at Sinai. The symbols that set Him forth are lightnings, thunders, fire. The very thought of God is a terror; His presence is a torment. But lo, God speaks. They who come nearest and listen discern in the words of His law an order, a rightness; he that hath ears to hear perceives running through the commandments the presence of One who comes down to gird life with security, and to crown it with blessedness. There is a care which bends over the man and his family and all belonging to him, making them sacred. The Almighty sets Himself for the protection of the weak, and for the maintenance of the right against the wrong-doer everywhere. That is the beginning of the vision of God. He is no arbitrary Sovereign sitting on the throne of the universe, demanding obedience to His own will under threat of pains and penalties. He saith, “Come now, and let us reason together.” He deals with us as those whose confidence must be won. The law cannot show us God, but the law can and does show us the righteousness and beneficence and wisdom of God. The law cannot show us God, but without the law we cannot know God. “God spake unto the people”: that was the beginning of the vision. It always is. God reveals Himself to us first of all in His Word. We must hear His voice, or we cannot so much as lift up our eyes unto heaven. He must speak to us that we may learn to speak to Him. He who does not hear God cannot see Him: to hear aright is to begin to see.
(2) The next step was the surrender of themselves to the will of God. “And Moses took the book of the covenant and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient.” There must be a deep earnest purpose of obedience; the will must be set on God's side before the vision can be ours.
The ideal of a covenanted nation was the heart of the Hebrew religion and the life-blood of Hebrew history. The Hebrews had the unalterable conviction that God had entered into a covenant with their race, and that they had solemnly bound themselves to be His people and to serve Him. The covenant ideal was at once the consecration and the inspiration of the people. There was the spirit of duty and service and self-surrender in it; there was the spirit of power and freedom and invincibility in it.1 [Note: J. Strachan, Hebrew Ideals, i. 103.]
Later on, when the way of perfection was opened out before me, I realized that in order to become a Saint one must suffer much, always seek the most perfect path, and forget oneself. I also understood that there are many degrees of holiness, that each soul is free to respond to the calls of Our Lord, to do much or little for His love-in a word, to choose amongst the sacrifices He asks. And then also, as in the days of my childhood, I cried out: “My God, I choose everything, I will not be a Saint by halves, I am not afraid of suffering for Thee, I only fear one thing, and that is to do my own will. Accept the offering of my will, for I choose all that Thou willest.”2 [Note: Sœur Thérèse of Lisieux, 25.]
(3) And this is not all. There is the building of the altar. Around it are set twelve stones, representing the twelve tribes of Israel. Then the sacrifices are brought to the altar and slain upon it, and half the blood is sprinkled on the altar, and half the blood is sprinkled on the people. That is the next step. There is need for us to consider it carefully. We can scarcely fail to hear the word of God; we all have something of that gracious prompting of the Holy Spirit which shapes itself in a purpose of obedience. But we may stop short of the altar and the sacrifice.
The law of cost runs through the universe. It is true alike of the activities of God and of the processes of inanimate nature, that the price of fruitfulness is sacrifice. Arthur Jackson paid the price, and when his work seemed over it was, in reality, but beginning. “Things can never be the same as if Arthur Jackson had not so freely laid down his life. His time of work in Moukden was long enough to impress many with his nobility of character and his great professional ability, but it is by his death that he will be remembered. His death, for the Chinese people, has made a most profound impression.” So wrote the man under whom he served at Moukden.1 [Note: Life of Dr. Arthur Jackson of Manchuria, 144.]
The wealth of earth, of sky, of sea,
The gold, the silver, sparkling gem,
The waving corn, the bending tree,
Are Thine; to us Thou lendest them.
To Thee, as early morning's dew,
Our incense, alms, and prayer shall rise;
As rose, when joyous earth was new,
Faith's patriarchal sacrifice.
And when Thine Israel, travel-sore,
With offerings to Thy courts would come,
With free and willing hearts they bore
Gifts, even from their desert home.
We, Lord, would lay at Thy behest
The costliest offerings on Thy shrine;
But when we give, and give our best,
We only give Thee what is Thine.2 [Note: E. A. Dayman.]
