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The Law

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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jul 20, 1916

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 93, No. 36.

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The Law

By L. L. C.

WE find the Scriptures full of texts speaking of the law, yet because the word is used with a variety of meanings, the subject of the law has caused much discussion, even among Bible students. Some who have failed to make any distinction between the laws given in the Old Testament have thought that Christ did away with all law, in spite of his direct testimony to the contrary. Let us consider the use of this word as found in the Bible.
The Jews divided the Old Testament into several parts, known as the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms. In accordance with this usage, we find that the word “law” is sometimes used in the New Testament to mean the Old Testament books of Moses,—Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy,—which are also sometimes called the Pentateuch.
When we read in John 8:17, “It is also written in your law, that the testimony of two men is true,” we know that a quotation is being made from one of the books of Moses. Turning to the book of Deuteronomy, nineteenth chapter, fifteenth verse, we find the rule referred to, for it says: “At the mouth of two witnesses . . . shall the matter be established.”
The law commonly means the law of the ten commandments written by God himself, and given to Moses. When the lawyer came tempting Christ, and asked him which was the great commandment in the law Christ summarized the whole ten commandments into two; namely, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.” And, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”
The word “law” is often used of the ceremonial law. We read in Lev. 6:9, “This is the law of the burnt offering.” Again in the fourteenth verse of the same chapter, “This is the law of the meat offering.” In the first verse of the seventh chapter, “This is the law of the trespass offering,” etc. The ceremonial law, being a law of ceremonies which pointed to Christ, was of course done away with when Christ, the great Antitype, came.
Law is also used of hygienic regulations. In Lev. 13:59, we read, “This is the law of the plague of leprosy in a garment of woolen or linen.” In the fourteenth chapter, second verse, “This shall be the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing,” etc. The hygienic laws of the Old Testament, intended to keep the Israelites in good physical health, will help God’s people now, for the physical needs of mankind have not greatly changed. If anything, we should be more careful in this present age of increased disease and manifold epidemics than were the Israelites in their time.
Israel was not only the people of God as a church, but they were also a theocracy, and as such had laws which might be thought of as the civil laws of the theocracy. One of those is referred to in Matt. 5:38, where we read, “Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.” This was one of the regulations governing the enforcement of civil justice in the nation of Israel. We find many of these laws recorded in the book of Exodus, from the twenty-second chapter and onward. Inasmuch, however, as Israel was God’s church, as well as a theocracy, we do not find the civil laws separated from the other laws. Another example of a civil law, which was enforced only as long as the theocracy lasted, is found in Ex. 22:18: “Thou shalt not Suffer a witch to live.” This command in no way justifies the killing of witches, real or supposed, since the ending of the theocracy of Israel.
Among numerous religious laws we will speak of only one. In Heb. 7:5, we read, “Verily they that are of the sons of Levi, who receive the office of the priesthood, have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law, that is, of their brethren, though they come out of the loins of Abraham.” Here it speaks of the Levites who received the tithe according to the law. This law of the tithe was not one of the ten commandments, neither was it in any sense a typical or ceremonial law. It cannot be considered a hygienic law, and would scarcely be included in the civil laws of the theocracy. It was one of the religious laws of the people of Israel as a church of God. It was intended as God’s plan for the maintenance of his ministry. Those who still follow this plan find that it is divinely blessed both to the upbuilding of the ministry and to the prosperity of those who support the Lord’s ambassadors with their tithe.
Lastly, there may be said to be another law, a physical law of our bodies. Since Adam sinned, the physical nature of man has come under the power of sin to such an extent that Paul said that he found in his members a law which often brought him into captivity to sin, even though he could say, as in the previous verse, “I delight in the law of God after the inward man.” This working of sin in the physical body is what Paul so often refers to when he speaks of mortifying the deeds of the body, or keeping the body under. Paul did not believe in asceticism. He spoke of the body as the temple of the Holy Ghost, and as such, it should be thought of as the instrument which the Holy Spirit would control to do his work among men.
Thus we see that “the law” may mean seven things: First, the Old Testament books written by Moses; second, the law of ten commandments; third, the ceremonial law; fourth, hygienic law; fifth, civil law of the theocracy of Israel; sixth, religious law; and seventh, physical law. Of these, the ceremonial law, pointing as it did to Christ, ended when he came. The civil law of the theocracy would of course end when Israel as a nation came to its close. The Old Testament books written by Moses are still preserved to us as a part of God’s Holy Word. The law of ten commandments, written by God’s own finger, is immutable. The principles of the hygienic, religious, and physical laws of the Scripture are still binding at the present time, and the changed conditions with which we are surrounded in these days have made it even more necessary than ever in the earth’s history to be careful to keep the laws of hygiene.
L. L. C.