The Law of God | AdventAI

Pacific Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Oakland, California · May 17, 1877

The Law of God.

In Dr. Dick’s “Philosophy of Religion,” pages 84, 85, are found the following very excellent and scriptural thoughts in regard to the ten commandments:—

“The first four commandments of the moral law may be viewed as flowing from the principle of love to God, and the remaining six as ramifications of the principle of benevolence, or love to man. These laws were published in the most solemn manner, to the assembled tribes of Israel in the wilderness of Horeb. While Mt. Sinai was shaking to its center, and smoking like a furnace; while flames of fire were ascending from its summit, and thick darkness surrounding its base; while thunders were rolling in clouds above, and lightnings flashing amidst the surrounding gloom, and while the earth was quaking all around, and the voice of a trumpet waxing louder and louder,—in the midst of this solemn and terrific scene, God spoke the commandments with an audible, articulate voice, in the hearing of the trembling multitude assembled round the mountain. A combination of objects and events more awful and impressive, the human mind can scarcely conceive; compared with which, the pretended pomp of Pagan deities, and Jupiter shaking Olympus with his imperial rod, are lame, ridiculous, and profane; and never, perhaps, since the commencement of time, was such a striking scene presented to the view of any of the inhabitants of this world. The most solemn preparations were made for this divine manifestation; the people of Israel were commanded to purify themselves from every mental and corporeal pollution, and strictly enjoined to keep within the boundaries marked out for them, and not to rush within the limits assigned to these awful symbols of the Deity. An assemblage of celestial beings, from another region of creation, was present on this occasion, to perform important services, to swell the grandeur of the scene, and to be witnesses of the impressive transactions of that solemn day.”

“Moses was appointed as a temporary mediator between God and the people, to explain to them in milder terms the words of the law, and the further intimations of the divine will. Yet so terrible were the symbols of the present Deity, that even Moses was appalled, and said, ‘I exceedingly fear and quake.’ In order that the impressive words which were uttered on that day might not be forgotten in future generations, they were written on tables of stone with the finger of God. They were not simply drawn on a plane, like the strokes of writing upon paper, but the characters were engraved, or cut out of the solid stone, so that they could not be erased. They were not written on paper or parchment, or even on wood, but on stone, which is a much more durable material. ‘The tables were written upon both their sides, on the one side, and on the other, were they written; and the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables.’”

“This was intended to prevent the possibility of anything being added to the law, or taken from it. The tables were two in number, the one containing the precepts which inculcate love to God, and the other containing those which enjoin the love of our neighbor. These laws, thus engraved on the most durable materials, were deposited in the most sacred part of the tabernacle, in the ark of the covenant under the mercy-seat. All the striking circumstances now mentioned, were evidently intended to proclaim the majesty and grandeur of the Supreme Legislator—the excellency and perfection of his law—that it is the eternal and unalterable rule of rectitude—that it is of perpetual obligation on all the inhabitants of the earth—that it is the rule of action to angels and archangels, and to all other moral intelligences, as well as to the human race—and that the most dreadful consequences must ensue on all those who persist in violating its righteous precepts.”

“The proclamation of this law was prefaced by these words, ‘I am Jehovah thy God,’ which contain a ground and reason for our obedience. They evidently imply that he is the self-existent and eternal Being who brought the vast universe into existence, who ‘garnished the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth,’ and peopled all worlds with their inhabitants—that he has sovereign authority to prescribe a rule of action to his creatures—that he knows best what laws are requisite to preserve the order of his vast empire, and to secure the happiness of the intelligent creation—that he is the former of our bodies, the Father of our spirits, and the director of all the movements of nature and providence, from whose unceasing agency every joy proceeds—and that all his regulations and arrangements are calculated to promote the present and everlasting felicity of all rational agents that submit to his authority. These laws are not mere acts of divine sovereignty, but founded on the nature of things, and are calculated to preserve the harmony and order of the intelligent universe.”