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THE COMMANDMENTS.—PART 1

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Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Oct 12, 1876

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 48, No. 15.

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THE COMMANDMENTS.—PART 1.

By A. C. Spicer

In Exodus (Continued).
Events subsequent to the rehearsing of the moral law from Mt. Sinai should be noticed here, because in very many minds the moral law, and the national “statutes and judgments,” and the ceremonial law, or law of the typical service, are all confounded together, which leads to gross errors. It is found that very many, even Christian readers (and it is believed a majority of them), have never noticed that there was any clear distinction between these laws, or any distinction as to the time or method of their being given from Mt. Sinai; and, hence, when they read, “The law was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made;” or read of a “law of carnal commandments,” “having a shadow of good things to come,” which “made nothing perfect,” which “law was our school-master to bring us to Christ;” or read that Christ having become our great High Priest, “there is made of necessity a change also of the law;” and that Christ “abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances;” “blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross,” as “Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth,” they verily and honestly suppose that all these expressions have reference to the moral law, and that that was in reality abolished by Christ.
It has been a matter of surprise that so many, in other respects well-informed persons, including professed Bible scholars and ministers of the gospel, have erred in this respect, and are unconsciously floating in darkness, or floundering in mist and fog on this subject. Here, then, we will endeavor to discover:
  1. The three distinct laws and other respective and concurrent ordinances and instructions given from Mt. Sinai;
  2. The two distinct methods of giving and of preserving them; and,
  3. The three distinct and separate periods of time in which they were respectively given.

I. The three laws.

(a) Ex. 20:3 to 17, inclusive, contains a record of the moral law of ten commandments as enunciated from Mt. Sinai. This is general and universal, and wholly moral in its character, prescribing general precepts for all moral rectitude, of universal application, designed to protect the honor of God, the institutions of holiness (the Sabbath and marriage), and all virtues, and enjoining holiness of life.
(b) Chapters 21, 22, and 23 to verse 14, contain a record of the special civil “statutes and judgments” by which the Israelites were to be governed in Canaan, in the land which they were to go over to possess. Deut. 4:5, 14. These civil, national “statutes and judgments” are based upon the moral law, it is true; but they are, nevertheless, as distinct from it as the session laws of our State, which are supposed to be based upon the State constitution, and designed to carry out its provisions, are distinct from said constitution.
An analysis of these chapters presents to us the following considerations:—
  1. That the first great institution of holiness—the Sabbath—as instituted in Eden and protected by the fourth commandment, is here adopted as a national institution. Chap. 23:12.
  2. The second great institution of holiness—the family—as also instituted in Eden and protected by the fifth commandment, is here recognized and protected by statutes, as in chapter 21:2–11, 15, 16.
The other special statutes and judgments are based upon the commandments, as follows:—
  1. That of chap. 22:20, upon the first.
  2. That of 23:13, upon the second.
  3. That of 22:8, upon the third.
  4. Those of 21:12, 13, 14, 18–32, upon the sixth.
  5. Those of 22:16, 17, 19, upon the seventh.
  6. Those of 21:20, 21, 33–36; 22:1–13, upon the eighth.
  7. Those of 23:1–7, upon the ninth.
  8. Those of 22:25–27; 23:8–11, upon the tenth.
A few of these statutes seem to be based at the same time upon two commandments; and some upon the general principles of the second table of the decalogue. The object of these statutes seems to have been to apply the general principles of the decalogue as a constitution of civil theocratic government to the government of that chosen people as a nation. But because each and all of the fundamental moral precepts were recognized and applied there, and had special statutes based upon them, one or more upon each, for the government of that peculiar people in their national character, they were not therefore invalidated and made void as such fundamental, universal, and perpetual moral precepts; nor were they therefore invalidated as such, even when those special national statutes ceased to be when the nation ceased to be, any more than our national constitution is invalidated by the special, prudential session laws based upon it, and designed to enforce its provisions.
And this principle will apply to the Sabbath as well as to marriage, theft, murder, etc. Adopting it as a national institution and enjoining its observance by appropriate legislation for that peculiar national people, no more invalidated its design and sanctification for all men (Gen. 2:2, 3; Mark 2:27) than the adoption of marriage as such a national institution and protecting and regulating it and the family relation by appropriate legislation, invalidated it as a moral institution and removed it from the decalogue. That recognition of the importance of the Sabbath to that people by statute civil law, enforcing its observance by them in honor of God, no more invalidated it as a universal and perpetual moral institution, nor removed it from the moral code, from its chief place in the decalogue then, than the special and appropriate statutes protecting virtue and property and personal rights, invalidated and withdrew from the fundamental moral code the commandments against murder, adultery, theft, and perjury.
That special legislation even by God, there and then, for that peculiar nation, enforcing upon them by appropriate statute laws the specific precepts and principles of the universal constitution of God’s moral government among men, no more invalidated that constitution, nor removed from it either one of its specific precepts, than the special session enactments of our State legislature, which are based upon the constitution of our general government, and designed to honor and enforce its provisions, invalidate our fundamental national constitution, or remove from it that particular provision which the special legislation was designed to enforce. Even though such special State enactment may expire by limitation, be abrogated by legislative power, or may cease by the expiration of the State, still the fundamental organic constitution and laws of the general government would still exist all the same, though perhaps they might not be everywhere enforced.
Chapter 23:15–19, contains an account of the three annual, national festival ordinances. The passover festival was considered while reviewing chapter 12. The other two are now for the first time brought to light. Though their object was different, yet in character otherwise they were pretty much the same; and hence we pass them for the present.
Chapter 23:20–33, contains special promises, cautions, admonitions, encouragements, and injunctions.
Chapter 24:3–8, narrates the acts of Moses in instructing the people in those “statutes and judgments,” the covenant of the people to keep them, the writing of them in a book by Moses, and the confirmation of the covenant by the sprinkling of the emblematic blood of the testator upon the book and upon the people. That book containing a statement of the national “statutes and judgments,” and ordinances of the Israelites as a separate people, there, then, and thereafter, was called “the book of the covenant.” And here attention is called to the fact that then when that was thus named “the book of the covenant,” because it contained the statute law, the keeping of which was the object of the covenant, and at the time when the Israelitish covenant was thus confirmed by sprinkling the emblematic blood of the testator on the book and on the people, that book not only did not contain the engraven moral law of God; for such engraven law had not yet been delivered by God, either to the people or to Moses (see Ex. 24:12; 31:18; 34:28, 29); but it did not even contain a transcript of that ten-commandment law as spoken to the people. That “book of the covenant,” when the covenant was thus solemnly completed and confirmed by blood, contained only the special national “statutes and judgments,” and the three annual festival ordinances. This fact is an important one, and should be carefully marked.
Verses 1, 2, 9–18, of chap. 24, contain an interesting narrative of God’s invitation to Moses to “come up” to him “into the mount,” there to receive the ten commandments from the hand of God, engraved on stone by the finger of God. Moses went up into the mount where God was, taking Joshua with him, probably as scribe, and was there forty days and forty nights, during which time he received the instruction for building unto God a “sanctuary,” that he might therein “dwell among the people,” and a law, and appointments, and instructions for the typical service. This first class of instructions is found in chapters 25, 26, and 27. The second class—the law, appointments, and instructions for the typical service of the sanctuary—is seen in chapters 28, 29, and 30; the law of sacrifices and of the typical service being found especially in chapters 29, 30.
As seen in chapter 31, after God had given to Moses the law, appointments, and instructions of the typical sanctuary service, and was about to fulfil his promise made to him forty-seven or more days previously, to give to him “tables and a law and commandments which he had written,” and to send him away with them, he instructed Moses to enjoin upon the people with special emphasis that they should keep the Sabbath “holy to the Lord,” and then enforced its observance upon the Israelites by the penalty of death, and then appointed it to be a sign between him and them. 1. A sign that they might know that “I am the Lord that doth sanctify you,” and, 2. A sign between him and them forever that “in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed;” and, 3. A sign “for a perpetual covenant” throughout their generations, that God would fulfil his promises unto them. But the Sabbath was not, therefore, incorporated into, nor included in, the typical law. God had completed giving the typical law and all the appointments of the service of the earthly sanctuary in the previous chapter. This reference to the Sabbath, as seen in chapter 31, subsequent to the giving of the ceremonial law, was incidental to Moses’ going down from the mount to the people with the promised tables in his hands, and to the encouragement of the people to keep it holy. That reference, and the appointment of the Sabbath to be such a sign, neither indicated its incorporation into the temporary, restricted typical law, nor any change in its object, character, or sacredness; but it did indicate somewhat the importance of it, and God’s interest and care to secure its observance as an honor to him.
Appointing the Sabbath as such a sign to the Israelites throughout their limited and temporary generations as a distinct nationality, no more made the Sabbath temporary and limited, than it would have made the sun limited as to duration and radiant power to have appointed it as such a sign, saying to them, “As often as you see the sun rise and set throughout your generations, remember that I am the Lord who hath created it and all things, and who hath covenanted with you, and that I will fulfil my promises.” Such an appointment of the sun, in the absence of a better object, might have been entirely appropriate. But, if made, would it therefore in any sense have changed the object or character of said sun? Verily, it could not. No more did making the appointments recorded in chapter 31:12–17, in any respect change the original object or character of the Sabbath.
At a second interview of forty days and forty nights between God and Moses, there was a repetition by God of some of the Abrahamic covenant promises; of the injunction to observe the three annual festival ordinances, and the Sabbath; and a duplication of the moral law of ten commandments engraved on stone to replace the tablets which Moses broke. Chap. 34:10–28. But at that time there was no confounding of the moral law with either of the others. Because as recorded in chapter 35:2, there was a repetition of the injunction to keep the Sabbath, many have thought that the Sabbath was incorporated into the typical law. But this is clearly a mistake. The giving of the latter law was concluded during the first forty days’ interview, and that reference to the Sabbath was entirely independent of that law, and was a practical injunction by Moses preliminary to setting the people to work to construct the sanctuary and its appointments, as directed by God, for the purpose of securing a proper observance of the Sabbath during that work. There were, then, three distinct and separate laws given from Mt. Sinai.
(a) The moral law of ten commandments, as recorded in chapter 20:3–17. (b) The national “statutes and judgments,” or civil law, as recorded in chapters 21, 22, 23. (c) The law of ceremonies and carnal ordinances, as recorded in chapters 28, 29, and 30.
A. C. SPICER.