OBJECTIONS EXAMINED by J. H. Waggoner

Pacific Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Oakland, California · Jul 8, 1875

OBJECTIONS EXAMINED

By J. H. Waggoner

The Law of God.—No. 6.

OBJECTIONS EXAMINED.

Related to the subject of the covenant, three objections are raised on expressions in the Old Testament, which we briefly notice.

(1) On Deut. 5 : 2-6, Moses thus speaks: "The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. The Lord made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day. The Lord talked with you face to face in the mount out of the midst of the fire (I stood between the Lord and you at that time, to show you the word of the Lord; for ye were afraid by reason of the fire, and went not up into the mount), saying, I am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage," &c.

From this it is inferred that the covenant which the Lord made with them was the law which he spake, when he spake face to face unto them. But this is a mistake. By comparing this with Ex. 19 and 20, to which it refers, it will be seen that two things are here spoken of, namely, the making of the covenant with them, and speaking to them audibly from the midst of the fire. That these are two distinct things is shown by the words of Moses, "I stood between the Lord and you at that time, to show you the word of the Lord." This was the case when the covenant was made, but not the case when the ten commandments were spoken. Thus in Ex. 19 : 3, the Lord said to Moses, "Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel." Then follow the promises and conditions which God stated on his part; and verse 7 says, "And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the Lord commanded him. And all the people answered together, and said, All that the Lord hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the Lord." This is exactly according to the statement of Moses in Deut. 5, where he speaks of the Lord's making a covenant with them. When that covenant was made he did indeed stand between the Lord and them, to show them the word of the Lord. First, he took the word of the Lord to them, containing the conditions they were to fulfill, and the promises the Lord made which were based on the proposed obedience to the conditions. And when the people made promise on their part, he returned their answer to the Lord. Thus the covenant or contract was made between them, Moses acting as mediator between the parties. Three days afterward the Lord himself declared the words of the condition in the hearing of all the people. When he spake the ten commandments Moses did not stand between the Lord and them to show them the word of the Lord, but all the host of Israel heard the words from the mount, out of the midst of the fire. Thus it plainly appears that the inference drawn from Deut. 5, that the ten commandments was the covenant made with them through the intervention of Moses, is not correct.

(2) 1 Kings 8 : 21: "And I have set there a place for the ark, wherein is the covenant of the Lord, which he made with our fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt." The same chapter states that there was nothing in the ark but the two tables of stone; and on these were nothing but the ten commandments. From this it is inferred that the covenant made with Israel was in the ark, and of course it was the ten commandments, because they were in the ark.

But this inference is neither necessary nor just. The text does not say that the covenant made with their fathers was in the ark, though many read it so. The word, wherein, refers to the place for the ark, not to the ark itself. The most literal rendering would read: "And I have set there a place for the ark, in which place is the covenant," &c. And thus this objection vanishes on examination of the text. That the covenant made with them was in that place, but not in the ark, will appear upon a brief examination of another objection.

(3) Deut. 31 : 26: "Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee." From this it is inferred that the book of the law was put in the ark, and as the covenant made with Israel was in the book, it is inferred again that that covenant was in the ark. But both these inferences are unwarranted.

No less a writer than Prideaux says that the word rendered in the side "cannot truly have any other meaning in the Hebrew language" than by the side. The use of the word in the Old Testament proves the correctness of his statement. We give such instances only as have the original in the same form in which it is found in this text: Josh. 3:16: "The waters which came down from above stood and rose up upon an heap very far from the city Adam, that is beside Zaretan." Josh. 12:9: "The king of Ai, which is beside Bethel, one." Ruth 2:14: "And she sat beside the reapers." 1 Sam. 6:8: "And take the ark of the Lord, and lay it upon the cart; and put the jewels of gold, which ye return him for a trespass offering, in a coffer by the side thereof." 1 Sam. 20:20: "And Jonathan arose, and Abner sat by Saul's side." Others might be given, but this is sufficient.

And this makes still more certain our construction of 1 Kings 8:21. The covenant which was made with Israel, which was written in the book, was put by the side of the ark, in the place which was made for the ark, the most holy. And this leaves a clear distinction between that covenant and the Lord's covenant of ten commandments, which was written on tables of stone and put inside the ark.

FALSE REASONING OF OPPONENTS.

The opposers of the law of God affect to think that they have established their premises when they have shown that the ten commandments are, in the Scriptures, called a covenant. But in showing that, they do nothing whatever towards maintaining their position. It is one thing to prove that they were a covenant, and quite another to prove that they were the first covenant, to which Paul refers when he says it is passed away. It is neither the first found in the Scriptures, nor the first recorded after the children of Israel were led out of Egypt. There is a contract or agreement found in Ex. 19, not only answering to the first signification of the word, covenant, but it possesses exactly the characteristics which are ascribed to the "old covenant" in the Scriptures. It was made with them three days before the ten commandments were spoken to them. Note the promises, and the Lord's reference to them in the promise to make the new covenant. In the covenant,

1. They agreed to obey his voice and to keep his covenant.

2. For which the Lord promised to regard them as a peculiar treasure unto himself.

Their failure and the consequences are referred to in the prophecy of the new covenant, so as, unmistakably, to point out this as the first covenant.

1. "They continued not in my covenant"—they did not fulfill their agreement.

2. "And I regarded them not, saith the Lord;" he therefore refused to fulfill his promise. Indeed, it was impossible that he should regard them according to the covenant of Ex. 19, for he therein promised to regard them as "a holy nation"—"a peculiar treasure above all people." But inasmuch as they did not regard his moral law—the rule of holiness—they were not holy; they were sinners, even as all the nations around them. And if God had then regarded them as a peculiar treasure above all people, or as a holy nation, he would have denied himself, for such was not their character. In the matter of that covenant God acted toward them as he always acts, as he will deal with us, according to his own declaration: "Them that honor me I will honor; and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed." 1 Sam. 2:30.

J. H. WAGGONER.