Prerequisites to Understanding the Law.
By W. N. Glenn
To obey any law perfectly, it is first necessary to understand it. When one has learned the letter of a statute, he has not necessarily learned all the various ways in which its provisions may be violated. When men have any great worldly interest at stake, they spare no pains to inform themselves of all the legal requirements in any way touching that interest; and one would naturally suppose that those who claim to have an eternal inheritance in view, would manifest an equal desire to understand the law of God, which directly pertains to the promised possession. Surely the necessity for such an understanding is pressing at the present time; therefore it seems proper to note some necessary steps in this direction. Be it remembered that the commandments, though brief, are "exceeding broad" (Ps. 119: 96), and that through them we may be made wiser than our enemies (verse 98). Although the law itself is framed in brief sentences and plain language, it has ever been the all-wise policy of its Author to employ teachers specially gifted and endued with his Spirit for the work of expounding its very comprehensive terms. It was the business of Aaron and his descendants, as also the Levites, to teach the law to the children of Israel. See Lev. 10: 8-11; Deut. 33: 8-10; and Ezra had a pulpit made in Jerusalem, and the people stood around him while he "read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading." Neh. 8: 1-8. Eventually the Saviour, in person, assumed the duty of teaching the people, as it became necessary in order to divest the law of the traditions that had been thrown around it by a degenerate priesthood, and to portray its requirements in their original purity. Matt. 15: 3, 6; Mark 7: 5-13. He not only fulfilled the law in his own life (Matt. 5: 17), but he pronounced a special blessing upon all who should do and teach it (verse 19). Thus he magnified it and made it honorable, as Isaiah had prophesied he would. Isa. 42: 21. The apostles were teachers of the law, and established it through the preaching of faith. Rom. 3: 31. We have, then, the entire Scriptures as a result of the labors of those appointed of God to teach the word. And these Scriptures of truth were given, as Paul says, "for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness" (the commandments, Ps. 119: 172). But should the objector to the law urge that Christ and his apostles were sent to preach the gospel, his claim is freely admitted; and this is just wherein they magnified the law and made it honorable, for the necessity of the gospel of Christ arose out of the integrity of the law. It was the infallibility of the law which rendered an atonement necessary to satisfy its demands and save man from irretrievable loss. Having found that inspired teachers are essential to the student of the law, notwithstanding its apparent plainness and brevity, it may be well to note some further qualifications on their part. Aaron and his sons were required to discern the "difference between holy and unholy, and between clean and unclean," and to this end they were to abstain from wine and strong drink. But we find a marked example in the case of Ezra. He obtained royal permission and assistance to come from Babylon to Jerusalem to teach the law to the people; and it is said of him that he "had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments." Ezra 7: 10. Thus we find that so godly a man as Ezra deemed it not only a head work, but a heart work, to seek, as well as to teach, the law of God. It will hardly be deemed a digression to note the utter ignorance of the Jewish teachers in the time of Christ regarding the gospel. When Jesus told Nicodemus, "Except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God," this ruler of the Jews could not understand it. Here was a spiritual matter, and he could not comprehend it. Jesus wonderingly inquired, "Art thou a teacher in Israel, and knowest not these things?" It was not unreasonable to expect of the teachers of God's people that they should know the gospel; and why did they not understand it? Because they had lost sight of the spirituality of the law. Instead of teaching the people to praise God by obeying the law in all its spiritual purity, they had sought the praise themselves by utterly beclouding the law with their traditions. Matt. 15: 6; 23: 5; Luke 20: 46, 47. Had they, like Ezra, prepared their hearts, instead of their heads only, to seek and teach the law, they would have also been prepared to understand the gospel. We learn from Paul's first letter to Timothy that an important qualification for teaching the law is a "good conscience," and "faith unfeigned," and that the teaching of such as swerve from these becomes mere "vain jangling." "Desiring to be teachers of the law," they understand "neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm." 1 Tim. 1: 5-7. Now if the qualifications herein set forth, which all spring from a preparation of heart, are essential in a teacher of the law, it follows that the same are necessary in the one who seeks to know the law. For certainly the student could not be expected to comprehend its requirements with any less assistance than would be necessary for the teacher's understanding. Then a preparation of heart is as essential in the learner as in the teacher. On the point of preparation, however, it may be necessary to illustrate a little more practically. Let us turn again to the time of Ezra. When he came to Jerusalem and was about to begin his labors as teacher of the law, he discovered that the people were in a most deplorable condition morally. They had, from the rulers down, been intermarrying and otherwise mingling with the nations around them in forbidden alliances, until they were completely demoralized. The good man was greatly astonished and ashamed, and immediately humbled himself before the Lord in supplication for the people. They could not be taught the law while they were in such a lamentable condition. When the people saw his great humiliation and earnestness in their behalf, they began to gather around him, to realize their situation, and to make confession. Then, before anything could be done in the way of enlightening the church, a regular course of practical separation from the world was instituted. There was a general agreement to put away the strange wives and other heathen abominations, and a committee was appointed to whom each individual should come to have his case inquired into, and have a decision as to what he should do. And this work of practical separation from the world, preparatory to being taught the law, occupied two full months. A detailed account of the transaction may be found in the ninth and tenth chapters of Ezra. We learn, then, from the Scriptures, God's great text-book, that a thorough preparation of heart is essential to a proper understanding of the law; and to this end there must be a complete separation from the world, and a determination to do his commandments. When the ear becomes dull of hearing the law, and the eye is closed to the proprieties of life, it is because the heart is waxed gross. Matt. 13: 15. In short, it may be set down as an axiom that ignorance is the result of wickedness. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." And it is a characteristic of the last days, that God will "send them strong delusion" who receive not the love of the truth, that they may be saved. 2 Thess. 2: 7-12. "Great peace have they which love thy law." Ps. 119: 165.