The Nature of God's Law
By J. O. Corliss
LL law has one general purpose; that is, to regulate the conduct of all who come under its authority. No government organization could long be maintained without some fundamental regulations by which harmony of action could be secured. Indeed, fitting laws are the very soul of organization. Nature itself has an established order by which the material world is regulated. This arrangement extends to every act of motion, whether in earthly or heavenly bodies. When one considers the confusion always consequent upon irregularity of movements, or non-conformity of action, he must be convinced of the infinite wisdom which provided laws of conduct for the unification of men and things. A Being capable of doing this is worthy of highest praise and deepest adoration. Such a law, indeed, should be regarded as divine, and therefore complete in every respect, even to the regulation of the inner as well as the outer man. Commenting upon this law the psalmist declares it to be "perfect, converting the soul." Ps. 19: 7. This expression means much when one studies its connection and analysis. The psalm in which this is found opens with a most vivid setting forth of God's power and glory as shown by the exactly regular movements of the heavenly bodies, which reveal infinite wisdom in their law of maintenance. Attention is then called to the effect of the same divine law upon earth dwellers, when the inspired speaker says, "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul." Otherwise expressed, God's law is not confined to regulating heavenly bodies, but if permitted, it will enter the realm of the human soul as well, to methodize its functions in harmony with Heaven's decree. Without power to reach and regulate each and every constituent element of creation, the law of the Creator would not have been perfect or complete. It is true that while the heavenly bodies are constantly upheld by the word of God's power (Heb. 1: 3), that "word of power" has not been orally expressed in human ears. But silent tho its commands may appear to humanity, the voice of God meets a response in the moving planets, and their daily and nightly speech conveys the knowledge of a ruling Power to all who will listen to their united voices. Everything Should Harmonize with Law
As the heavens thus declare God's glory by their every part responding to the "word of God's power," so it was designed that the earth, as well, should contribute to the praise of its Creator. But man having been formed in the image of his Maker, and thus endowed with power of mind capable of reciprocal companionship, the "word of power" by which his conduct was to be regulated, came to him as an oral appeal in behalf of maintaining the mutual relationship with his Creator which had been established by creative decree. Gen. 1: 26. Man's failure to preserve his original station is a familiar theme not necessary to dwell upon here. It is enough to say that man's miscarriage resulted from his non-observance6of direct instruction intended to preserve his unity with Jehovah. Obedience to this first, and at that time, only necessary rule of moral conduct, would have continued man in the life and image of his Maker. Disobedience brought mental deformity and consequent death. Rom. 5: 12. This separation from the life and likeness of Jehovah plunged man into moral darkness, which so degraded his mind as greatly to impair its power of discrimination between right and wrong. In other words, man lost, in a large measure, the intended usefulness of his mind, and so, being left without keen moral feeling, gave himself to "work all uncleanness with greediness." Eph. 4: 17-19. Man's Wrong Conceptions of Deity
More than this, the knowledge of God departed, and from his darkened mind man formed conceptions of Deity in agreement with his own sordid views of moral character. Passing under the religious influence of the sun-worshiping Egyptians, the sons and daughters of Abraham were easily turned aside from their already faint ideas of moral obligation, to endorse the forms of worship encountered in the land of their enslavement. Yet as the time of the promise drew nigh, which God had sworn to Abraham (Gen. 15: 13, 16), Moses was commissioned to lead that people forth to the land of promise. But so little did they know of the great God, that when Moses repeated His name before them, they would not listen to his voice. Ex. 6: 9. Altho in anguish of soul because of their cruel bondage, they dared not permit themselves to yield to the promise of deliverance brought to them from the throne of Jehovah. Circumstances, however, finally drove the Israelites out of Egypt by force. They saw and profited by the miracle of the opening Red Sea for their deliverance; they partook of the heaven-sent manna given for their sustenance in a trackless desert; and yet their darkened minds did not comprehend the nature of their Deliverer, nor sense the obligation they were under to Him. They were an unorganized throng because not subject to divine law, and hence rebelled at will against the instruction of Moses. But the time soon came when God would reveal His mighty power in their presence. They were encamped at the base of Mount Sinai, when out of an awful, smoking darkness which enveloped the eminence, the lightnings darted forth, and quaking thunders rolled out their deafening, frightful peals. The people were stricken with terror at the sight, and moved away, begging Moses to speak to them, saying that they would rather listen to his voice. Moses assured them that this demonstration was from God, their deliverer from Egyptian bondage, who had come into their midst to reveal His attributes in oral terms. The Law in Plain Language
When the people's fears had satisfactorily subsided, God delivered in plain language the requirements of His law of government, the Ten Commandments. Ex. 20: 2-17. First of all, these forbade the worship of any other than the true God, whose power can and will redeem His people. Second, any image of men's imagination of God was forbidden to be made, and bowed before in form of worship. No visible, physical form could, by this instruction, be used to represent the eternal God, who is a Spirit, and must be worshiped in spirit, as well as in truth. The third injunction of the ten restrains the use of God's name, except for holy purposes, so sacredly would Jehovah guard from commonplace connections His holy office as Creator. The fourth mandate still further instructs regarding the being and power of the high and holy One. While the first precept points to Him as the Supreme Being, before whom no other shall have precedence, and the second forbids the making of any supposed likeness of Him for the purpose of worship, the third charge guards even the name of Jehovah from being used in common ways. But these warnings, plainly as they are given, might have been misapprehended, and consequently misapplied to some god of human choice, had not the fourth precept pointed out the only One entitled to the considerations required by the three previous commands. This behest identifies Him as the Creator of the heavens and earth and all things contained in them. One Seventh of Our Time Required
So important, indeed, is this knowledge for the encouragement and support of loyalty toward the one only true God, that one seventh part of one's entire life is here required to be given to the cultivation of that line of thought, lest some influence should come in to overshadow it, and thus permit false worship to obtain in the mind. Six days of secular work was known of Jehovah to be all that man should attend to, without a day of meditation upon the source of all his comforts and happiness. Therefore each seventh day is asked for by Jehovah to be devoted to the worship of His name as Creator. The remaining six commandments point out man's duty to his fellow man. These ten constitute the law of God's government over the universe. The principles laid down in these Ten Commandments being universally important, every would-be loyal being in earth and also in heaven was summoned to be present at their delivery from Sinai. It is clearly stated in Deut. 33: 2 that ten thousands of holy ones came down to Sinai with the Lord when His "fiery law" was spoken. Speaking of the same event, the psalmist says that many thousands of angels were with the Lord upon that long-to-be-remembered occasion. Ps. 68: 17. They Were Both Spoken and Written
Another fact adds to the significance of this heavenly demonstration at Sinai. God not only spoke the words of His law with His own voice out of the midst of the fire, but after having spoken these in the most solemn manner, amid majestic splendor, He wrote them in tables of stone, for the perpetuation of their remembrance through all succeeding generations. Deut. 4: 12, 13. This last thought is worthy of consideration. It is clear to any unbiased mind that the fourth commandment of the Sinaitic law was designed to keep in weekly remembrance the name of Jehovah, who created heaven and earth. This constitutes the Sabbath day, therein enjoined, a weekly memorial of God's creative power. It follows, in reason, that such a memorial of the eternal God would be as necessary in one age as in another. This indeed is the decision of inspiration; for we read: "Thy name, O Lord, endureth forever; and Thy memorial, O Lord, throughout all generations." Ps. 135: 13.