We have seen in the “ten words” the great
basis of the covenant made with Israel, and we are yet to see how the whole
tabernacle and its services revolve around the ark, in which rested the tables
of testimony, and the mercy seat which covered it. Before we turn our attention to the
tabernacle it seems fitting that we should acquaint ourselves with the
judgments that were added to the “ten words”.
It will be found upon examination that they unfold and apply the law
given in the tables of stone. It will be
remembered that the ten commandments divide the duties of Israel into two sets,
five dealing with God and five dealing with man. The N.T. sums up the law and the prophets as
love to God and love to neighbour.
The
ten-fold exposition.
In
Exodus xx. the covenant is given,
and in Exodus xxiv. the covenant is ratified, and it will be seen
that this covenant is concerned with:--
1.
All the words of
the Lord, i.e., the “ten words” of xx.
1-17.
2.
All the
judgments, i.e., those of xxi.-xxiii.
“And Moses came and told the people all
the words of the Lord, and all the judgments:
and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words
which the Lord hath said will we do” (Exod. xxiv. 3).
These “judgments” follow the arrangement
of the ten commandments, namely, five sections are devoted to Israel’s attitude
to God, and five sections deal with Israel, or the Lord’s attitude to man, one
to another or to strangers.
Let us take a broad view of the whole
section Exodus xx. 21 - xxiii. 33.
The
ten-fold judgments.
A1 | xx. 21-26. GOD.
His worship and idolatry.
B1 |
xxi.-xxii. 17. MAN. Servitude, murder, stealing, negligence.
A2 | xxii. 18-20. GOD.
Witchcraft, confusion and sacrifice.
B2 |
xxii. 21-28. MAN. Vexing, afflicting, strangers, widows, etc.
A3 | xxii. 29-31. GOD.
Offerings, fruits and firstborn.
B3 |
xxiii. 1-9. MAN. False witness, bribery, oppression.
A4 | xxiii. 10-19-. GOD.
Sabbaths and Feasts.
B4 |
xxiii. -19. MAN. Humane treatment of animals.
A5 | xxiii. 20-25-. GOD.
The angel, My name, gods.
B5 |
xxiii. -25-33. MAN. Food, land, health, length of days.
Here we have a five-fold alternation,
corresponding to the two tables of stone.
This amplification is not confined to Exodus. Psalm cxix. 122 reads, “Be surety for Thy servant for good,
let not the proud oppress me”. This
verse is the subject of a Massoretic note* which draws attention to the fact
that every verse in Psalm cxix. with the exception of verse 122 contains one
of ten words, all of which refer to
the commandments of God. These ten words
are way, testimonies, precepts, commandment, word (’imrah), law, judgment, righteousness, statute, word (dabar).
The one exception uses the word “surety” instead and points to the fact
that the tabernacle with its offerings was appointed when Israel failed, and
looks forward to the new covenant of which Christ Himself is “the surety for
good”.
[NOTE:
* - These notes occur in the margin of the Hebrew
Bible and have reference to the sacred text, with the intention that such
information shall guard against any alteration or corruption of the
original. For illustration see page 82
of Appendix to The Companion Bible.]
The Judgments.
The word judgment (mishpat) is often translated “the manner of” as in Exod. xxi. 9,
“He shall deal with her after the
manner of daughters”. The relation
of the word to the service of God may be gathered from II Kings xvii. 26, “The nations which Thou hast removed, and
placed in the cities of Samaria, know not the
manner of the God of the land”. The
king of Assyria commands that one of the captive priests shall be sent to teach
the new arrivals, and we read that he taught them “how they should fear the
Lord” (verse 28). It was a sorry
business however, for in verse 33 we read that “they feared the Lord, and
served their own gods”, which broke the very first words of the covenant
(verses 34-41). These judgments
therefore, given to supplement and expand the “ten words”, show “the manner of
the Lord”, and His manner is “right”:--
“Shall not the Judge (Shaphat) of all the earth do right?” (mishpat, Gen. xviii. 25).
Let us now see a little more in detail
this righteous dealing between God and man.
I.
Servitude and freedom
(Exod. xxi. 1-11).
In the case of the Hebrew male servant six
years was the limit of his servitude, “in the seventh he shall go out free for
nothing”, the only exception being that in the event of the servant marrying a
wife given by his master, and having children and not wishing to leave them,
then he could voluntarily devote himself “for ever” to that master’s
service. That such servitude was not
“slavery” can be gathered from the words, “If the servant shall plainly say, i
love my master, my wife, and my children;
i will not go out free”. The
question of the connection between the boring of the ear with the readings
of Psalm xl. 6 and
Heb. x. 5 has been dealt with at
some length on pp.59-61 of this volume (see Hebrews16,
#43).
In the case of the Hebrew maid servant
particular regard is paid to the liability of abuse that awaits a lonely woman,
and it is clearly stated that “she shall not go out as the menservants do”. This kindly fatherly element in God’s judgment,
given in a day when woman were reckoned as cattle or household chattels, gives
the lie to those who would bring down the law of Sinai to an imitation of that
of Khammurabi or Babylon: “To sell her
unto a strange master he shall have no power”.
This has reference to a betrothal made, but rejected. In the case of adding another wife, the
feelings and status of the first wife are preserved:--
"Her food, her raiment, and her duty
of marriage, shall he not diminish . . . . . If he do not these three unto her,
then shall she go out free without money."
II. Death penalty
and refuge (Exod.
xxi. 12-17).
Murder, the cursing of parents, and
man-stealing were to be punished with death, without the option of sacrifice or
fine. Manslaughter was provided with “a
place to flee”.
III.
Recompense (Exod. xxi.
18-36).
In cases of striving, smiting and
negligence a variety of instances of sinful acts done to another that could be
put right by a payment for the loss of time, money, limb, etc., are given. For hurting an equal: “He shall pay for the loss of his time, and
shall cause him to be thoroughly healed.”
For hurting a servant: “He is his
money.” Causing an abortion, without
mischief following, must be paid for as the judges determine and the husband
lays upon him. If mischief follow, then
there must be “eye for eye, tooth for tooth”, etc. This is further enforced in the setting free
of a servant as a recompense for the loss of eye, or tooth.
Negligence to keep under control an ox
that gores a person to death is compensated by the loss of the ox. If, however, the negligence be culpable, both
ox and owner must be put to death. This
also applies with modification to negligence that causes the death of ox or
ass.
IV. Full restoration
and a fine
in addition (Exod.
xxii. 1-17).
For stealing one ox he shall restore
five. If a thief be smitten to death
when caught in the act, it is quits. If
he survives and have nothing, he shall be sold.
If the theft be found, he shall restore double. Feeding cattle in another man’s field and
destroying crops through careless fire-lighting demands restitution. Those entrusted with goods must be
responsible unto double the value. To
entice a maid that is not betrothed must be recompensed either by marriage or
dowry.
Such is a very imperfect summary of the
first section xxi. 1 - xxii. 17. This is followed by a brief section (Exodus
xxii. 18-20) dealing with the Godward side. (1) The witch.
(2) The confusion of seed. (3) The
sacrifice to any other god save the Lord.
In each case the penalty is death.
The section following (xxii. 21-28) is devoted to the question of vexing
and afflicting strangers, widows, fatherless, and borrowers. Exodus xxii. 29-31 emphasize the claims of God upon the first-fruits,
first-born sons, and first-born of cattle;
also that in the question of
their food Israel were to be “holy men unto Me”.
Exodus xxiii. 1-9 deals with false witness, unkindness, bribery,
and oppression, Exod. xxiii. 10-19 with God’s command concerning the sabbatic
year, the sabbath day, and the three feasts in the year, namely, the feast of
unleavened bread, the feast of harvest, and the feast of ingathering. Also that no leaven must be offered with the
blood of sacrifice, neither must the fat remain till the morning. The following one little clause stands out
alone:--
“Thou shalt not seethe a kid in its
mother’s milk” (Exod. xxiii. 19).
This humane stipulation was intended to
restrain the more brutal instincts of man, much in the same way that the
command concerning the bird and its young in
Deut. xxii. 6, and the cow and
its calf in Lev. xxii. 28.
Exodus xxiii. 20-25- promises the leadership and protection of the
angel in whom is the name of the Lord upon the condition of obedience, and the
angel is said to go before them and to bring them into the land of the
Canaanites. A final warning is given
concerning idolatry and an exhortation to serve the Lord. Then comes the last man-ward section,
viz., Exod. xxiii. -25-33. This contains promises concerning bread and
water, sickness, fruitfulness, and length of days. The clearing of the land of promise of the
Canaanites, and of the beasts of the field, the boundaries of the land of
promise, and the man-ward effect of any covenant made with either the
Canaanites or their gods, such was the tenor of the covenant made with
Israel. This is by no means all, for in
subsequent books Moses reveals further expansions of the principles here set
forth.
Judgment
and mercy.
A superficial view of these laws has led
to a great deal of misrepresentation.
The God Who could think of the little kid, Who legislated for slaves,
for fatherless, for strangers, cannot be either harsh or merciless. Many have objected to the severity of the
law, “eye for eye, tooth for tooth”, when a closer acquaintance would lead them
to magnify God for His mercy. The laws
that were in force at the time when God gave the law to Moses reveal what a
merciful advance is here made. Instead
of an eye for an eye it would be a vendetta and perhaps many lives. This can be tested by reading what is called
the Code of Khammurabi (the Amraphel of Gen. xiv. 1), and comparing the
offences and penalties under the two legislations.
In the Sermon on the Mount the Lord
reveals the deeper spirituality of the law.
Moses does not only teach an eye for an eye, but he teaches (by
implication and comparison with other laws) not many eyes for one, that
is, Moses taught that justice should be tempered with mercy. The Lord Jesus does not contradict the law of
Moses, but shows its legitimate “fulfillment”.
The same is true regarding the murder that is incipient in heart
hatred. We can well believe that had
Israel been able to fulfil their promise to obey all the commandments of the
Lord, they would have fulfilled their calling, and have been a great
outstanding witness for truth in the earth.
Deuteronomy.
The title of the fifth book of Moses in
the LXX is Deuteronomy, meaning “Second Law”, being taken from the LXX version
of Deut. xvii. 18 where we read, “Then shall he write for
himself this repetition of the law” (kai
grapsee hauto deuteronion touto).
This book of thirty-three chapters cannot be a mere repetition of the
law given in Exodus, unless we mean “vain repetition”, for in very bulk it is
eight times as large. It means therefore
that just as the ten commandments were expanded in Exodus xxi.-xxiii., so they are more completely expanded as the
times arrives for Israel to enter into the land. This is more easily seen when we realize that
the whole book of Deuteronomy is occupied with a ten-fold address given by
Moses, giving expansions, expositions, blessings and cursings of the Ten Words
of Exodus.xx.:--
“And it
came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of
the month, that Moses spake unto the children of Israel, according unto all
that the Lord had given him in commandment unto them” (Deut. i. 3).
Throughout this repetition the terms of
the original covenant are continually in mind, together with the effect upon
Israel consequent upon obedience. A
peculiar treasure, above all people, a kingdom of priests, a holy nation, the
possession and enjoyment of the land.
The book of Revelation, to say nothing of
the testimony of the Prophets, testifies to the fact that although Israel can
never enter into their peculiar blessings upon the basis of the old covenant,
by virtue of the new covenant all these blessings shall be theirs. This fact raises the question as to what is
the position of the law. Is it set
aside? Is it fulfilled vicariously? Will it be fulfilled? The true answer to the question, if it is to
be established from Scripture, must of necessity take more space than a closing
paragraph, and we therefore leave it until time and space afford the necessary
opportunity. Meanwhile we trust that the
fulness of those ten words which form the basis of the covenant with Israel
have been the better appreciated by our study together, and the inability of
man to keep them will but magnify that great justification which has been made
ours freely by the grace of God through the redemption and propitiation of our
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
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