02.06 The First Covenant (Part Two)

Friday, February 10, 1899; 7 p. m.

SERMON No. II. —THE FIRST COVENANT (PART 2).

Text: "Moses commanded us a law, even the inheritance of the congregation of Jacob (Deu 33:4)." As I am to speak on one subject throughout this entire effort rather than to deliver a series of lectures on different themes, I think it will be wise to refresh your minds somewhat along the line of the discussion this morning. There are some things that I shall undertake to enlarge somewhat, because, if it is possible, and I think it is, I want to exhaust the subject. I intimated this morning that a certain portion of the Bible is associated always with the name of Moses. Moses was a mighty man of God; and I shall continue to give him full credit. I would not throw any discredit upon him in anything. But I think the best tribute that I can pay to him is to find out his exact position in the Bible and let him stand [here. I think there are many who admire Moses, honor Moses, revere Moses, who do not know where his place in history is. I think I do. And I want Moses to stand out for himself, and I want Jesus to stand out for Himself. Then I shall be able to challenge your attention and ask; To whom shall I pay tribute, unto whom shall I render my life, Moses or Christ? It is a fact that Moses is honored on almost every page of the Bible. He was a deliverer. He was a law-giver. He was a mighty toiler and a mighty man. I honor him for all this. I might say that I can only reflect or emphasize his honor because no mortal man, according to my judgment, has even been so conspicuously honored of God. We may, therefore, hear him with profit tonight as he unfolds to us God’s ideas, God’s ways, God’s purposes and God’s plans concerning us. In my sermon this morning I had a little to say about the promise that God made to Abraham. It is my intention to go over that ground and enter rather more into the details tonight. I am aware of the fact that to many this is familiar ground; but Set us lay a foundation deep and broad and comprehensive and then, at least, we shall be able to have just and right views of the things of God. Just why God singled Abraham out and gave him the promises, I cannot tell. But I venture to say that He saw in him what He wanted, because God knows man. There was something in the surroundings of this man that God did not want, and therefore He told him to get away from his native land. That I may be able to discuss the subject intelligently, I will repeat the promise again: "Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will show thee: And I will make of thee a great nation and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed (Gen 12:1-3). " You will observe that with the exception of the last sentence that these promises are of a material character; that they pertain to this life. Allow me to go over this carefully. First, He said He would make of him a great nation; second, that He would bless him; third, He would make his name great; fourth, he should be a blessing; fifth. He would bless those that would bless him, and sixth, He would curse those who would curse him. You can see in a moment that all of this might have been fulfilled in this world and in material things with regard to mind, without regard to conscience, without regard to life, without regard to anything spiritual, without regard to anything after death. The final statement, however, is of a different character. It is deeper, it is wider, and it is more sweeping in that which it embraces. He declared here that in him all families of the earth should be blessed. There must have been, therefore, in the mind of God a present, or immediate and a remote object. But enough of this. When Abram had grown to be a very old man and God had given him a son in order that He might make of him a great nation and bless his name and make him a blessing, God told him to take his son and offer him as a burnt offering: He did that as a test of Abraham’s faith, and he did as he was commanded. And just as he was about to plunge the knife into the heart of his son, he was called by an angel out of heaven and the promises were renewed. I will give you the exact words. "And the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time. And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord; for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son; That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice (Gen 22:15-18)." This is the renewal of the two promises. And God adds by way of emphasis His reason for doing this, saying it was because Abraham had obeyed His voice. Today I showed you that Isaac became the heir of Abraham to the exclusion of Ishmael and to the exclusion of all others, therefore it was appropriate that the promises should be renewed to Isaac. When Isaac was a man the Lord appeared to him as he was about to go down into Egypt and He said to him: "Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee and will bless thee: for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries; and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father; And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and I will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed (Gen 26:3-4)." That left out every other family. Again: I intimated this morning that God renewed this promise or this covenant or this plan to Isaac and that therefore He excluded Ishmael and all others from the privilege of participating in the development of this covenant idea. It was, therefore, appropriate that the promises should be renewed to Jacob, Isaac’s son, and they were. When trouble came upon him by reason of appropriating by deception the birth-right of his brother, he fled, and when the night came down upon him, with a stone under his head and with the starry heavens above him, he dreamed, and God there spake to him. It is appropriate that I should give you the exact words: "And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep. And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. And, behold, the Lord stood above it, and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac; the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed; And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth; and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the cast, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed (Gen 28:11-14)."

It would be appropriate here if time would allow, to go into details in the discussion of these promises, but I want to say this much, that the material side of the promise made to Abraham in Ur of Chaldees, renewed to him on mount Moriah, renewed to Isaac, and renewed to Jacob, was fulfilled in their seed at the development, at the consummation, and at the dedication of the law with them at mount Sinai. We might properly ask: Why these promises? Why did not God just send the Deliverer without saying anything about it? I answer: Because men knew so little about God that they were not prepared to receive Him, and two things were absolutely necessary. One was that God might demonstrate His faithfulness: the other was that man might learn his need of the Redeemer. The Lord, therefore, I might say, experimented with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and the twelve tribes and the nation of Israel, and the first covenant dedicated by the blood of goats and calves at Sinai was in pursuance of this work. As to the faithfulness of God we have two things: We have the Word and the Oath of God. Abraham had the word and the oath of God, and so had his children. But Hie word of a man does not go far unless you know him, the oath of a man dues not go far unless you know him, and the word and the oath of God were not sufficient, because man being naturally incredulous had to put the word and put the oath to a test. In after years looking over the way the human race had come we can know of the power and the love of God, These things are essential, absolutely essential to our faith, to ourselves and to our experience in the Christian life. Right here I want you to notice the testimony of Paul. I intimated that Abraham had the word of God or the promise of God, and the oath of God. Now I read: "For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he swear by himself, saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee. And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. For men verily swear by the greater; and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. Wherein God, willingly more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us (Heb 6:13-18)." Not only was it necessary that God should demonstrate His faithfulness, but it was necessary to demonstrate that man might be faithful too. In this world it is a big undertaking to do right sometimes, and God, our Father has not only showed that He can do the right thing but that men can do the right thing, and that therefore Abraham has always lived in history as a man who in the darkness of his times, in the degeneracy of his days, could honor and obey God and do it in a manner pleading to Him, and this has caused Abraham’s name to be written on almost every page of the Bible. It has caused Isaac’s name to be written on almost every page of the Bible not because of his own life, but particularly of his relationship to Abraham. Jacob’s name to be written on almost every page of the Bible, not so much because of what he did but particularly because Abraham was his grandfather. The point I make is this: God has shown by His own faithfulness, and God through His servants has demonstrated what a man can do. I want to call your attention to a statement that was made long centuries after Abraham. They are important words. These are the words of one of the kings of Judea in the olden times: "Art not thou our God, who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend forever (2Ch 20:7)?" Abraham is designated the friend of God forever. Way you not be the friends of God forever, and may not God be your friend? This is the idea exactly. Again: In the prophecy of Isaiah we have a thought along this same line: "But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham, my friend (Isa 41:8)."’

Again, and this is the New Testament, to show that His name is kept forever fragrant and green in the annals of time: "Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all, (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations), before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead and calleth those things which he not as though they were. Who, against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be. And being, not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara’s womb; He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; and being fully persuaded that what he had promised he was able also to perform (Rom 4:16-21)." Enough of this.

Why the covenant of circumcision? I discussed the covenant this morning, but I did not answer that question in full. I answer there was a two-fold reason. Read Gen 17:1-27. One was, as declared this morning, to mark the seed of Abraham; the other was that He might test the faithfulness of Abraham. Abraham was an old man and God Almighty put a test to him in which He might demonstrate whether he wanted to remain in the covenant, or contract, or not (Gen 17:23-27). It became a test of faith to every Hebrew when a male child arrived in his house.

I raise another question: Why the covenant at Sinai? Let us run briefly over the ground: The promise of Abraham, promise of the land, promise of an heir, covenant of circumcision, covenant at Sinai. Why was it necessary to add that covenant or submit all those wonderful statutes to these people? I said that God gave the promise in order that He might demonstrate His own faithfulness and that man can be faithful; that He gave Abraham the land that he might have some place while He was experimenting with him; that He gave him His seed because He did not expect to fulfill the promise in that generation; that He gave him the mark of circumcision that he might always know his children by that mark in the flesh. I assert that there was an object. As long as it was only Abraham, Abraham would behave himself without any law particularly; Isaac would behave himself without any law particularly; Jacob would behave himself without any law particularly, and Jacob could, in a degree control his family. God said Abraham could do it, but Jacob did not succeed very well. It was on the old principle that one boy is a boy, two boys are half a boy, and three boys are no boy at all. As the family grew, and when there were only twelve, they began to give Jacob trouble. Those who are familiar with the history at all know there was trouble in the family. At last they sold the younger brother into slavery into Egypt. I might theorize here half an hour as to why that covenant was made at Sinai, but the question is answered in the Word of God. Paul in looking back at this covenant from his standpoint, wondering why it was that there were certain disciples in that generation who desired to live under and keep this covenant, raised this question and then answered it: "Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator (Gal 3:19)."

I call your attention to this fact: The law was added to the promise and To the covenant of circumcision because of transgression. That the great family that had grown up as a result of the promise to Abraham concerning a great nation out of his own flesh might be kept in, might be kept under, might be schooled, might be managed, might he made more upright, clean and pure. And there is another reason. It lies in that second promise. In every case where the premise was made and renewed we have substantially these words: "In thee shall all families of the earth be blessed (Gen 12:3)." I want you to study that a moment. God looked beyond Abraham, beyond Isaac, beyond Jacob, beyond the twelve tribes, beyond the covenant at Sinai, beyond the nation as numerous as the sands of the sea shore and the stars of heaven, and intimated that the time would come when the blessing of God should be on all men. I declare here, and I am indebted to the immortal Alexander Campbell for this thought, that the development of the first promise culminated in the covenant at Sinai; and that the development of the second promise culminated in the covenant of the Lord Jesus Christ for which He stands security unto every generation. God had an ultimate object in view; an object that was not very clear to Abraham, because the thought of raising a big family was about the only great thought at that time. I doubt if he comprehended in any very remarkable degree the meaning of the statement in relation to every nation and tongue. God was committing unto this family certain things. Paul brings out the thought in the Roman letter and to it I call your attention: "What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision? Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them was committed the oracles of God (Rom 3:1-2)." The oracles of God were the promises of God, the laws of God, the statutes of God. And so God was schooling them at Sinai. Paul brings out the thought in much greater fulness, so I will just turn and read it to you. Looking back at the time of the beginning of the law, and coming on down to the time in which he lived, he said: "But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore the law was our school-master to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith (Gal 3:23-24)." God was trying to impress on Abraham and his progeny that while He was blessing them in material things that there was a higher, a grander, a nobler mission for them. He was keeping before them constantly the thought that God was talking to them for their benefit and for the benefit of ages unborn. This brings us down to about the point where I closed this morning, and we raise a new question briefly. Moses was their Emancipator, their Leader, their Law-Giver, and in an important sense their Mediator.

I emphasized the fact this morning that Moses said that when the Lord proclaimed the ten commandments that He added no more. If the remaining part of the law is the law of God it seems truly remarkable that He should go to the trouble of coming down and setting His foot on that mountain and uttering only those ten commandments and then making it possible for Moses to declare and tell the truth: "He added no more.” But there is a reason for this, and I wish to make that as clear to you as I can. Here is a description of mount Sinai at the time: "And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly (Exo 19:18)." That voice that came from Sinai shook the very earth. It must have been terrible. These people were not schooled to it. They had never heard the voice of God before and therefore they were not prepared to hear it, and they were in terror as a result of it. Here is a description, however, in the exact language of scripture: "And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it they removed, and stood afar off. And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die. And Moses said unto the people, Fear not, for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not. And the people stood afar off: and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was (Exo 20:18-21)." The mediatorial position of Moses becomes more apparent here. The people had fallen back begging that the word of God should not be spoken unto them any more. Moses adds something of importance on this line of thought, and I will give it to you in his own words: "Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the Lord my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it (Deu 4:5)." It is apparent from these scriptures, I think that if the pleadings of the terror stricken people had not prevailed, if God had not heard their prayers, that the entire law would have been proclaimed from mount Sinai. But Moses went up unto God and He revealed the remainder of the law to him. I wish to demonstrate to you tonight that God made a covenant with Israel there and that the Ten Commandments are first called the Covenant and that all that God spake to Israel through Moses became as much a part of that covenant as the words that God uttered from Sinai in their hearing. I think it is very important to you that you remember this. Moses was a mighty man of God. God Almighty honored him above all other men of his day and time, and we have an account here of how the Lord spoke to him. Hear the words: "And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, / the Lord will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream. My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house (Num 12:6-7)." As a matter of fact Moses went up into the mountain, drew nigh unto God and was with Him a long time. It is not necessary that I go into details. We know that not only did he spend eighty days and nights with the Lord in mount Sinai, but he made repeated visits up to that blazing summit where at the feet of the great Law-Giver and Judge Himself, he heard His will concerning himself and His will concerning His people. When he came down from the mountain having heard the word of God he gave a report, and he puts it very succinctly and clearly, and as the people were always willing, they always answered that they were willing to do the will of God, and doubtless they were: "And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come nigh him. And Moses called unto them; and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned unto him: and Moses talked with them. And afterward all the children of Israel came nigh: and he gave them in commandment all that the Lord had spoken with him in mount Sinai. And till Moses had done speaking with them, he put a veil on his face (Exo 34:30-33)." Again, we have a statement on this subject that I think is appropriate: "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 we will do (Exo 24:3)."

Let us go over this ground just a little. A contract requires two or more parties. It requires a consideration. The minds of the parties must come together. There cannot be a contract without it. Neither can there be a covenant unless two or more minds are agreed. When God was speaking His covenant unto the people, in terror they said they were not willing to hear it. They could not bear that voice— they fell back. They told Moses if he would get the word of God for them they would listen to him. And Moses got the word of God and came down and announced it law for law, word for word, thought for thought, and commandment for commandment. What was the result? The result was that the mind of God and the minds of men came together and the covenant was consummated because God gave His will and they declared that all that God had said they would do. But Moses did not stop there. He wrote the law down; and I call your attention here to a very important fact. I noted this morning that there were a great many considerations tending to prove that the Ten Commandments were the basis or the foundation of the covenant. I want you to understand that the laws revealed unto Moses, and from Moses unto the children of Israel, were as much a part of the covenant as if they had been spoken by Jehovah Himself directly to the people. I will give you the proof of this: Moses declares: "And he took the book of the Covenant, and read in the audience of the people: And they said, All that the Lord hath said we will do and he obedient (Exo 24:7)." There is another point here to which I call your attention. It is very important. Not only was it important to them, but it is important unto us. If he wrote all the word of God to them there was no necessity for adding anything more: "Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye might keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you (Deu 4:2)." I emphasize that point before you this night. He did not write part of the law, but he wrote all the word, or all the words of God. Not only did he do this, but he told them plainly what he wanted them to do with it. I will give it to you in his own words: "And Moses wrote this law, and delivered it unto the priests, the sons of Levi, which bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and unto all the elders of Israel. And Moses commanded them, saying, At the end of every seven years, in the solemnity of the year of release, in the feast of tabernacles. When all Israel is come to appear before the Lord thy God in the place which He shall choose, thou shalt read this law before all Israel in their hearing. Gather the people together, men. and women, and children, and thy stranger that is within thy gates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear the Lord your God, and observe to do all the words of this law: And that their children which have not known anything, may hear, and learn to fear the Lord your God as long as ye live in the land whither ye go over Jordan to possess it (Deu 31:9-13)."

After Moses had revealed the law, acting as the spokesman of God, the mediator between God and men, then there came a solemn time of dedication. A covenant is not in force without a dedication or a seal. A contract in this State or in your State does not amount to anything without the seal of the court upon it. Therefore as the testator could not die in order to the ratification of this covenant, God provided a substitute, and that substitute was slain at its dedication. Allow me to turn and read two accounts—and I want to call your attention to the fact that these accounts afford the best illustration of what I said this morning that covenant and testament are used interchangeably. Here we have the word covenant in the first quotation and in the second you will see that the word testament appears, meaning the same thing: "And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these word;. (Exo 24:8)." Considering what these words reveal, it is remarkable that the Ten Commandments were not read there. I account for it on the ground that they had been burned by the Lord into the very warp and woof of their mental constitutions when they heard the awful voice from Sinai’s blazing height. But it is said that this was the covenant that God had made with them concerning those words. God made but one covenant. There were not two covenants at Sinai, but one, and the covenant was not completed until Moses heard all the words of God and rehearsed them to the people and they endorsed all the words of God. But we have an account of that in the New Testament that is well worthy of our attention, and so I will turn to that: We are looking at things through the eyes of Paul: "Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood. For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book and all the people, saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you. Moreover he sprinkled likewise with blood both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry. And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission (Heb 9:18-22)." Let us study this for awhile. Says Moses: "Behold the blood of the covenant which God hath made with you concerning all these words." Says Paul: "This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you."

I call your attention, brethren, to one important thing here: The whole idea and character of the covenant is emphasized in its dedication. Let us review the ground: God said if they would do certain things He would do certain things for them; and that they should be unto Him a peculiar people above all other people. And the people said that all that the Lord had said they would do. Then the Lord started in to tell just what He wanted them to do. They heard the voice, the mountain quaked am! the knees of Moses knocked together, and the people ran in terror from the blazing mountain and besought Moses that they might not hear that voice again. And Moses, brave heart that he was, unselfish heart that he was, patriot, friend of man, lover of God. consented to brave the awful danger and go up and hear the word of God and tell it to the people. He did this. He came down, reported all the words of the Lord, and they said they would do it. And blood was shed, and the red stains of the blood upon the Book of the law and upon the people themselves—not of water—but blood, was an announcement to them that the covenant had been made and ratified between them and God. Notice this. What is the character of this covenant? It is called in the New Testament the first covenant, or the old covenant. Or it is designated plainly as the Law of Moses: "The law came by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ (John 1:17)." How may we determine the character of this covenant, the radical power or the want of radical power in this covenant? I say that volumes might be written, but Paul and Moses have compressed all the volumes into one sentence. Look at it: "This is the blood of the covenant." What kind of blood? The blood of goats and calves; the covenant that you have made with God; the contract that you have made with God; the contract unto which the mind of Israel and the mind of Jehovah came together. It is a covenant dedicated by the blood of a goat or a calf. I say that this emphasizes the character of the institution as nothing in this world ever could do. Its power to cleanse, its power to uplift, its power to revolutionize, its power to ennoble, its power to sanctify, its power to save, may be measured by the kind of blood used to dedicate it at its inauguration. Do you comprehend this? This is the blood of the covenant, the testament that you have made with God. It must have been that God had an object beyond this covenant. It must have been that the covenant was to be educational in its character, lifting men up and preparing them for better things.

I call your attention to what may seem like a fanciful exegesis. I will risk my reputation on it, however. It is not much, but I will leave it for you and future generations who shall learn more about it than we know, to determine whether or not it is right. In the seventeenth chapter of Genesis we have a graphic account of the institution known as the covenant of Circumcision. And God gave Abraham a promise there—but I will give it to you in the exact words: "And my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant (Gen 17:13)." God did not design that the covenant of Circumcision, the covenant inaugurated at Sinai, dedicated at Sinai, unfolded at Sinai, stained with the blood of goats and calves at Sinai, was to be everlasting. Surely not. What did He mean when He said that covenant should be in Abraham’s flesh for an everlasting covenant? He did not say this is an everlasting covenant, but the everlasting covenant should be in Abraham’s flesh. I say that in your generation, sometime, somewhere, in some event, I will establish a covenant in your flesh which shall be everlasting. Reflect on that. Does not that go right along with the promise? Let us see if it does not. I will just read it because it is right here before mine eyes: "And in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed (Gen 12:3)." Paul said the oracles of God were given unto them, the promise of God was given unto them, the covenant was in the flesh of Israel, in the flesh of every generation right along down the line, and every message He had to give, He gave to them, and every assurance that God had to give, He gave to them. Therefore I come to this conclusion and to this climax tonight: That God had a remote object in the promise unto Abraham, in the covenant of circumcision, in the covenant at Sinai including the Ten Commandments and the Book of the Law, and all that God commanded Moses in the mountain or elsewhere, and that that ultimate purpose ripened into the grander, better, sweeter day of the Messiah on earth and in His present glory.

Let us now briefly view the fundamental principles of this institution. I intimated this morning that I desired you to view the Ten Commandments as the constitution, and that the law was the statutes to explain the constitution, to enforce the constitution. Let us look just a moment or two at these commandments. Here is a commandment aimed at idolatry. God declared that they should not have any other God save Himself, that they should not make unto themselves any images of anything above or below. Why? Idolatry is the last infirmity, the last weakness of mortal man. Therefore He prohibited it. These people had, in a degree, become tainted with idolatry in Egypt, and the forms of Egyptian idolatry were extremely low. So God Almighty declared that they should not in any event give their thoughts to any God but the one true God, and that they should not have any image or likeness of God at all. Here is a commandment with reference to the name of God. There is no name like His. Names stand for things. All knowledge, all learning, all information is identified by the name that is given to it, and the name of Jehovah means, what? It means all power. It means all knowledge. It means everything present at one time—a thought that a human being cannot grasp. We can only have a faint, glimmering conception of God. One of the greatest orators of our time said something to this effect: We try in searching to find out God. The little mind of man soaring away in the contemplation of the Original Cause, loses itself and in fear comes back into its temple of clay, bolts the door and attempts to hide itself forever. How true that is! That they might he imbued with reverence, God said they should not take His name in vain; and it is recorded to the everlasting credit of these people that in their better days when the Scriptures were read in the presence of Israel at the mention of the name of Jehovah the reader instead of naming Him, reverently bowed his head and every member of his audience reverently did the same. May that God imbue us with a just conception of His Eternity, of His Glory, of His Majesty, of His Awfulness, of His Power, and may His name be proclaimed before us, and may we feel as Moses felt when he went up into the mountain and talked with God. After the Ten Commandments or the stones on which they were placed had been broken, the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with them there and proclaimed unto Moses the name of the Lord: "And the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed The Lord. The Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children unto the third and to the fourth generation (Exo 34:5­7)." And may it be said of us as was said of Moses: "And Moses made haste and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshiped (Exo 24:8)."

Again: We have a commandment here that is of great importance or was to His people, and that was with reference to the Sabbath day. So important did the observance of that day seem unto God that a special commandment was laid down in order to enforce it. I will just give you that. I have already said that the Lord gave the additional laws to Moses, that the Ten Commandments might be enforced. So I read: "Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be to you an holy day, a Sabbath of rest to the Lord: whosoever doeth work therein shall be put to death. Ye shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations upon the Sabbath day (Exo 35:2-3)." But there are other commands, and I briefly call your attention to them. Here we have the command to honor father and mother, and in the New Testament we are assured that this is the first commandment with promise (Eph 6:2-3). Again: The commandment not to kill: Human life was precious to God. Then the commandment not to commit adultery. Personal purity was always precious in the sight of God. And we have the commandment not to steal. There is enough in this world for every man and he can get his part without taking anything unjustly. Then we have the commandment not to bear false witness, or covet that which is another’s.

I beg of you brethren to contemplate the laws that were written in the Book of the Covenant, as God’s statutes for the enforcement of what was said from the blazing summit of mount Sinai by Jehovah Himself.