Notes Critical And Practical On The Book Of Exodus Vol 1 Of 2

Author : George Bush
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781331774419
Total Pages : 304 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (744 download)

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Download or read book Notes, Critical and Practical, on the Book of Exodus, Vol. 2 of 2 written by George Bush and published by . This book was released on 2015-07-19 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excerpt from Notes, Critical and Practical, on the Book of Exodus, Vol. 2 of 2: Designed as a General Help to Biblical Reading and Instruction This polity was doubtless adopted with the design that the obedience which they rendered him as King might become in some measure identified with the reverence due to him as God; as while they yielded the former, they would be less likely to withhold the latter. And it is to be noticed, that it was not till after the transaction recorded Ex. 19. 7-9, in which God was recognized in his character of immediate Ruler of that people, that he proceeded to promulgate from the clouds of Mount Sinai the system of laws and ordinances designed for them as a religious community. In this system, however, the moral code of the Decalogue, which was both uttered and recorded in a different manner from the rest, is to be considered as given, not in his character of national king of the Israelites, but in that of the Creator and Lawgiver of the universe. A like distinction is occasionally to be made elsewhere; but it is clear that in the chapters before us nearly every ordinance and statute can be referred to some one of the ten commandments, and is to be considered as merely a development of its sense and spirit. Yet as they are termed emphatically 'judgments, ' they undoubtedly belonged more especially to the civil government, and formed a kind of common law, very analogous to the common law of other lands, having respect to matters at issue between man and man, which became the subject of judicial decision. Though of a temporal character in themselves, they still involved moral considerations, and were for the most part based upon some express precept of the Decalogue. Since then the Jewish polity was strictly a Theocracy, in which Jehovah appeared as the immediate sovereign and the people of Israel as his immediate subjects, this relation would naturally give rise to certain important results, in the administration of that economy, which well deserve our notice. In the first place, no authority was vested, by the Mosaic constitution, in any one man or body men, nor even in the whole nation assembled, to make new laws or alter old ones; their sovereign Jehovah reserving this power exclusively to himself. On the same grounds, the Hebrew constitution recognized no one hereditary chief magistrate, nor gave any power, even to the whole nation, to elect a supreme governor. It was the especial prerogative of Jehovah to appoint whomsoever he pleased to preside over the people under the title of judge, as his own immediate vicegerent. And such men, we know, were from time to time raised up as the exigencies of the state required them, and, under a special commission from heaven, wrought the most signal deliverances for their countrymen. Another important consequence of the Theocratic polity was, that idolatry became not only the transgression of a moral precept of most aggravated character, but also an act of treason against the state. It was a virtual rejection of the authority of their acknowledged Ruler. It was a breach of the original compact, an open rebellion against God, a positive casting off of sworn allegiance, and therefore, on the established principles of all governments, justly meriting capital punishment. We are not to be surprised, therefore, to find idolatry, with witchcraft, magic, necromancy, and other kindred practices connected with it, treated as a crime equal to that of murder, and subjecting all those who were guilty of committing or abetting it, to the utmost penalty of the law. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com