The ROYAL LAW by F. C. Gilbert

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Mountain View, California · Apr 25, 1906

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 32, No. 17.

The ROYAL LAW

By F. C. Gilbert

BY F. C. GILBERT. (A Hebrew Christian.)

I. THE ORIGIN OF GOD'S LAW.

THE law of Jehovah, like the character of God, has never been properly understood since the day it was first violated. Ever since Lucifer allowed thoughts to enter his mind which were contrary to the express wish of his Creator, till the present time, the divine law of the Lord has been misrepresented, misunderstood, maligned, and lightly esteemed. The great purpose of Satan in doing this is to blind the minds of people to the real issue involved in the law; for as long as the law of God is not understood, so long will the true character of God be misrepresented. This has been the one studied plan of Satan; and during the last six millenniums his master mind has been spent in devising and planning methods whereby this end might be reached.

In nearly every age of the world's history, a great battle has been waged religiously, and every time, almost invariably, it has been over the question of the divine law of God. In this present time we frequently hear it said that the law is old, Jewish, abrogated, null, laid aside, non-essential, not needed for this age, etc. It may be well, therefore, at the beginning of this series of articles to pause a while and ascertain what is meant by God's law, and what is its origin.

The word "law" in the Bible has several different terms in the original Hebrew. These are chiefly, chog, statute; mishpat, judgment; doth, statement; davar, word; torah, law. But when considering the thought of God's law, the word torah is almost invariably used. This word is really the standard word for the law of the Lord. Ps. 19:7; verse 8, in Leeser's translation.

What Is God's Law?

That God has a law which He clearly declares to be His law, is many times repeated in the Scriptures. For instance: "Harken unto Me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is My law." Isa. 51:7. "But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel: After those days, saith the Lord, I will put My law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts." Jer. 31:33. "I delight to do Thy will, O my God; yea, Thy law is within my heart." Ps. 40:8. "But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in His law doth he meditate day and night." Ps. 1:2. "O how love I Thy law! it is my meditation all the day." Ps. 119:97.

We may now well inquire, What is this law which God calls His? "And the Lord said unto Moses, Come up to Me into the mount, and be there; and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written." "And He gave unto Moses, when He had made an end of communing with him upon Mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God." "And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony were in his hand; the tables were written on both their sides. . . . And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables." "And He wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments." "And the Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire; ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice." "Did ever people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard, and live?" "And He declared unto you His covenant, which He commanded you to perform, even Ten Commandments; and He wrote them upon two tables of stone." "These words the Lord spake unto all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice; and He added no more. And He wrote them in two tables of stone, and delivered them unto me." Ex. 24:12; 31:18; 32:15, 16; 34:28; Deut. 4:12, 33, 13; 5:22.

The word "add" in the Hebrew is, literally, to increase, to continue, to go on. The thought is that when the Lord finished giving the Ten Commandments, He said no more; he stopped right there, and did not go on any farther. This the reader will see very clearly by reading Ex. 20:19; Deut. 5:28, 29; 18:15-17.

It is thus clearly evident that the law which the Lord says is His law was that which He wrote upon the two tables of stone, otherwise known as the Decalogue, the Ten Commandments. The ten words, the ten expressions, the ten thoughts, the ten statements (for this is what the Hebrew words A' se-res Ha-dev-roi, the Ten Commandments, mean) are the Scripture testimony of God's law. While all the Bible is God's Word, while scores, hundreds, even thousands of other expressions and laws were given by the Lord, the TEN COMMANDMENTS are emphatically known as the law of Jehovah.

Where Did It Originate?

This, therefore, being true, where did these words originate? When were they given? To whom were they given? When were they first known? How extensively were they known? It is said nowadays, that they were first given to the Jews through Moses, and hence are known as the law to the Jews. But from the Word of God we learn that this law was known and violated long before there were any Jews or Israelites. We read in Luke 10:18 the words of Jesus: "I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven." In Rev. 12:7-9 we read: "And there was war in heaven; Michael and His angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world."

From these scriptures we learn that not only was Satan cast out of heaven, but his angels were cast out with him. What was the cause of their fall from heaven? is the question that may be asked. We read the answer as follows: "For if God spared not the angels that sinned." "Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so; thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned." 2 Peter 2:4; Eze. 28:14-16. "He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning." 1 John 3:8.

What Is Sin?

It was sin, therefore, that caused Satan and the millions of angels to fall from their high estate in heaven. See Jude 6. But what is sin? The Bible tells us it "is the transgression of the law" which says, "thou shalt not kill," "thou shalt not steal," "thou shalt not commit adultery." 1 John 3:4; James 2:10, 11; Rom. 7:7. It is therefore plain that God's law is known to the angels, and the angelic hosts are governed by that moral law in heaven, as the inhabitants of earth are governed by that same law. Ps. 103:19-21. This the Scriptures plainly declare: "Bless the Lord, ye His angels, that excel in strength, that do His commandments, harkening unto the voice of His word." Ps. 103:20. And the Saviour, in the Lord's Prayer, teaches us to pray that God's will may be done in earth, even as it is in heaven. Matt. 6:10. God tells us that His will is His law. Ps. 40:8. We thus see why it is that David makes the following statement: "Forever, O Lord, Thy word is settled in heaven." Ps. 119:89. The Hebrew rendering of the text is, literally, "Unto all eternity, Thy word is planted in the heavens." And the term "word" in this text is the identical word that is used in Ex. 34:28 and Deut. 4:13 for commandment.

Thus God's law originated in heaven. God first planted it there. It was made known to the universe, to the angels, to all God's created intelligences. Satan made the first attack on that law. He succeeded in securing sympathizers; the result was an open revolt against God's law, and millions of angels fell. But God planted His law in heaven. It is still there at the present time; and to all eternity it will be; for heaven and earth will pass away, but neither a jot nor tittle of that law can fail or be altered. Matt. 5:18; Luke 16:17. Thank God for the eternal stability of Jehovah's law.

South Lancaster, Mass.