LAW OF MOSES
290
Lx\W OF MOSES
out remarkably, not only in the enforcement of ceremo- nial " cleanness," and the multitude of precautions or remedies against any breach of it, but also in the sever- ity of the laws against self-pollution, a severity which distinguishes the Mosaic code before all others, ancient and modern. In punishing these sins, as committed against a man's own self, without reference to their ef- fect on others, and in recognising purity as having a substantive value and glorj^, it sets up a standard of in- dividual morality such as, even in Greece and Rome, philosophy reserved for its most esoteric teaching.
Now in all this it is to be noticed that the appeal is not to any dignity of human nature, but to the obliga- tions of communion with a holy God. The subordina- tion, therefore, of this idea also to the religious idea is enforced ; and as long as the due supremacy of the lat- ter was preserved, all other duties would find their places iu proper harmony. But the usurpation of that su- premacy in practice by the idea of personal and national sanctity was that which gave its pecidiar color to the .Jewish character. In that character there was intense religious devotion and self-sacrifice; there was a high standard of personal holiness, and connected with these an ardent feeling of nationality, based on a great idea, and, therefore, finding its vent in their proverbial spirit of proselytism. But there was also a spirit of contempt for all unbelievers, and a forgetfulness of the existence of any duties towards them, which gave even to their religion an antagonistic spirit, and degraded it in after times to a ground of national self-glorification. It is to be traced to a natural, though not justifiable perversion f)f the law by those who made it their aU, and both in its strength and its weaknesses it has reappeared re- markably among those Christians who have dwelt on the Old Testament to the neglect of the New.
(6.) It is evident that this characteristic of the Isra- elites would tend to preserve the seclusion which, under (Jod's providence, was intended for them, and woiUd in its turn be fostered by it. We may notice, in connec- tion with this part of the subject, many subordinate provisions tending to the same direction. Such are the establishment of an agricultural basis of society and property, and the provision against its accumulation in a few hands; the discouragement of commerce by the strict laws as to usury, and of foreign conquest by the laws against the maintenance of horses and chariots, as well as the direct prohibition of intermarriage with idolaters, and the indirect prevention of all familiar in- tercourse with them by the laws as to meats — all these things tended to impress on the Israelitish polity a character of permanence, stability, and comparative iso- lation. Like the nature and position of the country to which it was in great measure adapted, it was intended to preserve in purity the testimony borne by Israel for God in the darkness of heathenism, until the time should cx)nie for the gathering in of all nations to enjoy the blessing promised to Abraham.
2. Tiie second great and obvious design of the Mosaic statutes was to found, iu pursuance of the theocratic idea, a complete system of national cui/rrs, and, in order to the perpetuity of this, to establish a permanent sacred caste or hierarchy. We here use the word hierarchy without meaning to express that the Mosaic legisla- tion was like some later hierarchies falsely so called, in wliich it was attempted to carry into effect selfish and wicked plans bypassing thorn off as being of divine ap- pointment. In the ISIosaic hierarchy the aim is man- ifest, viz. to make that which is really holy {ru \tr){.v) ])revail, while in the false hierarchies of later times the profanest selfishness has been rendered practicable by giving to its manifestations an appearance of holiness calcidated to deceive the multitude. In the Mosaic legislation the priests certainly exercise a considerable authority as extern.al ministers -of holiness, Iwit we find nothing to be compared with the sale of indulgences in the llomish Church. There occur, certainly, instances of gross misdemeanor on the part of the priests, as, for
instance, in the case of the sons of Eli ; but proceedings originating in the covetousness of the priests were never authorized or sanctioned by the law.
In the IMosaic legislation almost the whole amount of taxation was paid in the form of tithe, which was employed in maintaining the priests and Levites as the hierarchical office-bearers of government, in supporting the poor, and in providing those things which were used in sacrifices and sacrificial feasts.
The taxation by tithe, exclusive of almost all other taxes, is certainlj' the most lenient and most considerate which has ever anywhere been adopted or proposed. It precludes the possibility of attempting to extort from the people contributions beyond their power, and it ren- ders the taxation of each individual proportionate to his possessions; and even this exceedingly mild taxation was apparently left to the conscience of each person. This we infer from there never occurring in the Bible the slightest vestige either of persons having been sued or goods distrained for tithes, and only an indication of curses resting upon the neglect of paying them. Tithes were the law of the land, and nevertheless they were not recovered by law during the period of the taberna- cle and of the first Temple. It is only during the pe- riod of the second Temple, when a general demoraliza- tion had taken place, that tithes were farmed and sold, and levied by violent proceedings, in which refractory persons were slain for resisting the levy. But no rec- ommendation or example of such proceeding occurs in the Bible. This seems to indicate that the propriety of paying these lenient and beneficial taxes was generally felt, so much so that there were few, or perhaps no de- faulters, and that it was considered inexpedient on the part of the recipients to harass the needy.