of law in its slrictcst and fullest ~cnso, ns commanded by an auth,irity which man could_ not question, imp?sing obligations of all the strongest, mid enforced by the ■ anctwns of a power winch none could resist. 28_- It_ is impor~ant that this definite idra of law should be present to our mind in cons1dermg the history of the revelation of Divine law in the Tora1t. We cnnnot fail to notice that in some of the characters of that history there is II strong resemblance to those of the development of humo.n law. God in his rovclntions of himself to man before the time of Moses first of all spoko to his chosen people by ■eparate commands and special directions. Religious usages 1 such as those of .the burnt o T, ring and other "sacrifices for God," 1 the giving of tithes, 9 the erection of altars and of consecrated pillars;8 and perhaps many other customs not mentioned in the history, which were a.fterw,.rds embodied in the law, together with the rite of circumcision which had been expressly commanded, no doubt formed an unwritte!l "customary law," at all events from the time of .Abrnham; though probably, du1ing the sojourning of the people in the land of Egypt, this traditionary law became cor- rupted through the admixture of heathen rites and superstitions, .At the close of this period God first of all made himself known to them by Moses as the God of .Abraham their father, the Eternal and Self-Exis1ent; and, by his judgments upon Egypt, and his deliverance of hie people out of the land of their bondage, he established hie supreme authority and his special claim on their obedience. .And, immediately before they left ihe scene of their captivity, another step was. taken towards the revelation of his la.w, by the institution of the Passover, and of the vnrious rites and ordinances connected with it.' And now the word Torah, which· before l;i.ad only once been used in a general way with reference to the obedience of .Abraham, 6 is introduced as suitable for the directions given, for the economy of law was beginning. The time had arrived for forming the seed of Abraham into o. nation ; God, their King and Governor, was t,o deal with them no longer as individuals, or merely as a family united among themselves by the patriarchal ties, but as bis own chosen nation. This nation, insignificant as it might appear in comparison with the great kingdoms of this world, 6 was to be mighty, not by the extent of its territory or the number of its population, but as the depositary of God's revelation and of his promises to man, and as the witness on earth to the one living and true God, and to his righteousness . .And for this purpose it was necessary that their naticmal life should be based on hie law,-a law embodying all those principles of the Divine order which human law represented but partially and imperfectly,-a law with the most absolute au thority, the strongest obligations, and the most tremendous sanctions. O.f this law the nation was to be in its constitution and organisation the representative to the world. 29. But wl1ile this law must be in its fundamental principles the expression 01' that universal Divine order which is necessary to man as man, yet it was not lesfi essential to the development of the national life of the chosen people, that in its details the law should be s·1itable for the actual circumstances and condition of that people at the tiwe at which it was given, with such provision for their future condition as the Divine wisdom might see to be required and sufficient. Such con• 11iderations point to the conclusion, that to fulfil the several purposes of the law, both as to man.kind generally and to the particular nation to whom it ,vas given, that law must be twofold, the primary law embodying all the elements of that Divine order which is the immediate result of man's creation and original state ; ihe secondary
1 E.x:od. xviii. 12. 2 Gen. xiv. 20; x.xviii. 22. 3 Gen. xxviii. 22 ; xxx.i. 415. • Exod, xii., xiii. • Gen. xxvi. 15, o Deut. vii. 7. JN'rRODUOTION TO THE PENTATEUCH. xxiii
law npplying tho pri11cipleH of that onler to the religiouf!, moral, political, an<l social life o.f tho nulion in Ruch manner ns should be be,st calculated for tho tme ctevelop- lnent of tl111t life. 'fhnt such a distinction M is here indicated is act11<1lly founrl in the lnw given by God to farael cannot be questioned; ar d the very distinction indi- cates, when the reasons for it am conaidered, that the laws of the first class are uni- versal nnd permanent, those of the second specie.I and, except in their spirit, variable. It is, however, very import1mt to obaerve not only the broad line of distinction which by the mode of their promulgation is drawn between the primary law anrl the secondary, but nlso that which is not less apparent on further examination, the rcla.- tion between the two, with its limitations.
TIIE PnIMAnY LAW OF THE Two TABLES.