The Pulpit Commentary — Deuteronomy — Section 80

lhrcnl![h !sane and Jncol1 and the twelve patriarchs. Now their descendants had brc<'mr_ nnmer~us enough to form a nation; as such they had been duly constituted, 11·1th tlm pcculrnr feature-they were to be God's nation. They had been freed by him, !hey were consecrated to him, and were being trained hy and for him. IIonco, as E nlisch remarks, enry subject is as it were a priest, nnd every civil action asRumes thC' sa11C'tit~· of a 1:eligious t:unction: idolatry was an offence against his sovereignty, an<l therelc,rC' punishable with death; so blasphemy, false prophecy, sabbath-breakin" were visited "·ith tlw like punishment. Disrespect to ciders, disobedience to parent~ (the~· hcing the rC'prcsentatives of God), were visited with soro penalties. I-Ienco, too, the wh"lc Janel belonged to God. The people were but tenants, and in tho year of jubilee land rcYcrt.cd to its former owner or his heirs. The Israelites were the subjects and scn·nnts of God alone. Slavery, therefore, though not peremptorily put down, was so rq,u latcd t bat the slave went out free in the seventh year; and if he did not desire the freedom, he was branded with an ignominious mark because ho refused the immo- 1liat.e sm·crcignty of God.1 Now, this expression," God's nation," is the key where- with to interpret many of the enactments which seem to us nnintelligiblc, and many of the punishments which seem unusually severe. This truth, that Israel is the Lord's people, runs through the Old Testament Scriptures, as will be seen if we note the Yaricd names by which they are distinguished. 1. God's son, his firstborn (Exod. iv. 22, 23; Jer. iii. 4, 9; Hos. xi. 1). 2. Fi.rstfruits (Jer. ii. 3). 3. The people of God (Ps. lxxxi. 8-11; 2 Sam. vii. 23, 24). 4. Goa's inheritance (eh. xxxii. 9). 5. The people (eh. xxxiii. 29). 6. The chosen ones (Ps. xxxiii. 12; eh. vii. 6). 7. His flock (Jer. xiii. li; Ps. c. 3). 8. The holy people (eh. vii. 6; Jer. vii. 44). 9. 'l'he righteous people (Numb. xxiii. 10; Exod. xix. 6). 10. The house or the family of God (Isa. i. 2). 11. A kingdom (Ps. lxxxix. 18). Thus all Israelites were subjects of the same eternal, perfect King, all equal in dignity, rights, and duties. There was among them no institution resembling caste. All were equal in Heaven's eye; all enjoyed scope for .the development of their spiritual nature. 'l'he poorest herdsman might become a prophet, if filled with the Spirit of God. And the intended differential feature of the whole nation was given to it by the revealed character of its King, "Be ye holy; for I am holy." It is no wonder that a people, selected thus for such a close relationship to God, should be called in the text, "a people of inheritance." Not, indeed, in lsrael alone, was there a theocratic form of government. The kings of Egypt, 1.he ruona:chs of Persia and Thibet, pretended to rule as the representatives of the gods. Minos among the Cretans, Lycurgus the Lacedaimonian, Numa of Rome, and :Mohammed, nil pretended to Lave in some sort Divine authority; but these were only the mimicry of the true, and were all lacking in the supreme point to and fur which Jebo,ab was educating Israel, even for" righteousness and true holiness." It is easy enough to win converts by a certain mimicry of the Divine. The early history of many a nation is laden with mythology, but the early history of Israel stands out in clear and startling distinction from that of other peoples, in the clearness with which they witness for the one living and true God, the accordance of their early records with known life and manners, and the clear and striking demand in their pre1iepts for lo,e and goodness, holiness and truth. This was at the time, and ever will h<l in the history of that age, the one bright spot amid the surrounding gloom. The peojlle were " a peculiar treasure to God above all people." I!. \i"HAT !SR.AEL WAS DESIGNED TO BE AMONG THE NATIONS, CHRISTIAN PEOPl E ARE To BE WHEREVER THEY ARE : a holy people unto the Lord their God. The .Apostle Peter intimates this in the verse to which we referred at the outset (see also Titus ii. 14; Eph. ii. 10; 1 Pet. i. 15, 16). There are many more passages in which believers are spoken of not only individually but collectively, as making up a. family, a h,msc- hold, a city, a. commonwealth (Eph. ii. 12, 19; Phil. iii. 20, Greek). And there are fuur features which mark this new commonwealth, which correspond to those which niarked that of the Hebrews. 1. The members of this Christian_ commonwealth are redeemed (cf. 1 Pet. i. 18, 19). From the curse of the Law, from the bondage of sin, believers have been redeemed by an offering of unspeakable value, even the precious blood of Christ. 2. Tl,us redeemed, they come to have such a lcnowledge of God as thei1 Gc,d as the world has not and cannot have (Rom. viii. 15; Gal. iv. 5-7). 'l'hey art 1 Bee Kalisch, in loc., to wholD we are indebted for mw:b light Otl this theme, C'II. IV, 1-24.] THE DOOK OJ<' DEUTERONOMY. 66