The Pulpit Commentary — Deuteronomy — Section 304

Ill. Suen RELIOIOUS FRAUD WAS INCIPIENT ATHEISM. Here was tho buddina0 of blackest sin-the first step on a slippery decline, which would land one in death. H I can set asido God's plain commands, as my selfishness desires; if I can treat God as my equal or rn.v inferior, and devote to him only what is useless for myself;-! am on the very borders of utter atheism, and to-morrow shall be ready to say, "There is no God." Rankest unbelief often springs from practical disobedience. There is no neglect of God without self-injury.-D. Vers. 2-7.-Jdolatry a crime against society. Whether the fact be obvious to all men or not, it is fact that sin against God is also sin against human society. The relation of the Hebrew nation to God, is a type of the relation which God sustains to every nation. He is the Creator of individual life and of individual endowments. He is the Source or all the moral forces which bind men together in civil society. He has appointed to each nation its habitation, and has enriched it with more or less of material good. Hence every nation is under obligation to acknowledge and honour the one creating and reigning God. I. THE CRIME. The crime consisted in esteeming the creature above the Creator. This was a direct breach of treaty between God and the nation. On God's side the engai(ement was to bring them into the land of Canaan, and secure them against foes. On Israel's side the engagement was to worship no other Deity but Jehovah. Hence tho violation of a covenant so openly made and frequently ratified was a flagrant sin. Yet with every nation such a covenant is made by implicativn. If life is obtained from the invisible God, it is held on conditions imposed by him, and every item of conduct which is contrary to his known will is an act of rebellion. If l'ebellion against an earthly king is counted highest crime, incomparably greater is a deed of open rebellion against the King of kings. Idolatry is the root-stem of grossest immorality. II. 'l'HE DETECTION AND PROOF OF THIS CRIME. In proportion to the greatness of the crime must be the carefulness of investigation. No punishment is to be inflicted on the ground of suspicion or prejudice. Human life is to be accounted precious, but the interests of righteousness are more precious still. On both these grounds, the scrutiny must be thorough. To prevent any injury to the sacred cause of justice, through error, or incompetence, or malice, one witness must be incompetent to obtain a verdict. Security against injustice comes from corroborated testimony and from independent witnesses. While every man is bound, in his sphere, to think and act righteously towards his neighbours, he must safeguard himself against hasty judgments and against the whispers of slanderers. In many positions in life we are called to act in the place of God. III. THE PUNISHMENT DECREED. n was death by stoning. In that early age, and especially in the desert, there were no mechanical contrivances for suddenly extinguish- ing life. They were largely the children of nature, and possessed but few inventions of - civilized life. 'l'he sagacity of Supreme Wisdom had placed frail man among natural forces, which might easily be employed in tem1inating bodily life. 'l'his arrangement impresses men with a sense of dependence. His bodily life succumbs to a stone. 'l'he unit must be sacrificed to the well-being of the community. "No man lives for himself." IV. 'rHE INSTRUMENTS OF THE EXECUTION. The chief witness ago.inst an offender, became, by God's appointment, executor of the judicial sentence. This secured economy in the administration of law. It secured, to a large extent, veracity among witnesses, and moral certainty of the rightness of the verdict. Yet, that obloquy might not attach itself to one man alone, the whole community were charged to take part in the execu- tion of the sentence. 'l'he deed would thus be the common deed of all. This practice would foster oneness of sentiment, oneness of purpose, and would promote harmonious national life.-D. Vers. 8-13.-High court of appeal. We can imagine a condition of human society In which wrong-doing would at once declare itself by some visible pain or sign. We can imagine a condition of society in which God would himself step forth antl punish every offence against truth or virtue. But then, men would lose the benefits of moral 300 THE nootz OF DRU'l'EHONmtY. tvn. XVII. 1-20. - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - trnining which the present. s~·stem ensmes. This necessity for men to take part in the ndministrntion of juslice brings lnrge advantage. I. RFMAN IKTERESTS OFTEN BECOME VERY COMPLICATED. The interests men have in property, lihcrty, reputnlion, often become very involved. This l\l'ise8 largely from tho operation of selfislm,·ss. Every item which will l\dd to a man's se\f-impor1a11ce he will sue for by every process of law. 'fhis comes from the neglect of the comprehcmsive prec,•pt, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." Another great dinicul1y in the administration of justice arises from men's unt.ruthfulness. The day will dawn when a stigma of shame will brand the man who ·withholds or violates the truth. If now, in e,·ery judicial inquiry, the whole truth, pure and simple, were forthcoming, decision and verdict would be a simple result. II. THE MOST HOLY 'WILL BE, CJETF.nIS PARIDUS, THE MOST SAGACIOUS. The man who li,es 'twarest to God 11·ill obtain the most of God's wisdom. He will be free from base and selfish motive. He will be the most trnsted by his fellows. He will have fullest access to God when intricale questions have to be sol,ed. "If any man lack wisdom, let liim ask of God." "Unto the upright there ariseth light iu the darkness." But prct{!nded piety will serve no practical good. III. E,ERY JUDGE AMONG MEN ACTS SPECIALLY IN THE STEAD OF Goo. To be the administrator of justice, to adjudicate between right and wrong, is the highest orEce ,d1ich men can fill. No position is more responsible; none more honourable. For all practical purposes, his decision must be regarded as the decision of God. Other- wise, there will be no termination to litigation and strife. From the verdict of the highest human judge, there is but one court of appeal, viz. the court of heaven. \\'ithout doubt, many judicial decisions on earth will be reversed by the Great Judge of all. This is sweet solace to the injured now. Yet it is nobler to suffer wrong at the hands of men than to resist by violence. For the present, we arc to accept the sentence of the judge as absolute and obligatory. Our feet must diverge neither to th,, right hand nor to tbe left. IV. CoNTuMACY IS CRIME, PuNISHABLE BY DEATH. To despise the verdict of the judge is to weaken the authority of the State-is to sow the seeds of anarchy and min. Defectin administration of law is better than none. "Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as idolatry." Yet, if contempt of human authority be accounted a capital crime, how much more criminal must be contumacy against God! V. CAPITAL PID."ISHMENT HAS FOR ITS E~"D THE GOOD OF THE COMMUNITY. It is an advantage to remove from the circle of human society a pest-a firebrand. 'fhe authority of law, the sacredness of justice, are set on high in flaming characters, and on all classes of the community the in:pression is salutary. Reverence for constituted authority is strengthened, and uubiased minds learn the heinous wickedness of dis- obedience. The effect is virtue, order, peace.-D.