The Kings, And The Prophets.
Asa brings us to the time of Jeroboam, the setter-up of the new kingdom and the new worship that existed in Israel from the days of the separation to the times of Hosea and Amos; and in all its institutions Jeroboam paid an involuntary homage to the Pentateuch. The object of worship was the golden calf, which the Pentateuch tells us was loved by the Israelites in the wilderness. The worship itself was inaugurated by the king in the very words used by Aaron on a similar occasion— “Behold thy gods, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.” The chief place of worship, “the king's sanctuary,” was at Bethel, consecrated as “the house of God,” by Jacob's vision and his vow. The priests were of the lowest of the people; as the Levites, living amongst the ten tribes, remained faithful to the ancient worship of the law. The great feast was an imitation of the Feast of Tabernacles, and the reason for its appointment, lest the people should go up to Jerusalem, as the law required; so that every circumstance of the new religion of Jeroboam is a reference to the Pentateuch. Even the king's residences at Shechem and Penuel have their reminiscences of the law.
Thus, in all his arrangements he appears to have had the history and ordinances of the Pentateuch before his eyes. Jeroboam brings us to the time of Solomon, and Solomon to that of David; and here the allusions to the Pentateuch are so many that a small selection must suffice. In 1 Kings 2:2828Then tidings came to Joab: for Joab had turned after Adonijah, though he turned not after Absalom. And Joab fled unto the tabernacle of the Lord, and caught hold on the horns of the altar. (1 Kings 2:28) it is related that Joab fled unto the Tabernacle of the Lord, and caught hold on the horns of the altar; an unmistakable allusion to the construction of the altar, as commanded in the Law. On the horns also the blood was put, in order to procure forgiveness of God. Joab hoped, therefore, that his hold on these might procure him pardon from man. But the law, Ex. 21:1414But if a man come presumptuously upon his neighbor, to slay him with guile; thou shalt take him from mine altar, that he may die. (Exodus 21:14), commanded that the murderer should be taken even from the altar and slain; and, therefore, he was not pardoned. The expression, “Tabernacle of the Lord,” is also remarkable, and shows the great reverence for that which was Mosaic. The Tabernacle at Jerusalem was that which David had erected as the receptacle for the ark of the covenant when he brought it up to Zion. It is, therefore, not called “The Tabernacle of the congregation,” which was elsewhere. Though erected by a great and pious king, it did not obtain the title belonging to the original Tabernacle. In chapter 3:4 we read that Solomon went to Gibeon to sacrifice; and, verse 15, that he sacrificed at Jerusalem. But even this apparent irregularity shows a reverence for that which was Mosaic. The Tabernacle of the Congregation, and the altar of burnt sacrifice, were at Gibeon (1 Chron. 16:1-37; 21So they brought the ark of God, and set it in the midst of the tent that David had pitched for it: and they offered burnt sacrifices and peace offerings before God. 2And when David had made an end of offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord. 3And he dealt to every one of Israel, both man and woman, to every one a loaf of bread, and a good piece of flesh, and a flagon of wine. 4And he appointed certain of the Levites to minister before the ark of the Lord, and to record, and to thank and praise the Lord God of Israel: 5Asaph the chief, and next to him Zechariah, Jeiel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Mattithiah, and Eliab, and Benaiah, and Obed-edom: and Jeiel with psalteries and with harps; but Asaph made a sound with cymbals; 6Benaiah also and Jahaziel the priests with trumpets continually before the ark of the covenant of God. 7Then on that day David delivered first this psalm to thank the Lord into the hand of Asaph and his brethren. 8Give thanks unto the Lord, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the people. 9Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him, talk ye of all his wondrous works. 10Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord. 11Seek the Lord and his strength, seek his face continually. 12Remember his marvellous works that he hath done, his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth; 13O ye seed of Israel his servant, ye children of Jacob, his chosen ones. 14He is the Lord our God; his judgments are in all the earth. 15Be ye mindful always of his covenant; the word which he commanded to a thousand generations; 16Even of the covenant which he made with Abraham, and of his oath unto Isaac; 17And hath confirmed the same to Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant, 18Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance; 19When ye were but few, even a few, and strangers in it. 20And when they went from nation to nation, and from one kingdom to another people; 21He suffered no man to do them wrong: yea, he reproved kings for their sakes, 22Saying, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm. 23Sing unto the Lord, all the earth; show forth from day to day his salvation. 24Declare his glory among the heathen; his marvellous works among all nations. 25For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised: he also is to be feared above all gods. 26For all the gods of the people are idols: but the Lord made the heavens. 27Glory and honor are in his presence; strength and gladness are in his place. 28Give unto the Lord, ye kindreds of the people, give unto the Lord glory and strength. 29Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come before him: worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. 30Fear before him, all the earth: the world also shall be stable, that it be not moved. 31Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice: and let men say among the nations, The Lord reigneth. 32Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof: let the fields rejoice, and all that is therein. 33Then shall the trees of the wood sing out at the presence of the Lord, because he cometh to judge the earth. 34O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever. 35And say ye, Save us, O God of our salvation, and gather us together, and deliver us from the heathen, that we may give thanks to thy holy name, and glory in thy praise. 36Blessed be the Lord God of Israel for ever and ever. And all the people said, Amen, and praised the Lord. 37So he left there before the ark of the covenant of the Lord Asaph and his brethren, to minister before the ark continually, as every day's work required: (1 Chronicles 16:1‑37) Chron. 1:3-5). The ark of the covenant was in the new Tabernacle on Zion. Therefore sacrifice was offered in both places. In the description of the Temple of Solomon we find all conformable to the original commands respecting the construction of the Tabernacle: the Holy of Holies, and the Holy place, and the court, and the altars, and the golden candlesticks, and shewbread, and the Priests, and the Levites, at their respective duties. All was evidently arranged with the precepts of the Pentateuch before the eyes of the king and the priests; so that it is impossible to compare the two accounts in the Book of Kings and in the Pentateuch without coming to the conviction that the precepts of the latter were the same for the construction of the Temple.
But Solomon was an author; and some of his writings have been preserved; and in those universally received as genuine there are plain references to our Pentateuch. Thus, in Prov. 13:1313Whoso despiseth the word shall be destroyed: but he that feareth the commandment shall be rewarded. (Proverbs 13:13), “Whoso despiseth the word shall be destroyed, but he that feareth the commandment shall be rewarded.” Here “the word” is parallel to “the commandment,” and proves that Solomon knew of a divinely-revealed law, sanctioned by reward and punishment. Ewald translates somewhat differently, but acknowledges that “word” and “commandment” mean revelation, saying in his note, “Who despiseth the word, that is, revelation and its doctrine, loses his true liberty.” And again 19:16 “He that keepeth the commandment keepeth his own soul: but he that despiseth his ways shall die.” Here, again, “commandment” is used in the same sense and in the singular number, just as it is repeatedly in the Pentateuch to express the whole of revelation. Thus in Deut. 8:11All the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers. (Deuteronomy 8:1), “the whole commandment [not “commandments” as in our English version] which I command thee this day ye shall observe to do.” And again, 7:11, “Thou shalt keep the commandment, both the statutes and the judgments.” The commandment includes both the statutes and the judgments. The promise also, that the obedient shall live, and the transgressor die, is an allusion to the words of Moses, especially to Deut. 30:1515See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil; (Deuteronomy 30:15): “I have set before thee life and good, death and evil.” Bertheau, preferring the other reading (the K'thib), “He that despiseth his ways shall be put to death,” finds another reference “to the common expression of the Mosaic law when it threatens capital punishment.” This reference to life and death is frequent, as in Prov. 11:4, 12; 10:16; 18:214Riches profit not in the day of wrath: but righteousness delivereth from death. (Proverbs 11:4)
12He that is void of wisdom despiseth his neighbor: but a man of understanding holdeth his peace. (Proverbs 11:12)
16The labor of the righteous tendeth to life: the fruit of the wicked to sin. (Proverbs 10:16)
21Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof. (Proverbs 18:21). The words in Prov. 10:2727The fear of the Lord prolongeth days: but the years of the wicked shall be shortened. (Proverbs 10:27), “The fear of the Lord prolongeth days,” are a direct reference to Deut. 6:22That thou mightest fear the Lord thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son's son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged. (Deuteronomy 6:2).
But besides these general references to the great sanctions of the Mosaic law, there are particular allusions to different places of the Pentateuch as, for instance, to Gen. 2 Thus 13:12, “When the desire cometh, it is a tree of life;” 15:4, “A wholesome tongue is a tree of life.” Again, Prov. 10:1818He that hideth hatred with lying lips, and he that uttereth a slander, is a fool. (Proverbs 10:18), “He that uttereth slander is a fool,” uses the peculiar phraseology of the Pentateuch. The expression occurs only here and in Num. 13:32; 14:36, 3732And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature. (Numbers 13:32)
36And the men, which Moses sent to search the land, who returned, and made all the congregation to murmur against him, by bringing up a slander upon the land, 37Even those men that did bring up the evil report upon the land, died by the plague before the Lord. (Numbers 14:36‑37). In like manner, 10:23, “It is sport to a fool to commit impurity,” can only be understood by reference to Lev. 18:17; 19:2917Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her daughter, neither shalt thou take her son's daughter, or her daughter's daughter, to uncover her nakedness; for they are her near kinswomen: it is wickedness. (Leviticus 18:17)
29Do not prostitute thy daughter, to cause her to be a whore; lest the land fall to whoredom, and the land become full of wickedness. (Leviticus 19:29). In Solomon's declaration, that “a false balance is an abomination to the Lord: but a just weight is his delight” (11:1) and again, “divers weights and divers measures, both of them are an abomination to the Lord” (20:10, 23), the very words are taken from Lev. 19:3636Just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin, shall ye have: I am the Lord your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt. (Leviticus 19:36), and Deut. 25:1313Thou shalt not have in thy bag divers weights, a great and a small. (Deuteronomy 25:13). The expression, “abomination to the Lord,” is particularly to be observed. It occurs again 15:8, 26, and is taken from the Pentateuch, Lev. 18:22; 20:1322Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination. (Leviticus 18:22)
13If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them. (Leviticus 20:13); Deut. 7:26; 12:3126Neither shalt thou bring an abomination into thine house, lest thou be a cursed thing like it: but thou shalt utterly detest it, and thou shalt utterly abhor it; for it is a cursed thing. (Deuteronomy 7:26)
31Thou shalt not do so unto the Lord thy God: for every abomination to the Lord, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods. (Deuteronomy 12:31), &c.
Again, the words, “He that walketh a talebearer revealeth secrets” (11:13, 20:19), are taken from Lev. 19:1616Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people: neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbor: I am the Lord. (Leviticus 19:16), “Thou shalt not walk a talebearer among thy people,” and do not occur elsewhere, except Jer. 6:2828They are all grievous revolters, walking with slanders: they are brass and iron; they are all corrupters. (Jeremiah 6:28), and 9:3. Again, in Prov. 11:2626He that withholdeth corn, the people shall curse him: but blessing shall be upon the head of him that selleth it. (Proverbs 11:26) we have the verb Shabar used in the sense “to sell corn.” In this sense it occurs in no book written before Proverbs, except in the Pentateuch, and there it is found frequently, both in Genesis and Deuteronomy. But here in Proverbs the words, “Blessing shall be upon the head of him that selleth,” contain a beautiful allusion to the blessing of Joseph, that great seller of corn, Gen. 49:2626The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren. (Genesis 49:26). Again, 17:15, “He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are an abomination to the Lord,” is the very language of the Pentateuch, Ex. 23:77Keep thee far from a false matter; and the innocent and righteous slay thou not: for I will not justify the wicked. (Exodus 23:7), and Deut. 25:11If there be a controversy between men, and they come unto judgment, that the judges may judge them; then they shall justify the righteous, and condemn the wicked. (Deuteronomy 25:1). Again, 20:20 “He that curseth father or mother” are the very words of Ex. 21:1717And he that curseth his father, or his mother, shall surely be put to death. (Exodus 21:17). Again, 20:25, “It is a snare to a man who devoureth that which is holy, and after vows to make inquiry” is a plain reference to Deut. 23:2121When thou shalt vow a vow unto the Lord thy God, thou shalt not slack to pay it: for the Lord thy God will surely require it of thee; and it would be sin in thee. (Deuteronomy 23:21), “When thou vowest a vow, thou shalt not be slow to pay it,” and to the numerous laws (Lev. 27:9, 10, 14, 219And if it be a beast, whereof men bring an offering unto the Lord, all that any man giveth of such unto the Lord shall be holy. 10He shall not alter it, nor change it, a good for a bad, or a bad for a good: and if he shall at all change beast for beast, then it and the exchange thereof shall be holy. (Leviticus 27:9‑10)
14And when a man shall sanctify his house to be holy unto the Lord, then the priest shall estimate it, whether it be good or bad: as the priest shall estimate it, so shall it stand. (Leviticus 27:14)
21But the field, when it goeth out in the jubilee, shall be holy unto the Lord, as a field devoted; the possession thereof shall be the priest's. (Leviticus 27:21)) which forbid the alienation of anything consecrated to the Lord,
These specimens (and more might be furnished) are sufficient to prove that both the contents and the language of the Pentateuch, as we possess it, were familiar to Solomon. And as from the history it is certain that a written Book of the Law existed in his days, this agreement in substance and diction proves beyond a doubt that our Pentateuch was extant in the days of the wise king; and if in the days of Solomon, then undoubtedly in the days of David and Samuel. Let us, then, see if there be traces in the books of Samuel and the Psalms of David. But here the references are so many, that we can only select a few. In the first place, there are several references to the coming up out of Egypt. In 1 Sam. 15:22Thus saith the Lord of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt. (1 Samuel 15:2), we find in Samuel's address to Saul, “Thus saith the Lord, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way when he came out of Egypt)” and again, in the message of Saul to the Kenites (ver. 6), “Go, depart you, get you down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them; for ye showed kindness to all the children of Israel, when they came up out of Egypt,” the exodus is distinctly mentioned; and the command to Saul, and Saul's message to the Kenites, are necessary parts of the narrative. The extirpation of the Amalekites is accounted for by the history of their ancient enmity and cruelty; and the preservation of the Kenites by their former kindness. Both are connected with the coming up out of Egypt, and the historic narrative of the Pentateuch.
A second feature [and easily overlooked] in this history deserving of notice is, that Israel is described as having a public worship dependent upon a tabernacle and an ark of the covenant. The manner in which the ark is spoken of shows that it was well known. It is called “The ark of God” (1 Sam. 3:33And ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep; (1 Samuel 3:3)); “The ark” (1 Sam. 6:1313And they of Beth-shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley: and they lifted up their eyes, and saw the ark, and rejoiced to see it. (1 Samuel 6:13)); “The ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts;” “The ark of the Lord of hosts that dwelleth between the cherubim” (1 Sam. 4:3, 43And when the people were come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, Wherefore hath the Lord smitten us to day before the Philistines? Let us fetch the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of Shiloh unto us, that, when it cometh among us, it may save us out of the hand of our enemies. 4So the people sent to Shiloh, that they might bring from thence the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts, which dwelleth between the cherubims: and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God. (1 Samuel 4:3‑4)). At the same time, these descriptions of the ark can only be understood by remembering what is told us in the Pentateuch, that there was a covenant between God and Israel; that the Ten Commandments are called the words of the covenant; and that stone tables of the covenant were deposited in the ark. The mention of the Cherubim, without any explanation, also refers the reader back to Ex. 25:18; 37:718And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat. (Exodus 25:18)
7And he made two cherubims of gold, beaten out of one piece made he them, on the two ends of the mercy seat; (Exodus 37:7) and Num. 7:8989And when Moses was gone into the tabernacle of the congregation to speak with him, then he heard the voice of one speaking unto him from off the mercy seat that was upon the ark of testimony, from between the two cherubims: and he spake unto him. (Numbers 7:89); and without these references we cannot tell who or what the Cherubim were. Then, as to the Tabernacle, we find that there were priests to minister and Levites to serve, and that the place of its location was visited annually by Israelites from a distance, as in the case of Elkanah and his family: a circumstance easily explained if we remember the commands in the Pentateuch, and inexplicable without them.
There were sacrifices also, and the various observances relating to them agree minutely with the ordinances of the Pentateuch. In describing the wickedness of Eli's sons, the historian incidentally mentions the rites and ceremonies which they violated; and on considering them with attention, they agree exactly with what Moses had ordained Thus, in chap 2:12 and following verses, it is said, “Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial: they knew not the Lord. And the priest's custom with the people was, that when any man offered sacrifice, the priest's servant came, while the flesh was in seething, with a flesh-hook of three teeth in his hand, and he struck it into the pan or kettle or pot: all that the flesh-hook brought up the priest took for himself So they did in Shiloh with all the Israelites that came thither. Also, before they burned the fat, the priest's servant came and said to the man that sacrificed, Give flesh to roast for the priest: for he will not have sodden flesh of thee but raw. And if any man said, Let them not fail to burn the fat presently, and then take as much as thy soul desireth, then he would answer him, Nay, but thou shalt give it me now, and if not, I will take it by force.” ( To be continued).