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 2:28 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. 21:14, 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; 2 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. 13:13, “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. 8:1, “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. 30:15: “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; 18:21. The words in Prov. 10:27, “The fear of the Lord prolongeth days,” are a direct reference to Deut. 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. 10:18, “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, 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; 19:29. 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. 19:36, and Deut. 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; 20:13; Deut. 7:26; 12:31, &c.
Again, the words, “He that walketh a talebearer revealeth secrets” (11:13, 20:19), are taken from Lev. 19:16, “Thou shalt not walk a talebearer among thy people,” and do not occur elsewhere, except Jer. 6:28, and 9:3. Again, in Prov. 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. 49:26. 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. 23:7, and Deut. 25:1. Again, 20:20 “He that curseth father or mother” are the very words of Ex. 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. 23:21, “When thou vowest a vow, thou shalt not be slow to pay it,” and to the numerous laws (Lev. 27:9, 10, 14, 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. 15:2, 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. 3:3); “The ark” (1 Sam. 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, 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; 37:7 and Num. 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).