MORAL LAW. 



85 



Mid Jupiter shaking Olympus with his imperial 

 rod, are lame, ridiculous, and profane ; and ne 

 ver, perhaps, since the commencement of time, 

 was such a striking scene presented to the view 

 of any of the inhabitants of this world. The 

 most solemn preparations, were made for this 

 divine manifestation ; the people of Israel were 

 commanded to purify themselves from every 

 mental and corporeal pollution, and strictly en 

 joined to keep within the boundaries marked out 

 for them, and not to rush within the limits as 

 signed to these awful symbols of the Deity. An 

 assemblage of celestial beings, from another 

 region of creation, was present on this occasion, 

 to perform important services, to swell the gran 

 deur of the scene, and to be witness of the impres 

 sive transactions of that solemn day.* Mos^s 

 was appointed as a temporary mediator between 

 God and the people, to explain to them in nv Jder 

 terms the words of the law, and the further inti 

 mations of the divine will. Yet so terrible were 

 the symbols of the present Deity, that even 

 Moses was appalled, and said, &quot; I exceedingly 

 fear and quake.&quot; In order that the impressive 

 words which were uttered on that day might not 

 be forgotten in future generations, they were 

 written on tables of stone with the finger of God. 

 They were not simply drawn on a plane, like 

 the strokes of writing upon paper, but the cha 

 racters were engraved, or cut out of the solid 

 Btone, so that they could not be erased. They 

 were not written on paper or parchment, or even 

 on wood, but on stone, which is a much more 

 durable material. &quot; The tables were written 

 upon both their sides, on the one side, and on 

 the other were they written ; and the tables 

 were the work of God, and the writing was the 

 writing of God, graven upon the tables.&quot;f This 

 was intended to prevent the possibility of any 

 thing being added to the law, or taken from it. 

 The tables were two in number, the one contain 

 ing the precepts which inculcate love to God, 

 and the other containing those which enjoin the 

 love of our neighbour. These laws, thus en 

 graven on the most durable materials, were de 

 posited in the most sacred part of the tabernacle, 

 in the ark of the covenant under the mercy-seat. 

 All the striking circumstances, now mentioned, 

 were evidently intended to proclaim the Majesty 

 and Grandeur of the Supreme Legislator the 

 exceJiency and perfection of his law that it is 

 the eternal and unalterable rule of rectitude 



Stephen says, that the Jews &quot; received the law 

 y the disposition of angels.&quot; Grotius observes, 

 on this passage, that the Greek preposition (eis) 

 here signifies amidst, and that (diatagas agelon,) 

 denotes troops of angels ranged in military order ; 

 and that there is a reference to Deut. xxxiii. 2. 

 &quot; The Lord came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir 

 unto them ; he shined forth from Mount Paran, 

 and he came with ten thousands of his holy ones 

 trom his right hand went a fiery law for them.&quot; 



* Exod. xxxii. 45. 



that it is of perpetual obligation on all the inha 

 bitants of the earth that it is the rule of actioa 

 to angels and archangels, and to all other moral 

 intelligences, as well as to the human race- 

 arid that the most dreadful consequences must 

 ensue on all those who persist in violating its 

 righteous precepts. 



The proclamation of this law was prefaced 

 by these words, &quot; I am Jehovah thy God,&quot; 

 which contain a ground and reason for our obe 

 dience. They evidently imply, that he is the 

 Self-existent and Eternal Being who brought 

 thsvast universe into existence, who &quot; garnished 

 the heavens, and laid the foundations of the 

 earth,&quot; and peopled all worlds with their inha 

 bitants that he has sovereign authority to 

 prescribe a rule of action to his creatures that 

 he knows best what laws are requisite to pre 

 serve the order of his vast empire, and to secure 

 the happiness of the intelligent creation that 

 he is the former of our bodies, the Father of 

 our spirits, and the director of all the movements 

 of nature and providence, from whose unceasing 

 agency every joy proceeds and that all his re 

 gulations and arrangements are calculated to 

 promote the present and everlasting felicity of 

 all rational agents that submit to his authority. 

 That these laws are not mere acts of Divine 

 Sovereignty, but founded on the nature of things, 

 and are calculated to preserve the harmony and 

 order of the intelligent universe, will appear 

 from the following illustrations and remarks. 



THE FIRST COMMANDMENT. 



Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 



All the commandments, except the fourth 

 and fifth, are expressed in a negative form : But 

 it is obvious, that every negative command in 

 cludes a requisition of the duty which is opposed 

 to the sin forbidden ; and those which are positive 

 include a prohibition of the conduct which is 

 opposed to the duty required. This first com 

 mandment, therefore, though expressed in the 

 negative form, must be considered as including 

 a positive injunction to love God with all our 

 hearts, to offer a tribute of supreme adoration 

 to his perfections, and to exercise the graces of 

 hope, gratitude, submission, and reverence. 

 Having already considered the precept in this 

 point of view, (pp. 8595) it is only necessary, 

 in this place, to attend for a little, to the negative 

 form of I he command. The prohibition contained 

 in this precept must be considered as extending 

 not only to Polytheism, and the various objects 

 of worship which have prevailed in the heathen 

 world, but to every thing which is the object of 

 our supreme affection and regard. 



It is a dictate of enlightened and unprejudiced 

 reason, that the Being to whom we are indebted 

 for our existence, on whom we every moment 



