222 ASSAYS SCIENTIFIC AND PHILOSOPHICAL. 



kind of wild justice," is then transformed into that 

 righteous indignation which lies at the root of the 

 judicial system. Such an advance is the teaching 

 of the Pentateuch in respect of War. It was the 

 first, though an indirect blow to the war-spirit 

 among the Jews. But they had much more to 

 learn. That God is a God of battles is a half 

 truth, which, to us, seems almost immoral. The 

 higher truth, which is revealed in the Old Testa- 

 ment, was dimly shadowed forth when the Patri- 

 archal Conqueror, returning from the slaughter of 

 the kings, did homage to a mysterious King of 

 Peace. And when the wars of conquest were over, 

 and the chosen people were established in the 

 promised land, their king, who had fought the 

 Lord's battles, is forbidden to build the Temple, 

 because he has been "a man of war," and "has 

 shed blood abundantly." 1 That honour is reserved 

 for " a man of rest," under whom " peace and quiet- 

 ness" is promised. 2 The Jews, from first to last, had 

 been taught that the explanation of the present is 

 in the future, and as this future becomes clearer, it 

 is revealed as a Kingdom of Peace. God is no 

 longer "a man of war." 3 " He maketh wars to cease 

 in all the earth." 4 He no longer "teaches the hands 

 to war and the fingers to fight." He " scatters the 

 people that delight in war." Clearer and more clear 



1 i Chron. xxii. 8 ; xxiii. 3. 2 I Chron. xxii. 



3 Exod. xv. 3. * Ps. xlvi. 9. 



