Voss—A True Bit of Instruction. 
685 
communal, everyone would want the best of everything 
and many a man would use up as much as ten would other¬ 
wise, and there would be neither rest nor peace among men. 
For the same reason the promised land was given to the 
children of Israel through Joshua acting under God’s orders, 
as is clearly recorded in the fifth book of Moses and in the 
book of Joshua. No portion, however, was given to the 
tribe of Levi, for God purposed to sustain it, by that which 
by nature belonged to it, as will be shown later in this treatise. 
Afterwards disposition was made of the temporal things, 
and the people were ruled by Judges as is seen in the book 
of Judges. Later, God, heeding the clamor of the people, 
gave the power into the hands of kings, and it is only by 
virtue of their ordination that one is justified in saying, 
this or that is mine, (I. Kings, 8.) Such is the human 
law, which God through worldly kings has given to mankind; 
Christ did not abolish it, but confirmed it, and Peter and 
Paul interpreted it, as will be seen further on in this treatise. 
As for the objection advanced by some, e. g., the Ana¬ 
baptists: In the Apostolic Age all things were communal 
and none said this thing or that belongs to me. Acts ii, 6. 
Answer: Luke inserts that to show how united in Christ 
the believers were, and how unhindered by worldly consid¬ 
erations they put their trust wholly in Christ, and leaned on 
his Word, although there was no command to the effect that 
all things were to be held in common. Everyone waited 
patiently for that which was to be given to him, (to everyone 
according to his needs) and nobody appropriated his portion 
to himself. Even then there arose a murmuring that things 
were not being done justly, whereupon Peter spoke: It is 
not reason (American Revised has fit) that we should leave 
the Word of God and serve tables. (Acts 6.) And he 
commanded them to elect of their number seven men of 
good report, who were reputed to be full of the Holy Ghost, 
and these were to be entrusted with the office of giving to 
everyone impartially according to his needs. 
Whence it is evident and clear that from the beginning of 
the world up to the present time nothing temporal has been 
communal in the sense that everyone might make use of it, 
according to his pleasure; but there have always been 
worldly magistrates to decide over things: of whom Adam 
