The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1866-02-08
TIE SUNDAY QUESTION.
The Ten 90 OmmRndm ments a COmpenG of
Moral Law.

The TEN commandment a COmpenG of
mOrat Law.
To the Editor of The EUeniHg 7eEegraph.-
Having entered into formal and solemn cove.
pant with Israel they pedging obedience to HIM
ana He pledging 10 make them His pecu lar treasure
aUove all people, the Lord proceeds to test their ODE
di,nce by prescribing laws to them The great aud
magnificent preparations for their utterauce we
have ndverted ia. We must no v noto the new
and intimate reation' the people susatn
10 God under this covenant Of restrictions;
which looks to the limitation of the cove
Dant with Abraham making uim the Father of
many nations, and con1niuS blessings to this
people OF israel Accordn sly, in verse q cha1 Xxx,
He refers to this iar relation, 'I am
| the Loid thy God, which have brought thee out of
tho land of Egypt, out OF tho houso OF bondage"
his LANGUAGE is substantially the Same which pre-
faced the proposal OF the covenant Of restriction
mentioned 10 the preceding paper and ia chap. XIX.
40 thout expressly affirm ny It, it nevertheless
suggests reason why Israel shou give attentive
| err 10 the commandments Immediately following 1t
| occupies tue local position yet without either
| the form or the substance of O preamNls 60
| the constitution which follows. Hence it IS
| argued by some that the ten words boong
| exclusively to tho Hebrew people, and tina.
| they have 10 binding authority for any other
poOple. We aCmit they express reason special
| and pointed, and based on gratitude WAY that
| people shOu d make q solemn league and covenant
! with God, and why they should fulfil 1t in keeping
this law of the ten words But how this should shut
out other nations and people from the pale of this
moral CODE it rs impossible for us to see rn.re are
no terms indicative OF exclusiveness, either in this
| preamble or in The len words, tho subsequent
remarks; nothing 10 shut off the rest Of mankind
| from the benefits Of Gods moral law.
| We ought 10 note particularly that they were ut
tered in thulder-tOnes from the summit of the fiery
| Mount. We have observed the prelude to the
| awful act and when the majestic utterances are
closed the historian tells ", 49,, "And all the
people saw the thnnderings, and The hghtnings,
ana the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain
sn oklns." No difference is perceived in regard TO
any Of the ten All and equally they the voice of
| God.
2. This miraculous utterance, with all its dread
surroundings, Is intended impress the mind with
profoundly solemn sense of the ira uscendent i'm
portance OF the matter or things uttered. We can
imagine nothing better adapted to produce such an
| impression. land the people stood afar of, aud
Moses drew near unto the tblck darkness where God
was And the Lord said unto Moses, Thus shalt
thou say unto the cAldren of Israel, Ye have seen
that have talked with you from h5aven"-ys 81 22
| Take with this e another remark These ten COM
maBdments are all that 6 cd thus spake Much in
| struction and many laws He communicated through
Moses; but the ten only thunder tones to the whole
people directly. Their very great importance it IL
impossible for us not to infer.
| 4. BEFORE we inquire into the matter OF them let
us note 'he person who gave this Law. This we find
| TO be the second person-the Son of God This Is
mace evident by comparing Psalm, Xviii II, 18
with EphcsiaDs iv. s:-lho charlots of God are
| twenty thousand even thousands of angels; the
Lord IL IN the midst of them SINAI. Thou hast
ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive;
Thou hast received gifts Tor men," This is applied
| by Pau to Christ :-"When He ascen led uo on high
He led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men"
The same Lord who was among His angels on Sinai
descended into the 10 parts of the earh al also
ascended and received and gave gifts for men. Joho
yah Jesus t was that thunuered from Sinai and that
flashed in the IightuIngs out of the thick darkness
and the lurid tames hence this fire was like that IN
The bush at Horeb fire that burned without con-
sunling. OBJ.
8. eses, after the utterance of the ten words
drew the tuck darkness Xxx 81 and there
abode with God the Mount forty days and forty
nights. Exodus xiv, Is. And during these meet
EPs he received great variety and number of
municipal regulations chapter Xxx, q to XIV l. and
the entire Instructions concerning the construction
OF the tabernacle And at the close he received the
"twO tables of testimony, tables of stone written
with the hnger of Goo, ,"-xxxI, 18. "And on them
was written according to all the words which the
Lord spoke with you in the Mount out of the midst
! of the fire." Deut. TX, 10.
8. This writing stone is as significant as the
utterances from Sinai OF the permauencY of the Ten
Commandments, and their essentially moral nature
They transcript of the moral attributes Of God
and Interchangeable as HIS own eternal nature
Nothing short of This DC inferred from the mate
rial and the writing
Z. The same Is taught in their subsequent deposit
in the Ark, called for this very reason the Ark of
the Testimony" The ten words are GODS to ,tlmony
to moral purity and against all iniquity. The is
the most sacred of all the Tabernacle and its turn-
ture. Its location within the vail the material OF its
composition, the golden cover and the cheruDim
constituting the mercy seat and the fact that
nothing but the two tables was permitted to be
dcpositedtheren-al cOnspre to enhance the purity,
permanency, and sacredness of the ten words. Tne
entire system of the Tabernacle service has these
rabies for its central idea 10 keep untarnshed the
tables of the testimony TO impress the worshippers
with the profouDdest veneraton and reverence for
them; TO POINT out the way OF acceptable approach
INTO the hottest of all and to provide for tAe dssemi
nation of their contents the swift wings of the
dlvinelY constituted and qualified messengers OF
mercy, this Is the life and soul Of the symbolic
gospel of the Tabernacle See, for more on this
point "Ihe Tabernace," recently published at No
S2l Chez nut street. THEoPHILUs