Doc. of Lord (Dick) n. 9

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9. 2. BY THE LAW, IN A WIDER SENSE, ARE MEANT ALL THINGS THAT WERE WRITTEN BY MOSES IN HIS FIVE BOOKS. This is evident from the following passages

In Luke:

Abraham said to the rich man in hell, They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them ... If they hear not Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead. Luke xvi 29, 31.

In John:

Philip said to Nathanael, We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law, and the Prophets, did write. John i 45.

In Matthew:

Think not that I am come to destroy the Law and the Prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. Matt. v 17, 18.

In the same:

All the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John. Matt. xi 13.

In Luke:

The Law and the Prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached. Luke xvi 16.

In Matthew:

All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the Law and the Prophets. Matt. vii 12.

In the same:

Jesus said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul ... And, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang the Law and the Prophets. Matt. xxii 37, 39, 40.

In these places, by Moses and the Prophets, as also by the Law and the Prophets, are meant all things that were written in the Books of Moses and in, those of the Prophets. That by the Law, specifically, are meant all things that were written through Moses, is still more evident from the following passages:

In Luke:

When the days of her purification according to the Law of Moses were accomplished, they brought Jesus to Jerusalem, to present Him to the Lord;

(As it is written in the Law of the Lord, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord;) And to offer a sacrifice, according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, A pair of turtle doves and two young pigeons ... And the parents brought Jesus into the temple, to do for Him after the custom of the Law ... And when they had performed all things according to the Law of the Lord ... Luke ii 22-24, 27, 39.

In John:

Moses in the Law commanded that such should be stoned. John viii 5.

In the same:

The Law was given through Moses. John i 17.

Hence it is evident that sometimes the Law is named, and sometimes Moses, where such things are treated of as are written in his Books, as also in

Matt. viii 4; Mark x 2-4; xii 19; Luke xx 28, 37; John iii 14; vii 19, 51; viii 17; xix 7.

Many things that were commanded are also called by Moses the Law, as in relation

to burnt-offerings, Lev. vi 9; vii 37;

to sacrifices, Lev. vi 25; vii 1-11;

to meat offering, Lev. vi 14;

to leprosy, Lev. xiv 2;

to jealousy, Num. v 29, 30;

to Naziriteship, Num. vi 13, 21.

Moses himself called his Books, the, Law:

Moses wrote this Law, and delivered it unto the priests, the sons of Levi, who bare the ark of the covenant of Jehovah. And he said to them, Take the Book of this Law, and put it by the side of the ark of the covenant of Jehovah. Deut. xxxi 9, 11, 26.

It was put by the side, because within the ark were the tables of stone, which, in a strict sense, are the Law. The Books of Moses are afterwards called the Book of the Law:

And Hilkiah the High Priest said unto Shaphan the scribe, I have found the Book of the Law in the house of Jehovah. When the king had heard the words of the Book of the Law, he rent his clothes. 2 Kings xxii 8, 11; xxiii 24.


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