The Book Of Love

The Law of Love (Or, Deuteronomy is Life):

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- Christopher Stewart God used a multitude of approaches to build up to Himself a nation from the children of Israel; for the entire point and purpose of the existence of Israel was to build up unto God a holy and peculiar people: a light and a standard to the world; a nation which would be filled with “kings and priests” (see Ex 19:3-6). God had allowed them to enter into slavery to the Egyptians for a type and shadow of His redemptive powers and to show the children of Israel their own nothingness before Him, lest they say, as referred to when Gideon’s army destroys Midianites (Judges 6:11-8:35), that through their own might and power had they gotten their blessings; this being the antitype of Christ (Deut. 18:15). This is why He allows Pharaoh to harden his heart - that He may show to His people only He can redeem them (Ex. 6:1). The Lord had chosen these people, not because of any righteousness on their part, but because of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob due their personal righteousness and His grace. For, as Moses reminds the people repeatedly, they are not entering the land because of their righteousness, but because He has chosen to give it to them - provided they follow the Lord’s commands and remain separate from the world (Deut. 9:4; 27:12-14). And also because the children who already possessed the land were a wicked and idolatrous people, having waxed great in iniquity and become ripe for destruction (Gen. 15:16, Deut 20:17-18); deigning not to hearken unto His counsel and precepts, all excepting Rahab and her family (Josh. 2:9-11 and 1 Ne. 17:33-42 (Josh. 2:1, 3; 6:17, 23, 25; Heb. 11:31; James 2:25).

Because of His promise to the Patriarchs, the Lord heard the cries of the children of Israel and brought up Moses to fulfill the covenant charge of redeeming the people. Allowing Moses to become a mediator between them and God (Ex. 2:11-14; 3:7-10); and thus Moses becomes a type of Christ when he is chosen to be the go-el for his kindred. A Go-el was a person who had the familial obligation to “buy back a man who had sold himself to a foreigner as a slave, to avenge blood and kill a relative’s murderer, to receive atonement money, and figuratively, to be a helper in a lawsuit.”1 Thus we can see that Isaiah very much has this in mind when he speaks for the Lord in Isaiah 50. As a go-el, the one who has done the redemptive work had the right to make demands of him/her whom the go-el had redeemed.2 Thus we can perceive how the Law, with its attendant blessings and curses, would have been viewed by the children of Israel as they entered into the promised land, shouting “Amen!” as each one was listed off (Deut. 27:12-14). When God enters into the covenant relationship with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob He uses the ancient tradition of name change in conjunction with the covenant of circumcision. This tradition of name changing was represented by the sense that the person would now act in a different manner than that which they had previously done Abram became Abraham; from “exalted father” to “father of nations (multitudes).” Jacob, which meant “to wrest or supplant” became Israel, which means “Prince of God.” Even Israel as a whole had a covenant name change as they began the exodus from the “fleshpots of Egypt” (Isa. 43; 2 Chron. 7:14; see also, J. C. Lane (1994). The meaning of this covenant name change, for Israel as a people, had the significance of the fact that they now had taken upon them a new attitude and belief; a new way of doing things. No longer were the old ways sufficient to them - that which

they had done while in Egypt - they were to live according to a higher and greater law: that of the Law which came down out of Sinai unto them by the mouth of the Lord, whom they both saw in the smoke and heard (Ex. 19:18-21; 20:22). At Sinai, Moses and the elders of Israel partook of a covenant meal with the Lord. “By covenanting with the Lord at Sinai the people of Israel entered into his family and protection. That relationship was explicitly expressed in terms of adoption, ‘I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God.’ (Ex. 6:7)”3 2 Nephi 4:33 and Alma 5:24 refer, also, to this covenant of coming under the protection and guidance of the goel, or the kinsman-redeemer.4 When the people pass through the Sea of Reeds they are, as Paul taught, being baptized as a people and are becoming proselyte into the covenant (1 Cor. 10:1-2; see also J.C. Lane (1994). At each stage, including that of the Passover, the Lord was showing Israel that they were to become His and that they were in the process of entering, of their own free will, into a covenant (berit - literally “to break bread”) with the Him. In conjunction with this we see that the manna which came to them daily, excluding the Sabbath, receiving a double portion the day before, was also a type of the covenant meal which God was sharing with them - they did nothing to earn this other than walking out of their doors each morning and collecting it in their pots (Ex. 16). This is, also, referred to by Christ in John 6 when He preaches the Bread of Life Sermon (which many scholars believe, when held in conjunction with the Wedding at Cana (John 3), was the reason why John does not focus so much on the Last Supper as do the other 3 Gospel writers). This, then, leads us to the Law as brought down out of Sinai from Moses, being

written by the finger of God: Dr Nibley, in his work “Approaching Zion,” has this to say in regards to what the Law was intended to mean to the people: “Deuteronomy is the definitive statement of the law by which Israel is supposed to live. That law was never rescinded, but only superseded by the higher law, which embraced and reinforced all its principles. […] It is preparation for more to come when we are ready to receive it, and its strict observance is the indispensable prerequisite to any further progress.”5 The purpose of the Law was to teach the children of Israel a higher way - not that of the recalcitrance of the other nations which was a “dog eat dog” tradition, but one of love and kindness to one another. Dr. Nibley tells us that the most commonly used word in the book of Deuteronomy is that of “love.”6 From this we can see that the Law was intended to bring the people, as Paul stated, unto Christ (Gal. 3:24) who would, in turn, instruct the people in the way which they should walk (Deut. 18:15). Now this Law, which was a law of love and kindness, cannot be judged by man, for how can a man know what is in the heart of another save he, himself, is pure before the Lord and has the discernment and stewardship over the man? This Law was given that the children of Israel would judge one another in love, mercy, and righteousness; that they could, and would, be a “city set upon a hill” and a “candle which gives light to the house.” This would be why the children of Israel, at least in the times of the Judges and Kings, did not have a police force - only judges who would uphold the law based upon the law of witnesses (and this law was very much hinged upon love and mercy - for the 7th commandment was “Thou shalt not bear false witness” and, indeed, in the book of Proverbs, lying tongues are among those things which God hates above all - Prov. 6:17).

The entire point and purpose of the Law was to teach the children of Israel that they were to love and serve each other as they would themselves and to love and serve God with every fiber and sinew of their being as Deut. 6:4-5 and Lev 19:18 state; this being confirmed by Jesus Christ in the Book of Luke as Christ responds to a lawyer who queries Him concerning what he shall do to inherit eternal life (Luke 10:25-37). As Dr. Nibley (1989) states, the point and purpose of the Law, and of all that the Lord did for the children of Israel in delivering them out of the hands of the Egyptians, was to show them that they, of themselves, are nothing before Him. How that the Lord is mighty over all that there is nothing which we can give to Him, other than our wills, that is not already His; for the earth and the heavens are His and He will dispose of it as He will (Deut. 10:14).7 The Lord uses the Sea of Reeds, along with the Plagues in Egypt, the Pillar of Fire/Cloud, etc. to show the children of Israel that it is only by His hand that they have been redeemed from bondage and that He has heard their cries unto Him. He does this to show them that, without Him, they are nothing - how that all things which we receive are because He sees fit to bless us. As the children of Israel come to the land they are to take of the first fruits and to bring them to the Levite who will then set it before the altar while the children of Israel recite out loud how it was that the Lord brought them to this land and gave it unto them (Deut. 26:5-9). They are to remember in all things - one of the most oft stated ideas in the Mosaic books - that the Lord blessed them and brought them into the land and gave them that which they, and we, possess; therefore we are to be free with all of our substance to all who stand in need. Dr. Nibley points out how the Midrash mentions that it was the “meanness of spirit” that caused Sodom and Gomorrah to be destroyed; how that the

sexual aberrations were only secondary to this first offense.8 Thusly we see that, as Christ said, “upon these two hang all the law and prophets.” (Matt 22:36-40) And, further more, as Paul taught, we are all slaves to sin and have need to repent, therefore all of us have need to come unto Christ and be perfected in Him (Gal. 5; Romans 3:23 (entire); see also Moroni 10:32). The Tabernacle was built up so that the children of Israel would have where to worship their Savior and Redeemer - their Go-el. This was to be the focal point of their religion and worship - all things were to be done in the sight of God and were to be spotless and holy before Him (Numbers 2, compare Ex. 33). Interestingly enough, the go-el was the “‘cultural gyroscope’ of Israel whose purpose was to restore equilibrium in the society”9 as was the temple/tabernacle. The goel was to “look about on a pivot, encompassing all things and all people” while the temple/tabernacle was the place to which the people would go to “take their bearings on the universe.” From the placement of the tabernacle in the “midst of the camp” (Num. 2:17) all people would be able to walk to it and, there, worship the Lord their God and learn of Him. The tabernacle and its ordinances (which were officiated over by the priests) were intended to bring the people into a greater understanding of whom, and what, God is. The ordinances were to remind the people that the Lord their God had redeemed them; they were to remember that it was through the blessings of the Lord that they had what it was that they had and only through Him were they able to obtain it. The Lord, through Moses/Aaron, even recalls to the minds of the people that their clothes did not wear out, nor did their shoes wear, as they wandered for 40 years in the wilderness to prove

themselves to the Lord (Deut 29:5). This is largely why Christ, at two separate points in His life, went to the temple and cleansed it, saying, “Why make ye my house a den of thieves?” (E.g. Matt 21:13) This was not the only time that the children of Israel had committed sin in this form. Indeed, in response to the Israelites deigning to worship a Golden Calf, the Lord tells Moses that He will destroy the people and build up to Himself out of Moses’ seed. Moses, however, in true type of Christ, hurries to make intercession for the children of Israel, saying, “Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. Yet now, if thou wilt forgive them their sin --; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written.” (Ex. 32:31-32; John 17) As a rejoinder, the Lord promises Moses that He will not destroy the people but will curse them instead. After which (in Ex. 33) the tabernacle is removed from the midst of the people and placed outside of the camp because, the Lord says, “I will not go up in the midst of thee; for thou art a stiff-necked people: lest I consume thee in the way.” (Ex. 33:3) Therefore, as Moses teaches the children of Israel, and calls to their attention at the end of Deuteronomy as they are about to pass into the land of Canaan, they know that which they are about to do and have no excuse as to why they may, or may not, keep the commandments which the Lord their God had given unto them. They are reminded of the covenants which they have made that day, and are commanded to pass between two mounts as they enter the land, Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal, with one group consisting of the tribes of Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph and Benjamin on the one mount (Gerizim) blessing the people, and, on the other

mount (Ebal) cursing the people, the tribes of Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan and Naphtali. “And the Levites shall speak and say unto all the men of Israel with a loud voice, ‘Cursed be the man that make any graven or molten image, an abomination unto the Lord, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and put it in a secret place.’ And all the people shall answer and say, ‘Amen.’” And thus were they to reiterate the law entire, both blessings and cursing, before they were to enter and take the land which the Lord had promised to give unto them; having sent an angel before them to drive out the Canaanite, Amorite, Hittite, Perizzite, Hivite, and Jebusite (Ex. 33:1-2). From this we can plainly see that the Lord was building up to Himself a people peculiar and strange, wanders in a foreign land, but to whom a better city awaited, even the city of Zion which would be built upon a hill (Heb. 12:22); thus fulfilling His promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that He would, from their loins, build up a great nation and, through them, because of their faith (Heb. 11), He would bless the world entire.

1 Jennifer Clark Lane, “23rd Annual Sperry Symposium,” “Hebrew Concepts of Adoption and Redemption,” pg. 81, 1994 2 Ibid., pg. 83; entire text of document elaborates 3 Ibid., pg 82-83; see also an unpublished manuscript by my hand entitled, “Gratitude Determines Latitude.” 4 H. Nibley, “The Meaning of the Atonement,” “Approaching Zion,” pg. 559 5 H. Nibley, “How To Get Rich,” “Approaching Zion,” pg. 178, 1989 6 H. Nibley, “How To Get Rich,” “Approaching Zion,” pg. 187 and 178, 1989 7 H. Nibley, “How To Get Rich,” “Approaching Zion,” 1989 8 Ibid., pg. 184 9 J.C. Lane, “23rd Annual,” “Hebrew…,” pg. 81, 1994