If this fact be fully grasped, all difficulty vanishes. It was perfectly right, perfectly consistent, and in perfect harmony with the mind of God for Israel to slay their enemies. God commanded them to do so. And, in like manner, it was right and consistent for them to execute righteous judgment, even unto death, upon any member of the congregation who should seek to draw them aside after false gods, as in the passage before us. To do so was in full moral harmony with the grand ruling principles of government and law, under which they were placed, in accordance with the dispensational wisdom of God. All this is perfectly plain. It runs through the entire canon of Old-Testament scripture. God's government in Israel, and His government of the world in connection with Israel, was on the strict principle of righteousness. And as it was in the past, so shall it be in the future,--"A king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment." But in Christianity, we see something quite different. The moment we open the pages of the New Testament, and hearken to the teachings and mark the actings of the Son of God, we find ourselves on entirely new ground, and in a new atmosphere; in a word, we are in the atmosphere and on the ground of pure, unqualified grace. Thus, as a sample of the teaching, take a passage or two from what is called The Sermon on the Mount--that marvelous and precious compendium of the principles of the kingdom of heaven.--"Ye have heard that it hath been said, 'An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth'; _but I say unto you_, that ye resist not evil; but whosoever shall smite thee on the one cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain." Again, "Ye have heard that it hath been said, 'Thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy'; _but I say unto you_, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; that ye may be the _sons_ [υἱοί] of your Father which is in heaven; _for_ He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.... Be ye therefore perfect [τέλειοι], even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." (Matt. v. 38-48.) We cannot now dwell upon those blessed sentences; we merely quote them for the reader in order to let him see the immense difference between the Jewish and Christian economy. What was perfectly right and consistent for a Jew, might be quite wrong and inconsistent for a Christian.