'_Thou shalt love the Lord thy God ... and thy neighbour as thyself._'
(Luke x. 27.) In these words Jesus Christ gives to us the true meaning
of the Commandments which Moses wrote down in our Bible.
Again, until quite lately many people were certain that there could
never have been a king like Melchizedek, the king of Salem, who came
and blessed Abraham, and of whom we read in Genesis xiv. and also in
Hebrews vii.
But among the letters found in the Foreign Office of the king of Egypt,
is one from the king of Salem. Not from Melchizedek, but from another
king of Salem, who describes himself in these words: '_I was set in my
place neither by father nor mother, but by the Mighty King_'--meaning
'by God.' Read what is said about Melchizedek in Hebrews vii. These
words show us that all the kings of Salem believed that they owed
everything to God. This is why Abraham honoured Melchizedek so highly.
'_Salem_--that is, peace. '_Jeru-salem_' means city of peace. So, as
we see from these ancient letters, Jerusalem was called the city of
peace even in the days of Abraham.
All these old records and many more Moses must surely have seen; the
cities of Canaan were as full of books as were those of Egypt and
Babylonia, for the name '_Kirjath-sepher_' (Joshua xv. 15) means 'City
of Books.'
Thus, as year by year new discoveries are made, we realize more clearly
the kind of preparation which Moses had for his great work, and the
sources from which he gathered much of his information. Yet no single
word of the Bible is copied from the heathen writings.
No; just as a man who decides to give his whole life to God to-day
uses, in the Lord's service, the knowledge he gained before he was
converted; so, after God called Moses to his great work, all the
learning and wide knowledge he had gathered during his life were
dedicated to the service of God, and used by His Holy Spirit.
We do not know--we are nowhere told--whether Moses wrote every word of
the 'Books of the Law.' The Jews believed that every letter, every
tiniest dot was his. It may well have been so, as we have seen.
But, again, he may very likely have had helpers and editors; that is,
people who arranged and copied his original writings.
But the Children of Israel always called the first five books of the
Bible 'The Torah'; that is, 'The Law'; and they looked upon these as
their most precious possession, something quite above and apart from
every other writing--Jehovah's direct words and commandments to His
people.
At last the life-work of Moses was done, and Joshua took his place,
called by God to lead the people forward. But the new leader found
himself at once in a very different position. When Moses brought the
Children of Israel out of Egypt they were without a Bible.
But in Joshua's days the light had begun to shine, the river of the
knowledge of God to flow, and God was able, therefore, to say to His
servant Joshua:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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