4. The great conflict of those early ages between God and Satan was fought on the point of idolatry――the real question being whether God or the devil should have the worship of men; whether the supremacy and the moral right to rule the world are with God or with Satan. This being the great conflict of the ages, it should not surprise us that God should let Israel’s land of promise be in a sort the battle-ground, and should bring into play the physical force of arms and let his covenant people come into the fight hand to hand against the hosts of his foes. This arrangement gave scope for his own hand in various providential agencies――thunder, hail-storm, the day prolonged miraculously; panics often smiting the hearts of his enemies, and victories that witnessed visibly to Jehovah’s present hand. In an age when men were waiting for God to manifest himself visibly and tangibly; when their spiritual perceptions were but dim, and when of necessity the first step in the process of revealing God to men demanded an appeal to the senses, it was certainly no mistake in wisdom for God to suffer this great fight to take on visible form and stand out palpably before human eyes. In the result God made it unmistakably manifest that his soul abhorred such unnatural and horrid crimes as those of the men of Canaan, and also that he had both the power and the will to inflict on them the extremest and most fearful judgments. CHAPTER XVII. THE CIVIL INSTITUTES OF MOSES; OR THE HEBREW CODE OF CIVIL LAW. IN scripture phrase, the code is most often called “The statutes and the judgments”――the “commandments and precepts” which the Lord gave by Moses (Deut. 6: 1 and Ex. 21: 1). I approach this subject with a feeling of regret that the necessary limits of this volume forbid any attempt to make my presentation of this topic exhaustive. The utmost I can do within the limits prescribed is to give an outline rather than a full development of this code. I shall aim to make this outline full enough to show the _steps and stages of progress_ in the science of legislation which are obvious in these “statutes and judgments.” I must first call attention to certain points of a general nature, most of which will need only a brief statement. 1. This code of laws was _given to the Hebrews by God himself, through the hand of Moses_. For the sake of brevity and to distinguish it from other codes we may speak of it as the code of Moses and may speak of Moses as the Hebrew lawgiver; yet let it be said once for all that we recognize no authority――no authorship other than that of God himself. 2. This code was built upon the moral law of Sinai――the ten commandments. It simply expands and applies the general principles expressed or implied in that summary.