Twelve Studies on the Making of a Nation Part 14

As soon as society emerges from the savage state, the crime of adultery is always forbidden. Nothing else stirs the worst of human pa.s.sions as does s.e.xual jealousy. Even to-day probably no other cause is more productive of murder and suicide. In early societies, like that of the Israelites, to this normal human feeling of personal wrong was added that of the loss of property, for wives or concubines were considered as property. Hence the penalty for adultery among the Hebrews, as with many ancient and many modern peoples, was death.

As soon as society develops from the savage into the pastoral stage, private property is recognized in the flocks and herds. In the development of society additional types of property rights appear under various forms of ownership, until it is not too much to say that modern society is based largely upon property rights.

The evils a.s.sociated with property are many, but as yet, at any rate, the rights of property are a benefit to the state, provided those rights are exercised under proper legal supervision. It should be recognized, however, that the command, "Thou shall not steal," may well have various meanings, dependent upon the laws of property. Our law restricts the right of legacy, the sale or even the possession of poisons and often of dangerous weapons.

Similarly the degree of ownership of other goods is often limited.

The ninth command, not to bear false witness against one's neighbor, is often interpreted as simply a violation of one's oath in court, or when appended to formal legal papers. But in most modern countries the command is also interpreted so as to include lying. If this crime is defined in its broadest sense, as lack of truth and trustworthiness, it is in many ways the greatest sin man can commit against society. Practically all modern economic and social relations are based upon the security of contracts and upon the readiness of business men and citizens to keep their word. It may be well questioned whether the crime of murder is as dangerous to society as the habit of deception, for the temptation of murder is rare as compared with that of deception; while the evil is often less far-reaching in its consequence and less despicable.

In the last command, that directed against covetousness, the law-giver goes beyond the external act to the motive and spirit in the mind of the individual. If this command is kept in spirit, the others are practically unnecessary. This command is like in kind to that of Jesus in the New Testament, where all the commandments are summed up into one: "Love one another."

VI.

THE PRESENT-DAY AUTHORITY OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.

The various books that make up our Bible were each written to meet the needs of the people of its day; but inasmuch as the prophets and law-givers from the days of Moses to those of Jesus touched upon the most vital questions of human life and society, these principles are most of them universal and applicable to all tribes and nations and races and peoples.

Necessarily there are many variations in the specific methods by which these commands are to be carried out. The honor and reverence due everywhere to mother and father may well have different applications, depending upon the type of civilization, the customs of living and the type of home life that exist in the different countries. The injunction to keep the Sabbath may well be carried out with the same spirit in various ways. What const.i.tutes theft depends upon the law of the separate state and upon the rights of property granted by that law, but everywhere the primary obligations of the individual to G.o.d, to society and to his fellow men remain substantially the same. As he develops a more tender conscience, a more just and kindly att.i.tude toward his fellows, a greater reverence toward his Creator, the spirit with which be keeps these commandments is becoming continually more urgent, whatever may be the specific way in which they may be carried out for the benefit of his fellow men and of society.

_Questions for Further Consideration_.

Does idol worship exist in any part of the civilized world to-day?

If so, where and in what forms?

Are those addicted to profanity necessarily and intentionally irreverent? What is the origin of this habit? How may it be eradicated? What are some of the best methods by which children may be guarded against it?

Do you think it is right for the state to become responsible for the religious education of its citizens?

What is the fundamental difference between the so-called "Continental Sabbath" and that observed by Jesus?

In what way may Sunday be made a day of greater profit and significance to the working man?

What att.i.tude should one take regarding so-called "white" or "society lies"? Under what circ.u.mstances, if any, is it right to lie?

_Subjects for Further Study_.

(1) The Decalogues in Exodus 20-23. _Hist. Bible_ II, 209-24.

(2) Jesus' Version of the Ancient Prophetic Decalogue. See Matt.

5:17, 18; 6:19-21; 12:1-12, 31, 32; 15:3-5; 22: 36-39.

(3) Compare the Moral Ideals of the Decalogue with those of the Present-Day Socialists. Cross, _The Essentials of Socialism_; Walling, _Socialism as It Is_; Spargo, _Elements of Socialism_.

STUDY XI

THE EARLY TRAINING OF A RACE.

ISRAEL'S EXPERIENCE IN THE WILDERNESS AND EAST OF THE JORDAN--Num.

11-14; 21:21-31; 32:39-42.

_Parallel Readings_.

_Hist. Bible_ I, 204-29.

Edward Jenks, _Hist. of Politics_, Chap, III.

Then as they journeyed from the mountain of Jehovah the ark of Jehovah went before them, to seek out a halting place for them.

And whenever the ark started, Moses would say,

Arise, O Jehovah, And let thine enemies be scattered, And let those who hate thee flee before thee.

And when it rested, he would say,

Return, O Jehovah, to the ten thousand of thousands of Israel.--_Num. 10:33, 35, 36_.

As an eagle stirreth up her nest, hovereth over her young, taketh them, beareth them upon her wings, so the Lord his G.o.d did lead him and there was no strange G.o.d with him.--_Deut. 32: 11_.

Before man made us citizens, great Nature made us men--_Lowell_.

Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet Till earth and sky stand presently at G.o.d's great judgment seat; But there is neither East, nor West, border nor breed nor birth When two strong men stand face to face, tho' they come from the ends of the earth.

--_Rudyard Kipling_.

The measure of the success of our lives can only lie in the stature of our manhood, in the growth in unworldliness and in the moral elevation of our inner self.--_Henry Drummond_.

I.

THE WILDERNESS ENVIRONMENT.

The accounts regarding the experiences of the Israelites in the wilderness lack the unity which characterizes the records of the earlier and later periods. They simply give occasional pictures of the life of the Hebrew fugitives. They must be interpreted in the light of the peculiar background of the wilderness and of the nomadic life which flourishes there to-day as it did in the past.

The Hebrews on escaping from Egypt entered the South Country, which extends seventy miles from the rocky hills of Judah southward until it merges into the barren desert. During the later Roman period the northern and northwestern portions of this territory were partially reclaimed by agriculturalists; but in early periods, as to-day, it was pre-eminently the home of wandering, nomadic tribes.

This wild, treeless region is divided by rocky ranges running from east to west. Parallel to these are deep, hot and for the most part waterless valleys. In the springtime these valleys are covered by a spa.r.s.e vegetation; from a few perennial springs flow waters that irrigate the immediately surrounding land; but they soon lose themselves in the thirsty desert. During the summer the vegetation disappears almost entirely, and the struggle for subsistence becomes intense. The nature of the country makes it necessary for its inhabitants constantly to journey from one pasture land and spring to another.

The home of the Hebrews at this time, like that of the modern Arabs, was the tent. The stories that have come down from this period suggest the experiences through which they pa.s.sed. The constant insistent problem in this region was and is how to secure adequate supplies of food and water. During the greater part of the year the chief food of the people is the milk and curds supplied by their herds. At times, however, these fail to meet the needs even of the modern Bedouin inhabitants of this South Country.

They then gather the gum that exudes from the tamarisk tree or the lichens from the rocks. From these they make a coa.r.s.e flour and bread which keeps them alive until the winter rains again bring their supply of water and pasturage. Some scholars hold that this coa.r.s.e food was the manna of the Biblical accounts. They argue that later generations, familiar with the barrenness of the wilderness and believing that the Hebrews at this time numbered many thousands, naturally concluded and reported that their ancestors were miraculously fed. At certain periods, also, the meagre fare of the desert dweller is supplemented by the quails which he is able to capture and these are a welcome relief to his monotonous diet. About the perennial springs, which gush forth from the barren rock, there also grew up stories of a miraculous provision for the needs of Jehovah's people; for all springs and especially those in the desert were regarded by the ancients as miracles. Even in more fertile lands the Greeks reared beside such springs temples to the G.o.d, whom they thought of as thus signally revealing himself. In the deeper sense each of these early Hebrew stories is historical, for they all record the fundamental thought and belief that through this strenuous, painful period, even as in later crises in their history, Jehovah was guiding his people and giving them not only food and water, but also that training in the school of danger and privation which was essential for their highest development.

Even more insistent than the constant struggle for food and water were the dangers that came from the hostile tribes which already occupied this much-contested territory. For the possession of the springs and pasture lands they fought with the energy and craft that characterize the Bedouin tribes to-day. Hence, to the Hebrews, fresh from the fertile fields of Egypt, their life in the wilderness represented constant hardship, privation, suffering and danger.

II.

INFLUENCE OV THE NOMADIC LIFE UPON ISRAEL'S CHARACTER AND IDEALS.

The wilderness left a stamp upon Hebrew character and life that may be traced even to-day in the later descendants of that race. It tightened their muscles and gave them that physical virility which has enabled them to survive even amidst the most unfavorable conditions. It taught them how to subsist on the most meagre food supply and to thrive where the citizen of a more prosperous land would inevitably starve.

It is probable that in their early nomadic experiences the Hebrews acquired those migratory habits which, intensified by unwonted vicissitudes, have carried them to almost every civilized land. In the wilderness they also learned the art of nomadic warfare which, to win victories, depended not so much upon open attack as upon strategy. The common dangers of the wilderness life tightened the racial and religious bonds that held them together. Only by the closest union could they resist the perils that beset them. Upon the complete devotion of each man to the interest of the tribe hung his fate, as well as that of the community as a whole. Hence arose that devotion to race, that readiness to avenge every wrong and to protect each individual, even if it cost the life-blood of the tribe, which is ill.u.s.trated in many of the stories that come from this early period. How far has this racial characteristic survived?