W. J. Lowe.
For some 50 years I have never ceased to be astonished at the utter futility of human laws, and parliaments, their inadequacies and mistakes, never-ending tinkering, adding, changing; which all proves the truth of the Bible dictum — “It is not in man that walks to direct his steps”, Jeremiah 10:23. Usually, most “M.Ps” are lawyers; yet they cannot make laws that are free of “loopholes”, or are just and wise enough to be permanent, a finality. They are unable to grasp and rectify all points of a problem; and above all, have no foresight as to future needs. Yet, the people who urge so strongly that you “vote” for this mass of confusion and contradiction, are the first ones to scoff at a Book that records laws that once pronounced never needed changing, that by foresight covered future changed conditions; that justly governed a nation for 1500 years without tinkering, failure, jails, police or parliaments, elections or lawyers.
Surely, such a law, without parallel in human history, laid down complete at the beginning and never changed, could not be of human authorship; it and the Book that records it, must be God-inspired. The utter inadequacies and foolishnesses of the most enlightened legislatures of today, by contrast, proves the Divine origin of the perfect Law of Moses. Man had no part whatever or vote in this Law; it was dictated direct by God, see Exodus 20 and on through Leviticus; and Moses just “wrote it in a book… for future generations to obey” Deuteronomy 31:24; 1 Chronicles 16:15. No king, parliament or people ever altered one word of this Law. The mere fact that while Israel obeyed this Law for centuries they were happy, prosperous, free and enlightened, while trouble, punishment, dispersion, followed disobedience — proves this Law the only perfect law, and necessarily it and the Book it is written in must be God-inspired.
Human laws merely punish, brutalise, perpetuate offenders; they make no reparations. A man cheats people out of their life-savings; he is jailed, the victims get nothing back. But by God’s law — a thief was not only punished, but compelled to work for wages to pay back the theft to his victims, Exodus 22:1-4; Leviticus 6:4. He was not jailed and kept at the expense of the taxpayers, nor did his victims suffer and starve.
Divorce was only allowed for a physical cause of impediment, Deuteronomy 24:1-4. Adultery between otherwise married couples brought death, Deuteronomy 22:22-24; misconduct before marriage brought stoning to death, vs. 13-21. Rape brought either death or compulsory marriage, vs. 25-29. Causing wilful injury to any person brought identical retribution, “an eye for an eye” by public legal infliction, Leviticus 24:10-20. “Juvenile delinquency”, laziness, disobedience to parents, were punished by death, Deuteronomy 21:18-21. No usury, interest on loans to the poor, was permitted, Leviticus 25:35-37. Murder brought death, no reprieve, Leviticus 24:21.
Property always remained in the family, no man could buy up and accumulate a large estate, Leviticus 25:13-36; Isaiah 5-8; 1 Kings 21-3. Care for the poor, Deuteronomy 24:19-21 & 15:7-11; consideration for others, Leviticus 19:13-14, 32-36; love for neighbour, Leviticus 19:18; were enforced by law. All through human history, against every race, the challenge has gone forth unanswered — “What nation is there so great, that has statutes and judgements so righteous, as this law?” Deuteronomy 4:5-10. Who but an all-wise, all-time foreseeing, all righteous Creator-God could give and record such laws?