attention should be called to the special criticisms on the book of
Leviticus. A prominent representative of the school of critics affirmed
in his recent lectures at Long Beach, California, that the Hebrews had
no literature until their connection with the Babylonians while in
captivity, that their literature was developed during their agricultural
life while in Babylon. He affirmed that the sacrificial ritual of the
book of Leviticus had its roots in the heathen sacrifices growing out of
their false conception that their deities must be appeased by the
shedding of blood. The Levitical ritual was, therefore, never written
nor given by Moses. If this gentleman and the critics that hold with him
are correct, we must conclude with them that Moses never saw or heard of
our book of Leviticus.
In reply let it be said:
1. The denial of the existence of Hebrew literature prior to the exile
is thoroughly answered and set aside by the records discovered on the
Egyptian monuments and writings before and during Israel's bondage. Many
of the critics have found this criticism untenable, and have abandoned
it. They have been obliged to concede that Egyptian and Babylonian
literature existed long before the time of Moses. The best scholarship
of to-day affirms that "the discovery and first use of writing is
certainly as old as the time of Abraham." (See Schaff-Hergoz, Enc. Art.
Writing.)
2. If the Bible itself is not a fraud, writing was constantly in use in
the time of Moses. See:
(1) Exod. vii. 14: "The Lord said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial
in a book."
(2) Exod. xxiv. 4: "And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord."
(3) Exod. xxxiv. 27: "And the Lord said unto Moses, Write thou these
words."
(4) Exod. xxxiv. 28: "And he (God) wrote upon the tables the words of
the covenant."
(5) Num. v. 23: "And the priest shall write these curses in a book."
(6) Num. xi. 26: "They were of them that were written."
(7) Num. xvii. 2: "Write thou every man's name upon his rod."
(8) Num. xvii. 3: "Write Aaron's name upon the rod of Levi."
(9) Num. xxxiii. 2: "And Moses wrote their goings out according to their
journeyings by the commandment of the Lord."
(10) Deut. vi. 9: "Thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house and
upon thy gates."
(11) Deut xi. 20. Repeats the last reference cited.
(12) Deut. xvii, 18: "When he (the king) sitteth upon the throne of his
kingdom, he shall write him a copy of this law in a book."
These are a few out of the many passages in the Pentateuch in which God
has commanded his servant to write, and in which it is positively stated
that his servant did write. One of two things is certain, either the
whole Pentateuch is a fraud, having stated repeatedly that writing was
commanded and practiced, or the book is true, and the fraud must be
charged to the belated critics.
The reader will see very clearly that the purpose of such criticism is
to eliminate the supernatural from the Bible, as has been said, and
destroy its certitude.
It is too late in the day for the Professor's criticism, that Hebrew
literature had its first development during the exile. "Stephen full of
the Holy Spirit, looking steadfastly into heaven," read the record of
history concerning Moses differently. Stephen could not have heard the
Chautauqua lecturer's statement, for he affirmed that "Moses was learned
in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds."
3. Consider now the assumptions of the critics in the face of the claims
of the book of Leviticus. In the first verses of the book it is written:
"And the Lord called upon Moses, and spake unto him out of the
tabernacle of the congregation, saying." Then follow God's specific
directions concerning
(1) The burnt offering;
(2) The meat offering, and
(3) The sin offering, occupying the whole of the first three chapters.
The fourth chapter is introduced in the same explicit language.
(4) The sin offering.
This definite direction of God to Moses extends to the sixth chapter of
the book. Here again the same formula of speech is employed, God
speaking to Moses gave directions concerning
(5) The trespass offering.
In the eighth chapter we have God's direct communication to Moses, and
Moses' response in such phrases as the following, and all in a single
chapter: "And the Lord spake to Moses, ... and Moses did as the Lord
commanded him, ... and Moses said unto the congregation, ... and Moses
brought Aaron and his sons, ... as the Lord commanded Moses, ... and
Moses brought Aaron's sons, as the Lord commanded Moses." Ten times in
this single chapter it is recorded that God spake to Moses, and Moses
obeyed God.
And yet our critic would have us believe one of two things; God either
took the heathen sacrificial ritual, veneered it with some sort of
divine approval, and handed it over to his people for their use, or by
some sort of evolution the book of Leviticus came up out of the heathen
method of appeasing their malevolent deities!
Let the facts be summarized. In every one of the twenty-seven chapters
of the book of Leviticus God is represented as commanding Moses, and
Moses is represented as doing the thing which God required of him, and
several times in many of the chapters. In the eighteenth chapter
nineteen definite things are done by Moses, the seventeenth verse
asserting that all this was done "as the Lord commanded Moses."
The following references are absolutely unanswerable by the critics,
viz.:
Lev. i. 1: "The Lord called unto Moses, and spake unto him."
Lev. iv. 1: "The Lord spake unto Moses, saying," etc.
Lev. vi. 1; "And the Lord spake unto Moses."
Lev. viii. 1: "And the Lord spake unto Moses."
Lev. viii. 36: "Aaron and his sons did all things which the Lord
commanded by the hand of Moses."
Lev. ix. 6: "And Moses said, This is the thing which the Lord commanded
that ye should do."
Lev. xi. 1: "And the Lord spake unto Moses and to Aaron."
Lev. xii. 1: "And the Lord spake unto Moses."
Lev. xiii. 1: "And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron."
Lev. xiv. 1: "And the Lord spake unto Moses."
Lev. xiv. 33: "And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron."
Without further repetition of this phraseology, the reader will find the
same in the following references, viz.: xv. 1, xvi. 1, xvii. 1, xviii.
1, xix. 1, xx. 1, xxi. 1, xxii. 1-17, xxiii. 1, xxiv. 1, xxv. 1, xxvii.
1-34.
Here are twenty-five positive statements that God spake to Moses, or
commanded Moses. Does language mean anything? Is there any escape from
the truth, except by a denial of the entire Word of God?
God and Moses are the active agents in every chapter in the book of
Leviticus. And this fact is definitely stated in the last verse of
Leviticus: "These are the commandments which the Lord commanded Moses."
You might as well attempt to blot the sun from the heavens at high noon
as to eliminate from the book of Leviticus the one great and
divinely-appointed personality, Moses, the lawgiver, the leader the
actor, and under God the author of the book.
A further word concerning the date of Leviticus. When was it written? As
already stated, the critics place the time of the writing after the
exile, between nine hundred and one thousand years after the decease of
Moses. Something additional should be added to what has already been
said on the subject.
The reader of the English Bible will see that Leviticus immediately
follows Exodus by the connective "and." The same Hebrew connective
unites Exodus with Genesis, and Numbers with Leviticus. The natural,
grammatical, and logical inference is, that the author of Genesis is the
author of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers.
In addition to this fact we have the testimony of some of the prophets
who lived before the exile, that they were familiar with what the
critics call "the priestly code," which is elaborated in Leviticus.
Professor Stanley Leathes adduces forty-five allusions to the books of
Moses in the book of Amos. (See _Bible Student and Teacher_, October,
1906.) Amos' prophetic work was "in the northern kingdom, between 807
and 765 B.C., during the reign of Jeroboam II, when the kingdom of
Israel was at the height of its splendor." (See Schaff-Herzog, Enc. Art.
Amos.) This was more than two hundred years before the restoration from
the exile, long before the captivity, which the critics designate as the
beginning of the literary period.
Professor Leathes affirms that "there is apparent acquaintance with and
reference to each book of the Pentateuch in this prophecy." He shows
that Leviticus is referred to in nine passages in Amos. The reference in
Amos iv. 5 to "a sacrifice in thanksgiving with leaven" is an allusion
to the law of thanksgiving in Lev. vii. 13.
In giving God's message to Israel in a time of great backsliding, Amos
said to them: "Though ye offer unto me burnt offerings and meat
offerings, I will not accept them, neither will I regard the peace
offerings of your fat beasts." (Amos v. 23.)
This is an allusion to the law of burnt offerings and meat offerings set
forth in the first chapter of Leviticus. But the critics inform us that
there was no law concerning these offerings until several hundred years
after Amos ceased to prophesy!
Again, enumerating the sins of the people, Amos charges them with giving
the Nazarites wine to drink. "Ye gave the Nazarites wine to drink, and
commanded the prophets, saying, Prophesy not." (Amos ii. 12.) This was a
violation of the law of God as found in Num. vi. 2, 3, showing at least
that the Pentateuch, of which Leviticus is an important part, was known
to Amos, long before the period to which Leviticus has been assigned by
the destructive critics.
Hosea adds his testimony to that of Amos and Ezekiel. Again and again he
refers to the law of sacrifices as taught in Leviticus. "They shall be
ashamed because of their sacrifices." "They sacrifice on the tops of the
mountains and burn incense upon the hills." (Hosea iv. 13, 19.)
Concerning Ephraim, God says by the prophet Hosea: "I wrote for him ten
thousand things of my law." (Hosea viii. 12, R.V.) He refers to the law
as given to Moses in all its length and breadth.
The critics demand large credulity from us. They ask us to accept their
position that the Bible itself was mistaken as to its authorship, that
Christ and his apostles were mistaken; or at least did not tell the
truth when they assigned the Pentateuch (Leviticus included) to Moses.
They then ask us to believe that the Bible is not only unimpaired by the
mistakes which the experts claim to have discovered, but is really much
improved by the discovery!
It passes rational comprehension that we are permitted to expunge from
the Word of God, on the ground of literary criticism, the positive and
repeated statements of inspired men, and of the Son of God, and yet
assume that we have an unimpaired revelation!
We rather turn to the glorious array of witnesses to the integrity of
the Bible that God has furnished--the book itself, Moses and the
prophets, all the New Testament writers and the "Teacher sent from God."
From these witnesses we rest in the unshaken belief that "God spake all
these words" (Ex. xx. 1) and that "Moses wrote all the words of the
Lord" (Ex. xxiv. 4), including Leviticus.
VI. ASSUMPTIONS CONCERNING THE BOOK OF ISAIAH.
_"Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh; is there anything too
hard for me?" Jer. xxxii. 27._
_"God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belongeth
unto God." Psa. lxii. 11._
_"Great is our Lord, and of great power; his understanding is infinite."
Psa. cxlvii. 5._
_"He revealeth the deep and secret things; he knoweth what is in the
darkness, and that the light dwelleth with him." Dan. ii. 2._
_"Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world" Acts
xv. 18._
_"The Lord looketh from heaven; he beholdeth all the sons of men." Psa.
xxxiii. 13._
_"Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what
thou shalt say." Ex. iv. 12._
_"And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand
not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not." Isaiah vi. 9._
The critics claim to have discovered, on literary and other evidence,
that the Church of Christ, in all its branches, has been mistaken in all
the past concerning the author of the book known as the Prophecies of
Isaiah. They assume that all the foremost scholars of the world, and the
faith of God's people, have been misled. Our critical advisers profess
to have discovered that there were at least two, and probably many more
prophets, whose writings compose the book. They refuse to recognize
Isaiah alone as the author; and for several reasons:
_First_--Because of the change of style of composition from the
thirty-ninth chapter to the close of the book.
_Second_--On the ground that the theme is more exalted than in the first
thirty-nine chapters. Hence, it is assumed that these last chapters
could not have been written by Isaiah.
_Third_--On the ground that Cyrus is mentioned by name, in the
forty-fourth and forty-fifth chapters of the book, as the restorer of
Jerusalem. Hence, our critics conclude that this part of the book must
have been written after the event, as the prophet (it is assumed) could
not name Cyrus before his birth.
_Fourth_--The critics assume that the prophet must prophesy out of his
immediate surroundings, whatever that may mean. They furnish their
troubled disciples the comforting assurance that these discoveries do
not diminish the value of the book, but render it more accurate and
interesting as a literary work. The professor already quoted, a fair
representative of the critical school, in his recent lectures, referred
to on a preceding page, distinguished the authors of the book as "Isaiah
and the Great Unknown Prophet." Other critics multiply, somewhat
indefinitely, the number of "The Unknowns." Our critic regards the
change in _style and theme_ from the thirty-ninth chapter to the end of
the book as valid proof of at least the dual authorship of the book.
This assumption instantly raises the question as to who is the author of
prophetic themes. Is it the prophet himself or the Holy Spirit? Does the
prophet himself bring forth the prophecy of his own foreknowledge? Or,
is the Holy Spirit the inspirer of themes new and old? Happily God has
settled the question for us. He declares by his Apostle Peter "that no
prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation"; that is, of the
prophet's own disclosure. "For prophecy came not of old time by the will
of man; but _holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy
Spirit_." (2 Peter i. 20, 21.) It is, therefore, bold assumption to
affirm that God could not give to the same prophet new and more exalted
themes in his progressive revelation of truth. It is a limitation of God
himself to the critic's notion of what should, or should not be. This
would eliminate the divine element of the book by a sweep of the
critic's pen. It is an assumption too groundless to need a reply.
Further, as to the change of style. Nothing is more natural or
reasonable than the fact that a change of theme should produce a change
of style. A more exalted theme must quicken the imagination, set the
emotions aflame, stimulate all the mental and moral powers of the
author. A historical statement, a commonplace theme, can be dealt with
in a commonplace style, while new and uplifting truth awakens new powers
in the writer. Milton's Paradise Lost was entirely different from his
ordinary prose composition. Dr. John Watson's sermons were on a higher
level than his books of fiction. Writers who do much of their literary
work on the level plain on which the people move, frequently rise to
mountain peaks of sublime composition when the occasion and theme demand
it.
The style in the later chapters of the book of Isaiah is just what we
would expect from the prophet when the Holy Spirit opened to his
enraptured mind the theme of redemption through a suffering Messiah, in
the fifty-third and following chapters of the book.
The objection to conceding the authorship of the entire book to Isaiah,
because the prophet mentions Cyrus by name before his birth, is made in
the face of the fundamental fact already stated that God inspired the
writer, and is therefore the author of prophecy, "declaring the end from
the beginning." (Isa. xlvi. 10.) He knows all the future and whom he
will choose to accomplish his glorious purposes. To deny this fact is to
deny all prophecy. If God can not foretell future events and the
instruments for their accomplishment, there can be no prophecy, and
God's omniscience is impeached. Isaiah prophesied in the seventh chapter
and fourteenth verse: "Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and shall call his name Immanuel." Matthew affirms that this prophecy
was fulfilled in the birth of Jesus. (Matt. i. 22, 23.) He also declares
in the same connection that the announcing angel foretold that the name
"Jesus" was to be given to the Messiah at his birth. These
preannouncements must be cast aside if the critic's dictum is accepted.
Shall we discredit Isaiah, the announcing angel, and Matthew on the
ground of the critic's literary acumen?
Further, the student of the Word will remember that when Jeroboam was
bringing disaster upon Israel, God sent his prophet to declare: "Behold
a son shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon
thee (the altar at Bethel) shall he offer the priests of the high places
that burn incense upon thee, and men's bones shall be burnt upon thee."
More than three hundred years after this prophecy was given, according
to Usher's Chronology, Josiah was born and did the precise things that
were predicted concerning him. (See 1 Kings xiii. 2 and 2 Kings xxiii,
15, 16.) The omniscience of the Holy Spirit can predict the name of the
instrument as readily as the event which is to be accomplished.
Again, undoubtedly the prophet must speak out of his own environment. He
can speak only where he is. But who is to decide how many and what
allusions he must make to custom or incident in order to satisfy the
critic, as to his time and place in history?
The tailor who decides that he must have twenty yards of cloth to make a
suit of clothes, when ten yards are sufficient, will shortly be wanting
customers. The critic who has decided how many and what kind of
synchronous events must be furnished by the prophet, in order to secure
his credence as to authorship, will be left without a prophet or a
Bible.
The erection of an arbitrary law, by which to interpret history or
prophecy in the Bible, is contrary to all the treatment which secular
literature receives from these same critics.
From these strained, forced and unphilosophical methods of dealing with
prophecy, we turn to the testimony of the inspired book itself. The book
of Isaiah is distinguished by a phraseology peculiar to this prophet. He
speaks of God as "The Holy One of Israel." This title, as applied to
God, is used only seven times in the entire Old Testament; once in 2
Kings, three times in the Psalms, twice in the prophecies of Jeremiah,
and once in Ezekiel, but never in the minor prophets. But Isaiah uses
this title as applied to God, twenty-two times, running through the
entire book from the first to the sixtieth chapter.
The reader will be interested to note how the repeated use of the
phrase--"The Holy One of Israel"--attests the unity of the authorship of
the entire book. Hence the passages ("line upon line, line upon line")
are here presented to give their unequivocal testimony to our Sabbath
School teachers.
1: Isaiah I:4--"They have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked _the
Holy One of Israel to anger_."
2: Isaiah v:18, 19--"Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of
vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope: that say ... let the
counsel of _the Holy One of Israel_ draw nigh and come, that we may know
it."
3: Isaiah v:24--"Because they have cast away the law of the Lord of
hosts, and despised the word of _the Holy One of Israel_."
4: Isaiah xii:6--"Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion; for great
is _the Holy One of Israel_ in the midst of thee."
5: Isaiah xvii:7--"At that day shall a man look to his Maker, and his
eyes shall have respect to _the Holy One of Israel_."
6: Isaiah xxix:19--"The poor among man shall rejoice in _the Holy One of
Israel_."
7: Isaiah xxx:11--"Cause _the Holy One of Israel_ to cease from before
us." (The language of a rebellious people.)
8: Isaiah xxx:12--"Wherefore, thus saith _the Holy One of Israel_,
because ye despise this word ... therefore this iniquity shall be to you
as a breach ready to fall."
9: Isaiah xxx:15--"Thus saith the Lord God, _the Holy One of Israel_; In
returning and rest shall ye be saved."
10: Isaiah xxxi:1--"They look not unto _the Holy One of Israel_, neither
seek the Lord."
11: Isaiah xli:14--"Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I
will help thee, I will help thee saith the Lord, and thy Redeemer, _the
Holy One of Israel_."
12: Isaiah xli:16--"Thou shalt rejoice in the Lord, and shalt glory in
_the Holy One of Israel_."
13: Isaiah xli:20--"That they may see, and know, and consider, and
understand together, that the hand of the Lord hath done this, and _the
Holy One of Israel_ hath created it."
14: Isaiah xliii:13--"I am the Lord thy God, _the Holy One of Israel,
thy_ Savior."
15: Isaiah xlv:11--"Thus saith the Lord, _the Holy One of Israel_, and
his Maker, Ask me of things to come, concerning my sons, and concerning
the work of my hands command ye me."
16: Isaiah xlvii:4--"As for our Redeemer, the Lord of hosts is his name,
_the Holy One of Israel_."
17: Isaiah xlviii:17--"Thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer, _the Holy One
of Israel_, I am the Lord thy God, which teacheth thee to profit, which
leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go."
18: Isaiah xlix:7--"Thus saith the Lord ... Kings shall see and arise,
princes also shall worship, because of the Lord that is faithful, and
_the Holy One of Israel_, and he shall choose thee."
19: Isaiah liv:5--"For thy Maker is thine husband; The Lord of hosts is
his name, and thy Redeemer is _the Holy One of Israel_; The God of the
whole earth shall he be called."
20: Isaiah lv:5--"Nations that knew not thee, shall run unto thee
because of the Lord thy God, and for _the Holy One of Israel_."
21: Isaiah lx:9--"The Isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish
first, to bring thy sons from far, their silver and their gold with
them, unto the name of the Lord thy God, and to _the Holy One of
Israel_, because he hath glorified thee."
22: Isaiah lx:14--"And they shall call thee the city of the Lord, the
Zion of _the Holy One of Israel_."
The reader will notice that this phrase, as applied to God is a
characteristic of Isaiah. We have not found it in any of the minor
prophets, and but twice in the prophecies of Jeremiah, and once in
Ezekiel. But Isaiah uses it more than twenty times, running from the
first to the sixtieth chapter. He uses it ten times before reaching the
fortieth chapter, and twelve times in the chapters following, which the
critics have assigned to some unknown author or authors. Shall we be
asked to conclude that the unknown authors adopted Isaiah's style, his
phraseology, from the fortieth chapter to the end of the book? For what
motive? To conceal themselves? The assumption is too large. If the first
thirty-nine chapters of this book are accepted, as the prophecies of
Isaiah, by every law of fair criticism the whole book must claim this
prophet as its author.
VII. GOD'S REPLY TO THESE ASSUMPTIONS.
_"Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God?" Rom. ix. 20._
_"At the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses,
shall the matter be established." Deut. xix. 15._
_"Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our
learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might
have hope." Rom. xv. 4._
_"Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples; and they are
written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come." 1
Cor. x. 11._
_"My people shall know my name, therefore they shall know in that day
that I am he that doth speak, Behold, it is I." Isaiah lii. 6._
In the New Testament we have in the Gospels and the Epistles God's
teachings concerning the Old Testament. The writers of the New Testament
had the promise of our Lord that "The Comforter, who is the Holy Spirit,
whom the Father will send in my name, He shall teach you all things, and
bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you."
(John xiv. 26.)