Here we see the pen of some lofty and tender lawgiver, who has nothing in common with the savage chief who "breathed out threatenings and slaughter."
It is blasphemy to deny that the Lord on Mount Sinai gave a number of frivolous commands, about a candlestick (Ex. xxv., 31-39) with its snuff-dishes, and curtains, and hangings, and dresses, with their trimmings of "a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, upon the hem," and "holy ointment," and "perfume," etc., etc. (Ex. xxv.-xxx.). After the making of stars and suns it seems but poor work to give directions about "loops," and "taches," and a "curious girdle," fitter employment for a cabinet maker and a tailor than for a god with "thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud." While Moses and the Lord were discoursing on upholstery the people were getting into trouble down below, and god, who is "without passions," (Art. 1) felt his wrath "wax hot against them" (Ex. xxxii., 10). Moses did not ask for forgiveness on the ground of god's goodness, but he appealed to his vanity, and reminded him that the Egyptians would crow over him if he destroyed his own people (xxxii., 12.) Thereupon god, who is not a man "that he should repent" (Numb, xxiii., 19), "repented of the evil which he thought to do" (Ex. xxxii., 14). God who is "without body" (Art 1) had written two tables with his "finger" (Ex. xxxi., 18), and these tables "were the work of god, and the writing was the writing of god" (xxxii, 16). So careless was Moses of this unique specimen that he lost his temper and broke it in pieces, and then, arriving at the camp, he sent the sons of Levi through the camp, bidding them "slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor," and when 3,000 men had fallen he bade the murderers: "Consecrate yourselves to-day to the Lord, even every man upon his son and upon his brother, that he may bestow a blessing upon you" (w., 27-29). Yet it is blasphemy to deny that this great wickedness was god-inspired.
It is blasphemy to deny that "the Lord spake unto Moses face to face" (Ex. xxxiii., 11); also it is blasphemy to deny that god told Moses: "Thou canst not see my face, for there shall no man see me and live" (v. 20, compare with ch. xxiv., 10, 11). And while it is blasphemy to deny that god is "without parts" (Art 1), it is equally blasphemy to deny that he has "back parts" (Ex. xxxiii., 23). Either the Prayer Book or the Bible clearly needs revision; meanwhile it is blasphemy to deny either.
It is interesting to observe the fashion in which Christians pick and choose among the commandments given "by divine authority" while they imprison heretics for attacking those of which they, in their turn, disapprove. Thus we have (Ex. xxxv., 2, 3): "Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be to you a holy day, a sabbath of rest to the Lord; whosoever doeth work therein shall be put to death. Ye shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations upon the sabbath day." The Sabbatarians quote verse 2 as a reason for shutting up all museums and art galleries on "the Lord's day," and they abuse as rebels against the law of god all the liberal-minded of their own creed. But they quietly ignore verse 3, because that would cause discomfort to themselves, and the very peers who, in the House of Lords, vote to shut working men out of art education go home to sit over their comfortable fires, and to wander through their own galleries wanned by a fire kindled against their god's direct command. Wonderful, indeed, are the ways of religious men!
The book of Leviticus is "of divine authority." It is blasphemy to deny that a bullock, flayed and cut into pieces and burned, makes a sweet smell to god (Lev. L, 5-9). Tastes differ. Also burning a goat, with "the fat that covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is upon the inwards, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, which is by the flanks" (iii., 14, 15), makes a sweet savor as it frizzles and drips. The tabernacle of the congregation must have smelt like the kitchen of a dirty cook. Yet it is blasphemy to deny that god enjoyed it. "All the fat is the Lord's" (16). Not a morsel of fat might the Israelite eat (17). Personally, I should have been quite willing to give all the fat to the Lord, but some of the people probably felt envious.
It would be wearisome to recite all the extraordinary commands given by god in this "third book of Moses." Christians disregard them, on the pretence that the ceremonial law is not binding on them, yet it is blasphemy to deny that "whosoever shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven" (Matt, v., 19).
It is blasphemy to deny that the hare chews the cud (xi., 6); as a matter of mere fact it does nothing of the kind. It is blasphemy to deny that the locust, the beetle, and the grasshopper have more than four feet (xi., 21-23); as a matter of fact they each have six. It is very awkward when fact and faith clash in this numerical fashion.
It is blasphemy to deny that god concerns himself with the way a man cuts his beard; "neither shalt thou," says he, "mar the corners of thy beard" (xix., 27). Is it conceivable that the creator of the universe should trouble himself with such barber's work as this? If such a being existed would it not rather be blasphemy to ascribe such directions to him?
It is blasphemy to deny that Jahveh, like other gods of his time, commanded human sacrifice. He says: "No devoted thing that a man shall devote unto the Lord of all that he hath, both of man and beast, and of the field of his possession, shall be sold or redeemed; every devoted thing is most holy unto the Lord. None devoted which shall be devoted of men shall be redeemed, but shall surely be put to death" (xxvii., 28, 29). This abomination is commanded by divine authority, and he is in danger of gaol and damnation who shall honestly repudiate the detestable thing.
It is blasphemy to deny that Jahveh ordained the disgusting trial of a wife suspected of infidelity which is related in Numbers v., 12-31. If the "spirit of jealousy" come on a man, he is to bring his wife to the priest. "And the priest shall take holy water in an earthern vessel; and of the dust that is in the floor of the tabernacle the priest shall take, and put it into the water;" this delectable but dirty drink is to be swallowed by the woman, after a charm has been repeated by the priest, as "an oath of cursing," and if the woman has been unfaithful the water will have very unpleasant physical results, while if the suspicion of her husband be false "she shall be free." This prompt way of settling matters would obviate all the expenses and formalities of a divorce court, and if the arrangement could be extended to include unfaithful husbands, this Christian country would be saved much cost. But though the Christians punish other people for unbelief they are thorough infidels themselves in all practical matters. They would far rather trust Sir James Hannen than dirty holy water, when they suspect conjugal infidelity.