The truth of this statement becomes self-evident, when we mark the purpose for which the sacred books were written. If there were any book of the Bible by God designated to be a complete code of laws, all-sufficient for all times and all conditions, such a fact might reasonably be expected to be either expressly stated, or implied somewhere within the covers of the sacred volume. But no such statement is to be found, nor can it be shown to be implied, when the scope of each book is clearly understood.
THE PENTATEUCH.
The Pentateuch, for instance, contains the principles on which the Jewish theocracy was founded, a dispensation that was, according to prophetic declarations, only to last for a certain time. In the first eleven chapters of Genesis we find a few outlines of the Patriarchal dispensation, and some of the ordinances of that dispensation are referred to without any detailed account. The last chapters of Genesis contain merely a brief historical sketch of the transition from the patriarchal dispensation to the Mosaic dispensation. The remaining books of Moses (as indeed all of the Old Testament) are chiefly an incomplete history of the dealings of God with that one nation which He had chosen for the purpose of communicating His will to mankind, until the appearance of the promised "Seed." But the dispensation itself was a transient one. The principles upon which it was founded must necessarily also be subject to such modifications as a new dispensation would require. Paul, the greatest Jewish scholar of his age, is very emphatic on this point. "It (the Mosaic law) was added because of transgression, till the Seed should come to whom the promise was made." "Before faith came we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come we are no longer under a schoolmaster." (Galatians iii, 23-25.) "(God) also has made us able ministers of the New Testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit; for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. But if the ministration of death (the Mosaic law), written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance, which glory was to be done away, how shall not the ministration of the Spirit be rather glorious? * * For if that which is done away (the law) was glorious, much more that which remaineth." (II Cor. iii, 6-11.)
The laws of the Mosaic dispensation have, according to the same apostle, no more claim or binding force, relative to the members of the Christian dispensation, than a dead husband has to a living wife: "For the woman which has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband; * * wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ." (Rom. vii, 2-4.)
THE HISTORICAL BOOKS.
Of the remaining historical books of the Old Testament much need not be said. The book of Joshua describes the settlement of the Israelites in the Holy Land. In the Judges we read of repeated apostasy, its punishment and God's mercy in delivering the penitent. The books of Samuel show the establishment of the ancient prophetic office and also the rejection of this divine appointment and of God as the ruler, and how God, yielding to the demands of His blinded people, allows them to have a king. In the Books of the Kings, to which the Chronicles seem to be a supplement, we can trace the awful consequences of the revolt of the people against the prophetic office, until the nation, after a short time of prosperity under David and Solomon, falls to pieces and are carried away captives.
THE POETICAL BOOKS.
The poetical books are effusions of devout hearts contemplating the past mercies of God, His present goodness and faithfulness, and containing more or less distinct predictions of the future events in the Kingdom of God. The Psalms, many of which were composed by David, were intended for the edification of the people when gathered to their national festivities in Jerusalem. The singing of them formed, no doubt, an important part of the service. The book of Job and the Song of Songs are specimens of early dramatic compositions. The hero of the book of Job was an inhabitant of Uz, in the northeast part of the Arabian desert, and a contemporary, perhaps, of Terah, the father of Abraham. There are some grand lessons laid down in the book. The question is discussed whether great suffering is not an evidence of great guilt. The friends of Job affirm this, while he himself, under the greatest afflictions, denies it, appealing to God's righteousness and faithfulness. The Song of Songs, the best one of the one thousand and five which Solomon composed (I Kings iv, 32), is a description of wedded love, one of the noblest affections which man is capable of enjoying, and was probably composed when Solomon introduced into his family an Egyptian princess (I Kings iii, 1; vii, 8; ix, 24) as a plural wife. The Proverbs, and the Ecclesiastes contain many sentiments showing both the wisdom and the vanity of the world, pointing to Him who is the Wisdom, the Truth, and the Light of the World.
In all these books we find truths scattered as numerous and as beautifully as the stars in a clear November evening sky; but the very scope of each book is such that it cannot be accepted as a closed and finished code of revelations, sufficient for all contingencies that can ever arise in the history of the human race, any more than the beautifully sparkling light of the stars is all that is necessary for the illumination of the earth.